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Monday, May 15th, 2017

Valley View ES on Monday

I headed out for a session with the Pre-K and K classes in Califon, NJ, part of my wish to make up for the poor weather and showing for the school’s PTA fundraiser earlier in the month. I felt that I had restored some balance, having gotten a big check for few kids back then. We gathered in the all-purpose room and I did the afternoon session without a sound system. It was fun and worth not getting paid for this session.

I picked out a lad in a wheelchair to play the Thunder Tube for Giants, and his teacher was particularly thrilled that I did. It seemed the natural thing to do. There were lots of hands raised early on, kids wanting to say something but I had to roll on. One boy got in the observation that I had played there in the fall with RockRoots. That was nice. One pre-K kid up front put his hands over his ears and the teacher escorted him to the side. That brought about several other kids putting their hands over their ears too. Sheesh. Everyone is a critic.

It was a bright, sunny day and a way to spend the afternoon doing what I do best.

Thursday, May 11th, 2017

A cold Sunday gig in New Jersey

I was hired to play for a PTA fundraiser in rural Western NJ on Sunday, and I got my asking price. I was looking forward to playing for big group of kids. Not to be. It was a cold and showery day with torrential downpours on my way to my 6 pm set. When I got to the community park around 5 pm, there were few families around. The lady in charge asked me to set up quickly and start in, in order to maintain some activity. I dove in, set up in the pavilion and began. A few girls were encouraged to come over, pick up an instrument and I something to work with. Over the course of the next hour, I engaged those girls and several others who came over, and we had a great time. The other folks manning the games, food vendors and volunteers reacted from their tables while dealt with the girls. It was too cold and too late in the day for this to work.

I felt especially bad by accepting the check but offered a free visit to the school in the next couple of weeks to do an in-house classroom visit with the little kids. I’d rather be playing for the kids than making a big payday. I’m pretty sure that the PTA found the funds from local sources for my services but it was awkward. I look forward to my return to the school as karmic payback.

Friday, May 5th, 2017

First Farmers Market of the season

It was a fine, sunny day for the Campus Square Farmers Market, and I was pleased that my friend Mike Duck invited me to share the gig with him. We had a short session to prepare so I felt comfortable backing him up on mandolin, something few people ask me to do.

We traded every other song, so I got to play some of my tunes as well. Familiar faces from Lehigh drifted by and it was a good day in the neighborhood.

Sunday, April 23rd, 2017

Holy Infancy Sisters Dinner

It was an honor to be asked to celebrate an evening at my local parochial school for the  The Sisters Scholarship Dinner. I had been introduced to this school during the PASELA residency about ten years ago, and have fostered a wonderful relationship with the teachers and kids over the years. I’ve done workshops, Christmas assemblies, playground visits and more over the years, and I had a chance to talk about it tonight.

Since I wasn’t allowed to play, I resurrected (appropriate choice of words) my LVMA speech about “playing” music. It was a good point of reference.

“In play, a vast world opens up our minds and souls to creativity, risk taking, interpersonal connections, and, most amazingly, time disappears. It was my songwriter friend Bob Franke who once wrote “Let your dreams bind your work to your play.” I continue to realize how precious these musical moments are.”

It was particularly nice to let my colleagues at this school know that I think about what I do, and how this school helped me define what I do. I learned “The Tutti Tah” from this school’s preschool, and I eventually used it at the Philly Folk Fest in front of thousands of people. I let them know tonight. Indeed, my Playground CD starts off with the sounds of Holy Infancy’s kids on the playground next door.

Sister Therese asked for my Playground CD at the end of my visit. I was tickled to put it in her hand and I told her, “Crank it up!” She will. A good night in my neighborhood.

Sunday, April 23rd, 2017

Earth Day at Durham Nockamixon ES on Friday

I had an assembly at a school I’ve played over the last 30 years, ostensibly for Earth Day. I don’t have a whole lot of material, but one teacher I’ve known for a while suggested several, so it was a good jog of the memory. As it turns out, working up the kids was just fine.

I forgot my guitar strap (that’s how seldom I’ve been doing assemblies these days) but purloined a stool from the music teacher. The kids were ready and off we went. We sang “Happy Earthday to You” to start and added Down in the Dumps, We Gave Names, Branching Out to the mix.

