Monday Night Open Mic, January 11, 2010

It had been a while since I'd lasted all the way till the end of a Monday night. I understand why the early slots usually feature acts with upcoming shows that need promoting, but I realized the other night that means that in those early hours those of us who are regulars are usually seeing acts with which we might already be familiar. It's in the later hours that the suprises appear.

I spent most of the early part of the night geeking out with Josh the Magician. Coins and cards were flying in the seats by the front window.

I did pop in to hear Ray Brown sing "My Garage Apartment." And a little later I watched Ku entertain with stories about how her family of 5 Korean siblings bored the hell out of family friends who came over and were forced to sit through a full-on recital by each kid. Very funny stuff from Ku.

The standout of the evening to me was Livia (or maybe Olivia) Gerber, who sang two really nice songs and got a gig. I loved Livia's voice which is a little unusual, and she seemed to have a kind of laid back attitude.

There was also the young woman who performed an a cappella rendition of a bluesy classic. She sang with so much over-the-top ornamentation and excessive nasal tonality that for the first time I had to bite my lip to keep from bursting out in laughter.

I was sorry I missed seeing the ballon guy after chatting with him downstairs. I was waiting and waiting but then got caught up in conversation.

The surprise novelty hit of the night was performed by Norm, a marshmellow of guy with a large Afro. Norm covered a rap tune...something about beat the pussy up...but in a folky-antifolky kind of style, accompanying himself on guitar. It was funny as all heck.

Emily Moment stayed till the end and played a nice song "here's to twenty nothing."

Also, 3gcrew were around. I still can't quite get the gist of what these guys are up to. I mean it's in the hip-hop vein, but the mc guy spits these verses, that sound like some sort of rapidfire robot talk. I'm not a skilled enough listener to detect any real words there. There's something entertaining about it, though.

I've been skipping over folks here and there, and if I skipped you, I'm sorry. Ben got up to do his set and kicked off with Here, There and Everywhere. He stuck with the Beatles tunes for just about his whole set (slipping in an original at the end). Those of us still there at that point were hopping on the stage and singing or playing along.

A handful of folks sat around afterward for tea: Level II, Emily, Ben and 1 or 2 others. We finally got kicked out about twenty to four.

It was nice to have a night where I didn't have work the next day so I could stay all the way through. It's still about being willing to sit and listen to waves of ambitious folks burning to express themselves. The payoff are the nuggets of greatness or oddness that you come across, and Monday had enough of both to remind me of what I have always found so compelling about Sidewalk Cafe.

Elastic No No Band CD Release at Brooklyn Tea Party, January 8, 2010

Last night was the CD release show for Elastic No No Band's album Fustercluck at Brooklyn Tea Party. The album is an epic compilation of Justin's songs, (with some covers mixed in). There was more male pants dropping and shirt removing than I usually enjoy in an evening out, but it was a fun night with sets by Joe Crow Ryan, Thomas Patrick Maguire, Schwervon and Elastic No No.

Playing piano as an accompanist with ENB is a different experience for me than most of the other things I do. After a long time aborbing the form of the songs, I finally started getting an instinct for some more interesting musical ideas, especially ways to transition between chords. Last night I was trying to add some variety to the chord playing by putting in these ascending chords, like say when you move from B7 at the end of a verse to E maj at the top of the next. But you can't really do this sort of thing on the fly. Just now I was playing around with it at home and it sounds a lot better using diminished chords. Like: B7, then Db, D, Eb (all diminished) and then to the home chord E. This requires a ton of practice, and then you'd like to be able to do it in all keys. I wish there was a Sidewalk Cafe piano players forum or something. I'd love to be able to talk over some of these things or exchange ideas. Any piano players out there want to geek out on this stuff?

Kirk Kelly, Go Man Go Antifest, December 19, The Studio at Webster Hall

I suppose I was seeking the holy grail of Antifolk the other night at Kirk Kelly's show recognizing the 20th anniversary of his record Go Man Go. The show on December 19 at Webster Hall's studio space, featured short sets from an extensive assortment of songwriters, including Kirk, Roger Manning, and Lach, who were among the crew of rejects from Folk City who in the mid 1980s came together around what they dubbed Antifolk.

However, it seems you can't go back in time. When I started coming around in 2004 and first became aware of the term Antifolk, to me it was connected to artists like The Moldy Peaches, Jeffrey Lewis, Major Matt, Nellie McKay, and Regina Spektor, where the seriousness of their songwriting was often balanced by a screwy, sideways perspective.

I always thought there was a straight line from those artists back to the early days of Lach, Kirk, Roger et al, but maybe that path wasn't as direct as I imagined. Much of what I heard the other night -- particularly from Kirk in the various configurations in which he played -- seemed tied more to traditional folk than to what I had associated with "Antifolk." Kirk's songs range over a variety of styles but two areas around which they tend to focus are labor and traditional Irish music. He expresses his political views fairly directly and I see connections to Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and others who were at the root of the "folk" genre. In fact Kirk covered a tune by another beloved "folk" stalwart, Phil Ochs.

