On Practicing Guitar

News Dispatch

The Gram Parsons-themed band Sleepless Nights was planning to start laying down basic tracks on Saturday January 23^rd for their upcoming release but fate intervened in the form of a historic blizzard. Guitarist Christian Botta was planning to brave the predicted thirty inches of snow and head over to vocalist and pedal steel player Ron Raymond’s home studio in the Lower East Side of Manhattan but he was warned not to go by many concerned parties.

“I thought maybe the worst thing that could happen was I’d be buried alive in a snow drift like Blind Lemon Jefferson,” he said, adding that “cooler heads prevailed.” The recording is scheduled to commence next week. Songs that are on the short list include “Sin City,” a Burritos original written by Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons; “You’re Still On My Mind,” a tune made famous by George Jones that Gram recorded with the Byrds in 1968; “Sweetest Waste of Time,” a duet written by Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson that will feature Ron and vocalist/guitarist Ellen Croteau; and “Dead Flowers,” by the Rolling Stones.

Chris, Ellen and Ron at the HiFi Bar                                                                                                                                       Photo by Edie Nadelhaft

Ellen recently made her debut with Sleepless Nights at the HiFi Bar on Avenue A in the East Village on January 10^th. The set included the songs mentioned above, minus “Dead Flowers” but plus “Wild Horses” and “The Singer Not The Song,” an older Stones tune from the Andrew Loog Oldham days. Chris said, "It was a great experience for me, lots of fun. I don’t get to play acoustic guitar live that much, and sitting there with one and singing three-part harmony made me feel like I was in CSN. Ellen did a great job coming in and learning all that material so fast. She’s our Emmy Lou, even if we don’t have a Gram or Chris Hillman. We do have a King Bee, though."

Colin Poellot and Liam Webster of the Sunday Sessions House Band

It was a happy occasion with the usual suspects that play the HiFi Bar Sunday Sessions showcase, including the house band, with Barbara Lynn Cantone, lead vocals, Liam Webster, guitar, Colin Poellot, accordion, and Daniel Geoghegan, drums, and soul/jazz singer Katie Pipkin featured as the headliner. But there was an element of profound sadness that no one knew about, or perhaps more aptly, a silent tribute in song, if that’s possible, when Barry Komitor performed “Space Odyssey” to the highly appreciative crowd. No one knew at the time that David Bowie had in fact died that very day. It was a little spooky, after the fact, although it’s certain that those in attendance were glad to have had that moment, however unaware they were at the time.