Until my friend Pat dropped this guitar on off at my house just prior to Christmas, I hadn’t thought much about playing or owning a resonator. I always liked the sound but had pigeonholed them as blues or slide guitars and that was pretty much it.

When I told Pat I was looking at getting a nice flattop, he dropped this off and told me to hang onto it for a while. A deft move on his part.

Once I started playing it I realized that it is a much more versatile instrument than I ever imagined.

Beyond that, the craftsmanship is superior to any guitar I have played. Unflinching attention to detail and pure dedication to quality. I don’t know who the guys are who put these together but I am certain that they are a special bunch and that they care about these instruments. I have heard that they only make around 400 guitars per year. I don’t know if that is true or not but given the sound and feel of this instrument, I could be true.

I have discovered that the best part of having really creative and interesting friends is that they allow you to do really cool and interesting things that you otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to do.

For instance, our friend Ian wrote this fantastic book A Season of Night

(side note: If you have ever wondered why people came back to New Orleans after the Federal Flood or what those first months were like, please get a copy of this book and read it. This isn’t an academic analysis or a polemic. Ian has captured the uncertainty, the fear, the surreal existence, the hope, and the humor of that time that seems now to be slipping into history. Buy it. Read it. You need to know this story. Trust me).

ok, so as I was saying, Ian wrote this great book — which means he has book signings. And being Ian, he has them at these great places. And luckily for me, he has invited RGB to play at some of them. We played at Finn McCool’s not too long ago. And on Sunday, we played at his reading and book signing at Pal’s.

Which leads me to the point of this post. Which is really that because of Ian and his book, I got this cool photo. There are pictures of us playing. But somehow, this one is so much cooler than those. I don’t think I’ve ever seen our gear in a better setting.

I know, not much of a payoff for reading a blog posting. Sorry about that.

Music from David Byrne and Brian Eno. Their first collaboration in 30 years.

For years I have nurtured a secret love for the fiddle. I’ve often wished I could play it. Mostly, I rationalized that since I missed out on violin lessons as a child it was best to maintain the appreciation of a spectator. Hell, I’m still trying to figure out which end of the guitar is up and I’ve played that for years.

Enter Katrina (which smacked me back to a zen-like appreciation of living in the moment) and the Festivals Acadiens (which made me want to move to Mamou and raise my kids speaking French) and suddenly I’m playing the fiddle.

Well, not exactly playing . . . yet. But last night my friend Pat Flory brought me over one of his fiddles to borrow so I can see if I really want to do this. He graciously spent an hour or so showing me how to hold the bow and find a couple of notes. And a mere 24 hours later I can play the most god-awful version of ‘Happy Birthday’ you have ever heard.

Thats ok though. Because it has been a long time since I have approached something that made me feel so incredibly inept and made me laugh like a kid (surfing might have been the last one).

I think I am safely beyond the age where I have to worry about becoming a virtuoso player. Happily, I’m also finally past the age where I feel I have to be good at everything I do.

If I can learn a song or two and have some fun with friends, that’s plenty.

I’m a little behind on getting my photos off my camera and into a useful place. While doing a bit of that work today I came across this photo from a recent rgb gig at the Hi-Ho Lounge. I like it because it shows our friend Matt Rota joining us on the banjo.

Posting this picture here will also let our friends see what they missed. Because, since our gig was on the same night as the Big Easy Roller Girls Calendar Release Party, even our closest friends bailed on us. And who can blame them? Did you see what we were up against.