featuring creative performances from the WVIA studios.

I'm George Graham.

This time we have the distinctive original music of a Long Island group led by singer-songwriter, Jean-Paul Vest.

Here is Last Charge of the Light Horse.

(guitar strumming) (deep rock music) ♪ One kind word ♪ Shouldn't have to last me so long ♪ ♪ Leave me sucking on a happy memory ♪ ♪ Until the sweetness is gone ♪ But I can't walk away from my faith ♪ ♪ In a good thing ♪ Even if it never comes ♪ I got a farmer's patience ♪ I do what I can ♪ And I hope that the weather changes ♪ ♪ And honey, my love has better uses ♪ ♪ Than to stay behind and make your excuses ♪ ♪ When you can't keep your promises ♪ ♪ One kind word shouldn't have ♪ To last me so long, leave me ♪ Sucking on a happy memory until ♪ ♪ The sweetness is gone ♪ I can't walk away from my faith ♪ ♪ In a good thing ♪ Even if it never comes ♪ So many years of believing and hoping you'll change ♪ ♪ And if I leave you now, I throw 'em all away ♪ ♪ But those years were already spent ♪ ♪ Not carelessly, not by accident you're my thrill ♪ ♪ But you keep me waiting ♪ One kind word shouldn't have ♪ To last me so long ♪ Leave me sucking on a happy memory till all ♪ ♪ Of the sweetness is gone ♪ I can't walk away from my faith in you ♪ ♪ Even if you can't be true (gentle acoustic music) (gentle acoustic music) (audience applauding) Hello, thank you very much and good evening.

We are Last Charge of the Light Horse We've driven here from Long Island, New York.

And first of all, a big thank you to George and the crew here for having us.

We're gonna play three songs now from our latest release Octet.

And, uh we're getting just a little bit of feedback in the monitors here.

Thank you.

And this first one is called, "For Now."

(guitar strumming) ♪ Break of Day ♪ Rain tapping on the skylight ♪ Urging us to wake ♪ But don't rush away for now ♪ Mmm-Mmm, for now ♪ Time to rise, be about our business ♪ ♪ Obligations insist ♪ But I hesitate, for now (gentle acoustic music) ♪ Mmm-mmm ♪ For now ♪ There's only now ♪ Breathe slow ♪ Lie still and stay a while ♪ The world beyond ♪ Can keep a while ♪ Let go, hold me for now ♪ Lying still ♪ There's a sparrow outside my window ♪ ♪ His eyes are frozen wide ♪ In the final surprise of now ♪ Just now ♪ Now, there is only now ♪ Breathe slow ♪ Lie still and stay a while ♪ The world beyond ♪ Can keep a while ♪ Let go, hold me ♪ For now (gentle acoustic music) ♪ Break of day ♪ Rain tapping on the skylight ♪ Urging us awake ♪ But don't rush away for now ♪ Mmm, for now (guitar strumming) (audience applauding) - Thank you very much.

(gentle acoustic music) ♪ Walking in the garden of your solitude ♪ ♪ For the seeds of your imagining ♪ ♪ Are slow to bear fruit ♪ You don't need full harvest load ♪ ♪ just a single leaf to fall ♪ But that's all, that's everything ♪ ♪ Night and a day's bewilderments ♪ ♪ Begin to fade ♪ But the bioluminescence of you ♪ ♪ Worries remain ♪ Sprinkled on the map of your memory ♪ ♪ Like a constellation of the life ♪ ♪ You try, couldn't leave ♪ Ah, close your eyes ♪ And let oblivion ♪ Hold you in it's arms ♪ Tonight ♪ And now you're circling on the telephone ♪ ♪ And your conversation walks ♪ The rosary of the routine ♪ But you just need to talk ♪ And so the message is the medium ♪ ♪ A voice in the void do break ♪ The night of faint lies ♪ The one light that's everything ♪ (audience applauding) - Thank you very much.

This next song I wrote after watching Jeopardy, one of the clues was about Torricelli.

He was an Italian scientist who invented the barometer.

And he had, I thought, an amazing quote that "We live at the bottom of an ocean of air."

And certainly, for the last few years it's felt like we lived at the bottom of something.

So, this is about that.

