Is This The New Face of Rock 'n' Roll?

In the end, the crowd surged and jumped on the stage with the band--just a typical happening at Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles' annual post-Thanksgiving bash at the Narrows.  A busload of folks from Taunton--led by Sarah's dad--stormed the Narrows to welcome the band as it wrapped up its 2008 touring schedule, after dozens of states and foreign countries.  About 100 shows, according to bassist--and the new face of rock 'n' roll--Binky, pictured above.

Sarah=-wearing a dress she says she bought at a Salvation Army store for a buck--introduced the group's new guitarist--an axeman with plenty of rock chops--and noted that a new CD was coming out in March 2009.  From the tunes they played, it sounds like the band is moving toward a rock sound, perhaps lessening the countrified seasoning as in the past.

But Saturday night was about coming home--to her family and to her friends from Taunton. Like the guy below--perhaps a Borges' relative--who ended up personally supervising Sarah as she belted out a song.

Still Crooked

Even though there's been a shuffling of some members, roots revivalist Crooked Still continues to grow its audience, playing to a packed house at the Narrows Friday night.

Sarah and The Times

Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles, playing their annual Thanksgiving weekend show on Saturday night, were recently featured in the New York Times.

Check it out here.

Mikes Get In Your Eyes

Celtic prog rockers Enter the Haggis, from Canada, made their debut Friday night at the Narrows.  Mixing slamming rhythm guitar with a bagpipe, whistle, powerful drums, keyboards, fiddle and bass, the band was hard to pin down--are they Celtic? Alternative rockers?  Secret metal lovers?  

Whatever you call it, the music was upbeat, hooky and fun.  These guys are your humble blogger's favorite new band.

Iris Dement Goes Shopping

As Iris Dement pointed out early in the show Saturday night, the concert would have started a bit earlier but was delayed because she noticed that the Narrows "has stores."  So, above, she briefly did a little shopping in one of the studios until your humble blogger gently suggested it was time to start the music.

Peter Wolf at the Narrows

The Wuffer Guffer with the Green Teeth (or whatever his nickname is) Peter Wolf stopped by the Narrows on Thursday night to watch Shelby Lynn. The word we got was that he was visiting with her in her bus before the show. He quietly came up through the usual entrance, drawing little attention, and took his seat.

Of course, those of us who grew up listening to the J. Geils Band were knocked out to see him. Forget about "Centerfold" and "Love Stinks"; listen to the live "Blow Your Face Out" album and tunes like "Lookin' for a Love," "I Do," "First I Look at the Purse," and "Hard Driving Man."

Fab Narrows volunteer Carl, below with the Wuffer Guffer, advises him where a wolf might get a late night bite on a Thursday night.

Soul Country

Shelby Lynne made a fab debut at the Narrows Thursday night, bringing her soulful country musicality with more than a dash of rock 'n' roll.

Her vocals were gorgeous and her band right on the mark (despite seemingly rehearsing Tony Joe's White "Polk Salad Annie" for the first time, which delighted the crowd as Shelby, tongue in cheek, coached her bandmates).  It was clear by the end of the night that Ms. Lynne was loving the show as much or even more than the audience.

She waved a vinyl copy of her latest recording on stage (photo above), which celebrates the late British chanteuse Dusty Springfield.  We've been playing the CD version at the Narrows for months, and it's a good 'un.

By the way, in the audience was one of the original bad boys from Boston, the Wuffa Guffa. More on him in the next entry.

In short, Shelby Lynne's concert was in the top two or three concerts of the year at the Narrows.  Probably number one in the eyes and ears of your humble blogger.

Beautiful Voices

Kris Delmhorst, one of the first musicians ever to play the Narrows, returned Friday night with a bagful of new songs and a collaboration with opener, Meg Hutchinson (right, in above photo).

The show was streamed live on mvyradio.com, by the way.

Meg, a first-timer at the Narrows, also brought a bagful of songs and delivered a moving rendition of "America the Beautiful" which deserves to be airing on Americana radio stations across the USA (maybe mvyradio.com can grab it off the recording made of the show).

Narrows prez Patrick Norton recalled that Kris was the 4th artist ever to perform at the Narrows.  Her first show took place on an extremely snowy night 7 years ago.  That also was the first time your humble blogger ever volunteered at the Narrows.  So as Kris pointed out onstage "we grew up together."

It was a night of beautiful voices, lush songs (for someone with just a guitar), and positive vibes.

