Music Notes

I wasn't able to watch Rockstar last night, so no recap. But the reason I missed it was because I was at Wolf Trap watching Lyle Lovett and his large band. It was a lovely evening -- relatively cool, no humidity, and a nice breeze. (So much better than the last time I was there -- Aug. 1 -- to see Guster, Ray LaMontaigne, and Rogue Wave, when it was like 100 degrees.)

He is not kidding about the large band thing. All told, there were 18 people on the stage, including Lyle, 2 drummers, 4 kinds of horn players, a piano player, 4 backup singers, and 6 people playing different kinds of stringed instruments. And, wow, they were good, individually and as a group.

As an aside, Wilder would have loved it, because I know that she generally likes singing by black women with very powerful voices. One of the backup singers was just such a person, and she sang a couple of blues songs on her own while Lyle was taking a break. Really good!

It must be fun to be Lyle Lovett. You get to tour around and play music with your buddies. And tell your funny little stories between songs. And although -- let's face it -- you are one weird looking dude, you have women drooling over you. Nice life.