Patches And Gretchen/Scarlet Rivera/Aimee Mann! 3 Nights Only!
For me it all began in the summer of 2008, I was driving by my friend Michael Etoll’s house and he threw out the window from the second floor of his duplex a brand new Compact Disc. He told me to listen to it and I would like it, he was working on a website for the band at the time. The jewel case cracked but the disc played fine. It was called Music From Little Big Pink and the band was called Patches And Gretchen. That lead to a video of Precious Angel that I found on You Tube which featured the lead singer doing her version of this song with a poster of Bob Dylan as the backdrop to it. I took notice! Fast forward to July 10th, 2009 and I am sitting next to Jim Walsh listening to the band in concert at The Music Box Theatre. I remember making comments to each other and we both agreed it was Patti Smith meets The Velvet Underground amongst many other unexplainable things! I have very rarely missed any of their shows since that night. Fast forward to March of 2010 and the band releases their second great disc called Sugar Head Pie. Fast forward once again to Monday, September 13th, Tuesday September 14th and Wednesday September 15th, 2010 when at 7pm sharp the band will take the stage at the Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant in Minneapolis! Let me introduce the boys playing, on drums will be Tommy Tousey, on bass will be Paul McFarland, on guitars will be Mike Leonard and Terry Eason, and the newest addition to the band will be newly married Tom Siler on keyboards making his debut with the band. Of course all this will be fronted by on lead vocals and numerous other exciting visuals Gretchen Seichrist. Joining the band all 3 nights on violin will be special guest Scarlet Rivera!
I first met Scarlet back in 1977, when she was doing her own headlining tour shortly after The Rolling Thunder Review tour and our paths keep crossing through the years just like another twist of fate. She is still my favorite violinist yesterday, today and tomorrow. Nobody plays like her! She can play any kind of music. Refresh your memory and listen again to Desire, Hard Rain and the Live 1975 Bootleg Series and you will agree with me if you don’t already. This is going to be a magical combination with her fiddle and Gretchen’s vocals, watch out! They will be playing songs from both discs and some classic covers which will not be forgotten! Headlining all of this will be none other than Aimee Mann!
This from the 1986 ‘Til Tuesday Welcome Home album comes to my mind “We got back in the car and listened to a Dylan tape, We drove around the fields until it started getting late, And I went back to my hotel room on the highway, And he just got back in his car and drove away, Coming up close, Everything sounds like welcome home, Come home and oh, by the way, Don’t you know that I could make, A dream that’s barely half-awake come true, I wanted to say-but anything I could have said, I felt somehow that you already knew” Aimee will be opening her fall tour here http://www.aimeemann.com/tour.php with a 3 piece band including long time collaborators Paul Bryan and Jamie Edwards. In addition to showcasing a range of songs from her extensive catalogue, she will also treat her fans to a special preview of several new songs from the upcoming musical debut she has been writing; based upon her 2005 album The Forgotten Arm. Her latest disc @#%&*! Smilers features a song called Medicine Wheel that was based on a poem that Gretchen wrote and that my friends brings these shows to a full circle. Maybe that song will be played live? Anything can happen! Find out for yourself and do not miss this event! Tickets and other information at http://www.dakotacooks.com/2010/07/aimee-mann/. See you there, 3 Nights Only!