My View of Life on the Dock
As we reported last night (in this post), Allen Estes joined Jon Butcher and Charlie Farren on Jon’s song Coleman Mine that he wrote for the HBO series Deadwood. Jon and Charlie performed with James Montgomery and David Hull to a sold out house at Shalin Liu. If you missed it, here’s the song from Allen’s show Local Music Seen.
You can catch the full show tomorrow (Sunday) at 6pm on Cape Ann TV Channel 12.
Great music tonight and tomorrow starting at 11am. See the full live music schedule here.
Chelsea Berry will be Aurelia Nelson’s featured guest on her North Shore 104.9 show Curtain Up this Sunday, Jan 20, at 9am. You don’t even have to get out of bed. Just tune your clock radio to 104.9 and set it to go off at 8:59am. Lie in bed and listen comfortably.
If you saw Jon Butcher on Local Music Seen with Allen Estes, you’ll know he’s playing at Shalin Liu tonight with James Montgomery, Charlie Farren & David Hull. As of this post there were about 15 tickets left and you can get them here. Jon may ask Allen to join him on a song they performed together on the Local Music Seen.
Another good bet for tonight is Renee & Joe @ Minglewood Tavern. Here they are at Latitude 43 for the November Berklee in Gloucester show:
As for the rest of the weekend, we honestly don’t have any idea how you’re going to choose from over 2 dozen excellent shows — and plenty of them early enough to take the kids. Here’s the complete live music lineup.
GOOD LUCK!
A couple of weeks ago we warned you (in this post) about waiting until the last minute to get tickets to Chelsea Berry’s triumphant return to Shalin Liu with her new band, performing songs from her new CD.
Well, Chelsea decided to give all you procrastinators a second chance by offering a second show on Friday, February 8 at 8pm (the Saturday, Feb 9 show is sold out) and remember, you heard it here on GMG first! The Dejas will open this show with their 4 piece band just like the Saturday show.
Now, don’t screw this up and think you can just sit there and procrastinate some more. This show was just announced so there are still good seats left (clicks on this link to get some). But they won’t last long.
Just in case you missed Chelsea opening for Chris Isaak at North Shore Music Theatre with her band last June, here’s a taste of what you can expect next month in a much more intimate setting:
Don’t let today’s snow (which is now melting) dampen your entertainment for the evening. There are excellent live music choices tonight. See the complete lineup here.
Ever notice how kids are always thinking and talking about the future? That’s because their heads are pointed that way (toward the future, that is). Makes sense, since most of their life is ahead of them. Having their heads all pointed toward the future shapes their view of life — and the way they put 2 and 2 together.
Here’s just one example:
It’s 1985 and my oldest is 3. Being exceedingly proud of herself for having just learned our phone number, she wants show off by calling Mom from a play-date. Great idea. She asks to use the neighbor’s phone and calls home, excited to dial the number herself and thrilled when Mom answers. A few days later, we’re at home and she has a question for Mom. “Well she’s out doing errands now, so we’ll have to wait until she gets home,” I explain. “Why don’t I just call her?” she replies as she picks up the phone and dials our number, which gives her a busy signal. “What’s wrong with the phone? Why doesn’t Mom answer?”
At three years old, she’s predicting the future we’ve grown accustomed to today, where kids can call their moms any time they want regardless of where Mom is. Whether or not this is a good thing is highly debatable, but that’s for another post.
While kids are unwittingly predicting the future, many of their grandparents’ heads seem to be pointed toward the past. “When I was your age …”
It happens to all of us as we age. Once we get to the point where the bulk of our life feels like it’s in the past, we’re tempted to look back more often than we look forward — and that shapes our view of life.
Here are three examples of Gloucester people with heads pointed toward the future. The Wilkins Noise takes over hosting Open Jamm at the Rhumb Line tonight and J.B. Amero takes Dan King’s seat tomorrow, joining Dave Brown, Dave Mattacks & Wolf Ginandes at Jalapenos. Live music in Gloucester continues (see schedule here) even though we will all miss our friend Dan King, who flies out to make his mark on L.A. tomorrow, head squarely pointed toward his future. Bon Voyage, Dan. Come back soon!
Here’s a video of one of Dan’s songs we’ve all come to know and love
Now just because we have a peek at the past, doesn’t mean we have to keep our heads pointed in that direction . . .
Zip Line Kid shows a clear appreciation for the power and spectacle of what can be accomplished using big equipment.
Another kid-friendly night of music starts at 6pm in all 4 Cape Ann towns. Excellent live music continues into the wee hours. See complete live music schedule here. Why would we ever want to live anywhere else?
