I've mentioned this before, but Los Angeles has a lot of cool, intimate, unusual venues. Surprising venues. Certainly counted among their number is Kulak's Woodshed, a spot in North Hollywood with its own special charm. It's the only venue that I know of that includes not just chairs and couches, but a bed for patrons to relax on during a show. I've always chosen a chair myself, but there it is, for those so inclined. And for a small venue, it includes, in addition to a bed, a grand piano. And the decor? Well, there are all sorts of things there to give the place a relaxed, welcoming vibe. Pillows, records, plush toys, bookshelves stuffed with books. The shows there are filmed and broadcast online.
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| Fernando Perdomo |
Last night was a good double bill, two singer/songwriters from Florida (one of whom still lives there, the other now residing in Los Angeles). Fernando Perdomo opened the night, this time performing a solo set. As you are likely aware, he is in the middle of a year-long project titled
Clouds, releasing an album of new material every month. But in addition to that, he has two other albums out now:
Goodbye Sun from Perdomo Kravitz and the ten-year anniversary edition of
Voyeurs. His set focused on material from those two albums. After Paul Kulak delivered an introduction about the venue, Fernando kicked off the set with the title track from
Goodbye Sun. This is a song that he also played at his March 29th show at Kulak's Woodshed, that time with a full band. So it had quite a different vibe last night, Fernando being so adept at creating an interesting atmosphere with his music. "My Own Devices" followed, and it too had a vibe that gently carried us. That song is also on
Goodbye Sun. The next song, "Absolute Silence," was included on his
45's The Best, a compilation that was released last year. It's an excellent song. One line that especially stood out to me was "
If dreams are all we have, sleeping is all I'll do."
After that song, Fernando Perdomo revealed that a lot of his songs were written on Ruby Friedman's couch, including the next one, "I'm No Fun," a song from the Perdomo Kravitz album. "
I'm no fun without you." This song had a sweet vibe, particularly during the "
doo doo doo" vocal part. That was followed by "The First Day Of Fall" and "Darkness Descends." "Darkness Descends" began with some pretty guitar work. In introducing that song, Fernando joked how he had decided to do the most mellow set he's ever done. But it certainly worked in the space. Kulak's Woodshed is a good listening room, a spot where folks in the audience can focus on the lyrics. And besides, if it got too mellow, there was always the bed. Kulak's Woodshed is located on Laurel Canyon Blvd., and Fernando mentioned that "Canyon Trilogy," a track on
Goodbye Sun that is made up of three songs, was inspired by this street, by the magic of this street. And he pointed out that the magic is not limited to just the section in the hills to the south of where we were, that area celebrated in
Echo In The Canyon (a documentary that Fernando Perdomo is a part of).
Fernando Perdomo then moved to music from
Voyeurs, mentioning a bit about the unusual way the album was created, with people able, and even encouraged, to offer their input, their suggestions during the process. From this album, he first played "Feels," delivering an especially good vocal performance. He followed that with "In A World Without You," first mentioning that a cover of it was recorded and slated to be on the final album by Terry Draper, who died a year ago. You probably know Terry from his work in the band Klaatu (as a side note, there are also bands called Barada and Nikto). Fernando Perdomo wrapped up the set with "Home," which he introduced as "Home Is Wherever You Are." Interestingly, he also said he started writing the song when he was in high school, and finished it more than a decade later. I've said it before, but one of these days I am going to make a mix CD of songs titled "Home." There are a lot of them, and I've never heard a bad one. Something about the concept of home brings out the best in songwriters. Fernando delivered a beautiful rendition of "Home." "
Home, home is wherever you are/Home can be out in the stars/Home can be Venus or Mars." The set ended at 8:56 p.m.
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| Robert Bidney |
Robert Bidney then took the stage, mentioning that Fernando Perdomo had produced three of his albums. He opened his set with a song that I immediately connected to, "Too Young To Be Old." Lines like "
I struggle with aches" and "
And my memory fades/Driving me insane" stood out for me. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who hears himself in those lines. Those of us in the middle, those of us who feel these things should not yet be happening to us. He sings, "
Too old to be young, too young to be old." There was a good energy to this song, the energy of someone who is definitely too young to be old. He followed that with "We Can Do Better," playing harmonica on that one. It's a good song, but I'm no longer sure we can do better. The divisions are no longer about matters of policy. The divisions are between intelligence and stupidity, compassion and bigotry, democracy and fascism. "
We were unified/Now we're all taking sides." I do appreciate the hopeful, optimistic bent of the song, and I wish I shared it. Interestingly, the first line of the next song was "
The world is a mess." Indeed. And in the song Robert asks, "
What can I do?" This one, titled "I'm Alive," is also positive, and its optimism I do share, for this one is more about a personal way of looking at life. "
You see, I've got a love in my life," he sings. And that makes all the difference, doesn't it?
When introducing "What In The World," Robert mentioned that he wrote it a decade ago, and at the time thought it would have a short shelf life. But it is still valid and relevant today. Can you believe it's been a full decade since that rapist in the White House was first elected? He should be rotting in a prison cell, but he's back in the White House, thanks to millions of racists and morons (again, I don't think it's possible to reconnect with those people). "
Tell me, what in the world do you think you're really doing?" He followed that with "Are You Gonna Tell Your Children," the main question posited here being "
Are you gonna tell your children that the world is okay?" I imagine it must be incredibly difficult to raise children these days. What do you tell them? One of my favorite songs of the set was "Pill For Poverty," which he said he wrote during a tough time. In this song, he says that they have a pill for just about everything, and then sings, "
I need a pill for poverty." I need that pill too. What a great, passionate vocal performance! That was followed by "There's Life After Loss." In introducing that one, he said the song comes from three true stories, with just one thing in common.
Robert Bidney moved to the piano for "Thank You Leon," a song about Leon Russell, who was a major influence on him. He then delivered an excellent rendition of Leon Russell's "A Song For You," also on piano. That was followed by "From The First," a song he wrote with Wendy Sager, and another highlight of the set. "
She doesn't notice the changes in him/And he doesn't see them in her." "Their Memory Survives" was inspired by the front page of
The New York Times during the pandemic when the page was filled with short obituaries. The song contains the line "
We could have done so much better," a telling variation of the title line from "We Can Do Better." "
It's too late for them." He followed that with "91 Years Of Springtimes," a song written for his mother's funeral, revised from the song "70 Years Of Springtimes," which he'd written for her birthday celebration. He then went back to guitar for the final two songs of his set, "Rush Of Hope" and "It's All About The Love," the latter with verses delivered as a sort of rap. The show ended at 10:05 p.m.
Kulak's Woodshed is located at 5230 1/2 Laurel Canyon Blvd. in North Hollywood, California.
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