Here’s a homespun video of one of his simple, profound, moving, lyrical songs. This concert will touch you deeply. Get Tickets Here.
Author: Vickie & Peter
Vickie grew up in Iowa. Lived in Silicon Valley & NYC. Peter has lived all over (NJ, NY, CH, IN, CA, MA, etc.) We chose to live and raise our family in Gloucester. Owners of gimmesound.com & Van Ness Group. Producers of gimmeLIVE concerts.
April Fools Wine Tasting @ The Cave on Main St
No joke. Seasonal wine & beer licenses kick in April 1 (MON).
That means The Cave, at 44 Main Street, can sell wine again and they’re opening up at 4pm (usually closed Mondays) to host a wine tasting from 4-6pm.
They’ll have some new Italian wines at very affordable prices. Plus they always have cheeses and other goodies to taste with the wines. (You can taste any cheese before you buy it). This has become one of our favorite new spots in town. When I go in, I always let other people go ahead of me — not because I’m polite, but because I want to see what they’re getting — and when they get a taste, I pipe up, “Can I have a taste too?” I’ve discovered over a dozen new delights this way.
Here’s a video I shot about 3 weeks after The Cave opened last Summer of Vickie tasting some of their wine and cheese.
Since then I’ve learned how to pronounce the name of the wine in the video. It sounds like “Sarah Harris”. I still don’t speak Portuguese, but Laura says that’s close enough for her to recognize which wine I’m talking about.
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Jimmy T on TV again starting tomorrow (FRIDAY)
Jimmy T. is this week’s guest on Cape Ann Profiles on Cape Ann TV.
Host Rich Sagall interviews Jimmy T. about his experience on “Survivor” in this clip from Cape Ann Profiles that airs this week and next week on Cape Ann TV Channel 12. Cape Ann Profiles airs on Fridays at 10:30am & 7pm and on Sundays at 2pm.
Get ready for Jimmy T’s TV reprise tomorrow by checking out all the excellent live music tonight starting at 7 with Giuseppe’s Singer Songwriter Shuffle. See full live music lineup here.
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What are your kids doing this April Vacation?
For the fourth year, Gloucester’s Rick Doucette, YMCA Teen & Camping Services director, is taking teens and chaperons from North Shore YMCAs to New Orleans during April Vacation to help people rebuild the City and even the Bayou — they plant trees as well as repair homes.
This trip works wonders on many levels: local teens are immersed in New Orleans culture; they feel the joy of having a profoundly positive impact on other people’s lives; they experience first-hand how working together builds a stronger community.
Most kids goof off during April vacation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a firm believer in giving kids free-time to explore the world and become themselves. But something vital touches me when I hear that 47 local teens are going to donate their vacation time to work hard on a construction site or in a swamp so that people 1500 miles away can have a better life.
That’s one reason why Vickie and I are producing a concert next Saturday, April 6, featuring New Orleans natives Henri Smith & Charles Neville to help raise money for this trip. Last year, we sold out Minglewood Tavern on Mardi Gras, so we decided to take it to another level this year and host it at the historic Larcom Theatre in Beverly (more about that here).
You can still get tickets and there are even a few VIP packages left. Get on-line tickets here or go to Gloucester Music.
Here’s a list of the adventurous teens who are going on the trip and the YMCA they belong to. Let’s honor them by helping to raise money so their parents don’t have to pay for their kids to work during April Vacation.
