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[Jason Panella]

For the past year, two friends and I have been playing Celtic folk music (or, our spin on it) around our county. We've only played a few shows, mostly just to friends, and made a few bucks to buy beer or coffee. And it's been a fun way for me to keep my guitar/bass/mandolin/accordion playing above subpar.

So we got a call last week. One of the venues we played at earlier this year, a coffee shop / ministry a few towns away, was hosting a concert by Stellar Kart. They're a CCM-y pop punk band. The owner of the venue asked if we could open for them. We said, "OK." So instead of making a bunch of teenie boppers go to sleep with folk music, we decided to prep a few covers. Or, as our percussionist Charlie said, "We'll just switch to '80s Brit/Aussie rock mode."

In two short practices, we managed to figure out the following tunes:
-"Under the Milky Way" (the Church)
-"Overkill" (Men at Work)
-"Lightning Crashes" (Live)
-"Fisherman's Blues" (the Waterboys) we cover this already in folk mode
-"Running to Stand Still" (U2)
-"Thunder Road" (Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce)
plus, a few other rocked-up Scotch/Irish tunes.

It's an interesting smattering of songs. We're just using guitar/bass/drums, and this is the first time I've played this much bass in a while. Our vocalist is playing his acoustic ala Bill Mallonee (with distortion, etc.)

I've never really wanted to be in a cover band, but this has been fun. I'm just hoping no one expects me to stick around for Stellar Kart.

[Jason Panella]

Here's a post-show wrap-up (if anyone is reading!)

We flubbed a bit (our frontman got the jitters a bit). Regardless, most of the crowd were at least half my age (and, as the youngest in the band, I'm 29). They had no clue what was going on, which is OK; all of the kids' parents/chaperones were having a good time (all six of them).

At the very least, I got paid a little bit to play the bass part on "Thunder Road," so it was worth it.