The new year has just got off to a great start. Last Sunday I sang for all kinfolk at the Marion Babtist church in Chatham, Va, last night sat in with the Celtic Rock group "McCanna". Meanwhile my most enjoyment from practicing the cittern and vichitra veena. Don't know where this is all going, but it's good.
Had a great holiday season - lot's of caroling - formal and informal.
12/20/09
Holiday Caroling with Heritage Music and the Saugerties Girl Scouts. We ahd about 30 caroler's including 2 sheep! We walked to two nearby Senior Residences to sing. Gus brought his autoharp! After caroling we had cookies, hot chocolate and more singing.
I played a lot of holiday music on the
Hindustani Guitar Veena including venues at the
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills, Inquiring Mind Bookstore, John St Jam, and the Half Moon Bookstore.
11/22/09
Heritage Folk Music Hootenanny - Heritage Folk Music's annual Hoot/Auction. A vintage style jam highlighting the 1960’s New York Folk Song Revival in Woodstock and NYC. Unitarian Fellowship Hall, Town of Ulster. There was also be an auction of Folk Music Memorabilia including songbooks, recordings and instruments. We raised some money for Heritage Folk Music and had a good time!
11/2/09
Hudson River Songs. Dutchess County Community College. 2 Mondays. A course discussing the history of traditional folk music in our region. Class participation (singing, bringing instruments) is optional. Thanks to Julie Wegener for putting this together for me. Met a great group of people interested in local musical history.
10/24/09
Inquiring Mind Bookstore, Saugerties - Pure unabashed folk music on guitar, banjo, bell cittern and concertina. I had a wonderful time, saw some old friends come out to listen and just generally felt that I was able to “cut loose” more than usual.
10/17/09
Rally Against the Afghan War. Academy Green in Kingston - afternoon. Was able to sing with Julie Pariesi and Laurie Kirby. Always nice to raise our voices for peace.
10/11/09
Tastebuds Cafe, Red Hook, NY. Nice café with great deserts. Red Hook is a wonderful town.
10/10/09
History Day in Saugerties - Kiersted House, Main St, Saugerties. It was colder than last year, but still a wonderful day.
10/4/09
Kingston Bluestone Festival - A wonderful day at the Hudson River Maritime Museum, joined by some great musicians. Thanks to Dennis Connors.
9/26/09
Quadracentennial Celebration at Ulster Landing with Karen Brooks and Melissa Ortquist
9/19/09 & 9/20/09
Boat Party - Kingston Waterfront. With the Kingston Sea Chantey Singers. Thanks to Ann Loading for organizing this.
9/6/09
Hooley on lower Broadway in Kingston - At Madden's Liquor Store with Jim Donnelly.
9/5/09
Half Moon Book Store on North Front St in Kingston. Labor Day Songs 5-6 pm
8/22/09
Ellenville Huckleberry Festival with historian Mark Fried, and Folkloric (Earl and Mimi Pardini)- A beautiful day with my favorite musicians.
8/15/09
Hurley Corn Festival, with Henry Herman on fiddle. Traditional Hudson Valley Folk Music. What a wonderful day it was. Great playing for community events like this.
8/14/09
Inquiring Mind Bookstore, Saugerties - Frequently I find my mind just going on random access. One song will lead to another which leads to another - I think I pushed the limits of "a wide variety of styles." It was great having friends come out for this.
8/8/09
Katsbaan Church. Saugerties Historic Society. Clelbrated the life of Andrew Brink with some river songs. He was the first captain of Robert Fulton's Cleremont steam boat.
7/26/09 Inquiring
Mind Bookstore, Saugerties, NY. As Bhaav Ram. Meditative music on the Hindustani Slide Guitar/Veena. I played my new Nicholas Apollonio cittern that night for the 1st time.
June was
Sea Chantey month. I sang on two occasions with the
Kingston Sea Chantey Singers, first opening for Jay Ungers Dancing on the Air program at the Hudson River Maritime Museum and then at the Historic Cornell Building on the Kingston waterfront opening for
"Nanne & Ankie and The Hudson Crew" at a Heritage Music Concert. Nanne and Ankie and their crew were wonderfully accommodating and we had a packed house!