One of the problems is that from the vantage point of today some of the distinctions in styles that were evident in the 1980s have blurred. Whatever was considered "folk" then very well must have clashed with the more strident, rebellious style of Kirk, Lach et al. But what happened after these antifolkers came together? Things centered around Lach's loft, then a variety of outposts such as Sophie's and the Chameleon. Then Lach went away for a year or something.

I have no way of really validating this but it is my sense that it was when he came back and established things at Sidewalk that a newer wave of songwriters associated with the later "Antifolkers" started forming. Now's the moment for that nagging "What is Antifolk?' question. It's really impossible to define what it was about that late 90s period that stands out so much and I hate lumping people together in categories. But without a doubt there was some kind of common sensibility running through the place that drew like-minded songwriters.

The differentiation was illustrated the other night when Jeff Lewis took the stage. For example, he played Will Oldham Horror one of his long, wordy patter-type songs, which mixes his ruminations about a life as an artist with a scene of being assaulted and raped by Will Oldham. What the fuck. To me this is a quite different angle than the kind of protest songs I heard from Kirk and the more straightforward styles of some of the other artists on the bill.

So, I'm suggesting there was a break in continuity between two periods, but in fact that's not entirely true, because, of course, the thread through it all was Lach. Lach created the atmosphere for all of this and with his personality and his own songwriting drew the people who came to play. So ultimately there IS a lineage to which we are all connected, one that continues today under the stewardship of Bee K. I still think it's a great scene and I'm glad to be part of the stream that runs from the 80s to now.

All that said, a bit more about what actually happened at the show the other night:

First off, I arrived early when some sort of filming of postmodern circus-y vaudeville performers was going on. All these slightly surreal yet spangly circus outfits clashed quite strongly with the rumpled Antifolk performers who were getting set up.

I quite enjoyed hearing Lach and Kirk play together (photo at right). They didn't quite announce themselves as The Folk Brothers, but I understand that's how they used to bill themselves. They gave a zesty performance with songs like Cigarettes and Whisky and a cool interpreation of the Velvet Underground's Femme Fatale.

There was a very solid sort of house band made up of John Kruth on mandolin and guitar, Dave Dreiwitz on bass, and Billy Figg on drums. They accompanied John S. Hall in what was essentially a cool country set, with songs like I'm Busted and Wallflower. I asked Lach if John had always been a country act and he sort of chuckled and explained that what he'd done with King Missile was more like spoken word over heavy metal. They also played with Lach and with Kirk and (I think) others throughout the night.

Erin Regan and Debe Dalton both played beautiful sets. Debe played a new song that she'd written during her time out of NYC. I have to hear it again to get the full gist--it has to do with missing her friends here in the City--and it seems as exquisite as anything else the young lass has written.

I really liked Kirk's song Go Man Go. He performs it with a ton of energy and chants out "Go Man Gooooouugghh" in this dramatic way. I will have to track down a copy of the disc.

Jeff Lewis did a couple of his illustrated movies--one about the Cuban Missle Crisis and another about the voyage of the Mayflower. He also played his "I Love Antifolk" song, sung to the tune of "I Love Rock n' Roll." I have to track down the lyrics to that. It was during Jeff's set that sloppy drunk girls started drifting in from Webseter Hall's upstairs rooms and disrupting things. Thankfully they soon moved on.

Kruth et al also played a set of their own which was pretty funky. Shows what you can do with a mandolin if you set your mind to it.

The complete bill--in the order they played as best as I recorded it, comprised: Roger Manning, Joe Hurley, Lach and Kirk, John S. Hall, Erin Regan, Kirk (solo), Debe Dalton, Lach (solo), Mike Rimbaud, Jeffrey Lewis, John Kruth, and Kirk again (with Paddy on the Railway[?]).

By the way, it was lightly snowing when we entered Webster Hall's studio around 7 p.m. There was a blizzard under way when we left well after midnight. A bunch of us ended up at a sports bar hunkering down with some fried food and beer.

Best ofs for Sidewalk Alums?

My survey is anything but comprehensive, but so far the only Sidewalk alum I've seen appear in a major best of list is Nellie McKay, whose album Normal as Blueberry Pie was chosen by Ben Ratliff in the Times.

Any others?

Stolen from Lastup Larry @ OJ Board - Monday Night Open Mic, December 14, 2009

I couldn't make it to Sidewalk last Monday. Lastup Larry wrote a report over at the OJ Board. Sounds like I should've been there....

LastUpLarry's Report

Kirk Kelly's Big Show at Webster Hall- Go Man Go 20th Anniversary

If you're interested in the heritage of our little community of songwriters, you can't do better than the event upcoming this Saturday at Webster Hall, which celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Kirk Kelly's record Go Man Go. The extensive bill includes performances by Kirk, Lach, and Roger Manning, three of the folks who launched the Antifolk movement in the early/mid-1980s. Also performing are our friends Jeff Lewis, Debe Dalton, and Erin Regan--as well as John S. Hall--a figure whose name I've often seen referenced but have never had a chance to hear perform. Others on the bill are Joe Hurley, John Kruth, and Mike Rimbaud, and I've heard mumbled gossip that other folks have been invited to play. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. The event benefits the Artist Worker Action League. It starts at 6:30 or 7 p.m., depending on which part of Webster Hall's web site you believe. For more info:

http://websterhall.com/events/show_event_sub.php?id=793&size=small&cdate=2009-12-19

Monday Night Open Mic, December 7, 2009

Can you tell me why people from Holland are referred to as Dutch? Shouldn't they be Hollanders or something (see below).

