The Week in Revue,(Parkside Lounge, The Fire, Ole Tyme Charleys)

You can quote all the phrases, sayings, points of view,... (it happened so fast my head was spinning, it was over before it started,..time flies when you're having fun etc.) and none of them would begin to explain the chaos and time spent this week in the path of our little Egress train. I haven't had a second to sit down and blog about any of the wonderful musicians, performers, or people we met and shared stages with this week, so at last, I must fit it all in this entry.

   Monday started out with Taylor and I in New York at Parkside Lounge with the fabulous Bitter Ruin! Touring here from the UK, they are here in the states promoting their album "Hung, Drawn and Quartered." They had been in Boston performing with Amanda Palmer before heading down our way and gracing the stage with their dramatic tellings and passionate accords. With their phenomenal harmonies and musicianship they left Taylor and I speechless as we watched. The Night consisted of Bitter Ruin and ourselves with a bit of spooky contortion by The amazing Amy, however the adorable Zoe Boekbinder made a brief cameo during Bitter Ruins set; with her song titled Chocolate Chips which was Georgias (from Bitter Ruin) favorite.

    Then it was onto Philly again with Bitter Ruin where Jason Webley had teamed up with Bitter Ruin for their tour, and I can't begin to tell you folks, what a splendid show it was and the stress and silliness that surrounded booking it for Taylor and I proved to be worth it when all was said and done.
     The night was opened by our favorite crew to team up with, local to Philly favorites, The Absinthe Drinkers, a friend of mine that had never seen them before had described them as Tom waits meets The Talking Heads with guitar stylings of The Ventures,.....either way,...they are wonderful unique performers and really down to earth great people to work with and I would suggest checking them out if you haven't done so yet!
   Then we took the stage, and do to time restraint we had only played 6 songs all with Taylor on the accordion, and joining us on stage was our dear dear friends Honor Amongst Thieves for some sideshow mayhem. We power housed through all of our songs to give the touring acts more time to play, and I have to say lugging all of that gear, setting up, the stress of running over, all for 6 songs was well worth it!
    Following us was the splendid Bitter Ruin with another cameo by Zoe, and soon to follow Jason Webley, who spent his time working the crowd into being his backing band/orchestra and spinning his all encompassing tales to a warm philly crowd.
    Last but certainly not least, Yula and the extended Family came in after being troopers and sitting in traffic, to end the night with amazing energy and soul. The 7 of them took the stage and reminded me of why we are doing this,....why every act there that night was doing it,.....for the love of playing and the people we meet along the way!

   Then there was Friday, Freakshow Friday to be exact, and I must say that it was by far our biggest one yet. The bill was huge, we had Rezlep Open the night,..followed by some of our favorite right hand men ( and women) and some new acts such as Arson, cracking his whip, the Amazing Amy with her contortion, the ever-awesome peeps from White Elephant Burlesque Society, Sir Hamburger James, Little Miss Jordana Rollarhoops,our dear friends Honor Amongst Thieves, and our very own Egress Burlesque lady the lovely Catalina Askew.
The space was so packed you could barely move and everything went with out a hitch. I have to say my favorite part was the Egress Parade and the new musical arrangements, with Jaclyn on Mandolin, John on tuba, Rachel on Violin and dueling Trombones! Alls said and done, we finished our stint at ole tyme charleys on a great note.

    Whew, well that was a mouth full, we will be around and soon to team up with Hellblinki form ashville nc,..... but more then anything working on finishing our album. I highly suggest checking our Bitter Ruin before they return to the UK, after all, its all about the communities we build,... help 'em out get out there and support!!
http://www.bitterruin.com
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