AUGUST INTIMACY: LEFTFIELD GIG #2

Hi there, OBB Family!

Last Friday night (August 19th), I knew something was up when three of the four cars carrying band members and equipment found parking spots right in front of the club! It must be late August in NYC and folks are away! Their loss! :)

So we had a small and dedicated audience for our longest set to date -- 90 minutes. Neighbors from the block, work friends, music friends, high school and college friends were all present. Special mention goes to Guy & Kim Fish, who drove in from Massachusetts, and Joy Edwards, who is the first winner of a free OBB hat for attending three consecutive NYC OBB gigs!!! Thank you all!

The band was comprised of Mitty Owens (percussion/vocals), Selah Spruiell (percussion/vocals), Kelly Skaller (vocals), Barry Kornhauser (cello), Jay Katz (keyboards/vocals), Douglas P. Murphy (guitar), Jonathan Hoffman (drums), and yours truly.

Our performance was dedicated to our vocalist, Wendy Ward, and her family. Wendy did not perform with us because her mom had emergency surgery earlier during the day and Wendy was where she needed to be. Our prayers and love were and remain with the Ward family.

We were also without brother Geoffrey Owens, who is appearing in a Long Island stage production of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and bassist Darryl Clark, who had a conflicting jazz gig in New Jersey (you can hear Darryl and his friends on Reverb Nation.) Barry did an absolutely outstanding job handling the bass duties, and guitarist Doug covered Geoffrey's parts with passion.

This show also marked the return of Kelly Skaller, who came through on only one rehearsal, and the debut of drummer Jonathan Hoffman, who had to learn more than 15 songs in 10 days and did a good job! Life is much better when you have a real drummer (In addition to our awesome percussionists, we were using a drum machine since we lost Henry).

In addition to more original songs ("Home Again" and "Goddess"), our set now includes Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground", Carole King's "Natural Woman", and a hot medley of Michael McDonald's "Takin' It To The Streets" and Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va". Yeah, we had fun!!!

We appreciate having had the opportunity to play at Leftfield On Ludlow -- again.

So our next gig is on Saturday, September 17th (free) as part of ArtSlope! Stay tuned to our website for details.

We'll see you there!

Peace!