When Blythe first contacted us and told us she wanted to have the Smokin’ Section play for her wedding reception taking place just outside of Kingston and Woodstock, NY, we have to admit that we were slightly confused. After all, Blythe’s family is North Jersey-based and her sister Alissa had had a memorable & exciting wedding reception in December ‘04 at the Glen Ridge Women’s Club, which the Smokin’ Section had also played for. (For that party, Blythe actually did the band research and found us for her older sister.)
When the band reached the Onteora Mountain House on August 23, we no longer wondered why Blythe and Carl had selected this location, 2 hours or more travel time away from where most of us are based. Boasting an amazing view of the surrounding mountains and valleys from the reception room deck, the Mountain House is simply one of the most unique, beautiful and breathtaking locations that the Smokin’ Section has ever performed at. The open and airy reception room has a special vibe: relaxed, fun and slightly country, yet also completely appropriate for a sophisticated, elegant event.
During the cocktail hour, it was great for us to catch up on things with the Hollywood, Ca-based Alissa and her husband Fernley. They had been productive in the interim since we last saw them in ’04, now having 2 beautiful children of their own. After a bluegrass group serenaded Blythe and Carl’s guests for cocktail hour just outside the main lodge, the proceedings moved in to the main reception room and the festivities really began.
Blythe and Carl selected Tom Waits’ “Never Let Go” for their first dance, which we learned specially for this party. Afterwards, Blythe danced with her father to the Ray Charles version of the classic “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” (handled by our singer Tommie Knight) and Carl and his mother danced to our version of Helen Reddy’s “You and Me Against The World”.
Alissa and Blythe
Blythe had requested a lot of Motown and Classic Soul/Rhythm & Blues music for her party and early on the crowd ate up our version of the Temptations’ “My Girl”. The guests also enjoyed some material from the Classic American Popular Songbook, including Gershwin’s “Cheek To Cheek”. Carl and Blythe’s guests had diverse musical tastes, and dug our Reggae, Grateful Dead (“Shakedown Street, “Hey Pocky Way”) and Classic Rock (“Brown Sugar”, “American Girl”).They got all worked up to our high energy take on Ike and Tina’s “Proud Mary” and even got into a conga line to our ride on the O’Jay’s “Love Train” and the funk of James Brown’s “Out of Sight”.
It was nice for us to work across from the Oliverea, NY based photographer Doris Barnes, who shoots exclusively in the Catskills, Kingston and Capital District areas in upstate New York.
To bring this night to a close, the band did 2 Tom Waits tunes, “Jersey Girl” (yes, Waits wrote it… “the Boss” only covered it!) and a reprise of “Never Let Go”. It was fantastic for the Smokin’ Section to get another chance to celebrate with Blythe and Alissa’s family, and we look forward to seeing them again…. hopefully, soon!!
Reception site: Onteora Mountain House 845-657-6233
Photographer: Doris Barnes Photography 845-254-5164
