Last Friday I took in two different shows at two different venues…something I rarely do, but had to make an exception to catch Mr. Blakeslee at his last Boston area show for a while as he launches off on a nation wide tour this week.

I walked into the dark room of the Burren to be greeted by my old pal and local community creator and foster-er Tom Bianchi. The man never sleeps and is always giving so much of himself to musicians around town. I was able to catch about the last 30 minutes of Dan’s 2 hour show at The Burren and I was damn glad to be there to take it in.

Dan’s last release Owed to the Tanglin Wind received quite a bit of spins on the old player over the course of the past two years and the fact that he is putting out another record fairly soon makes me real happy…and anxious to hear it. There is a magic about Dan. His contagious smile and happiness lights up even the darkest barrooms and the tapping of his toes during his songs seem to echo like a giant drum as he picks and sings his way through the tales he spins in his lyrics.

“The North Woods” is off the release just before OTTTW called “Tatnic Tales”, another fantastic collection of songs of which my favorite is the one that follows immediately after the one I captured on Friday evening on the record. So here you go…Dan Blakeslee performing “The North Woods” live at The Burren’s Backroom Music Series.