Monday, October 31, 2005

GUY FAWKES NIGHT

The Threepenny Opry presents
Rachel Allen, John Wells, Pete Grubbs, and Robert Wagner.
Saturday, November 5, 2005. 8:00 pm.
The Starlite Lounge.
364 Freeport Road. 412-828-9842.
Sponsored by Calliope, The Pittsburgh Folk Music Society.
The backroom of The Starlite Lounge is smoke-free. The music starts at 8:00 pm. Children are welcome if accompanied by a parent. And there is no cover-charge.

In 1605, Guy Fawkes was a member of the group of Roman Catholic conspirators who attempted to carry out the Gunpowder Plot, planning to assassinate King James I and all the members of both branches of the Parliament of England by blowing up the House of Lords. He was caught, and the whole gang was executed.

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
gunpowder, treason and plot,
Was Guy Fawkes a devil? The Stuarts all saints?
Are we glad that they caught him or not?
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, 'twas his intent
to blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below,
Poor old England to overthrow:
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.


The popularity of Guy Fawkes eventually resulted in the word “guy” becoming synonymous with dude, bloke, chap, and fellow.

People all over the world celebrate Guy Fawkes Night with bonfires and fireworks. We’ll be celebrating with the music of Rachel Allen, John Wells, Pete Grubbs and me, Robert Wagner.

Earlier this year, Rachel Allen performed as part of Calliope’s Emerging Legends series. She is known for her strong vocal delivery, versatility and range, and the sheer joy of her performances. She enjoys connecting with people. She also directs the adult and children's choirs at Christ United Methodist Church in the Moxham section of Johnstown and works with children of all ages, adults with mental illness, and facilitates several community drum circles.

Pete Grubbs will be driving down from Brookville, PA. He's well known to FILK audiences. (FILK is the folk music of science fiction and fantasy.) He's a great picker and a fun, insightful, intelligent guy.

John Wells would be a worthy subject for a Martin Scorcese movie. He has been playing folk music in the Pittsburgh-area since the early 1960s but has never released a CD. The only way you're going to hear him is if you come to a show (Unless you take him up on his standing invitation to visit his Lawrenceville home).

As for me, I don’t know what to say. I’d like you to come and hear me play, I guess. Will I be joined by Rosa Colucci? Will I be joined by Jon Paul Leone? If I tell you, how I know you won’t run and tell the authorities? I have 2.5 tons of musical dynamite hidden in the basement of my brain, but I’m not too keen on getting executed.

This is going to be a good show, and we hope you can make it.

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Dave Wells at the Starlite

Henry

Thursday, October 27, 2005

This Weekend

Last weekend was one of the best in the history of The Threepenny Opry. We extend special thanks to Rick Malis, Gerard Rohlf and Art Gazdik for putting the shows together, all of the amazing people who played for us, and the listeners who came out to share our love of music. If you missed it, don't despair. There's more. We have great acoustic music every Friday and Saturday.

On Friday, October 28, Mike Lamont hosts David Michael and Denise Baldwin. Denise is high energy. Artists don't like to be compared to other artists, but since you probably haven't heard Denise, think of Melissa Etheridge. And David has played all around the country.

On Saturday, October 29, Jack Erdie hosts Doug McCarty (songwriter from West Virginia), Dave Wells, and Sam Flesher. Doug taught Jack Erdie half of everything he knows, and in addition to his musical pursuits, Doug is an avid explorer of caves. Dave Wells and Sam Flesher are, in all honesty, largely the inspiration for efforts like The Threepenny Opry. Though neither pursues music as a full-time occupation, Sam’s songs have been heard and performed all around the world, and Dave’s ten best songs are as good as the ten best songs of anybody you’d care to name.

As you may already know, we start early so you can bring your kids or get a babysitter. There is no cover charge, though we DO ask for donations. And the series is sponsored by Calliope, The Pittsburgh Folk Music Society.
The Word from Autumn Ayers

Received this from Joey Murphy who passed it along to me:
Hey everybody,

Long story short: I have two shows to pimp and really great news. My album, Drunk, Again has been chosen to be included in WYEP's Year-in Review magazine. This is a great honor and it means that you (and all of your friends and neighbors) can go online and vote for Drunk, Again as one of the best albums of the year. Here is the link that will take you right to the page to vote on: http://www.wyep.org/yir/listeners.asp

The only info they need from you is your first name and your neighborhood. Just think what a boon it would be to the local music scene if a self-produced first album from a local chick made it into the year's top ten. It would be unheard of and might change the way people think about local music, especially the people who are in the position to help encourage and promote it. Please consider helping me make a showing.