| BEVERLY YMCA | LYNCH VAN OTERLOO YMCA |
| Meghan Cafferty | Emma Knittle |
| Elizabeth Coughlin | Renee Pavolich |
| Anna Gibson | Emily Peugh |
| Nicholas Jalbert | Adam Rodgers |
| Jonathan Powers | |
| Rebecca Salah | SALEM YMCA |
| Graeme Marcoux | |
| CAPE ANN YMCA | Catherine Marcoux |
| Michael Collins | Hannah Morin |
| Frederick Doucette Jr | Jakob Murtaugh |
| Christian O’Donnell | Will Parr |
| Kevin Redmond | Morgan Rogers |
| Conor Williamson | Aiden Scrimgeour |
| Zachary White | Shannon Tucker |
| Tyler Bailey-Jerome | Elektra Tzannus Newman |
| Molly White | Madeline Wiryo |
| Leia Sturtevant | Brenna Burke |
| Nicole Klink Marin | Ian Carter |
| Nicole Williamson | Nathaniel Clark |
| Shannon Gallagher | Catherine Coleman |
| John Brisson | Audrey Delgado |
| Zeke Pasquarelli | Chase Duffin |
| Jared Marshall | Jaclyn Jermym |
| Austin Sousa | Cole Jermym |
| Steven Verga | Abby Sherwood |
| Zoe Wong |
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TICKET UPDATE: Big Band Sold Out, Few left for Chelsea Berry, David Maxwell, Brendan James, Henri Smith & Charles Neville, Livingston Taylor
The season is heating up and you just can’t wait until the last minute to get tickets any more. Here’s the scoop.
Cape Ann Big Band’s Friday concert @ Shalin Liu is already sold out, but you can still get tickets to see Blues piano man David Maxwell next Saturday and also Livingston Taylor on 4/13.
There are also a few tickets left for two excellent Crowell Chapel shows this week: Chelsea Berry and Dawn Mitchele tomorrow (WED) and Brendan James with Brian Jarvis, Charlee Bianchini & David Brown on Saturday.
Tickets and a limited number VIP Packages are still available for Henri Smith featuring Charles Neville – next Saturday’s benefit for the fourth Y Teens Rebuild New Orleans trip.
Check the complete live music schedule for all live music on Cape Ann.
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Elephants on the Beach? Check out this 1950s photo and help restore Cressy Beach on Tuesday, April 2 @ City Hall
Bob Ryan, President and General Manager of CATOC (Cape Ann Transportation Operating Company) has applied to the Community Preservation Committee for funding to restore Cressy Beach to the way it was when this photo was taken. As you can see by this photo, Cressy Beach was once a sandy beach, on which parents sunbathed while their children chased elephants. Bob says it can be a sandy beach again and he’s done his homework. In a nutshell, here’s what he says about the project,
The project involves the Gloucester Conservation Commission, Mass DEP, the Army Corps of Engineers and Endangered Wildlife and Species Agency. In addition, the “Beach Nourishment” project includes site preparation, topographical survey, engineering plans and bringing in 3,500 tons of sand to cover the beach above the “mean high water area.”
Letters of support are pouring in for this project, including one from Janeil C. Rey, PhD, who also sent this photo. So if you’d like to see Cressy Beach full of sun-bathers, come to City Hall next Tuesday, April 2 and support this project.
PLEASE NOTE: There’s no guarantee you’ll be able to chase elephants into the water once the beach is restored.
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New TV Show on Good Harbor Beach Erosion Premieres Tonight
Gloucester’s Bob Quinn, who has been going to Good Harbor for the past 80 years, tours the dunes of Good Harbor Beach and comments on the poundin’ it took this winter.
Here is a clip from the half –hour show that airs all week on Cape Ann TV Channel 12.
Show airs: Monday (tonight) at 6:30 p.m.; Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.; Wednesday at 9:30 p.m.; Thursday at 8:30 p.m.; Friday at 12:30 p.m. and Saturday at 5:00 p.m. See Channel Listings for more Cape Ann TV Shows.
Even though there’s still snow on the ground, it’s not too early to be thinking about swimming at Good Harbor. So, to get you in the mood, here’s a very up-beat song Allen Estes wrote last Summer and performed on Local Music Seen.
Speaking of Allen, he’s appearing at Giuseppe’s this Thursday for the second week of the Singer Songwriter Shuffle along with his son Dylan and other local favorites Inge Berge, Steve Caraway, Marina Evans, Jon Waterman and Joe Wilkins.
But don’t wait until Thursday. Lots of live music on Cape Ann all week long. See here!
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First Spring weekend and over 2 dozen live shows on Cape Ann ~ Clickity Clack!
