When it Comes to Acoustic Blues, Paul Geremia is a National Treasure

It was a cold night in February. The sky was as clear and the air sharp as the mammoth ice sickle that had formed itself on the corner of the gutter near the front door of my house. I was just getting ready to settle in for the evening, maybe curl up in front of the nearest source of heat with a good book and a warm drink, when the phone rang. It was my friend Robert. Robert owns Mountain Peak Recording Studio here in St. Louis. He told me about a friend of his, Neal. They had been busy laying down some tracks for Neal's new CD. Robert said that he had some tickets to Focal Point, a small folk music venue in Maplewood, Mo. He asked me if I would like to tag along. I said sure.

Robert and Neal arrived at my house about an hour early. We had planned to stop for dinner at the Maya Café, which was a small restaurant right next to the Focal Point; they even shared the same owner. Neal was a large man with long hair and a deep voice, and a very deep appreciation for music, especially the Blues. Robert and Neal told me about the performer that we were going to see: a fellow named Paul Geremia. They had both seen him play before and both, Neil in particular, had become big fans.

After a lackluster meal at the Maya, we still had a little time to kill before we could get into the Focal Point. We went across the street to the Saratoga Bowling Alley. The Saratoga was built in 1916 and is one of the only upstairs bowling alleys left in the country. It is a popular place and I was surprised to see that it was empty when we went in. The guy behind the bar told us that we were early. We wondered how he knew we were going to be there. Then we found out that the place was booked for a private party and we weren't exactly on the guest list. We ended up waiting in Neal's car to stay out of the cold until then club opened. At one point, we saw a small huddled figure wearing a fedora and carrying a couple of old beat up guitar cases round the corner and head towards where we were parked.