Missionary Work

Look how sunshine is the punchline.

A clandestine dinner at an undisclosed location brings up the question of the evening. How much pig does any one person really need?

Music four ways followed at Gallery 5. Walking in, I asked the ticket taker how soon till music. "In a second," he said as the poet shushed me from the first row.

At that moment, David Shultz began singing. Timing is everything.

We had arrived too late for seats, though, so we found a table at the back and leaned in to hear his songs of "every once in a blue moon" and "spirits ain't too frozen."

As much as I enjoy David playing with his band The Skyline, it's always a pleasure to hear his heartfelt songs accompanied only by his guitar.

Athens, Georgia's Hope for agoldensummer was up next and, while I've seen them before, this time they were as much a comedy act as a musical one.

Don't get me wrong; the harmonizing of two sisters is a thing of beauty, but as someone who has five sisters can attest, sisters have a unique bond and language.

These two were hysterical,doing a sound check to a song about THC and LSD and talking about their long drive down I-95 today to reach Richmond.

Apparently they decided to learn a Robin song. "So we have this awesome three-part harmony," Claire explained. "But it looks like we forgot it."

Forging ahead anyway, they asked what the song's first note was, guessing F.

Their long-suffering male band mate looked over at them (no doubt after an endless afternoon hearing them practice this pop throwaway) and with just the slightest bit of condescension said, "It's an A!"

Only then did we hear any Robin.

They told of going to a corn maze ("We love corn mazes") and getting lost for four hours.

They'd seen a sign at the concession stand saying that if you created a song about the corn maze, you got a free candy bar.

Tonight we heard the song that won them the candy bar.

There was instrument trading, anecdote sharing and saw playing.

It may quite possibly have been the only saw playing going on in Richmond tonight.

But it should be noted that there was also vox saw courtesy of Jonathan Vassar and Speckled Bird, hot off their recent Obama rally performance, and playing next,

"I have to tell you, Michelle Obama's arms are even more impressive in person," Antonia shared. Damn.

During some technical difficulties with Josh's cello (how often do you hear that?), Antonia and Jonathan brought out the banter.

They also brought out the music, beginning with "Cold River Cold" and mentioning their upcoming CD release show.

Standing there hearing Jonathan's sad songs and Antonia's angelic singing with Paul's horn and Josh's cello or clarinet reminded me how far their sound has come since I first heard them.

It was always Americana but now there's a beautiful lushness to it.

Last up was the Diamond Center, a band I've seen scores of times and love for their fuzzy psychedelic big sound.

And yet the show poster had promised that they'd be playing "acoustic-ish."

That was way too alluring to pass up hearing.

Where was all that noise, tribal drumming and volume going to go?

They solved that by being a two-piece instead of a four-piece.

Guitarist Kyle led off with, "It's warm in here. I'm as sweaty as a whore in church," before launching into the most ethereal TDC sound ever.

Brandy's voice and acoustic guitar met Kyle's quieter guitar playing (it was still a Rickenbacker, after all) for a stripped down and yet still swirling sound.

She warned us that Kyle was going to sing a cover next and he even apologized in advance for it.

Turns out they did an excellent cover of Velvet Underground's "Candy Says" as well as some rarely performed older songs from their last record.

"We need to record a new album," Kyle admitted. Indeed they do.

A highlight arrived when the duo invited nine people up on stage and gave each a pitch pipe.

Up there was Matt from Snowy Owls, Allison from the Garbers, Dave Watkins and all of Hope for agoldensummer."

"If yours has an A, play A," Brandy instructed. "If not, play D and don't pass out."

Everyone followed instruction and the song had a special charm for the accompaniment.

The show ended abruptly when they realized how late it was getting, but I already had my satisfaction.

I may never hear them play that way again.

Leaving G5, it was an easy two-block stroll to Bistro 27 for late night cocktails and dessert.

Everyone I take to 27 lately is loving on the Simpatico, a riff on a Negroni, but I went simply with Cazadores on ice.

And a chocolate mousse because it seemed like the least difficult dessert to request at that hour.

Over drinks and a stellar soundtrack, we discussed evangelism, travel, overindulgence, five-year plans and organized religion.

