Henning Solo with Group DeVille

This Sunday I am playing a half hour solo set at The Iron Horse in Northampton, MA. I'm the support for the Group DeVille Tenth Anniversary Show. I always love playing at The Iron Horse. The sound system is so nice, especially for acoustic music, and there is always a feeling of a-special-night-out-on-the-town magic in the audience. I haven't quite decided yet what I will play. Probably a mixture of songs that I am very comfortable with and songs that will be a challenge for me. Being an opening act can be difficult because you have to break the ice. You have to start the show and try to convince people that the conversations they have been having are not as important as the stuff happening on the stage. The first song is always the hardest.

If anyone here would like to attend, I have tickets at a discounted price. They are ten dollars a pop and you can get them from me via email or you can order them online with PayPal at Rub Wrongways Records. If you get them this way, you can avoid the box office charge, enough to get another drink or part of a brownie sundae at the Horse.

I'm looking forward to it.

Season Finale - Wrongways Tuesdays

Remember the last episode of M.A.S.H.? No? How about Newhart? Cheers? Friends? Come on! What about Seinfeld! OK. Well that's what tonight will be kind of like at The Elevens. The season finale happens with Lesa and Henning, Jason Bourgeois, and Matt Silberstein.

The Tuesdays have been pretty great. It was an experiment for us. We wanted to see if we could successfully put on shows at an early hour in Northampton. Certainly we were inspired by Jose Ayerve and his Spouse residency in the beginning of the summer. I really enjoyed going to those shows and when he stopped doing them, Jason Bourgeois suggested that we take over.

We altered the set-up somewhat in that we had all the shows end by 9:00. The nights have been really nice. Because it happens so early, there is no conflict with the general loud bar crowd. The only people present are there specifically to see the bands and listen to the music and take part in the festivities. Each week we have set up tables and chairs and kept the volume at a listenable level so that attendees can move closer to the stage and get more immersed in the music.

We can keep the volume a little lower because there is generally no drunken chatter at the bar and there is no thumping dance-bass from the club next door. The music is not quiet, mind you. It's just not painful. We've had the great fortune of havign Dan Richardson a staunch supporter of these Tuesdays sit in on the soundboard for us.

Each Tuesday has presented three brief acts. The first act, generally an acoustic duo, plays only three songs. The second act plays roughly a half hour and the third act plays about the same. It's just the perfect length. At the end of each night, as people are milling about and figuring out what to do now, I've overheard many folks who are very surprised that it is only nine o'clock. It's like those rare weekend days when, for some reason or another, you wake up really early and you've done all this stuff and you realize it's not even noon yet. Or it's like a Sunday night when you suddenly remember that Monday is a holiday. It's a joyful reprieve.

The nights are so early that Lesa and I have been getting dinner after the show.

Another part of our experiment was to see if it was possible to consistently have shows that start on time and follow a set schedule. So far, so good. Last week, the order did switch around a little when Nuclear Waste needed to go second rather than third because of a health issue. Not a big deal, since the sets are so short. But we have consistently begun the music at exactly 7:30 and ended very close to 9:00 each night. It's not difficult if it's planned ahead.

But, hey who cares about all this crap? Let's talk about the music. That's all that really matters right? Here's who we have had perform: Henning and Max, Sitting Next To Brian, Tasha Yar, Brian and Thane, Salvation Alley String Band, Josh Crane, Jason and Ryan, The Fawns, Goldwater, Rick Murnane, School for the Dead, Nuclear Waste Management Club, and tonight: Lesa and Henning, Jason Bourgeois, Matt Silberstein. It's been really nice.

Thank you so much to all of you who came out to these shows. I hope you enjoyed them. I think you did since so many of you returned weekly. I'm hoping we'll do this again sometime, maybe in the winter or spring.

I hope you can come out tonight for the season finale. Remember, it's free. And its friendly.

Names

Every September, one of my favorite things to do is get ahold of my roster and learn my students' names. I love names in general and I find that I'm never disappointed- there are always a few that roll off the tongue poetically or just strike me as awesome in some indefinable way.

This year is no different. I've never met, let alone had for a student, anyone named Alida, Brumley or Arcadio before. Coincidentally, I do know an Arkady quite well (you may know him as Ari) who also hails from Brookline but whereas the latter is a Muskovite, the former is half-Cuban. Let's see- I also have both a Lex and a Lexi, a Carly and a Karli, and for the first time I'll have a student named Mac who shares my own surname of Westcott (no relation).

