Cafe Steinhof is a bar/restaurant on 7th Avenue in Park Slope that provides “Austrian comfort food,” whatever the hell that means. I had been there once before for a late-night visit which involved, as far as I can remember, apple pie and a strobe light. But I knew they occasionally had bands so on Wednesday afternoon I checked and there was a bluegrass band playing! Unexpected bluegrass is my favorite kind of bluegrass, so I went.
I arrived completely unfamiliar with the band and, based on the myspace page I just looked at, Melting Point typically rolls a deuce deeper than the two gentlemen there that evening. They consisted of an acoustic guitar and an upright bass and played well enough together to make up for the lack of other instruments that generally make up a bluegrass band. The bassist in particular was tremendously talented and played bluegrass bass lines the way they should be played, not just hanging out at Root and 5th.
Only three people besides myself were paying close attention to Melting Point: the bartender, a seasoned enthusiast at the front and the guy next to me at the bar, also sipping on Irish comfort food. But the guys in the band didn’t give a shit: they were having a gay old time, playing old time music. Background or foreground, it’s not bad music to stumble upon, and Melting Point is going to play it and enjoy doing so whether you like it or not.
Next up: chances are good I’ll go say hello to Mike Gordon at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Tuesday, 9/8.
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