Enjoy live music this past year? Well, that was a shit show. The touring year began as most do, picking up steam in February before the emergency break was pulled mid-March in most of the country. From that point on, live music became increasingly rare to find. All sorts of music began streaming across the web. Artists began playing in their living rooms, which for some bands amounted to more than five homes. It was intimate, there was great variety and a lot of historical concerts got airplay! What’s not to love?

For me, it was sharing the experience of the performance with friends, old and new together, that was missing. The shutdown demonstrated to me the tremendous impact to one’s psyche of experiencing music live with others! This is not a knock on the great streaming shows available, just an acknowledgement that there is no substitute for the live thing. Streaming shows service an audience who either can’t physically make it to a show or get shut out of tickets for a live performance. However, this digital option can easily get overexposed.

The year began with a surprisingly strong array of musicians coming through Charleston.  January saw performances by Lettuce, Grace Potter, St. Paul and the Broken Bone, local favorites Forty Mile Detour, and the ensemble performance of Women and Willie Nelson. Grace Potter’s opening act, Devon Gilfillan deserves special recognition as an up-and-coming artist!

Working at the Charleston Music Hall puts me in position to see more than my share of music and other performances. In February, comedians book-ended the music in between. Kathleen Madigan and Gary Gulman played to sold out houses while Tesla/Bad Marriage/Red Reign, Amy Grant and Tommy Emanuel provided excellent performances across different genres.  Amy Grant receives special kudos for an impressive performance.

March comes in like a lion…in March, I got to cross another off my Bucket list when I took in Bob Weir and the Wolf Brothers at the Ryman Theatre in Nashville, TN (8). Weir’s performance took place about a week after a tornado ripped through western parts of Nashville. He turned the show into a fundraising effort for tornado relief, featuring a dazzling array of country artists, both unknown and famous. You can read about this fabulous show in a blog post from April 3, if you would like to know more about an awesome concert. I returned from my Nashville weekend to see Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childress in their only US show (10), after a successful European tour. On that Friday (13), I saw what was to be my last show, Forty Mile Detour (FMD), at the intimate Coastal Coffee Roasters in Summerville, SC.

Then the music industry, and life in general, locked down for most people. We all know what happened next. No need to relive those times. How long the lockdown continued depended on where you live. Here in the greater Charleston, SC area live music began again in limited locales mid-May. My first show back from the lockdown was my last show, FMD! They played at Holy City Brewery in N. Charleston and it was as if I had emerged from hibernation. Over the next three plus months, I got to be a patron at 17 outdoor concerts, many at the Charleston Pourhouse of which I wrote about in a blog on this site on Sept 8.

We were enjoying live music with safety precautions. Many local bands were first to take the stage and I enjoyed performances by GD tribute band, the Reckoning, and Phish tribute band, Runaway Gin. During the summer, I attended my first house concert at the home of musician, promoter and friend Fleming Moore. Those in attendance enjoyed intimate performances by several local artists. The Larry Keel Experience was the first regional act to come to Charleston to play their first live music (Aug. 1) in many months until Yonder Mountain String band played on the beach at the Windjammer October 6. And then the Bend opened to large scale (1000 people) outdoor shows that drew local, regional and national touring acts to Charleston. See my blog, “Live Music done right”, published on November17, at this site. The Bend provided the Charleston Music Hall with an outdoor venue to bring music to a starved audience. Performances by Susto, Shovels and Rope, the Marcus King Trio, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, and Jason Isbell with Amanda Shire sold out 8 shows in October and November.

Shows continued to be produced at the Pourhouse and Windjammer in Charleston. I got to see performances by Keller Williams, Baysik (Brendan Bayliss and Ryan Stansik from Umphreys Mcgee) as an acoustic duo, the Marshgrass Mamas (an all-women Bluegrass ensemble) as well as Schema and Robotrio’s memorable live performances. As the weather turned colder in Charleston, the Music Hall reopened in early November with all of the safety protocols being followed on up to 25% occupancy. My first night showcased local country artists, The Travelin’ Kine, for an album release party. Comedian and NC native Jon Reep brought the laughs to a smaller audience than would have been there in better days. The best performance in November and December was the Traveling McCourys’, a Grammy award winning bluegrass band and the sons of Del McCoury.

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So many shows were cancelled or postponed this year, too numerous to recall on these pages. Throughout the year, I was fortunate to attend 48 performances from local, regional and national acts, working 18 of those shows. My top 10 performances this year were:

1) Bob Weir and the Wolf Brothers at the Ryman in Nashville on March 8. His support cast included Emmy Lou Harris, country artists Jamey Johnson and Margo Price along with Nashville session artists Buddy Miller (vocals and guitar) and Russ Pahl (pedal steel guitar),among the notables.

2) Grace Potter and Devon Gilfillan at the Music Hall January 8

3) Lettuce at the Music Hall on January 4

4) SUSTO at the Bend on Oct. 9

5) Baysik (Brendan Bayliss and Ryan Stasik of Umphreys Mcgee) on the beach at the Windjammer on October 23

6) The Traveling McCourys at the Charleston Pourhouse on Nov. 13

7) Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires (they made this into a live performance record) at the Bend on Nov. 10

8) Yonder Mountain String band on the beach at the Windjammer on Oct. 6

9) The Acoustic Syndicate at the Charleston Pourhouse on October 10

10) Amy Grant at the Music Hall on February 27

Special recognition needs to be heaped on the Reckoning and Forty Mile Detour. These local bands played whenever given the chance, providing the audience with live music to help counteract the limitations from the lockdown.

Musicians and their audiences really were impacted by the new set of rules we all had to abide by. Many of the bands we saw after our restrictions were modified were playing their first shows in more than six months. They were stoked to be playing in front of live audiences and feeling the familiar vibe one gets when performing.  

The moral of the story this year? If you’re not seeing all the live music your heart desires during the pandemic crisis, you’re not looking in the right places. It’s out there!

#CharlestonPourhouse  #CharlestonMusic Hall  #TheBend #WindjammerIOP #RymanAuditorium

#BobWeirandtheWolfBrothers  #Lettuce  #GracePotter #StPaulandtheBrokenBones #WomenandWillie

#DevonGilfallin #KathleenMadigan #GaryGulman #AmyGrant #TommyEmanuel #Tesla #EmmyLouHarris

#MargoPrice #JameyJohnson#BuddyMiller #RussPhal #SturgillSimpson #TylerChilders #FortyMileDetour

#FlemingMoore #theReckoning #TravelinKine #JonReep #YonderMountainStringBand #Susto

#ShovelsandRope #MarcusKingTrio #JasonIsbell #AmandaShires #KellerWilliams #BrendanBayliss

#RyanStanik #MarshgrassMamas #Schema #Robotrio #AcousticSyndicate #havemorefunin21!