The first show I wanted to alert you all to is this Thursday, October 27th at the Square Cafe (1137 S.Braddock Ave., Regent Square). There is no cover charge, the doors open at 6pm, and there will be sandwiches and salads, coffee and desserts available. Laren from Lushwell will be opening up starting at 8 pm, and then I'll play till about 10. I will have CDs available and there is a coupon on the square cafe website that you can print out yourselves for a free dessert with the purchase of a meal on the night of the show. Here's the link for the event and for the coupon.

The 2nd show is next Thursday, November 3rd, at the Mattress Factory. It's $6. at the door, but there's a $1 discount for Mattress Factory and/or WYEP members.

Alex Leggett from the Grinnies will open at 7pm and I asked local band School of Athens to co-headline. It's a night of music I would be excited to go see and am
even more excited to be a part of, so please keep it in mind. Follow the link to the Mattress Factory site for info and directions.

Thanks for your time and support. I hope to see you soon.

Autumn Ayers

Monday, October 24, 2005

House Concert at Jim and Llouise's

Just want to say how much I enjoyed seeing and hearing Eric Schwartz at Jim and Llouise's house concert. Definitely not a fun for the whole family performance. As Eric said after one sing along, "I've got the whole thing on tape and none of you will be able to run for public office."

Met with a friend of mine on Friday and we talked about psychedelic/garage rock bands and how one band, Mind Garage, had been one of the first to put out a rock mass. This had me think of the content of some folk shows, which are at times conversational, but also liturgical, in their nature. You have love songs and songs of pleading (psalms), murder ballads (Old Testament lesson), call and response, homilies, and sometimes a great deal of talk about a new covenant. Brothers and sisters, I hope you know what I'm talking about. Schwartz provided much of this along with a few songs mentioning genitalia. Don't miss him the next time he's in town.

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Thursday, October 20, 2005

Heather Kropf's Schedule

Tomorrow night (Friday, October 21) I'll be in Mt. Lebanon with Brad Yoder on soprano sax. It's a free, all ages event.

8 PM
@ Southminster Presbyterian
799 Washington Road
Mt. Lebanon, PA
412-343-8900

NOVEMBER SHOWS

Friday, November 4, 6 PM
Mennofolk Festival
@ The Daily Grind
Harrisonburg, VA
$5 (multi-venue pass)

Saturday, November 5, 2 PM & 9:30 PM
Mennofolk Festival
EMHS Auditorium
Harrisonburg, VA
$12 (all-day pass)

Saturday, November 19, 8 PM
Down Under Coffeehouse
Unitarian Church (North Side)
416 W. North Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA
w/Keith Hershberger & Nick Hurst
$5 suggested donation
A Science Fiction Hero Is Something to Be

For all of you filk fans out there, here's a link to boingboing about an NPR story on filk.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

The News from Rick Malis

This Friday night, October 21st , The Mavens will be playing a western swing dance at the Bulgarian Macedonian National Educational Cultural Center in West Homestead.
This is a great venue for dancing and the headquarters for the Cajun Dance Series. Dance lessons start at 7:30 p.m. Music at 8:30 p.m. Admission is $7.
The BMNECC is located at 449 West 8th Ave in West Homestead. Put this link in your browser to get a map: http://www.southwind-pa.com/gbrweb/gbrgigs.html

On Saturday night Rick will be hosting the second edition of Americana Night at the Three Penny Opry at the Starlite Lounge in Blawknox featuring a great traditional folk singer who a lot of Pittsburghers have not gotten to hear, Dwayne Thorpe and members of Devilish Merry, Sue Powers, Jeff Berman and Jan Hamilton.

The show will start at 8:30 p.m. The Starlite Lounge is located at 378 Freeport Road in downtown Blawknox.

Monday, October 17, 2005

All Aboard!

Got to see Jim and Llouise Altes on Friday. Jim and Llouise love music, enough so that they arrange about ten house concerts a year. They recently moved to Pittsburgh from the DC area, and have brought with them a bracing sense of possibilities.

