Cool Web Site

Someone on the Dead digest posted a link to this. I haven't had time to poke around much, but it looks interesting.

http://www.damnfineday.com/

Always looking for new or unjustly neglected tunes, and this looks like it's right up my alley.

Recapping my Gig Hog schedule this week:

Wednesday evening, Rainbow Hills Swim Club with Just Friends, 6:00to 9:00, open to the public, $6.00.

Friday afternoon, 2:00, American Music Fest, Riverfront Stage with Jury of Five, 2:00 to 3:00.

Friday evening, open rehearsal (I think Keating's calling it a "lawn concert") at my house, Durable Goods. Join us before 7:00, bring a lawn chair and provisions. Outdoors, weather permitting. Let's see if we can make the cops come!

Saturday evening, Hotel Hershey with Just Friends, the fireworks party on the patio. Get there before dark, and best of luck parking.

Sunday evening, Singles Dance with Just Friends at the New Cumberland Holiday Inn.

Durable Goods on the Third, Just Friends on the Fourth

As I mentioned earlier, the Durable Goods are preparing to play at Camp Reily on Sunday, July 19th, to benefit the Dauphin County Historical Society. For those who can't make that show, we will offer a sneak preview/rough draft at our house on Friday, July 3rd. Think of it as a rehearsal with an audience. There may be a rough spot musically here and there, but it's not like you'll need to ask for your money back.

If you don't have anything to do that evening, pack up your folding chairs and come over to our place. Bring some beer if you're planning on getting thirsty. Hey, get me one while you're up. If you bring a little potluck to snack on and share, that would be cool. If you bring friends (and if they bring friends), bring provisions accordingly. Park on Greenwood Blvd.

Joreen and I will be down at the Music Fest in the afternoon for my guest appearance with the Jury of Five , so don't expect a lot of hosting from us, but if you're willing to be self-reliant, please come hang with us. Make some chip dip, say a quick prayer for decent weather so we can play out on the porch, and join us. I'd like to start playing no later than 7:00 so we can get a couple good sets in. The PA will be turned off around 9:30 so we don't tick off the neighbors, although I plan on inviting some of them as well.

Saturday, July 4th, Just Friends will perform again at the Hotel Hershey for the fireworks display, this year on the newly renovated patio. They've spent a gajillion bucks on this project, and hopefully they've put some outlets where we can get to them. We will be performing the Patriotic Medley, arrangement by Joreen Kelly, as we have since 2003. Come ooh and ahh with us, and don't plan on getting home in a hurry. The fireworks are impressive; so is the traffic jam afterwards. This is another opportunity to come see us without joining a VFW or throwing a wedding reception, so we hope to see you there.

Everybody in the Pool

Just Friends was scheduled to play in Lykens at the gazebo on Wednesday, July 1st. That job was unfortunately cancelled, but we just picked up something that could be even more fun. Wednesday, July 1, Rainbow Hills Swim Club is having a Family Night Pool Party from 6:00 to 9:30, featuring the music of Just Friends for your dancing and splashing pleasure. (No running, or you'll get The Bench.) Admission is $6.00 for non-members. Here's the link. Put St. Joseph in the window and hope for a nice, hot, sunny summer day. It's a rare opportunity to see us in a setting open to the public, and we'll be breaking out some new material. Vince threatened to make the dress code Speedos and black ties, but I'm sure I can get a preliminary injunction on that one.

Do The Walk of Life

I should have posted this earlier, but tomorrow night, Friday, June 26, Hemlock Hollow featuring Roger and Chris Wilkinson and yours truly on bass will be playing at the Relay For Life fundraising event, held at Susquehanna Township High School, 3500 Elmerton Avenue. We are performing from 10:00 to 11:00. I spoke to someone at the American Cancer Society's 800 number and was told that members of the public are welcome (he said no pets or alcohol, so keep Sparky's six pack in the car). You don't need to register unless you're going to walk in the event, but there will be opportunities to donate to this worthy cause if you are so moved.

I've played with the Wilkinsons in the past, and it's a pretty good looking setlist. We'll be breaking out "Wild World" by the Artist Formerly Known as Cat, and some other cool tunes. Anyone who shows up and wants to help load my bass rig back into my house is welcome to join me for post-gig refreshments.

Best. Blog. Comment. Ever.

Of all the on-line comments about Governor "Walkin' Shoes" Sanford, this has to be the best:

David_in_Austin; Sanford outsourcing affair. What a slap to the face of American homewreckers.

