[Photo by Bill Foster]
If you listen to a lot of Sun City Girls records, you might be surprised to find Sir Richard Bishop hanging out in churches. But last time he came through New York it was for a show at Park Church Co-op; and now here he is again playing St. John’s Cathedral this past March in Knoxville as part of the Big Ears Festival. I guess it’s not so bad sitting in the pews for some guitar worship.
This set finds the guitar-shaman himself conjuring up live staples from across his massive catalog, including “Mystic Minor 23” (Improvika); “Elysium Number Five” (Polytheistic Frangments); “Mekong” (Road to Siam); “Safe House” (Tangier Sessions); “The Pillars of Baalbek” (The Freak of Araby); and “Zurvan” (While My Guitar Gently Bleeds). These solo tracks are then topped off with the Sun City Girls classic “Esoterica of Abyssynia,” which ask anyone is one of Bishop’s great guitar triumphs.
Speaking of Big Ears, we’re going to be posting a bunch of sets from the 2017 festival in the upcoming weeks in anticipation of their 2018 festival. The initial lineup announcement comes November 1 and tickets are onsale November 3. I’ve been (in 2014) and it’s truly an awesome good time.
Download: [MP3/FLAC]
Sir Richard Bishop
2017-03-25
Big Ears Festival
St. John’s Cathedral
Knoxville, TN
Recorded by Matt Honkonen
Tracked by Eric PH
Soundboard + Zoom H6 > Audacity > FLAC (24/48, level 8)
Tracks [54:19]
01. Mystic Minor 23
02. Elysium Number Five
03. Mekong
04. Safe House
05. The Pillars of Baalbek
06. Zurvan
07. Esoterica of Abyssynia [Sun City Girls]
• Website
• • Facebook
• • • Buy Tangier Sessions and other Sir Richard Bishop records from Drag City
Recent Comments