Keep on rockin' in the free world...

When I first came to the Berkshires - after being a part of a sometimes 11 person rock and soul band at our church in Tucson - I was keenly aware of the more mellow and "wooden music" groove of our new home.  And so we started small and quiet - some accoustic guitar and folky duets - adding a few female vocalists to the mix, too. It was clearly a James Taylor kind of thing instead of Lyle Lovett's Large Band.

Tonight, however, we will be playing with 8 of the 9 people in our newly expanded band. (Andy has another gig.) So while our sound is still mostly tender, we've brought electric guitars and bass - and sometimes drums - into the heart of our sound so that we can do BOTH gentle AND edgy.  The event, a rally in support of Church World Service's CROP to End World Hunger will bring us into concert with two other bands (mostly young people.)  It will be like the reunion of Crosby, Still, Nash and Young or the Buffalo Springfield at a Wilco concert (with our band of middle-aged musians being the old-times)  It will be tons of fun and we will all be grateful for the chance to hang with some younger musicians in a church setting.  What's more, we get to groove with a band that includes people from 5 decades (that just hit me:  late 20s through early 60s!)

And while their repetoire will be mostly praise and worship tunes - and we'll share songs like  Collective Soul's "Shine," along with Bobby McFerrin's feminist 23rd Psalm - and a jazzy/blues rendition of brother Tom Waits' "Come on Up to the House" - it will also be a love fest and a blessing to be a part of this crazy mix!  Yet one more reason I love being part of the church.

NOTE:  We had a great time tonight: we were the liturgical "garage band" of the gathering - with the necessary wildass attitude and verve - while the kids were sweet and very talented. We had a ball.  Thanks be to God!