Brenda Davis has been posting incredible then and now photo montages to our GMG Google + Community Group
Here’s one.
you can see all of them full sized at the in the Group Page
Join the GMG Google+ Community and further your GMG experience 
Category: Chickity check it!
Music venues abound — and a new one is on the way!
Woke up to a dusting of new snow that was gone by noon. Only a few dirty-gray-white winter leftovers remain as the sun burns a bright spot behind the clouds — too shy to show its full face. Does this presage one of those jolting seasons when Mother Nature forgets about spring and jumps into summer without warning?
That’s what seems to happen in Gloucester’s music scene. Before you know it your choices for live music double, but don’t worry. We’ll continue to help you sort it all out with Cape Ann’s only complete live music listing here.
If you think about it, there really are two kinds of music venues: restaurants/clubs and what musicians call “listening venues”. (That is, until the weather gets nice enough to add a third: boats with music cruises.) For now, suffice it to say that we’re extremely lucky to live in an area with an abundance of good restaurants and clubs who offer live music for free because they’re able to make a living on the food and drink they serve.
A good club can make for a great experience (both for artist and fan) but sometimes you end up in a singer vs. crowd competition like the one I wrote about here.
Chelsea Berry wrote an excellent song about this very issue:
And now there’s even a facebook page dedicated to promoting listening venues in MA. See it here.
Free from the distractions of TV, clanging silver & dishware, people talking, wait staff running around and kitchen noise, the concert milieu connects you with the artist through an intimate, intense bond that’s simply impossible to maintain in a restaurant or bar. And when you’re on stage you can feel that energy, soak it in and give back something more powerful that seems to arise spontaneously out of the ether.
Luckily, we live in an area with several excellent listening venues. Good coffee houses: Old Sloop in Rockport. One World in Essex and Crosswinds in Gloucester. Cape Ann’s crown jewel, the Shalin Liu performance Center and the Larcom Theatre down the road in Beverly.
With your help, Gloucester’s iconic UU Meetinghouse is working to restore their balcony so it can become another major listening venue and we’re helping them by presenting concerts in the church to raise money for that effort. Cape Ann Winter Solstice started this project off by packing the house on December 21. We’re doing it again on April 25 with The Number Nines featuring top Cape Ann talent 3rian King, Chelsea Berry, Renee Dupuis and Dennis Monagle together with Boston stars Meff and Brendan Burns. If you want to be sure to get a seat, you probably shouldn’t wait until the last minute to buy your tickets. Get them now here:
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Having some fun with a radio ad and Adobe Premiere
Now we often fast forward through TV commercials or change the car radio station when an ad come on, but once in a while somebody crafts such a good radio spot that you can’t help but listen. That’s what our friends Aurelia Nelson & Jay Foss at Northshore 104.9 did this week and I was so inspired when I heard it that I decided to pop into Adobe Premiere and have some fun. This is what came out:
And by the way, there are still good seats left to what could be your last chance to see these young, rising blues stars before they break into big venues. Get them here.
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Winter Blues…Spring Blues…Summer Blues
OK, folks. Time to kiss the cold winter blues bye bye and get ready for hot spring & summer blues starting next Saturday, April 5th, with the hottest concert of the season just down the road at Beverly’s Larcom Theatre featuring Gracie Curran with Roomful of Blues horns and Lydia Warren opening. All three of these bands have a Gloucester connection. Gracie Curran and Lydia Warren both performed at last year’s Gloucester Blues Festival. And Roomful of Blues performed at I4-C2 for Celebrate Gloucester in 2010. Save the date Saturday, August 9th for the 2014 Gloucester Blues Festival!
Here’s Gracie Curran and Lydia Warren at the 2013 Gloucester Blues Festival:
Good seats are still left for next Saturday. Get tickets here. This may be your last chance to see these two rising blues stars at an intimate venue close to home!
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
BREAKING NEWS: Local Rock Star, Jon Butcher, to appear with SOLD OUT “Experience Hendrix” show TOMORROW – Catch him on camera and WIN!
