Last night was the 4th annual Phil Ochs tribute show presented by the St. Louis Phil Ochs Society. Had we known about the first three, we probably would have gone. This year it was at Focal Point, a space a love (except for the seats, which are cute little antique wooden row chairs that are hard as a rock and oddly angled). After stopping next door at the Myan Cafe for award winning margaritas, we settled in for the show. It went from round robin to duo to an amazing set by Edward Burch. 
He played Phil’s Tape From California record song by song all the way through. Yes, including the epic When In Rome. Watch for this to show up on youtube, (I’ll watch, too & hopefully update with it) you will be transfixed for almost 15 minutes , I told you it was an epic…..
If you thought Phil Ochs was just a protest song writer, you’d be wrong. He did write a ton of protest songs, but there were also songs of history, love and happenstance. Phil’s story is a sad one like many others, full of personal torment, searching, alcoholism, brilliance and ultimately sucide. If you are not familiar with his music, give it a try. Look for some of the inspired covers outh there, too.