You know the season is upon us when there are 26 live shows over the weekend and most of the summer-only venues aren’t even open yet. (If you’re a summer business, stop what ever you’re doing, take Paul & RD’s advice and let him know when you open: see here).
And just in case you’ve missed my incessant plugs for taking kids to live music, here we go again … shows start as early as 7pm tonight and tomorrow. Then on Sunday it’s 8 different start-times in 8 1/2 hours: 11am, 2pm, 3, 5, 5:30, 6, 7 and 7:30. See the complete weekend live music schedule here.
One of this weekend’s shows features Noise publisher/editor T Max, who’s got a new CD out soon. And on that CD, is a new song Clickity Clack, which was inspired by a spontaneous burst of creativity from over a year ago, when we filmed his walk through Gloucester’s music scene (see the video series here). Now he’s turned it into a clever romantic tragedy with an edge (see lyrics and chords here).
Here’s the original spontaneous creative burst from February 2012
Here’s the new version a year later performed by T Max with Bird Mancini
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More Gloucester Blues Festival Lineup ~ Tickets go on sale April 10
This just in from Bob Hastings, co-producer of the Gloucester Blues Festival. Excellent lineup for August 10. And this isn’t even everybody. There will be at least one more performer, so stay tuned. Tickets will be available April 10 on the Blues Fest website.
B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, Tommy Castro headlines:
Ana Popovic – how does she play in that dress?
Soulful Johnny Rawls
Biscuit Miller – with a name like Biscuit, you gotta be funky
Anthony Gomes – Smokin! You saw him yesterday. Here he is with Ana Popovic – again I ask, how does she play in that dress?
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Free Chamber Music Concert at Shalin Liu on Saturday
Some of the best young musicians in the state will perform for FREE as part of the Northeast Massachusetts Youth Orchestras (NMYO) Honors Chamber Ensemble Concert this Saturday, 3/23 at Shalin Liu.
Don’t miss this FREE opportunity to hear top young artists perform Chamber music in a venue acoustically tuned to that kind of music. Plus you can expose your kids to the music you love!
Check out the press release from Laura Heinrichs below the video.
NMYO’s Honors Concert
Saturday, March 23, 2013 at 7:00pm
Shalin Liu Performance Center,
37 Main Street, Rockport, MA
Free Admission
DANVERS, MA – 20 March 2013 – The Northeast Massachusetts Youth Orchestras will be presenting their Honors Chamber Ensemble Concert on Saturday, March 23rd, 7:00pm, at the Shalin Liu Performance Center, 37 Main Street, Rockport, MA.
“Our Honors Chamber Concert features NMYO’s top student musicians,” says Trudy Larson, NMYO’s string and chamber music director, “chosen because they demonstrate a high level of skill and musicianship.” This special concert will include music from some of the great masters of the chamber music genre such as Beethoven and Mozart in addition to more contemporary composers.
NMYO’s Honors Concert will feature around 30 musicians from all over northeast Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire playing in small chamber ensembles as well as selected soloists.
This concert is free and open to the public and appeals to all ages. The evening’s musical selections will last approximately an hour and a reception will follow the performance.
This concert is sponsored, in part, by the Geoffrey H. Richon Company, with additional grants from the Gloucester and Rockport Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
For more information on NMYO and their performances and opportunities for young musicians, please visit the website or contact NMYO at info@nmyo.org or (978) 309-9833.
About Northeast Massachusetts Youth Orchestras
The mission of the Northeast Massachusetts Youth Orchestras (NMYO) is to provide young musicians with exceptional ensemble training and opportunities for growth through musical performance and community service. Led by Music Director Gerald J. Dolan Jr., with an accomplished team of music professionals, NMYO creates community connections and collaborations for its young players. NMYO’s musicians come from over 40 towns and participate in one of eight ensembles offered by the program. The regular rehearsal and concert schedule is supplemented with master classes, enrichment days, chamber music coaching, community service outreach concerts to underserved populations, and a composer in residence program.
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First Blues Fest Performer Announced — and he’s HOT!
