I'm a Lucky SOB

I am lucky. I'll admit it.

Curiosity compelled me and Kay to follow a stream of people into a building in Portland today. We were standing near the end of the line and an usher(ette) said, "Are you here for Jackie Greene?"

Us: "Um. Who? What? We don't even know where we are!"

Her: "C'mon in! There's a few seats left. Enjoy the show. Jackie'll play about 35 to 40 minutes."
And away we went into the unknown ... and what a fun surprise it was!

Jackie Greene, heretofore unbeknownst to us, performed at the Bing Lounge - a live concert venue for KINK - FM radio station. KINK - FM has been playing Jackie Greene's music for years and apparently he's a fast-rising singer songwriter. The theater was perfect - the fidelity was crystal clear and you could hear every note. Jackie played last night in Portland and was on his way to Seattle for a show there tonight - so his time was short.

Jackie plays the kind of music I really enjoy - a bluesy, heartfelt version of Dylanesque songs. It was great! How'd I not know of this guy before?! Apparently he plays with his brother a lot, but his bro wasn't around for this gig. A KINK - FM DJ interviewed him in between songs (now on KINK-FM's website Jackie Greene - kink.fm).
We completely enjoyed this surprise and look forward to seeing Jackie again when he plays Milwaukee. Give him a listen by checking out his website (http://jackiegreene.com/home/) or by viewing the video below.




Update: my luck didn't run out at noon either! We left our hotel last night about 8 o'clock and heard a ruckus up the street. "What the heck's that? Let's check it out!" we said and we discovered the most fun street band I've ever seen - All the Apparatus. What fun! People dancing in the drizzling mist to this incredibly large but entertaining band! I am probably doing them a disservice calling them a "street" band - they're just a band who hasn't hit it big yet, but they're knocking on the door. They remind me of a Los Campesinos! meet Arcade Fire with a dash of The Decemberists. Great stuff.