Cypress Station presents Painted Mandolin
Cypress Dr., Fairfax, CA 94930 USA
3:00 PM, Monday, September 4, 2023

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[3:18 PM] {performers noodling; JC starts on violin and percussion}

1. [3:19 PM] Rosalie McFall (LG)
2. [3:23 PM] Whiskey in the Jar (MH)
   {LG tells us that he's celebrating his 65th birthday today; JC swaps to mandolin}
3. [3:29 PM] Russian Lullaby (JC)
   {LG introduces the next tune; JC swaps to percussion}
4. [3:37 PM] Bird Dreams (LG) » [3:42 PM] {JC swaps to violin} » jam »
5. [3:43 PM] Bird Song (MH) » [3:48 PM] {JC swaps to percussion for the conclusion}
   {MH sales pitch; JC swaps to mandolin & percussion}
6. [3:55 PM] Little Maggie (JC)
   {LG: the next tune is one we worked up with lyrics by Bobby Peterson; JC swaps to violin}
7. [4:02 PM] Upon the Road a Silver Scarab (LG)
   {PT says that one was in 11, 12, and 16 (he's a counter); JC now on violin & percussion}
8. [4:12 PM] Valerie (MH)
   [4:21 PM] {LG dedicates the next one to Robbie Robertson; JC still on violin}
9. [4:22 PM] Twilight (LG) » [4:25 PM] Cherokee Shuffle » [4:27 PM] Twilight reprise
   [4:29 PM] {set ends}

[4:55 PM] {performers out; JC begins on violin}

1. [4:57 PM] Playing in the Band » [5:02 PM] {JC swaps to percussion} »
2. [5:02 PM] Uncle John's Band (MH)
   [5:11 PM] {LG: “you guys are deep into the music”; Time for another birthday shot; JC swaps to mandolin + percussion}
3. [5:14 PM] Big Boss Man (JC-MH) » {JC exhorts himself to take the first solo: “go ahead Joe, take a solo”} » {MH solo} » {JC extemporizes a verse about Cypress Station} » {bass solo} » {another improv verse + final verse} » {JC swaps to percussion}
4. [5:21 PM] Fennario (LG) » [5:29 PM] {double time jam}
   [5:33 PM] {JC: “That one was for Casper” (Whitney's dog); LG: “here's a song about dead heads”}
5. [5:34 PM] Love in a Rose (MH) » [5:36 PM] {JC swaps to mandolin}
   [5:41 PM] {chit chat; JC swaps to violin}
6. [5:41 PM] Cryptical Envelopment (LG-MH) » [5:43 PM] Cosmic Charlie (LG/MH) (bluegrass rave up) » [5:47 PM] {JC swaps to percussion} » the Other One jam » [5:48 PM] {JC swaps back to violin} » Cosmic Charlie reprise » {JC swaps to percussion}
7. [5:50 PM] Hey Pockey Way (MH) » {bass solo} » {percussion solo} » [5:57 PM] jam » finale [6:01 PM] {tuning break; JC remains on percussion ? Seems crazy if he wasn't playing mandolin during the next tune, and I didn't notice!}
8. [6:02 PM] Reuben & Cerise (MH) » {JC on percussion}
9. [6:09 PM] Don't Let Go (LH) » {percussion solo} » [6:13 PM] {JC percussion on MH & LG guitars} » [6:15 PM] {bass jam} » {pregnant pause} » [6:17 PM] the Eleven tease » [6:18 PM] Don't Let Go reprise
   [6:20 PM] {set ends; LG band introduction; JC introduces the birthday boy; pause to get DR a beer}
    
   Encore
   {LG: this one's for Jen; JC on percussion}
10. [6:22 PM] Girl at the Crossroads Bar (LG) »
11. [6:25 PM] China Cat Sunflower (MH) »
12. [6:29 PM] I Know You Rider (MH-LG) (double time finale)
    [6:33 PM] {show ends}

Painted Mandolin

• Joe Craven: percussion, mandolin, violin, vox;
• Larry Graff: acoustic guitar, vox;
• Matt Hartle: acoustic guitar, vox;
• Dan Robbins: 5-string contrabass with low C extension, harmony vox.

I was uncertain about my identification of Russian Lullaby at first, but after a minute or two, I realized that it's because Joe began singing with a 1st verse omitted by Grateful Dawg (who start with the chorus, like most covers do): very clever chaps!

Larry prefaced Silver Scarab with a long digression about Bobby Peterson and how Painted Mandolin, Dark Start Orchestra, and others have been collaborating recently on an album of new tunes using poetry found after Peterson's death in 1987 (his archive now resides at UCSC).

Like one or more of the other tunes today, Twilight was rendered in a new arrangement as a bluegrass rave-up. Thus it worked perfectly to segue mid-song into Cherokee Shuffle, a traditional fiddle tune that's about a hundred years old by now. I loved the surprise factor with that one!

Set break is all too short (I needed more time to rest!), but it's impossible to resist the call of the music…

Big Boss Man is a real hoot, with JC wise-cracking big time throughout.

Love in a Rose is a Painted Mandolin original; it reminds me a bit of David Gans' Down to Eugene: a not-quite-a-story song full of observations of and allusions to the Grateful Dead scene. Write what you know, right?

The Cryptical » Charlie sequence was utterly amazing. Super fun to hear the classics broken down and reframed in new and interesting ways.

I'm embarrassed to relate that I didn't pay enough attention to note whether or not JC played mandolin during Reuben & Cerise. Seems like a given right? But by that point I was blissing with my eyes closed most of the time, and while I remember Joe's mouth percussion, I don't specifically remember hearing mandolin chops. Maybe Ting's pictures will reveal the truth!

Dropping the Eleven into the middle of the Don't Let Go space-out jam was another really inspired move.

And just like that, the afternoon was over. Darn. Sometimes the good times fly by way too fast!

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2023 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2023 event list! ☸ On to the next event!