By Amy Kathleen Miller

Last Saturday night, John and I went on a date to see some great musicians perform.  They call themselves the California Guitar Trio, and they are very good.  They all played acoustic guitars, but all the instruments were hooked up to a control box at each player’s feet, giving the guitars different sound effects — even down to the sound of an electric guitar.  I thought those effects were pretty cool myself.

Paul Richards and Bert Lams (Photo By John G. Miller)

My first observation was how connected the musicians were with each other as performers.  As a music teacher myself, for musicians playing together they need to be really in tune with how the other player is playing and how they adjust to it.  There was one Bach piece the trio played where each member of the group played one note and then it was the next player’s turn and they played the entire piece in this circular motion.  It was very impressive to me as a musician and a music teacher.  It would be a great teaching tool for my violin students.

I really love the acoustic guitar sound.  I am not really a fan that much of the electric guitar, and that is why this concert was fun to watch.  They didn’t play music that blasted my ear drums out to the point to where I am almost deaf.

Hideyo Moriya (Photo By John G. Miller)

All the musicians — Hideyo Moriya, Paul Richards, and Bert Lams — are extremely talented, and it was fun for me to look back and forth between all three of them and listen to their music and watch how much feeling they put into their performance.  I enjoyed the variety of the musical styles, with some being jazzier, some classical, and some rock.  They told the audience how NASA used their music to wake up shuttle astronauts in space.  I was impressed with their song “Andromeda” that was inspired by that experience.

The little garden patio setting, in an art gallery, was also an impressive place for a small concert.  It had a beautiful pond, but I wish the pond had fish, and in the evening as it grew dark the crickets along the wall near us provided a nice background tempo to the music.  I liked the atmosphere.

Also, meeting the players before and after the show was such a nice thing, they were so down-to-earth, and Paul Richards’ wife Stacey was so friendly to us.  I really enjoyed talking to her about her and my love of the American Eskimo dogs.

Even though the California Guitar Trio has no singers, if the opportunity ever arises I would love to sing with them.  I have always wanted to travel and sing with a group of musicians, and it would be exciting to sing with these musicians.  Maybe someday…

John and I had a very nice evening together, enjoying each other’s company.  It is nice to have a day out sometimes and take our minds off of John’s unemployment and just relax and have no stress.  I like that.  I hope we have an opportunity to watch them again another time.

Editor’s Note:  “Amy’s Angle” is a weekly Wednesday feature in this blog.

Copyright 2012, Daddysangbassdude Media

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