While this country is going through some turbulent times politically, during this start of the holiday season I have a lot to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day. Besides being in good health and living with my lovely wife and singing partner Claudia Hampe, for being a part of the entire extended Carlin family, having my kitties, and friends like you, one of the things that I am most grateful for is having music in my life. I have been playing bass and guitar for 56 years now, and while I have never achieved wealth or fame from doing either, none of this matters, as music makes me happy, and I will always be appreciative of the endless opportunities and experiences that I have been part of, whether it be singing on stage or just playing in the living room.
All of this being said, every once in a while something magical happens while performing, and last night was one of those times. My Keystone Canyon trio had a gig at The Depot Café (our local favorite place to play) here in downtown Mill Valley, CA, and our good friend and former bandmate Dana Rath played mandolin and guitar with us in place of our regular member, Gary Bauman, who is out of town for the holiday. For the festive occasion I invited some other musicians to come down to sit in and play/sing some songs with us. Dana’s talented daughter Emily sang a few songs, as did Lorin Rowan and John Pearce, and Patrick LePelch played flute and harmonica.
But the biggest surprise of all was my all-time favorite singer and performer, renowned bluegrass picker and singer/songwriter Peter Rowan, who not only sat in, he played the entire night, on electric guitar, and he sang about a dozen songs. (How is this for serendipity? And I kid you not! As I am typing here, Peter, with one of his former bands, Old & In the Way, is singing “Wild Horses” on the folk channel on Sirius). Not only did he sing some of his hits, but he did a mini blues set of tunes, including a smoking version of Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.”
When I was producing monthly bluegrass shows at the nearby Sweetwater from 1999-2007, I had Peter play 16 times. He always drew huge crowds and never failed to put on a great show. And not once did he do the same show over again. For those of you who are unaware of him, look him up. His playing with us was, to me, akin to Willie Nelson dropping in on a country band playing a local bar gig.
It was a show for the ages, one that I will cherish forever. Hopefully, it will happen again soon, as one of the many fortunate things about living in this town so close to San Francisco is that you never know who might turn up at your next show!
The first photo is from last night, and the second one is from 1999.
