Bob, Not Bob
As Jack Erdie made unclear in his introduction, our "Tribute to Bob," was not just a palindrome but a concealment. Most of us really don't care about Bob Dylan anyway. Robert Wagner, however, is a good friend and a great proponent of music that sticks between your ears and leaves blossoms in your chakras.

Jack started things out with "Every Unmarked Road," Eve Goodman followed with "Mother of Three." Thick and fast they came, Jay Hitt, Peter King, Frank Bienkowski, Sue Gartland . . . the songs had possessed and then lost the aura of their putative owner and became the songs of the singer and our songs, but there was always a bit of Robert coming to greet us at the beginning of a verse or a bit of guitar. Annette Dietz, project instigator, recited her own poetry and had a few others recite theirs. Sam Flesher wrote a song for the occasion. Howard Davidson played Dylan's "Oxford Town." But even the non-Robert stuff had a Robert gloss. The beauty of Robert's songs is that they give us room to be ourselves, we may not be as acerbic as him, we may not be as motivated as him, but his himness makes our usness. Dave Wells' "Happy Father's Day," provided another layer of irony to one of the songs with the most negative capability that I've ever heard. Jon Ritz emphasized the Robert's melodic flows, and Jack Knight's "Cocaine Don't Care" exposed Robert's punk roots. Two of us provided pianistic relief: Heather Kropf reminded us that "Child of a Realist" should be on all of our lips; Rosa showed us the kind of chops that reminded us why she sang for a professional all-black gospel choir (I have no idea how she did that, but if by African-American you mean Italian-American, too, or someone with ivory skin, I guess that works).

Drawing by Liz Perry.

Rock 'n' Roll Is Evil

I'm sorry I haven't been posting more often. Instead of tending to this blog, I've been busy touting my rock 'n' roll band, The Groove Pilgrims. We had a great debut at PD's on Forward in Squirrel Hill. Instead of playing topical songs I was swinging my hips and singing "sha-la-la-la-la."

Perhaps I have gone astray as Irwin Silber thought Bob Dylan did forty years ago. Silber took Dylan to task for putting on a leather jacket and putting down the civil rights movement banner. Forty years is a long time and Bob Dylan has taken a lot of turns and so has folk music. When Bob Dylan was twenty years old he could sound like an old man. Now he can sound like an old man.

Come to the Starlite Lounge and hear host Jack Erdie lead us in songs of life in the underworld, hard roads, and heartbreaks. Honored guests and performers include Frank Bienkowski, poet Annette Dietz, Peter King, Jon Ritz, Dave Wells, John Wells, Sam Flesher, and a few more.

More on Irwin Silber's Sing Out open letter can be found here.

Three Penny Opry Presents: Jack Erdie & The Insubordinates. With Guests: Devilish Merry. Saturday, January 21, 8:30 pm. Moondog's. 378 Freeport Rd in Blawnox. About a half a block from The Starlite Lounge. There is a cover. Bands have to EAT! Or did you think they subsisted on manna in the wilderness of inspiration?

The Insubordinates includes some of the best musicians around. They rock my folk somewhere between jazz and the infinite parallel. Doug Wilkin and Art Gazdik of The NewLanders. Mark Perna of local jazz fame, both as a stellar bass player and producer of superb local CDs. Jeff Berman of Devilish Merry. Stacy Mates of JACK (the band) lends ethereally unique harmonies.

Those unacquainted with the hip, entrancing folk rhythms of Devilish Merry should pick up a copy of the new folk fanzine GARDYLOO. There's a great "appreciation" of them by contributing writer Tom Payne.

Songs dot filk
This Saturday is "Filk" Night at The Threepenny Opry. Filk is the folk music of science fiction and fantasy. Randy Hoffman is the host. You do not really have to be a science fiction buff to enjoy the music because the artists are so creative, imaginative and FUN! You'll be smiling and singing all night.

GARDYLOO! Folk, Acoustic Blues and Bluegrass at The Starlite Lounge
That's right. It's the return of The Threepenny Opry for 2006!

Friday, January 6, 2006 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm
BLUEGRASS NIGHT hosted by Howard Davidson and Friends.
The nicest, most decent folks in the whole universe share the most fun, spirited and rootsy music. Come to listen or bring your banjo and talk to Howard about playing. KIDS WELCOME!!! NO COVER CHARGE!!

Saturday, January 7, 2006 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm
We celebrate the debut of the inaugural issue GARDYLOO FANZINE with the music of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, John Denver and Michelle Shocked. Robert Wagner and John Wells will be hosting, and they'd love for you to bring your guitar and sign up to play!

The women of Scotland used to yell, "GARDYLOO!!" before dumping pots of liquid waste from their windows onto the streets below. In Greenwich Village in 1957, Lee Shaw used a mimeograph machine to publish a little fanzine about the folk music scene. I wonder why she named it GARDYLOO?

Folks,

I'll be performing at the South Hills Borders on Friday, the 6th, at 7:30 p.m. I've always found an enthusiastic, atypical audience there, and I'm grateful for them. Apparently, this is a big night out for Bethel Parkers, and they come regardless of who is performing.

For Details:
http://www.bordersstores.com/events/event_detail.jsp?SEID=64512

Then I'll be at the CLO Cabaret Theater on Wednesday, Jan 11 at 5:30.
Theater Square
655 Penn Ave
Dahntahn Pittsburgh
412-456-6666

And at McArdle's Pub on Thursday, Jan 12 at 8 pm.
2811 Lincoln Way, White Oak, PA 15131
[412] 754-3721
[412] 754-3722

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My newest [TRUE!!!] story, Renegade Karma Police, may be read on my blog
at: jackerdie.blogspot.com

Please scroll down and read Part I first. The whole thing will make a little more
sense.

You can also find my re-cap of 2005: The Year in Rear-View.

Apparently, this little blog has attracted attention. A musical comrade alerted me to it's appearance in Pittsburgh's City Paper this week. There's a section called NEWS: We're Listening in which they solicit and print (well-edited) portions of blogs either by Pittsburghers, or about Pittsburgh. I felt weird about this at first, but quickly reconciled myself to the idea that, if it's on the web, it's public domain.

Thanks for helping make 2005 an unprecedentedly wonderful year for me!

Your Servant in Song,

Jack Erdie