Writing is how I make sense of everything. This relatively simple act of expression is extraordinarily cathartic. Trauma and pain are immediately liberated. The truly bizarre and fabulous can shine while simultaneously providing a healthy, sometimes even hysterical release. Mary Gauthier writes in her memoir, Saved By A Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting, “Storytellers have power; they are not voiceless victims.

“It’s great to see people’s faces instead of looking into a computer; so I’m excited,” Jackie Greene said shortly after taking the stage on April 2, when as an acoustic duo he and long-time sidekick Nate Dale serenaded an intimate audience at the ballroom inside the Crystal Bay Casino (CBC), just over the Nevada border from California on Lake Tahoe.

Four months before Macon Georgia’s Allman Brothers Band achieved mega stardom with their breakthrough Eat A Peach album, the foundational lineup of Duane and Gregg Allman alongside Berry Oakley, Dickey Betts, Jaimoe Johanson, and Butch Trucks were in their peak form as a touring act. They entranced their audiences with exhilarating live performances that stretched blues and soul into genre-defying improvisational terrain.

“And I don’t get anxious about my pancreas. To be honest, I’m not even sure what that thing does. I’m just so grateful that it’s in me.” Working at the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) this line immediately stuck out. I was streaming Ryan Montbleau’s new record but was distracted making a cup of tea. Hearing my non-profit’s namesake as the kettle began to spit and shout, I realized I had to dive further into “Ankles,” or my work would never forgive me.

Beatnik poets gave way to Merry Pranksters gave way to a Long Strange Trip that we are still on right now today. The wheel is turning, it can’t slow down… In homage to Yonkers born almost 102 years old Beatnik publisher, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, I give you my stream of consciousness notes to the best show I have seen all year long. Billy Strings Deja Vu Experiment at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY on 2/20/21 was one of a series of six shows that was truly unlike any show I’ve ever experienced.  Things are changing so here is a review like I’ve never written:

Every Monday for this current month of March, jam funk quartet Magic Beans are set to perform what they’ve dubbed Magic Mondays: a roughly two-hour virtual performance from their home practice space in Colorado, live streamed on their Facebook page. The band has performed two Magic Mondays thus far, which have been free to stream as they will be the rest of March as well.

Progressive bluegrass quartet Kitchen Dwellers are on a bit of a hot-streak right now. Last weekend, the band performed two back-to-back livestream shows, dubbed The Liquid Late Nights, as an afterparty following two of the Capitol Theatre performances from Billy Strings.

As the week winds to a close, we are reflecting back with some thoughts about the undoubtedly historic run of musical performances that just occurred this past week at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY: Billy Strings’ “The Deja Vu Experiments,” which saw the bluegrass guitarist and his quartet play six consecutive shows at the rock palace, live-streamed to what was reported as over 30,000 viewers tuning in.

I’m in a funk. Most of the reasons have to do with COVID. This last week, we hit the astronomical milestone of 500,000 deaths. That number is tragic but what’s even more deplorable and weighs on me heavily is those losses could’ve been significantly reduced if during the previous year we had responsible, empathetic leadership. It feels like everyone around me is getting vaccinated, while I’m left behind. (This sparks junior high memories of pining impatiently for my first kiss or being picked last for dodgeball.

I last reviewed a streamed Billy Strings show in July. A lot has changed since then. Online concerts have grown more sophisticated, with platforms like Twitch taking the tech out of the artist’s hands. Billy’s hair? That too has changed from the oft braided locks of an up and comer to the mullet of someone who has arrived.