Demo: "In the Ghetto" (Mac Davis) (Patreon)

Alastair Moock has been hosting the Pastures of Plenty series at Club Passim for the last 23 years. This is a modern-day hootenany where Alastair and a handful of artists swap songs and tell stories together on stage. The list of past performers is astonishing, a veritable who's who of contemporary folk and Americana music.

When he invited me to be part of Pastures' 10th Anniversary celebration in 2010, I was thrilled.

Putting together a big show like this one takes some work. Each artist is asked to bring a few songs with the idea that we will collaborate during the show in a more or less musically pleasing fashion. But because we don't live near one another, rehearsals are unlikely. So we make home recordings, send them around via email, and the homework begins.

On show day, we run through the songs during soundcheck, break for dinner, and then just, y'know, go for it. Sometimes there's a slap-happy train wreck; sometimes, a goose-bumpy moment of pure transcendence. Usually it's both, and everything in between, over the course of a night. But that's the joy of live music, isn't it. Anything can happen ... and it just might be magic.

I don't have a recording of our rendition of "In the Ghetto" from that show, but I did find the rehearsal demo I sent around, and much to my delight, it still feels heartfelt and true, with its own little whiff of magic, at least to my ear. I thought you might enjoy hearing it, too. And heck. If you were joining me on stage that night, what instrument would you grab? What harmony would you sing? Feel free to experiment!

Livestream tomorrow: You may have heard this already, but Jim Henry and I had to reschedule October's livestream #44 because I was down with a sinus infection. We're good to go for tomorrow (11/7) at 3pm Eastern. Join us if you can! 

I hope you all are happy, warm, safe, and well. Thanks for being on this ride with me! xotg