Dawn Xiana Moon: Melodic folk pop infused with passion and honesty. From Chicago.

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Saturday, May 14, 2005

Two Concerts

It’s been an interesting weekend (and Sunday’s not even here yet). Yesterday I was one of three local acts in an acoustic showcase before Akil Dasan’s set at the Trolley Stop—so I grabbed my newly-21 roommate (happy birthday, Sasha!), borrowed Alex’s car and my pastor’s guitar (as I own neither of these items), and drove through torrential rain to Taylor. It was the first time I’ve played at a bar. The crowd wasn’t huge but the other musicians were great: Tricia Concepcion played both guitar and keyboard, singing and playing multiple parts with herself thanks to a couple of fun effects pedals, and Steve Deasy filled the room with bluesy tunes that left me feeling a little foolish for playing my pseudo-jazz version of Summertime. I left with both of their CDs (Tricia just gave me hers, which I’m listening to right now, and Steve and I traded). Akil Dasan was also definitely worth watching—his first song was a stroll through hip hop hits on the acoustic guitar. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone beat box that well. Apparently he also has a background in classical guitar, because after freestyling to a few background tracks he played a two classical pieces just to prove that he’s a real musician.

Tonight I played for a Habitat for Humanity benefit in Monroe—for an audience of about seven, most of whom were musicians who had played before me. The event apparently wasn’t well publicized, but I did get to spend some time talking to Beth Stalker, who was nominated for a variety of Detroit Music Awards this year. And with good reason: she’s a wonderful musician who can’t decide if she should be playing blues, gospel, folk, or jazz. If you get a chance to see her live, go.

The benefit’s amusing moments consisted of Christian cheese: stuffed dolls of Jesus, Joseph (of Technicolor dreamcoat fame), Mary, and David (of Goliath fame), who could have doubled as John the Baptist with his furry tunic, and God Rocks—suckers that you’re supposed to dip into the attached pop rocks (remember those?). Oh, the jokes abound. It would have been hilarious to make the Jesus doll my new mascot. Today’s transportation was provided courtesy of my friend Andy, whose phone camera came in handy for capturing shots of us posing with the Jesus doll (aw, how cute).

Another amusing moment of the night came after the show: Andy and I stopped at Busch’s on the way home to pick up some food and when we walked out of the store a kid dashed up to us and asked if he could buy just one cigarette from either of us since the pack he’d just bought didn’t have any nicotine. His hopes were dashed when we both said that we don’t smoke. Random. Maybe he was too young to actually buy them himself?

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