Do you have tickets to tomorrow’s sold out Experience Hendrix show at Hampton Beach Casino? If so, we’ve got a job for you. Our friend Jon Butcher (who moved to Cape Ann a year or so ago) has been asked to join Buddy Guy, Jonny Lang, Dweezil Zappa, Billy Cox (from Band of Gypsys & Jimi Hendrix Experience) and numerous other stars on stage at tomorrow’s show and we want YOUR photos of him.
So, if you’re there, shoot a photo of Jon Butcher on stage and put that photo (or a link to it) in a comment to this post. We’ll select the best photo and give the photographer 2 tickets to The Jon Butcher Axis: Celebrating the Music of Jimi Hendrix show down the road at Beverly’s Larcom Theatre one month from today (Sat, April 26). Of course, this show will sell out too, so if you can’t shoot Jon Butcher tomorrow, get your tickets today!
Here’s a taste of what you can expect at the Jon Butcher Axis show on April 26:
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Megan Burtt is Back
Every year or so, Megan Burtt comes to Gloucester to visit her good friend and Berklee chum, Chelsea Berry — and to treat us to her thoughtful, moving, gorgeous music at local venues. This time she’s at Old Sloop next Saturday, April 5th with Boston singer/songwriter Danielle Miraglia. This will be an excellent show!
In celebration of Megan’s return, we’re reprising her show on Local Music Seen with Allen Estes this week starting tomorrow (WED) at 6:30 and again on Friday at 1:30pm and Sunday at 6pm on Cape Ann TV Channel 12. Here’s a taste of that show:
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
“Happy” Video for For All the GMG Puppy-Dog-Animal Lovers !
In honor of National Puppy Day which, depending on what publication you read, was either the 21st of March or is upcoming tomorrow, on the 23rd of March ~
National Puppy Day is an unofficial holiday created to encourage the adoption of 10,000 puppies.
And yes, the lyrics have been rewritten just for puppy love!
Pharrell’s original “Happy,” posted on GMG in February:
Happy Friday!
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
The Writer’s Book Club Event at Duckworth’s Bistrot
Chris Anderson
This past Sunday’s Writer’s Book Club Event, held at Duckworth’s Bistrot, was well-attended. Chris Anderson, the editor and co-founder of Eastern Point Lit House, led a very interesting discussion about the book The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien. The Things They Carried is a collection of short stories about a platoon of soldiers in the Vietnam War and is semi-autobigraphical. O’Brien was Chris’s professor in grad school!
From wiki ~ The book is critically acclaimed and O’Brien has expressed surprise at how the book has become a staple in middle schools and high schools, stating that he “certainly hadn’t imagined fourteen year-old kids, eighteen year-olds, those even in their early twenties reading the book.”
Chef Ken Duckworth and Chris Anderson
Chef Ken Duckworth prepared a beautiful spread. I only stopped in for a brief period of time as I was on my way to film the Groppo’s Sunday evening Saint Joseph mass and was unable to stay to enjoy the very tasty-looking appetizers and entrees. Thank you Chris, Michelle, Jenn, and Ken for inviting me. Next time I look forward to staying longer!
Barbara and Al Boudreau
* * *
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
New England Lost Ski Areas Project
Toby Pett Forwards- New England Lost Ski Areas Project
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Brooke Welty Asks- What’s The Deal With St Joseph’s Novena In Our GMG Community Google Plus Group
Brooke asks-
I’ve been seeing all these posts about a St. Joseph novena. As an unchurched heathen, I’m utterly clueless. On top of that, I’m not Italian so I literally have no idea what any of this is about.
And yes Joey, before you say it, I GOOGLED IT. But Google isn’t very enlightening sometimes. Sure, it gives me dates and tells me who St. Joseph is, and something about “a feast of the rank of double of the first class” (???) but it doesn’t actually explain much.
Is it a women only thing? Most of the pictures I see seem to feature only women.
Why the feast in the first place?
Why do you build a giant altar and make special pasta?
Novena trolley…I’m picturing a trolley car picking up novena-ers. Is that what it is? Like a Christmas Caroller trolley, but in Italian?Inquiring minds want to know.
My response-
The Novena trolley was organized by Sefathia and the first one I went on was I think 4 years ago. Cape Ann Transportation CATA offers the trolley up and it picks everyone up at the Fitz Henry Lane House and they make the rounds and go to about 12 different people’s homes who have St Joseph’s Novenas and Altars. Men and women and children can go on the trolley but it’s mostly women.