Runners-up for favorite full names this year include Anika Eisenstat, Lexi Granchelli, Victoria Pride and Alexandra Zappala but despite all those wonderful gems of names, I think the nod goes to Alejandro Camerieri-Rodriguez. Just don't call him A-Rod. How could you, though, really? I tell you, I just love my last period Writers' Workshop class where the mellifluously-monikered Arcadio and Alejandro sit side-by-side, not to mention they're both really cool kids who read Plato for fun and debate which Miles Davis album is best.

I love this job.

Wrongways Tuesday #5

Wrongways Tuesday #5 is coming up. It's the series finale. Like always, it's free and runs from 7:00 to 9:00 at The Elevens, in Northampton, MA.

In this episode it's:
7:30-7:40 Lesa and Henning
7:45-8:20 The Silver Jasons
8:25-9:00 The Matt Silbersteind Band

You should just walk on in and check it out. Its free and this is the premier show by Matt Silberstein. What do you have to lose? Nothing?

Bad and Crappies

Last night, about an hour after a great Thai dinner, a friend picked up a box of Good and Fruity to share. We were all pretty excited for some candy and I ripped open the box only to find what appeared to be jelly beans. Aren't Good and Fruities supposed to be more cylinder shaped? Why do I think that? Oh yeah, because that's what they look like in the picture on the box!

Have Good and Fruities always been not shaped like Good and Fruities?

What's happening here? We were all shocked and it only got worse when we tasted them. Yeesh, these were the worst jelly bean shaped candies ever. Did the wrong thing come in the right box? Does anybody like these or are they only purchased by accident?

Man, who cares?

Update: Apparently these folks care. They care a lot. So much so that I just couldn't even read all the comments. Candy Addict

Long Song Names - What Is WRONG With Me?

I was recently looking at a list of songs that I have ready to record but that are not yet recorded and I noticed an upsetting trend. They almost all have really long names. The names are Too long in many cases. But I just don't want to change them.

• People Never Grow Old
• I Don't Know About Anyone Else But
• Somebody Else's Problem
• The Wrong Way Out Of Town
• I Wasn't Looking For This
• Don't Know If I've Got What It Takes Anymore
• Dreams I'll Never Have
• The Infinite Kitchen
• Turn It Down
• Don't Tell Me That It's Easy
• Saving Your Life (Is Going To Be Real Interesting)
• Plains, Trains, and Automobiles

I wonder if that says anything about anything? Am I getting too wordy? My songs have always been pretty wordy. People have mentioned that to me. That's ok with me. I like wordy.

But what I don't like are long song names! They look ugly on album packaging and they make set-lists confusing. Inevitably, you have to abbreviate them, and that can prove difficult. How do you abbreviate "Don't Know If I've Got What It Takes Anymore"? If we write "Anymore" on a set list will anybody know what song to play? I don't know.

No way!

Because I get to know them so well over time, it's easy to forget that some of my students happen to come from fairly wealthy backgrounds. Growing up in Springfield, MA and attending UMass, I've encountered for the most part individuals who have shared my own working/middle class background. Whereas while teaching at EHS, I've had parent conferences where I'll meet the guy who founded Staples at 10 AM and then 20 minutes later, I'm talking to one of the co-owners of the Chicago Cubs. Now, that's hardly the case with all of the students here. Just as often, we have kids who come from cities or towns where their needs can't be met in their respective school system so their district will pay for all or part of their tuition to send them here. Nonetheless, however a student is enrolled here, the fact remains that we are one of the most expensive private schools in the country (easily Top 5 every year I've been here). Now, as I mentioned, you get into your daily routine, get to know your students and this reality means very little day-to-day. And the kids themselves at EHS never make an issue of it, at least not that I've ever seen- it's not like the kids who grew up in mansions would not be friends with a kid who's coming from Alaska where the state is paying their tuition. They have their cliques and such like any high school but socioeconomic background has never played a role in the social hierarchy that I've seen.

However, once in a while, there are days like today when I was going over the idea of irony with my classes, with one of my examples being this famous picture of George Harrison:

George

Good example, right? George is being quite cheekily ironic with his choice of shirt. Anyway, in my 1st period class, after seeing this, one girl matter-of-factly mentioned that her mom used to live in the Dakota building in NYC in the 1970s with John Lennon as her neighbor. Now, despite the recent marketing blitz, The Beatles don't quite have the impact on this generation of high school students as it did on mine so her classmates were rather non-plussed as well.

So you can imagine how floored I was when I shared the example later on with my 3rd period class only to have another girl pipe up with, "Oh, Paul McCartney has a house right next door to ours in the Hamptons."