Bob Hastings sent me an email last night announcing the first act to be booked for this year’s Gloucester Blues Festival. His name is Anthony Gomes and he’s a smokin’ guitar player as you can see by the video below.
Here’s the thing: He’s not even the headliner … Whew! This will be a spectacular Blues Festival.
You can’t get tickets yet, but you can save the date, which is August 10 at Stage Fort Park. Remember, you heard it here on GMG first and you can trust GMG to let you know the minute tickets go on sale. In case you’re one of the unfortunates who missed last year’s Blues Fest, see some videos here.
No, you don’t want to miss this year, do you?
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Dan King with Brown, Mattacks & Ginandes @ Jalapenos tonight
Just got the word from DB that Dan King will be joining the boys at Jalapenos tonight before he flies back to the west coast. Here’s a nice video, albeit a bit shaky, shot by Ned Nugent, of the boys at Jalapenos last May — one of my favorite Dan King songs.
More KBMG live videos here.
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Larry Coryell Power Trio will knock your socks off on Friday
If you saw jazz guitar master Larry Coryell back in November 2010 when he played a benefit for seARTS, you already know what I’m talking about. At the risk of dating myself (this is Peter, not Vickie) I was mesmerized when I saw him on tour with Gary Burton back in the late sixties/early 70s (I was in high school).
Larry Coryell is a master, plain and simple. And you’ve got a chance to see him with his Power Trio (Larry Coryell on guitar, Larry Gray on bass & Paul Wertico on drums) this Friday at Shalin Liu (get tickets here). You might think of jazz guitar as beautiful, lyrical and highly improvisational, if a little on the quiet side. Here’s a video of Larry’s Power Trio showing off Paul Wertico on drums — spectacular! Anything but quiet.
Here’s what it says on the Rockport Music website:
Known as the pioneer guitarist merging jazz, rock, free-form improvisations, and Eastern influences, Larry Coryell brings his eclectic style back to the Shalin Liu Performance Center this March. Described by critic Whitney Balliett as “the most innovative and original guitarist since Charlie Christian,” Coryell’s career spans four decades, over 60 albums (dozens more as a sideman), and performances with some of music’s heavy-weights like Eric Clapton, John Scofield, Elvin Jones, and Chick Corea, to name a few. Also a consummate composer, he tells Rockport Music, “I write music because I can’t help it. I think perhaps I want to complement all the great compositions already out there…Wayne Shorter and Sonny Rollins come to mind, and of course, Monk!” Coryell’s personal philosophy of music has kept his playing fresh and exciting, and makes each of his personal appearances a special event.
“…Coryell played poetically, switching between unhurried, unmetered passages and a subtly swaying backbeat. Before long, however, the guitarist was throwing off fleet runs and venturing far afield harmonically, onceagain swept up in the exuberance of the moment.” – Chicago Tribune
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Gloucester Friends Represent at Saint Joseph’s Celebration in Valencia Spain known as Las Fallas Festival
Our friends Tom & Lorna are in Valencia and shared these photos and the video. The City of Valencia is given over to a carnival of bonfires, fiesta, fireworks and a healthy dose of satire known as Las Fallas, the fires.
Displayed on every corner all over the city are colourful ninots, giant papier-mâché figures often 20 feet tall or even more that have been paraded through the streets and then placed in fantasy groups to tower over excited spectators. Each one in some way satirises a political figure, or a soap star, or more exotic creatures from the movies, TV, sports idols, or simply imagination. Some of them are grotesque – others playful and charming – all are larger than life and up for public scrutiny.
Every day at 2pm firecrackers rip through the Plaza del Ayuntamiento in an noisy event called la Mascletá. This concert of gunpowder is very popular and involves different neighbourhood groups competing for the most impressive volley, ending with theterremoto, (literally means “earthquake”) as hundreds of masclets exploting simultaneously. While this may not be for the frail or faint-fainthearted, you understand how hearted, the Valencians got their valiant name.
