Grand Finale - Baaba Seth's Last Show at Peasants

report filed 7/19/00 7:11am EDT - Settling into some sort of production groove here at Anytime/Anywhere Studios. It's a good thing. Way too much goin' on around here to be lollygaggin' around the East coast as the work piles up.

Well, at least for the next couple of weeks. Pretty good chance that our hardworking road crew will be headed to Jomeokie Festival being held in Winston-Salem, NC in a couple of weeks. There's going to be plenty of quality music there, including Widespread Panic and String Cheese, as well as one of my personal faves, Donna the Buffalo. Should make for an interesting weekend...

Meanwhile back in good ol' Greenville... had the chance to catch Baaba Seth's final show at Peasants. Seems like Baaba is splitting up and going their separate ways. Too bad, because they are an exceptional band. So much passion, spirituality and highly danceable world grooves.

Not sure about the story behind the scenes, but it really doesn't matter. The bottom line is that it's been a good run for Baaba, and apparently the time has come for the members to go in other directions.

As expected, the Peasants crowd turned out in force. Sure, it was a party, but there was a bittersweet vibe in the air. Alot of the folks in the crowd have been friendly with the band for years, and knowing that this was Baaba's last show at Peasants, a venue they've played countless times over the years, carried a certain weight. Mixed emotions aside, Baaba put on a good show as always.

Hard to say what's next for the multitalented Hope Clayburn, lead guitarist Mike Chang, and lead vocalist, primary songwriter Dirk Lind. One thing's for sure though - whatever projects they choose to invest their energies in will be worthy of attention. We'll keep ya posted...

In other news: Sent off the last of five articles for the upcoming issue of Relix, which comes out in September. Look for features on: The David Nelson Band, Mecca Bodega, All Good 2000, the Gathering of the Vibes Festival, and the 1st Annual Jammy Awards. Whew...

Fresh posts: We've got a review of the Zen Mother's new CD, Mikrokosmic, and last month's Points On A Line column for Jambands.com, Community Project - new opportunities in cyberspace are giving jambands more ways than ever before to keep things harmonious right here at home.

Should have more new stuff to post in about a week or so. Still got a ton-o-CD reviews to do. May do a mood piece on the Baaba's last show for the Las Vegas Weekly, and if that happens, we'll post it here as well.

Right now the focus has been redirected to getting the Relix book finished. Got over 60,000 words of transcribed interviews from musicians, folks at the magazine, and lots of other people who play into the Relix story, not to mention a 15,000 word outline, that are now on the front burner once again. Still need to transcribe the most recent round of interviews, which included very insightful and humorous chats with Jorma Kaukonan, and JB of Widespread Panic. From there, the epic tale of Music For the Mind, Relix Magazine's Quarter Century of Rock and Roll Journalism, will begin to take shape, one carefully crafted chapter at a time.

So that's where the action is... at least for now.
Who knows what unforeseen twist might lie ahead as our little adventure in music journalism continues...