Ben Krieger brought in a theremin and kicked things off by using it on a couple of his standard tunes..There's a Squid on My Head and Mom and Dad play Rock and Roll.

Brian Speaker played a cool song that was called something like "And God Said," which I think he might have writen for the Bushwick Book Club's Bible Evening.

Ariel Bitran asked Ben to join him and accompany him on theremin. They played Deep Blue Lake, one of Ariel's songs based on Zelda and another called (maybe) You're Mr. Right. Anyway--I think it was on the first song Ben played an awesome theremin solo and the theremin throughout the song was cool.

A group I'd never heard called Historic District Commission consisted of a lead singer with two acoustic guitarists backing him up. They were pretty good--nice work from the guy who mostly played lead guitar and a nice sound from the vocalist.

Jason Trachtenberg played--and spoke about his group called The Pendulum Swings--his new big band.

Domino--I loved her song about Mo Pitkins closing-- ah hah, ah hah, ah hah, ah hah, ah hah...

I performed in here somewhere--not sure of the order. It had been a while since I'd played on a Monday and I wanted to get out there a bit. On the spur of the moment I decided to use the theremin, which I worked into my song "Fishes." Although it might have gone better if rehearsed, I'm kind of glad to reach the point where I don't mind experimenting on stage. It's a long distance from where I started when I first played Sidewalk.

GI Dave-was back-hadn't seen him in a long while.

I still haven't been able to catch their names, but for the second time I noticed two sisters, who sing primarily in spanish--they started with a song called Baile (dance) in which one of the sisters accompanied the other on guitar-- and then the one who handled vocals on the first song played John Lennon's Imagine by herself on the piano.

Master Lee appeared with his backup group--comprised of Ariel Bitran and Touching You--who were introduced as "Chink Floyd." Many cracks from the audience followed, including something like Dark Side of the Sun Yung Moon, and playing the Great Wall.

For the next set an acoustic guitar sat on stage in a spotlight while Lach vocalized what the guitar might be thinking while waiting to be played--a fun anthropomorphic moment...Lach then appeared on stage and played This Ain't a Song and Men Don't Come Back.

Josh the magician--I was glad to hear there was a magician on the list. Josh was kind of goofy, reading this comedy stuff he'd written which featured a lot of words written backward. He did a trick with a dollar bill in which he transformed a normal bill into one which looked like it had been cut into quarters and reassembled with the sections scrambled. He then magically transformed it back to a regular dollar. Later Josh entertained with some trick at the bar and he and I got into a long conversation about magic. Glad to know there are still some magic, nerds, um afficionadoes, out there in the world. (www.joshrand.com)

Two performers from Amsterdam, were, I think, possibly, the standouts of the night.

Lena--played a jazzy song about why she hates weddings. Nice jazzy guitar work and vocals. A light swing feel. There's not all that much of that around Sidewalk so it was good to hear.

The she was followed by Suzanne who played a song called "85" about being that many years old. Accompanied by a friend on trumpet. Really stellar stuff with an ethereal feel... especially on the trumpet parts.

Jon Berger entertained with some of his classier works, like Gussie Got Fucked and The Magical Negro

That's about the point I wrapped it up--or at least the point I went to hang out in the bar.

Jugglers, Clowns, Debutantes, Antifolk and Me

Somehow, unexpectedly, my weekend became filled with performances by clowns, jugglers, magicians and performers from the extended Sidewalk scene.

John Lennon Tribute at Symphony Space
First off, on Friday at the last minute I decided to go to a John Lennon tribute at Symphony Space. It was one of those evenings with lots of different performers singing one or two songs. I'm a huge John Lennon fan, of course but the bill also had a number of interesting acts, including David Bromberg, who I love. The discovery to me was Sonya Kitchell who sang This Boy. A very soulful, moody interpretation with a great, lurching kind of guitar solo by ...I'll have to fill in his name later. There were other very talented people on the bill. Betty LaVette stood out, as did Joan Osborne who sang I Am the Walrus.

However, most relevant to this blog was the appearance of Nicole Atkins who sang "Woman is the Nigger of the World." Nicole was very active at Sidewalk when I started hanging out there in 2004 and I remember seeing her at the open mic. I think the only time I saw her solo might have been the evening she arrived 45 minutes late to her show and ended up playing only a couple of songs. Anyway I always enjoyed Nicole's performances at Sidewalk and thought/think she has a great voice, but I have been intrigued that of all the people from around that time, she emerged with a record contract on Columbia (and a resultant American Express TV ad).