Another important event is the Ofrenda de Flores a la Virgen de los Desamparados, a beautiful ceremony every March 17 and 18, that honours Valencia’s patron Virgin. Thousands of Falleras andFalleros arrive to the city from every corner of the Comunitat (Valencia State) and take the streets wearing traditional costumes and dancing to their neighbourhood or village bands as they wend their way to the Plaza de la Virgen to offer bouquets to the giant image of the Virgin. You can also check out this video, image this on main street!!
Do you think our Block Parties could be like this?
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We’re Loco for Willie over the next 2 weeks with 50 Years of Rock n Roll History
You may know that award-winning local filmmaker Henry Ferrini shot Willie “Loco” Alexander’s 70th birthday bash at Somerville’s Davis Square Theater back in January. Well now he’s edited all that footage down to a one-hour show that will air on Cape Ann TV next week on Tuesday, March 26 at 9pm and Friday, March 30 at 9pm. And, at Henry’s request, after his special, Cape Ann TV will air the Local Music Seen with Allen Estes show with Willie as guest. Needless to say Allen, Vickie and I we are honored at Vincent’s request. To get you psyched for the next week’s special Ferrini cablecast, we’re airing Willie’s Local Music Seen show this week Wednesday at 6:30pm, Friday at 1:30pm and Sunday at 6pm.
Check out Henry’s official press release, below, with details on all the famous people who attended from Governor Patrick to Peter Wolf to locals Dave Sag, the Razdan’s and John Hardy (of Alexandra’s bread).
50 Years of Rock and Roll History
On January 12, 2013 at the Davis Square Theater in Somerville, Gloucester resident, Willie “Loco” Alexander celebrated his 70th birthday. Unbeknownst to the “god-father of punk,” his wife Ann Rearick had put together a small army of musicians to help Willie celebrate his special day. The theater was filled with 17 to 70 year old rockers from Cape Ann to London all pumped to get on stage and perform from Willie’s prolific song book. Writers Ted Widmer, Amanda Cook and Jim Dunn provided some personal history of the School Street resident. Even Governor Patrick chimed in with a birthday greeting.
Bands and players included: Dave Saginario, Roger Miller, The Boom Boom Band, The Bags (with Jon Hardy on Bass and vocals), Birdsongs of the Mesozoic with Boby Bear, Peter Wolf, Roger Miller, Andrea Gillis, the Nervous Eaters, Mike Tucker, Mission of Burma, Barrence Whitfield, Persistence of Memory Orchestra, w/ Ken Field and Marc Chenevert, Manzie, Dennis Brennen, Randy Black, Ed “Moose” Savage, Frank Rowe, John Roy, and Jon Macie, Reddy Teddy, The Darlings, The A-Train Orchestra with Alek and Rikki Razdan, David “Doc” Vincent , Dan Whalen and Ken Demaine, John Powhida and David Minahan & the neighborhoods.
The extravaganza was produced, shot and edited by Henry Ferrini as a part of the Gloucester Writers Center video archive. Ferrini said, “This is the kind of event that usually happens when you’re dead, Willie deserves it while he’s still kicking. Didn’t I hear he was going to be Gloucester’s next poet Laureate.”
The hour long show will be cablecast on Cape Ann TV.
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There’s a new website in town
Usually we post about music, but we’re so excited about having launched our latest Web project that we just can’t resist showing it to you. Just in case you didn’t know, in addition to publishing gimmesound and producing concerts, Vickie and I also design and build websites (see a list of some of them here, but remember, we’re too busy to update our own website, which was built in 1998) and we do Web and social media marketing.
Yesterday, we finished a new website for one of our favorite new local stores, The Cave. This is different from all other websites we’ve built. It’s a “responsive design”, which means it optimizes the viewing experience on what ever device you’re using: desktop computer, tablet or phone. For example, here’s what it looks like on a desktop computer:
Here’s what it looks like on my Samsung Galaxy III held portrait (the way you talk on the phone).
Notice the menu system is completely different and the top heading is centered instead of flush-left. The Facebook plugin is off the screen in this picture, but you can scroll down to it. Everything is stacked nicely so you can easily find it on a phone.
If you tap the phone number at the top-right it will call the The Cave.
