Monday, January 23 was very rainy and windy as Saints & Sinners headed out to the LIC Bar for our first show there. As I left the subway station and headed towards the river, the wind continually threatened to blow my hat off and lift my umbrella up to the heavens. I felt like a bolt of lightning was coming any second… I thought of… The Exorcist!
I was worried that I had gone the wrong way. It was a grand relief when I saw the lights of the LIC Bar a block or two down Vernon Boulevard. The bar itself turned out to be as inviting and reassuring as those lights were, with warmth coming from both the radiators and the people within. The bar has an excellent sound, and I could hear a hint of Joni Mitchell in the harmony and keyboard driven songs of Amelia Cormack coming from the stage in the back.
We played a set with Mark Feldman on drums and again the sound was terrific. I broke a string midway through, something that I don’t usually do. Was it some kind of a sign? Our bass player Dave Gerstein told some jokes during the interim to the obvious delight of the crowd. We finished off with a couple of Robert Johnson covers. You can access our version of his “Malted Milk” by clicking on the button below.
We were followed by Felix Slim, a terrific finger picking blues guitarist and singer in the Piedmont style who also added harmonica and kazoo on a couple of numbers. Thanks to the Lady Migdalia who took the picture of us above and provided support and encouragement. A final good omen came when we got off the stage – the NY Rangers had beaten L.A. I will certainly be returning the LIC Bar sometime soon! -Christian Botta
On Practicing Guitar 
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