BELL ENGINE AT THE DREAM AWAY LODGE

If you've never been there, and I hadn't, The Dream Away Lodge was legendary even before Bob Dylan and The Rolling Thunder Review came through back in the 1970s and he later used it as a location for some of RENALDO AND CLARA. That's that part of the legend anyway.

Last night one of the bands my older son, Miles, plays bass in—BELL ENGINE—played in the music room at Dream Away so I finally got the chance to check this legendary place out. It's the most rustic location I ever enjoyed myself that much in, because after driving up winding roads through deep woods until you feel you're in the middle of nowhere, or actually on top of the middle of nowhere (you're actually across the road from October Mountain State Forest, outside of Becket, Mass.), you come upon this wood cabin style lodge with people gathered around a fire outside and meandering paths cut into the foliage where you can discover ponds and more, and inside several rooms with mismatched chairs and tables and other places to sit and drink and eat including one room designated for music.

BELL ENGINE's first set (I had to leave shortly after the second began) was one of their mellowest and tightest and showcased the great musicianship and harmonic singing of the group. And for the last song of the set, one my son Miles wrote both lyrics and melody for, Ethan Mazursky, the fourteen-year-old son of good friends, who grew up with my grandson, sat in on guitar and rocked the joint while appearing completely unfazed and unpretentious about it. He just played the licks and had the room shouting.

There are photos in the bar of Dylan and Joan Baez and others there, and an old paperback coffee table size book on a stand near the entrance, a book about "The Movement" of the 1960s, in which I have an article, one of many written for many underground newspapers of that era. So it all felt like home to me.

If you are ever in Western Massachusetts go to Becket and check out The Dream Away Lodge and also look to see where BELL ENGINE might be playing and check them out too. If they both come together on a night when you're there, it'll be an experience you'll never forget.