Although they aren't musicians themselves, they've been involved with the Folk Alliance. A couple of years back the annual conference was in Vancouver. Jim said that he'd heard that arrangements were being made for a train trip, and he and Llouise were among the first to sign up. Apparently they weren't the last. Sixty-five folk alliance members did, too. They pretty much had the run of the train. A rolling dining car with a non-stop hoot making its way across the Canadian prairie. Festival Express comes to mind. A few weeks ago Jim and Llouise gets a call from one of their fellow riders, Eric Schwartz, who was looking to find a gig on his way home from Cleveland. So this Sunday we'll benefit from strangers who met on a train. Send an e-mail to altes at potomac.net to see if there's any space left for what I believe will be one of the more raucous house concerts this year.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Correction

The gig tonight with Robert Wagner is not on
Western Avenue. The Unitarian Universalist Church
is on the corner of North Avenue and Resaca, across
from West Park, and we will perform in the building
just behind the church at 1110 Resaca.

There will be a sandwich board outside pointing the
way to the music.

Hope to see you there!

Jack
Woodshedding

Ran into a friend who said she recently picked up the guitar. She's been exploring different web sites, and we compared notes. I told her I knew of a couple web sites that I liked. I must have remembered wrong. Song Trellis is fairly decent, but I know of no others that are pleasing. If anybody has any favorites, please pass them along.

Friday, October 14, 2005

News from Jay Hitt

Hello!

I wanted to send a reminder that I'll be at Borders in Bethel Park tonight (Friday) at 7:30.

Next Saturday, October 22, I'll be at Siba on Rt 228 in Seven Fields starting at 7:30.

On Saturday, Oct 29, I'm back at Borders in Northway Mall for a performance with Eve Goodman and another special guest. That's at 8:00.

November so far looks like this:

Thursday November 3 Hard Rock Cafe in Station Square at 8:00. I'll be with Antonio Gatto for an evening of Simon and Garfunkel music .

Friday November 4 Wildwood C C Private function

On Friday and Saturday, November 11th and 12th, I'll be in Monticello, NY for the Folk Alliance convention. If anyone receiving this email is going, please let me know.

Wednesday, November 16, Siba Rt 228 Seven Fields 7:30

On Saturday, November 26th, I'm pleased to have Brian Henke coming to Pittsburgh to perform at Borders Books in Northway Mall at 8:00. Brian is from the Cleveland area and is almost always traveling so I'm real happy that I was able to grab him for one show. I may play a few songs myself but I'll do it before Brian because when he plays, it makes me want to hide. Visit www.brianhenkeguitar.com for more information and make plans to be there on the 26th.

That's it for now. I hope to see some of tonight and in the near future.

Have a great weekend!

Jay

Thursday, October 13, 2005

A Great Weekend

Described by the folks from Jack.

- October 14 (tomorrow!) at The Starlite Lounge, 362 Freeport Road in
Blawnox. Jack will be appearing with fellow Pittsburgh musicians
Paul Tabachneck and Gregg Orsag. The show starts around 9pm, Jack
will go on around 11pm. This is part of the Three Penny Opry Series,
organized by Robert Wagner. No cover, although they're usually pretty
aggressive about passing the tip jar. Non-smoking show.

That takes care of your Friday evening entertainment. If you're looking
to hear good live music on Saturday, you have a multitude of choices:

- The Three Penny Opry happens on Saturdays too! This one is features
a whole bunch of great local songwriters, check it out: Scott Milner,
Rick Kobertz, John Hayes, Gail Novak and Jeremy Fisher, and Eve Goodman.
The show starts around 8pm.

- Tommy Emmanuel appears as part of the Calliope Concert Series at the
Carnegie Lecture Hall. According to Chet Atkins Tommy Emmanuel is,
"Probably the greatest guitar player in the world." How can you pass
that up? The show starts at 8pm.

- As if you need another choice, Bonnie Raitt is playing the Benedum
Center with Maia Sharp.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Turn That Racket Down

On Sunday, I watched the Newport '65 section of No Direction Home, the Bob Dylan documentary. If you don't recall or haven't heard or really don't care, one of the "Dylan goes electric" stories concerns the backstage activities of Pete Seeger. Seeger says he thought the distortion on the voice sounded awful and said that if he had an axe he'd take it to the cables. Scorsese then follows the Seeger footage with Maria Muldaur talking about how Pete Seeger had an axe in his hand. The tale, as the saying goes, grows in the telling.