The tradition of St Joseph’s Day as I understand it is that it was a day back in Sicily when people would open up their doors to the orphans and feed them and the symbolism in today’s St Joseph’s Day is that you say that your doors are always open to feed those in need.
They pass out three items at each house, an orange, a lemon and a loaf of bread. The orange symbolizes the sweetness of life, the lemon so you don’t forget the hard times and the bread to say that you’ll never go hungry in that house. (I could be a little off on any of these things but this is how I understand it all)
The altars are a tradition usually started by a family who wants to pray for a specific thing.
Like say way back in the 50’s a fisherman may have been out at sea and the boat was overdue. The wife may have started an altar to ask St Joseph to return him to her and she would maintain her altar and pray each St Joseph’s Day. Or it may have been to pray for a sick person. Or a host of other reasons.
The women start out saying the Rosary together and then sing Sicilian songs all together. Usually they have lots of books so you can read along and before long you get the cadence and words and you’re singing right along with them.
Some houses are open to let everyone in, some may keep them more to their family. Most I believe welcome everyone of any denomination in to celebrate.
This year we saw a huge increase in the number of younger women participating which is nice because for a long while St Joseph’s started to wane off. It’s great to see so many taking it up again. It may or may not have had anything to do with the intense coverage we devote to it each year here on GMG but the heavy lifting is done by the families of those who maintain the altars and invite so many guests into their homes.
Most of the men are in the kitchen eating BTW, LOL.
I’m not 100% sure I got everything right but I hope this answers most of your questions.
You should watch +Kim Smith videos, if a picture tells a thousand words, her videos will tell a million.
Here’s one-
https://goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/new-film-making-the-saint-joseph-bread/
To join the GMG Community Group and be able to ask us questions directly you can join here-
Join the GMG Google+ Community and further your GMG experience 
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Susan Kelly from Generous Gardeners Shares the Following “Save the Dates” ~
|
|
|
|
|
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
BREAKING NEWS: You asked for it, you got it: Another extravaganza at Gloucester’s UU Meetinghouse APRIL 25
Finally, we can answer all the people who ask, “When are you going to produce another concert at the UU Meetinghouse?” Gloucester singer, songwriter, performer, creative genius, 3rian King has put together a spectacular show with other top Gloucester talent, including Chelsea Berry, Renee Dupuis, Joe Cardoza & Dennis Monagle, plus Brendan Burns & Meff from Boston (together known as The Number Nines) and we’re presenting this extravaganza at Gloucester’s UU Meetinghouse on Friday April 25th at 8PM. Just like the Cape Ann Solstice Concert, this show will support the Meetinghouse Restoration Project. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 day of the show and went on sale TODAY. Get them at the UU Church Office at 10 Church St, at The Liquor Locker on Main & Rogers or on-line here. Our Solstice show was full and seating is limited so don’t wait. Get your tickets TODAY!
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Sfinci di San Giuseppe Rounds off a Trio of Traditional Saint Joseph Treats from Maria Cracchiolo and Family at Caffe Sicilia
Sfinci di San Giuseppe
For non-Sicilians, like myself, you may be wondering what exactly are Sfinci di San Giuseppe? The way Maria, Nina, and Domenic make them, Sfinci are amazing creamy puffs, fried to golden-brown perfection, and filled with Caffe Sicilia’s heavenly light and fluffy sweetened ricotta, or the same ricotta, with mini-chocolate chips added.
Inside the beautiful box of Zepplole that Maria sent me home with after filming, were two Sfinci’s made moments earlier, fillled with ricotta, and garnished with candied orange peel and cherry. I hope my husband and son never read this post because after eating the first Sfinci di San Giuseppe, it was so fabulously delicious that I never gave anyone else a chance to try one and ate the second (although managing to save them each a Zeppole)! Habit-forming!
Sfinci have been a part of Sicilian cuisine for centuries. Traditionally they were served for dessert on Saint Joseph’s Day. Today they are a specialty of Palermo and are served all year round. Both Maria’s parents, Nina and Domenic Damico, were born outside of Palermo and spent their early childhoods there. I imagine that is one reason why the family knows how to create this sumptuously yummy treat!!! Sfinci is a wonderfully fun word to say and is pronounced something like this: sah-fin-chee, only you say the sah-fin syllables very quickly together.
