Saturday night in Cambridge with family, friends and great music

A quick trip north for a Saturday night at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. We've been talking about getting together to see Sarah Borges up there for awhile now and we finally got schedules reasonably coordinated. We pick up brother Joe and Nancy in Somerville and meet Peter at Christopher's for some food before walking up Mass Ave, past Kay's fav spot Toad, to the Lizard, where we join up with Ron, Jan/Chris and Keith/gf. Boy, I thought Cafe Nine was intimate! Cozy little basement joint. Peter and I saw Sarah for the first time back in November at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River and I've dragged The Reet to Cafe Nine on a couple occasions with the boys and other friends; the others in our party have only heard her via her Silver City CD.

Everything finally gets started with Jimmy Ryan, singer/guitarist/madolinist extraordinaire, playing a full set. Ron recalls him from years ago with the Blood Oranges and scoops up a couple Ryan CDs for his collection. During the set, I chat with bassist Binky, whom we've met before at the Cafe Nine gigs. I ask about possible new music from both his groups (he and drummer Rob Dulaney are also thr rhythm section for Jake Brennan and the Confidence Men). He reveals that both groups have new songs, some recorded, but that a new release takes quite some time, coordination and refining. I share my disappointment about them not playing this year's Southington Apple Harvest Festival, but also understanding that no guarantee in case of rain is a deal breaker.

Sarah and the Broken Singles take the 'stage' and run through her now familiar, but energized set with guest appearances by Jake Brennan, guitarist Russell Chud and harmonica player Ken Camadeco. I was especially pleased to finally hear All This Weight, one of her strongest songs, live. Sarah was in good form, relaxed and confident, probably because she seemed to know half the audience. Chris likes the ballads better. Although Reet didn't care for the duo effort with Brennan, I loved it. He should play Cafe Nine. - Photos from show posted on modernacoustic.com.

I took what I thought was a photo, but the camera was on video - the resulting two-second video below:

Girl from Taunton discovers new country by JED GOTTLIEB - Article