My View of Life on the Dock
Last month Beverly tried their hand at throwing a block party and it was very well attended. So they’re doing it again this Saturday from 5:30-9:30pm. And they’ve got BARRENCE WHITFIELD leading off the music at 5:30. Now that’ll be a rockin’ block party. Just in case you’re not sure what I’m talking about check this out:
Here’s a video of the first Beverly Block Party. It’s nice to see our neighbor picking up on our success!
Over the past few years, we’ve profiled a number of rising stars from Cape Ann. Here’s our latest pick for whom to watch: Alexandra Valenti. Her insightful songs and endearing spirit captivate audiences and keep you listening, wanting more.
You can see her live at the Town Hall Stage at 3pm during Manchester’s Festival by the Sea this Saturday. And you can be introduced to her on Local Music Seen with Allen Estes tomorrow (WED) at 6:30pm on Cape Ann TV Channel 12. She sings three wonderfully original songs and speaks candidly — and with wisdom beyond her years — about the songwriting process and music business. Here’s a taste of what you can expect:
“I’m on a tightrope, balancing myself so I don’t choke on fear.” You can tell she’s going places if she’s already writing lyrics like that. You might as well catch this rising star while you can close to home. It won’t be long before she’s playing big venues far away for a steep ticket price.
Next Monday 7/29, we’re filming two Local Music Seen with Allen Estes shows for Cape Ann TV at their studio at 38 Blackburn Center (see map). Filming will begin around 2:30pm. Allen’s guests will be Joe Thomas & Memory Lane of Giuseppe’s, who hosted the very popular Noise Magazine Singer Songwriter Shuffle. There will be a break after filming Joe & Memory and then we’ll begin filming a show with very talented, young singer/songwriter Alexandra Valenti as Allen’s Guest. Here’s Alexandra at the Singer Songwriter Shuffle.
People are welcome to attend as guests. If you’d like to attend, please be there by 2:30pm. And please be patient as we have to test sound and lights and often we have to move stuff around and mess with various gadgets to get things just right.
If you’d like to be notified, by email, of all future Local Music Seen with Allen Estes tapings (along with other concert info before the public knows) you can join our gimmeLIVE Concert Club here.
Did you see Ned & the Big Babies at Dog Bar during the Block Party? Wow! Tight, crisp, rockin’ sound; you just can’t help but move around! These guys are one of the most entertaining bands in Gloucester. And the best thing is that you could hear them all the way up on Main Street. I saw people dancing their way down to Dog Bar’s gorgeous outdoor dining spot on their Rogers St. side because you couldn’t just walk, you had to dance. Thankfully, nobody took any photos of me dancing down there (at least none that I know of).
Imagine what kind of party you could throw with a whole CD of new Ned & the Big Babies songs. Now click here and help make that happen! Not so sure? Watch the video:
The thing about risk is that when it pays off, you end up with something far better than what you would have gotten had you gone the safe route and avoided the risk altogether. But risk is scary and losing really sucks, so most people avoid it.
Last week, in this post, I congratulated Eric Engel and the Gloucester Stage Board for taking the risk to open their season with the controversial Broadway musical, Spring Awakening (the original play was banned), by saying that Eric had brought Broadway to Gloucester.
Well, as it turns out, Eric’s direction and the cast’s performances are so good that reviewers are proclaiming Gloucester Stage’s production BETTER THAN BROADWAY! Check these out:
Now you can reap the reward of Eric’s risk without having to take any risk yourself! That’s the good news. The bad news is that you only have another week to see this groundbreaking show. So don’t delay. Get tickets NOW, before anybody else reads these reviews and the rest of the shows sell out out and all you can do is kick yourself.
Fiesta Sunday is the big day (see the schedule here). This year one our local favorites, Cape Ann Big Band, kicks off the official Fiesta Sunday music from the St. Peter’s Park Stage at 3pm — and they have a terrific lineup of guest vocalists: Kate Barry, Mari Martin, Carolyn Seavey, and Steve Russo! You just don’t want to miss this. Here’s a taste of their talent from their first year of performing — and they get better every year!
Of course there’s music all day and into the night on Sunday all over Cape Ann — 16 live shows as of this posting. Always check the complete live music listings for latest updates.
Shayna Seymour reports on efforts to goose up Gloucester’s appeal to tourists.
