Susan Hwang has done a great job with the Bushwick Book Club cd. I got it last night and have already listened to a lot of it although with 58 songs, I have a way to go. What stands out is the very high quality of the songwriting. Some of this has to do with Susan's good judgment in the songs she chose to include. But it also is credit to the Book Club itself, which inspires such interesting creations. It's great to have this document of the Book Club's first year and also the snapshot of our broader scene that it represents. Tom Bayne's cover -- a class picture in caricature -- in visual form also captures the many characters who have contributed.
Last night's show marked the cd release and also a regular Book Club night focusing on Dolly Parton's autobiography. Susan kicked things off, Maria and Franz played remotely via Skype, a woman who's name I don't know was dressed as Dolly (sort of, I think) and did a fun yodelling number with audience foot stomping, The Hooters, three chicks (one on banjo, one on guitar and all on vocals), did a fun country-flavored number about how they've slept with everyone but so and so...you kind of had to hear it but it had a spoon playing and whistle blowing break down section. Some of the playing was a little wobbly but to me that was the hit of the night. It was a bit of a novelty number that you could kind of imagine at the Grand Ole Opry.
Angela Carlucci told a story about how Dolly's mother would cheer up her kids by asking them to go outside and find stones and the kid who needed the most cheering up had his or her stone put in the soup...Major Matt played in a blonde Dolly wig, Joe Crow did a number at the piano....
It was a fine and fun night....
The Tuesday Tea Cup followed and Preston played one of my favorite songs of his, Gardenias. The song is about senility, basically, but it had people dancing in the aisles, literally. Mark Palermo also played a Hendrix tune. Good going Mark.
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