Are You Dave?

The Fuzzy Lemons have booked a BUNCHA gigs in the last few days, which is nice. I hope it keeps up! Here’s my music schedule (not counting all the private birthdays and Music Together classes I’ll be doing):

• July 12: The Fuzzy Lemons at the Great South Bay Music Festival in Patchogue, NY, 1:45 p.m. Also appearing: Paul Helou, Dr. Planet and Marla Lewis
• Week of July 27: Recording the Fuzzy Lemons at Garden Street Music
• July 28: Music Together at the Shipyard, 7:00 p.m.
• August 4: TFL at the Shipyard,  7:00 p.m.
• August 6: The Gordys at Sinatra Park,  7:00 p.m.
• August 11: Sitting in with Erin Lee and Marci at the Shipyard,  7:00 p.m.
• August 12: TFL at Church Square Park,  7:00 p.m.
• September 13: TFL at Union County MusicFest, Clark, NJ, 3:00 and 4:00
• September or October: TFL unplugged at the Harlem Flea Market (tentative)
• October 10: TFL at a private event in either Hoboken or Spring Lake, NJ
• October 18: TFL at Jubilee Day (Jubilee Center Benefit), time and location TBD
• December 6: Dave’s Annual Holiday Show with Howard Olah-Reiken at the Hoboken Historical Museum, 3:00

Mu is one of those incredibly useful words that doesn’t exist in English. It’s the only good one-word answer to questions like “Do you still beat your wife?” Read more here.

So, Kipley and Dana came over today to work on some songs. At one point we were writing a song about taking a bath, and for fun I set up my mics in the bathroom and recorded the bathtub flowing. Dana got photos, look for them here soon.

Wow, what a day! The Lemons just rocked three big fat sets of fun-filled rock on Hoboken’s gorgeous Pier A. Everything came together today: The weather was wonderful (breezy, sunny, not too hot or humid, and the ever-present threat of rain turned out to be nothing), the town’s equipment worked well (kudos to Tom Sweeney and to sound guy Randy—I’ll have to learn his last name sometime) and the crowd was super-enthusiastic.

I wore my cool new tie-dyed shirt that my sister and her family gave me for my birthday: The tie-dye is in the shape of a guitar. It’s the best shirt ever.

We hung out with the Flannery Brothers (I kept wanting to call them the Farrelly Brothers), down from Maine for the weekend to perform at a couple of locales in the NJ/NYC area. They were sweet as pie and very talented (and they complimented us on the party we threw for the kids with our set).

Kipley and Dana related a nice comment they received from a local parent, who said something along the lines of “I figured out why you’re so good: You’re not a kid’s band, you’re a rock band that has kid’s lyrics.” I’ll get the exact quote and use it in our press kit because that’s exactly what we’ve been trying to convey all along. I’m glad folks are figuring it out.

As for our sets, well, I made some mistakes (I learned I cannot walk and play “Hawaii 5-0″ at the same time) but overall we had great energy and barreled through. People commented afterwards on how much fun they had, not the mistakes they heard. But man, do I need to rehearse more.

Hoboken411 is a great resource marred by the crazy people who feel the need to post awful comments. Perry did a great job combining our info and imagery for this listing:

Kiddiepalooza 2009!

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Back-to-back outdoor shows, can you believe it? As with yesterday’s show in Jersey City, this one took place at a bustling festival, with shade for the band but not for the audience. In this case we were in the gazebo at Church Square Park, and the festival was put on by OLG, the church that gives the park its name.

Waving to the crowd!

It was a busy, crowded stage, with Tom Sweeney playing D.J. and M.C. in between the various puppet shows, dancers, bands, and even WCW wrestlers. Tom’s not a sound guy, however, so we lugged our own P.A. in and talked Dave Entwistle into coming back to mix for us once again.

The normally spacious gazebo was suddenly overflowing with gear and personnel: the Fuzzy Lemons, Sweeney, a bunch of people who wanted to make announcements at random moments (seriously, I haven’t been interrupted in the middle of a set this many times since my college band’s drunken frat-house days) and, ultimately, wrestlers.

We rocked it, though, if I do say so myself. Kipley brought his keyboard in addition to his guitar and accordion, adding some wicked cool piano to “Baby Brother Blues.” Every gig sees something new blossom in the Lemons!

Finally, outdoor concert season begins! The Fuzzy Lemons kicked off the summer with a (short) road trip to Jersey City, for the Learning Community Charter School’s June-A-Palooza Street Fair at the Boys & Girls Club. It was a huge event, sprawling the entire length of the club’s block-long parking lot. The J.C. fire department was helping folks beat the heat by pumping a spray of water over shrieking kids; there was a long, long line of tables groaning with delicious ethnic foods; and music filled the air!

When I arrived via Light Rail, the awesome percussion group Marafanyi was putting on a spectacular display of drumming from around the world. After that, a favorite local band took the stage: The Black Pearls, a winsome foursome of hard-rockin’ 12-year-old girls. They closed with a smokin’ version of Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” (which I’m sure they’ll drop from their set when they realize that the song is almost as old as their moms).

Kudos to the organizers for putting up a tent to provide shade for the band. Next year some shade for the audience would be awesome—standing around in a hot parking lot is usually what you do before you see a band.

Anyway, it was a fun set and a fun day. Dave Entwistle worked his usual magic, and I had a nice ride back to Hoboken with him on the Light Rail, chatting about life, the universe and everything.

