You're gonna love him at Johnny D's.

I had a marvelous time last night listening to Dick Gaughan perform at the sold out concert at Inn on the Blues in York ME. A local duo (and friends) Awen, consisting of Kevin Reame and Elizabeth Stewart, opened. It was the first time I've heard them outside of a noisy session, and you'd better believe they have talent!

Dick came on and did what Dick does - take over with power and passion. This makes the fourth time I've seen him, and he just keeps getting better. He has a way of holding your attention until you forget where you are, and the whole world exists only on stage while he plays.

Awen have been mightily influenced by Dick's music, and there were a lot of their songs they had to exclude, because they'd learned them from Dick. One of these was "Song for Ireland," but Dick graciously asked Elizabeth to join him on stage for a beautiful performance of that song.

The venue was great, the sound (Harvey Reid himself was at the board) was great (a little loud at first, but it either got quieter, or I got used to it) and the music and musicianship was out of this world. I'm gushing, I know - sue me.