One of the lunchroom ladies came out and danced, to the delight of everyone.

When I finished with All Around the Kitchen, and the kids came up with some new dances. One girl did a very cool move and she called it “Comfortably Numb” and I laughed and laughed. The photographer who was taking some nice pix was in the back and he lost it. She was referring to a Pink Floyd song, a drug song, no less, and it was extremely curious as to how she came up with that one.

It was a good session with a great group of teachers and students. The teachers and principal loved it and that was gratifying, since I haven’t been doing a lot of these assemblies.

Thursday, April 13th, 2017

Seder on Monday

I picked up an interesting gig from a friend who suggested me for a family seder outside of Pottstown. It’s been a family tradition for the Seger’s to have some musical entertainment after the meal, so I was available. I did an hour or so of my ‘adult’ material (whatever that is) in a living room setting for three generations of the family. It was hard work, but I was able to involve the grandparents, their kids and their adult kids. Thanks to some cheap theatrics (thunder tubes and red sunglasses), we did some singalongs like Peanut Butter, My Girl, Giants, etc. and the ten folks had a good time, laughing with each other and simply being a family. I was a little out of my element, but it worked. A Monday gig!

Thursday, April 6th, 2017

Vocals in the studio

With drums, bass and guitar in the can, it’s time to start doing my final vocals on the songs. Kevin just picked up a really good vocal mike, one that can be dialed up to match some vintage and very expensive microphones, and, of itself, has a very clean and flat sound. Kevin was quite pleased with the maiden voyage of this equipment and I was glad to be the guinea pig.

The plan was to do three takes of each song and be able to cobble a good version out of them. It also gave me the chance to warm up to each song and crank up my performance values as well. It worked. There were muffs and errors along the way, forgetting a verse, etc., but the studio process deals with that sort of thing quite well. I know and Kevin knows so we work well together punching in the corrections.

We worked on Don’t Call Me Early, False From True, Giant, Louise and Rosie is a Friend of Mine. It was about a three hour session but it moves quickly when I’m in the zone. It is more work than usual since I’m now dealing with an upper denture that affects my diction. I have to be very careful with my ‘sss’ and other minor distractions, but, thanks to my theater and other recording work, I’m used to annunciating clearly. It’s on my mind, though, and I try to focus on the performance. It’s quite intense.

It turned out well, and we will get some very good stuff out of it. I also realize that my pitch is less than perfect, but having the headphones on helps a good bit. I’m afraid that my live performances suffer from some of this rag-ear, and contribute to a certain vocal inconsistency that my good performance skills have to make up for. So it goes.

Thursday, April 6th, 2017

Third Street Alliance

Another session with the preschoolers with a few new songs left in the bag. The kids were ready when I came in so I tried out Sally Go Round the Sun as a simple sing along, especially with the ‘whoop’ at the end. I got them up to get the blood moving. I also do “Ants Go Marching”, worked on more rhyming skills as well as letting them come up with some ideas. I also did Watermelon with the slurp traveling the room, including and concluding with a woman, Lynn, with a note pad in the back. I found out eventually that she was doing an article for the Alliance about my residency in the preschool. She enjoyed the whole session and it was fun to have someone new and adult in the crowd.

We reviewed Peanut Butter and Jelly, just for giggles. I brought along my bag of instruments today and waited for the end of the session to break it out. I was going to do Jelly in the Dish, another new one for these kids and as I opened the bag, I thought that just emptying the stuff out was a little too chaotic, and I hadn’t used the scarves yet, so came up with yet another brilliant idea that I can use further down the line.

I passed out the scarves and the kids immediately started to play with them. I went along with them and we tried over the head, ninja masks and other delights. They led the way. I introduced the first verse and had them hang on to the scarves as we sang, wave them around and at the very end, the last ‘dish…..’ throw them in the air. That way the kids didn’t start tossing them up and around til the end. It worked well. After several verses, the kids were picking up on singing, making the kitchen sounds in the sound and then trading scarves with other kids. It was a rich session, with movement, color, social interaction and it became a performance piece that I can use in some of my gigs this summer.

Sometimes I amaze myself.

