Libby Eason

The Unusual Suspects are eight acoustic guitarists--Leon Bass, Jerry Burns, Libby Eason, George Eckard, Don Fay, David Gibson, Charles Leonard, and John Miller--who began getting together nearly four years ago in one another's living rooms to play music and have dinner once a month. All but one are songwriters (and we suspect he's holding out), and the evening's music includes originals (often first performances of just-written tunes) and favorite covers.

Collectively, we've been playing guitar for more than 250 years. Among us, we own enough guitars (and other instruments) to open a music store. Until this year, our performances had been limited to the Saturday night get togethers and playing a tune or two at the Gibson's annual New Year's Day party. Friends were always asking when they might get to hear some music. Because of space and sound system constraints, inviting a lot of people to someone's house wasn't feasible.

Then Libby approached Amy Cochran at Eddie's Attic about bringing the group to Eddie's. We were scheduled for three hours on a Thursday night, February 21. After trying to decide what to call ourselves, Jerry came up with Unusual Suspects.

He explained it this way, "Except for Libby, who has performed at Eddie's, we're not the usual people you'd expect to see there on a Thursday night. Most of us are songwriters, and we play, at least occasionally, at open mics around town, but we're not fulltime musicians.  That's why I call us unusual suspects."

We assembled at Jerry's photography studio in January to pose for a photo. Charles designed a poster. We practiced (and practiced and practiced), working up lead guitar parts, bass lines, and vocal harmonies. We emailed all our friends and wondered who would come. The show was a standing room only, sold out success.

A return engagement on May 30, also at Eddie's Attic, was also well attended. This time, the show included more original tunes and the addition of mandolin, dobro, and harmonica.