Buttery Bliss in the Northeast

Hot Buttered Rum String Band is finishing up their east coast tour. Tonight in Bryn Mawr, tomorrow for Bard College's spring fling, and then back to California for some SoCal churning before a special wedding day and then more tour in their newly retrofitted ecodiesel bus. Details at www.hotbutteredrum.net.

Not counting a sideshow at Hornings Hideout a few years back that failed to lodge in my memory bank -- I may have been off blissing on the peacocks -- I've seen HBRSB five times now. The first was last April (Holy Thursday) at The Independent, a San Francisco venue I spaced out in a few times in the early 90s when it was more of a rave disco. Butter was the supporting act for New Jersey's jamband, Railroad Earth, and after only an hour of their string-picking and flute-tooting I wanted MORE MORE MORE. Not Earth! Butter!!!

NYC got some of its own churn with an exciting show at the Lion's Den in August (a terrible sound system in that little brick room!), another brief opening set at B.B.King's November 2, which we arrived at late (although since they were followed by Peter Rowan/Tony Rice one can't complain), and a few weekends ago at Tribeca Rock Club (which hubby made but I had to miss). Passover got in the way of our aspirations to a three-setter in New Hope PA, so on Wednesday night I put on my driving gloves and took Lunabella up to Bridgeport, CT. Although the Acoustic Cafe was a nice, comfortable vibe, I go to live music to dance and this was very much a seated show. Their encore at the next gig (Ironhorse Pub, Northampton MA, hipstorian not in attendance flask alas!) was a cover of "You Make me Feel like Dancin" and last night's throwdown in Teaneck, NJ fulfilled that prophecy.

Mexicali Blues is a sweet little venue hiding in a quiet town off Route 4 - well-designed for sound and optically pleasing with its choices in lighting & Grateful Dead artwork. But the band, if a tad tardy getting onstage while waiting for city stragglers to get in the door, made my 20 mile drive with double-bridge tolls well worth the effort. Soaring fiddles and ecstatic flute vibratos put an end to my preliminary plan of leaving after first set. Thumping bass and sweet pickin' and strummin' on the mandolin and guitar made me revel in the beauty of this music genre. And it was a large enough crowd to give the room some energy, but still enough space for the dancers to get into a serious symbiosis with the musicians. None of us could get our cellphones to work for uplinks to friends and loved ones in other geographies, but we tried! Plenty of Irish heart strings being pulled and angelic energies floating around the dancefloor. And even a little Cajun nod to all the jamband fans doing their collective thing in New Orleans this weekend.

Jennga showed off her new Rye-esque spinning footwork, Sunshine Bob did his thang, and the Ronquillos & compadres plied the band with several rounds of topshelf tequila. I also got my freak on but good. (Lishy danced her ass off? No.... I know you can't believe it). Anyway, among my favorite songs, although I don't have the complete setlist, were The Crest, Idaho Pines, Homeless Man, Irish Medley 2, and Evolution.

If you like Yonder Mountain String Band, I dare say you will LOVE Hot Buttered Rum. Too bad they aren't part of The Big Classic with SCI and friends!

Despite that fun looking ensemble, our summer tour plans remain contingent: I have a dissertation screaming to be finished, the triannual Berks conference on the History of Women is going down at Scripps in early June, and our spiritual teacher is visiting from India for two months. Then there's this little matter of my stepson's college tuition. But that Wakarusa festival in Lawrence Kansas (June 17-19) is looking more and more enticing after the last few Buttered nights. Or maybe we'll even have to get ourselves to High Sierra Music Festival, now in Quincy CA, after all these years.