Christopher Guess
(From left) Esther Knutson, Doug Brown, Mary Gaines and Chris Wagoner talk and play.
The stories songs tell may hook us, but the stories of how and why they're made can be even more fascinating.
Chris Wagoner and Mary Gaines have learned that. Playing in groups like Harmonious Wail, the Common Faces, the Moon Gypsies, the Bob Westfall Band and the Stellanovas over the past two and a half decades, they've picked up enough stories to write a book, perhaps a whole series.
But, being sonically inclined, they didn't opt for the printed word. They give these kinds of stories a voice in a live performance and talk-show series called Mad Toast Live.
Since last May, Wagoner and Gaines have invited local musicians - as well as regional and national acts - to take the stage at the Brink Lounge every Tuesday night. Each featured musician performs a live set while Wagoner and Gaines play accompaniment on fiddle, cello, mandolin, slide guitar and an array of other instruments. The two also play emcee, coaxing stories from the performers' musical experiences and personal histories through off-the-cuff Q&A sessions.
"We're hoping that even people who are fans of the artists see a different side of them - a fun side, one they're not necessarily going to get at a normal live show," says Wagoner.
At a recent performance with jazz vocalist Esther Knutson, the couple's interview led to a side-splitting riff. It all began with a question about pets. After explaining how her whole family hates cats, Knutson shared memories of her efforts to domesticate a diving beetle.
"My dad and I put it in the fish tank. When we woke up the next morning, there was this one lone, waving fin," she recalled with feigned horror. All the fish were gone, and the beetle's belly was full. "It would spear and liquefy and suck."
"Cats don't do that, do they?" quipped Knutson's guitar-playing sidekick, Doug Brown, and the crowd went wild as Gaines responded with a snippet of "Taps" on her cello.