Gary Higgins is a CT native who had a brief brush with fame with his 1973 release Red Hash. A heroin habit ensued and Gary disappeared into New Hartford obscurity. Cue the freak-folk movement with the likes of Devendra Banhart unearthing gems like Higgins and Vashti Bunyan and coaxing them out of retirement. Higgins opened the evening with acoustic guitar and original songs delivered in a confident heartfelt style.
Portland guitarist Anderson was up next. She is a blues slide player who mined the riches of public domain. Great set list included: This Little Light of Mine, Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye, Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning, Sinks and Rises (original composition on mini lap steel), ended with an excellent mashup of See That My Grave is Kept Clean with House Carpenter.
Tashi Dorji is a guitarist from North Carolina. I thought his style was rooted in "new age", but found it more in the improv jazz vein. He had a weird habit of playing with amp on then off giving a strange ebb and flow to his original compositions. When in the "on" mode he could chug like Hendrix on Machine Gun, while in the "off" mode I struggled to follow.
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