Aaron at his keyboard

For about two years now, singer/songwriter Aaron English and I have been having a ‘discussion’ about using an electric keyboard in an acoustic space. It wasn’t really an argument because he and I had never met and we also had a common goal in mind – for Aaron to play at one of our House Concerts.

My side of the argument was probably based mostly on sentiment. I feel strongly that there are very few spaces that can accommodate acoustic music these days. We (the general ‘we’) are into bigger and louder possibilities and the days of venues in the manner of the old traveling minstrels are pretty much gone. Our house, however, lends itself perfectly to acoustic music and we’ve always taken some pride in being able to offer a great space for that niche of musical performance.

Aaron, however, is a pianist and, unlike many other singer/songwriters (who play the guitar or banjo, for instance), his instrument of choice is not terribly portable. Nor is our old upright ideal for performances and, even though it galled me to admit it, a keyboard is the perfect compromise. Otherwise, though the audience might enjoy our mellow old piano, it’s would only be Aaron’s back they would see. Hearing the words… also iffy.

Aaron at our upright

The logic of it all made perfect sense and, in the end, Aaron prevailed. Thank goodness! The House Concert was last evening and what a fabulous concert it was. The audience loved his music, loved his stories, and some people stayed to schmooze with him long after the last note was played. I even had a couple of emails this morning asking for his contact information! So much for my worry that our audience members might be disappointed that we’d gone electronic.  (Though, truth to tell, he did do one number on our upright — not to placate me, but because it was the one song he needed music for and he hadn’t brought his music rack in from the car.

Still… I have not given up that part of my self-image that says our house is an acoustic venue. We are not hopping into the electronic world with both feet and, although our eyes have been opened and we loved what we saw (and heard)… we are well aware that Aaron English is one of a kind!

rapt, appreciative audience

And, besides, did I mention that he was recommended by our good friend singer/songwriter Larry Murante? Larry has never steered us wrong yet… But wait! Did I recently learn that Larry, himself, is thinking about adding a little electric-something-or-other to his musical equipment??

Maybe we can call ourselves a semi-acoustic venue…