butchers,bakers,millers,blacksmith, sexmith?

Went to see Ron Sexsmith at the Corner hotel in Richmond. Its black cube which is the premier rock club in Melbourne due to its location and its size. People know where it is. Its right next to the station which is a junction for a lot of suburban lines and is also the closest stop to the MCG. I first went there in about 1989. It was a bikers pub then and they had the run of the joint. Music existed on the margins. Now its a rock club and there is an entrance and exit.Everybodys in on it. No barbarians grunting and bellowing upstairs as they snort speed from their Bowie knives and no pizzas being expressed through the crowd and through the doors crossed with pool cues.
Saw Love play there a couple of years ago and they trancended the situation. Music sounds great in there. They sounded spectacular. Also saw Pere Ubu doing their "Modern Dance" set there and the Dictators as well. KINGS! The joint has some gteat acts.
Ron Sexsmith is another to add to that. I have two of his albums, the one with "idiot boy" on it and the follow up , "blue boy" which was produced by Steve Earle. He casually mentioned that he was embarassed that his new album wasn't out in time enough for the tour. He proceeded to play an hour or more of songs that were so fresh and direct that they existed and hung in the air and then blew away as he conjured another cloud from the air inside him. It was a privelege to be there. Acoustic guitar, bass and drums. No bass amp for the guitar, just a modelling kind of pedal. No guitar changes, just a Taylor acoustic for the whole set with a brief trip to an electric piano. Ron has great songs and sings across the lines, the chords, in a free and smoky way that is simply amazing. A bit like Tim Hardin but a lot more songs in his book. He is coming at the music rom an area of rare expertise and confidence. He is playful where others begin in a sweat and grab at the chords and notes and try desperately to fill up the spaces. There are no other mics, no harmony vocals, just the bass, drums and the acoustic. In lesser hands it would be pretty dull. He picks the strings with his fingers, no plectrum.
Its rare to see such blazing talent.