Was watching the documentary with Sam Flesher, who had a few stories of his own. Sam had just been visiting a friend, Michael K., who had recently been hospitalized and faces a difficult recovery. Michael K., had been a sound engineer, and used to work for Pete Seeger. While he was working the boards, people would always tell him to turn up the volume. Pete Seeger, on the other hand always told Michael K. to ignore their instructions. "Keep the volume down. I want to make sure they're listening."

Dylan did go loud. People did pay attention. But I'm starting to get what Pete Seeger said. The saying goes, "If you want people's attention, sometimes you have to whisper." Of course, Pete never played the BBT after the rugby team has had a few.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

The News and Views from Jack Erdie

Folks,

Three Events.
1) Acoustic Challenge at Sing Sing in the Waterfront. Tuesday, Oct. 11, 8pm.
2) DownUnder Coffee House in the Unitarian Church on Western Avenue on the North Side. With Robert Wagner. Saturday, Oct. 15, 7:30 - 9:30.
www.alleghenyuu.org/downunder
3) ELDER STATESMEN OF SONG. Three of the best songwriters on the planet.
Doug McCarty, Dave Wells, and Sam Flesher. Three Penny Opry, Starlite Lounge in Blawnox, Saturday, Oct. 29 at 8pm.

One Story.
Pigment Diver.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm participating -- I won't say competing -- in another Acoustic Challenge. Tuesday the 11th, (that's this Tuesday), at 8 pm at Sing Sing on the Waterfront.

An acoustic challenge, in my experience, is when you are playing an acoustic set of music in just about any beer garden or bistro the sound system of which has been set up to accomodate classic and blues rocker wannabe cover bands. (You know who you are, and I know where you live.) And the genuine configured natural acoustics of which are nil. But in this case it is an event where four or five different singer-songwriters get to play a fifteen minute set of their best music, and after they have all sweated, bled, and distilled a lifetime of suffering and joy into these fifteen minutes, a panel of underqualified, or self-qualified judges will award them with the right to go on to the finals, where they get to do it again at an even more unblinkingly mad fever pitch, against three other neurotic finalists.

I won one of these once, so I'm assured that my neurosis and fangs are intact. Tuesday night at 8. I'm told it doesn't matter how many come and cheer you on, nor how high the applause meter goes. We will be judged on originality, how well we engage the audience, musicianship, songcraft, and other honorable but often murky and highly subjective criteria. But if you come, I promise to be irreverent, and at my most hardcore and loving jackness, and the devil take the prize.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Down Under Coffee House w/ Robert Wagner.

I shouldn't have to introduce Robert Wagner to anybody anywhere in the tri-state vicinity who cares a damn about the timeless combination of great music and truth. In the recent Dylan documentary, No Direction Home, one of the interviewed folkees said that, in the folk heyday, when they heard that so and so was playing, say, at The Gaslight, the immediate question was: "Do they have anything to say?" I'm a lot like that. Technical proficiency minus vision doesn't so much bore me as it makes me feel that my spirit and mind are sliding, like the present political climate, back towards a primordial ooze from which so many have given too much to evolve us out of. Vision with a modicum of proficiency? I'm there, raindogs, I'm there. Robert has a lot to say, his tongue is on fire. Sometimes it's slow-burning, sometimes it flashes out Vesuvius to burn away the layers of complacency, hypocrisy, and mind-numbness to quicken the spirit, and sharpen our own resolve to see clearly, think wisely, and act accordingly. Bob's been a touchstone for my own work for a decade now, and the effect hasn't hurt me one bit. It's helped keep me vital.

I'll be playing, too.

Now the DownUnder is cozy. It's hosted by the Unitarian Church on Western Avenue on the North Side. The very music-supportive Stephen Hirtle, always a gentleman whose brimming intelligence I've never known to be hurtful, emcees. The parishioners make the best desserts and you can get them for around a dollar apiece. The fee for drinks is also negligible. For more info, check out this link: www.alleghenyuu.org/downunder

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday, October 29th at 8pm. Three Penny Opry. Starlite Lounge in Blawnox. The Elder Statesmen of Song. Doug McCarty, Dave Wells, and Sam Flesher. This is guaranteed to be: A Life-Affirming Night of Undiluted Inspiration, Straight From The Muses Musk. If you're the music loving equivalent of the Christmas Catholic, who only attends mass that one time per year, this is the show you've got to see. And I'll tell you why:

Each of these songwriters has been woodshedding at their craft for decades. Before most of us had even attempted to pen our first Dylan or Lennon imitations, these men had reached a level of impeccable wordsmithing and melody molding. Nearly every line in any one of their songs has the ability to linger, smoldering, in the mind for days.

