Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Eric Nordby (of Norman)/ Trouble In The Wind @ Habitat House- 02.13.11

Last Sunday night, the Habitat House opened up its doors once again for an evening of unplugged excellence featuring (from Oregon-based band Norman) Eric Nordby and guests performers from The Tree Ring, and Carlsbad's own Trouble In The Wind. Continue reading after the jump...



My inaugural trip to Habitat House started with a quick stroll over to the Golden Hill residence where I was greeted by a handful of like-minded individuals, tall boys in hand, waiting on the porch for the music to start. Not really knowing how the whole system operated over there, I walked up and introduced myself to the first person I saw (who happened to be Trouble In The Wind's frontman Robby Gira). After getting the gist of the operation, I walked up the street to grab a couple beers at the local convenience store and went back to find a spot on the couch. By the time Eric was ready to go, a sizeable crowd of 30+ had settled in to the various couches/ chairs/ floor space available in the living room. Eric, sitting in a chair, accompanied by only his acoustic guitar, offered a couple solo songs before being joined by a few members of The Tree ring and their various instruments. His set of folksy singer-songwriter tunes set the tone nicely for Trouble In The Wind's more uptempo 'outlaw country' act. By the time they started the living room had filled to (seated) capacity. Lit pleasantly by a lone table lamp in the middle of the floor, Robby was joined by bassist Trevor Mulvey, drummer Larry Doran and multi-instrumentalist Kyle Merritt. Their pared down acoustic set up fit the space perfectly. Over the next hour or so their tempo built and ebbed as they progressed through the accordion- and banjo- laced set. When they finished, the crowd greeted them with a round of applause and multiple requests for one more song, which they gladly provided. When all was said and done, it was 10 pm, which for a Sunday night is all you can ask for (and I'm sure the neighbors were pretty happy too).

The Habitat House is truly a unique experience in San Diego's music scene. They keep the somewhat infrequent shows under relatively tight wraps (for good reason- it is a house after all), but if you have the wherewithall to make your way over there, definitely go check it out.

Eric Nordby:




Trouble In The Wind:






For more pix from the evening, click here and the rest of my concert photography click here.
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