Seattle!

I had a great day yesterday with Kathleen and her partner Allister, who gave me a spot at the Burns Manor looking out over the mountains, fed me delicious meals repeatedly and took me around the little town of Snohomish. Washington state is really green and pretty. It's often cloudy so on clear days Seattle area folk say "the mountains are out today".

Kathleen threw a cocktail party with me as the featured entertainment. Kathleen throws a fantastic party and makes a killer cocktail. I was really happy to meet all her friends. Her friend Devin showed up with homemade gin, homemade limoncello, and his own bathtub absinthe. I forgot to taste any of them because I kinda forgot to drink any alcohol at all, but I had a good time.

My friend Teresa from Another Perfect Crime also made the drive up to Snohomish from Seattle to come hear me play! Teresa's band was the first band to ever play at the Mango Dome, while they were on their tour. I was to touched and honoured that she came to see me! She says when I come back to Seattle she can connect me with places to play and other acts to play with, which I am excited about!

I kept my set short so that people could resume mingling. People sang along and were enthusiastic which was fun. After I finished playing a dude approached me and said he plays in a trio in Seattle that does a lot of Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, and the Beatles and he wants to know if I'll come back to Seattle and guest with them and they'll give me a place to stay in the city. Ooh, well that sounds fun!

Then he grabbed a guitar and his date grabbed her violin and they sat down cross-legged on the floor and played some beautiful songs. He started in an alternate tuning and then was unable to make a smooth transition from one part to another because he had to switch between tunings so I joked that he needed a second guitar on a Gracie stand and he said "ha, I used to do that..." and I said "...with your old progressive rock band?" And he laughed and said "yup. For years I played in a Yes tribute" ha!! I love it when people who used to play in Yes tribute bands are enthusiastic about collaborating with me!! Then he proceeded to play just about every Paul Simon song and we both knew every word and sang in harmony and it was so fun and easy (special shout out to a creative acoustic guitar rendition of 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover that did not sound like the drums were missing). We went through heaps of other popular classics until the party dwindled and the cheese board was bare and I curled up in Kathleen's lovely guest quarters and fell fast asleep.

I'll definitely be coming back to Seattle sometime! -V.