New Local Music Seen show premieres tonight

Local Music Seen with Allen Estes, kicks off a new fall season tonight featuring the man who taught Fly Amero to finger pick, Chick Marston, with his partner Ellen Ford. Chick & Ellen’s chemistry is infectious; their harmonies gorgeous. Songs transcend genre with powerful storytelling and melodies that stay in your head all day long. And if that’s not enough, they’re joined by Laurie & Jay Keefe. What a show!  Catch it on Cape Ann TV Cable Channel 12 tonight at  6:30pm, Friday at 1:30pm or Sunday at 6pm.

Speaking of Fly Amero, after you’ve seen Allen’s show tonight, get on down to the Rhumb Line at 8pm to see Fly with his special guest Elaine O’Rourke and see if she can get Fly into a yoga position like this one.

For a complete list of live music in Gloucester, click here.

Double dose of Orville this week

Orville Giddings – always smiling Who’s in the background? You’ve seen him on Treme & with others on Cape Ann

Our favorite smilin’ blues man Orville Giddings is a favorite guest at the Rhumb Line this week.  Tomorrow (Thursday) he’s Dave Sag’s guest and Sunday he’s with Allen Estes.  Orville is great solo, with others and with his full band, who you can see the day before Thanksgiving at the Stone Soup in Ipswich.

Back in April we featured Orville on gimmesound.com, with videos of him performing solo, with Allen Estes and with his band.  See those featured videos here.

But don’t wait for tomorrow.  Tonight is the night of great Gloucester guest musicians.  Brian King, Fly Amero, Steve Caraway and Dennis Monagle are all hosting excellent guests.  See the full lineup here.

Check out this duo of Orville with Allen Estes on his show, Local Music Seen.  Before they start, Orville talks about how he performs this song at different tempos depending on who he’s playing with.  Fascinating.

Chip off the old block

You all know Allen Estes, right?  You may not know that he has a tremendously talented son, Dylan, who is performing Saturday at the N9NE on TH1RT3EN show at The Landing in Manchester along with a number of local favorites, including Marina Evans, who just released her new EP called Dogtown.

So we figured this would be the perfect week to reprise the Local Music Seen show on which Dylan appears with his father.  They sing together and Dylan performs some of his own songs, which truly transcend generations.

You can see the show tomorrow (Wednesday 10/10) at 6pm on Cape Ann TV Channel 12 — and again on Friday at 1:30 and Sunday at 6pm.  Check out this video of a song from the show:

(see more videos of Allen Estes here)

It’s really a big week for music on Cape Ann with about 60 artists at well over a dozen venues.  See the complete list of live music in Gloucester and all around Cape Ann here.

“Careers are now in the hands of the audience,” says Bob Lefsetz. Boy, I hope you’re right, Bob. But you’re missing something BIG

Something big happened to the music business last week.  Mumford & Sons’ new album sold 600K+ units during its debut week, making it the “highest selling debut week for a rock album since 2008” according to Billboard — and they became the first band since the Beatles to have six singles on the Billboard top 100 chart at the same time.

Why is this such a big deal?  Well, a whole lotta reasons.  First of all they have an accordion and a  banjo, once thought the kiss of death in pop music.  Secondly, according to this article, “it also notched New York-based indie label Glassnote Records its first Billboard 200 chart-topper.”  Most importantly, even though he misses the big point, music curmudgeon Bob Lefsetz proclaims victory for music over hype in his recent post (see it here excerpts below)

… it comes down to the music. And that’s where Mumford shines.

They don’t dance. They don’t wear designer clothing. They don’t do beer commercials. They underplay and undercharge. They do everything the complainers say you cannot.

And then they blow up the chart. … It wasn’t their tweeting or social networking, it was the honesty of their music and message, in a phony world, their fans couldn’t stop spreading the word.  …

He goes on to prognosticate about the future of the music business with this bit that I find tremendously optimistic:

This is only the beginning. Careers are now in the hands of the audience. That’s who spread the word on Mumford. It wasn’t a top-down media campaign, but a grass roots thing. People bought the album because they needed to belong, it was a badge of honor.

In case you’re wondering what he’s talking about, watch this video, shot by a fan:

But later in his post, Lefsetz can’t help commenting on the state and future of music distribution (something he touches upon in nearly every post):

The big story has been that the album was available on Spotify yet still sold a ton. That’s missing the point. If you think digital sales are the future, you’re still watching TV on a cathode ray tube. It’s not only music that’s in the cloud, everything’s on demand all the time.  

If he’s right, my prediction (made last month in this post) may come to pass even sooner than I had thought.

