Sorry, this is kind of long… Tim Stone and I were walking out of a very packed Merlefest late on a Saturday evening after having a fun filled day. We were telling stories back and forth about what Peter Rowan likes to call spiritual sport. Just before the Wendy’s restaurant a white van pulls up right beside us in front of the grass parking lot there. The side door springs open and out comes a white haired gentleman from the second row of seats of the van. Just as he is exiting my friend Tim said, “That’s David Rawlings driving the van.” He had the hat on he had bought from Bill Monroe for a steal and was easy to spot. Then we both noticed Gillian Welch on the passenger side of the front seat. We’d seen them do a couple of sets that day so David’s new hat was familiar as seen in this picture I took: photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17608716&size=lg So I asked the gentleman standing on the sidewalk if he was Pete Rawlings (David’s dad)? He said he was and I introduced myself to him as we had chatted over the internet over the course of three or four years at that point. I had even sent him about fifteen copies (at his request) of a disc I’d put together of cover songs Gillian Welch had done in concerts over the years from soundboard sources called “Live and Obscure.” Pete had given them out as presents at their Thanksgiving gathering in 1996 or 1997. So, Pete yells into the van to his wife, Gillian and David that Jim McKelvey is here on the sidewalk. So Pete and his wife, who also got out of the van, stand around with us on the sidewalk chatting for a good bit of time catching up. Pete is in the striped shirt right between Gillian and David in the audience in this picture: photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17608716&size=lg If you have ever been to Merlefest you know the odds of this happening walking out of Merlefest at a particular time and that particular spot are just about nil. My friend Tim is pretty much speechless (very unusual for him) but said he would not believe this was happening if he wasn’t standing watching it. Had sort of a plastered grin on my face the whole time because I couldn’t believe it either as it was happening. After a bit David invites us both, from the driver seat of the van, to the midnight jam. He said to just hop in that they had room in the van. David said it was going to be special that night, with Gillian nodding in agreement, but Tim and I were both worn out so I told them thanks but we were headed home. The next day we found out that John Paul Jones, the original bassist from Led Zeppelin, had raised the roof of the Walker Center that night when he joined them onstage at the midnight jam for J.J. Cale’s “After Midnight.” That was a decade or a decade and a half ago and after that John Paul Jones hung out at Merlefest a lot. photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5918018 photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5932972&size=lg Flash forward to the week of Thanksgiving 2013 and I’ve been given another chance to see them play with John Paul Jones. This time I’m not going to miss it and plan to see them in Carrboro at the Cat’s Cradle and Charlotte at the Neighborhood Theatre. Sometimes in life you get a second chance…here is a review of the first show of the tour: americansongwriter/2013/11/dave-rawlings-machine/
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 14:17:21 +0000
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