Recap: Ciao My Shining Star Show in New York

It's a long dreamy ride home from New York City in the wee hours of the morning when there's nobody on the road but drunks, eighteen wheelers, and musicians heading home. My mind was replaying moments as we silently soared across the Connecticut border into Massachusetts. Things sometimes get hazy in that traveling process and the day leading up to this trip was strange and dream-like, but let me see if I can describe the scene to you.

Not long before the sleepy car ride, I was on a stage with a mess of other musicians. Bright lights were shining all around. I was standing in the center in front of the drum riser at The Williamsburg Music Hall in Brooklyn. Between me and upturned faces of the audience was a wall of people. Some were old friends and some were new friends. Directly in front of me was Mark Mulcahy, to my right on the far side of the stage was Lesa Bezo with Philip and Flora from the Winterpills and Naomi Hamby from Spouse. They were circled around a microphone singing through smiles. Behind them was Jason Bourgeois in front of a Nord Keyboard, next to him was Ray Neal from Miracle Legion with a guitar, on my left was Dan Greene of Butterflies of Love and Kevin O'Rourke of Lo Fine and Jose Ayerve of Spouse. Next to Mark was Pat Sansone of Autumn Defense and Wilco. Strewn all around me were members of Gravel Pitt, David Berkeley, Chris Harford, BP Helium, The Parkway Charlies, Senator, Spouse, Lofine, The Mericans, Jeff Ginsburg, Biet and Gryphon, The Autumn Defense, Winterpills, Butterflies of Love, and The Gravel Pit. Directly behind me was the smiling face of Brian at the drums. He was surrounded by people shaking and banging on whatever they could find. Sitting on the drum riser behind him with a guitar was Frank Black and we were all singing, "I'm freeeee. Free fallin'!"

What the?....


It was the finale of a long, night of music. It was an "all-star" jam, folks. The only things missing were Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, and Paul Shaffer.

The day before, I spoke to Mark on the phone and he asked me if Brian and I could be in charge of the encore finale thing. "What song?" I asked. "Free Fallin'" He replied. Then we laughed.

The event was called Ciao My Shining Star and was a concert in memorial of Melissa Mulcahy and in tribute to Mark Mulcahy's music. Over seventeen acts were lined up to perform in a three and a half hour show. Everyone got about ten minutes. It was remarkably organized and on time. This was due in large part to the tireless effort put in by Richard Murray and Myles Mangino and also to the camaraderie of all those involved.

A little under a year ago, a young man named Nathaniel Smalley contacted me about putting together a tribute album. He was working on his own and had already gotten commitments from an impressive array of musicians. Eventually the album was picked up by Shout Factory who released it on iTunes last week (the CD will be released this upcoming Tuesday the 29th.) The album has 20 tracks on it and you can download another 21. School for the Dead's song is one of those 21 downloads. It's a great collection.

So, this show on Sunday was the official New York CD Release Concert for that album. The Williamsburg Music Hall is a really nice venue. It's a large room but the sound is so crisp and powerful and intimate that it worked really well with the variety of performances this evening. The audience was one of the best I have encountered. They were all there for the right reasons it seemed and when some artists sang in super delicate whispery voices the room was silent and listening. When other bands broke out in full force rock explosions the crowd was right there with them cheering and dancing. When Ben Katchor took the stage to do a few spoken pieces, everyone laughed at the right times. When videos by Vic Chestnutt and Thom Yorke were shown, everyone watched, like we were all hanging out in somebody's huge living room.

I saw most of the acts, but I missed a few while I was backstage preparing to perform. Every performance that I saw was top notch. The songs were performed so earnestly and musically, it was intimidating.

When I stepped out on stage for the School for the Dead show, I took one look at the friendly faces in the crowd and I was instantly swept up in pure confidence. Jason Bourgeois was filling in on bass and Lesa Bezo was filling in on guitar and vocals (and melodica). We were a quickly thrown together band but I had no worries. We erupted into Omnivore and it all went smoothly from there on out. The power from the stage was intense. When we began our version of "I Just Shot Myself In The Foot Again" the audience applauded in recognition. I probably smiled the whole time.

Not long after our performance, I found myself in the bottom of a crazily lit blue stairwell just outside the "Stage Access" door standing with a bass guitar next to Frank Black and Brian. People were looking up the lyrics to Free Fallin' on their phones. I was sweating from the heat and from the adrenaline. "How did I get to be in this situation?" I wondered. Then it was just me there for a bit and I could here the boomy back stage sound of Pixies' songs rumbling through the stairwell. The next thing I knew, the tiny area was full of people and we were being called out on to stage. I plugged in the bass, Brian set himself up behind the drums and this crazy version of Free Fallin' began.