I also sang Chanteys with Rich Bala, TG Vanini, Mikhail Horowitz and Giles Malkine at a Quadracentennial event for the
Woodstock Artists Association.5/2/09 May Day celebration with
"Robin Hood Ballads" at Alternative Books on North Front Street in Kingston. 6 - 8 PM. Part of Kingston 1st Saturday Art Openings. I love doing Old English Ballads, especially when the ASK maiden Jean Haines drops by. (:>)
4/26/09
Muddycup, Saugerties, NY. As Bhaav Ram. Meditative music on the Hindustani Slide Guitar/Veena. Always a pleasure
4/11/09
AIR Gallery, Kingston. "Songs of the Hudson River" with Rich Bala, Rick Nestler, Melissa Ortquist and others. It was "All for me Grog"
4/10/09
Muddy Cup in Saugerties. My theme was songs of lesser known
"60's Greenwich Village Songwriters" such as Bruce Murdoch, Billy Mitchell, etc., but also did some Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs and Buffy St. Marie
4/2/09 With
Earl Pardini and the Slide Mountain String Band at the Holiday Inn in Kingston for the Quadracentennial celebration.
3/22/09 Heritage Music Concert. Kiersted House in Saugerties “
Irish Music of the Hudson Valley with Bob Burroughs”: Bob played flute and harp, I played bouzouki and guitar and we talked about the history of local Irish immigrants.
3/17/09
Holiday Inn, Kingston, NY, broadcast live over WKNY 4 to 7 pm. Irish Music with Folkloric - the whole group!! (Me, Jim Donnelly, Ira McIntosh - and with Earl Pardini on Accordion) The culmination of our annual Irish bash!
3/15/09
Kingston's St. Patrick's Parade. We (Meself, Jim Donnelly and Ira McIntosh) on the Ulster County Highway Department's Float as usual. We had about the nicest weather you could ever hope to ask for.
3/15/09
Chic's Restaurant, Kingston Plaza, Kingston, NY(After the parade) Irish Music with Folkloric (Jim Donnelly, Ira McIntosh). All the usuals showed up and we had a great time - as usual - with the usuals.
3/13/09
Hudson Valley Guild & Booktrader, Main Street, Saugerties. Irish Ballads. A new venue! Hosts Donna and Chris were very accomodating. It is such a pleasure to just do listening ballads for a few hours.
3/8/09
Muddycup, Saugerties, NY. As Bhaav Ram. Meditative music on the Hindustani Slide Guitar/Veena. It was a last minute show and the audiance was very considerate.
1/24/09
VINCENTS RESTAURANT Malden Turnpike, Saug
erties.
Robert “Rabbie” Burns Birthday, an annual Scottish Tradition. Peggi Mulligan played bagpipes and they had haggis, poetry and me!
12/21/08
Winter Solstice at the Muddycup on Partition St in Saugerties. 7-9 pm Snowed Out!! - I'll be back Friday, April 10th at 7:30.
12/14/08
Holiday Caroling with Heritage Music in Saugerties. We met at the Dutch Arms Chapel and went down the block to a Senior Residence. The girl scouts joined us. After caroling we had a potluck and more singing.
12/6/08
THE WOODSTOCK PHIL FEST: A CELEBRATION OF PHIL OCHS , Colony Cafe, Woodstock, NY With John Pietaro and others. Boy, they were rockn and rolling!
12/5/08
Martin Van Buren's birthday and Dutch holiday celebration at Lindenwald, Martin Van Buren Mansion in Kinderhook, NY with Regina Scheff on fiddle. Boy was it cold! How cold was it? Brrrrrrrr
11/20/08
Muddycup, Saugerties, NY. (As Bhaav Ram). Another session playin
g meditative music on the Hindustani Slide Guitar/Veena. It was wonderful. I was transported. No problems with electronics, I just played tunes and sang a variety of meditative musics including Christmas Carols, bajans and gospel for 2 hours. When I was finished, the body and mind were sore, but the spirit was soaring.
11/16/08 2nd
Annual Hootenanny/Memorabilia Auction at the Unitarian Fellowship in Kingston. Great seeing all my old friends there at a benefit for Heritage Folk Music
http://hootenannyperformers.blogspot.com/11/14/08 I did a
One Man Hoot at Bard College for the Long Learning program Thanks to Esther Rosenfeld. People brought amazing memories and sensabilites.
