over the heel

as mirabelle enters her second month on earth, i would never have imagined such a little thing could bring such great joy to her parents or make such prodigious pronouncements of her own vitality. She is a bonzai aphrodite (to borrow from Tom Waits) and reminds me of the Blake poem; "To see a World in a Grain of Sand, And a Heaven in a Wild Flower; Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, And Eternity in an hour..." --or something like that. i'm told she has my fingers and toes, in miniature form of course. And she responds approvingly to the six or so songs i penned and played for her while she remained in utero--how do i know? she nods along and 'vogues' with her tiny hands. here's where i'm playing music in april so far. stay tuned...

April 4--peyton tochterman and high society bring their lethal cocktail of bluegrass, jazz, and farmer-funk (hoe-brow) to the gravity lounge--guest starring john d'earth as jack tripper...er...that is, on trumpet--brian caputo (ka-sputnik) on drums--andy thacker on mando-ballet, sam (s)wilson on electrc guitar, and Darrell Muller on bass. see www.gravity-lounge.com and check the calendar for details

April 6--High Society opens for John D'earth, Dawn Thompson and the Miller's band at Starr Hill Lounge (www.starrhill.com) around 9 pm, i reckon.

April 6--I scoot over to Fellini's to join Jolie Fille from 10:30 - 1--with Tristan Puckett (Jolie T) on skins, Colum Leckey (Jolie C) on bass, David Goldstein (Jolie D) on fiddle and vox, and Paul Friedman (Jolie P) on mouth-harp and vox. J'ai te passe, bon ton roulette!

April 7--private party w/ High Society

April 14--Matty Metcalfe and Crewe d'Bayou perform at the "grand expansion" of Hines Musictronics on Ivy Road in Charlottesville at 4 pm. They cut down the flower shop walls to make room for a stage, many more instruments, and the friendliest, most knowledgable staff you'd ever try to stump.

April 21--Private--Esmont, Va--with Verbunk--see www.alexcaton.com for more info about this gypsy band

April 21--Matty Metcalfe and Crewe d'Bayou bring le zydeco to Fellini's for a night of stomp-boxing, two-steppin', and heavy fretting. Come for dinner and see the show at 10 pm.

April 22--I join Mike D'Antoni and Crewe d'Bayou on Peter Jones' WTJU radio show (91.1 FM in Charlottesville)--Tell Us a Tale at 1 pm. visit www.tellusatale.com for more info on this inimitable show.

April 27-28--I perform at the DC BID's French Market on Wisconsin Ave. in...Georgetown. Both days I will be clad in l'couffiere, l'beret, and l'martine, playing l'accordion.

April 30--I perform on accordion and mandolin at this year's most prestigous 'Michael R. Downey Selections Wine Portfolio Tasting' in Arlington, Virginia. My good friends Shannon Downey and Guillaume Turpin have a reputation for selecting the finest wines from Italy and importing them to the finest restaurants on our shores. It is a privilege and honor to be asked to add my lustrous bouquet of musical flavors to the aromatically-enhanced festivities.

I'll update the rest of April in a few days, for now it's back to the baby...bottle...