As the song neared its end, I muscled my way up to a microphone. I had been playing the bass but I really wanted to sing that chorus at least once. Mark saw me and pulled the mic back and we shared it and he had a bright deep smile behind his eyes.

When the song had finally ended, the stage cleared, the room cleared, we all packed up our gear and we began that post show buzzing of hand shakes and hugs and pats on the back. I was milling about on the floor walking back and forth from inertia and I saw my crew of travelers waiting in the corner with all of our black instrument cases. We broke through the crowds and headed up the sidewalk in Williamsburg towards the car and back to our regular lives.










(photos by Richard Murray (except the first one))

Wrongways Tuesday #4

From 7:00 - 9:00 on Tuesdays, we take over the Elevens in Northampton, MA. All are welcome (over 21) to just walk in and see what's happening. With no distractions from the bar next door, the room turns into a comfortable, relaxed, music appreciation venue full of friends.

On this Tuesday enjoy Rick Murnane (of Group DeVille), School for the Dead, and Nuclear Waste Management Club.

Music starts promptly at 7:30 but doors are at 7:00 so we can hang out for a bit. This is the second to last Wrongways Tuesday so if you haven't stopped by, now's your chance. If you HAVE visited one of the Tuesday's, hopefully you'll be back. So far, most people who came to one, came to the others after. Thanks for that!

(If you are on Facebook, you can RSVP and invite others to the event right here. We'd love that.)

Music, friends and love in Williamsburg (NYC)

And to think that I was contemplating not going to this shindig because I'd have to go to work on two hours sleep. Well, like I said, I've had to go to work on too little sleep for many worse reasons. This was well worth the jet-lagged mindset that I'm still experiencing (alas, an 8pm bedtime is nigh....).

As most of you probably know, Melissa Rich, an all around sweetheart, friend, lovely lady and wife of Mark Mulcahy, passed away unexpectedly a year ago this month, leaving all who knew her wallowing in shock and sadness. We'll all miss her as long as we live.
In the aftermath, our concern focused on her life mate, and our friend Mark Mulcahy, who was left with two darling twin daughters to raise, and the blackest of holes in his life; and whether you're a fan, a musical partner, a friend or all of the above, you just wanted to see him get through it all ok.

The past several months it's been great to see Mark at shows, at cookouts, etc, exuding the inimitable grooviness which has endeared him to those who know and love him. It was great to see him put on an amazing third musical theater production with Ben Katchor this past spring at the NYC Public Library, and to witness his stage presence and hear his voice again.

A year ago he said he'd like the anniversary of Melissa's passing to always be marked by some sort of musical event/party, reflecting the importance the rock scene played in their lives.
Enter a guy named Nathaniel Smalley, a UWV student and fan of Mark's, with a tenacious sense of pursuing his dreams. Last year he dreamed up a Mark Mulcahy tribute album that would feature Nathaniel's favorite artists, some (much) more well known than others, covering songs from Mark's 20+ years as a recording artist: from Miracle Legion's days on Rough Trade, to the Nickelodeon Pete and Pete soundtrack, to Mark's self-released Mezzotint masterpieces.
Would this kid really get Thom Yorke? Michael Stipe? Frank Black? Members of Wilco?
Yes yes yes and yes.

Just this past week, Shout! Factory records released Ciao my Shining Star

Take a look at those artists and you can see the heavy hitters (and no-less-talented local pals) who admire Mark's inimitable songwriting and singing style. The album (particularly the deluxe edition) is WELL worth adding to your music collection. iTunes has it as well.

So the next step was to put on a show....Nathaniel proposed the idea and some folks with some music biz pull took the reigns and made it all happen.
With somewhat short notice, only some from the album were able to attend, but this still made for a stellar evening.

Ok, enough background, I'll make it a first hand account from here.
My lady Karen and I picked up our friend Matt downtown Northampton at around 1pm on Sunday and I drove the length to Brooklyn. iPhones were both navigation systems and a source of music. Smooth ride. Got a spot on the same block as the theater. The area looked real familiar, but I'd never been to this exact location (the Music Hall of Williamsburg, north 6th st Brooklyn). Approaching it, we may as well have been in front of the Sierra Grille in Northampton. Look! It's all the Winterpills! But also, LOOK! It's (Senator) Adam Greenberg, and Kevin O'Rourke! Former Northamptonites I used to play with and never see any more. And of course! It's Henning and Lesa....and oh there's Mark Mulcahy himself looking hip as ever.
Then some blasts from the past--Chris Harford? No! Yeah! Haven't seen him since we finished the Slugbeaers of Kayrol Island theater run at the Kitchen in, what, '05?
And Matt Sutton of the Malarkies, at whose Greenpoint apartment I stayed during said theater run.