11/8/08
Veterans for Peace - Woodstock Community - A celebration of the life of Maury Calow, WWII vet and member of the Abraham Lincon Brigade in the Spanish Civil War. The Woodstock Veteran’s for Peace Chapter was renamed after him. I sang two songs both named “Viva La Quince Brigada”. One of Pete Seeger’s and one of Christy Moore’s. Center
10/12/08 The annual Forsythe Nature Center fundraiser at the Kingston Zoo. Jim Donnelly and I sang animal songs and then after we jammed with Bruce and Gail Whistance over by the reading nook. A wonderful, wonderful day. We forgot to do "Green Alligators and a couple of geese"!
10/11/08
Jam after the Jam. The John St Jam in Saugerties (http://Johnstjam.net/), is one of the most “talked about venues in the Hudson Valley.” Well, I didn't play there this time, but after the show, a group of us gathered at the Muddycup around the corner for some good old fashioned sitting around the living room singing. I think we'll be doing it after the John St Jams on a regular basis.
10/9/08
Muddycup, Saugerties, NY. I played meditative music on the
Hindustani Slide Guitar/Veena. Friend Rick showed up and clapped after every number! There were very few people there, but truly I had a wonderful time. My mind was in a pink cloud all through the next day. I love to play this instrument!
10/4-5/08 Boy, busy weekend. On Saturday I sang at
History Day in Saugerties on the lawn of the
Kiersted house. I turned around and 4 hours had gone by. Friends Ernie Shultis, Peggi Mulligan and Katie Jeanette all dropped by to play a few tunes.
On Sunday we had the
Bluestone festival in Kingston. We had beautiful weather and two stages showcasing a variety of heritage music including folk, blues and bluegrass. I managed the "Historic" stage and Jim Donnelly managed the "Blue" stage both at the foot of Broadway, in the Roundout, Kingston.
Our wonderful lineup of performers included Karen Brooks and Melissa Ortquist, Jim Daniel, Jim Donnelly, Katie Jeanette, Cavanaugh & Kavanaugh, James Krueger and Henry Hermann, The Jules and Rick Orchestra, Amy Laber Bob Lusk, Ernie Mortuzans and Jean Weiss, Norm Wennet, Elly Wininger, The Virginia Wolves, and Hank Yost!
9/21/08 I sang 1 song at the Dutch Arms Chapel before Pat Lamanna and Sue Rosenberg gave a wonderful multi-media show about
Camp Woodland, where a large amount of Catskill Mountain Folk Music was collected in the 1950's.
9/6/08 What a day! I attended
Anjali Nandakar's Hindustani Music Class recital and Ganesh celebration. Maya Sommer sang Raag Kalyan. In the evening Maya and Michelle and Alan Rosenbaum accompanied me at Alternative Books in Kingston. We did a variety of meditative music. I played the
Hindustani slide guitar-veena and a little regular guitar and banjo. Afterwards went over to the Hudson Valley Folk Guild where they had a gang up 1st coffeehouse of the season.
8/23/08 A great time as usual at the
Huckleberry Festival in Ellenville, NY with Marc Fried, and Folkloric (Regina Simmons and Jackie Keveson). We sang Huckleberry songs and ate Huckelberry pie.
7/9/08 Class in
Historic Music of the Catskills and Hudson Valley Folk Music Class at the historic Phoenica Train Station – Had a wonderful time during the month of August exploring the roots of regional traditional music. Much thanks to Dakin and Yavuz of the Empire Railroad Museum for hosting it!
7/12/08
Canal Festival in Amsterdam, New York – Performed on the same stage with Rich Bala. Trish Shaw and the crew put together a wonderful day in the country complete with carriage ride. I had two hours to sing any Irish song I wanted to and I did.
6/6/08
Breast Cancer Benefit - Goshen, NY. I was part of a wonderful evening of music with a variety of musicians including the Wayne Fugate Trio, Bob on the Gravichord and Conrad on Banjo. Goshen is a beautiful town and it was fun just walking around before the concert. Thanks to MC Glen Macken, Chris, Vita and the other organizers who did a great job.
5/21/08
Wellness Fair - Forsyth Park, Kingston 11-1 pm. A wonderful time at the fair! It is not too often that I get a chance to play relaxing music for 3 hours straight. The weather was great, the people seemed to enjoy it. Thanks to Mark from the zoo for supplying power!