The photo is different too, but that’s because it’s a slideshow and a different photo was showing when I took this picture. (This is actually a little more than you’ll see all at once on a phone, but I wanted to give you an idea of how it looks below the photo.)
There are many reasons why you want a website in a responsive design. Most importantly, you want your site to be easy to use no matter what device you’re on. And you don’t want to build a completely different site for each device.
This site uses the EXACT SAME HTML CODE for the phone display you see on the right as we do for the desktop version, above. The difference in how it looks is controlled by one little file called CSS.
This helps your website rise to the top of Google search results and it also makes it easier when you need to change something (like your store hours). You only have to write content once and maintain it in one place.
Here’s what it looks like when I turn my phone sideways.
Check out The Cave’s new website on all of your devices and see how it looks.
Be sure to go down there on Tuesday and try some of their excellent cheeses and other delicacies. You’ll be glad you discovered this gem in the heart of Gloucester’s thriving downtown.
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Gary Backstrom Band with Michael Thomas Doyle on Drums tonight @ Rhumb Line
There’s so much going on tonight (see schedule here) that even if you go out early and stay out late, you won’t be able to catch everything. I guess you could call that good news for Cape Ann’s music scene. More good news that Dan King is back in town playing with KBMG tonight at Dog Bar.
It’s also good news is that if you play your cards right, you can get to a lot of shows because they start at 6, 7, 8, 9 and the Gary Backstrom Band at 9:30 at the Rhumb Line.
Dancing to the Gary Backstrom Band would be a perfect way to end an excellent night of music. Tonight Gary’s got Michael Thomas Doyle on drums. Hopefully you’ve seen Doyle on guitar with Chelsea Berry (check out this video). He’s just as good on drums. See him in the Gary Backstrom Band video below at Harbor Loop last summer.
Oohh, I can’t wait for Harbor Loop concerts to start up again … I once asked Doyle which instrument he likes better. He replied, “Do you have kids?”
“Yes.”
“Which one do you like best?”
Point taken!
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3 April Concerts by Sorellanza ~ Local Women’s A Capella Chorus
Check out some videos of the group below:
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BREAKING NEWS: 2013 BLOCK PARTY DATES SET
July 20 August 17 September 21
(Subject to City Approval)
Mark your calendars and fit us in your schedule!
Contacts
Organization, Publicity: glostablockpahty@gmail.com Valerie Marcley
Artistic Director (Talent): whuntrock@gmail.com Will Hunt
Restaurant Liaison: northshorerestaurantgroup@gmail.com Mark McDonough
Merchant Liaison: lseigel1@gmail.com Lucinda Seigel
Sponsor Information: jbrackley2@comcast.net Judith Brackley
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Bach, Mozart, Hendrix, Prince & Elvis – all by one virtuoso guitarist on Sunday @ Shalin Liu
Benjamin Verdery does it all. When Karen Herlitz from Rockport Music sent me the program for Sunday’s concert with Ben Verdery, I said, Really? Bach & Hendrix in the same concert? Mozart & Prince? Elivs? Actually he’ll play Don’t Be Cruel
written by Otis Blackwell, who also wrote Elvis hits All Shook Up & Return to Sender, along with Great Balls of Fire & Breathless for Jerry Lee Lewis. But it’s Fever, which he co-wrote with Eddie Cooley, that makes Otis Blackwell one of my favorite songwriters. You can listen to Ella Fitzgerald sing Fever here (my favorite version for a lot of reasons) … But I digress …
How can anybody play such a diverse repertoire in a single concert without losing the audience in a swirl of confusion. Well, just listen to this:
Now don’t you want to hear what he does with Bach, Mozart, Prince and Otis Blackwell? Well you can on Sunday in one of the most acoustically perfect places on Earth. Aren’t you glad you live nearby? There are still good seats left. Get them here.
Just for fun, here’s Hendrix’s version of the song live in 1970.
Inspired? Now check out this weekend’s spectacular live music schedule with 35 live shows on Cape Ann starting tonight.
Good Morning Gloucester 