With the start of the live concert season – something that really turns me on and really encourages me – I want to start with a few upcoming shows presented by two local singer-songwriters: Katie Daggett and Ed DesJardins. I have worked with the two artists several times over the years and it’s always nice to reconnect with them, as I did recently with a phone interview which found Mr. DesJardins on the other end of the phone. . It looks like he and Katie will be performing at Readfield and Manchester in early and mid-July, so when we connected on June 3, I asked a logical question.

Q: How long have you worked with Katie, anyway?
Gardens : We had our first gig in the summer of 2004, so we’ve been there for a long time.

Q: Wow, I guess you did. Have you ever recorded anything together?
Gardens : Well, we’re making a record right now.

Q: Oh really?
Gardens : Yeah, well after all this time (laughs). It will be mostly original music and a few covers that we like, probably 10 or 12 songs. We’re down to about four right now and we have some studio time scheduled for the 19th of this month; and I also have my studio, so we sort of work from both locations. So, yes, we will have original music and we will also have real vinyls.

Q: Well, everything old is new again it seems.
Gardens : (Laughs) Well, yeah, you know, with CDs now, there aren’t even too many people using them anymore, everyone downloads everything, so we’ll have that available on one site but we’ll also have vinyls. , for people who have record players; frankly i always thought it would be cool to have my own record. So yes, that’s what we do.

Q: Cold. Now you have some gigs coming up, don’t you?
Gardens : Yes, the first show we have on July 6th is at the Readfield Union Meeting House, and it’s a 7pm start and I believe it’s a $ 10 ticket. The seating capacity in this hall is 200 and it’s a big old space, I’ve used it before – did shows there and played there – and there is a nice ambient sound, we look forward to it. And then the next show will take place at Lakeside Orchard in Manchester; they have a great series of concerts where they book shows almost every week and on July 10th we will be there; and then I’ll be back there on July 31st with some Boneheads and other players and we’re going to do our Tom Petty tribute show that we did last year there, it was a big hit . Again, I think it’s a $ 10 bill – very affordable – and there are all kinds of spaces to spread out on the ground and that’s awesome. It’s just down the street from Readfield where the first gig is on Route 17. It’s a big old apple orchard there, but there is a nice stage setup.

Q: Well, it must be great to finally be able to play again after 14 months of forced inactivity.
Gardens : Yeah, that’s it. Katie and I did a bunch of stuff last season, like summer and fall – all outdoor stuff, obviously – and the Lakeside concerts were part of the experience last year; people were really hungry for something to go to, and I think they still are. It’s great to get calls, write down dates and book shows again.

Q: Now back to that explosive announcement from the album you’re working on. How does that compare to the solo CDs you’ve released?
Gardens : It’s a pretty detached album; the few albums I’ve done in the past are pretty produced, with a lot of fabulous musicians and all kinds of sounds going on, but this time we’re just bringing the core of us together: two acoustic guitars, two vocals and us let’s just lay the songs from cover to cover with no edits, no punches or anything like that, just a good live performance. Then I’ll go and maybe put a little bassline in there, maybe some lead guitar just to flesh out a bit, but for the most part it’s going to be kind of like what you’d hear if you came to hear us in concert. It’s going to be a lot closer to that and it’s something that we both agreed we wanted.

Q: And when the two of you are on the road to support it, fans can get it and say, “Yeah, that’s what I heard tonight! “
Gardens : Yeah, exactly, that’s pretty important too.

Q: Now you were talking about getting calls to put on shows and things like that, so I have to ask you: what is it like this summer?
Gardens : It looks pretty good. There’s Katie and I who play a lot, we have our outdoor venues and our concerts at home, just like some of the old concerts that we have and have always had, and private parties too.

Q: Well, Ed, is there anything you would like me to pass on to people reading this article?
Gardens : Absolutely! Let them know we love them and welcome back, we can’t wait to see them when we play outside!

Check out Ed and Katie’s Facebook pages to find out all about them!

Lucky Clark has spent over 50 years writing about great music and the people who make it. He can be contacted at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.

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