The Vulgar Boatmen with Heather Horton 5/18/19 - There’s a Family

A Story of Two Favorites
For some reason, we seem obsessed with comparisons. “Who is the greatest player of all time?” “Who did you like better?” “Which would you rather?”

Sometimes though, those questions are not fair, appropriate, or even relevant. For years, one of the highlights of seeing The Vulgar Boatmen play was watching the amazing Kathy Kolata on viola. Her performance was always greater than the sum of the notes. It was more like watching someone dance and play in a music-inspired ecstatic trance. When Kathy left the band, everyone hoped she’d one day return. She truly is one of my all-time favorites.

Last night, I witnessed something wonderful and amazing. One of my other all-time favorites, violinist/singer/songwriter Heather Horton, played with the band on almost 10 songs including the hauntingly beautiful There’s a Family. Given the importance of strings in this song, the band hasn’t been able to perform this without Kathy. Last night, thanks to Heather, they did.

It was a gift to hear this song again. It was an honor to watch one of my favorite bands play in my living room with one of my favorite violinists for the first time ever.

Violin vs. Viola. Kathy vs. Heather. None of that matters. It was a performance worthy of Kathy Kolata’s incredible legacy. We can love them both. And I do.