Svasti the fan girl

Tags

Broken, Drool, Eyebrows, Fan girl, Gigs, Jay Cortez, Jeff Martin, Music, Rock n roll, The Armada, The Tea Party, Wayne Sheehy

I know… I’m meant to be writing the post about my horrific eyebrow waxing experience, and that’s coming. But right now, I’m very distracted! Actually, I’m feverishly buzzing…

Its 1.30am and I’ve just come home from seeing my most favorite musician in the whole world!!

That would be Jeff Martin, formerly of The Tea Party. I’ve been a fan for over fifteen years. The man is a poet, a prolific musician and lyricist, he’s tall, dark ‘n’ handsome, has a fantastic Canadian accent, undeniable stage presence and to top it all off, he’s totally HOT!!

I stuck with Jeff through his solo years when The Tea Party broke up, saw all his solo/acoustic gigs, and watched as he worked new material in front of intimate audience groups. Then tonight, I had the honour of attending his very first official gig with his new band, The Armada.

They have a great big dirty, hard rock/world music sound with an awesome drummer (Wayne Sheehy) and bass guitarist (Jay Cortez). Their music rips through your entire body like a throbbing drum beat… it was a mind-blowingly awesome gig!

The new material was brilliant, but Jeff isn’t above playing his old hits too. The man rocks hard, then sings lullabies, takes it to the blues, and mixes in some Arabic sounds. When he sings softly, there’s not a sweeter sound, but when he lets rip, it’s one of the hardest rocking and best voices in rock ‘n’ roll today!

Okay, so have I drooled all over my blog enough yet? Hehe!!

No? Okay then, let me tell you how the night ended up!

After an amazing encore, one of the roadies came out and said Jeff and the band would be signing autographs etc, so to hang around. I didn’t have to be told twice!!

While lining up, I met the nicest woman and since I only had my mobile phone camera, she offered to take a picture of Jeff and me with her super-duper camera, and email it to me.

Jeff is just so generous with his fans (I tried my best to be cool, but I’m not sure I managed that 100%!) – for the photo he pulled his arm around my waist in a very cosy hug, resting his head on mine!! I have to say, I never like photos of myself, but I love this one! In it, I’m totally glowing with happiness. So, I should get it via email in the next couple of days (yippee!). I also have a signed tour poster (which will get framed)!

I even got to have a brief chat with Jeff, telling him how long I’ve been a fan, how happy I am he has his new band and thanking him for keeping on keeping on. Talked a little about how I love the way he blends in Arabic sounds as well as the stuff that really hits home for me.

He’s a genuine bona-fide rock star, and he’s also a very sweet and humble guy. And adorable!

One of the highlights of the night for me (besides pressing the flesh with JM), was when he sang Broken (link is to a fan recorded You Tube video).

I love this song because he sings it so sweetly, but also… the lyrics really speak to me as something that happens to us all from time to time, and its certainly somewhere I’ve been recently (sorta still there). Those lyrics are:

Can you hear her

In the wasteland

Hear her calling

Calling to you

From the wasteland

She feels broken

Broken

Because she can’t see the forest for the trees

So send a letter

Say you love her

Say you need her

In the wasteland

Can she hear you

Hear you calling

From the wasteland

You feel broken

Broken

Because you can’t see the forest for the trees

Words were spoken

Now love feels broken

Because you can’t seem to tell her what she needs

She feels broken

Broken

And you can’t seem to calm the stormy seas

She feels broken

Broken

Because she can’t see the forest for the trees

~Broken, by Jeff Martin

My ears are ringing, and I’m not sure if I’m gonna get much sleep tonight. But I’m ecstatically happy to have met one of my musical heroes (and a total hottie!)

~Svasti

Revisiting the music

Tags

Andre, Blues, Bob Marley, Coffee shop politics, iTunes, Jazz, John McLaughlin, Music, Paco De Luca, Pulling Up the Stone, Ritchie Havens, Scarlet Flames, Sheila Chandra, The Tea Party, Travels Arabian

Warning: this post is gonna make me sound like an angsty sixteen year old…

I might’ve mentioned before that Andre is a jazz/blues musician, who owns more guitars/other instruments than one person will ever need. So when we were together, a big chunk of our time had a lot to do with music.

Before that one horrible night – when he wasn’t playing me his own stuff or other songs in amazing mini-concerts right in my own home, we were seeing live gigs or doing music swaps.

I had numerous Tea Party albums he wanted, as well as some trip-hop/instrumental/percussion based stuff. And in return he gave me some of the classics and his favourites including people like Sheila Chandra, Ritchie Havens, John McLaughlin, Travels Arabian, Bob Marley and Paco De Luca.

And I loved all the stuff he gave me.

But – I haven’t been able to bring myself to listen to it. Especially Ritchie for some reason. The combined charms of his mellow vocals, profound lyrics and brilliant guitar playing just… got under my skin or something. And it hurt.

They’ve all been there in my iTunes, and I’ve spent a great deal of time avoiding playing those tracks – yet never quite being able to bring myself to delete them.

I mean, it’s not the musicians’ fault or anything. That the person who gave me this stuff…

Anyway. So today, sitting here at work and finding little else that hit the spot, I decided – damnit!! – enough is enough! No more avoiding Ritchie. I really, really wanted to hear Scarlet Flames and Pulling Up the Stone and all the rest again.

But it’s been a bit reminiscent of the old high school days… you know, when you couldn’t be friends with someone who your friend was no longer friends with. Or like in more recent times, when we had to change coffee shops here at work because our regular stopped giving us a discount (despite the ridiculous amount of money my team spends there every day on coffee and food), and now we go elsewhere…

Be who you are, be who you are, be who you are…
Say what you’re feeling, say what you’re feeling…
~ Ritchie Havens

Just like that old friend that you couldn’t really talk to for social/political reasons, it’s a joy – tinged with sadness – when you finally sit down and get reacquainted.

~Svasti