Their songs are resplendent with humor, wisdom, heart, and humanity. I hear them and think: Hear is the essence of great artists who know the time to live, love, impart vision, absorb wonder, is short. Every hello is a kind of "Good-bye. Remember me as I have immortalized you all in song."

I first knew Doug when I was about sixteen. I'd been to his cabin on the Colfax River just outside of my hometown of Fairmont, West Virginia, with my father and others, and heard Doug play. He knew all kinds of fingerstyles when all I could manage was flailing. He could play slide. His lyrics were born from his own gritty experiences with beat poets and bluesmen for midwives. The first time I heard his Fire Escape Revival, the hairs stood up on my forearms and nape. A lot of his songs still have that effect on me.

Doug was the one who helped me get away from the melody-weak process of coming up with poems, or lyrics, first and then trying to stretch them over too-small or too-dull canvases of sound. I still do this occasionally. But he planted the seed of focusing equally on the melody as upon the lyric.

Doug introduced me to the work of Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Tim Buckley, Jack Kerouac, and many others who have influenced my own writing.

I met Dave Wells and Sam Flesher through the Calliope Songwriters' Circle about a decade ago. When I returned from Los Angeles, about three years ago, I hadn't seen either of them in probably five years. Yet I remembered big chunks of a lot of both of their songs, and had often thought of them.

Sam Flesher is outgoing, exuberant, extremely thoughtful and generous. Dave Wells is quiet, shy, extremely thoughtful and generous. The songs of either one of them will stand the test against any of the famed songwriters of the past century; will stand and shine triumphant.

If you come to this show, you will know that each of their songs will sink into your soul and become a life-enriching part of your consciousness. I know I'm speaking hyperbolically. Yet I don't feel I'm exaggerating.

People know and sing Sam's songs around the world. In China. In Israel. In Central Park, New York, Sam once found a folk singer singing his Splendor Bridge. When he asked the kid how he knew that song, the kid said, "I collected it in the hills of Appalachia."

People should be singing Dave's songs the world over, too.

Three Elder Statesmen of Song. And all by accessible, down-to-earth, well-traveled, and well-versed fellas.

This may be your only chance ever to catch the musical equivalent of an aurora borealis.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pigment Diver

So, I went fishing on the Monongahela, just a little ways out of town. I hadn't been fishing in twenty years or so, and was never a very successful if you went by the number of fish I snagged. If you counted the grand ideas I'd netted, though, while sitting on overturned buckets on soggy banks, you'd have to agree that fishing was always kind to me.

So I got the cheapest child's pole I could find at Dunham's Sporting Goods. (I prefer Dunham to Dick's for several reasons, some simply semantic, but mainly because Dunham was my paternal grandmother's maiden name.) I went into Frick Park on a rainy evening and scared up some slimy nightcrawlers. And the next day, off to the river I went.

I found a quiet spot. Very rocky. I was saddened to see how the rocks were all stained with some industrial dumping run-off, and the water was a brown-green murk which appeared to hold no life at first. I must've been near the site of a once-thriving, now long-defunct steel mill or paper mill or something. I could see rusted ribs of metal structures arching out from the scant woods here and there along the bank.

I baited my hook and cast the poor worm into the toxic water. A tiny plop sounded, made even tinier by the din of the big trucks barreling down the nearby highway. I had brought my own bucket, trying to keep with tradition, hoping that might help me to gradually remember the basics of the sport. I turned my bucket over and sat down.

After about ten minutes of nothing, I became entranced by the sunlight sparkling off the surface wavelets, and zoned out. Off in the psychic distance, a melody approached like a heavy laden coal train with rusted axels. I tried not to give it too much credence. Them trains'll switch tracks just around the bend if you really start to depend on their arrival. They're contrary. So, I was listening, but aloofly, and other thoughts were vying for the same channel of attention.

Then the river erupted with a tremendous splash, and a dark, elliptical form jettisoned out of the water, showering me and everything around. My grip tightened instinctively on the pole at the same time as my mind said, "Let it go! You can fight a fish this big! It'll drag you into the undercurrent. Let go!"

But my line remained slack. And as the mist of water settled, I saw that it wasn't a fish but a woman that had emerged from the river. She was wearing a diving suit; navy blue rubber from head to flippers, and Captain Fantastically-large goggles, and a snorkle tube.

