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.
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
It’s gonna be a great summer; I’ve got a whole slew of evening outdoor gigs—the best kind, because the sun isn’t beating down on the crowd, folks can settle down on a blanket with some dinner and enjoy the music. What could be better?
I’ll tell you what could be better: ROAD TRIPS! We’ve got not one, not two but THREE out-of-town shows on the calendar. That’s three big chances to impress (and sell CDs to) an entirely new audience. It’s a challenge, because on the road no one knows us, we have no advanced reputation or following whatsoever. We have to rely solely on our musical chops. The good news is, I think we’re up to it! (And we’ll be rehearsing like mad to make sure we are.)
We’ve also got this interesting Flea Market thing pencilled in on the calendar. Our old pals Omar and Kazumi are apparently booking Saturday shows at a new flea market in Harlem this summer and fall. We’re in discussion to do an “unplugged” set up there sometime (unplugged because they don’t have permits for a big sound system as of yet). Watch this space for details!
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.
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
Wow, the calendar has been gig-free for a few weeks, and I’ve neglected to check in! But that doesn’t mean nothing is happening. Last week, for example, The Fuzzy Lemons had a great session with Dan McLoughlin in our rehearsal studio–he gave us copious pre-production notes to help us prepare for our next sojourn into the recording studio.
On a personal note, I had two awesome weekends in a row–first I got to go to a ManKind Project bonfire, the first I’ve been to in a whole year, and it was fantastic to connect with some old friends again. Then, last weekend was Memorial Day and I got to take my li’l family up to CT to visit my folks, my sisters, and assorted spouses, nieces and nephews. I even got a waterski run in, as my aching shoulders will attest 2 days later.
And now it’s time to gear up for a whirlwind of activity: I have 5 gigs in the next three weeks!
May 30: The Fuzzy Lemons at the Waterfront Museum, which is a way-cool restored barge. I’m excited to play there but concerned because ticket sales seem low.
June 4: Pete Seeger 90th Birthday tribute, featuring some of Hoboken’s top musicians! This is the first of the town’s Thursday-night summer concerts, and it’s an honor to have been invited by Geri Fallo to be a part of it. My original fantasy of doing a duet with Jim Mastro fell through (he’s out of the country apparently) but I’ve been in touch with The Demolition String Band and they’ll be backing me up on a song, it seems. Also, the New York Times asked for photos of the performers for an article on the event. Below is the photo I sent. Exciting!
Photo by Fred Eisner
June 6: June-A-Palooza in Jersey City: We just got confirmation that we’re on for 2:30. We’re not getting paid but it’s a big deal in Jersey City and we’re hoping to sell some CDs and build our fan base outside of Hoboken.
June 7: TFL at the OLG Fun Fest at Church Square Park. Outdoor show #2 of the summer; we’ll be in the gazebo at Church Square (you last saw us there in August).
June 14: TFL at Kiddiepalooza on Pier A. Outdoor show #3 of the summer! We’ll do three big sets.
Then we’ll enjoy some time off until we’re back at the Shipyard in August (and I have sets with Music Together, Erin Lee & Marci, and the Gordys around the same time–everything happens at once!)
April 24: The Fuzzy Lemons at All Saints’ spring bash
May 1: TFL at HOPES Father’s Group Dance (tickets available now!)
May 9: TFL play a private party
May 30: TFL at the Waterfront Museum
June 4: Pete Seeger 90th Birthday tribute, featuring some of Hoboken’s top musicians!
June 6: June-A-Palooza in Jersey City (tentative)
June 7: TFL at the OLG Fun Fest at Church Square Park
June 14: TFL at Kiddiepalooza on Pier A
July 28: Music Together at the Shipyard
August 4 : TFL at the Shipyard
August 6: The Gordys at Sinatra Park
August 11: Sitting in with Erin Lee and Marci at the Shipyard
December 6: Annual holiday show with Howie at the Hoboken Historical Museum.
