Boy, did we have a great Saturday night. Before the Billy Bragg show, Susie was kind enough to invite us to dinner. We ate at Josie’s West in NYC, and it was fabulous. All-natural, hearty food with great cocktails (kiwi mojito!). In the car on the way into the city, Susie and I started saying the same things at the same time, and the shared-brain theme carried through all evening - we even ordered the same meal for dinner (thai shrimp and brown rice, if you were wondering).

Billy’s set was excellent, as always. He talked about Woody Guthrie, as he does, and made me giggle when he referred to the guys in Wilco as “The Wilcos.” He also told us about his new charity, Jail Guitar Doors, which provides guitars to prisons, helping people heal through the power of music. He founded it in honor of Joe Strummer, how much do you love him? Love him even more when I tell you that at one point he started playing Superstar by The Carpenters. And then stopped because not enough people were singing along. And I think he actually thanked me for at least trying. Ha! You know I can belt out some Carpenters, bitch.

A couple of photos:

Then, after the show, this happened:

Billy Bragg is Lisa’s idol, and has been since the late 80s. Mine too, but the man belongs solely to her. Saturday night was the first time she (or I) ever met him. I am so happy I was there, lugging along my camera, to snag the photo. Look at her! Happiest Girl in the World. Billy Bragg is the kind of guy that you would want to go and have a pint with and talk all night; I’m so grateful he took the time to chat with us.

Here, download some mp3s from the man himself. And buy his book!