Gloucester’s art colony; Sigird Olsen’s new venture; fishing gear from a truck.
Fishing rules and regulations shake up the industry; switching to lobsters; one of the Wicked Tuna captains
Gloucester’s own Mardi Gras, the St. Peter’s Fiesta; the greased pole contest.
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7:00 pm  INGE BERGE
Singer Songwriter Shuffle w/ Dave Simmons, Sarah Hoonah Smith, Julie Dougherty & Kathy Comeau,
FREE SHOW
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| 7:00 pm TONI ANN ENES
Singer Songwriter Shuffle w/ Brian O’Connor
FREE SHOW
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8:00 pm KINGSTON TRIO one of America’s most beloved folk and pop groups, returns to the Shalin Liu Performance Center
37 Main Street, Rockport, MA 01966
Phone: 978-546-7391 |
| 8:30 pm BRIAN FINES
open mic
FREE SHOW
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| 8:30 pm DAVE SAG’S BLUES PARTY
w/ Ed Scheer, Rick Russell & Mario Perrett
FREE SHOW
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| 9:00 pm BRADLEY ROYDS
And Friends
FREE SHOW
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9:00 pm DJ VITO
“SHAKE IT THURSDAYS”
FREE SHOW
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| 9:30 pm WALLYS FUNK BAND
FREE SHOW
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7:00 pm LINDA AMERO
Menage a Trio w. Jack Senier & Thomas Hebb
FREE SHOW
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| 7:00 pm PETER SERKIN
Rockport Chamber Music Festival Opening Gala
37 Main Street, Rockport, MA 01966
Phone: 978-546-7391 |
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7:30 pm RUNA |
| 7:30 pm BOB AND JEN STROM |
| 8:00 pm THE DUBTONE HORNS
Bridge Deck – Reggae On The River
FREE SHOW
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| 8:30 pm JOE THOMAS
dueling pianos w/ Ricky Lauria
FREE SHOW
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| 9:00 pm THE LISA LOVE EXPERIENCE
FREE SHOW
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| 9:00 pm AT ALL COSTS
FREE SHOW
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| 9:00 pm DAVE BAILIN AND THE BAILOUTS
rock/blues/classic rock
FREE SHOW
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| 9:30 pm TWO BASS HIT
FREE SHOW
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9:30 pm NED AND THE BIG BABIES rock pop rock indie
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We told you there’d be last minute updates and guess what, there are. Henri Smith, Joe Wilkins, Gary Shane and others have agreed to join Will Hunt‘s production of Cape Ann Rocks for the Rockaways tomorrow from 4-midnight at The Hive.
OK, we’ve gotten some questions about this benefit. People asking, Who are the Rockaways? It’s not who; it’s where. The Rockaways are a section of New York that was just creamed by Superstorm Sandy. People who live there are a long way from getting back to normal and need help (see articles here and here). One of my heroes, physicist Richard Feynman, was born in Far Rockaway. Among other discoveries, Feynman figured out what caused the Challenger Space Shuttle to crash. Check out this video for a great story of how he reluctantly agreed to join the Commission investigating the Challenger disaster and what happened next:
Speaking of videos, we’ve got some new ones on gimmesound — and we now feature them more prominently on the Home Page. If you’ve got a music video you think we should feature, leave a comment and let us know.
And what a weekend for Live music, which starts at 1:30pm today and 11:30am tomorrow and goes on into the late night both days! See full live music schedule here.
Here’s another video of Shemekia Copeland (Queen of the Blues) at the Gloucester Blues Festival with yet another powerful song that shows off her band as well as her remarkable voice (see yesterday’s post if you missed the song that gave me the chills).
Who’s that security guy walking in front of the stage at at about :30 seconds into the video? He looks so serious! You wouldn’t wanna mess with him would ya?
Just in case you missed getting Shemekia’s excellent CDs signed at the Blues Fest, you can order one here and ask her to sign it next time you see her (see tour schedule).
It’s a testament to Gloucester’s stature as a music destination that we can attract major international recording artists, the caliber of Shemekia’s Copeland, for our very first Blues Festival. Perhaps it’s because of the tremendously talented musicians who live here.
Don’t take them for granted. Check Cape Ann’s live music schedule and go see them now. Some day you may have to drive an hour and pay a hundred bucks to see artists you can see this weekend right here on Cape Ann for free.
