Concert Diaries Chapter Ten: An Evening with Ernie Halter

I know it doesn't look like much but
I've seen some good bands there.

I spent a nice evening with Ernie Halter at the Rockwood Music Hall last week.  The Rockwood is a music venue just off Houston Street in Lower Manhattan. Not that I was with Ernie Halter ... but he's very personable and it sort of felt that way.  (I attended this show with a friend but I don't expect my friends to become characters in my blogging hobby so I usually disguise them with pronouns or initials for names.)

Ernie is one of a handful of musicians currently hanging out in Nashville that I follow on Twitter (@erniehalter).  I don't know what it is about Nashville--I've never been there--but I feel drawn to the place and am just waiting for the perfect moment to visit for the first of what I'm sure will be many times.  (And in fact, if I don't get there before May next year, I'm assured of a visit around Memorial Day for the wedding of a friend.)

I think it's fairly safe to say that I favor the singer/songwriter type of musician above all others.  They sing their own thoughts and ideas and emotions; it seems so honest to me.  Even when the song isn't about their own experience but someone else's, I find they are sincere in what they are trying to communicate.  I admire the risks they take, putting their own feelings out there for all to see ... or hear.

Ernie sang and played piano and guitar and chatted with the crowd about his music, visiting New York and his twin daughters for about an hour.  His music runs in the "pop" vein I suppose, or "adult contemporary" as many say today since the pop category is so very broad now.  He told the audience last Tuesday that he likes writing "baby-making music" the most.  And much of what he played was pretty romantic.

The Rockwood is really small and intimate (and very red) so no matter where you are in the room, it's a safe bet that you're going to feel like you're in the front row.  It must be either very comfortable for the performers there because it probably feels like playing in someone's two-story loft living room or maybe nerve wracking for the same reason--so close and nowhere to hide.

I most enjoyed Pretty Girl and Lighthouse, but really I found all his songs spoke to me in some way.  He desperately wanted to play some of his newly written music and managed to get a few songs in (some of which so new he struggled a wee bit with the lyrics) but his fans kept requesting their favorites and he definitely seemed in the mood to give his audience what they wanted.  He mashed some of his popular songs together in order to make the most of his hour at the Rockwood.  He was deft at improvising them together and amusing the audience with silly verses in between songs.  I got the impression that that's the way he rolls as an artist: genuinely wanting his fans to have a great time and charming his way into the hearts of new audience members, like me, too.

Afterwards, he hung out in the bar, signing CD's and taking pictures, chatting with folks.  He was gracious and funny, very generous with his time.  If Ernie Halter is playing in Nashville when I get there, I will be stopping by to hear him again for sure.

~

Lighthouse - The person who filmed this must have been sitting right in front of me.

Let me be your lighthouse
Let me guide your hand
Let me be your shelter
For you, for you I stand

When you feel the dark inside you
And the wind and waves
Keep pushing you down
Feel the whole world pulling you around

Let me be your lighthouse
Let me guide your hand
Let me be your shelter
For you, for you I stand

When you feel the dark inside you
And the moon and stars
Don't lead you nowhere
Feels like no one is watching up there

Let me be your lighthouse
Let me guide your hand
Let me be your shelter
For you, for you I stand

Let me be the one
Standing when you come
Lay your anchor down
And let me wrap my arms around you

Let me be your lighthouse
Let me guide your hand
Let me be your shelter
For you, for you I stand
For you I stand, for you I stand

Love Stories

It's still Valentine's Day for another hour.  The past 24 hours have me thinking about all the ways love manifests itself in my life.  I posted an outline of my thoughts on facebook tonight.  I hope my friends forgive the way I treat facebook like a blog sometimes.  This is probably a more appropriate forum for the ramblings that seem to continually clutter my head.

It all started, really, with Gavin DeGraw but that's another story for another time.  It could be it's own book, I think.  If you don't know who he is, search for him--not on Google but on YouTube. The last 24 hours started with a song he co-wrote for the movie Safe Haven which opened tonight.  Now pay attention, my stream of consciousness is taking over and it might not be entirely clear ...

Safe Haven is based on the book of the same name by Nicholas Sparks.  AMC Theatres ran a double feature of the famous Sparks film The Notebook plus Safe Haven last night.  I read the book (Safe Haven) because of the song--that motivation will be examined at a later date, as I said.  I'd never seen The Notebook but I was anxious to see Safe Haven so I bought a ticket for last night.  I've avoided The Notebook all these years because I knew it was extreme romance--romantic love on steroids.  True love like I didn't experience.  I couldn't see it because I didn't want to face some truths in my life.  But the last year of journeying along with the ebbing and flowing of my river taught me to face the those things I couldn't face the last 15 years and one of the gifts that the music (the Gavin DeGraw music) has given me is hope that there might exist a possibility of letting love back in.  Some day.  Some time.  Maybe.

