Edwards Makes It Four For Letterman

Kathleen Edwards was in town for her fourth appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman (seen below outside the studio with Mark Satlof, Matt Hanks, her manager Patrick Sambrook and Diana D' Angelo). At a convivial dinner after the taping, Kathleen reminisced about some of the other bookings...the time she pulled off to the side of the road waiting to see if a last minute offer would come in for that day (it did) and the memorable booking that had her on a marathon 13 hour bus ride from Toronto during a blizzard to make the show. By now, Letterman feels like home.

Went to the Colbert Report and all I got was this Lousy

...tote bag, plus a "wriststrong" charity bracelet and a baseball cap.

I was there today with Carole King for her first appearance on the Colbert Report. She did great with Stephen during his sit down interview, and her performance of I Feel the Earth Move was powerful and rocking. Carole spoke of her work with the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, now working its way through congress, as well as of her recent DVD Welcome to My Living Room and the upcoming reissue of Tapestry.

The crowd roared for Carole, and after she walked backstage, she decided on the spot to return for another song for the audience. I don't think there was a body in the house who wasn't floored by a stunning You've Got a Friend, replete with sing along. As usual, it was a thrill to get to hang out with Carole and watch her perform, while on the Colbert side, the entire staff was was a good bunch and treated Carole very well. Lots of fans up there.



Oh yeah, I also got to meet Stephen for a fleeting moment, but long enough to get this photo.


Oh, and this picture too of Carole with Kareem Abdul Jabar

Up Early and Out Late with the Blind Boys

The Blind Boys of Alabama kept us busy last week, in town promoting their new album ‘Down in New Orleans’ on Time Life. Among other things, they performed on Imus in the Morning, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and gave a knock-out live performance from the Cutting Room in Manhattan that aired live on WFUV.

Here’s a shot snapped just after the WFUV gig with, from left to right: WFUV’s Rita Houston, Blind Boys Joey Williams and Jimmy Carter, Time Life’s Bas Hartong, Blind Boys drummer Ricky McKinnie, me, and BBs bassist Tracy Pierce.

You can’t really tell from the photo, but Jimmy Carter’s cap reads “Jimster.” He is the coolest septuagenarian I know.

Ryan Shaw & Bonsai Trees

Ryan Shaw displayed his incredible chops last week on Martha Stewart, wowing the crowd. He sounded great during sound check, but Ryan really connects when there's an audience present. Met bookers Jeffry Culbreth and Maura Kelly, who treated us well in the green room. Martha, for her part, praised Ryan's "timeless" soul music.

Ryan and band are hysterical backstage, cracking non-stop jokes over turkey sandwiches and fresh fruit and, I'm told, the best cappucinos a green room has to offer.

Meanwhile, we learned how to shop for ecofriendly products with Josh Dorfman, "The Lazy Environmentalist"; how to make Poule au Pot with Anne Willan; and saw a multitude of gorgeous bonsai trees on the expansive set.



L-R, here's Rob (pictured with his gorgeous 1969 Telecaster), Keith, Martha, Ryan and Tiny (with awesome 5-string bass).

To see Ryan sing "We Got Love," click here and click "next" in the video box.