Saturday, October 20, 2012

Visitor from the North

James Keelaghan, the Canadian singer-songwriter, gave a delightful concert at Kennett Friends Meeting on Friday as part of the Hadley Fund's 50th anniversary season. I had never heard of him but went on a whim, partly because the Hadley Fund committee's choices are always interesting (who can forget the gamelan orchestra!) and partly because Kennett Meeting has a nice ambiance. I'm glad I did: he was a very talented performer -- he reminded me a little of Tom Waits -- and and his songs were riveting. He's also brave, taking requests from the audience: in one case he was asked to play "Captain Torres," which he confessed he hadn't performed in several years.
The friend I sat with is a notoriously mischievous fellow who had me convinced that he was thoroughly familiar with Mr. Keelaghan's career. He admitted at intermission that he'd Googled him five minutes before he got there "to see what I was getting into."

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