Tuesday, March 28th, 2017

Godfreys Blue Jam – Part III

It has been a good, creative day on the planet, and I looked forward to a more informal acoustic jam at Godfreys tonight. It has always been a low-key event, with a few familiar faces as well as some new folks. Tonight was no different. I started out with a couple of tunes, some new folks filtered in, one guy listening, and away we went. A nice mix of styles, finger picked, raw groove stuff, New Orleans, Chicago, etc. Dobro, several guitars, harp and friendly conversation. One couple on guitar and dobro traveled from over an hour away, and had a great time, saying that there are no acoustic jams around. Probably true.

And though it was a three gig day, the energy of playing music made the day flow by……

Friday, March 24th, 2017

In the studio

I’m wrapping up the acoustic guitar tracks for the CD, having done the scratch vocals and guitar tracks and Kevin’s drums and Kjell’s bass down. Today I worked on Legends, Lessons from Pete and Ten Men. We did two takes of each songs with two mikes – perhaps later on we’ll be able to spread the guitar across two speakers and even doubling the guitar to fatten out the sound. Kevin’s good to work with, and I’m able to punch in when I make a mistake and create a smooth and strong rhythm track. It was particularly fun to play along with drums and bass for the first time, and the songs are starting to take on a life of their own. Once I get a chance to hear these cuts, I can start thinking about adding other instruments and “ear candy” on the songs.

Next week we start on my finished vocals, another performance challenge.

 

Friday, March 24th, 2017

Another Easton preschool visit on Thursday

Making up for the snow last week, I made it to the Third Street Alliance for another visit with the kids. This time I brought my Eastman mandolin. I also had the opportunity to refresh some of the songs I’ve introduced already, just to see what has sunk in with the kids. The five year olds really have retained quite a bit.

I did Rosalie, Where are You Going with the kids, and several kids coming up front to take the lead. It was great to see the kids take charge and ‘perform’ in front of their fellow students. I also brought up a boy and a girl to lead on Peanut Butter and Jelly, both enjoying taking the lead. All part of passing off my lead to the kids. We also did Jimalong Joe with their dance moves added in.

I also started the process of writing a graduation song by asking them what their favorite moments were in the school day. They came up with playing with friends, stuffed animals, building lego houses, painting the outside wall with water, a visit to a pumpkin patch, singing along. A good start to the process.

Friday, March 24th, 2017

Dave’s Night Out with Rolly Brown

This was going to be a good one, with Rolly Brown and the Art of Fingerpicking Guitar. We traded tunes though I was severely outgunned, but it worked well. I was able to play Delia, Charlie James and Creation Dream, while we talked about Rev. Gary Davis, Dave Van Ronk, Erik Frandsen, Bruce Cockburn, Steve Mann and other guitar heroes. Rolly was especially good at telling stories, talking about theory and various blues styles and he was able to demonstrate the differences.

There was a good turnout for this one, which felt good, and Rolly was a great guest. One regular fellow said, “I know I sound like a broken record, but this was the best one yet!”

Thursday, March 23rd, 2017

After the snow…. part 2

I headed up to Fountain Hill ES for the afternoon session, again two weeks after our last visit. I did Giants with Thunder Tubes, worked in the banjo and She’ll  Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain, and then concentrated on writing a verse to The Cat Came Back. We came up with:

The Cat was at Fountain Hill, prowling the hall,

He saw the Music Room, a guitar on the wall.

He strummed a Beatles tune, one by Justin Bieber, too,

The music teacher said, “Don’t touch my stuff, hit the road, shoo.

We were in the music room with the music teacher as we wrote this, so it was great to have her input on the last verse, so the kids can now sing it with feeling.

The project is headed towards a song about one of the ‘good habits’ that the district is promoting and I’m looking towards the one “Sharpen the Saw”, encouraging healthful habits to take care of your body by eating right, exercising and getting sleep. I asked about things that they do, when they know things are right. I brought up having my guitar in tune. Other ideas popped up like a sharp pencil, a cold ice cream cone on a hot day, soccer on fresh grass, smooth paint brush, slam dunk in basketball, and other good ideas that we’ll work on next week.

Another good session.

 

Thursday, March 23rd, 2017

After the snow…. part 1

I lost a couple of gigs last week due to the foot of snow last week, so I was ready to get back to work this Tuesday with the Easton pre-school in the morning and the Fountain Hill after school program in the afternoon.