Our boy Joey needs a break.
Between non PC humor and MFers dying, it should be clear that we’re heaping way too much stress on him during his vacation.
Really, folks, we all need to find someone else to complain about — and we need someone else’s sarcasm to soar right over our heads while we’re complaining.
Inge Berge to the rescue. According to The Noise magazine, Inge’s music is “Odd, adventurous and compelling.”
Plus you get the added value that Inge’s sarcastic wit is wrapped in catchy pop tunes you’ll be singing all weekend. Just don’t sing the lyrics to your mother-in-law.
You’ve got two chances to see Inge this weekend (tomorrow @ Dog Bar and Sunday @ Rhumb Line) See this weekend’s complete live music schedule here.
The best way to get your fill of sarcasm+bitching-about-sarcasm is to request some of Inge’s most witty and sarcastic songs and then complain about how you’re offended by them. Here are a few choice examples:
More Inge Berge videos here, including an inside look at the making of Shit Under Your Shoes.
Weather forecasters call it a heatwave around here when it’s over 90 °F (32.2 °C) for three days in a row.
For the past 3 days, we’ve had good music starting early enough to take the kids out, so I’m declaring it a kid-friendly-music wave.
Tonight you can take the kids to see the Honky Tonk Women of Gloucester at Seaport Grille as early as 6pm. And there’s plenty more later (see schedule here) if you want to keep them up late, or you’ve got a sitter, or you don’t have kids. One of our favorites, Pete Lindberg, is at the Dog Bar at 9. Here’s a video of Pete at Celebrate Gloucester 2010:
And here’s an early 60’s heatwave classic to remind us where the inspiration for much of the music we love today comes from:
I missed Joan Osborne with Paula Cole @ Shalin Liu back in October. Did she sing this? She does an excellent version. Check this out:
What a great week of music this has been and it’s only Wednesday!
Last night Steve Caraway struck up the open mic again at Dog Bar and by all accounts it was a HUGE SUCCESS! So much so that he’s decided to host every week. Way to go STEVE!
Before Steve began at Dog Bar, Allen Estes sat in Dan King’s seat at Jalapenos and rocked the house with Dave Brown, Dave Mattacks and Wolf Ginandes. All were at the top of their game, especially DB, whose solos took us away!
And I just have to say that it is such a pleasure listening to Dave Mattacks, whose percussion is absolutely perfect for every song . He is without a doubt one of the best drummers alive today. These guys are so professional they were able to follow Allen on one of his brand new songs, having never heard it before — and it sounded as if they’d just come from rehearsal. Aren’t we lucky to have people of this caliber on Main St., in Gloucester every Tuesday for FREE! Next week J.B. Amero is in Dan King’s seat. Oooohh, that’ll be HOT!
Excellent live music starts up again tonight at 7pm (early enough to take the kids). See the schedule here.
A mighty fine week of live music is shaping up beginning with Allen Estes in Dan King’s seat with Brown, Mattacks & Ginandes at Jalapenos 7pm, followed by Steve Caraway’s open mic at Dog Bar at 9 and Henley Douglas at Rhumb Line at the same time. You can get to all three excellent shows if you play your cards right.
Tomorrow, live music begins at 7 as well. It’s nice to have live music that isn’t too late for kids. And it’s good to get kids out to appreciate live music at a young age.
As the week progresses it becomes harder to get to every show, so you’re gonna have to choose. See the live music lineup here and start thinking about the weekend.
In the meantime check out this video of Steve Caraway — oohh, don’t you love the sound of that twelve-string!
Last week (in this post) we warned you against waiting until the last minute to get tickets to see Chelsea Berry at Shalin Liu on Feb 9.
You may have thought we were just helping promote her concert, but you’d be wrong. That concert will sell out. Chelsea Berry doesn’t need our help promoting it. That’s because she’s a rising star, which is precisely why Northshore Magazine chose to feature her in their latest issue (see here).
We posted the warning so you wouldn’t miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see her debut new music with her new band at one of the most spectacular venues anywhere on Earth.
It won’t be long before tickets to a Chelsea Berry concert will cost at least a hundred bucks, they’ll sell out in a day, and even if you’re lucky enough to get them, you’ll very likely be a lot farther from the stage than the last row at Shalin Liu is. Plus you’ll have to drive an hour and pay for parking.
Don’t take our stellar talent and venues here on Cape Ann for granted. Look at it this way: It’s a Sunday in the dead of winter, yet there’s plenty of good live music to choose from tonight. See the lineup here.