(upbeat acoustic music) ♪ We drove away from sadness ♪ Found a brighter address ♪ Hoping a change will do us ♪ Some good ♪ Let's put the past behind us ♪ Try to live in kindness ♪ But this quarantine feels like ♪ ♪ A marathon Turing tests at times ♪ ♪ Well we live down ♪ At the bottom ♪ Of an ocean of air ♪ In a sea of problems ♪ But when the pressure doesn't get us ♪ ♪ We learn to fly sometimes (gentle upbeat acoustic music) ♪ Ah, the ring of our telephones ♪ ♪ Is a constant barrage ♪ We're providing IT support and emotional triage ♪ ♪ So every day is demanding ♪ It feels like we're still standing ♪ ♪ But the stars could all go out tonight ♪ ♪ And we wouldn't know for years ♪ ♪ Oh, we live down at the bottom ♪ ♪ Of an ocean of air and a sea of problems ♪ ♪ But when the pressure doesn't get us ♪ ♪ We learn to fly sometimes (upbeat acoustic music) (audience applauding) - I'm a big fan of George Harrison's and I had noticed that his record label post Beatles was Dark Horse Records.

And I thought that was very cool.

So I thought, okay, Dark Horse would be Light Horse.

And then I kind of expanded that to Last Charge of the Light Horse, partly as a reminder to myself not to hold anything back on stage.

I think I'm naturally kind of a shy person, so performing doesn't come naturally to me.

And also coincidentally, I was born in the year of the horse, not to date myself.

So it seemed important.

Played in a few groups.

I was in a group called Blue Sandcastle that did, it was a little more hard rock stuff.

We did kind of a thrashing cover of Willie Nelson's song "Crazy."

That's probably unrecognizable to fans of Patsy Cline, and a few of the bands growing up with friends.

And this has kind of been the one where I've sort of found my voice as a songwriter and just happy playing with these guys.

Yeah, my dad's a piano player and gave me a great education about a lot of jazz growing up.

A lot of Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Sun Raw, some really cool stuff.

But his main love was Bob Dylan and the Birds and the Beatles.

So definitely, a lot of folk rock in there too.

I've been playing, I guess I've known Bob the longest.

Bob engineered our first two albums, and in one of the studio breaks he picked up a guitar and my jaw fell right through the floor.

And I thought, "Would you play guitar with us?"

- [Drummer] One, two, three.

(drum stick tapping) ♪ Surprise consolation ♪ And sometimes a hint ♪ Of chocolate, mischief, or cherry ♪ ♪ Some secret, some impatience ♪ And some matter of course ♪ Some in hunger ♪ Some in hunger ♪ In hunger, some charged ♪ Charged with the force ♪ Of shared memories and promise ♪ ♪ Some slow as the first week in August ♪ ♪ The 25 years of your kisses ♪ And not two alike, as yet, redraw in my heart ♪ ♪ On the traces of a young love's balances ♪ (guitar strumming) (gentle upbeat acoustic music) ♪ I've had a full quarter century ♪ ♪ Of learning the pace ♪ Of your footsteps ♪ And your laughter ♪ And your breathing ♪ I've grown fluent ♪ In the language ♪ Of the grace that manifests ♪ When the day sheds its vastness ♪ ♪ And that evening constricts ♪ Down to a light ♪ On the pages you turn ♪ And the fridge sings it's thing ♪ ♪ But persistent B flat ♪ Ah, 25 years of your kisses ♪ And not two alike as yet ♪ Redraw in my heart ♪ On the traces of a young love's balances ♪ ♪ Ah, yeah, I rejoin my heart ♪ And the reason ♪ Redraw in my heart again ♪ Rejoin my heart ♪ On the traces of a young love's balances ♪ (upbeat acoustic music) (audience applauding) Thank you very much.

That is Bob Stander on lead guitar.

Teddy Kumpel is filling in on bass for us tonight because our regular bass is Pemberton Roach is off in the Gambia in Africa.

And this is Mr. Shawn Murray on the drums.

(audience applauding) And this song is from an album we did a few years back called, Nine Kinds of Happy.

It's called, "This is Where."

