Episode 22

Rob Lockhart, Will Kidd, Pat and Avenue D

Pat Cieply 08/25/04

I received an email from Will with some great news! A guy he shared a house with back in the day was coming to perform at the Elephant room, and we were planning to stop in and see him. ItŐs been a loooonnggg time! A little history here to explain things-Will shared a house on Ave d in Hyde Park with this guy named Rob Lockhart. I was living in Houston at the time, but spent my time traveling between Austin, Anderson-Navasota (a fantastic ranch was there that we frequently visited) and Houston, or wherever else I could find an interesting buzz of activity. In Austin I would crash on the living room floor at Will and Robs pad. I paid my way by buying French wine, and cooking continental cuisine, doing my best to bring some decadence to these musician-monks I was staying with! WE were all in a serious study of jazz, and rock, and all points in between. Rob, a sax player, would spend 98% of his time practicing in his room. This guy was, and still is a very dedicated musician, always seeking to better his playing.

Will was at UT, studying music, and I was running around studying life, and seeing just how far I could go on a tank of gas and the kindness of friends. This was the background for a friendship that has truly stood the test of time.

Rob Lockhart with Will and Pat

Back to the future-So, here we were after many years, watching Rob play amazing music with Mitch Watkins, John Fremgen, and -----------. Rob has been playing with world class players out in LA ( Dr Dre to Jeff Berlin)and shared some great stories with all of us in POE.I was happy to hear he is a father, and still remembers how to make a sauce with wine for his steak dinners!

I was reminded of the Avenue D house by a story about the spiders that would come out of the cracks when Rob would practice. It seemed they would appear when the music was good, sway to some cosmic arachnid rythym, and then disappear until they heard the good stuff again! They were just one part of the magical mystery tour of Ave D house. It was great to see Rob again. He is playing better than ever and I consider myself lucky to be his friend. Naturally we gave him a copy of our dandy asked him to play on our next effort! We are all hoping we can make that happen! With Sarah Wilhite on violin, and Rob on sax, it promises to be a very enjoyable affair! Saxophone and violins I can hear in the distance- they are calling our names! We hope to see you there!

Rob Lockhart at the Elephant Room