Mrs. Club Founder and myself made the drive from Greenville, SC to
Charleston, WV to see Richard, Nancy, and guest drummer Chris Arduser
play on "Mountain Stage". The headliner for this show was none other
than Todd Rundgren - Nancy was kind enough to drop me a note to let
me know they were going to be on the bill, saying, "When I tell
you who we're playing with, your head's gonna explode!" We share a
deep and abiding love of TR... but that's another story. Anyway - the
Heymans were 5th on the 6-act list, coming out just before Todd.
Props to the other performers - Sonny Landreth did a blistering slide
guitar set - definitely check him out. Col. Bruce Hampton and the
Codetalkers did their jam band thing. Stephen Fearing, a Canadian
folkie-type, played some beautiful guitar. Steve Forbert played a
fairly long set, 7 or 8 tunes, focusing on his newest CD of Jimmie
Rodgers songs.

Then came RXH & Co. Dressed, as always, in dazzling stage duds,
Richard played an all-too-short set (afterwards, I thought it was
only 3 songs, but it was in fact 4! Still too few.). I saw a few
other Heymanites waiting for the doors to open, so it's great to know
he drew some of his own fans to the show. Richard's vocals and guitar
work were sharp and energetic; Nancy's bass playing was as propulsive
as ever, and Chris Arduser (from a zillion bands, most notably Adrian
Belew and The Bears) fit like an old glove, even though this was his
first time sitting in w/RX, and hadn't even rehearsed with them!

Todd put on a fine set - an abbreviated version of the solo shows
he's been doing (this was the end of the first leg of his current
tour). Everyone came out at the end and jammed on "Taxman", with
Richard and Nancy planting themselves squarely on either side of TR.

This was the first show of "Mountain Stage"'s 20th season, and will
be released for radio broadcast after April 4 (and also edited into
two one-hour TV programs), so "check your local listings".

Two small TR tidbits - Mrs. CF and myself got backstage and shook
Todd's hand (we took turns); big thrill for me. Back at the hotel,
Mrs. CF ran into Todd's roadie, who said they were leaving for
Columbus, OH that night, hitting the road after 10 P.M. Driving
through some snow and cold temps. So much for the glamorous touring
life of a major pop star...