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Peter and Fayssoux join us for the evening...
Peter was the first artist to contact us out the blue, and approach us about doing a house concert where we ended up accepting. Peter knows Will Kimbrough and Tommy Womack, and came across our web site due to our prior house concerts. He contacted us via email, and Susan took over from there.
I (Bart) got a call at work from Susan about this artist that contacted me for Music Under the Moss. She says, "His music is good, he's damn cute and Nanci Griffith plays on his album." Hell, that was all Susan needed, and before I even get home, she's talking of when to book Peter for the fall '08 show. She accepts his offer to send his CD, "Mission Door," and when it arrives, I finally get a chance to hear him.
Turns out the guy is very talented, and he struck me as a mix of John Prine, George Jones and a little bit of Will Kimbrough. We quickly pick a date of October 18, 2008, and we are all set.
After doing some more research, I come to find out that Peter Cooper and Fayssoux McLean were recently interviewed by Bob Edwards. Bob now has a show on XM Satellite Radio, and he releases a weekly Podcast features some of the interviews of the week. He released the Peter and Fayssoux interview. I learned a lot more about Peter. He's a busy guy: singer, songwriter, studio musician, producer, music journalist, author and college professor. I then learned about Fayssoux McLean, because she just released her debut album off the same label as Peter, Red Beet Records.
Fayssoux McLean had met Emmy Lou Harris in the 1970's, and had been singing backup for Emmy Lou for years. Fayssoux though decided to leave the music business in 1980's and pretty much gave up the entire business cold turkey to raise a family. She used her University of South Carolina degree to become a speech therapist in an elementary school. She was doing this into the 1990's until Fayssoux and Peter crossed paths.
Peter Cooper was living in Spartanburg at the time, and he was writing a book on the musical talents that lived in the area. Right before going to publishing, he learned of Fayssoux and ensured her talents were mentioned in the book. This gave Fayssoux the desire to get in the music business once again. With Peter's help, Fayssoux recorded a few original tracks along side with some covers that felt her voice quite well. Emmy Lou thought so highly of Fayssoux that she sang backup for Fayssoux on the album.
After learning more about Fayssoux and hearing her album, I approached Peter with the idea of Fayssoux opening for him at our house concert. It did not take long and the bill was set. The evening turned out great. Fayssoux cranked out a great opening set, with Peter helping on guitar and backup vocals. Her set seemed to end all too quickly though, but Peter changed shirts (ala Cher), and then came out for his great set of music. The highlight of seeing Peter live is that he has great background stories for the songs that he performs. These tidbits of info make the song that much more enjoyable, and before we know it....the evening was over.
It was another great evening of music and friendship. Thanks to Peter and Fayssoux for making the trip and sharing their talents with everyone! Curt took some pictures of the event, and you can check them out here. Of course, you can see our pictures at the links below.
Quick thank you list: Mic and Geri were there like always. Since I wasn't able to be around much lately, their help was especially appreciated. Mic is also the photographer of all the pics you see here for this show. He's a professional photographer that is open to new work if you're interested. Fayssoux's friend, Noonie, jumped in like she'd been helping us for years, and she was a ton of help as well. We'd also like to thank Ron and Julie Merritt for lending us the lighting gear, and Ron's sound equipment expertise. Finally, we'd like to thank everyone for coming. It truly was another great evening of music and friendship.
Here are some pictures:
Show Prep
Fayssoux McLean
Peter Cooper
After Show Fun
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