Shemekia Copeland’s astounding performance was the climax of Gloucester’s Blues Festival 2 weeks ago. We blogged all day from the festival, but never showed you any of Shemekia’s set — so here you go: In this video, she walks the crowd singing without a mic, while the band plays from the stage. Perfect mix; powerful music; gave me the chills.
We’ve had a busy month of festivals, here in Gloucester. This weekend we’ve got 28 artists in 16 venues — two of which are schooners. And that’s just Friday & Saturday (see the Friday & Saturday live music lineup here). You’d think it was another festival. Nope. Just more evidence of Cape Ann’s thriving music scene.
Start the weekend a little early with the epic Seafood Throwdown rematch today at 4pm at the Farmer’s Market at Stage Fort Park. Then the Harbor Loop Concert — 12 live music choices in all. See tonight’s live music lineup here.
Honoring our past while embracing our future — through stories. Most of us think we know the past. Old stories. History classes. But if we really want to honor our past, we must feel it, not just memorize it.
The Harbor Walk helps us feel by getting us to participate in the experience of bringing the past to life using bleeding-edge technology. Watch this “Walking Cinema” video (designed to be played on your smart-phone while you walk) for just one example of why today’s Times Editorial says, “Through the new HarborWalk, the city has taken story-telling to an entirely new level …”
Ann Marie, of the Bandit Kings (certainly part of Gloucester’s promising future) literally walks us into the past through old postcards woven with imaginative narration over current video of Gloucester Harbor so we can feel Howard Blackburn’s journey.
Why should we honor the past? There are more reasons than you’d want to read in this post, so I’ll keep it to one: It’s us. It’s where we’ve come from. The past touches the core of our being. Honoring the past honors ourselves, which is necessarily the first step in helping anyone else, or trying to make the world a better place.
Why should we embrace the future? (You can see this coming, right?) It’s where we’re going — whether we like it or not. It’s our destiny.
The Harbor Walk doesn’t just embrace the future with new technologies and gadgets. It also does it through native flower gardens that bloom spectacularly — right now, this fall, next year and every year; and through state-of-the-art recycled materials and lighting mixed with ancient granite posts.
Most of all, the Harbor Walk embraces our future by bringing people to the waterfront — Old, young and yet to be born. People will feel our past through these stories that fill us with the essence of Gloucester so each one of us can embrace our future grounded in our Gloucesterness and prepared for what ever comes our way.
You can experience the Harbor Walk starting tomorrow at 1pm with the ribbon cutting. And you can continue the experience all weekend long. See tomorrow’s Harbor Walk schedule here — and you can download the full weekend Harbor Walk schedule here.
These schedules highlight a few official Harbor Walk activities, plus dozens of others (under the heading Step Out into Gloucester) that were going on anyhow and are proof that Gloucester’s rich cultural heritage is alive today and will be carried into the future.
You can help that process along by participating. See you there . . .
Being a waterfront community, you’d expect Cape Ann to have plenty of restaurants, pubs & live music venues on the water — and we do. Tonight we also have two that are IN the water — literally. The Schooner Thomas E. Lannon is hosting a bluegrass sunset sail at 6pm featuring local legend Allen Estes with Gloucester’s best bluegrass musicians and Gloucester’s newest schooner, Ardelle, built by Howard Burnham (who build the Lannon) is hosting a sail at the same time with doo-wop/oldies girl group Honky Tonk Women of Glocuester.
Now, there are plenty of choices for those of you who wish to remain on land, from jazz standards, reggae, rock, funk, soul, motown — you name it. See the full live music lineup here.
A good way to judge the quality of an electric band is to hear them unplugged. This video proves that The Bandit Kings are one of Gloucester’s best. Here they are unplugged on a tiny TV set delivering all the power and energy of their fully electric shows. Plus Renee and Ann Marie’s harmonies are perfect!
The video above features one of three of their songs from their excellent show (Decompression off their excellent Precious Stones CD — get it here).
You can see the entire show this week on Cape Ann TV Channel 12 beginning Wednesday at 6:3opm. It also features one of Allen Estes‘ very popular (relatively new) songs, Peace and Harmony, which is not available anywhere for download or on CD. This is part of our summer reprise of the most requested shows from Local Music Seen with Allen Estes.
If you don’t have cable or you don’t live in Gloucester you can watch the entire show on-line here.
