Stella! Stella! Stella!

I'm in Boise, again -- scene of the great 22 year old snow boarder debacle.  Well, it wasn't exactly a debacle . . . more of a miracle, I'd say (see my post, 'Spud-Nick').  And I'm doing my business thing and working my tail off until it's very tired and just wants to sleep . . .

But then, I'm free in the evenings and so . . .

Last night I went to dinner and stumbled across the Basque festival.  I ended up eating a seafood pasta dish at Bar-Denay, where they make their own Vodka, and sitting across the street from a Basque band playing their native music.  It was marvelous.  A little like Cajun stuff, but different.  And the singer . . . she was remarkable.  An amazing voice made even more amazing by the fact that she had no idea how good she was.

Tonight, I just rambled.  And I came across a place called Stachels across from the State Capitol.  It is an unremarkable deli kinda place with a great large open patio out front.  Buildings flank both sides, so the patio is a bit like a canyon . . . and Boise is a quiet city (remarkable, I know) so the overall effect is amazingly peaceful. 

On a small stage there I saw two guys, one on guitar and singing and one on bass, and was so intrigued by the sound I decided to stop in.  They were Dan Costello (Guitar) and Rob Hill (Bass) who also play in a local band called Stella.  Dan was playing this gorgeous instrument which looked custom made:  a solid body guitar out of maple or birch or some other pale wood . . . with nylon strings.   Solid body, nylon strings:  the thing was built to be amplified and the sound was fabulous.  His finger picking style was perfect for it and the thing screamed as his fingers ran all over the keyboard. 

HIs singing was excellent, too.  He has one of those voices that's full of color and richness, but always remains smoothe.  I guess he sounds a little like Dave Mathews, but more sensual:  it's like honey oozing out of the sound system and wrapping around you.  Lovely.

Rob on the bass . . . I know I get excited and sometimes use superlatives that bring everything I'm saying into doubt . . . but this guy is absolutely the best bass player I've ever seen live. When I got there he was playing a beautiful six string fretless bass -- I'm sure it was custom made -- and used ever inch of it.  Fretless basses always fascinate me, and Rob knew where every note was.  His plucking stlye was varried, too, depending on what he was doing:  sometimes he'd walk his fingers over the strings, sometimes he'd pick them with his thumb and sometimes he'd use a slap style for a more percussive sound.  I found myself remember Dwayne Allman who said shortly before he died, 'I've finally gotten to the point where the distance between my thoughts and my fingers have disappeared:  they are the same thing.'  That's the way this guy played. It was like watching someone meditate and seeing all of this beauty pouring out of them. 

In addition to the six string fretless, He also had a five string Fender that produced a sharper, growling, Jack Casady sound.   As remarkable as this mastery of the fretless was, I actually preferred the Fender.  I could hear the complexity of his runs better and it provided more of a beat -- which helped this drummerless duo. 

All in all, I was blown away.  Howcome I have to come to Boise, Idaho to find amazing live music?  Is this stuff happening in my home town?  Anywhere?  Am I just out of it?  Or am I incredibly lucky to stumble into the right venue at the right time?  I don't know.  But I do thoroughly expect to watch these guys become huge.  They're that good. 

(Rob Hill, in fact, was good enough to inspire me to spend a couple of hours on Jack Casady's website and also that of Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch.  I'm pretty sure I'll enroll in one of Jack's bass guitar workshops at the Ranch in the coming year.  What the hell:  playing bass with Carson 30 years ago was one of the peak experiences of my life . . . I think I owe it to myself to rekindle that part of me.)