On Sunday - after I had fully recovered from being out on the road - I finally made my way up to LA. My friends in the band Old Californio were having a CD release party at The Echo - which was also the weekly Grand Ole Echo show that my friends Kim Grant and Julie Richmond put on. It's an early show that begins at 5:30 and is over by 9pm - it's also free - so I always do my best to support the show when I can. It's always a good gathering of friends - and Sunday's show was packed.
The Echo is in Echo Park which is just north of downtown LA about 2 miles or so on Sunset Blvd. It has a good size stage and they have good bands on a regular basis. I've played the Grand Ole Echo several times since it began in '06 and it's always been a good time. Echo Park has been changing over the years. It was a rough neighborhood for a long time - and there's still some of that element there - but there have been a series of new stores and restaurants that have opened up in the area over the past 5 years.
Now in the neighborhood there's a book store, a record store, a restaurant called Masa that has some great food and does a decent deep dish Chicago style pizza, another pizza place, a great dark bar that has beer and wine called El Prado - they also have a great record collection that they puill from and spin through out the night. My favorite taco truck is on one of the streets close by so normally I'll stop there for a couple of tacos after the show - and it's not uncommon to see others from the GOE stop by too.
Sunday's show was a good one. Old Californio is a great band - that now has 2 records out - sort of cross between country-ish rock and Grateful Dead-ish jam band rock - but also with a Beach Boys-esque harmony quality to them also - I would also throw a Moby Grape reference in there when describing the sound. They had recently been on the road and it showed - they were tight and in control and the songs flowed easily - and most of the people were grooving to the sounds.
They played the new album from beginning to end - Sundrunk Angels which I highly recommend picking up. It's still pretty new to me, but I recognized a lot. Also, I've seen them play quite a bit so I'm familiar with a lot of their material by now. I was happy that I was back in town for the show - since I knew it was going to be a good one.
Dan Janisch was also on the bill - he picked up the middle slot after someone had to back out. I've known Dan for a while now and he's a great, amazing guy. He writes some incredible songs and plays them with such a special energy. He's a awesome showman too and makes sure everyone is having a good time - without being phony about it at all. On Sunday he had a wonderful band - and they rocked and rolled through the set.
Before I moved to Nashville - almost two years ago now - Dan joined me at The Cinema Bar for my farewell to LA gig. It was a fun night that was originally going to be my CD release party - but things changed over the summer and I decided to move. Dan was also there when I booked my first night at the Cinema Bar - he did the opening set - and next month he's going to be joining me again for another gig - my LA birthday gig on the 21st (my actual birthday is on the 20th but I already have that booked down n Santa Ana at the Gypsy Den). It's going to be a fun time I know already - so it's definitely something to look forward to.
It feels good to be back in California, especially since I've heard the reports about the crazy heatwave that's been hitting the midwest. I'm glad I made it out of there before that rolled in. It's been warm here, but not hot - not like Texas or Arizona hot - or that midwest/southern humidity heat - and I am so thankful for that.
On Monday I'll be playing back at my home stage at The Cinema Bar with Rod Melancon starting off the night. I'm really looking forward to playing again since it's been over a week since I've hit the stage. I've gotten my rest and ready to go back to work.
This week I also plan on working on some new songs that I wrote while out on the road - we'll see how they fit in with everything else - or if they're too similar to others - you never know.
yours truly,
Jeremiah
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