Last night, after dinner and the premiere of 8 Simple Rules, I headed up to the Hemlock Tavern in San Francisco. Surprisingly, I didn't get lost and easily found parking. Having written that, it will never happen again.

Seattle's Jen Wood Trio didn't begin until around 10:30. Guitars from Washington apparently don't like the California weather. She apologized for having to tune it numerous times. Most of her songs were slow and personal. I especially loved the vocal harmonies.

Odessa Chen's songs had a haunting, yet comforting feel to them. It's hard to describe. I especially liked the percussionist who accompanied her on drums. Using brushes and what looked like soft timpani mallets, he never overpowered the melody. On a couple of songs, he would run a bow along the edge of the cymbal, creating an eerily cool effect. I had never seen that before.