All my musical world coming together. What's that, Harford, do I wanna play drums on Micon the Icon? Fuck yeah! That song made me cry when I heard it on the tribute record.
Who's familiar scream is coming from behind the theater doors? Frank Black's soundchecking? Sounds amazing. Looks like I'll have to walk in and drop off my stuff and watch it for a minute.
Wow.

So then, Karen, Matt, Senator, the Winterpills and I get an outdoor seat on this picture perfect September afternoon at Sweetwater down the street. Salad, fries and a beer for me and the lady. Others get others.
But we still have a couple more hours to kill. Ummmmm.....coffee? Vintage clothes? Used records? Well, then I went in the theater but the non artists had to stay out, so I hung in the green room with beer, tequila, bourbon and hummus.

The punters started filing in and I flitted between watching and hanging. Karen and Matt had scored a sweet table just above the stage. I had to keep one eye on the schedule at all times because the 4 acts I was in were all pretty evenly spaced. Plus, I needed to run through the Lo Fine song at least once, since the four of us had never been in the same room together.

I finally met Nathaniel Smalley, who, for the past two years, I've had a Facebook/Myspace correspondence with. Lovely chap. We talked for about 20 minutes about all sorts of things.

So now I'll recount what I remember (and please,if I didn't see your set it was just because I was a busy bee):

--First thing I think I saw was the Of Montreal-related act. It brought me into the here and now.

--Senator: oh, those pipes of Mr. Greenberg. He just played bass, sang and had sparse keyboard accompaniment. It was holy.

--Lo Fine: like I said, this was a never before, probably never again version of Lo Fine: Kevin O'Rourke on vocals and guitar; Erik on loan from Cat Power on bass; Matt Sutton of the Malarkies on pedal steel; JJ O'Connell on harmonies and triangle; and me on drums (really, just some cymbal swishes and light kick drum).


--Spouse: the originals! Dan! Naomi! wow! Love those kids so so much. How do you do it, Jose? And they rocked the house off of the house.


--Ben Katchor: Ben did two separate presentations. He'd prepared some animated slide shows, which he narrated. My favorite concerned the men who go around the city collecting the crumbs from the millions of toaster oven crumb-reservoirs. What becomes of these crumbs? Oh, everything from Chicken McNugget breading to bird food. It was great to hear his voice narrating the stories. A rare treat (for me, at least).

At this point I had some socializing to do, and soon it was time for School For the Dead. This too was an odd version of the band, because it featured Lesa Bezo (of the Fawns) (on guitar, vocal and melodica) and Jason Bourgeois (on bass). We did one original (Omnivore) and one Mulcahy (I Just Shot Myself in the Foot Again). It went over quite well.

Thom Yorke's video was screened for everyone and we all dug it a bunch.
Later on (at this point I start losing my sense of time) Vic Chesnutt's video, filmed at his house the night before, was screened. It was awesome. Just him in a room in front of the camera.

Then what? Chris Harford and Band of Changes. It's called thus because it's never the same lineup twice. But it's always Chris, with his resonant voice and commanding stage presence. Love that guy. Speaking of old Slugbearers folks, out on the street I saw none other than Dave Dreiwitz! (you may know him from Ween, I know him from Ween and the Slugbearers. He's such a fun and friendly guy to hang with. Unfortunately, we had a hug, a brief exchange, a promise to meet up in a bit and that was that.

So yeah. Band of Changes. Micon the Icon. I sez to Chris "what you want me to do on this? Since you asked me to play on it out of the blue?" He said "do whatever, you know the song". That was all I needed. Mr ray made good eye contact with me to let me know when I indeed played when I needn't have. Oh well. There goes my career. One bell of the ride stray beat can be a lifetime.

The Autumn Defense, lead by founding Wilco member John Stirrat, played a very enjoyable and groovy set. They have two songs on the Ciao collection, both obvious highlights.

Winterpills, of course!! How can you go wrong with them? You can't , is how. Nuff.

Umm....things getting fuzzier....hour getting later, people to talk to....

I go back in and oh my Christ, Mark Mulcahy's on stage singing I Have Patience with Butterflies of Love! It's the rockingest, happiest, grooviest thing all night! I'm bouncing up and down, I am.