"You scared the hell outta me," I said, and tried to laugh. The subsiding adrenaline, though, had left me nauseous.

"WrrrWrree." She shook her head. (Why deny the obvious? I knew she was a woman. Most men don't have breasts that show through their wetsuits.) She pulled the snorkle base out of her mouth.

"Sorry!"

"I didn't even see you go into the river."

"Probably because I started about two hours ago."

"Really? People snorkle the Monongahela? What are you looking for, the fingerprints of ecological disaster? The perfect mix of sludge and sulphur?"

"I don't know about people, but I'm looking for pigment."

"Pigment?"

"Yeah, pigment. The root word of which is not pig, by the way. Pigment. I paint. I like to use found pigment."

"Okay. Pigment. Well you just scared the pigment out of me. If you scrape the loam around my feet here, you'll probably find enough pigment to fill a large canvas with a Hieronymus Bosch type of scene."

She raised her goggles with one hand. I'm sure she didn't intend it, but it was like a magician's gesture. Ta-da! Behold! From behind the mask, dazzling hazel eyes, large and hypnotic, teeming with more frenetic life than the salt-water aquarium at the zoo. She held the other hand out to me, palm down.

"Give me your hand," she said.

I reluctantly obeyed. She ran a soft rock over my palm, leaving behind a blue line.

"That's bizarre," she said.

"Tell me about it," I dead-panned.

"No. No. I mean the color should be a sort of brick red, like the rock. See?"

The rock was indeed brick red. She asked me to turn my hand over. I did, God knows why. The magic of her eyes compelled me. She drew another line on the back of my hand. Guess what color it was?

"Really? That's... Wait, let me try..."

She unzipped a rubber fanny pack, dropped the red rock in, and pulled out a sort of yellow ochre one.

"The other hand, please, monsieur."

"What am I at a Dead concert? Can't you just paisley my back with some henna, Jenna?"

I held out the other hand. She rubbed the soft rock from my wrist up to my elbow, leaving behind a fat, you guessed it, BLUE line.

"That's amazing."

"Okay."

"No. Honestly. This is pure pigment. Well, all right. It's the industrial equivalent of pure pigment. Proof that there is fine print of beauty even what you would think to be only complete and utter destruction. I mean, these mills around here, around everywhere, really, were like poisonous beasts that vomited their toxins 24/7 into the rivers and streams. I'm probably tumorous from diving this river alone. But look! Pigments that don't normally occur north of the Amazonian, created by chemical reactions between the sulfur, the ammonia, the formadehyde, and the natural components of certain indigenous rocks. Beauty from ruin."

I was going to ask how rocks could be considered to be living in poverty, but thought I might just embarrass myself by asking, so I let it go.

"Beauty from ruin." I wasn't being sarcastic. I was thinking about songwriting. And fishing the tragic waters of the Mon.

"Pure pigment," she said, "doesn't produce any color other than itself."

"Hmmm."

"So something in you must be reacting with the pigment to turn it blue. Some chemical. Some toxin. Something."

"That's enough," I said. I was pleading, really, if you listened hard enough.

"What?"

"That's enough for now. I was fishing. I'd like to go back to that now."

I swiped the water from my bucket seat and sat back down, began reeling in my line.

"Oh. Okay. Bye."

She put the snorkel in her mouth, pulled the goggles over her eyes and began to sink into the water.

"Wait."

"Wrrrfff?"

"If you'll be around this way again, look for me. I'll be here fishing. I'd like to talk to you again. I'm just not ready today to ponder my blueness. Okay?"

She looked at me for about five seconds, then smiled around the snorkel and nodded.

Maybe I'd found a friend. Then she jumped up, and with a showering splash that scared all the fish away for hours to come, disappeared into the mysterious and magical Monongahela.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

More Details on Weekend Shows

From the moonlist . . .

This Friday (and the first Friday of every month) Howard Davidson and friends will be hosting Bluegrass Night at the Starlite. If you've ever been to the Tuesday Night Bluegrass Jam, you know how much fun it is. Bluegrass music is like baseball at a Fourth of July picnic. Everybody can get in the game. Don't have a mitt? Play with your bare hands. Or here, you can borrow my mitt. What's the batting order? Doesn't matter as long as nobody cheats and everybody gets to bat.

