“Cat, I hate to bother you, but do you know someplace that can run off 100 cd’s? Today?”
This was the text I got from my good friend Sarah Swain, lead singer of the band “Sarah Swain and the Oh Boys”. I checked the time: it was less than seven hours from her cd release party at the Cotuit Center for the Arts.
Apparently, the manufacturing/duplication company had made a mistake; a horrible mistake. Sarah and the rest of the band have been working on their new cd for what seems like a year or more. Everything was going according to plan, right down to the new artwork which is also the band’s new logo. The date of the CD release party was locked in at the Cotuit Center months ago. The band had been playing gigs constantly throughout the summer leading up to this night. The boxes of cd’s arrived this week and looked perfect! Then Sarah’s husband, Steve Swain peeled off the shrink wrap and popped it in the cd player to have a listen. What came out of the speakers was so far away in style from Sarah Swain and the Oh Boys, everyone was in shock: Irish step dance? Fiddles? A peculiar cover of La Bomba? WHERE WAS THEIR MUSIC!?! (Sarah Swain and the Oh Boys are a throw-back high energy Americana / rock-a-billy band, complete with a stand-up base).
Sarah, her husband and the rest of the core of the band (Liam Hogge, Ron Siegel and Jeremy Smith) went into “fix-it” mode. Unfortunately, it was also a Saturday. Even if they could find someone who could do a “short run” of 100 cd’s, they would likely not be ready for this evening’s event.
I have known the band for many years, and I know they weren’t going to cancel the performance. They just needed to find a creative way to explain the situation and move on. And they did.
Zoey Lewis
The night opened with a set from the incredibly talented and funny Zoey Lewis from Provincetown. Zoey is a one-woman story-telling multi-instrument musical machine. Her stories and songs ran the gamut from scattering the ashes of a complete stranger in Provincetown Harbor to playing instruments with elephants in a far off land! Even audience members who were a little unsure of her quirky British accent were enamored with her by the end of her short set.
After a brief break and a short introductory story, Sarah Swain and the Oh Boys, along with a few guest musicians (including Jesse Lynch, Paul Lesniak and the iconic Steve Shook) took to the stage to explain why there wasn’t a stack of new cd’s on the merchandise table in the lobby… “We thought we’d play you an excerpt from the new cd”. The soundman fumbled with the cd player and the theatre was filled with fiddle music that clearly didn’t seem quite right. With a big smile Sarah explained there would be vouchers for anyone who wanted them. The vouchers would be honored at their next event which would be on August 30th at the Wequassett.
Sarah Swain & The Oh Boys
“So we decided we’d just play the whole cd for you instead!” Everyone cheered and the party kicked in. People were out of their seats and dancing for the entire night. In addition to playing the majority of the new cd (apparently there is a surprise at the end of the cd that we will have to wait to hear), Sarah and the guys threw in a couple songs from past recordings including “Ain’t Gonna Be Your Valentine”, “Whiskey Three Step”, “Window Shopping” and a Tom Waits cover to boot!
By the end of the night the room was filled with big smiles, loud applause and folks who were panting from dancing so much.
Congratulations to Sarah Swain and the Oh Boys for taking the lemons and making lemonade for us all! If you are interested in catching up with Sarah Swain and the Oh Boys, you can find their full schedule at www.SarahSwainMusic.com
About Cat Wilson
Sounds like the typical way messups are handled here on the Cape. Any excuse to party.