I've Got Jury Duty and Other Music News

Mike Miller of the band Jury of Five called and invited me to fill in for one of their guitar players at Musicfest this year, July 3rd. I jumped at the chance. Besides getting the chance to play with other people, which I enjoy, and learn some new music, I get to play with my brother Steve on keyboards. The setlist is shaping up to be mostly originals from Mark and Mike with some tasty covers thrown in. I can't seem to locate the band schedule right now, so I'll update later, but 2:30 at the Market Street stage is what I'm remembering. Of course, things are so busy right now, I wouldn't trust my memory. Two extra hearings came in this week, including the one I'm getting ready for now. Tonight is Fr. Tcheou's movie night at St. Catherine's and I'm setting up the PA for him.

Quick preview of the next post: The Durable Goods are the featured entertainment for the Dauphin County Historical Society's annual fundraiser, to be held Sunday, July 19, from 3:00 to 8:00, at Camp Reily. I'll comment more later, but here's the link.

Happy 100th Birthday, Nana

Sorry for the long pause between posts. I've been keeping plates spinning.

This smiling face belongs to Frances Merlina, my grandmother, who recently celebrated her 100th birthday. All of the family and friends who could make it gathered at Holy Family's social hall for great food, dozens of photographs and a whole lot of smiling and remembering. Joreen played an updated PowerPoint show of pictures going back from Nana's parents to baby pictures of everyone, narrated by my Uncle Joe. The scope of the history was amazing, but not as amazing as the beaming smile on Nana's face. One of my cousin's children did an interview with Nana for a school project, and they played some of the DVD as well. I'll need to get that. At some point I'll try and post the group picture. That's something to see: five generations on one stage. My grandsons were duly impressed and Nana was delighted to see them, and everyone.

Return of the Kelly Trio

Saturday night, Joreen, Alex Harden and I played Ed's brother's retirement/birthday party. There are no pictures on hand of us playing, but we looked like we did in all the other pictures you've seen. Jim is a fan of Dylan and the McGovern clan is into the Clancy Brothers, so the set list was definitely more folked up than we usually do. I whipped up a bunch of Dylan lyric sheets, including "Lay Lady Lay" which I've always wanted to do. We had fun, got good sound, and we're available for parties, picnics, whatever. Thanks to Ed for getting us the gig, helping with the equipment, sitting in and providing adult beverages. You're the man, Ed.

Coming up this Saturday: Nana Merlina's 100th birthday party. I've never been to one, and I've been telling Nana how cool it would be for years now, and here it is. Joreen is putting together an update on the photo PowerPoint she did some years ago for Nana, and it will be great. Minor drag: I went looking for pics of Nana and Theo, her great-great-grandson, from last year's birthday party and I can't locate them anywhere. They must be someplace.

UPDATE: Good St. Anthony helped me locate the SD card where those photos were. Here's one:

Why Do The Drums Never Cease?

Because we need drums, that's why. September 6, 1984, we saw King Sunny Ade at the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia. August, 1991, we attended the best concert I've ever seen, Paul Simon on the Born at the Right Time tour, with all the Graceland/Rhythm of the Saints players, including the best drummer in the world, Steve Gadd. Tonight, Joreen and I had just as much fun as we did at those two earlier shows, thanks to Toubab Krewe. It took a while for the party to start, requiring us to sit through a solo acoustic player from Scranton, who was pretty darn good, and some Caucasian rappers from Harrisburg, who were pretty darn bad. I won't go into a long dissertation about the show. I bought their CDs and I'll be glad to play them for you. To summarize, for a day where I had to write a kidney-stone sized check to the Infernal Revenue Service, this day turned out all right.

I will say this. Once again, my one-man crusade against Arena Rockers in favor of small venue musical experiences is on track. We bought two tickets at $8.00 apiece, enjoyed a couple Belgian adult beverages (discounted on Wednesday at the brewery), bought two CDs from the band and had a blast five minutes from home -- for less then the cost of one ticket to see What's Left of the Dead. Granted, the Dead shows are getting rave reviews, and more power to those who attend. Right now, I'm going to keep checking out shows at ABC and hope for more pleasant surprises, like tonight. As of bedtime, which is now, there's no word on whether the ABC show was taped. For a taste of what they sound like on this tour, you can click here.

Old School Eggs; New Music Alert

With no grandchildren available on Holy Saturday to color eggs, Joreen was ready to skip them this year. Instead, she and I sat down and created these masterpieces. I haven't colored eggs in years and years, and it was fun. As you can see, both Joreen and I have retained the styles we perfected back when Soupy Sales was still on TV.

In another quirky Holy Saturday tradition, Joreen attended the Dog Show at the Farm Show Building, and this time I went along with her. First off, parking is $8.00 (unless you park on Maclay Street and walk over, neener-neener), and the attendants are amazingly rude. When I went to drop Joreen off, I thought this generalissimo with the yellow vest was going to pull a sidearm on me when I asked to just drive over near the door. Oh, well, I parked for free and then we walked in a side door left open by a cigarette smoker, only to realize that we had just sneaked in. We stuck it to The Man.

