| On the Road with Friends and Family |
| Written by Tom Waselchuk |
| Friday, 13 November 2009 14:55 |
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But it's Philadelphia that has become a favorite tour local for Harmonious Wail. Philadelphia has become an anchor for Wail business and for our souls. Our record label, Range Records, is located there, and it’s always good to work with owner Rich Meyers and our Grammy Award-winning producer Aaron Luis Levinson. And we’re always welcomed to Philly with warm hospitality by a number of good friends, like Jon Cooper and his family. (Jon was the Wail’s OG—street talk for Original Guitarist, about ahemmmugh years ago.) Last year my sister Lori Waselchuk and her family relocated to Philly and it’s been fabulous spending more time with them. Lori and husband Shenid Bhayroo and kids Mira and Zahli treated us to a gourmet meal at their home in west Philly before our evening show at Chris’ Jazz Cafe. Stuff like that makes tours extra enjoyable.
It qualifies as an “event” that we shared the stage on the last five tour stops with the great gypsy rhythm guitarist Kevin Nolan (brother of gypsy guitar legend Robin Nolan). Having Kevin chunking it out across the stage was a real kick. He manages to generate power and energy in his right hand while maintaining a light touch and amazing subtlety. It occurred to me that I know more about how the great gypsy lead guitarists do what they do (I’m not saying I can play like that!) than I do about how Kevin does what he does. (Kevin currently tours with John Jorgenson’s band—check them out.)
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Our recent tour out east was filled with lots of special circumstances and events. We shared the stage with the Kingston Trio (if you think that's a reggae band, you're too young!), played at 
We’ve got great friends in all the places we visited out east: Sonny Ochs in Middleburgh NY, longstanding friends in Annapolis and D.C., Sellersville PA, and of course in Philly and everywhere else. I hope we can swing out there again soon. Till then.