5/18/08
Memorial Day with Veterans for Peace in Woodstock, NY. I made it up the hill again! I love singing at the top of my lungs in parades. A good time singing on the green afterwards, but it was marred by the Onteora Marching Band interupting the reading of the names of the soldiers who had died in Iraq.
4/20/08 Opened for
Ira & Laurie McIntosh at the Heritage Music Concert Series, Dutch Arms Chapel, Saugerties, NY. It was a wonderful show full of Catskill Mountain songs and stories. At the end Ira and Laurie invited Jim Donnelly and myself up to do the most rousing version of "Abe Sammon's Applejack" I have ever been a part of. (ending sentance with a preposition)
4/12/08 I was part of a
Group Faculty Concert for the Dutchess County Community College Music School doing some historic Hudson Valley songs. It was strange and wonderful to be on a program where the only other performers were classical musicians playing violins, cello, and piano.
Saturday 3/22 I was outside at the
Kings Mall Protest and played some banjo with Laurie and
Julie Kirby. "Study War no More", "Universal Soldier", etc.
Later that night I played with Regina and Ed Simmons at a contradance at the
1st Baptist Church in Kingston. The occasion was a wedding done as a Renaissance Feast - venison stew, etc. Mostly I played my wonderful Martin D-35S guitar. It has been awhile since I have been the acoustic guitarist at a dance. With all modesty, I must say it sounded great. It was a lot of fun to follow Regina's excellent fiddling and her husband Ed played some great electric lead guitar. Aside from the usual old English contra tunes, I also played fiddle on "Moonshadow" and sang on "Girl from Ipanima". Finished off the evening with "Irene Goodnight".
3/23/08 Sunday evening was at Baird Hershey's annual "
OM for Peace" in Woodstock. After you've OM'ed for an hour, what is there to say? The Lord is risen, the crops will grow, there is a cosmic change in the universe, etc.
3/17/08
Holiday Inn, Kingston, NY, broadcast live over WKNY 4 to 7 pm. Irish Music with Folkloric - the whole group! (Me, Jim Donnelly, Ira McIntosh and perhaps some special guests!) The culmination of our annual Irish bash!
3/9/08 Kingston's St. Patrick's Parade. We (Meself, Jim Donnelly and Ira McIntosh) were on the Ulster county Highway Department's Float as usual.
3/9/08 Chick's Restaurant, Kingston Plaza, Kingston, NY(After the parade) Irish Music with Folkloric (Jim Donnelly, Ira McIntosh)
3/15/08 Chick's Restaurant, Kingston Plaza, Kingston, NY, 6-10. pm. Irish Music with Folkloric (Jim Donnelly, Ira McIntosh) Great Corned Beef!
2/09/08 John Bob Dollar Bill - A great Tribute to Johnny Cash night with Cecilia St. King at the A.I.R. Studio Gallery (Artist-In-Residence) . We had 5 writeups in local newspapers and a full house!
2/9/08 Veteran's for Peace Poetry reading - Woodstock Town Hall. I sang a few songs here and was suprised by an award for my anti-war work from the national VFP group.
1/5/08 Hudson Valley Folk Guild, UU Fellowship, Sawkill Road, Kingston. I was the featured performer in their monthly open stage coffeehouse. Good times, good folk. I did a variety of songs including Phil Och's, Johnny Cash and played my Hindustani slide guitar. I was not in great voice that night, but it is a wonderfully supportive crowd who made me welcome.
12/31/07 Monday - New Year's Eve. I was part of a vocal group with Carrie Chapman and Annie Roland accompanying a small children's parade at a lantern making workshop at Woodstock Artists Association in Woodstock. Improvisational music - and I led them in Auld Lang Syne at the end
12/15/07 "Cocktails and Carols". Yearly Holiday Caroling event in the Rondout. It was too cold to be outside for long, so we spent more time in people's houses socailizing than usual. Still a great time!
12/14/07 A PHIL OCHS BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE: " I AIN'T MARCHIN' ANYMORE - 2007" at the Colony Cafe in Woodstock NY. I was a "special guest" on this show featuring The Flames of Discontent and guest speaker Sonny Ochs. It was a wonderful evening - a lot of old folkie friends in the audiance. I love singing Phil's songs.