Caffe Sicilia’s Sfinci di San Giuseppe are available, as are their Zeppole, through Easter. Because their Sfinci fly out the door as quickly as their Zeppole, place your orders for both ahead of time and call (978) 283-2345.
Filming Continues on Gloucester’s Feast of Saint Joseph Film Project, Today at Caffe Sicilia!
Caffe Sicilia’s St. Joseph Zeppole or, in Other Words, A Cloud of Sweetness Sent from the Heavens!
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Live Destruction!! Finally!!!!
You’ve cussed, cursed, and scorned at it. You’ve prayed, pleaded, and preached about it. So cue the Etta James classic “At Last” because the suck-sore that was at the corner of Mansfield St. and Washington has fallen!
That’s right folks, the burnt siding, the blue tarp, and the embarrassment that greets all locals and tourists alike has come to an end. That only took 3 years.
Now please clean up that pile of rubble before next spring!
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Caffe Sicilia’s St. Joseph Zeppole or, in Other Words, A Cloud of Sweetness Sent from the Heavens!
From the first moment I sampled Maria and Nina’s Zeppole, I thought I had died and gone to food-lovers heaven! And I am not the only one in my family who felt the same. After spending the morning filming at Caffe Sicilia where Maria, Nina, and Domenic graciously demonstrated making the special Saint Joseph bread and Zeppole, they very sweetly sent me home with a treasure box full of freshly made Zeppole. My husband and son generally prefer savory to sweet, but now I see I will have to make frequent stops at Caffe Sicilia to pick up Zeppole during Saint Joseph’s feast time!
Maria’s Zeppole pastry is airy and tender and makes a perfect nest for one of three different fillings offered at Caffe Sicilia; a light and fluffy perfectly sweetened ricotta filling, the same ricotta filling, but with tiny chocolate chips added, and the third filling is yellow cream. Honestly, I have never been a tremendous yellow cream filling fan, but that is because I never had Maria’s yellow cream. Hers is neither gluey nor gloppy, but rather a pale buttery yellow sweet and smooth-textured filling of creamy yumminess. Not only were the fillings mouth watering delicious, she also sandwiches a very generous helping of beautiful Amarena cherries between the layers of pastry and filling. Amarena cherries are a favorite of my husband’s and I think that too may be another reason why he fell in love with Maria’s Zeppole.
RUN, don’t walk, to Caffe Sicilia to sample their Zeppole! Although a traditional Saint Joe desert, Maria makes the Zeppole through Easter time as many have given up sweets for Lent. Because the Zeppole fly out the door as quickly as they are made, having the opportunity to try the dessert is rather hit or miss. I strongly advise that you place your order for Zeppole ahead of time. The Zeppole are conveniently available in a large and a smaller size. Call (978) 283-2345 to place your orders.
End Note ~ Amarena cherries are made from a small, bitter dark colored cherry, the amara cherry, which is grown in the Modena and Bologna regions of Italy. Gennaro Fabbri from Bologna developed the Amarena combination of cherries with syrup and it is still a family-owned business that produces a variety of cherry based products, including syrups, beverages, and pastries. Amarena cherries are often used to decorate chocolate desserts.
I typically find Amarena cherries in the pretty blue and white Fabbri jars at William Sonoma, but after looking up the spelling for this post, they are also readily available online.
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Embracing Family History Presented by the Sawyer Free Library March 15th
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Joe Virgilio Making the Saint Joseph Rolls
This morning we continued filming for Gloucester’s Feast of Saint Joseph Film Project; today at Virgilio’s! So many thanks to Joe Virgilio for taking time from his busy, busy work day running the bakery.
We talked a bit about the history of Virgilio’s, founded in 1934, and at its current location since the 1950’s. At that time, Virgilios was not only a bakery, but a full grocery store as well (before there were supermarkets) and you could purchase goods such as whole chickens and sausages.