Backstage

Tim O'Brien brought his relaxed rootsy sound to the Narrows Saturday night to a packed house.  Tim played solo this visit, which probably allowed him to interact with the audience a bit more and do things on a whim.

Opener Jimmy Ryan warmed things up.  Above in the photo, Tim (left) and Jimmy do some pickin' "backstage" at the Narrows.

Boo, Baby!

Thursday night at the Narrows was a celebration of surf music, starring Los Straitjackets (above) and Laika and the Cosmonauts (below), a Finnish band calling it a career over the next few days after decades in the business.  We were slightly surprised at the strong turnout by the local folks.  Goes to show that the surf sound is still making waves in these parts.

The Providence Journal did an interview with the group, which you can link to here.  (By the way, Laika and the Cosmonauts used the Los Straitjackets' drum kit, which is why it says "Los Straitjackets" in the photo below.)  Apparently a Finnish television station was videotaping everything, so we hope that the folks in Finland will soon be learning about the Narrows.

We should point out that Los Straitjackets always wear masks on stage, so the Halloween season had nothing to do with their appearance.

In the photo below both groups and management gather together for a "backstage" photo. That's Narrows prez Patrick Norton on the far right.

4 In A Row

The Narrows began a rare 4-in-a-row weekend Wednesday night, welcoming for the first time the Infamous Stringdusters.

That's some of them in the photo below, cookin' up a storm with their bluegrass virtuosity.

There's a show Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday night.  Visit www.ncfta.org for more.

Please Donate to the Narrows

As you may know, the Narrows is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit--a charity, in other words.

As you might imagine--considering the economy--it's been tough sledding financially over the past month or so.  Some of the shows have not drawn the audience they have in the past.  The Narrows has had to pick up the difference when ticket sales don't cover costs.

To help us get through these tough times, and to keep the music coming, please consider a gift to the Narrows.  For more info, please click here.

Thanks.

Discipline

The California Guitar Trio brought their beautiful, disciplined guitar work to the Narrows on Thursday night.

Your humble blogger emphasizes the discipline of their performance because they literally walk a tightrope during their performance--one false note, one hesitation can ruin a musical phrase. You gotta see them to believe it.  

These former students of Robert Fripp were streamed live on mvyradio.com and we hope the show will be available on that site permanently in the near future.

Your humble blogger caught them on his camera "backstage" moments before their performance.  

Do Your Remember Rufus and the Moondogs?

Do you remember Rufus and the Moondogs?  One of the founding members helped make the Narrows restroom renovations possible, as noted on the above plaque.

Shelby Lynne Played Johnny Cash's Mom

Did you know (I didn't) that Shelby Lynne--coming to the Narrows very soon--played Johnny Cash's mother in the fab movie Walk the Line?

Hey! You Don't Play It That Way!

We don't know if you call The Iguanas' music Tex-Mex, rock 'n' roll, jazz or what have you--it was a load of booty shakin' fun Friday night at the Narrows.  And did the crowd dance!

As you can see from the photo above, The Iguanas will do practically anything to get the sound they want!  Don't miss these guys from the Big Easy next time!  By the way, the show was streamed live by our friends at mvyradio.com and we hope it will be archived on their site in the near future.

Thanks from Jeff Olson

If you've been following this blog, you already know that the Narrows recently held a benefit for the Olson family.  Musician Jeff Olson had a close call with Legionnaire's Disease, which put him into a 10 day coma and stuck him in the hospital for several months.  He's home now, but still unable to work.  However, he should be back in the swing of things in December.

He asked me to share this note with you (I've actually edited it a bit with his permission):

"I want to express my gratitude to the folks at the Narrows as well as all the members of my 'real' and musical families for making the benefit last Sunday a great success.  The Narrows is a first class facility with a premiere sound system.  It costs money just to open the doors and someone has to give up their time to run the sound and handle the concessions and do the introductions.   

"In addition to raising some badly needed money which will help retire our massive medical debt I was personally gratified that so many people contributed to the auction.  We gave away some very valuable merchandise including a Baby Taylor guitar and a custom made drum by Ken Lovelett of American Percussion, an exotic bottle of wine and many other fine offerings.  Barbara Kemper deserves most of the credit for getting out there and soliciting these donations as well as organizing the auction at the benefit.  She worked long and hard on this and has my undying gratitude.  Others who helped were Vincent Pasternak, and RISA (Rhode Island Songwriters Association) co-chair John Fuzek who peppered the RISA crowd with emails and contributed to the auction.

