That first concert was a beauty, with Kaukonen masterfully picking his way on acoustic guitar through such staples of his catalog as “Good Shepherd” “Water Song” and “Been So Long” as well as the deeper cut “Blue Railroad Train,” a Delmore Brothers song Kaukonen covered on his “Blue Country Heart” album.
With the additions of the Kasvot Vaxt and Ghosts of the Forest projects, peppered in with the return of Oysterhead and Vida Blue respectively, the band and its members have been on a creative peak as of late. And it hasn’t stopped there. The highly talked about Baker’s Dozen and subsequent tours have also seen a large handful of new songs enter the regular rotation of live sets;…
As perspective is everything and at this time in our history Lord knows we could use more, it was great to touch base with Hoffman at the end of the night. As it has become the usual practice for many concert attendees to show up for these events and talk their way through the music, I asked Paul, “When you are up on stage, having the time of your life, pouring out your blood, sweat, and soul…
Having stretched out during the cardio workout of the first three tunes, the band turned and delivered a commanding performance on the instrumental New Grass Revival piece “Sapporo”. Penned by Bush for the group, the number was described as the product of a simple 5 note progression that Sam learned while in Japan in 1976. That stated, what the group delivered was anything but simple, as the…