11/18/07 We had a Hootenanny! I hosted a gathering of 30 local folk musicians playing together! Also sale of folk memorabilia. At the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills, Sawkill Road, Kingston, NY. It was a huge sucess. We raised $1,000 for Heritage Folk Music and everyone had a great time. http://heritageconcerts.blogspot.com/
10/14/07 Opened for Kevin & Carol Becker at the Dutch Arms Chapel. the Becker's gave a wonderful concert and the volunteers are starting to come out of the woodwork.
10/14/07 Forsythe Nature Center, Lucas Avenue, Kingston, NY. Annual benefit for the Center. I sang animal songs with Jim Donnelly. Our friends the Flying Fox Bluegrass Band was there with Bill Keith sitting in!
10/7/07 Bluestone Festival, TR Gallo Park down at the Strand, Kingston, NY. I played from 12-1 by myself and then was joined by Dr. Romo and Jim Donnelly. After that I ran sound for a lot of wonderful musicians including the Virigina Wolves, Tim Hunter and Adam Snyder. At 5:45, Rich Bala joined Adam, Jim and I for a grand finale of the Erie Canal.
9/22/07 Harvest Festival at Lindenwald, Martin Van Buren Mansion in Kinderhook, NY with Folkloric (Beth Lawton and Regina Scheff) - A wonderful day. The staff is always very welcoming. We played music of the 1800's. Afterwards I went to the family cemetary in Kinderhook and watched the sunset.
9/17/07 Veteran's for Peace Poetry reading - Colony Cafe, Woodstock, NY. It was my first
poetry reading in 30 years. I did one poem and one song. Of course being me, even the poem had some "OMing" in it. The new song was "White Crosses on the Hillside" to the tune of Malvina Reynolds' "Little Boxes". Inspired by an article in the NY Times that spoke about the new opening of Lot 60 for the returning personel killed in Iraq. Jay Wenk, WWII vet told me afterwards that he had know Malvina and that "She would be proud".
9/16/07 "Irish Music of the Catskills and Hudson Valley" with Jim Donnelly. Heritage Music Concert Series. A special 6 months to St. Patrick's Day Concert of historic Irish music of the Catskills and Hudson Valley. At Alternative Books. I think the rehearsal at Jim's was probably better than the performance, but no one will ever know for sure. It was a wonderful afternoon, the audiance was very attentive and I had a chance to play my new mandolin!
9/15/07 Hudson River Arts Festival - I played slide guitar veena with Anjali Nandedkar’s Hindustani music class. (I am one of her students.). I had an unexpected solo when the power went out and I was the only one to be heard as I was plugged into a battery powered "mouse" amp. Very scary for me, but the "Mighty Mouse" comes through again!
8/27/07 I led Kirtan as "Bhaav Ram" at Namaste Yoga in Woodstock. Avinash, Diane Sommer, and Prema accompanied me on drums. We did "Radhe, Radhe", "Sita Ram", Hare Krishna" and several gospel tunes, one of which I composed a few days previously "God is So Good to Me".
8/25/07 Bronck House and Museum, Green County, NY. Traditional music of the Catskills and Hudson Valley.
http://www.gchistory.org/barns.php It's a wonderful place, but had to end early due to thunderstorms. Forgot to read "Legend of the Bronck's", a poem very suited for this place. I did play the fiddle while they were doing the moonlight walking tour.
8/25/07 Huckleberry Festival in Ellenville, NY with Marc Fried, and Folkloric (Regina Scheff and Robin Greenstein and Barry). I now know the meaning of the phrase "Heat Exhaustion"! People who know me know that I have braved a lot of physical adversity to play music. Snow, sleet, 24 hour marathons, blood, broken bones. I've never been as incapacitated in my life. Thanks to Robin, Regina and Barry for keeping the show going while I was in the car getting emergency air conditioning. Next year I bring the ice cooler
8/19/07 I was with the "Kings Mall 7" at the Artists Soap Box Derby in Kingston. We had an "Impeach Mobile" I was "John Q. Public" and handed out candies called "Impeach-mints" to the audiance. About 1 in 25 people refused them, which I thought was a great ratio. Other members of the group were dressed with masks as Bush, ChenyeThe Kings Mall 7 is receiving a national award form "Veteran's for Peace". Hopefully it will be presented very publicly by Maurice Hinchey at the mall some Saturday.