I go in the stairwell....Frank Black's there with his band, ready to rock. And do they rock. I take a seat with Karen and Matt to watch. His version of Bill Jocko is a pounding beast. Then...then...two of my top 10 Pixies all time faves! Cactus and Gouge Away! Gah! So damn good! With Mr. Ray on guitar!

And now I get to sit on the drums because we're doing (of all things....) "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty, with the whole damn cast and crew on stage. Mark asked Henning and me to be the rhythm section. S here I am, half buzzed on the free green room refreshments and the excitement and quite tired, with Frank Black sitting 2 feet away from me on the stage, playing Free Falling along with 30+ other people. Umm....it somehow worked. Mark and Jose I think sang lead? By then I was convinced this was really a fucked up dream and I was in the back seat of my car on the way home.

But no it was the here and now.
We all packed up, hugged, shook hands, were given copious amounts of unopened bottles of bourbon and tequila to take home and that was that. Nathaniel was asking me if he should go to the bar with the Wilco guy or the Of Montreal guy. I had no idea they were both in the room, so I was probably embarrassing him not to mention myself, by going over the possible pros and cons of each choice. Eh. I embarrass myself a lot without noticing.

Matt drove all the way home while I talked to keep him awake. We listened to the remastered Beatles, early live XTC and 70's Grateful Dead.
Karen tried to, but couldn't sleep. Even through the 2/13/70 Dark Star with the 3 minutes of absolute silence followed by gongs and dissonance. For me, it was a dreamy soundtrack to the late, late night.
And with a 4:15 bedtime and 6:45 wake up, work was a blur. But the Indian dinner I just had woke me up enough to do all this.

Thanks to Mark, Nathaniel, Myles, Rich, Ray and everyone. And you just know Melissa dug the bejeezus out of it.

thanks to Karen for many of these pictures. The good ones.
Good night.
--

Three Days and Four Shows.

Tonight:
The Rub Wrongways Caravan Super Group returns to Cafe Nine in New Haven, Connecticut.
Jimmy Jude
Dan & Liz
Rub Wrongways Caravan of Stars
Joanie Loves Tchotchkes • CD Release party!
10 PM - 21+

Saturday #1:
Goldwater at an outdoor afternoon show in Sturbridge, Massachusetts at Hyland Orchards
195 Arnold Road - Fiskdale (Sturbridge) MA
The Hallies 1:30-2:30
Goldwater 3:00-4:00
Scott Hall Power Trio 4:30-5:30
There is a playground for young children, animals to see, apples to buy(and pick if ready) and really good beer sold for $4.00 a pint.

Saturday #2:
The Rub Wrongways Caravan Super Group presents a very brief set at The Elevens in Northampton, MA
Its a multi-band rock night at The Elevens with:
Merchant Bankers
Death To New England
Rub Wrongways Caravan Super Group
Prabir & The Substitutes
Chain and The Gang (the new K records project from Weird War & The Make Up's Ian Svenonius)
9:00 PM - 21+

Sunday:
CIAO MY SHINING STAR - THE SONGS OF MARK MULCAHY at The Music Hall of Williamsburg, NY.
Frank Black, The Autumn Defense, David Berkeley, Chris Harford, Ray Neal, The Butterflies of Love, BP Helium, The Gravel Pit, Winterpills, Spouse, Senator, School for the Dead (with Lesa Bezo and Jason Bourgeois), Jeff Ginsburg / Biet and Gryphon, Mericans, BP Helium, The Parkway Charlies, The Gravel Pitt

ALSO: World Premiere of the THOM YORKE video "All For The Best" and readings by graphic novelist, Ben Katchor.
$20 advance / $22 day of show - 7:30 PM - 18+

and on the horizon....
Tuesday September 22 is Wrongways Tuesday #4 at The Elevens in Northampton
Rick Murnane
School for the Dead
Nuclear Waste Management Club
7:00 - 9:00 - Free - 21+

Busy Music

I gotta say I think this is one of the musically busiest weeks I've had in a long time. On Sunday I had a practice with Goldwater. On Tuesday we had the Wrongways Tuesday show where I played with The Fawns and Goldwater. On Wednesday we had a long Rub Wrongways practice followed by a quick practice for Sunday's show. On Friday we are heading down to New Haven to play a Rub Wrongways Super Group show. On Saturday, during the day, Goldwater is playing outside in Sturbridge, MA and then that night we are playing a Rub Wrongways Super Group show at The Elevens here in town. On Sunday we are heading down to NYC to play in this big Mark Mulcahy Tribute show. Then we have a School for the Dead gig on Tuesday!