Then his post continues with clever barbs for choice selections from the Bilboard 100, as Lefsetz lapses back into his perpetual, pessimistic, put-down rant and completely fails even to mention the real future of music: LIVE SHOWS!  That’s where the music business is really going.

Bob, you can lament all you want about the labels’ decline or the sorry state of top 40 — and you’re absolutely right.  But what IS the future?  Where’s the light?

I’ll tell you, right here.  It’s in live shows.  That’s where most musicians make their money today.  You can’t steal a show.  You can’t download it.  You can’t email it to somebody.  There’s only one way you can get the live show experience.  You just have to be there.

The  Mumford video is one example.  Here’s another one — Chelsea Berry at North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, MA on June 28, 2012.  You can hear the crowd in this one too (even though the camera was behind the last row).

Chelsea’s got it.  She excites her audience just like you say musicians have to these days.  It’s only a matter of time before you’re writing about her, Bob.

Want to see more of  her?  Check out these videos.  And while you’re at it, check out some of the other extraordinary artists who really connect with their audience up here in Gloucester MA and see where they’re playing live shows here.

One more time: Live Shows are the bright spot in the future of the music business.

TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW for Berklee in Gloucester on October 25 at the Gloucester House

Don’t miss the kickoff of the new  Berklee in Gloucester season with a benefit concert featuring the great The Jim Odgren Quintet at The Gloucester House in their front room with excellent acoustics.  The band plays jazz and standard songs in a style steeped in the rich tradition of 50’s and 60’s Blue Note jazz.  A portion of proceeds will benefit the Berklee2Gloucester Scholarship Fund.

Doors open at 6:30, so come for dinner and stay for the show.  You can purchase tickets on-line now or call 978-525-9093 reserve a table.  Seating is limited and last time the Gloucester House show was almost sold out, so don’t wait too long.

Here’s some more info on The Jim Odgren Quintet:

Both Professors at Berklee College of music in Boston, Dave Santoro (acoustic bass) and Jim Odgren (alto saxophone) co-lead the band. Joining them are three young and very talented Berklee student musicians – Roberto Giaquinto on drums, Davis Whitfield on piano and Lucian Gray on guitar. Their music swings hard, bringing out a style reminiscent of mainstream jazz from the era, combined with solos that venture into more modern sounds. Dave and Jim have released one cd together. It’s called “Day Dreaming“. It can be found on CDBaby here.

Jim Odgren, alto saxophonist extraordinaire, has put together an album filled with playing of extraordinary intricacy. Yet it’s executed with such style and ease, it’s accessible to the common listener. Its smooth melodicism, mixed with intricate lines and exiting harmonies makes this album a must to listen to. This is musicianship at the highest level and it deserves a place in everyones CD collection

Steve Johnson’s review of
Jim Odgren’s CD “Her Eyes” available here.

Berklee is back in Gloucester for a new season on October 25 at the Gloucester House

We’ve just worked out a new season of Berklee in Gloucester beginning with The Jim Odgren Quintet, featuring not one, but TWO BERKLEE PROFESSORS.  The band plays jazz and standard songs in a style steeped in the rich tradition of 50’s and 60’s Blue Note jazz.  We kick off the 2012/2013 season at The Gloucester House in their front room with excellent acoustics.

Doors open at 6:30, so come for dinner and stay for the show.  You will be able to purchase tickets on-line later tonight or tomorrow morning.  You can also call 978-525-9093 to get tickets.  Seating is limited and last time the Gloucester House show was almost sold out, so don’t wait too long.

Today we also set up the Gloucester2Berklee Scholarship Fund at Berklee.  This scholarship fund is earmarked for helping to send a Gloucester student to Berklee.  If you want to donate to the fund, bring a check to the concert, make it payable to Berklee College of Music and put Gloucester2Berklee in the memo.  Soon you may even be able to donate on-line.

Here’s some more info on The Jim Odgren Quintet:
Both Professors at Berklee College of music in Boston, Dave Santoro (acoustic bass) and Jim Odgren (alto saxophone) co-lead the band. Joining them are three young and very talented Berklee student musicians – Roberto Giaquinto on drums, Davis Whitfield on piano and Lucian Gray on guitar. Their music swings hard, bringing out a style reminiscent of mainstream jazz from the era, combined with solos that venture into more modern sounds. Dave and Jim have released one cd together. It’s called “Day Dreaming“. It can be found on CDBaby here.

