A couple weeks before Christmas, I got a text from my sister asking me if I wanted to join her for a road trip to New York to spend New Year’s Eve at Daryl’s House. That’s right, the legendary Daryl Hall of the most successful duo in musical history Hall and Oates had opened a club in Pawling, NY where he’d host bands and continue to tape his acclaimed TV show Live From Daryl’s House. I quickly responded, sure, if you can get tickets, let’s do it.
So, fast forward to a few days after Christmas. I get into a car with both sisters, headed north from North Carolina (where most of the members of my family live). We dropped off Jennifer in Clifton, NJ, where she had planned to visit with a friend, and then Judy and I were off to the Hudson Valley.
We stayed at the lovely Pawling House Bed and Breakfast, just a couple miles from the club, and got to enjoy a few days of sightseeing in the NY countryside. It really is the country out there, lots of land and isolation, with cute gazebo-centered towns dotted all around. The whole thing felt like I stepped into Stars Hollow on a episode of Gilmore Girls.
We had a delicious dinner at the club on New Year’s Eve, then joined 173 other people to see a rock ‘n’ roll legend up close. It was pretty amazing. He sang hits, deep cuts and solo songs, playing well in to the New Year. A great, and unusual, way to kick off 2015!
I should add that opener Mutlu was fantastic, lots of fun, soulful acoustic songs. And Daryl’s backing band is full of super talented musicians that kept things going for a good while after Daryl left the stage.
