“This is life on Bleecker Street
Where the tourists shuffle to a boom box beat
Old men sit and stare at their feet
This is life on Bleecker Street
All kinds of people come from who knows where
All kinds of people who knows how much they care”
- Bleecker Street by Willie Nile (2013)
As a fan of Richard Bush and the Peace Creeps, we were excited to see they would be playing on my home turf at the Sellersville Theater on January 17, 2014, opening for some guy named Willie Nile. We didn’t know anything about the headliner, but we got front row seats to see our friends in the Peace Creeps. The Creeps kicked things off with a great opening set, and then Willie Nile and Band came out. We became instant fans from the first note- something pretty unusual for seeing a band for the first time and not knowing their songs. But Willie was the ultimate showman, full of energy with catchy songs and great lyrics. We found ourselves singing along to songs we just heard for the first time. It was no surprise to find out Bruce Springsteen frequently joins him on stage, as there are definite similarities in their songwriting and stage energy. Since then, we’ve seen Willie at least a dozen times, including shows at the Ardmore Music Hall, World Cafe Live, Philadelphia City Winery, 118 North, Stone Pony, and the Wonder Bar, in addition to Sellersville Theater. And we’re really looking forward to his show next month at the Met in Philadelphia, opening for the Hooters.
When Willie posted that he was in the process of making a new studio album (his 15th!), and that they would be doing a fan fund to raise money to help pay for studio costs, manufacturing, shipping, and promotion, we decided we wanted to help out. One of the many packages he was offering to contributors to the fan fund was having dinner with Willie at a favorite restaurant in his hometown of New York City, in Greenwich Village. Eva and I jumped on the opportunity to have dinner with Willie. After some back-and-forth texting, we came up with a date and a restaurant where we would meet- April 16th, at the Society Cafe. The restaurant is located at the Walker Hotel, a beautiful boutique hotel located in the heart of Greenwich Village. It is reminiscent of the village’s early days when it was home to avant-garde artists, writers, poets and free-spirited bohemians. An architectural gem that also pays homage to New York’s Golden Age, the luxury boutique property is inspired by the Georgian revival towers of New York’s 1920’s famed Fifth Avenue. We decided to book a room to make it an overnight adventure in the Big Apple.
It was great to spend the evening with Willie. We shared chickpea fries, an autumn roots salad, and Spanish octopus appetizers. Then Eva had the halibut dinner, I had the New York strip steak, and Willie opted for the Porcini Risotto. Everything was delicious. We spent close to 3 hours chatting, talking about the music business, Willie’s connection to the Hooters, the songwriting process, touring, his new record, his ties to New York, and his family (including his 107-year-old father). A highlight had to be when Willie sang a few lines acapella from one of his new songs, telling us it would make a great song for Darius Rucker. Willie was appreciative of our love of live music and our music fan family of friends, particularly our “In the Pocket” gang. We talked a lot about the healing power of music. Another guest in the restaurant recognized Willie and stopped over to say hello and introduce his friend. I think they thought Eva or I might be somebody famous, but I said, “no, we’re just fans.” It was a fantastic evening.
That night after dinner, we took an enjoyable walk around Greenwich Village, strolling along Bleecker Street, and stopping by the famous Stonewall Inn. At one point, Eva swears she saw William H. Macy with his wife Felicity Huffman walking across the street, but it was dark, so I’m not sure if it was them. But you never know who you are going to see in New York.
The next day we did some more walking around town, seeing the High Line walkway, going to the beautiful Hudson River Park, and stopping for lunch at Murray’s Bagels. Along the way we ran into a television show being filmed- a new production tentatively titled “On Brand”. We hung around for a while watching them filming. They had quite an impressive set design with a mock Marshalls department store. We didn’t recognize any actors, but we were close enough to the filming where a couple of times the crew had to shoo us out of the area where they were shooting.
It was the perfect little getaway. Special thanks to Willie for giving us the opportunity to chat. I love New York!
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