Oct. 22, 2008

 It’s always at the last minute…..but, hey, nowadays what isn’t? 

Around here, it’s always the last minute. You know the minute I’m talking about, right? You had plans, but they changed, at the last minute. Last week you were going to go out, but at the last minute, something came up. And then there was that week when you were going to stay home, but at the last minute, you went out. It’s just like the stock market nowadays, one minute it’s up…… and then at the last minute, well, you get the idea. 

And that brings us to Kate Gaffney. You see, she’s on tour, and yes, at the last minute, she scheduled a solo acoustic show in Hood River. She’s promoting a brand new record, “The Coachman.” I checked out some of her tunes on the web, and I was impressed. She’s now a California based singer-songwriter, and she usually plays with a full band. I think if you like Sheryl Crow, Nora Jones or Gillian Welch, you’ll like Kate. The style is Americana, and the album, “The Coachman,” sounds great, there’s a full back-up band of guitar, mando, pedal steel, drums and B3 organ. Track 2 completely rocks; I keep hitting the repeat button. That’s always a good sign. 

I interviewed Kate about band, her connection to Hood River and got some details on her producer, Barrie Maguire, who has worked with The Wallflowers, Natalie Merchant, and Amos Lee. 

I finally asked Kate about the title track for “The Coachman” (an 18 minute song, by the way). I’m glad I did, because you just never know what you’re going to find out about this stuff. It turns out Kate’s album is named after an old hotel in Cape May, New Jersey. I’m sure as a kid, I must have been down there once or twice during the summer, since we always used to hit the Jersey shore around there, and for many years, my parents vacationed in nearby Wildwood Crest. 

Come to think of it, I threw that question in at the last minute. 

Kate Gaffney plays Friday, Oct. 24, at the River City Saloon. $7 cover.

 Read Jim’s interview with Kate Gaffney here

 Reader mail:

Kevin [kjkingrey@gmail.com] writes: 

Subject: Hey bud, nice blog!

 Jim,

The name of that band Tobias Ammon played in with Kevin Kingrey was and is, Gipsy Ale.  Yeah, that name escapes me too, never have been that crazy about it. We are up and playing again, but now with my 21 year old son Tyson on guitar and his longtime classmate and bandmate Ryan McAlexander on bass. It's pretty cool.  We are at Harvest fest tomorrow 3 to 5. Hope to see you there.

Hey i love your blog! It must be pretty fun to put that together.  Keep on with it, good on ya!

Best regards,

Kevin
--
Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day.
-Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
-Teach a man to create an artificial shortage of fish and he will eat steak.
-Give a fish a man, and he'll eat for weeks!

 Comments? Send them to: jdrake@hoodrivernews.com