St. Nick's Wednesday Coffeehouse

It has been a while since I posted a Wednesday Coffeehouse. I think it's time to do another one!

This time I'm featuring a local musician from the Louisville area whom I have known personally for over ten years. I've not seen her in several years; as you know, I don't get out much any more and very seldom for fun.

But...enough of my silly self-pity! As Alex says, Y dun u wantz to goez outz when u hab ME to playz wiff here?

First to perform today is my very dear friend, Tess Arkels. I met her at a bar then owned by the ex-wife of a fellow clergyperson. What was special about the bar was that each Wednesday folks would gather with their guitars, banjos, basses, mandolins, harmonicas, and of course their voices and play Bluegrass music. Can you picture 80 or so people broken down into perhaps 10 or so smaller groups spread out around the bar playing different songs? It was great, especially after I began bringing my guitar and joining in.

For a while they also sponsored an "open mike" evening and I occasionally dropped by for that. That's where I met Tess. She was at the mike and the bartender/cook and I were the only other people present. I listened to Tess and was more than a little impressed. No, her music is far from being Bluegrass (as you'll hear when you click below). Her ability to write music is as awesome as her voice.

One of the songs I heard that first night, Joe's Song, Tess wrote to her father, Joe, who deserted her and her mother when she was an infant. The words of that song -- Why would you leave me... Tell me, do you remember me? -- touched my heart. So did the title song of her CD, Orphan of the Heart, which speaks to me of Tess's life as impacted by her father's absence.

I was around Tess, attending her concerts, taking photographs, sitting and talking as she slowly recorded the CD Orphan of the Heart. And, unknown to me, ended her marriage. When, on the day the CD was released, I learned that Tess was divorcing, I suddenly understand the meaning behind some of the songs on the CD. It's almost as if one has a portrait of a young woman attempting to find love while feeling the rejection of a father whom she never knew.

I've said enough! My I introduce my friend, Tess Arkels.

Conscience

Joe's Song

Orphan of the Heart

I have only shared a few of Tess' songs at this coffee house, but you can access the entire album here:

Orphan of the Heart