The Galt Line goes to Lexington!

It was a privilege to go to Lexington, KY with the Galt Line last week. We were there for 4 days (2 of which we spent traveling). I decided to accompany The Galt Line on one of their first shows out of town. For those of you who are not very familiar with the Galt Line here is a little history; The Galt Line consists of the guitarist Willie, and Blythe who is an excellent singer, songwriter, and she also plays the Uke. Blythe got the Uke last year for participating in a play called Sex, Drugs, and Ukulele. Willie, who was essentially born with a guitar was, at that time, looking for a band to play in. Luckily, they both combined their talents and gave birth to the Galt Line. They have been playing in NYC since last year. One of their usual spots in NYC is Stain. They came here in MD to play at the Zodiac Grill and they also played a show in Philly. Blythe had a friend who lives in Lexington and had found a place called CPR for them to play in and an apartment for us to stay. Our journey started with an intriguing and fun breakfast at IHOP with Blythe's mom. Afterwards, we parted ways with the mom, got some supplies(tobacco, cigars, and alcohol), and finally got on the road. None of us had ever been to Lexington before, so we did not know what to expect - at best we thought it would not be completely hick and we might just get to laugh at some redneck but we were in for a big surprise. A couple of the things that I learned on the drive there are 1) There is absolutely nothing to do in WV but the drive through there is gorgeous 2)Blythe is fun to drink and sing along with 3)When left in a car for more than 10 hours, we can come up with some pretty sick games to pass time. While having dinner at a Cici's somewhere in WV, Willie came up with a game called '15 minutes.' The first half of this game was supposed to be innocent and innocuous, whereas in the second half we took the story from the first half and turned it into something evil and vile. For example, first fifteen: 5 little girls have a great time at their sleepover, playing with makeup and talking about boys. Someone taps on the window. ::commercial:: The knock is from the local priest. Each of the girls offers herself up for a ritual raping and then sacrificial disembowelment. Because of 15 minutes the rest of the ride was a piece of cake. Of course upon finally getting to Lexington at midnight, we got lost. After driving around for about half an hour we decided to stop somewhere and pull our maps and check the streets to see how far we were from our destination. A young man carrying his groceries home (after midnight) stopped and asked if we were lost and needed help. This was one of the first times that we realized that people in Lexington were actually nice and caring. Upon finally getting to Tara's apartment we decided to show our thanks by opening the bottles of Everclear and whiskey and drinking with Tara and her boyfriend (Ricky). We talked, drank, played music, and took pictures with them till about 6AM, at which point it was best for us to go to bed so The Galt Line could play the next day!
The following afternoon we went to a coffee shop that was painted yellow and purple and had some strong coffee. We met a guy named Byron who, as it turned out, happen to act as our tour guide the rest of the day. He answered Willie's questions about the music scene in Lexington and Louisville, mine about physics and astronomy, and Chris' about the education program at UK. Byron happened to be 'the guy' who knew anything and everything about Lexington, KY, he studied engineering and computers in college, got a decent job and now he is a bass player in the Jimmy Jones and the Kool-aid Kids. We all went to a sports bar for lunch and had spicy, great southern food. Willie and Blythe wanted to rehearse before playing the show, so we went to UK sat in front of the botany building watched them rehearse. CPR is about three quarters the size of my living room. There is a foosball table and a big pillar in the middle of the room. There is no stage, so the audience stands right in front of the band as they play. There were supposed to be three bands playing but the first band didn't show, which made the Galt Line the first band to play. The Galt Line played for about 45 minutes and I got to record it all! If you have never heard them play before you should, they have most of their songs up on myspace and youtube. It is amazing watching Willie play the guitar, even more amazing to watch his fingers move faster than the speed of light (yes, I had to use some physics somewhere). Blythe is great as she looks at you in the eye while playing the Uke and singing. To make it just a tad more difficult for herself, she made a tambourine from beer bottle caps that she now ties around her calf and plays that too. I can say this from experience, standing still while listening to them is just not possible....try recording their shows while you are trying to not move but all your body wants to do is dance and let loose. After the Galt Line, we saw the very energetic Jimmy Jones and the Kool aid kids. I am not a big fan of rock nowadays but these guys are a breath of fresh air in a music world that seems to be polluted with emo, untalented, wannbe rock stars. We decided to keep it 'low key' the rest of the night so we could be well rested the next day. Instead of going out we decided to go back to the apartment and drink till only about 4AM. What we didn't know was that there is no resting on a vacation with the Galt Line.
Our last full day in Lexington consisted of lots of coffee, a place called Captain D's where I chugged a ramekin of malt vinegar (or did I, no one will ever know except for Willie and I). Me taking pictures of random people to see if they would get angry (they did not Thankfully!), and pretty houses. Walking downtown Lexington...which nothing but beautiful. The Galt Line recording and all of us jamming with a guy in his bedroom. And of course, drinking till we all passed out. The drive back was grey, rainy, and foggy. Half of us slept most of the way back (Chris and Blythe) and the other half (Willie and I)of us stopped 4 different times to get coffee and energy drinks. Now, as I sit here at 2AM listening to The Devil Makes Three and the Galt Line wondering why I had a pot of coffee after I came home from work, I can only be glad to be close to people who are talented, make good music, and know how to ’get people moving’ no matter what