Finally, before I head off to Pottsville for work, there's a band called Toubab Krewe playing at ABC tomorrow night. They're from North Carolina but they play a brand of world music that is pretty tasty. No vocals, heavy on the Afro-Cuban style percussion and a guy who plays a kora, which is a pretty whack looking thing. There's splashes of reggae, ska and surf music in the mix. It's a ticketed event, $8.00 in advance, $12.00 at the door. They've played here before, and it's expected to be crowded. Doors at seven, show at eight. You can buy tix at the ABC in person, or go here. To listen to what they sounded like at ABC last October, go here. It should be a great way to celebrate the income tax deadline.

Triduum

Yes, it's Holy Thursday already. Best wishes for a holy and happy Easter from the guy who still has Christmas lights hanging out front.

It's late, and I'm a bit tuckered out, but if you're interested in checking out a web site with a very Catholic perspective, try http://sqpn.com/. I went looking for Triduum references and came across this. It's a big, sprawling thing with podcasts on a lot of topics. Somewhere in here I came across a link to a podcast (something I know very little about) called Praystation Portable, where they do an audio Liturgy of the Hours. Here's the link:

http://www.podfeed.net/podcast/Praystation+Portable-Catholic+Liturgy+of+the+Hours/2034

Tomorrow, silence and reflection, and several hours in church. Saturday, Easter eggs and running the sweeper. Sunday, ham, bread, daughters and grandboys. Monday, I am taking the day off and I don't care who knows it.

My Big Fat Greek Blog Review

I've been remiss in not letting you know about a very cool blog, also on Blogger. Grace McGovern's daughter Allie is studying in Greece and is blogging the experience. Her narratives are fascinating and funny and the photography is first rate. You'll see stuff you haven't seen before, trust me. She's providing a real ground-level view of a foreign land and doing it well. Here's the link to From Thessaloniki, with Love. I suggest you read the earlier posts first and keep current as she updates. It's good stuff.

Quick Food Review

Bill Wasch, local musician formerly with Rosie and the Naturals, recently opened a burger place in Strawberry Square. Joe Trojcak recommended I try it and yesterday I had the chance at lunch. My impression was that the burgers were cooked thoroughly but not too dry, more like hand-formed cookout burgers than fast food hockey pucks. The French fries are skin-0n and a lot like Five Guys. You'll either like them or not; I enjoyed them. If you go with someone, split an order of fries. I couldn't finish them and I was pretty hungry. Overall, I enjoyed my lunch as much as any I've had at Five Guys Burgers at a more reasonable price. On-line reviews are not completely favorable for Bill's, but I take those with a grain of salt. It's not inconceivable that the nasty comments in some reviews were posted by the owners of other businesses in the same Food Court. Maybe I'm prejudiced because he's a guitar player, but I give it two headstocks up.

Adios, Comcast

The Verizon installer is just finishing up giving Comcast the boot. They don't know yet. It will be a surprise. Honestly, it's not that different from Comcast; a few more channels and a new remote. The big thing is that Comcast can't raise my rates anymore just because they feel like it. Also, we get a price break due to having Verizon for the phone, internet and television, which makes them... uh, what's the word... oh, a monopoly!

Tally Ho Again

This past Saturday Just Friends played one of our favorite annual jobs for the Beaufort Hunt Club's Foxhunters Ball. Neither they nor we remember exactly how many years it's been, but when we go to set up it's like old home week. They're delighted to have us back, and their enthusiasm brings out the best in our band. For this show we broke out three new tunes: "It Had Better Be Tonight," the Michael Buble arrangement of a Henry Mancini chart from the Pink Panther series; "You Are The Best Thing" by Ray Lamontagne, a song so new they still play it on WXPN; and "Whisper Your Name," a Harry Connick Jr. chart that has horns and a spiffy guitar solo section. All three sounded pretty good for still being new to the list, and got a good reception from our redcoated friends. Just like last year, at the end of the night, we said, "See you next year."

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. I know this for two reasons. First, it's the day after Joreen's birthday; second, Appalachian Brewing Company sent me an invitation for breakfast any time after 7:00 a.m. In their words, "Join us for: $1.99* Eggs and Corned Beef Hash, $3.00* Pints of Stout and Celtic Red and $4.00* Bloody Mary's (*Until noon )." And then they added this rather chilling statement: "Join us and show just how Irish you can be on St. Patrick's Day!" (Emphasis mine.) Apparently, you're not Irish enough unless you start drinking before work. Eggs, corned beef hash and beer for breakfast. Faith and begorrah, would ye be crackin' the window a wee bit for us, Seamus?