Jim Odgren, alto saxophonist extraordinaire, has put together an album filled with playing of extraordinary intricacy. Yet it’s executed with such style and ease, it’s accessible to the common listener. Its smooth melodicism, mixed with intricate lines and exiting harmonies makes this album a must to listen to. This is musicianship at the highest level and it deserves a place in everyones CD collection

Steve Johnson’s review of
Jim Odgren’s CD “Her Eyes” available here.

What? Another reason to cross the bridge? Yup — local music, food & fun in Boston this Sunday

Yesterday, we told you about local artists at Topsfield Fair and suggested that you go see them (see post here).

This weekend you’ve got another opportunity to see one of our local favorites, Satch Kerans, at the Boston Local Food Festival on Sunday.  Satch is on The River Plug and Play Stage at 1:30pm (see complete festival entertainment schedule here).  If you’ve never seen Satch, check out this video from the Songwriters in the Round series.

Before and after Satch’s set, you can catch the start and finish of the big, Boston version of Gloucester’s Seafood Throwdown (yup, these are the same people who produce the one at the Farmers Market) — and your boy, Peter Van Ness, will emcee once again.

Now for some evening excitement featuring 30 artists this weekend and your last chance to experience music aboard the Lannon in 2012 (see this post if you’re not sure what we’re  talking about).  See the complete list of live music in Gloucester and Cape Ann here.

Just when you thought it was safe to crawl into a hole for the winter

What’s this?  More music?  More fun?  I thought this was the start of the slow season.  Nope.  The truth is, folks, that there’s no such thing as a “slow season” in GTown any longer — at least not when it comes to music and the arts.  There are plenty of restaurants that stay open year round, plus lots of other year-round venues for music and the arts.

And we’re seeing an expansion of music venues even after summer is over.  Catch 22 is expanding their music offerings to Tuesday – Saturday and  Seaport Grille has music tomorrow (a new player in Wednesday night music).

Sure we might relish the idea of less traffic downtown and fewer tourists walking the streets, but that wears off quick.  This is what we want, right?  A thriving music scene all year long.

And this is precisely the time of year when we can  support the steadfast restaurants and venues who stay open all year long (see them here – along with their live music lineup for this week).  The best way to convince them that they’re doing the right thing is to go there.

Oh, it gets better.  Perhaps you caught the Gloucester Times story about Endicott (see here).  Nancy Gaines’ insightful article focuses on the educational value that Endicott will provide Gloucester residents and only hints at how Endicott students will help revitalize our City, breathing new life into arts, culture, science, music — all in the “off season”.  Becoming a college town is likely to be the best thing that has happened to Gloucester this century.  Let’s welcome Endicott and the students, parents, vitality and just plain fun they are bringing to our City.

Ready for Rocktober in Gloucester?

The fall entertainment season is in full swing this week with performances by your favorites and as well as some people you can’t see that often.  See this week’s schedule of live music in Gloucester & Cape Ann here.

And it all starts with the Bandit Kings Open Jamm at Rhumb Line tonight.  Remember, you still have time to help them make a record.  Click here to help.

You may know we’ve been adding more videos to gimmesound.com every week.  We’ve got a nice little collection of Bandit King videos here.  Here’s one of my favorites from their album Precious Stones (just love these harmonies).

It’s music, food & festivals in Gloucester this weekend

Continuing with my interest in starting the weekend on Thursday, I’ll be at the Y Taste of Cape Ann to benefit the Y’s teen, camp and childcare initiatives.  Get tickets here or just go to the Cruiseport at 6pm for food & drink from some of Cape Ann’s best restaurants, along with live music, cooking demonstrations, raffles, door prizes and more.

John wants to see the Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live in Budapest (he loves We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions) at Cape Ann Community Cinema that starts at 7:30pm followed by a live set by the all-female Queen Tribute band Gunpowder Gelatine.  We’ll try to get to both.

Nine great choices for tomorrow (Friday).  See Friday’s live music lineup here.

Saturday is family festival day with the Captains Courageous Festival featuring live music at Gloucester’s UU Church and the Lanesville Music Festival starting at 1:30pm with two of my favorites, Pete Lindberg at 5:30 and Bill Gleason at 7:30, then becoming a HUGE dance party at 8:30 featuring the great KBMG with special guest J.B. Amero.  WOW!  See the full festival music lineup here.  And look at their cool poster below:
Click for Lanesville Music Festival lineup

On Sunday, Celtic music fans can catch our friend Michael O’Leary TWICE in one day, on the Lannon & at the Dog Bar.  See Sunday’s live music schedule here.

All in all over 50 artists performing this weekend — and it’s not even summer any more!  Get the complete schedule for all the live music in Gloucester and Cape Ann here.