Nettles a.k.a. Guion Pratt
It’s been a long winter already. There’s still a lot of wood left in the pile, which means Spring is not near; but today was 70+ degrees and breezy from the South. Orion is overhead before bedtime, and it’s there’s now a little light in the sky when I leave the office. Thank goodness for the relentless spinning of the spheres. It’s a good time of year to spend with friends.
A few nights ago we stopped in town for a show, an album release party for a friend. A poet, a musician, an all around nice guy named Guion Pratt had an album release party at The Southern in Charlottesville.
He’s one of several of talented musicians in the area we’ve followed for years. They mix and match through multiple permutations under different names. When Sam Bush writes and leads, they’re called The Hill & Wood, named for an iconic funeral home in town. When Guion writes and leads they’re called Nettles. Etc., etc..
This is the sort of show when you arrive you find other friends are already there, people who were in the poetry writing classes with Guion in grad school, or used to jam with him in the little Model A single-car shed next to the funeral parlor that they’ve rented out for years, where they all got started, and still use as a multi-purpose art and performance space.
It was a great show. Lots of fun, lots of laughs, and great music. I grabbed some low-fi recordings, which Guion was gracious enough to let me to post:
And “Brando” based on the Tennessee Williams play “Streetcar Named Desire”
You can buy the album here:
Brando, Locust Avenue, and Annuals are some of my favorites.
As a bonus, here’s a recording of one of my favorite Hill & Woods songs recorded at the same venue last year. Somehow the ambient bar sounds and boot heel steps only make it better:
The Disciple – Live at the Southern