I find it so curious how it happens that some performers on the scene cross into a position of recognition/celebrity. And it's also interesting to look at where the dividing line is between average Joe performer and star. Some of my friends have started to get some decent press but don't really earn much money from what they're doing. Are the people I hang out with celebrities because they get written up in Time Out New York or New York Press? I'd love to have a conversation with Regina Spektor sometime to see how she has dealt with all the issues that come with the type of accomplishment she's achieved. But maybe in some ways it's better to be a Jeff Lewis type artist. It seems that Jeff gets to play as much as he wants, has a certain amount of positive attention, but also can go to the grocery store and the bank without being hassled. (Mind you I don't know if this is how Jeff feels about it--just my interpretation.) In any event, I am glad for Nicole's success. She is talented, but I wonder about all the other talented people I see all the time and why some emerge and others don't.

In the meantime, Friday's show also featured juggler Chris Bliss, who was a sensation on YouTube with his juggling interpretation of part of Abby Road's side 2. It is a spectacular performance and it was thrilling to see (although he did drop a few times--while recovering nicely).

Chris was the first of the juggler/variety artists I saw over the weekend.

Debutante Hour's Variety Show
The next night was the Debutante Hour's Variety Show at the Ukranian National Home. The evening was a five or six hour extravaganza of acts, all playing as part of a benefit to raise money for The Debutante Hour's next recording. Among the artists on the bill were musical groups and solo artists like Kung Fu Crimewave, Old Hat, The Wowz, Phoebe Kreutz, Corn Mo, opera singers, Annie from Opera on Tap and Marti Newland (who sang a great gospel piece as well as a Mozart aria); and comedians Victor Varnado and Rachel Feinstein. Jonathan Vincent did a great job as m.c. with his somewhat bizarre intros and commentary, and he also performed a solo set as the last act of the evening. Oh yeah the bill also included a mini reprise of the Susan and Herb Show performed by me and Susan Hwang. We worked in a version of "Let it Snow," which featured a dancing chorus line of the gals from the Debutante Hour and also played a cover of Prince's Darling Nikki. And of course we featured a magic trick, which involved pulling ropes through a volunteer from the audience. Throughout the evening Mike Richter performed various circus skills, including plate spinning and unicycle riding. Mike and I also whipped together a brief little juggling act which we performed at one point.

The Debutantes seemed to have a good turnout. The performers alone helped fill up the house but there also seemed to be a solid contingency of regular audience. There was also a silent auction with bidding slips positioned on tables with old Eastern European telephones that Maria Sonevytsky had collected. It was a fun night all around, well organized and executed by the Debutante Hour.

Finally, on Sunday, my place of employment (a well-known source of knowledge at 42nd & 5th) had a big open house that featured a wide range of performers, including more magicians and clowns (athough I didn't see any jugglers). And, I ran into Anna Leuchtenberger, a performer who is involved in the scene...if a bit peripherally....but it least it gives symmetry to my weekend to point out she was there.

Tonight and Saturday

I am on the bill on two interesting shows this week.

The first is the Bushwick Book Club's year-end show, tonight at Goodbye Blue Monday.

As you undoubtedly know, each month the Bushwick Book Club shows are focused on songs inspired by a particular book. Tonight's show draws highlights from the whole year of performances.

I think I'm like most of the participants in the project who appreciate having an imposed deadline for writing a song. Sometimes you feel blocked or uninspired, but when that deadline rolls around somehow you manage to pull out some stuff. I know that I've always been surprised and pleased by what has emerged in response to the books I've read. I give Susan Hwang a lot of credit for starting and running the Book Club. A lot of cool things have come out of it, including many interesting songs.

Goodbye Blue Monday
1087 Broadway (JMZ to Myrtle or J to Kosciusko)
www.myspace.com/goodbyebluemondayinc
http://www.bushwickbookclub.com/images/BBC_fuckshow_final.jpg

On the bill tonight are:
Ben Krieger, Dave Novak, Dibs, Jonathan Vincent, Toby Goodshank, Phoebe Kreutz, Dan Costello, Laura Brenneman, Rachel Devlin, Joe Crow Ryan, Herb Scher, Susan Hwang, Corn Mo, Maria Sonevytsky, Natti Vogel and Sweet Soubrette

Then, on Saturday, I'll be playing The Debutante Hour's Variety Show Telethon Bash

I am really looking forward to this evening, which is is a fundraising event to support The Debutante Hour's next recording. Susan Hwang and I are performing a mini-reprise of The Susan and Herb Show and there will be many other great acts on the bill, performing everything from accordions to comedy to bluegrass to juggling to opera to unicycling to ukulele-ing to magic.

UKRAINIAN NATIONAL HOME
Saturday, December 5, 7 p.m.
140 2nd Ave. (at 9th St.)
$!0 at the door
The performers: Corn Mo, The Wowz, Phoebe Kreutz, Sweet Soubrette, Rachel Feinstein, Herb Scher, Michael Richter, Victor Varnado, Annie from Opera on Tap, The Orange Teardrops (Amy Kohn and Finni Galdialo), Marti Newland, Kung Fu Crimewave, Old Hat, Grits and Harmony, Jonathan Vincent

Monday Night Open Mic, November 30, 2009

I will have to admit that I was a prettty unfocused in my attention to the music last night. I did keep poking my head in the back room and caught bits of performances by Ben K, Jordan Levinson, Brian Speaker, Charles Mansfield, Aaron Invisible, and some guy named Lach, However, I was mostly roaming and chatting with folks before taking off kind of early.