So the last 24 hours started with a double feature with a double lesson:  true love does exist and there are second chances.  Now I've had examples of true love all around me (my mom and dad being the prime example) but when your own fairy tale ends not with the prince in the castle but with your being thrown in the moat, it takes a while to believe again.  When a relationship ends with words that play over and over like tortuous crappy music on repeat, you start believing them and doubt begins to rule your life.  The stories I enjoyed last night, while fiction, were like affirmations of truth I may have known all along but buried during the last 15 years.  So Valentine's Day started with love lessons.

Valentine's Day at work is usually fun and this year was no exception.  I work in an elementary school so there are parties.  And cards.  And cupcakes, brownies and chocolate covered strawberries.  We had all that in abundance today.  Small children and innocent expressions of precious friendship.  A  reminder that love can be sweet.

After work I attended a rally to urge politicians and leaders to stand up against gun violence.  The Have a Heart-Take a Stand rally.  There were speakers--local mayors who've banded together because they are tired of the devastation in their communities, because they realize Newtown can happen anywhere--prayers and music, people with signs and petitions.  It was heartfelt and passionate.  A group of strangers bonded together by outrage and sickness at the thought that 33 gun deaths happen each day.  Every day people lose someone they love because of guns. A group of strangers bonded by a belief that ultimately, love will win over violence if our leaders will have the courage to stand against the selfishness of the gun lobby.  Outraged love.

From the rally I drove to our local Girl Scout office.  I was recently appointed to the Gold Award committee in our council.  That's the highest award a girl can achieve in our movement to "build girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place."  Tonight we had four girls from 9th to 11th grades proposing final projects to earn their Gold Award.  These ranged from projects to benefit soldiers on a base in Afghanistan to helping children making their First Communion in Hurricane Sandy-ravaged South Jersey.  They were young leaders in their neighborhoods and schools who were passionate about local hunger issues, relieving stress in pediatric cancer patients through art therapy, marking spiritual commitment and international relations.  They were inspiring in what they've accomplished so far in their young lives--excellent students, presidents of organizations, active in their faith communities, good communicators, highly organized, poised for success.  Girls who cared about their neighbors, towns and those less fortunate.  Generosity in love.  Love and leadership in action.

Arriving home at 9:30, I brought in the mail.  Among the envelopes of mostly junk were two cards from my daughter.  Late birthday cards with Valentine messages hand written in.  Small treasures.  Tokens of her love to be loved and treasured by me.  Also tucked in my mailbox was a rice krispy treat--a heart-shaped rice krispy treat, in fact.  Someone obviously read my facebook post from this morning pleading for a rice krispy treat to arrive amidst the other sugary treats passing through my office.  I think I know who put that treat there.  It was further proof that I have a wonderful community of friends who form the backbone of my life.  Love in my mailbox.

My "24 hours of love" day started with a song by Gavin DeGraw that led to my reading a book that led to my seeing a film last night.  So it's only appropriate that these 24 hours end with Gavin DeGraw.  He and the musician/friend with whom he co-wrote the song, Colbie Caillat, sang the song on vh1's morning show this morning.  I just watched the tape of their performance.  The song channels the themes of finding a second chance for love and overcoming one's past from Nicholas Sparks' Safe Haven into lyrics and music.  They'll sing it again, a few minutes from now as I write this, on the Tonight Show.  I'll be singing along.

"We Both Know"
(Gavin DeGraw with Colbie Caillat)

They all say it
All the ones that made it
Once you find the one you claim it
But you're gonna have to fight
When I think back
The things that threw us off track
We handled like a heart attack
Cause we didn't see the light
Oh, yeah, now
We both, know our
Own limitations, that's why we're strong
Now that we spent some time apart
We're leading each other, out of the dark
Cause we both know

From this moment
Forget what we were scared of
Say we're never giving up
You say you'll always
Try to be my
Helping hand
Try to be the one who understands
When things don't go as you've planned
We're still worth it all

Oh, yeah, now...
We both, know our
Own limitations, that's why we're strong
Now that we've spent some time apart
We're leading each other, out of the dark
Cause we both know
What we're scared of
And what dreams are made of 
They can take us further than what anybody can see, yeah
We both, know our
Own limitations, and that's why we're strong
Now that we've spent some time apart
We're leading each other, out of the dark

We both know our
Own limitations, and that's why we're strong
Now that we've spent some time apart
We're leading each other, out of the dark
Cause we both know

We both know.