The Virgilios began making St. Joseph rolls in the early 1950s, specifically for the Feast of Saint Joseph and today, they make them year round. Back then, there were so many families that celebrated the Saint Joseph traditions that even as young kids, Joe and all his cousins had to hurry to the bakery after school to help their grandfather fill the St. Joseph roll orders. Now the bread is made with state of the art equipment but in his grandfather’s day it was all made by hand. Joe smiled thinking about how his grandfather would love today’s mixing and baking machines. I went home with a camera-full of stories and bag full of Joe’s bread, both generous, and much-appreciated gifts.
Virgilio’s Saint Joseph rolls are super yummy plain, with a touch of butter, or olive oil, and are even more super delicious made into one of their world-famous sandwiches!
In case you missed the Virgilio’s Phantom Gourmet episode, here it is:
As did Maria, Nina, and Domenic from Caffe Sicilia, Joe took time from his tremendously full work day to allow time for filming and sharing his stories. We’re so blessed to have these fabulous and welcoming bakeries/grocerias in our community. Next week, filming at Sclafani’s is scheduled!
Addendum ~ Al Bezanson writes in the comment section (see below):
“As a side note, did you know about the tradition of delivering donated fresh (sometimes warm) Virgilio’s bread to schooners as they arrive for the Labor Day Schooner Festival? When you get around schooner people you may hear them talking about the need to have extra butter aboard in Gloucester. This is a very big deal in fending off other ports that are vying for schooners that same weekend. Thanks Joe and the high speed Ramsey/Nesta delivery guys!”
THANK YOU AL for your always super helpful comments. This is information about Joe’s generosity that we would never have know without you sharing!
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Neil Young, Massachusetts’ most “distinctive” artist, just might revolutionize digital music today at SXSW
A recent blog by Paul Lamere of Echo Nest (in Somerville, MA) claims to have analyzed listener data from music streaming services to determine the most “distinctive” artists by state. His method is very interesting, if a tad wonkish (see his explanation here). Essentially the most “distinctive” artist for Massachusetts is the artist that is very popular in MA, but NOT very popular in other states — and, based on Paul Lamere’s study, that artist is Neil Young, who is scheduled to unveil his new, studio-quality music service and device called Pono, at 5pm today at South by Southwest (more here).
Artists LOVE this new sound. Check out what they have to say in Neil Young’s Kickstarter campaign for Pono, here. Even if Pono is a flop, the mere fact that people who make music are finally talking about good quality sound in the digital age is a major breakthrough. Who knows where this revolution will lead, but you can say you were there (even if only via the Internet) when Neil Young Started it.
I guess we should all be proud to live in Massachusetts! Perhaps the boys can play a little Neil Young tonight at Jalapenos in his honor!
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
We’re Off to See the Wizard!
My friend, Briar Fandetti Forsythe, is a not only a fabulous baker, but also a movie buff. In April she is attending the Turner Film Festival, Los Angeles, where a huge celebration is scheduled for the 75th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz (1939). In anticipation of her upcoming trip she’s combined two of her passions, whipping up a batch of cookies for her friends, featuring Dorothy, from The Wizard of Oz!
See Briar’s Virginia Lee Burton Little House cookies here.
Early Wizard of Oz Poster
As you’ve read here in previous posts, Briar is the proprietor of Willowdale Estate. Several times throughout the year, Willowdale holds fun family nights (free) with screenings of classic movies. It’s a great way to see the Estate, sample Briar’s exquisite cooking, and experience Willowdale’s welcoming hospitality!
Willowdale Estate, Topsfield
Note ~ My daughter Liv read, and reread, L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and the novel’s many sequels. It’s a fabulously captivating series not to be overlooked for your young reader!
Briar Fandetti-Forsythe cookie photos; The Wizard of Oz promotion posters courtesy google image search.
See more The Wizard of Oz original posters, lobby cards, and info about the 75th anniversary screening here: Continue reading “We’re Off to See the Wizard!”
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
National Geographic Travel Photography Seminar – Hartford
I signed up for this National Geographic Travel photo seminar. It is next Sunday in Hartford. Check the link for the details and if others sign up maybe we can figure a car pool.. http://bit.ly/1ifiS5L It says Fall Series 2013, but don’t believe that. The link takes you to the registration for next Sunday.
Good Morning Gloucester 