Not what, who? You don’t think Jalapenos is going to cancel their wicked popular Tuesday night music — even though Dan King is off to the west coast, do you? Nope. This coming Tuesday, Dave Brown, Dave Mattacks and Wolf Ginandes (BM&G) will be joined by Allen Estes, hence: EBMG.
But don’t wait for Tuesday, lots of great live music this weekend. See the full live music schedule here.
Here’s a quick farewell to GMG FOBs video we shot just before filming the Local Music Seen Dan King Farewell Special featuring J.B. Amero. You can see part 2 of the special on Cape Ann TV Channel 12, this Sunday (Jan 6) at 6pm.
Allen will play a request for you on Tuesday if you can tell him the name of the song he quoted to Dan in this video.
Saturday, January 12th at 7 pm
“Café Shalom”, featuring a night of classic jazz, will take place at TAA, on Saturday evening, January 12th, 2013.
The event will begin at 7 pm with jazz vocalist Henry Allen and his New Swing Set. At 8 pm, following an intermission, jazz vocalist Judith Murray and her trio will perform those classic jazz pieces. Judith will perform with pianist Chris Taylor, and bassist David Landoni.
Judith performs jazz standards from the Great American Songbook, the 1930s’ and 40s’ and 50s’ genre. It is the music that is classy, sultry, fine and mellow; and sometimes swinging! Judith’s sounds have a sophisticated, sassy, smooth and stunning quality; her interpretations often compared to the late Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington by the patrons and media alike.
Admission is $10 per person.
For more information, please contact David Wesson.
As of yesterday, there were only 50 tickets left to Chelsea Berry’s triumphant return to Shalin Liu with her new band, performing songs from her new CD. And the concert is on Feb 9 (five weeks from Saturday).
Do you really want to be one of those people who clicks on this link in two weeks and screams at the computer, Oh Sh*t, it’s sold out?
Just in case you missed her opening for Chris Isaak at North Shore Music Theatre last June, here’s a taste of what you can expect next month in a much more intimate setting:
Now just because it’s cold, doesn’t mean the weekend doesn’t start on Thursday. Good live music choices tonight. See the complete lineup here.
Of course, this LOL is only true for those of us who use the temperature scale developed by the inventor of the mercury thermometer, Mr. Fahrenheit.
This Law of Life, was inspired by Kevin Ricci of The Village Restaurant in Essex, whose answer to my question about why he always vacations in warm climates was, “I just don’t like when it’s colder than my age.”
It didn’t take me long to realize that Kevin was on to something. You can easily test this law by asking yourself at what temperature do you feel like you’re freezing. As predicted, that temperature (for me) is right about my age, which is considerably warmer than either the air or water will be tomorrow, hence the reason I will NOT be taking the plunge. (There’s part 1 of your answer to this post, Joey.)
Last year Vickie took the plunge, but she’s a year older now. More importantly, she’s a lot wiser, so she will not be taking the plunge either (part 2 of the answer). Now the Zip Line Kid, is certainly young enough not to feel freezing in 45 degree water, but his commentary in yesterday’s video was so good that he’ll be filming instead of plunging (part 3 of the answer). So we’ll bring donations to the Open Door, a camera, a commentator and plenty of enthusiasm for those young enough and/or crazy enough to plunge tomorrow.
But before we even think about tomorrow, we just have to point out just how much music is available tonight MORE THAN 70 SHOWS TO CHOOSE FROM! See the full NYE schedule here.
Here’s a wintry video from 25 years ago to get you into the NYE and plunge spirit:
These girls ROCK, but their version omits the 2nd half of the bridge from Simon & Garfunkel’s original. Does anybody know what those lyrics are? Here’s some help:
Don’t have buttons yet? Here’s where to get them:
In Rockport:
John Tarr Store, Main St.
Smith hardware & Lumber at the Lumber Desk
Toad Hall Bookstore, Main St.
In Gloucester:
Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, Commercial St.
House of Raven, Main St.
Gloucester Music, Main St.
Here’s a list of the live music (dozens of choices). The whole shebang goes from 6pm to midnight and is one of the best entertainment values of the year. You can download a map and complete schedule (in table format) here. Plus if the weather cooperates (which it just might) you can see the moon, Jupiter and its moons, and galaxies so far away they’ll convince you that you really are as insignificant as you thought — a great way to begin the new year. The Zip Line Kid and I are still talking about how much fun we had looking through the telescopes set up by the Gloucester Area Astronomy Club at Dock Sq.
Last year we were too late to get in to see Cape Ann Big band at Shalin Liu. We won’t make that mistake this year. Here’s a sample of what we missed:
Plenty of opportunities to get into the party spirit tonight (see complete live music listings here). Might be a good time to check out Mike O’Connell and his excellent band at Minglewood starting at 9pm.
