Home Is Where the Concert Is
Night Drive, Ford's Garage, Rachael Davis, Iga Świątek, Good for the Goose
Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This week’s issue features house concert highlights over 20 years, Garnet Rogers on life on the road with his late brother Stan, a surprisingly good brunch, the Cadillac of singer-songwriters, a book-loving tennis star, and a gander at some goslings. I hope you enjoy the picks and pics.
Fave Five 37: Home Is Where the Concert Is. Stories about Stan (Night Drive), Sweet and Savory (Ford's Garage), Velvety Voice (Rachael Davis), Polish Pro (Iga Świątek) and What’s Good for the Goose.
Fave Five Lists: Concert Connections
This year we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first Garfield House Concert. On June 9, 2023 we hosted our 38th show. Here are five lists of performers at our home who have some kind of connection.
List 1: Performers who recorded together
Mark Erelli and Jake Armerding: Pilgrim Highway
Jake Armerding and Rachael Davis: Atlanta’s Burning
Rachael Davis and May Erlewine - Sweet Water Warblers: Lazarus
Jess Klein and Slaid Cleaves: Fool
Pierce Pettis, Kate Campbell, and Tom Kimmel - The New Agrarians: Ride Across the River
List 2: Performers’ songs covered by other performers
Ellis Paul covered Mark Erelli’s The Only Way.
Garnet Rogers and Rachael Davis each covered Bob Franke’s Thanksgiving Eve.
Garnet Rogers covered Bob Franke’s The Great Storm is Over.
David Wilcox covered Bob Franke’s For Real.
David Wilcox covered Buddy Mondlock’s The Kid.
List 3: Performers who have appeared or written songs together
Ari Hest and Ellis Paul performed an encore together (“I Can’t Make You Love Me”) at The Ark in Ann Arbor on September 18, 2009.
Rachael Davis and May Erlewine perform together regularly as part of The Sweet Water Warblers trio.
Rachael Davis and Jake Armerding have performed together numerous times.
Jake Armerding and Mark Erelli perform together regularly, at each other’s shows, at the annual Under the Covers shows at Club Passim, and as members of Barnstar!
Buddy Mondlock and Tom Kimmel cowrote and separately recorded “Poetic Justice” that was covered by Maura O’Connell.
List 4: Cayamo cruise appearances by female performers
Callaghan - 2013
Liz Longley - 2013
Liz Longley - 2014
Jill Andrews - 2015
Jill Andrews - 2020
List 5: Male performers who appeared on Cayamo
Ari Hest - 2008
Ellis Paul - 2011
Luke Bulla - 2014, 2015, and 2017 (solo) and 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 (with Works Progress Administration and Lyle Lovett)
Slaid Cleaves - 2016
Mark Erelli - 2019 (with Josh Ritter)
Honorable mention: Dominic John Davis (multiple years with Buddy Miller)
Book Best Bet
Garnet appeared in our home on June 16, 2018. He came down with a bad case of laryngitis the night before and could barely sing, but he told stories, answered questions, and read from his memoir. I later bought a copy and found it both fascinating and hilarious. In the book he tells the stories of life on the road in Canada and the U.S. with his brother Stan.
I discovered Garnet at the 1988 Ann Arbor Folk Festival on January 30, 1988. I fell in love with his voice, musicianship, and choice of covers before I heard of his more famous brother. I have enjoyed seeing Garnet perform multiple times. I recommend this book and the recordings of both brothers.
From the back cover: So, here it is folks.
Stories about how Stan and I grew up together, discovered music together, and learned to play in a band and travel together. How the songs got written and recorded. What life was like on the road before there was an independent music scene.
And nearly every stupid, inexplicable and bizarre thing that could happen to a pair of young idiots who were naive enough to think they could play folk music for a living back in the mid- 70’s and early 80’s.
The bar fights and the bike gangs, The police chases and the arrests. And a thousand gigs in every corner of North America. It’s all here. At least most of it.
My Playlists
Restaurant Recommendation
Ford's Garage 44175 W 12 Mile Rd, Novi, MI 48377
Our next-door neighbors, Jim and Joyce Tomlinson, gave us two gift cards to use here. The first time we dined here I tried the rack of ribs, which were okay but nothing special. We returned on Sunday to dine with Roger before he left town after attending our Rachael Davis house concert. This time we were offered the brunch menu, which included chicken and waffle, a personal favorite if it’s done right.
Of course, I ordered it (Crispy Chicken and Spiced Bacon Waffle Topped with Bacon Jam, Two Sunny-Side Up Eggs, and Candied Walnuts, served with Cinnamon and Vanilla Infused Syrup). It was outstanding, which was a very pleasant surprise for a large chain restaurant. The combination of flavors worked perfectly. Since the first time I tried this dish at Hot Sauce Williams in Cleveland, I prefer it served with a fried egg, and this version came with two. The integrated bacon was a plus, as was the superior syrup.
Marvelous Musician
Rachael performed in our home on Friday, showcasing her terrific voice and a variety of instruments. She played guitar, banjo, ukulele, and tenor guitar, and sang some songs a cappella. She is originally from Cadillac, Michigan and returns home every summer from her new home in Nashville.
