Music in the Middle

I know we’re living in Internet time, but this pic goes all the way back to last weekend (I know, shocking), at the John Scarpulla recording session at Tom White‘s studio in Middleburgh, near Cobleskill, NY, in the Catskills region. That’s John with the guitar, and you can see me on the right through the glass, looking intently at his fingers to make sure I’m playing the right note.
Scarpulla Sessions

I’ve been in a lot of recording studios, but this was probably the first one with horses outside. Here’s one of Tom’s beauties.
Horse at Tom White's Place

Cobleskill’s a nice upstate town with a pretty happening arts community (and some really nice Victorian houses).
Cobleskill House

On the way back to the city, we stopped at this other little house, which is also kind of nice. (For scale, note the tiny figure of Elisa in the white hat, lower left.)
Olana

Back in the Apple, Soul of the Blues featured Carol Thomas, in her first real gig after having her baby, and (pictured) Speedo’s Billy Rose Band.
Speedo's Billy Rose Band at Soul of the Blues, Cornelia Street Cafe

Meanwhile the Kings County Blues Band played what was probably its last gig at the Baggot Inn, which is sadly slated to close. Here’s me on bass, with Jeremy Kaplan on drums and Allan Spielman on keyboards. I’ve been hanging out at the Baggot Inn since the 80s, when it was the Sun Mountain Cafe. It was the first place I got regular gigs after I moved back to New York post-college. A dive then, it’s since had a great makeover and has lately been one of the nicest live-music watering holes in the city. Very sorry to see it go.
Kings County Blues Band at the Baggot Inn

One thought on “Music in the Middle”

  1. Sad to learn that the Sun Mtn aka Baggot Inn is closing. I remember one of your early gigs in the 80s – might have been the only time in my life I was tempted to perform in public. Good thing for all eight people in the audience that they were not subjected to my George Thorogood homage.

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