What a lovely surprise

After I got up this morning and was heartily annoyed by the ringing doorbell and the problems it brought (if you must know the details, it’s all here), I opened up my e-mail to find this lovely missive:

“William Elliott Whitmore will be playing several songs tomorrow morning, that’s Tuesday August 29th, at 10:30 AM at Love Garden. Love Garden will provide the coffee, you provide the coffee mugs.

xoxo
Mickey Roy, Jack, Sam & Ernie.”

Well, since I had opted out of seeing him at the Jackpot the night before, I decided to make the most of my day free from school and work and try to start my day off again, this time on the right foot.

It was a wonderful way to spend a morning. There was plenty of coffee, and two plates of donuts, courtesy of Love Garden and Mr. Whitmore was wandering around chatting with everyone who’d made it up at that early hour after seeing him play the night before.

The show got started around 11 or so, and everyone tapped their feet and drank their coffee while he ran through around five or six tunes, to the delight of everyone. I felt like a serious idiot for having skipped the show the night before, despite being right across the street when it was going on. But sleep took precedence over live music, as it does from time to time. I did get to see him, tho’, and in a much cooler setting than a noisy bar.

As he’s on tour now, and you likely won’t have the second chance I did, do go check him out. It’s one man with guitar and banjo, singing songs in a voice that’s far older and wiser than he. Down-home, bluesy stuff that I’d highly recommend for fans of the Black Keys or Tom Waits.

The Chariot

See photos from the Love Garden performance over at Rock Star Photography.