Yes, that’s three Shipyard Tuesdays in a row. Awesome. Meanwhile the Lemons are putting together our mailing to try to book festival gigs all summer long, watch this space for details!
~Dave
It’s been a quiet week (2 weeks actually) in Lake Hoboken. I’ve been on break between semesters and the Lemons haven’t had any gigs.
Which is not to say that I’ve been doing nothing.
The Lemons had a big fat business meeting last Monday, and discussed a whole lotta topics. Mainly, we decided to bring Big Dan McLoughlin aboard as the official Producer (say it with a British accent: “pro-DEWS-ah”) of the first full-length Fuzzy Lemons album. We got unmixed versions of the 5 songs we recorded at Garden Street Music over the winter and I’m super-psyched about how the album is going to turn out.
We also decided to book a lot of gigs, buy a P.A., and maybe shoot a video. Meanwhile, my sister put me in touch with a band from the D.C. area called Rocknoceros, and I’ve been chatting with them about some sort of gig-exchange deal. And yesterday we hit the Children’s Museum in Norwalk, CT, which is in the process of building a stage and planning a summer concert series, and I grabbed their contact info. So it’ll be an interesting summer, watch this space for more.
In semi-related news, Kipley, Dana and I spent three of my vacation days recording at my place for a project we’re calling “Playdate Music.” We’ve knocked out six tunes so far, with a couple more on the burner. Between those six and the five new Fuzzy Lemons tunes, I’ve been really really pleased with the creative output that’s happening around me. It’s great to have such easy and fun collaborators!
That’s what’s taken up most of my time. In fact we were so busy with taxes and cleaning and recovering from work and travel craziness that we actually turned my sister down when she wanted to visit with her two kids. (We promise to have a visit soon!)
Now we’re chillin’ at my folks’ house in CT for the Easter weekend. My old, old friend Zak is cat-sitting for us in Hoboken. I may or may not write about her in some other post. The short version: She’s the first person I met in Hoboken, some 13-odd (and I mean VERY odd) years ago, and she’s back in town to visit her mom and we’re thrilled to see her.
This one is mainly for readers of the Jimmasphere, who are mainly family: We’re here in Boulder Creek this week, visiting my in-laws! Spent most of yesterday (Sunday) on planes but now we’re in the loving embrace (and warm, good-smelling kitchen) of family. It’s going to get up into the 60s and maybe even 70s here this week, but it’s been fairly crisp and cool so far. On the agenda for the week: Santa Cruz, hunting for lizards in the back yard, the Monterey Aquarium, visits with cousins, lunch at Scopazzi’s (which apparently means something naughty in Italian), and wild game at the local German place.
By “scored” I mean I did the music for my friend Guy’s video:
[caution, some language not suitable for minors]
The opening bit is something I did for another of Guy’s movies, ”My Grandma Killed Seven People.” The guitar under the Wes Anderson bit is me picking the chords to “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” a la Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bleecker Street.”
You know those cheesy MIDI files that pop up on websites from time to time? Turns out you can download them and drag ‘em into GarageBand and actually make them sound good. That’s how I got the version of “The Liberty Bell March” (a.k.a. The Monty Python Theme) that you hear here.
Fans of The Fuzzy Lemons may recognize the music during the “Quentin Tarantino” segment. It’s the first demo I did of “Sunburn” in GarageBand, before it even had lyrics. Kimberly Perry, drummer emeritus, helped out with the MIDI drums. Hi Kim!
Well, a moderate success. About 25 people showed up, which isn’t a HUGE number, but when you consider who they were: representatives from CASA, the Boys & Girls Club, the Mankind Project and the local school board… well, I’m pretty pleased with the turnout. Several men indicated an interest in MKP, and I think the representative from CASA generated some interest in that organization as well. As I said at the conclusion of the evening, if even one teenager gets some much-needed support as a result of this gathering, I’ll consider it a roaring success.
I’ll be doing the whole thing again in about six weeks. I want to get a whole bunch of Hoboken guys interested in the Mankind Project!
Dave