8/11/07 I gave a workshop "Music of the Catskills and Hudson River Valley" for the Hudson Valley Folk Guild Festival at the Highland Tomato Festival, NY. There was a lot of interest from the participants. It was a very well organized festival and a fun day.
June 2007 - I taught Vocal Toning at Dutchess County Community College on Tuesday evenings through their alternative music program. Thanks to Julie Wegener for setting it up. I had a wonderful time, the students were a joy to work with and we all had a great time toning!
6/22, 23 & 24/07 Not a performance, but had a great time at the Old Songs Festival
http://www.oldsongs.org/festival/ volunteering at the Musical Instrument Exchange. While there I found a Flatiron mandolin which has a great sound.
6/9/07 "John-Bob Dollar Bill", Johnny Cash Tribute! At the John St. Jam, Dutch Arms Chapel, Saugerties. There were a lot of wonderful performers. Also saw a lot of old friends. It felt a little like being the onlly one in costume at a Holloween party, but everyone was very welcoming and seemed to enjoy it. Thanks to Steve and Terri Masardo for hosting this wonderful space to play.
The whole "John Bob" thing probably deserves some explanation. Whenever anyone calls me by another name accidentally it is always "John". Also I have some southern roots on my mother's side. I have a cousin who spent time in prison for moonshining. He has a brother named "Johnny Buck". So the "John Bob" thing didn't seem far afield. It's not my intention to make fun of Johnny Cash or lampoon him. I think the people tonight all appreciated that. They sang along on a lot of the songs - A lot of people there told me they were JC fans.
5/28/07 Woodstock Memorial Day Parade. I "strolled"and sang with Veteran's for Peace. A great day, although the hill is getting harder and harder each year. Sang songs with Laurie and Julie Kirby on the Village Green afterwards.
5/12/07 It was a wonderful afternoon outdoors at the Mezzanine Cafe on lower Broadway in Kingston as part of the HR Maritime Museums Shad Festival. Lots of old friends and great food at the Mezzanine.
5/5/07 Kingston Art Bus - With Jim Donnelly, former Kingston "Meter Man". We played on The Tourist Trolley from 6-8:00 pm as it wound around Kingston for the 1st Saturday art openings. We stopped at every Art Gallery in Kingston. Bouncy, but a lot of fun!
4/28/07 May Day/Cinco De Mayo BSP, Kingston, NY. Benefit Concert for Latina Victims of Domestic Abuse. A poor audiance turnout in spite of great publicity by organizer John Pietro. There were many great performers celebrating all connections to May Day (labor, radicalism, peace, immigrants rights) as well as the revolutionary nature of Cinco de Mayo.
4/29/07 Opened for Rich Bala - Rich did a program of the songs of Henry Backus, 19th Century Saugerties bard. Part of the Heritage Music Concert Series. 3-5 pm. At the Dutch Arms Chapel in Saugerties, NY.
4/7/07 Songs and Music for a Better World - 5 to 7 pm, Hudson River Valley Art Gallery, 24 Spruce Street, Kingston, NY. Ed Pell 's art gallery
pellphd@yahoo.com . He has these gatherings now and then . I was only there briefly, but had a good time. Sang some songs with a banjo player and Adele from the the "Virginia Wolves" who plays trumpet and French horn.
3/31/07 Benefit for Unitarian Universalist Congregation at the Hurley Reformed Church in Hurley, NY. The theme was "Unity". Constance Rudd and Holly also performed. I played
Raag Bhoopaalee on my Hindustani slide guitar and then channeled Pete Seeger, having everyone in the place make up verses for "
Our Roots Go Down". It was wonderful seeing old friends there.
2007 St. Patrick's season with
Folkloric (Meself, Jim Donnelly and Ira McIntosh) was a huge success!
On Sunday 3/11/07, we played music on the Ulster county Highway Department's Float in the City of Kingston St. Patrick's Parade as we do each year. It's a yearly ritual. It starts out at 10 am, crawling around on top of a large truck, attaching speaker wires and microphones. It was between snowfalls, but it was still cold up there. There was snow on the ground. I was nursing a cold and didn't really want to be there. But there is excitement in the air. All the bagpipe and drum bands are rehearsing. People are in costume and there are brightly colored floats.