I wish I could fly. That’s the title of a gorgeous Christmas song by Fly Amero & Allen Estes (Fly gets top billing — it’s not called I wish I could Allen).
You can hear this song on Aurelia Nelson’s show Curtain Up on North Shore 104.9 FM Tomorrow (Sunday, Dec 23) at 9am. You’ll also hear a beauty by Aaron Neville. If you were lucky, you saw Aaron Neville at North Shore Music Theatre in August with Henri Smith opening.
And tonight you’ve got excellent live music choices in all four Cape Ann towns. See the live music lineup here.
Lots of reasons to feel fine today. Here are two good ones.
These guys are true rock stars who understand audience participation.
http://youtu.be/woaS5cKqnUY
The greatest rock stars of all time. Drowned out by of all the screaming, they couldn’t hear a thing. But they stayed in tune, on beat and connected with the audience who would have torn them apart if they could have gotten to the stage.
Stormy, but no snow to get in the way of feeling fine tonight. Get out there and party! See all the great live music you can party to here.
We’ve been hearing so much about tomorrow’s end of the world that we figured today is a good time to consider a fresh start–after the world ends tomorrow. Funny, the Mayan’s don’t think the world will end tomorrow. But that hasn’t stopped crazies around the world from fearing 12/21/12. According to this article, the Mayans will “mark the new calendar with prayer and traditional ceremonies.”
So perhaps we should too. After all, it is the winter solstice, a time when people of all traditions look to the return of the light — both physically (days will start getting longer on Saturday) and spiritually. A good time to open Pandora’s box back up and grab the hope that still lies at the bottom.
Here’s a hopeful view of the world as sung by the great Louis Armstrong.
You wouldn’t think of this song as controversial, would you? But it was when it was released in 1967, because of it’s subtle, anti-racist tone, mostly due to this stanza:
The colors of the rainbow
so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces
of people going by
ABC Records refused to promote it, so it sold fewer than 1000 copies in the U.S., while becoming a huge #1 hit in the U.K. Of course, it’s a standard now and was performed beautifully by Gloucester’s youngest rock star, Snoop Maddie Mad this past June:
So much for the genius of record labels.
No major label artists in town this weekend, but who cares? Check out Gloucester’s major talent (see complete live music schedule here) and get ready to party like it’s the end of the world!
Those of you who like Christmas music are in luck tonight. Fly Amero is signing Christmas songs with his brother J.B. and Allen Estes at the Rhumbline tonight starting at 8pm.
Then catch the Local Music Seen with Allen Estes 2011 Christmas Special at 11pm on Cape Ann TV Channel 12 (originally aired last year) featuring Dan King, Daisy Nell & Capt. Stan, Ann Marie, Bradley Royds, Inge Berge, Chelsea Berry, Dave Sag, Courtney Reid and Allen’s son Dylan Estes. Here’s a video of many of the performers singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town. (see more air times here)
Of course, there’s lots of other excellent music in town (not necessarily Christmas — see full schedule here), including Dennis Monagle with Marina Evans, Joe Cardoza and Dave Brown at Minglewood Tavern starting at 9pm.
OK, you’ve had Ladies Night and Men’s Night, but you’re still not done. Or if you’re like me you haven’t started yet. We went to Men’s night last night and what did I do? Saw the Two Buddies Show at Alchemy, bought cheese, pate and olives at The Cave (I know I was supposed to by buying gifts, but I was hungry), talked with lots of people I don’t see every day and then it was late and Vickie and John (who had been Christmas shopping the whole time) wanted to go. Oh well, guess I’ll go back to plan A, which is to start my shopping at noon on Christmas Eve. Then I’m focused.
But wait! You don’t have to procrastinate like I do. You can get New Years Rockport Eve buttons for everybody still on your list. It really is one of the best entertainment values you will ever get on Cape Ann with dozens of artists performing all over Rockport from 6 to midnight — and beyond (see live music schedule here). Plus magic, puppetry, story telling, fortune telling, face painting, balloon making and lots more for kids and parents.
Here’s where you can get buttons:
In Rockport:
John Tarr Store, Main St.
Smith hardware & Lumber at the Lumber Desk, 3 Station Square
Toad Hall Bookstore, Main St.
In Gloucester:
Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, Commercial St.
House of Raven, Main St.
Gloucester Music, Main St.
OK, now you’re done . . . and you can relax and enjoy all the great music this weekend. You’ve got over 30 choices between now and Sunday. See the full live music schedule here.
Good Morning Gloucester 