Amongst all that time, Lesa and I have been practicing and learning songs by Brian, Jason, and Mark for all these shows. I've also written a new song and have been doing a lot of organizational promotional stuff for these gigs. I've even been doing some behind the scenes stuff for The Aloha Steamtrain. Crazy.

Its so busy that Jason and I have scheduled an emergency practice for tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM. It's the only time we could find!

Anyway, its a good busy, but it'll be nice when things calm down a little bit. There are only two more Wrongways Tuesdays happening. After that, I'll be able to take a deep breath of autumn air and relax a bit.

Still trying to figure out what to do for a Halloween show though. What do you all think? Should we see about renting out a place again? Would you come? Would you wear a costume?

Recap: Wrongways Tuesday #3

Last night was Wrongways Tuesday #3. Everything went swimmingly! Jason and Ryan (pictured) kicked things off with a splendid set of three well played, well sung, and thoroughly enjoyable songs. They were like a great old school folk duo, and I don't mean folk of the lots-of-harmonics-and-fancy-picking-during-songs-about-how-ludicrous-email-is-or-how-you-don't-see-cars-like-the-classic-Caddies-anymore variety. I mean folk of the two-guys-earnestly-singing-songs-that-people-can-dig variety. The Fawns played a half hour set after those guys. The audience was adorable and considerate and seemed to be enjoying themselves at the tables. We did our new version of A Little Bit Nervous in which Lesa puts down her red guitar and just sings. I heard a few favorable comments about that after the show. When The Fawns were done Goldwater took the stage for the second time ever and we plowed through a quick seven song set with some serious long spaced-out rock endings. I particularly enjoyed playing on the side of the stage where I could clearly hear Matt Cullen's guitar amp.

The sound all night was really excellent thanks to Dan Richardson who volunteered to man the board. He'll be returning next week for Wrongways Tuesday #4, starring Rick Murnane, School for the Dead, and Nuclear Waste Management Company. This will be the the second to last Wrongways Tuesday. If you haven't come out yet, you better get on it. These nights are free and early. The run from 7:00 to 9:00, and like I said, admission is free so you may as well just stop in and see what you think.

A special thank you to everyone who came and enjoyed the night last night. We really appreciated you being there.

Ciao My Shining Star on iTunes Today!

Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy is available on iTunes today!

This new album is a tribute to acclaimed Miracle Legion and Polaris front man Mark Mulcahy, in memory of his wife Melissa, featuring new interpretations of his songs by Thom Yorke, Michael Stipe, Dinosaur Jr., Mercury Rev, The National, Frank Black, Josh Rouse, School for the Dead, Winterpills, Chris Collingwood, Lo Fine, Buffalo Tom, Ben Kweller and many others.


Get your copy right here now. Make sure it is the Deluxe Edition with 41 tracks.

Three Definitive Examples of How Two Electric Guitars Should Work Together in a Rock and Roll Song

1) Dr. Robert --the Beatles (listen to the 2009 remaster)
2) Foggy Notion-- Velvet Underground (VU)
3) Roads Girdle the Globe--XTC (Drums and Wires)

Wrongways Tuesday #3

Today is Monday. You know what that means. Tomorrow is Tuesday. Wrongways Tuesday #3!

Come on down to The Elevens in Northampton for this FREE, EARLY show! The doors open at 7:00 and the music begins EXACTLY at 7:30. Come at 7:00 and hang out with us for a bit. I plan on playing mostly Ray Mason CDs in celebration of his birthday.

First up is Jason and Ryan, these two play together in Los Hijos Unicos and the Jason Bourgeois Band. At this show they are playing three songs. Come and listen and bask in the shininess of Ryan's new orange Gretch guitar.

Second is The Fawns with a brief and sparkly set of their poppy hits. Bring your clapping-hands for tunes like High School Party and your smiling mouths for numbers like Freaking Out.

Third is Goldwater in their second ever show. This is Thane Thomsen's new band and it features Matt Cullen, Scott Hall, Brian and Me. We've learned a couple new songs for this show so make sure you are there.

I hope you can make it. These Tuesday evenings have been working out wonderfully. They are comfortable and relaxed. The music is at the right volume and there is no noise or crowd competition with the bar next door. Thank you to The Elevens for allowing us the use of their club.

And thank you for reading.

And what if it did?