"The musical portion was truly magical.  My older son Matt's band 'The Dyke Street Boys' opened the show with a lively set of what can best be described as 'cowboy punk.  My other son Eric and Vincent Pasternak sat in with Matt on his solo material including a haunting tune called 'Gypsy. ' Fred Wilkes and Michelle Wilson got the open stage part of the program rolling with a rousing set of Dylan tunes that got the crowd singing along. Frank Gotwals, who made the trek from Central Maine, debuted some exciting new songs including a collaboration with Rick and Vincent.   Mary Whelan came down from Northhampton and brought down the house with her tune 'Carol's Lament.'  Dan Lilley of 'Lovetrain' and 'Forever Young' turned in a fine solo performance that culminated with a group version of 'I Shall Be Released.'   Finally. Folks Together, my friends (and family), took the stage with my son Matt and Fred Wilkes covering for me. Of course I had to get into the act at some point and we ended up closing the evening with a spirited version of 'Lord Knows.'   

"Finally, when Donna first told me that our good friend Rick Bellaire was putting this together I was a bit overwhelmed.   Apparently Rick and (Rick's wife) Carleen along with Vincent and Elizabeth Pasternak, Barbara Kemper, you and (Narrows prez) Patrick Norton started planning this when I was still in a coma.   I am very glad that I was able to cooperate and live long enough to attend.  Much of the credit for me being there has to go to (Jeff's wife) Donna who refused to let me die and made sure that everything was being done to keep me breathing."

Jeff Olson

MVYRADIO.COM

Should have mentioned in the previous blog report that the Moonalice show was streamed live on mvyradio.com.

They have streamed live a number of our shows this year, and recorded them, posting them on the site.

Jim Lauderdale's and the Holmes Brothers' shows from the Narrows Festival for the Arts are currently posted and there are several others.  

To go directly to the Narrows' page at mvyradio.com, click here.

GEEE EEEE

Your humble blogger apologizes for not getting stuff about Friday's show with jammers Moonalice up on the site until Sunday morning.  Man, it was a late show on Friday night, as G.E. Smith (who led the Saturday night Live Band for years) seemed to get hotter and hotter on the guitar as the hours went by.  Above, that's a photo of G.E. sitting in on bass, flanked by group founder Roger McNamee's wife, Ann, lead and harmony vocalist.

According to a January, 2008, article on portfolio.com, Mr. McNamee is a super smart investor type who has done well financially--and is a longtime lover of the Grateful Dead et. al.  "After years of playing music for fun, McNamee says he's dead serious about making Moonalice work as a business."  If you Google his name, you'll pick up a lot more about McNamee, who happens to be a very nice guy and not a bad musician.  He's also been a financial advisor to the Dead, and counts Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Bono among  his friends.

Anyway, G.E. Smith's guitar prowess was undeniably the anchor for the show.  He was joined by Pete Sears, formerly of the Jefferson Starship, and other musical pros.

Mr. McNamee, on bass below, and friends, by the way, have a CD coming out soon produced by T-Bone Burnett. 

Rebirth

The Narrows Sunday afternoon hosted a fundraiser for musician Jeff Olson and his family to help them overcome the financial whack of his damn-near-bought-the-farm illness over the summer.

Jeff, guitarist/singer/composer for Folks Together, came down with Legionnaires Disease and was likely to be a goner--your blogger kids not--but his wife Donna, up above with Jeff, stood by her man the whole time, making sure the health system didn't snuff him by accident or neglect.  Your humble blogger witnessed firsthand her feistiness with the medical establishment, making sure Jeff got the care he needed.   

Jeff, by the way, went into a coma for something like ten days, and lost use of his hands, legs etc. after he woke up.  Slowly but surely his physical abilities have been coming back; he can walk a bit, although he still has a wheelchair/walker, and was able to play guitar fairly well during the show.

Speaking of the show, one of Jeff and Donna's sons, Matt, 18, showed that he knows his way around the guitar and banjo, and is a promising singer and writer as well.  That's him below playing with his group the Dyke Street Boys.
Below, Rick Bellaire, who organized the benefit concert, strums his guitar during the Folks Together set.  Rick, a wonderful writer and performer, did a great job bringing everyone together and making the afternoon flow smoothly.  Other performers included Fred Wilkes and Michelle Wilson, Frank Gotwals, Mary Whelan, Dan Lilley, and Chris and Diane Myers.