The following conversation took place between 1:30 and 2:04 p.m. on Monday, June 11, 2007. This is a real dialogue, minimally edited to prevent lawsuits, hate mail, community protests and Brad’s divorce (aka The God Blogger).
danielle: dikla k?
dikla: yes?
danielle: how bout that rebbesoul?
dikla: he’s definitely got some soul!
danielle: should we write about the circumstance in which we are limning this im?
we want our readers to laugh as much as we do
dikla: sure, we can throw in the fact that we are sitting 7 inches apart, divided by a wall
danielle: gotta love cubicles
dikla: that i have to stand up to see over danielle: ...and easily gossip about intra-office affairs dikla: what intra-0ffice affairs? danielle: nonsense that occurs within the office environment…for example, brad’s huge crush on me
dikla: i think the crush is the other way arounddanielle: we’ve got dates on the calendar to discuss, haven’t we?
dikla: i would call them events, not dates
using “dates” might get me in trouble
i think my boyfriend is monitoring the blog for overzealous fans
danielle: isn’t he a bodyguard? we could use one, we were practically mobbed by adoring fans at rebbesoul
danielle: rebbe himself being one of them
dikla: oh, yeah, rebbe was all about us
danielle: he was a little sweaty, though, after those ethno-ambient tunes he jammed out
dikla: you seemed pretty taken by him
danielle: i find that feigning enamoredness helps open the flow for a juicy tell-all interview
dikla: careful, he’s going to read this!
danielle: even in the setting of a dark parking lot
dikla: should we edit that part out?
danielle: i think we’ll need to do quite a bit of editing
dikla: no way, i think our readers should get this RAW
but speaking of raw, let’s get to the real meat of the matter
danielle: i have to say, when i first saw him at the AJU benefit concert, he was really striking because his sound is a radical departure from traditional Jewish folksy-music
dikla: rebbesoul’s concert was entertaining, soulful and genuinely heartfelt
danielle: indeed; the crowd was small but stirred
dikla: i agree, like the girl i spoke to from mexico
she’s been listening to the same rebbesoul cd for 12 years and this was her first time seeing him live!
i think i would like to see rebbesoul in a more lively setting
to be honest, i think they didn’t play to their fullest capacity
danielle: definitely. He was stuck in a small venue, sandwiched between other acts. I think the challenge for rebbe is finding his niche audience. His music is unique and he is a passionate performer but I think he lacks the following that will generate buzz around his shows
dikla: that’s exactly what was missing - buzz from the audience
that kind of music depends on the give and take of its listeners and the crowd just didn’t seem as involved as they should be
swaying, dancing, humming along - some sort of reaction would have upped the energy level at the show and made a greater impact on me as a first time concert goer
danielle: which surprises me, because he’s a hippie-ish one man maestro and he creates a kind of ambiance that appeals to a crowd that wants to chill out to some good grooves and “imbibe”
dikla: his ensemble was very talented - i especially enjoyed the percussionist
danielle: right on - i imagine people dancing to his music in a bedouin tent…very middle eastern influenced with a hint of russian folk - it’s not everyday you hear the balalaika
dikla: i was amused to hear how difficult it was for Bruce (rebbesoul) to recruit jewish musicians to play with him
he called himself “the token Jew of the band”
danielle: and how his music was originally inspired by the prayers of the women at the Shabbat table
Well, in a way, a Jew is always a token…unless of course you find yourself in the employ of the Jewish Journal
but not every Jew can be that lucky!
dikla: lol
you think we should wind down this gchat?
we don’t want to blab too long - you know how short the attention span of a web surfer is…
danielle: after speaking with him, i left empathizing with his struggle…to get gigs, to make money, to find a fan base…not an easy life and yet he has so much to share
dikla: very true…one last hurrah for the rebbe: check out his website www.rebbesoul.com and check out a clip of the show below…
do we want to say anything else?
see you at the next juicy jew scene?
too cheesy?
danielle: lose the cheese
dikla: you’re rubbing off on me
danielle: at least i’m gourmet cheese - parmigiana reggianodikla: are you calling me cheddar?
danielle: if you want you can be bulgarian feta
it’s a salad favorite
dikla: mmm! i love feta!
danielle: israeli sheep’s feta is also rather pungent