A note about transportation: I’ve got a folding grocery cart—which I normally use for grocery runs since I don’t have a car—but I need it to haul my gear when the Lemons load Kipley and Dana’s vehicles up with the P.A. and drums and such. So if you see a musical hobo trundling his guitars in a pushcart through the streets of Hoboken, it’s just me on the way to a gig. I’m looking forward to the shows that the town runs (Kiddiepalooza, Shipyard Park) because we can use the town’s P.A. and I can fit my junk in Dana’s car!

As I mentioned recently, I was invited to be part of an all-star concert in celebration of the great Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday. Geri Fallo got some of Hoboken’s top musicians (and me) together to put on the tribute show, which kicks off the town’s Thursday-night summer concert series.

Everyone picked out one or two of their favorite Pete songs, and most of us rehearsed with the Demolition String Band backing us up. Rehearsals sounded great… the night of the show, however, was something else entirely. For starters, it was drizzling, and when I got to Pier A I found Elena and Boo huddled in their car, with no one else around. Concern was expressed.

But lo, Tom Sweeney rolled up shortly in a red “short bus,” which apparently has replaced his familiar white van. He and his sound guy (I didn’t catch his name, but he knew what he was doing) set up the gear in a tearing hurry, only to rip it down again and move it into the gazebo at the end of the pier when Geri showed up, frowning the weather.

Meanwhile, I jawed a bit with Ray Korona, who told a couple of Pete Seeger stories and did a dead-on impression (”Y’know, if we all held hands in a circle around the globe… three-fourths of us would drown”) and with Clarence Ferrari, fiddle player, dad, and all-around nice guy. We sat at the end of the pier and watched the Clearwater, Pete’s famous sloop, motor in and tie up next to the Waterfront Museum.

Before long, the gear was set up in a dry place, and most if not all of the musicians were in place.

The lineup went something like this:
The All-Hoboken Youth Chorus - This Little Light of Mine
The All-Hoboken Youth Chorus - We Shall Overcome
Kate Jacobs and the chorus’ conductors did a fantastic job, leading a group of over 100 kids from every school in Hoboken in two great sing-alongs.
Ray Korona - Toys for Peace (a song he wrote with Pete!)
Jon & Deena (of The Cucumbers) - Kisses Sweeter than Wine
I have been a fan of the Cucumbers for years, and we’ve gotten to the point where we say “hey” at these functions. They have been doing “Kisses Sweeter than Wine” as a gorgeous duet for just about ever.
Dave Lambert - Inch By Inch (The Garden Song)
I pretty much ripped off Arlo Guthrie for this version (I’ve been aping Arlo since I first heard - and memorized - “Alice’s Restaurant” in high school). I can’t come close to his performance, so click here for the real thing. It was fun to see folks in the audience singing along, even the rare anti-garden verse. There were some true folk fans in the crowd!
Dave Lambert - Turn! Turn! Turn!
I got to welcome the Demolition String Band back to the stage - Elena Skye and Boo Reiners on guitars and vocals, Dave Post on stand-up bass, and Clarence Ferrari on fiddle. What a treat to be able to share the stage with this gang; they are, as I introduced them, true keepers of the musical faith in the strongest tradition of Pete Seeger and his ilk. We launched into the Byrds arrangement of “Turn! Turn! Turn!” with me on my Danelectro 12-string and Elena and Boo backing me up with rich, rich harmonies. Thank goodness they’d brought music stands - Pete Seeger songs tend to have lots of verses. When we got to the solo, I liked what I heard coming from Clarence and his fiddle so much that I gave him a nod and he launched right in; I picked up the solo in the 12-string for the 2nd half. Every now and then I am privy to those moments of musical telepathy, when two players can wordlessly go somewhere together. Playing with folks like the Demolition String Band, who have music rolling through their veins, makes moments like that much more likely!
Kate Jacobs - Goodnight Irene
Kate has such a sweet, simple voice, it’s actually hard to describe. She’s not a belter or a warbler, she just sings clearly and cleanly, with an incredible emotional impact. The entire audience joined in on harmonies, to glorious effect.
Abbe Rivers - Mary Don’t you Weep
Abbe Rivers - Jacob’s Ladder
Abbe is a wonderful counterpoint to Kate Jacobs: bold, brassy, and no-holds-barred. We all rocked along to her two songs, swaying to the full drunken-gospel feel.

Unfortunately, I had to take off at this point. But here’s what I missed (sadly):
Gene D. Plumber - Joe Hill
Gene D. Plumber (with his daughter and special guest Perry Robinson) - Guantanamera
Boo Rieners - Talking Union
Boo Reiners - Michael Row Your Boat Ashore
Elena Skye - Little Boxes
Elena Skye - Which Side Are You On?
Eddie Fogarty - John Henry
Annalee Van Kleeck - Where Have All the Flowers Gone? (She couldn’t make it, see her comment to this blog)
Dave Calamoneri - Bring ‘em Home
group finale - If I had a Hammer & This Land is Your Land

I can only imagine that the rest of the night was as magical! I sent some thank-you notes afterwards, and got nice replies from Boo and Elena. Next up, I have a Woody Guthrie project in mind that they’d be perfect for; watch this space for details!

Here’s a photo of the night from my cell phone:

Dave Post, Clarence Ferrari, Elena Skye, Boo Reiners (seated), and Abbe Rivers

This afternoon I spent an awesome 30 minutes with The Demolition String Band: Elena Skye, Boo Reiners and Dave Post. They were rehearsing at Maxwell’s for the Pete Seeger 90th Birthday celebration this Thursday. My slot was at 2:30, I popped in and we ran “Turn! Turn! Turn!” twice through. They’re such amazing musicians, I felt like I was IN the Byrds, not just covering them. Thursday is going to be magical.
~Dave