Ellis Paul and Peyton Tochterman at Eddie's Attic 11/24/2012

We arrived early, and Tommy K was setting up the merch.  He opened Ellis' suitcase filled with a jumbel of CDs.  As we lhelped sort the CDs into piles, we joked aobut putting the toothbrush and socks that were also in the suitcase on eBay. 

This was the 5th or 6th time I have seen Peyton perform, and damn if he doesn't just keep getting better.  He was gracious and kind (again) to my nephew James (age 8).  He remembered meeting him several months ago.  He asked James about the song he had written (and I had sent to Peyton) shortly after James saw him for the first time.  He didn't seem bothered by the fact that James said he was "looking like a lumberjack."  The beard is growing--not just longer but larger.  :-)

I failed to start the set list in a timely manner, so I may be missing a song or two, and they are definitely not in the correct order.

Smile

Pencil Red Lips (not certain of title)

God And Country (True story of Red Roundtree)--about the oldest bank robber in history

Mortal Planet

A Girl and Her Horses (also unsure of title)--This is a sweet, quirky song about his fiancee and the fact that she might love her horses more than she loves him.

Solemn Endeavor (working title)--new song about his upcoming wedding vows.

He told stories about playing in Afghanistan for women who had never heard live music before, the perils of writing under the influence of narcotics after Kenny G's piano fell on his head.  (no, that isn't a typo)

Then it was time for Ellis.  He played a mix of old and new songs.

Chasing Beauty

At this point James had to take a bathroom break, and since we were front and center, he nearly had to step on the stage to get there.  Ellis played and sang, "I scared him off...I scared him off...."  I assured him that James was tougher to scare than that.

Someone (who I really need to meet) shouted a request for Wilbur the Rat.  To the surprise of exactly nobody familiar with Ellis, he refused the request.  Ellis once told me that I was one of three people who requested that song on a regular basis...the other two were his mother and Kristian Bush...I'll take that company any day.

Rose Tattoo

Empire  Stating, "It's good to get the new ones out of the way, they clog the pipes."

Maria's Beautiful Mess Someone asked if he had seen Maria lately.  He said her name was really Mia--a fact I had not previously known.  He said that he had to change her name for the song because she was the girlfriend of a friend.  "They broke up later, but I had nothing to do about it.  It was an affair of the imagination...I waled away and wrote a song about it."  He then told a joke he wanted to take back as soon as it left his mouth, and asked that it not be put on the internet.

Mary, Mary-a Christmas son about Mary "because she doesn't get enough credit."

Alice's Champagne Palace--He said he had recently been back to Homer, and went to the bar.  Everyone knew who he was, and the lyrics are painted on the wall.

Kick Out the Lights--my sister's current favorite

Peyton joined him on stage at this point, and they said this was their last scheduled show together after a year and a half.  Ellis called him "Burl Ives on steroids," and said that he couldn't "believe a man that hairy can play the guitar quite like that."

Dragonfly

Woody Guthrie

Jukebox on My Grave--at this point Ellis said that this was the song he would miss playing with Peyton the most.  Peyton's amazing guitar play on the song made the specifics of why abundantly clear.

Ellis then told the story of his Guinness hsi guitar turning it sideways to show how it got its name.  He showed us the back of the guitar and said that Georgia O'Keefe was the guitar's alternate name.

Walking After Midnight/Thing Change

Chief Joseph--with obligatorysingalong and hand motions

Annalee--unplugged in the audience.

Great fun was had by all.  James hung in there pretty well, hitting a wall when there were about three songs left.