Lauderdale, Grisman and company out in West Marin
It was one of those beautiful, timeless Sunday afternoons at Rancho Nicasio yesterday when Jim Lauderdale took the stage and began a soulful, inspired set of at least two and a half hours of his amazing songs. Backed by Keith Little on banjo and Paul Knight on acoustic bass, Lauderdale performed songs such as Life by Numbers, Calico, Molly’s Got a Chain, and the list goes on and on, far too many for me to remember, but consistently inspired renditions from his considerable repertoire. After less than an hour he was joined by David Grisman for the duration. Three consecutive songs from the Headed for the Hills CD (the title track, Trashcan Tomcat, and one other) was one of many highlights, but it was their version of “Friend of the Devil” that really raised up Jerry’s spirit (Garcia was residing in Nicasio when he passed away back in ’94 or so). I swear Grisman morphed into Jerry for a few seconds there, but that’s just between you and me. And I swear it wasn’t the IPA’s, either. However, Lauderdale did confess early on that he was tripping . . . ” tripping down memory lane,” as he quickly qualified it. Perfect afternoon, beautiful space at Rancho Nicasio, great crowd (many of whom had come to see our very own Poor Man’s Whiskey), and Jim Lauderdale and David Grisman, both on their game. Need I say more? I will, though–it was one for the ages.