I first saw her perform with Jake Armerding at Bell's in Kalamazoo in May 2007. Other performances I have seen include with Jake at The Ark on January 20, 2011; with Joshua Davis at The Ark on August 14, 2014; and with her husband Dominic John Davis at the Old Town General Store in Lansing on September 6, 2018. I have seen her with the Sweet Water Warblers at Ten Pound Fiddle in East Lansing on April 12, 2019; at Tecumseh Center for the Arts on June 20, 2019; and at The Ark on May 6, 2022.
After seeing Rachael with us at Bell’s, Roger bought her CD Antebellum Queens and it became a favorite of his. He vowed to drive in from his home in Maryland if I was ever able to book her. It took me five years of trying, and when I finally succeeded, he made good on his promise.
Rachael, her husband Dominic, her son Virgil, and her daughter Lela May had dinner with us before the show. Dominic John Davis, who plays bass with Jack White, accompanied Rachael on bass and occasional vocals The family was a delight to host, and the concert was a rousing success.
From Rachael’s site: Multi-instrumentalist Rachael Davis is as renowned for her expressive—and explosive—voice as she is for uniting the disparate worlds of folk, blues, country, and pop.
Davis grew up not only in a family of musicians, but in an extended village of remarkable musicians and songwriters who nurtured and mentored her from the time she was born. Her clear tone and uncanny memory for just about every song she’s ever heard came early and has served her well throughout her career. As a child Davis took to harmony, piano, and ukulele, and at 8, joined the family band Lake Effect, performing regularly at folk festivals throughout her home state of Michigan and around the U.S. By age 12, and continuing each year since, Rachael has brought the Wheatland Music Festival to its knees closing the Sunday morning gospel set with her stunning solo a cappella version of Amazing Grace.
At 20, already a professional and deeply moved by traditional mountain music, blues, and ballads, Davis composed and recorded her debut album “Minor League Deities,” then with that, and a heart full of promise Rachael Davis headed to Boston the day after the 911 attack. There she began performing in city subways and the streets of Cambridge. Within months she had made her mark on the Boston music scene winning the prestigious Boston Music Award for Best New Singer/Songwriter. Recently she has collaborated in the critically acclaimed supergroup: The Sweetwater Warblers with Lindsay Lou and May Erlewine, all three premiere Michigan-grown songbirds.
Rachael now lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband, critically acclaimed bassist, Dominic John Davis with whom she performs as The Davis Duo. Together they cultivate a diverse community steeped in music, art, travel and love, and are raising a son and daughter at the center of it all.
Lela May
Sweetwater Sea
Sweet Water Warblers: Lazarus
Acoustic Alternatives: Rachael Davis with John Bommarito
Acoustic Alternatives: The Return of Rachael Davis with John Bommarito
My Playlists
Sports Star
Iga won the French Open for the third time on Saturday. She has been ranked Number 1 in the world since April 2022. In addition to being the top tennis player, she has other interests detailed below, including her love of books.
From Wikipedia: Iga Natalia Świątek (born May 31, 2001) is a Polish professional tennis player. She is currently ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Świątek is a four-time major singles champion, having won the French Open in 2020, 2022 and 2023 and the US Open in 2022. She is the first player representing Poland to win a major singles title. She has won a total of 14 WTA Tour-level titles.
Świątek's father Tomasz is a retired Olympic rower. As a junior, Świątek was the 2018 French Open girls' doubles champion alongside Caty McNally and the 2018 Wimbledon girls' singles champion. Świątek began playing regularly on the WTA Tour in 2019, and entered the top 50 at 18 years old after her maiden WTA final and a fourth-round appearance at the 2019 French Open.
During her French Open title run in 2020, Świątek did not lose more than five games in any singles match. She entered the top ten of the WTA rankings for the first time in May 2021 after winning the Italian Open. Following back-to-back WTA 1000 titles in 2022 at Qatar and Indian Wells, Świątek reached a career-high ranking of No. 2 on 21 March 2022. On retirement of world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, she became the first Polish player, male or female, to reach the top ranking in singles, on the 4th of April 2022. She also won another WTA 1000 title in Miami, becoming the fourth woman to win the Sunshine Double. During this time, Świątek accumulated a 37-match winning streak, the longest on the WTA Tour in the 21st century.
Świątek has an all-court playing style. She won the WTA Fan Favorite Shot of the Year in 2019 with a drop shot from the baseline and was voted WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player of the Year in 2020. She is the 2023 winner of the L'Equipe Champion of Champions and 2023 Polish Sports Personality of the Year. She was also included on Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023.
She is active in charity work and philanthropy, advocates for mental health awareness, and supports Ukraine. Świątek is a cat lover and owns a black female cat named Grappa. She enjoys reading novels and listening to music. Before her matches, she listens to rock music, especially Pearl Jam, Pink Floyd, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and AC/DC. In her spare time, she listens to alternative music, jazz, soul and pop. She is also a fan of Taylor Swift.
Świątek is a known book lover on the WTA tour, for every tournament she usually brings different books from Agatha Christie, George Orwell and Alexandre Dumas to more classic books like Wuthering Heights or The Great Gatsby. She openly admits that books help her concentrate on tournaments and help her to not use her phone "for longer than needed".
Picture Pun
Will you take a gander at that!
