After years of dorking around, the mysterious musical entity called "Swamptooth" finally took the stage on 9/28/2011 at Old Torrance Coffee &
Tea, to perform a handful of acoustic songs, open-mic style. On this occasion - its public debut -
the "band" was reduced to just the absolute core lineup: me, and my guitar!
 |
| Standing in for "Swamptooth" in this photo is a blues guitar player
named Jesse, who borrowed my Martin for a few songs of his own, 'cause
his own guitar was pretty awful. |
It was a warm autumn night, and the crowd was maybe 15-20 local
characters, split evenly between youngsters and fogies. Everyone was
laid back, attentive, and friendly, so the music got a good reception.
Songs performed:
- Moonshine Blues
- Blackbird
- Miller's Cave
- Hurricane Days
- Sing Me Back Home
- Blackbird (encore/request)
Quite a while after my set, one lady wanted to hear Blackbird again, so I was asked to return to the stage, which of course I did. I got a lot of compliments on that number. The other song that went over quite well was Miller's Cave, which I hadn't even planned to do. Moonshine Blues, on the other hand, was slow, with dark subject matter and some technical problems associated with my first-ever use of fingerpicks in a live setting. I would probably skip that one in future.
This was my first public musical performance in several years. So, yeah, I was a bit nervous beforehand. But having done it, I don't know why I waited so long. It was quite fun to do, and turned out pretty good!
I think Matt would dig it here; OTC&T would be a perfect whistle stop for Black & Blue, and is totally in spec for a Swamptooth extended testing ground. So I would DEFINITELY like to play here again.
