Mar152009
Tom Rush @ the Ram’s Head Tavern
Filed under Music by Kim at 4:39 pm on Mar 15 2009
This Friday was a rare treat – I got to take my parents to a concert. As you probably know, I dearly love music and go to a fair amount of shows nowadays. But I don’t think I’ve gone to see live music with my own parents since the days of Dramtreeo shows at that long-defunct pub at Waterside in downtown Norfolk. So when dad noticed that Tom Rush was coming to Maryland, we arranged a special visit.
In case you don’t know who Tom Rush is, you can check out the very abbreviated wikipedia page or his home page or I can just tell you that he’s a folk music legend, a contemporary of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell and possessed of a unique voice which my father feels is highly reminiscent of a cello. My father (who bought his first Tom Rush album as a reel to reel in ’67) said this to Tom Rush as he got his CD signed, and Mr. Rush said that was one he hadn’t heard before. (As far as I know, that’s the only time my father has gotten anything autographed!)
The show was fantastic. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect since my only exposure to his work was the songs I bought based on the fact that my dad liked them so much. I was not expecting to be cracking up the whole time. He says in the liner notes (of his album of funny songs and bits) that he’s not a comedian, but that has to be part of his resume because I laughed my ass off. He did this one, but the one I loved the most by far was “Old Blevins”.
Dad attests that his voice hasn’t changed much over the past forty years, something I can’t prove or disprove, but from recordings it seems pretty accurate! One of his most famous classics, “No Regrets” had me in tears.
The best part was seeing my dad so happy.
1 Kristinon 01 Jul 2009 at 10:37 am
Your site came up when I Googled “Dramtreeo.” I have many wonderful childhood memories of nights with my parents at Reggie’s pub. Apparently we went to see them in the bar they played at before Reggie’s, but I was too young to remember. I wish they still played! I would LOVE to see them again, 20 years later.
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Kim Reply:
July 1st, 2009 at 11:49 am
Oh! I used to go to those shows, only a few at Reggie’s but I went to many many shows at the bar that was in Waterside downtown when I was in high school and college, and they were so great, so much fun singing along. When I come home to visit I always wish I could drop in and see a Dramtreeo show like the good old days.
Your parents have great taste!! And you should try to track down the albums, I guess they probably aren’t in current release.
If they are truly outside of copyright now, I’d happily share them.
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