March 2020 - I was in Apalachicola, Florida to visit family. I was having a good time, I had spent most of my time just exploring the town, shopping, riding golf carts and spending time with my family members.
One thing I noticed quickly about the place I was staying at was the fact that there was a bar across the street, a bar that was filled with an excellent live music scene. I discovered that very quickly because there were a couple of nights where I tried to work while there were different musicians/bands playing and the music would distract me. The first two times, I successfully ignored it.
However, there was one certain night where I kept trying to concentrate on my work with the music from a band playing across the street, but trying to focus and write had me failing miserably.
“Fuck it! I like the sound too much. I’m gonna walk over there and listen to the music,” I thought to myself, after spending maybe 30 minutes listening to the music. I got up and threw a sweatshirt and jeans on and walked over there.
I walked inside the High Five Dive Bar and quickly came to find out that the band I was listening to from across the street was called The Living Street - who are a duo featuring Nick Guckert (leading vocals/guitar) and Edward Angelo (backing vocals/bass). As the night went on, I found myself really enjoying the music and falling in love with their originals, their voices, and harmonies.
I ended up meeting them during their break and found myself bonding with them rather quickly. Once I left that bar, I went back to the condo I was staying at across the street with my mom and nana.
Being the music lover that I am and always filling people’s heads with recommendations, I began telling my nana about the amazing band I saw and met that night and how much I liked the music I was listening to. She began to ask me if I told them that I’m a writer, in which I said, “No” and she proceeded to give me a lecture on how I needed to get better at networking. Mind you, I wasn’t even a music journalist at the time. Although, I did want to write about them because I knew that they deserved that exposure.
After seeing them, I went to that same bar twice because I began thinking, “If I can find a band I could connect with so easily there, I can find that again.” Wrong. I liked the music, but it didn’t make me feel the way I felt when listening to The Living Street live.
Once I got home and the pandemic began, I began feeling desperate to go see a concert since none were happening. I even went as far as putting my bank account in the red for a Joyous Wolf ticket because I genuinely thought that I was going to see them on my birthday. Oops! Not to mention, my mind kept shifting back to The Living Street’s show.
I was scrolling through Facebook on my computer one night and what do you know? I noticed that The Living Street had started doing live streams. So I began watching and it brought back the feeling I felt when I saw them weeks prior. I loved that feeling so much that I began to become a dedicated watcher of their livestreams.
Three months went by and I finally got my dream job - Music journalist. A few days went by after getting that job and I began thinking of potential people I wanted to interview. I thought back to The Living Street once again and to them saying that I should be a music journalist and that I can interview them or write about them whenever I want.
So I got an interview set up with them. It was my very first interview! Once the day of the interview came, I began feeling overwhelmed and kind of nervous, which is very natural, of course. I had practiced my questions all day, did research, and listened to their music on repeat to prepare myself.
Once the interview actually began though, my nerves went away. It felt more like I was talking to old friends, despite only meeting them once. When it ended, it felt like it happened for five minutes, but then once I looked at the footage, I realized that it lasted for over twenty minutes. To this day, that’s still the longest interview I’ve ever done.
One standout moment that happened during the interview - I challenged them to learn a new song before their stream that Friday. I figured they would learn a new cover by then, but man, was I wrong or what? That Friday came and I learned that not only did they go along with my challenge, they wrote a new song called ‘Jealous Ghosts’. Needless to say, I was shocked.
The song quickly became a fan favorite and - I’m not even saying this because I challenged them - I think that ‘Jealous Ghosts’ could be a single. If you were to listen to them perform it, you would probably agree with me.
Months went by and I continued to be a dedicated watcher and my friendship with them continued to grow. Then I found out that they were going back to the exact bar where I met them, so I began making plans to travel back there. Why not reunite with them at the place where our friendship first began?
Fast forward to last week, I started my road trip from Houston to Apalachicola with my nana. I got to Apalachicola a day later and I began to spend the next six days just chilling out, shopping, and spending time with my family.
Finally, April 1st came. The day I was going to reunite with The Living Street a year later. Throughout the day, I did an Instagram takeover on BANDED’s instagram page in preparation for the show. As the day went by, my anticipation began to grow more and more.
Finally, the time came. I decided I was going to go to the bar an hour before show time to see them and greet them ahead of time. I walked inside the bar and saw the guys sitting at the bar, so I walked over and said, “Hey!” to which, they immediately got up and greeted me with hugs. Over the next hour, I sat with them and talked and laughed with them. You probably would have thought that we’ve been friends for several years instead of a year.
The show and just seeing them in general put the biggest smile on my face. It was genuinely the first time I had felt so happy in a long time. I even almost choked up when they covered Wildflowers by Tom Petty. Everything about the show had me hyped and insanely happy. I can tell you right now that it is my favorite night of 2021. I was so happy that by the time I got back to the house I had been staying at, I started crying out of happiness. It had been months and months since last felt so happy and their presence, kindness, energy and love brought me the happiness I needed in my life.
To Edward and Nick - I’m glad we met, I’m glad we have this connection and bond that we have. The friendship we share means more than you guys will ever know. Thank you for everything. Thank you for the happiness. And thank you for some of the best hugs ever. Cheers to the next reunion!