A baby BobCat is born

Last night, in front of a motley crew of friends, colleagues, and folk from near and far, Bob and Cathy were pleased to:

• Celebrate Cathy's 40th birthday in truly rockin' style, and
• Celebrate the birth of our bouncing baby BobCat House Concerts with the awesome duo of Suzie Vinnick and Tony D.
  

It's sometimes difficult to know exactly how things are going over when you're trying to keep everything going, and this was a bit ... unusual as a combined party / house concert.



But, if you'll pardon the crudity, Suzie and Tony ROCKED THE FUCKING HOUSE!

From Howlin' Wolf to Lowell George to their own songs to a rousing and down-and-dirty-bluesy chorus of "Happy Birthday" for Cath (the Cat of BobCat), they brought the friendly, warm vibe to our house that they bring to every show and then some.

Tony was hot off gigs paying tribute to his late mentor Dutch Mason and getting ready for his big Hendrix tribute show at Barrymore's, and Suzie was

• (a) touring madly;
  
• (b) fresh from snagging THREE Maple Blues Awards;
  
• (c) waiting to hear whether she and Rick Fines will continue to dominate their category in the International Songwriting Competition (Rick Fines won in 2004; Suzie in 2005; and a Suzie+Rick co-written song is a finalist in 2006!) ; and
  
• (d) getting ready for an official CD release for her new disc with her other musical buddy Rick Fines, "Nothing Halfway" (March 22 at the NAC's Fourth Stage).

We couldn't have had better openers for our series. The music was exquisite. When you have played as often as Tony and Suzie have, it seems like there's a telepathy between the two of them, and the songs just flow out. Suzie's vocal talents are unbelievable, and she is a quick-witted and creative guitarist. And anyone who's heard Tony knows that whether it's a flamenco-flavoured rock tango or an all-out Howlin' Wolf blastoff, his red Gibson 135 and his blond Strat seem to exhale inventive, stylish, and technically perfect guitar lines.

So now we've got one down, and our big sign has its first two signatures for display in the sunroom.

And now, we're looking for number two. It may be in June, or a little earlier. We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, enjoy the photos.

Ciao for now,
BobCat.