Free, My Favorite Price

You may have heard that Phish just did three shows in Hampton, VA last weekend. Their fans are obsessive in a class with Deadheads, Trekkies and Westminster Dog Show viewers. Minutes after the rumor started of these shows, every single hotel room in Hampton sold out. The band has offered free downloads of these three nights at livephish.com. I'm not a Phishhead at all, but I do enjoy the quality of their musicianship. Lyrically, I don't think they can write their way out of a paper bag, but YMMV. If you've ever been curious as to what they sound like, this is a cheap way to check them out. Trey Anastasio is clean and sober (for the moment) and they actually practiced for these shows, which is always a good thing. These shows will be free mp3 downloads until tomorrow. After that, you either pay or come over to my house to hear them.

In other free download news, there is a band called Crazy Engine, led by Steve Kimock, a veteran of the West Coast jamband scene, formerly in Zero with John Cippolina, and a great guitar player. He's joined by Melvin Seals, the giant who played B-3 with the Jerry Garcia Band. Crazy Engine played a show in Hampton, VA that started after this Phish concert, and Kimock graciously made this show available for free download as well. I don't know how long they're available for free, but here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/dmq4gy. Great funky instrumentals, and Kimock's playing is very melodic and tasty.

Now, back to work.

Music, Music Everywhere

The Hemlock Hollow show at The Good Life Cafe in Carlisle was a real blast. Roger, Chris, Bill and I played in a setting which I have described as taking a page from my "When I Hit The Lottery" fantasy: a venue with state-of-the-art PA, a soundman who is also recording the show, a good stage, an intimate setting to connect with the audience, good food, and a BYOB policy. The owner, David, is obviously committed to live music, to the point of coming up on stage and playing two songs with us. He's a pretty good player, and a great chef. The food is really outstanding, featuring local produce, organic ingredients and great flavors. You'll need to bring your own high fructose corn syrup, though.

Unfortunately, to this point I don't have a decent picture of the four of us to post. None of the shots we took are up to par. There are a few video excerpts floating around, and I'm told there will be a copy of the performance made available later. Special thanks to Sean, Alex and his friends, Ed, Grace, Maggie and all the friends and family of the Wilkinsons who make up the Hollowhead community for coming out and supporting us. I'm excited about this place and have discussed booking future shows there as the Kelly Trio with Alex on bass. Stay tuned.

In other musical news, Joreen and I went to see Theresa Andersson last night. The crowd was smaller than expected. This is a performer who plays to packed houses in New Orleans, and we were six feet away from her. Here is my first attempt at filming, saving and posting a video.

Yes, she's gorgeous, and she's got a great pair of looping pedals. I filmed the whole performance, and if you discount the shaky hand-held quality and the chitchat of the goobers in the audience, it's pretty neat. I hope to post this and other songs to YouTube at some point, another first time attempt for me. Until this morning I had never even opened Windows Movie Maker.

Cool Live Music Alert

The ABC brewery has been booking some interesting music. I've made it a point to open the ABC Entertainment e-mails, and it's a good thing. This coming week, Wednesday, March 11, someone very interesting is coming to a no-cover show. Her name is Theresa Andersson and she's being billed as a "much cuter Keller Williams." The link is to her MySpace page and I just watched the Na Na Na video (these kids and their lyrics, my gawd, what's this world coming to.) Anyway, she is indeed a perky young lady, and she's a looping monster, which is the part that gets me the hottest. Also, snaps for recording the video in the kitchen.

This is exactly the point I had in mind in my earlier rant about monster rock star concerts and my decision to concentrate on new, local or regional acts on their way up. Somebody on the Dead Hour Digest said tickets in Oakland for Clapton and Winwood were $142.50 (yes, apiece), plus a $17.50 convenience charge PLUS a $7.00 "building facility charge." (WTF?) Put me down as a "no." Actually, put me down as a laughing-so-hard-I'm-widdling-my-pants "HAIL, no."

Kudos to Jersey Mike and Roundtable Presents for making a real effort to bring new and decent music to a room that also sells great beer, in Harrisburg. I don't know if this young'un has the buzz to fill the room up, but it wouldn't surprise me. Might want to get there early. Hopefully we'll see you there.

Ah, The Good Life

Just got a phone call from Roger inviting me to play bass with the Hemlock Hollow this Saturday, March 7th, at a place in Carlisle called The Good Life Cafe, which has a pretty spiffy web site:

http://www.thegoodlifecafe.com/home.html

According to Roger, Bill Nork will also be playing, so it should be a pretty good show. Check out the web site. The Listening Room looks snazzy. There might be a cover charge, but I'll buy you a beer later. One hand washes the other.

Updated Blog Layout

Having noticed the "followers" widget on other blogs, I decided to update my settings to enable that. Welcome to Ed and Mrs. Kelly. I also loosened the restrictions on comments. You may now fire away without being moderated. In the beginning I was getting comments about how much better my blog would look if I was wearing an Italian Rolex or taking herbal Viagra, so I shut the comments down. If I start getting spam, I'll have to put up the fence again.