I hung out a bit with Lach and Brian as they got into their Scrabble game out front. Folks like Pablo Das and Jim Flynn gathered round as did Rebecca Seatle and Jon Berger. Just as I was heading out I got into an interesting conversation downstairs with Jason Trachtenberg. At last Monday's Open Mic Jason was playing some tricked-out piano parts and he mentioned something from the stage about how he felt he was channeling Peter Dizozza. I really enjoyed the Dizozza reference, especially since I figured there were only a few people around who would get it considering Peter hasn't been hanging out on the scene much lately. In any event, when I mentioned this to Jason we got into an interesting conversation about playing piano and about exactly how Jason got involved with and learned music as a kid.

Thinking about Peter Dizozza also got me nostalgic for the old "What the Fuck" game show segments that Lach used to do (which I mentioned to Lach last night). That used to be one of my favorite parts of the evening and I loved it when Peter would co-host at the piano. I took the trivia questions seriously and always tried hard to get to be one of the contestants. I think I only won a prize once though, which was a bag of drum tools and parts. Later on, when Peter wasn't around, Lach would ask me to co-host, but I was never as good as Peter and also I always kind of wished that I could still be trying to answer the questions.

Monday Night Open Mic, November 22, 2009

Brian Speaker hosted last night. I got there late, so unfortunately I didn't get to see Brian's monologue/intro, although I heard he was talking a lot about his kid at home (regardless of the fact he doesn't have one).

Some nights are a random experience in time travel....it was nice to see Patsy Grace and Timothy Dark at the open mic last night. Patsy was a little before my time--it was great to get a sense of her performing style--loved her voice. I got to know Timothy Dark a while back when we did a long photo session in Central Park, resulting in one of my favorite shots. He worked Patsy into his song "Who Am I? which sounded great.

More about last night later.

Papacookie, November 12, and Brooklyn Tea Party, November 21

Over the last couple weeks I attended two shows held in people's homes. One was at Papacookie, Jonathan Vincent's amazing place on the Upper West Side, and the other was last night at Brooklyn Tea Party. The concept of home shows was somewhat new to me until relatively recently, but I find the blending of a performance with the hospitality of a party to be enormously satisfying. There's something so intimate and human-scaled about these experiences, and it is always nice to be in a situation where friends are performing for friends.

Papacookie, November 12, 2009

Have you ever unexpectedly had the experience of entering an unusual world of someone else's creation? For example, one time I met the owner of a huge magic/costume/novelty/party shop in Champaign, Illinois, who took me through every nook and cranny of his sprawling store, showing off all the crazy merchandise he had as well as decor items like a 15-foot King-King that moved and roared and a life-sized character from the Alien movie. For that time I was transported into a universe created by the sheer idiosyncrasy of this proprietor.

Similarly transporting was the experience I had November 12 at Jonathan Vincent's massive apartment, where Jonathan's grandparents had lived since the 1950s. The apartment seems to have been left exactly as it was when they were there, with all the dense layers of a lifetime in evidence. There are walls of books, art works by friends and family, a peg board of old kitchen utensils, furniture, knick-knacks, papers, plus, believe it or not, a pet turtle that the family has had for about 50 years. On top of that, Jonathan's grandfather, Theodor Upmann, was an opera star, and the apartment was filled with memorabilia from his career.

The performances started with a set by The Debutante Hour, who comprise Susan Hwang, Mia Pixley, and Maria Sonevytsky. They mostly play original songs by Susan and Maria, with a cover or two thrown in. Susan and Maria also alternate on accordion, while Mia plays cello. The Debutante Hour grow more polished with each show and I love their energy, their songwriting, and particularly their harmonizing. Next up was Jonathan who played a number of songs at the piano, which he said were inspired by or had to do with the apartment we were in. Jonathan writes some intense, complex music, some of which is pretty amazing. He’s much more of a real composer than many of the folks on the scene. His stuff is highly original and you might enjoy checking out his myspace page. Valerie Kuehn played two tunes, accompanying herself on cello. They were sort of abstract in nature, one of which she mentioned she’d finished writing earlier in the day. Sean McArdle finished up. Sean was on tour from San Francisco and played some folky tunes with a mellow vibe, accompanying himself on guitar.

I’m looking forward to more adventures at the Papacookie Pad. It is a cool place.

Brooklyn Tea Party, November 21, 2009

Emily Einhorn is the type of songwriter and performer whose stuff grows on you the more you listen. For example, I love this song of hers called The Office, but I only realized for the first time last night that she is singing from the perspective of a guy. At first it seems as if her songs are in her own voice, but many if not all of them are really written for very specific characters. The songs are unusual and have a dark edge to them. I was impressed again by her use of dynamics. She often starts quietly and builds the songs to dramatic moments. You should definitely check Emily out. She is one of the more original songwriters on the scene at the moment.

Nathan Moomaw was coming through on tour, although evidently he had been around on the scene some years ago. Nathan played solo, laying down percussion tracks with a loop machine and using other effects to get a kind of spacey feel to his songs.

