Saturday, May 3, 2014

Music News You Can Use - May 2014

Here we are in May, and I am still reeling (as in clogging, happy feet) from April's music.

   The first week of April, Steve Key was up to help promote our April 26th show, and we played open mikes at the Freight and the Ivy Room, where I had the added pleasure of sitting in with Maurice Tani on a tune.  (Saw his show at the Freight last night -- what a songsmith and performer!!)    The following week I sat in on a radio show at KWMR with Ken Frankel.  He had some rare tapes of him playing old time tunes with Jerry Garcia back in 1963.  Very cool!   Ken was promoting Vandaveer for his club, Studio 55; and the next evening I was there enjoying the show. Vandaveer is Mark Heidinger, backed by Rose Guerin (gorgeous vocals) and J. Tom Hnatow (such tasteful and expressive guitar) -- good songs, thoughtful arrangements, and very worth your ear time. 
 
 
The next weekend I was down in Atascadero, rehearsing with Steve Key and Dulcie Taylor for our April 26th show.  Steve invited me to play guest sets at a couple of his showcases, and as usual, I heard some excellent music.   Check out Trevor McSpadden and Tim Jackson
   
The two weeks leading up to the show were devoted to more practicing and promoting.  And with all of that, still working on my recording project with Kevin Harris, and volunteering at FAR-West and the Freight.  Did I mention I spend a lot of time on music these days?  (How does Dorcas put up with me?)
 
 
So all this chatter and you are probably saying well then, how did the 26th show go?  It went okay, I guess; I mean I didn't suck much. All right, I'll stop being coy:  it went pretty well, actually it was OMG awesome in so many ways!!   Studio 55 is such a fine venue, and we had a superb sound man, Pete Soper.  We had a great turnout, including a number of people I hadn't seen in years.  (What an honor -- thank you!!)   I have raved about Steve Key and Dulcie Taylor in a number of previous newsletters, and they really delivered exhilarating performances that night. Wow!! Tim Jackson, tasteful guitar monster extraordinaire, backed Dulcie and Steve, my friends Brian Bloom and Patty Hammond backed me so solidly, and Aireene Espiritu and Dorcas Moulton joined in beautifully on two songs as well.  What an evening!!  Thank you all, so much -- we'll have to do this again as soon as I've recovered.  Note:  all pix by Dorcas Moulton taken April 26th, more here.   I'll be posting some video in the coming weeks.
 
 
Hope you are all staying busy and having some fun too.  Your turn to send me some news.
all the best,

John
Roy Zat
Croizat
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