Thinking Days & Spoon River

Today I went for a bike ride around town. The first day of freedom I’ve had in some time. What with working full time, all the clusterfuck of moving overseas and the din of my mother’s political campaign … having to stay on top of so much leaves one in a rather stifling strictly business relationship with the world.

So today. It was overcast all day, but not raining, grey and fuzzy like an old black man - perfect daydreaming weather. After floating around downtown for an hour I rode a box of cinnamon buns up my chum Vanessa who waits tables for Satchel’s. Satchel’s, Gainesville’s famed hippie-hipster pizza joint and purlieu for the tragically hip academic crowd.
Have you eaten your pizza in the back of a retrofitted VW bus with a table of liberal-arts professors today?

I can proudly say that I have.

Sarcasm aside, Satchel’s is good times. For me not so much because of the garden of dollar-store pinwheels or apple/walnut-infused salads, but the live music. In the back of the main restaurant is an outdoor bar and stage akin to a tiny pastoral town hall. And therein performs all the greatest musicians you’ve never heard of. The music … what beautiful music. Who are these people?

This group was called “Shade Tree” I believe. What do you call this genre? It brings to mind bowtie boys playing tenor banjos and post-WWII movie soundtracks. It’s some kind of folk but I can’t peg the chronology or sub-genre down. Graciously I paid $10 for their CD to use as a study guide for later … seems like a silver vein that modern composers have yet to tap into.

love * grits
JC Reus