Not bad considering the hour, but some credit must go to the barkeep who kept things lively.

In the words of someone else, "Just another Friday night."

Hey, as long as my night has a good punchline, it can be just another Anyday.

But sunshine's as good an analogy as any.

Crawling to Riesling and Music

I once did a pub crawl in the mid-90s and it involved jello shooters at a place that no longer exists in the Bottom. Alrighty, I decided, I'm just not the crawling type.

So naturally when I heard there was a Riesling crawl, I figured it was much more my speed. The only problem was that it was happening on an evening when I had non-negotiable music plans, so how far I could crawl was to be determined.

Inviting a friend to join me ("What the heck? Life is too short," she acquiesced), we parked mid-Carytown and sauntered over to Ellwood's Cafe for the first offering, a NV Wegeler Riesling Brut from Germany. We took our glasses and some housemade cheese puffs to the patio where other crawlers were sipping in the sunshine.

Since it was the first sparkling Riesling for both of us, we had nothing to compare it to, but it was nicely dry and a festive way to begin our evening.

My friend called it a good breakfast wine and I could see her point. We savored our bubbles before meandering down to Amour Wine Bistro to see what they had in store for us.

The answer was lots. They were doing "A View From Above," a Riesling flight, so, what the heck, we each got one. Naturally they were from owner Paul's beloved Alsace and offered a nice contrast to what we'd just had.

The 2008 Trimbach Ribeauville was the featured Riesling (for those unwilling to do the flight), no doubt because of the winery's major presence in the region. I loved its floral nose and long finish.

The 2009 Pierre Sparre had a nice acidity but a quick finish. The 2008 J. Fritsch was from a small producer, obviously made by a devoted winemaker and easily the most elegant of the three, soft and round with a lingering finish. Yes, we could drink this all night we decided.

Amour was also offering food pairings and we had the shrimp gratin with Pernod (obscenely rich and ideal with the Rieslings) and the smoked salmon in a pastry shell.

When my friend complained that her pastry shells weren't nearly as good, Paul offered to teach her the secrets.

He and I also got off on a tangent about dating since I'd heard from the mare's mouth that he was doing just that, causing him to ask me if I was. You haven't heard anything about me, I assured him.

By the time we finished the food and the flights it was 7:30 and, while we had enjoyed four different Rieslings, I had music looming on my horizon, so we never made it to the last two stops, Can Can and Secco.

The former is no big deal but I'll definitely need to stop by in the next few days and see what unique bottle Secco had chosen to pour. I can't not know or taste.

As seems to be the new norm these days, the Listening Room at the Firehouse was mobbed. I took a front row seat with the charming author to one side, the quiet musician on the other and the busy photographer a chair away. Now the show could start.

The Great Unknown offered up further proof that the City of Brotherly Love has a terrific folk scene as the Listening Room continues to bring them down to demonstrate.

Their harmonies were to die for but I was also totally captivated by the hand drumming (it's why I fell in love with Guster all those years ago), such a unique sound.

They've worked with schoolkids and collected phrases for lyrics and performed such a song tonight. They'd recently done the same with Martha Reeves (minus the Vandellas) at the Apollo Theater.

Jonathan Vassar had told me that his band had played an early-on show with Athens, Georgia's Hope for Agoldensummer years ago and been influenced by them.

A trio of two girls and a guy, their set tonight was testament to the power of siblings singing together; the two sisters' voices were magical in harmony. And easy on the eyes, according to the male on my right.

They covered Timbaland (to much laughing approval) and "Ain't Nobody's Business But My Own" (including a lyric alteration that sang "Antonia's so sweet," a nod to everyone's favorite vintage dress wearer and songbird) and did both really well.

Last up were the Green Boys from Fredericksburg with alt-country and a little bluegrass pickin' thrown in for good measure.

They were young and handsome and included a set of brothers (seatmate nudged me and asked, "So how do you like him?" no doubt to make himself feel better about ogling the sister act ).

I liked the warble in his voice a lot. I like that instrument trading went on. A friend liked the drummer's facial hair. There was plenty to like about the Green Boys.

All of whom, I might add, were much too young to remember the days of jello shooter pub crawls.