Josh Rouse at Neumos
April 22, 2006 8:55 amWe went to see Josh Rouse at Neumos last night - what a great time! First, it’s always fantastic to get out with Anne as “real people” and not just parents, plus Sharon came along. Then, the show was very entertaining. John Roderick of The Long Winters opened up, and not only was it great to hear the tunes acoustic, John is also a very engaging guy on stage.
After a nice set from John, Josh came out with his acoustic guitar, backed by a string quartet (he called them the “Crimson Quartet”, but Anne recognized them from the Seattle Symphony). Josh put on a great show - some new tunes from Subtitulo, and all of the tunes I love from Nashville and his New Year’s Eve 2003 show DVD.
Although he was on stage for just over an hour for his main set, he came out and did a nice encore, including “The Man Who Doesn’t Know How to Smile” as a duet with his girlfriend Paz Suay from Valencia, Spain, where Josh is living these days (and where he wrote Subtitulo in a week after arriving from Nashville).
Here’s a link to a Q&A with Josh with some more info on him. I loved the string quartet backup, and hope that next time he comes through he’ll bring a band.
btw, you can get all of Josh Rouse’s music on eMusic - tell them that I sent you (or tell me first, and I’ll refer you).
ps : John opened with this tune from The Long Winters’ new album. Thank you Anne for giving me the gift of never having to look back and call myself stupid… 
