What You Missed: We Are The Willows at the Cake Shop

The Sunday night show at the Cake Shop with Peter Miller of We Are The Willows is exactly the reason we do these kind of shows. Here was a man who had slept in his van for the last two months, played street corners, clubs and bars from Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Orlando, Florida (and even a drug awareness festival in Big Stone Gap, Virginia) and, coming back into his hometown, all he wanted is someplace warm and inviting to play. We were happy to provide it for him. Comfortably ensconced in our living room with a small crowd of family, friends and regulars, his lilting falsetto soared and swooped, his finger-picking rung out and his stories were dry, poignant and funny. There are a couple videos below for your edification, but you should have been there, especially as the video of his cover of The Beatles’ “Getting Better” cuts out because my battery died halfway through and his take on the tune blows most of what was on the Minnesota Beatle Project compilation out of the water.

Miller blogged his tour for City Pages, begins a Tuesday night residency at the 331 Club on the 9th that runs through November and has an excellent new EP, A Family, A Tree, available for pay-what-you-can download through his label, Amble Down Records. Here is an immensely talented and sweet man who makes his home in Minneapolis, so let’s make sure he feels welcome.

We Are The Willows- Iron Fist from CakeIn15 on Vimeo.

We Are The Willows- Galilee from CakeIn15 on Vimeo.

We Are The Willows- “Getting Better” (Beatles) [Snippet] from CakeIn15 on Vimeo.