(soft rock music) ♪ A grill band from Senegal plays in the view ♪ ♪ From Town Square ♪ Drums fill the arcade ♪ Voices fill the air ♪ We need to be ♪ And this is where ♪ Walk me down the dirt road ♪ Past your neighbor's fruit trees ♪ ♪ Tell me all your plans and dreams ♪ ♪ The wilder the better ♪ I'm in a mood to believe in something ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't get out ♪ Of my own will ♪ Oh, but you lead me ♪ Your sunlight, yeah ♪ Ah, your hope is effortless ♪ It's music in the streets ♪ It's a garden full of vegetables ♪ ♪ More than anyone could be ♪ But you are my lover best ♪ My cookie cream, oddly ♪ My hope's more demanding ♪ Like pins in a juggling act ♪ A half dozen in the air ♪ More behind my back ♪ We both know I'll drop one ♪ And then reality comes back ♪ Oh, I can't get out ♪ Of my own way ♪ Oh, but you'll leave me ♪ To sunlight, yeah (slow rock music) ♪ I can't get out ♪ On my own way ♪ Oh, but you'll leave me ♪ To sunlight, yeah ♪ Yeah (audience applauding) (gentle acoustic music) ♪ The odometer flips to a hundred grand ♪ ♪ and it feels like progress ♪ That vague taste of accomplishment helps you ♪ ♪ To feel a little less lost ♪ But it's a random number ♪ You're treading water ♪ It's visually pleasing but grossly misleading ♪ ♪ The accumulation of mundane errands over time ♪ ♪ Still it scratches the itch ♪ To impose some frame of perspective ♪ ♪ As you try to fill your requirements ♪ ♪ And free up time for electives ♪ ♪ Well, perspective is fine, but living is binary ♪ ♪ You are or you aren't in love or in misery ♪ ♪ And hindsight never clears ♪ Till the date on the warranty is passed ♪ ♪ Maybe teenagers have the right idea ♪ ♪ Just live in the present ♪ And drink it all in ♪ And so you begin ♪ Ah, but sooner or later ♪ There's a compromise ♪ A promise you make ♪ Or a paper you sign ♪ And it hits you at the strangest times ♪ ♪ Idling in the drive through ATM line ♪ ♪ That by the time the last child is put to bed ♪ ♪ The dish is washed ♪ And Stories read ♪ There may not be anything left in the tank ♪ ♪ And that's why you don't mind ♪ ♪ No, you don't mind ♪ So the odometer flips to another mile ♪ ♪ And it feels like progress (gentle acoustic music) (gentle acoustic music) (audience applauding) Thanks very much.

This Next song is called "Face to Face" about living far apart from loved ones.

(soft rock music) ♪ I can only speculate about why you never call you anymore ♪ ♪ Could be advice I gave came back to bite me ♪ ♪ Could be that you mean to, but just never write me ♪ ♪ I won't ask your secrets ♪ I won't comment on the state of your affairs ♪ ♪ But I miss your sense of humor ♪ ♪ I miss knowing that you care ♪ The distance between us increases ♪ ♪ As the years accelerate ♪ As kids, we share the bedroom ♪ ♪ And now we live in separate states ♪ ♪ With less to laugh about and more to tolerate ♪ ♪ I don't judge you for your choices ♪ ♪ I don't claim I've never made mistakes ♪ ♪ We've both been stretched out so thin ♪ ♪ We never will snap back into shape ♪ ♪ Yeah, right now it's hard to speak tenderly ♪ ♪ And easy to shout ♪ With too many questions in the way, drowning you out ♪ ♪ I wanna turn this trend around ♪ ♪ But where to begin ♪ I need to see you face to face again ♪ ♪ Face to face ♪ I need to see you ♪ Face to face ♪ I need to see you (soft rock music) ♪ Now absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder ♪ ♪ It just exaggerates ♪ Either the roses bloom like crazy ♪ ♪ Or the weeds proliferate ♪ Any German dad can make you start to wonder ♪ ♪ Too much time to replay and too much time to ponder ♪ ♪ That's more attention than any word ♪ ♪ Or detail could deserve ♪ Sometimes hindsight isn't 20/20 ♪ ♪ It's just plain absurd ♪ Right now it's hard to speak tenderly ♪ ♪ And easy to shout ♪ Too many questions in the way ♪ ♪ Drowning you out ♪ I wanna turn this trend around ♪ ♪ But where to begin ♪ I need to see you face to face again ♪ ♪ Face to face ♪ I need to see you ♪ Face to face ♪ I need to see you (soft rock music) (soft rock music) - Well, JP really influences me a lot and we try to go for a different sound and different like drum grooves, and it's just the way we've been, you know, doing this from the beginning.

He'll inspire me to play a groove, you know, on the record or I'll come up with something, he'll write a song around a groove that I, you know, created.

- One of my favorite groups is the the English band XTC.

And I feel like they, I don't think they've ever repeated a drumbeat in a song.

So Shawn and I try to go for that together and definitely- - Yeah.

- The beat is the foundation of what we write.

Although it is, as you said, like a folk song structure.

If it doesn't have a compelling beat, it's not gonna go far.

- Yeah, we have to try to come up with something that wasn't done before.

Yeah, you take something and make it a little bit different to try to freshen it up.