The parade kicks off at Kingston Plaza, goes down Broadway and ends at the strand. Hanniford's bathrooms in the Plaza always breakdown, or more likely they just put the "out of order" sign up. The Mayfair Renaissance group was behind us while we were setting up, which gave a nice foreshadowing of the spring to come. There was the usual worries as the generator seemed not to be working, but it finally kicked in. Chicks' Restaurant sponsors us and the float won "Best Irish Spirit" in the parade. There was a great crowd of people all along the parade route and a very bumpy ride back to Chicks.
We started playing at Chicks at 4:30. There was not a great crowd at first, but the people there seemed to like the music. Owners Art and Bev Daley were very nice and accommodating. we finished our 4 hours and then a few people came in so we played an extra hour and someone at the bar paid us to play still another hour! That made it a total of 8 hours singing including the parade and a 14 hour day of work including set up and breakdown time. By then my body was wracked in arthritic pain and I had no voice, my hands were so sore I could barely hold a pick. We had Robin Carey, drummer with the AOH pipe band join us and she kept the energy up while we croaked out a few more St. Paddy's Day standards. All in all we had a great time and we knew that nothing to come the next week would be hard in comparison.
On Wednesday, we played at the Ulster County Health Related Facility on Golden Hill in Kingston. The staff led by Vinny Uvino was very energetic and did a wonderful job of hosting the party.
On Thursday, I did a solo performance at Wingate at Ulster in Highland, NY. A more relaxed experience - just what I needed!
On Friday, we started off at noon at the Hurley Mountain Inn in (where else), Hurley, NY, right off Route 209. Unfortunately the second Northeast Blizzard of
the year came in and we packed up early and got to the Holiday Inn in time to be snowed in. I don't know where the people came from but mayor James Sottile and alderman Jim Noble were there. We played from 3:30 to 6:30 and then fiddler Lee Eaton drove me home in his 4 wheel drive. thanks to WKNY and Warren Lawrence for sponsoring us.
On Saturday, St. Patrick's Day itself, we went back to Chick's Restaurant at Kingston Plaza and played from 5 to 10 pm. This felt like the "real" St. Patrick's party. The usual Irish lasses leading "green alligators", the drunken college guys grunting along with the words to the songs. Baby's crying, elderly couples singing along, people dancing. All in all a very appreciative audience.
A wonderful week
1/27/07 Annual Lusk Family Music Party, 61 Wurts Street, Kingston, NY. From 6:00 pm on. For a synopsis go to
http://bobluskmusicparty.blogspot.com/.
1/14/07 Martin Luther King Celebration. Woodstock Community Center. 2-4 PM. With many speakers, poets, etc. Debra Burger couldn't come because of icy roads, but I had a great time leading "We Shall Overcome" at the
grand finale with Roland Mussa.
12/21/06 Ulster County Infirmary. Holiday Music with Jim Donnelly and Dr. Romo. Not exactly a public performance, but it was a great time - wonderful reunion with Jim and Romo.
12/15/06 "Cocktails and Carols". We went around the Rondout neighborhood, stopping at people's homes on the way. The competition for the drinks gets interesting. This year Penny made my mother's wonderful, labor intensive eggnog. We finished off ringing the bell at Paul's church down the block.
11/19/06 New World Home Cooking 1-4 pm. Benefit for the Kings Mall 7. I sang "Read Me the Dead". Performers include Betty MacDonald and Friends, Murali Coryell, Mikhail Horowitz and Gilles Malkine, Julie Parisi and TG Vanini, Rennie Cantine and Rip Van Ren.
11/11/06 Yorktown Chapter of the Hudson Valley Folk Guild. First Presbyterian Church Of Yorktown in Yorktown Heights. (914) 248-8460. I was the featured performer. A small group, but enthusiastic. Mark Bernardini puts out a lot of time and effort to make it happen. There are some great guitar pickers there. The high point for me though was singing in the church lobby while Lorraine played accordion. Songs were Hava Nagila and Roll Out the Barrel.
10/28/06 Rally at New Paltz. - "Issues that are being Ignored in the Election". I sang 3 songs with Pat Lamana and Amy Strom. It was supposed to be outdoors in the peace park, but it rained so it was in the Village Hall. Good speakers on good issues.