Saturday night, Peter B. King hosts. Back in the day, Peter was the music critic for The Pittsburgh Press. Now, he's an editor at The Post-Gazette. He has a tasty, jazzy guitar style. He'll play a set accompanied by bassist Mark Perna, and he's invited Rick Malis and Robert Wagner to play. Peter will accompany Rick and Bob for their sets, so there's liable to be some magic in the air.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

We're Gonna Get It

Eric Schwartz is not for everyone's taste, I'm sure. He's brash. He's unapolegetically political. He's probably a little more Broadway than most folkies like and he's certainly too folky for Broadway. Too snide for the sentimental types, and too sentimental for the ... He's coming! Here are the details from Jim and Llouise. Make sure to check out the Eric Schwartz website.

Friendship House Concerts is proud to present

Eric Schwartz

Sunday, October 23

4:00 p.m.

Eric Schwartz has spent years on the Folk Scene alternately evoking tears with his lyric balladry and pushing the edges of propriety. His split-personality performances have recently garnered comparisons to Frank Zappa, Frank Sinatra, Steve Goodman, Barry Manilow and Lenny Bruce. His edgier material often evokes the question: “Is THIS Folk?” He thinks so. From The Bluebird to the Bottom Line, Philly Folk to Kerrville, NPR’s All Things Considered to Doctor Demento, listeners seem to agree.

“The only thing bad about an Eric Schwartz show is that it ends. I wish I could install him in my living room and insert a quarter in his ear to get my daily fix.”
— Christopher Smith, Music Editor, Performing Songwriter Magazine

Check out Eric and his music at http://www.ericschwartz.com

Seating is limited. Reservations necessary. For information and reservations,
call or email:
LLouise & Jim Altes
412.361.6051
altes at potomacnet.com
Suggested donation: $10.00. All proceeds will go to the performer. After the concert, there will be a pot luck dinner. Entrées, hors d’oeuvres, salads, side dishes, desserts, or beverages are welcome.

Other concerts we are aware of:

Oct 15 Tommy Emanuel (Calliope)
Oct 26 (Wed) Clarke Buehling (workshop), hosted by Curt and Annie
AnnieT@southwind-pa.com
Nov 6, 4p Kate McDonnell, hosted by Llouise and Jim
Nov 6, 7:30p Great Bear Trio, hosted by Curt and Annie
Nov 8 (Tues), 7:30p Chuck Suchy, hosted by Cindy
Nov 10 (Thurs), 7:30p (TENTATIVE) Harvey Reid, hosted by Cindy
Nov 19 Andy Statman Trio (Calliope)
Dec 2, 8p Dwight Diller, hosted by Cindy
Dec 10 Del McCoury (Calliope)

2006
Jan 21 Odetta (Calliope)
Feb. 25 Paul Rishell & Annie Raines (Calliope)
Mar 18 Flook (Calliope)
Apr 22 Tom Rush (Calliope)
Put Away Your Handkerchiefs
Interesting conversation last night at the Songwriters Circle about techniques. Since I was preparing to go onstage, I missed most of it. But the folks talked about spending a few minutes on the first Tuesday sharing techniques, blues turns, bluegrass fills, reggae beats, what-have-you. Have always liked my diminished chord blues turn around, but would love to learn alternatives.

Oh, yeah. The headline is a play on the legendary habit of songsters holding a handkerchief to hide their chording hand.

"Now is no time for your tears."

Bob Dylan said that.

"Hope to hear from you soon."

I said that.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Tonight: Poignantly Wacky and Much More

George Kantor writes:
This is just to remind you that the Singer Songwriter Circle will be meeting tonight, October 4th, at 7pm at the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern. The assignment for the month is to write about a larger-than-life Pittsburgh personality (in a genre that's new to you, if you feel so bold!).

Mark Stroup will be the featured songwriter, and he's sure to have a bag full of poignantly wacky songs to entertain us all with. So plan to stick around to hear him play.
Rick Malis Appearances

Rick will be doing two singer songwriter shows this week.

On Tuesday night October 4th I’ll be doing a songwriter in the round at Club Café on the South Side with Eve Goodman, Hallie Pritts and Joey Murphy. A performance by Boca Chica will follow the singing in the round session. The show starts at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $5.

On Saturday night I will be playing a set at the Starlite Lounge in Blawnox with Peter King who will be hosting the night. The show starts at 8:00 or 8:30 p.m. No cover but donations are encouraged.