WYEP Music Blog

During the first week of February this year, Mr. Barb and I embarked on a week long journey through song.  The chartered cruise was called Cayamo (pronounced kay-AH-mo).  I would describe this inaugural event as Woodstock on water.  Ok, I realize there can’t really be another Woodstock and those that were there or say there were there or think they were there in 1969 will probably argue the point with me; but trust me this was quite a unique experience.

It was six days of sailing through the Western Caribbean with the cream of the crop of singer songwriters on board.  A new community of fans developed, united by the music.  We’ve never seen so many smiling friendly happy faces all in one place before.  The ports were secondary to the music on the ship.

Lounges, decks, atriums, lobbies and theaters provided unique venues for some very talented people.  Every night there was a headliner show.  I must confess here, I slept through many (okay most) of the headliners.  The shows were at 9:30 pm, after dinner.  When you’re sitting in a comfortable chair in a theater, with a full stomach and tired from running around all day, one tends to fall asleep.  I tried my best to stay awake and applaud at the appropriate times.  I understand from Mr. Barb I missed a lot of good performances.  It was all about the pacing, which we vow to be better at doing next year. I wanted to be awake for the 11:30 pm (and later) shows, so napping during the headliners seemed to work for me.

The Headliners (in the order I slept through them) were:

John Hiatt, Shawn Colvin, Lyle Lovett, Patty Griffin, Brandi Carlisle, and Emmylou Harris

Other singer songwriters on board included:

Adrianne, Ryan Bingham, Chuck Carrier, James David Carter, Clay Cook, Meghan Coffee, Patrick Davis, The Duhks, Danny Flowers, Gaelic Storm, Ernie Halter, David Ryan Harris, Ari Hest, Chris Janson, Keith Kane, Earl Klugh, Chrystina Lloree, Edwin McCain, Pat McGee, Buddy Miller, Miss Tess, Shawn Mullins, Oakhurst, Josh Rouse, Scarlet Kings, Holly Williams, Beth Wood, Clair Wyndham, and Brandon Young.

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Summer in the city means concerts and more concerts.

On August 2^nd I’m venturing down the pike to Philly to see Sheryl Crow along with James Blunt and Toots and the Maytals.  To be honest, I’m mostly going to see James Blunt.  The only time James was scheduled to be in the Burgh, his concert was cancelled.  I’ve been looking for the chance to see James, so when I saw he was touring with Sheryl this summer, I had to go.  James is a 21^st century singer songwriter with 70s songwriting sensibilities.  I last saw Sheryl almost two years ago when she co-headlined a tour with John Mayer which began in Burgettstown (a first night of the tour is like a glorified dress rehearsal, but fun for a fan to see it all coming together on stage).  I love Sheryl’s new CD “Detours”, I think it’s her best offering in years, taking us back to the “Tuesday Night Music Club” days with catchy timely lyrics.

A few days later, on August 6^th I will be heading east again, this time to Greensburg to see Edwin McCain.  It will be an acoustic trio show.  I’ve been a long time Edwin McCain fan, but never was able to see him in concert until this year and that was in the middle of the Western Caribbean on a cruise ship (more on that journey into song in another post).  Edwin is very funny on stage and I believe under-rated as a singer songwriter.  I look forward to another entertaining evening of great music. Read the rest of this entry »