The day care kids were ready when I got in, and we proceeded to get to work. I asked them what do they remember from last time (two weeks ago) and there was some remarkable retention, especially with the Bear Hunt and Peanut Butter and Jelly. Today I introduced the banjo to everyone’s delight, and we worked on She’ll be Coming ‘Round the Mountain and it was a hoot. I’ve developed some of the movements in the verses that lots of fun, and not the tame version that I’m sure some music classes use.

We added “Dorney Park Waterslide” and a “Jungle” to Bear Hunt, and that turned out to be a good exploratory session.

Wednesday, March 15th, 2017

House Concert on Sunday

My friend, Tom Church, invited me back for another house concert along the Delaware, north of Easton. I did this last year with pianist Dan DeChellis and Tom, and this year he invited Paul Thiessen to join us. It was a fund raiser for the UU Church in Bethlehem, so there were a few familiar faces from my time there in the ’90s. A friendly and hip audience, for sure. Tom wrote up two sets of his material, practiced some with Paul, and trusted Dan and myself to figure out the tunes on the fly. I played mandolin for the most part, Paul played banjo and some guitar, Dan is an established jazz pianist, so he had no trouble supporting us all.

The area was a comfortable living room and adjoining sitting room, lots of wood, a fire in the fireplace, and the four of us on stools. Tom had finagled a sound system, but I figured I would be heard in this space acoustically. It felt good to pick on the mandolin, figure out the chords, sit out, if need be, and add to sound. There were quite a few tunes I knew, and I found my spots.

The cool thing was that we all had our antennas up, listened to the song and each other and made it work. That’s probably what the folks in the seats probably enjoyed most, the interaction between the musicians, and not as much for the set list. Tom has a strong history in singer/songwriter during the 70’s, an album on Fretless Records, and some travels to Boston and the West Coast. He hasn’t been playing much recently, so this afternoon was a great opportunity to play his repertoire in from of friends. It was very nice to support him, and enjoy playing backup mandolin for two sets. Works for me!

I had one solo in the second set, so I did Lessons from Pete, and had the lads come in during the jam at the end. It was the only tune I played on guitar the whole afternoon.

Tom gave me some bucks, I sold a few Open Mike CD’s and headed home as the sun went down on 22.   Good. Local. Music.

Wednesday, March 8th, 2017

Back in the schools this week – Rose’s preschool on Wednesday

My friend Lisa invited me to do a morning show with a group of about 30 preschoolers at a comfortable facility in Pen Argyl, PA. It was good to be one the road again, making some money and playing for kids. Things have been slow, especially recuperating from the operation over the last week.

The kids and the four teachers were primed and ready, waiting for me as I arrived. We did The Bear Hunt, I Wanna Be a Dog, Down By the Bay, etc. and we were rolling along, singing, moving, laughing and playing. I had another opportunity to use the 1, 2, 3 method of instrument playing, and, again, it worked perfectly, maintaining some control in what could be a chaotic situation.

I finished with Magic Penny and took some time at the end to reflect on what we did together, an important way of centering ourselves, and giving the kids a way to express to themselves (and, importantly, their parents) what we just experienced over the last hour together. It’s important to not let the experiences slip away. I was able to do this for the last three gigs this week and I’m glad it’s part of the routine, just as writing these reflections has become.

RockRoots tomorrow in NJ. A busy week getting back up in the saddle.

Wednesday, March 8th, 2017

Back in the schools this week – Fountain Hill afterschool

The second gig on Tuesday was the first of four visits to Fountain Hill ES for a songwriting residency. Eventually we’ll try to write a song about one of the Seven Healthy Habits that the school district is promoting. But, today was our getting-to-know each other session. The music teacher and two middle school kids joined in with myself and about 10 2nd and 3rd graders, most fairly energetic and creative kids. They were familiar with The Cat Came Back from music class, so we sang that one. We’ll write a verse for that one in the coming weeks. I also introduced We Gave Names to the Animals and proceeded to write a verse about the Lorax, the Dr. Suess character. So, we were off and running on our songwriting adventure.

They were familiar with The Bear Hunt, so we added a couple of excursions to that one as well. This will be a good group of writers and explorers as well. We’ll have some good material to share with the school later on in spring.