Seems as if Dan Costello has written quite a number of new songs since I saw him last. He has also been working on a play and read a scene from it about an interaction between a character based on Dan and an alluring fan he meets on the road. He followed that up with a song based on a similar concept of temptations on the road. Dan and Rachel Devlin played a couple lovely songs together, both of which I remember as having a kind of theatre-y feel to them. Dan also did his Pot Song and told a story of how a random character in a Swiss bar ended up contributing the perfect line to a spoken break in the song. Dan ended up by rocking out with his band on a couple tunes including Tape Recorder.

Last night Ching Chong Song seemed to focus more on a range of slower songs, some of which included quite lovely instrumental passages. There was also some interesting dancing at hand from two cross-dressed members of their troupe who interpreted the music with a range of intimate maneuvers at the foot of the stage.

Crazy and the Brains finished off the night (wrapping things up around 2 a.m.). Crazy and the Brains, kind of snuck up around me as they have become more of a factor on the current scene. Chris (?), who almost always wears what I think of as a Russian Commisar hat, plays acoustic guitar and sings, and his partner, whose name I don't know, plays xylophone and also sings. The songs have more than a little influence of English punk groups like the Sex Pistols.

Sidewalk Cafe, Saturday, November 7

It was a fun night all around last night. Maybe I am just projecting the good time I had with our set onto everyone else, but it seemed as if all the performers were really enjoying themselves.

Hard for me to believe, but I think this is the first show I've performed since August. This is the type of show I've been wanting to do for a long time. Susan and I played a mix of standards like All of Me and Honeysuckle Rose with relatively more recent songs like Darling Nikki by Prince and Don't Forget Me, a song I love by Harry Nilsson. Aside from the song selection there was also a kind of throwback to variety shows and male/female duos like Sonny and Cher and Steve and Edye. We also worked out this goofy magic trick which we performed in the middle of the show. I got to play the piano a lot, which was great for me, but I definitely was moving into some new territory there so it left me a bit wobbly occasionally. However that will get better with time, and in general I was very happy with the way The Susan and Herb Show turned out.

I was really glad to see Dave Cuomo who performs with his (I think) girlfriend Emma Berkey as Chicken Little. I didn't realize they'd moved to Nashville a year ago or something like that. They're on tour now and made a triumphal homecoming to Sidewalk. Dave plays acoustic and Emma plays accordion and they both sing. Their songs have a rootsy/folky/old timey feel and in particular they are very solid on the harmonizing. I liked the set a lot.

Jon Berger performed with his guitarist Sanjay. He mostly sang his material, and while I wouldn't call Jon's voice exactly mellifluous, he is unrestrained and commmitted and I enjoyed his set. Jon did some of his classics like "27 times I asked you to go out with me" and the one about "Wendy" or is it about Wendys? Sanjay sang some too.

Betsy Cohen kept asking the audience for input on a script she's writing in which a woman is invited to join a couple that makes their own videos of a certain explicit nature. So throughout the set people were throwing out various ideas of activities in which the three could participate. Betsy looked lovely in an outfit which I think featured a long red cape, or something to that effect.

Phoebe Kreutz was looking to delve into some of her less frequently played material because so many of the folks there were friends who had heard her play frequently. Anyway, I was reminded how much I like that song of hers about the Carnival Man. She had Casey on stage for a cover of a song by Chris Maher, and other special guests joined her as well, including Susan Hwang on accordion and Matt, playing trumpet on a couple songs, including the one about Gary the new guy at Taco Bell.

Old Hat finished off the night. I walked back into the room as they had just got underway with the set and they were leading some strange calisthenics in which almost everyone in the audience participated. They played songs like "Spoiler Alert" and "I didn't hear anything after the fucking morphine." Also they had a new one about Running Man or something like that. Old Hat is one of the more interesting and original groups on the scene and I would like to hear them more often. Preston Spurlock, Dibs, Deenah Vollmer, and a drummer I didn't know, made up the group last night.

The Susan and Herb Show, November 7, 9 p.m.

Susan Hwang and I are hard at work on The Susan and Herb Show, which we're performing Saturday, November 7 at Sidewalk at 9 p.m. I am so glad that I'm getting to do this show. It is the kind of thing I've been wanting to do for a long time. Susan and I first played together on a duet at the Bushwick Book Club, her literary songwriting society and then she made some guest appearances at shows I did at Sidewalk and the OJ All Day Festival. We discovered that we like lots of the same kinds of music and so an act was born. We're thick in the middle of our rehearsals now. Hope you'll come out for what is sure to be a magical evening of songs, daredevilry, and surprises.

Monday Night Open Mic, October 19, 2009

OK--I'm finally getting around to posting something from last week. I stopped by the Open Mic just briefly. I was already running somewhat late from the Apple Store where I am taking this cool, free class using Aperture, their souped-up software for photographers. Now I know the information about where I was before the Open Mic is not too relevant, except to say that it kept me running late to get to Sidewalk.

When I arrived, a Japanese fellow named So (?) came on and played a song called "Incantation for Nature Progress" I'm not sure if I got the title exactly right, but the song was definitely an incantation for nature.

Jenna Friedman performed some comedy. I've seen her at Sidewalk a few times and she has some fairly funny stuff, although I wonder in general why the comics at Sidewalk always seem kind of all over the place. Maybe it's just that in general comedy is really hard. The couple times I've tried it the stuff that I thought was uproarious went over like lead. But anyway, I did like Jenna's joke about why the Germans don't get Seinfeld.