Best of all, you don’t have to wait until Wednesday to see the Bandit Kings. Go to the Rhumb Line tonight where they host the open jam to get your fix of one of Gloucester’s most distinctive sounds. And check out the enterprising way they are raising money to make a new record — a very good cause, indeed. I just donated and can’t wait to hear the new album.
The 4th is yesterday, but Summer has just begun and the Gloucester music scene is in full swing. Start out at Nights on the Neck at 5pm with Mamadou Diop. Just in case you’ve never seen him, check out the video below:
Then there’s great music all night long with Special Guest Evan Goodrow joining Dave Sag’s Blues Party at the Rhumb Line at 9:30. See sample of Dave Sag below:
Make a night of it! See the full live music lineup here.
St. Peter’s Fiesta 2012
Sunday, July 1
10:00 a.m…… Celebration of MASS OF ST. PETER….. at St. Peter’s Park
12:00 noon….. Procession following the Celebration of Outdoor Mass
3:00 p.m…… Blessing of the Fleet… Stacy Boulevard.
3:00 p.m… … Concert….United States Navy Band Northeast…St. Peter’s Park
4:45 p.m…… Sports Events…at Pavilion Beach
Seine Boat Races..&…Greasy Pole Contest
6:00 p.m…… Concert…..St. Alfio’s Band (One Hour) St. Peter’s Park
6:30 p.m…… Children’s Pinata Contest – Pascucci Court
7:15 p.m……. Awards Ceremony – Trophies awarded to winners of the Sports Events
8:30 p.m…… Musical Entertainment – St. Peter’s Park
featuring Gianni Faraone w/ Ray Cavichio &
his mini Big Band & Natalie Pinto
11:00 p.m…… Raffle Drawings and Closing Procession
OK, I said it. It’s the elephant in the room. We actually have friends who look at us like we’re mental patients when we say we LOVE FIESTA! There are only a few places on Earth where the whole city parties and invites tens of thousands of other people to join in. Rio and New Orleans come to mind. Not bad company for Gloucester to be in, is it? Just look at this video from last year:
The guys who didn’t get the pole aren’t cursing the winner. They’re cheering him and carrying him on their shoulders out of the water and up the street. That’s the spirit I’m talking about! A little more of this spirit on a daily basis would make all our lives better.
Plus there’s live music all over town (see full live music schedule here) and nearly everybody you run into is in a great mood for days at a time. So let’s have some fun, OK?
On Mardi Gras, Local Music Seen with Allen Estes went to Minglewood to shoot the sold out Mardi Gras on Rogers Street benefit for Y Teens Rebuild New Orleans. It took some time to edit all the footage and create a good show, but with the help of Cape Ann TV’s master director and editor, Lisa Smith, we finally got it done and the show airs TONIGHT at 6:30pm on Cable Channel 12.
In this video, you’ll see the complete (un-cut) version of Henri’s studio interview with Allen and a very unusual performance of Henri singing Route 66 accompanied by Allen on Guitar and harmonica. If you want to see the Mardi Gras footage, you’ll have to watch the show (we’ll put this show in the archives soon for those of you who don’t live on Cape Ann or don’t have cable. You’ll be able to find it here.)
After a nice hot day, you’ll want to cool off tonight at any of the six air-conditioned venues with great live music. See the cool live music lineup here.
Check out this new song by Allen Estes that premiered on Local Music Seen on June 6. Allen wrote the song with J. B. Amero in mind, thinking J. B. would do a great job with it — especially the end where he could scat and whail. What do you think? Tell us by leaving a comment.
Allen will likely stop by Jalapenos tonight and might even sit in and sing this new song and, if JB’s there, perhaps he’ll chime in too.
Don’t you love living in a town where stuff like this (and lots more — see full live music lineup here) happens on a Tuesday night? And it’s all FREE!
One of the many reasons I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else on earth.
This video gives FOB’s the very first look at Chelsea’s new band as they rehearse for their June 28 debut opening for Chris Isaak at North Shore Music Theatre (see Sunday Globe story about it here).
Sun is back and tonight there’s more live music in Gloucester than any other Monday this year. If you’re free right now, head on down to the Rose Baker Senior Center and catch Dave Sag and his Good Old Salty Jazz Band! See full live music lineup here.
Good Morning Gloucester 