PNW music and the Andaman Sea

In anticipation of meeting musicians in Cambodia I burned several CDs of a collection of music from the Pacific Northwest: some KGB, Ruthie Dornfeld, John Miller and John Reischman, a mix of acoustic, folk-based music.

The bar at the Narima Bungalows plays great music, so I decided to give them one of these CDs to add to their collection. The bartender thanked me kindly, and I figured maybe he'd listen to it privately before subjecting the patrons to whatever foreign sounds were on there.

A few minutes later we're sipping our Singha beers and looking out across the Andaman Sea in the warm moonlight, balmy breezes rustling the palm trees, and out comes the fiddling of Claude Ginsberg, mandolin by Dave Bartley, and the piano-playing of Julie King. KGB has arrived in SE Asia! It was somewhat surreal hearing my friends' music in the midst of Thais, Swedes and Germans.

I wasn't sure what to make of hearing that music in such a setting and was concerned they were just being polite, and perhaps that would be the only time they played the CD. As soon as we left they'd probably put the Bob Dylan or Ben Harper back on. But the next day, as I was walking down the steps from the upper deck where the restaurant is, I could hear fiddle music. They were playing the CD, and not just to be polite! That made my day.

The world felt just a little bit smaller.