10/21/06 Westmoreland Animal Sanctuary, Bedford, NY performances at 11:30 and 1:00. Kids program including environmental and animal songs. Always a wonderful time and my son Roberto helped haul sound equipment!
10/15/06 Morning. Forsythe Nature Center, Lucas Avenue, Kingston, NY. I did animal songs. This fair gets bigger and bigger every year. It was a wonderful cold crisp autumn day with bagpipers and bluegrass.
10/15/06 Afternoon. Dissident Folk Festival 3:00 There was a host of other performers and speakers there all weekend. A great Paul Robson tribute at the end. Howland Cultural Center, 477 Main Street, Beacon. Organized by John Pietaro - check him out at
http://www.flamesofdiscontent.org/news.html10/8/06 Bluestone Festival, TR Gallo Park down at the Strand, Kingston, NY. I opened the show at noon as usual! Good friends Dr. Romo (accordion and fiddle), Jim Donnelly (guitar and vocals) and Irish tenor Warren Kelder all showed up and played music. Also on hand was Steven James'es Old Tyme String Band, Danile Woerners' Voices for Peace, Adam Snyder and an English banjo player from Palenville named Kit. The weather was great, the people were friendly and we all had fun (:>) trying to play along in time to the hammers on the bluestone.
9/24/06 Heritage Music from the Mountains to the Valley. "Concert of Historic and Regional music of the Catskills and Hudson Valley." At the Dutch Arms Chapel in Saugerties, NY, with Regina Scheff on fiddle. It was a wonderful day with wife Penny and son Roberto helping out with refreshments, tickets, etc. Ernie Mortizance video taped it. Hopefully there will be a whole concert series starting next year.
9/23/06 Harvest Festival with Folkloric (Cecilia St.King and Regina Scheff) - Music of the 1800's, Lindenwald, Martin Van Buren Mansion in Kinderhook, NY. Always a lovely day- the weather held. My grandmother played cards in the mansion during the 1930's.
http://www.nps.gov/mava/9/9/06 Bronck House and Museum, Green County, NY. Traditional music of the Catskills and Hudson Valley. (518) 731-6490.
http://www.gchistory.org/barns.php It was wonderful. Great site to bring the family to. It was obvious that the volunteers really care about the place and put a lot of time and effort into taking care of visitors. I played under a tent, the weather was perfect except for some mosquitoes. There was a great storyteller there, Joe Dolittle.
8/26/06 Huckleberry Festival in Ellenville, NY with Marc Fried, and Folkloric (Cecilia St.King and Regina Scheff). We played all day. It rained. John Adams let us use his tent. Cecilia's friend Chris sat in with us on guitar. Not to be confused with the large Blueberry Festival which happened on the same day. We were be in a little plaza tucked away behind the town square. Lots of traditional and historic music. Also huckleberry pie contest. Next year they need more pie entries.
8/12/06 Andes Hotel , Andes, NY. Community Days, Solo - it was a beautiful summer day singing folksongs on the porch. John Jacobson who was doing his own gig up the block came by and played some fiddle tunes with me.
6/17/06 Benmarl Winery, Marlboro, NY - . Irish Music with Folkloric (Jim Donnelly, Rusty Boris, and Regina Scheff) - America's Oldest Vineyard. A wonderful place overlooking the Hudson. Very welcoming hosts and the Amerscot Bagpipe Band was there. Thanks to Terrance McCann for the referral!
5/20/06 12:00 Bevier House, Ulster County Historic Society - Songs of the Civil War. Route 209, Hurley, NY 338-5614 . it is a wonderful old historic site I have played in before. There were re-enactors there today, which made it special. Melinda Terpening is doing a wonderful job of programming there.
5/13/06 John St. Jam, Sharing the stage with a variety of other performers. Dutch Arms Chapel, 16 John St, Saugerties. A wonderful space to play. Steve and Terri Massardo are doing a great job of hosting monthly performances.
3/17/06 Irish Music with Folkoric (Jim Donnelly, Ira McIntosh) Holiday Inn, Kingston, NY, broadcast live over WKNY 4 to 7 pm. Our annual Irish bash!
Labels: bluegrass, blues, folk, hindustani, old tymey, raga
2/4/10 Inquiring Mind Bookstore, Saugerties - Pure unabashed folk music on guitar, banjo, bell cittern and concertina. I will be playing my favorites, hopefully some of yours too. 7-9 pm