- [Interviewer] I understand you have been playing with various people like Joe Jackson.

- Joe is my day job (laughs) and love playing with Joe.

He's incredible to play with.

I've been with him since 2015, and I have a band with Bob called, Know'm Saying, know'm saying?

And we play instrumental rock and some song oriented stuff and kind of mixing funky stuff with a little bit experimental song forms, and what else do we do?

I don't know, it's kind of psychedelic but it's, yeah, it's wild but it's not that wild.

It's pretty accessible.

I'm very influenced by pop music so I don't stray too far from that.

And I love playing your music JP.

It's just such a pleasure to jump in on bass and try to emulate the amazing Pemberton Roach who's the normal bass player.

(soft rock music) (moves to rousing soft rock music) ♪ Turn off the clocks ♪ Stop counting down ♪ To who knows why ♪ Stop leaving in the remainders ♪ (soft rock music) ♪ This night is yours forever ♪ Ooh (rousing soft rock music) ♪ Stop trying to free ♪ Every feeling in lowest ♪ Lowest common terms ♪ Don't live in abbreviation ♪ This night is yours ♪ Forever ♪ Ooh (gentle acoustic music) (audience applauding) Thank you very much Once again, that's Bob Stander on lead guitar.

What are we doing for time?

Okay.

All right.

We will gonna do one last song here.

This is also from our album Nine Kinds of Happy.

And this is one more that features Bob.

This one's called, "Spoken" and it's about the way love changes us.

(gentle acoustic music) Never hurts to check.

(drum stick tapping) (upbeat rock music) ♪ I was only waiting to be spoken ♪ ♪ Snapped off like a long losing streak ♪ ♪ Board out in summer's Langwood ocean ♪ ♪ At the cadence of fields ripening ♪ (upbeat soft rock music) ♪ I was only waiting to be shouted ♪ ♪ This burden's staggering in a joyful howl ♪ ♪ Or trampled in the blossoms of a thousand ♪ ♪ Simple silent daily courtesies ♪ ♪ So much she loves me ♪ It's almost frightening ♪ Like the sweetest kiss from ♪ The wildest lightning ♪ So near and strangely ♪ A distinct and faintly ♪ Couldn't help but change me ♪ Couldn't help but change me (upbeat soft rock music) ♪ I was only waiting for translation ♪ ♪ To the starlings abrupt impossible ♪ ♪ Language in the air ♪ Above the station ♪ Real and scattering ♪ In a single turn of breeze ♪ So much she loves me ♪ It's almost frightening ♪ Like the sweetest kiss from ♪ The wildest lightning ♪ So near and strangely ♪ The discreet and bravely ♪ Couldn't help but change me ♪ Couldn't help but change me ♪ Yeah, hmm ♪ Yeah, hmm (upbeat soft rock music) (upbeat soft rock music) (audience applauding) Thank you very much.

Thank you very much to George and WBI for having us.

Alright, let me think about what that might be.

All right, I'll do one called, "This room."

(gentle acoustic music) ♪ This room was made to make you ♪ ♪ Yeah, this room was made to make you ♪ ♪ Look and feel your worst ♪ And the motel mirror ♪ And the bare fluorescence ♪ It's not a room for charitable guesses ♪ ♪ About the suitcase they dragged outside ♪ ♪ To the cruiser with the flashing lights ♪ ♪ They pulled away past the liquor store ♪ ♪ Ran into the night ♪ Oh, this room was made to make you ♪ ♪ This room was made to make you ♪ ♪ Second guess your direction ♪ Hesitate and call into question ♪ ♪ The reservation that yielded ♪ A quarter-hearted smile ♪ And a key and a map photocopied into unreadability ♪ ♪ All this room ♪ Sees a vacancy ♪ When it tries to read your eyes ♪ ♪ But that's just the dark ♪ Of a moonless night ♪ On a long stretch of high-way miles ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ Ooh ♪ Oh, this room was made to make you ♪ ♪ This room was made to make you ♪ ♪ Wonder if you are worth less than you hope ♪ ♪ Hard water, lousy soap ♪ Barely furnished, barely clean ♪ ♪ Just a rude regression to a meaner me ♪ ♪ Ah, this room sees a vacancy ♪ When it tries to read your eyes ♪ ♪ But that's just the dark ♪ Of a moonless night ♪ On a long stretch of highway miles ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ Ooh ♪ Ooh (gentle acoustic music) (gentle acoustic music decrescendos) Thank you very, very much for coming tonight.

(audience applauding)