3,000 MILES

3,000 MILES by Andrew Vladeck.

WOMAN I LOVE by J.J. Cale.

Andrew is a great friend of ours, and so this week we're going to feature a few of his songs. He certainly doesn't need our help getting exposure or recognition. He recently was awarded a very nice sounding International Songwriting Competition award, and is putting the wraps on a new album probably at this very moment.

But this is our blog, so I'm going to use Andrew to talk about us some more. :)

Just for some context, Amy and I met on Wednesday, March 8, 2000, at a bar near here called Von. Mayur had called me suggesting I stop by on the way home from school. Amy got a similar call to come over after she finished tutoring at the Bowery Mission. When I walked in Mayur and Janice were already there with Amy (For some reason I was carrying a telescope). Mayur has since told me that an early plan for that very night was to go to a concert to see our friend Tristan play a show, but we never made it that far. Instead we stayed at Von and then later Mayur, Amy, and I went to M&R Bar for food.

I've written before about how Amy got my Grandpa the Traces CD. That wasn't the only good impression Amy made with music during that period. She also took me to see Andrew Vladeck play a show. I'm pretty sure the first time was at Arlene Grocery. But pretty soon Andrew's shows were a handy pretext for dates with Amy. We saw him at Arlene Grocery, CB's Gallery, the Living Room, and Mercury Lounge, and plenty more places since. So it's no overstatement to say Andrew was very important in getting our relationship off the ground! Thanks Andrew!

I remember being impressed by 3,000 Miles. This recording is from much later than when I first saw him do it, but this arrangement is similar to how he was playing it then. He had this huge ensemble up on stage with him: two backup singers, three horns, organ, plus rhythm section and him.

Between those horns, Andrew's laconic delivery, the swampy milieu of songs like 3,000 Miles & You Can't Kill Time, plus the fact that I heard how easily he stripped them down, I became convinced quickly Andrew was on some J.J. Cale trip. Which was awesome. So I was excited I had found a closet J.J. Cale fan, and excited that Amy had such evident good taste.

I've uploaded a representative J.J. Cale song, Woman I Love, for your own pleasure and for purposes of comparison. (perhaps Andrew, if he reads this, will have a listen as well. I think he told me sometime later that I had been wrong, that he had never heard J.J. Cale!)

LISTEN to Andrew Vladeck.

LISTEN to J.J. Cale.

Photo: 1, 2, 3, 4.