The False Ducks Blahg

Solo is not quite right anymore…it’s now a trio! My old compatriot from NYC Keith Cotton will be joining on keyboards and new pal Scott Mulvahill will be on bass. They are both fantastic and I’m truly excited to play out live with them. Scott is doing a short opening set in which he creates something unique, it’s worth seeing and hearing. If he survives, we will then launch into new songs by me, old songs by me, and some others too. For sure it won’t be the same way twice. It feels strange and good to not know exactly what’s going to happen as we work it all out.

Of course, I didn’t know who Scott Mulvahill was so I had to research him and I found a video he posted of him singing The Weepies song “Somebody Loved” with the tag “Super pumped to be joining Steve Tannen of The Weepies on a couple shows coming up!! I’ve loved their music and this song in particular for a long time.  I’m gonna open the shows and then back up his gorgeous songs, come see us!”  Here’s that video:

@scottmulvahill

I’ve loved The Weepies and this song of theirs for a long time #somebodyloved #singer #bassist #bassplayer #uprightbass #fyp

♬ original sound – Scott Mulvahill

I watched some other videos by Scott Mulvahill and was really excited by his music.  I didn’t get to any of the concerts with Scott and Steve but I became fascinated by Scott’s music.  One of my favourite’s was the song “1000 Feet.”  The video shows Scott performing the song in a field up in Iceland in 2018/2019.  Check it out:

In a previous blahg, I also posted a video for the song “Joy”:

There’s another amazing video of Scott Mulvahill and some other musicians performing Paul Simon’s “Homeless.”  The amazing thing about it is that the power goes out at the venue and then they launch into the song and when they’re done, the power comes back on.  Truly, a beautiful version. 

I could go on and on about Scott Mulvahill and his videos on YouTube but you really have to check them out for yourself.  I posted the above videos to add context to this next part.

   I have been checking out Scott Mulvahill’s website, http://www.scottmulvahill.com/ and keeping track of his music releases and praying that he’d post some tour dates that included Canada.  Back in the summer he posted a series of dates starting in mid-October where he was travelling with the band “Oliver Hazard”.  Scott was going to open for the band on his tour and the second date of the tour was going to be at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto on October 16th, 2024.  Is it still cool to say “Hot Diggity-Dog?”  Well, I was excited and there was no way I was going to miss Scott’s show…even if I didn’t know anything about “Oliver Hazard.” 

   The week of the concert did not dawn well for me.  As mentioned in my last blahg, TWICE IN A LIFETIME…IS TOO MUCH, my Mother’s house burned on Thanksgiving (Canadian), October 14, and that was also the beginning of my Fall week of holidays.  Add to it, that I had to have an MRI on my prostate on the 16th; the same day as the Scott Mulvahill concert.  I got the results of that two days later and everything was fine but it was a week of worries and hassles.  The concert was the shining light through the chaos of everything else.  Here is a photo of Scott Mulvahill on stage at the Horseshoe Tavern: 

Despite the brightness of the photo, it was really dark in the Horseshoe Tavern.  It was filled with people between 20 and 30 who were only there to see Oliver Hazard.  I’m not sure if anyone there had even heard of Scott Mulvahill. 

   My wife and I got there about a half hour before the show started.  Here’s a picture of us at the Horseshoe Tavern and you can tell how dark it was:

Waiting for the show to start, I noticed there was a Merch (short for merchandise) table off to one side so I drifted over there to see if there was anything for Scott Mulvahill.  The main table was for Oliver Hazard merchandise and when I said that I wanted merchandise for Scott Mulvahill, I was told I had to talk to Scott.  I turned and there he was.  I explained who I was and that I had gone there expressly to see him.  We talked about his music and I told him about watching his videos and how the “1000 Feet” and “Homeless” videos were among my favourites.  He told me he was going to perform “1000 Feet” but if I wanted to hear “Homeless” I should go to Nashville for New Year’s Eve because he was going to perform songs from the Paul Simon album “Graceland” (that contains “Homeless”).  I doubt I’ll make it to Nashville but Scott Mulvahill was so personable and approachable and just one fine class act.  I did purchase a T-Shirt and a camp mug.  Here are photos of those below: 

Here’s a photo of me wearing my Scott Mulvahill shirt but the image is backwards because it’s a shot of me in the mirror:

   What happened next is a topper on top of my exchange with Scott Mulvahill at the Merch table. He started to perform and then he stopped to talk about his experience with me at the Merch table and then he sang and dedicated the song “1000 Feet” to me.  I didn’t take any video of the performance but I did record the audio.  I’ve put together a video of the performance along with some photos from the night and my merchandise:

Scott also performed a new song called “Travel Light, Travel Fast.”  There is a video out there of Scott performing it at the Horseshoe Tavern but I don’t want to post it here and violate some copyright.  Instead, I’ll just post the audio because it’s better than the live audio I recorded: 

Here’s a screen grab from the video of Scott performing the above song in Toronto:

   After Scott Mulvahill’s set I went back to see him at the Merch table and to thank him for the dedication.  He was super nice again and allowed my wife to take a picture of the two Scotts.  That’s the picture I’ve used at the top of this blahg.  What a fantastic person!  Thank you Scott Mulvahill for all you did for me.  It really made my week. 

   I know Scott Mulvahill and I are not best friends because of this interaction but today, I found a video of Scott Mulvahill and Brenna MacMillan performing the song “You’ve Got A Friend In Me.”  It’s a classy performance from a class act.  Brenna MacMillan’s good too!  Thanks again Scott.

 

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A post shared by Scott Mulvahill (@scottmulvahill)

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