Pete Scalzetti pulled out some of his piano pyrotechnics. He played standing up, which he said was inspried by seeing Jason Trachtenberg.

"Rob" played. Rob are you really Rob? Rob is a guy I've chatted with but never got to see play until the other night. Nice song, hope to hear more.

Kid Lucky did some cool beat boxing--the first song was a piece that had the lyrics "Hippy Girl Come Fly with Me.' Then he did some freestyle stuff. Kid Lucky blends beat boxing with singing/rapping. I am always a little dubious about beat boxers, but I got to admit Kid L. has some skills.

Terran (?) got on stage and did some loop machine singing. She seemed a little thrown off/discombobulated, but had a good attitude, saying she was going to keep coming back and putting her stuff out there. I think that's about the right way to think of it. To not be so sensitive about how stuff goes over, but just to keep doing it and get better all the time and use it as a platform for whatever you're doing/working on.

Oh, yeah. Slithor, the puppet reptile, kept things interesting between sets.

I chatted a bit with Maya Caballero and Bernard and then took off kind of early.

I know this report is ultra brief.. but hey it's a little taste of what happened. More next time.

Sidewalk Cafe, Saturday, October 17

A nice night organized by Barry Bliss, which included performances by Barry, Major Matt USA, Toby Goodshank and Bryan Copeland, who had all just returned from touring together, plus Purple Organ and Joe Crow Ryan.

Bryan Copeland played acoustic bass throughout the night including in the evening's opening set which featured his band Bryan and the Aardvarks. The group featured, in addition to Bryan, drums, vibraphone, and keyboard. It was a kind of keyboard oriented jazz set, with Bryan as leader.

Matt, Barry, Toby, and Brian in various combinations accompanied each other during their individual sets throughout the evening. It was cool to see that while on tour they'd melded into, if not an official "group" at least a comfortable corps of collaborators.

For example, I've heard Matt play Tripping Yourself many times, but it was cool to end it with a bass solo. Sounded really great.

I always love hearing Purple Organ. Doug's set was different in tone than the ones I'd heard in the past. Much less or almost none of the surface-level sexuality that has characterized the sets I've seen of his. Nan commented that the set was "romantic" which I think it was. He called up Toby, Angel, and Daoud to sing this song that had the beautiful and catchy refrain: "no stick, no cage, no electric sock can stop love. Doug's voice is beautiful and his whole one-man band type set up deal is amazing. I still don't understand how he plays all that stuff at once.

Toby Goodshank peformed with a She-Devil poster hung on the curtain behind him. He also had Bryan, Barry and Matt guest on a couple songs. Bryan used his bow on this plaintive song "It's Amazing, It's Amazing--I have you now." It turned out beautifully.

Barry did a great set, switching off from piano to guitar. There were some emotional high points where I thought he was totally consumed by the music and expressing it straight from his soul. There was one spot where he did a bit of whistling too, something I've been wanting to integrate into my performances. Barry also made an announcement about certain very personal nocturnal occurrences that afflicted him while on tour. Thanks for sharing Barry.

By the time Barry played it was quite late and I was already drooping before Joe Crow came on and I still had the long schlep home ahead of me. I always seem to miss out on Joe Crow's sets. Hope he plays an earlier slot next time.

Gosh

I keep having to miss Monday nights. Maybe it's not bad to take a break for a while, but I still miss hanging out. Anyone got any wonderful stories of what's been going on at the Open Mic the last few weeks? Free free to post comments or contact me directly if you want to post something here.

Herb

Tuesday, October 6, 2009, Bushwick Book Club

Last night the Bushwick Book Club performed songs inspired by the novel Confederacy of Dunces. I loved the book which is a hilarious and rich tale set in New Orleans. The main character, Ignatius Reilly, is one of the more unusual and extreme characters I've encountered in a novel.

Anyway, I have a mild infatuation with New Orleans and was excited about writing a song based on the book. The thing about these Book Club assignments is that the deadline definitely pushes you to get the song done. Yet sometimes you also wish you had a bit more time to refine what you've written and also to practice. I liked the direction of my song yet felt it had further to go. Ignatius is basically a misanthrope, yet my song focused on how there are qualities of him in just about everyone and how he should be celebrated rather than hated.

Other performers on the bill included Preston Spurlock, Maria Sonevytsky, and our hostess, Susan Hwang (of course) who wrote a musical theatre number about the strip club act that is a scene in the book. Also: Matthew Varvil, Laura Brenneman, Ben Berlin, and Isaac Gillespie who performed remotely by telephone.

As I suggested in regard to my own song, some of the pieces last night seemed as if they still were in a stage of development, yet it was interesting to hear all the different takes on the book.

The Tuesday Teacup open mic followed, as it does each Tuesday, hosted by Joe Crow Ryan. For a low-key open mic experience, the Tuesday Teacup is someplace to think about. Plus, they have a piano!

Next month is The Origin of the Species.