By now, I'm sure most of you have seen, read, or heard about Rep. Joe Wilson heckling President Obama during his speech last evening, specifically when he yelled out "You lie" when Obama insisted that his health care plan would not pay for any health care for illegal immigrants. Much of the response to this (so far anyway) has been to condemn Wilson for his rudeness or lack of respect. And Wilson has apologized. So now the focus turns to speculation on whether the plan would indeed help pay for health care for illegal immigrants. Well, why shouldn't it? Certainly Joe Wilson himself would agree such a thing would be good. Wouldn't he? The man calls himself a Christian (a Presbyterian specifically) and is it not in the teachings of Jesus to feed the hungry and heal the sick? I'm not so familiar with Scripture that I could give you the exact line but I'm almost certain from my stint in Catholic school that it's right there somewhere in the book of Matthew. Not to mention the famous line about it being harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. (Again, I know I probably don't have the quote exact). Shouldn't Wilson either rethink his position on how we as a country should approach helping the sick based on his and most Americans' (about 80% of whom profess to be Christian) beliefs or should he also apologize for being a hypocrite?

Recap: Rub Wrongways Caravan at the Lizard Lounge

On Thursday night, the Rub Wrongways Caravan of Stars pulled into the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We arrived with plenty of time to do a thorough sound check with the very relaxed and accommodating sound guy, Dan. We set up all of our stuff on the nice oriental rugged stage area, drums in the back, Wurlitzer piano and six guitar stand flanking the sides, reflecting the red and orange lights.

After sound check we had a little while to enjoy some of the club's dinners while we put together set lists for the night's concert. At 8:30 the doors were opened and the small crowd streamed in. What makes a crowd small? Sheer lack of numbers coupled with the absence of hundreds. While the stage was shaped like a "u" (remember? drums in the back, wurly and stand flanking the sides) the audience was shaped like a lower case "n". People in front, on the left, and on the right. It was theatre in the round, folks, and it was divine.

The performances in order went like this: Jason Bourgeois Band, Jason and Ryan Surprise Duet, Sitting Next To Brian, The Fawns, and School for the Dead.

Just about everyone who came to the show, stayed for the whole thing. It was a long night, but I felt like we created a pretty good variety of music, especially considering that Brian and I played in every act (except the surprise duet).

At the end of the night we decided to award those that stayed with a free CD of their choosing. So, hopefully, somebody out there is currently boogie-ing down to the now sounds of whatever they chose.

Here are some pictures that Lesa took so you can get a feel for the night:

A Recap of Wrongways Tuesday #1

Last night's Wrongways Tuesday was a great success! The Elevens felt friendly and comfortable (besides the incredibly hot temperatures) as people wandered in and settled themselves in the sofas and at the chairs and tables that we had set up in front of the stage.

The background music was XTC Drums and Wires all night with Beck's Sea Change after the last performance. It was there at a listenable level that allowed for conversation and drink ordering without screaming and wincing.

Max and I kicked off the show as a duet. I played acoustic guitar and Max played bass. We played three songs. First was "Thinking of a Time" in which most of the music was played by Max with me only coming in on the choruses with the guitar. It was really nice and quiet in the room with no booming dance beats and barking people from next door so I could clearly hear my voice as I sang. Then we played "I Don't Know About Anyone Else But" and I really enjoyed how we were able to be musically dynamic since we didn't have to worry about being too quiet and being drowned out. Lastly, we played a brand new song called "I Wasn't Looking For This". I debuted my harmonica and harmonica holder (which I didn't really know how to use) and it felt really good.

Sitting Next To Brian played second and it seemed, to me anyway, like one of our most solid shows yet. Again, we kept the volume at a rock level but with the ability to really use some dynamics and not just be one loud wall of sound the whole time, since we didn't have to drown any background noise out. It was so nice. We played: Salt Water Cherub, Iceberg, It's Really Coming Down, Red Eyed Reasons, Familiar Old Sugar, and Imaginary Audience. I think it was our first gig with Jason on the Wurlitzer, but I'm not positive.

Ryan Quinn stepped up and ran the soundboard up until this point and I forgot to publicly thank him for doing so. I felt totally confident with him back there. For the last act, Tasha Yar, he took a break and I took over. Tasha Yar once again delighted everyone in the room with their beautiful and moving and really funny performance. During their set, I learned how to control the light board, one of my favorite things to do. The Yar delved into the realm of performance art more than once. At one point, John Donson donned a sparkly over sized magic glove and tethered the other two with thick rope allowing them to roam the audience with trays of Bugel snack cones and lit candles. Sublime.

At the end of the show, people milled around a bit, talked, and had a few drinks with Beck in the background. Lots of people came up and said they had a great time and that they would be back next Tuesday! That's what I'm talking about.

Anybody have any pictures? I saw some cameras being held up.

UPDATE: This photo from Debbie Way:

Wrongways Tuesday #1 - Tonight