I hit one snag while I was getting the kids up and moving. One very shy boy, Mason, didn’t get up to join in with the other exuberant kids, and I insisted that he should. He immediately broke down into tears. Ooops. I apologized and the teacher quickly applied Kleenex and TLC while I tried to continue on with the others. The teacher whispered to me that he was musically interested but painfully shy. (Different learning abilities). He eventually gained control and, though I avoided direct eye contact, I noticed that he was smiling and participating on a very low keyed level. The teacher said that it was good that he didn’t leave and stuck it out. I now have to figure out how to incorporate him in the discussions and workshop without being a threat. This will be one of the challenges and I look forward in learning how to do this.

We opened up some good avenues for creative writing, movement and active participation, well on the way to a good songwriting residency. Though I’m still at 80%, it was good to be in my element.

Wednesday, March 8th, 2017

Back in the schools this week – Easton Learning Center

I’ve landed a couple of  residencies that will bring me into a school weekly for visits. I particularly enjoy using these situations as a laboratory, to get to know the kids better over time, gauge the progress of the kids, and force myself to be able to bring new experiences for the kids and myself. It’s quite a bit different than the once-and-done assemblies where I use my tried-and-true material.

Tuesday morning was the first visit to the Learning Center at the Third Street Alliance for Women and Children in the old YWCA building in downtown Easton. I’m signed up for seven weeks of weekly visits with the preschool kids. One of the teachers remembers me from my PASELA work eight years ago in Bethlehem. The first visit usually features my standard pre-school material as I get a grip on the kids abilities and the opportunity to have some fun.

When I came in, one comment popped up, “He’s old!” I said, “Yes, I’m 146 years old!” I love the opportunity to warm up the kids with humor, facial expressions and silliness, and it sets the stage for the rest of visit. This age still doesn’t quite know what rhyming is all about. Down By the Bay is an example. What sounds like “cat” immediately is translated as ‘meow’, and not a rhyme for the word cat. But that’s why I’m here.

I eventually broke out the instruments and we worked on my 1, 2, 3 system of 1 (silence), 2 (beat) and 3 (sizzle or shake). The kids picked up right away and it’s a good technique in controlling the potential chaos of everyone playing all at the same time. It worked well, even at this age.

It was my first school gig after my operation, the first of two for the day. A good start.

Tuesday, March 7th, 2017

Lehigh Valley Music Awards on Sunday

I was looking forward to catching up with many of my fellow performers at this large event at SteelStacks. I was going to present some awards with Dina Hall later on in the festivities, and I was up for several awards myself.

Last year I received a Lifetime Achievement Award and gave a speech for that, as well as having my kids Jaimie and Rosalie on hand as well, so I was quite a bit more relaxed on Sunday. The first award I received was the Community Radio Personality, one that I was quite shocked to get last year. It was a mild surprise, especially when I consider my rather minor presence on the air with Live from Godfreys and Sunday Folk. I strolled up and got the award and didn’t make a speech.

The second award was for Outstanding Children’s Performer, one that I am proud of. This year, as I strolled up, they played ‘The Cat Came Back’ through the speakers (sounding really fat!) and as I got up to the podium, I led the crowd in singing the chorus. That was a nice touch. I thanked the folks and mentioned that Kira and Robbi, the other performers nominated, that I respected them tremendously and that they knew what they were doing.

The last award was for Outstanding Folk Solo/Band and, again, I was proud to get this one, just so that folks would know that I’m still performing at the top of my game. I do wish there was some more ‘merit’ involved with the process, since I would have enjoyed my friend Anne Hills receiving this award.

I do have a strong local reputation, and that’s why I receive the notice, but I’m also quite aware that these are niche awards in a small market. Running Godfreys and doing radio, I know where I am in the big picture, especially with friends like John Gorka, et al. But I am gratified that I get recognition in front of my peers in the music industry in my home town.

Tuesday, March 7th, 2017

Friday’s Homegrown Series.

It was a First Friday on the SouthSide, and I put together a round robin with my friends Bill Schachter and Pete Gustavsen (Scapegrace). Again, a significantly small crowd, but I particularly enjoy passing tunes around with friends. Peter is a solid songwriter with a Ray Orbison voice and quirky pop tunes and Bill possesses and equally quirky sense of humor. We enjoyed each other’s company and the time passed quickly.