Up until now I haven't run any photos in this blog, which may seem strange, considering that photography is one of my main pastimes. However I always thought of this as a kind of quick and dirty scratchboard to get down initial impressions of performances so there is a record for the future of what's going on in the Sidewalk Community. However, recently I've become even more interested in photography and so thought this blog could evolve some, and in part be a showcase for some of the pictures I've taken. So, I'll probably rely more on images, at least in cases where they relate to the general topic of the blog. I also might write more about photographic topics in general, but again I'll try to make sure that at least in some sense they relate to the Sidewalk-ish community.

So, here are a few more photos from the Library event that I wrote about in a previous post. They feature the Debutante Hour, Corn Mo, and Preston Spurlock. Unfortunately, even though Phoebe Kreutz also performed in that show, my camera was acting wacky and I didn't get any decent pictures of her. (I see I'm going to have to fool around with how you get a reasonable layout using photos--but for now they seem to be clumped up in the first paragraph.)

By the way, about the Debutatne Hour, I headed out to hear them last night down at Banjo Jim's. Despite the sort of low-key energy in the audience, I thought they sounded great. They are very polished on their harmonies which sound gawgeous, particularly when all three members are singing. The addition of Mia on cello really helps round out the sound. And their songs are really good. Susan Hwang and Maria Sonevytsky are the other two members. Ben Krieger made a random appearance at Banjo Jims, popping in while on the way to another show. I also stopped by Sidewalk for a minute to get just a whiff of Purple Organ (that is not meant as some sort of weird innuendo). I'm a big fan. I wish I could have stayed....

Won't be able to make it to the Open Mic tonight. Some sort of atonement is going on today among members of my faith. Will see you next time.

Monday Night Open Mic, September 21, 2009

Hello,

I was away from the Open Mic last week because I had my own thing going on at The New York Public Library where I am gainfully employed. Our pals from The Bushwick Book Club appeared at the Mid-Manhattan Library for the kick-off of new expanded library hours. I was quite happy to merge my library and songwriting worlds and to have some of my music friends around while I was on the clock! Susan Hwang, as you probably know, is the proprietoress of the Bushwick Book Club and she appeared with her group the Debutante Hour (which sounds great with three gals together harmonizing, playing cello, accordion, drums, etc. Also they wore bathing suits). The pic at right shows two of the three members of the Debutante Hour Phoebe Kreutz, Preston Spurlock, and Corn Mo also appeared and each gave touching performances. It was fun. If you are a library user, take note that the Mid-Manhattan Library is now open till 11 pm. on certain nights and many other libraries have also expanded their hours.

Ok, on to this past Monday. I was feeling a bit disconnected for some reason. Most of my long time friends from Sidewalk are not there that often any more. It's understood that Sidewalk has always been and always will be an ever-changing scene--and even Monday I met and had nice conversations with several folks who seemed like they were in the process of becoming regulars. But it's weird to look out over a room I've been in so often where so few faces are familiar. In the back of my mind I'm thinking it might be time to take a little break from Ye Olde Song Shoppe. Knowing me, I probably won't, at least not entirely, but it's on my mind. A little space might do me good.

Yikes, ok...the open mic...

The guy that really stood out for me was Albert Goold a talented pianist who played a couple weird but entrancing songs. Looking forward to hearing more of his stuff.

Jim Flynn, who I'm fairly sure was on the scene for a while considerably before my time, popped up after having been pretty sparse lately. He did a rappin song about the Lower East Side with a guy making random trumpet noises and also a song where he traded off with Jon Berger on spoken word (which worked pretty well).

A guy who performed as Clem's Pajamas said that he wasn't a very good guitar player and asked to keep the guitar low, but he proved himself wrong. He sang "I have 23 dollars and 42 cents and I plan on spending every cent on you." It was a lovely song (and he played guitar damn well).

The Fools--I love the line: "even fools know, in spite of trying you can't grow a tree by screaming at seeds." The Fools are serene. Go see them.

The Brothes Frank--only one brother was on hand. He played an electric through a small miked amp which sounded kind of cool. I hadn't heard of the sun test before--I guess this is a new feature of the Open Mic where acts get to prove their toughness by staring into the sunny lights. Not sure I get the overall entertainment value, but hey, it's all in good fun, right?

Crazy and the Brains played a new song. Dan Mo had some nice gentle numbers. Rick Sorkin of the Venn Diagrams played solo. Jordan Levinson sang about "The Artist and the Modern Man," and Prewar Yardsale sang a vibey song with a Lou Reed kind of drone that drew on imagery from 9-11 (Mike played without Dina, his usual partner on bucket drums).

Lach was on hand wih Everyone's Therapist and I Love America, which turned into a robust sing along (I keep trying to practice harmony vocals during these sing a longs and Lach gave me a little bit of a perplexed look as I belted along at one point). Emily Einhorn sang an interesting song by her brother, and one of her own called For Erin. Jason Trachenberg played a song he said he wrote in the era of "alt-country" called (I think) "You're a Real Fast Talker" and his daughter Rachel played a new song (I think) inspired by candy. She has a new band name--something like Pinky Swear...hey what happened to the Oh My God Girls?

That was it for me......till next time. Oh Yeah. Check out the Bushwick Book Club on October 6. We are playing songs inspired by Confederacy of Dunces which I have loved reading. Should be a great night.