Are You Dave?

With many of the Fuzzy Lemons out of town this weekend, we had to pass on the Arts & Music Fest gig.  But my old friend Erin Lee was back in town with the Up Past Bedtime Band, and they invited me to join them once again with my banjo and mandolin.

The Fest is always a great event, and this time around we were blessed with amazing weather. I did a total of five songs with the band, including “No Rain,” which I’ve covered in the past with both The Gordys and The Fuzzy Lemons. Erin Lee is teaching in Hoboken again and I’m looking forward to some raucous lunches with her this fall.

~ Dave

It’s summer in Hoboken, and that can only mean one thing: The Gordys are on the loose! That’s right, the Mile-Square City’s hottest Klezmer outfit did its thing again this year at Sinatra Park, and as always, it was a blast. It was a gorgeous night, featuring a lovely moonrise over our Manhattan backdrop. Big thanks to Geri Fallo, Tom Sweeney and sound-guy Chris “Gibby” Gibson.”

This year’s Gordy line-up featured:
Dave Lambert, guitars, mandolin, vocals, percussion and harmonica
Howard Olah-Reiken, guitars and vocals
Pamela Strell, vocals and percussion
Adam Laden, guitars, mandolin, vocals and woodwinds
Barbara Arnett, accordion
Rob Harari, keyboards, vocals and percussion
Joe Harari, drums, vocals
Justin Michael, bass guitar
And two special guests:
Donna Coney Island, vocals
Gordy Haas, vocals and guitar

That’s right, Gordy himself, after whom the band was named, made his stage debut with us tonight! He rocked that Bon Jovi country tune, “Who Says You Can’t Go Home?” And the hilarious and talented (and patient) Donna Coney Island stepped in on several tunes, notably “Time Warp” and “We Got The Beat.”

Also, the night featured some VERY special guests, as the Gordys: The Next Generation took the stage. Rob, Howard, Adam and Barbara’s kids all came up to sing that inescapable Train song, “Hey Soul Sister,” and they did a heck of a job.

We even got asked to do an encore! Stunned, we stumbled our way through “Angel from Montgomery” to the delight of the synagogue crowd. Then we went to the bar at 10th and Willow for afters, already planning the set list for next year’s show.

The photos on this page are by Joe Epstein. Bill Benzon also took some great shots of the night, you can see them here.

-- Weather When Posted --

• Temperature: 81°F;
• Humidity: 54%;
• Heat Index: 82°F;
• Wind Chill: 81°F;
• Pressure: 30 in.;

Ah, the legendary annual Shipyard concert. I won’t bother repeating a lot about how great these shows are; you can read last year’s entry and get a good idea of the crowd and the energy.

This year there were a few minor differences. First of all, Hoboken had managed to go a year without any more arrests at City Hall, so there was no politicking. Also, I’d had a great meeting with Sibel, the wonderful lady who runs the local Ben & Jerry’s, and she was sponsoring the event and selling ice cream over by the fountain. Let’s see, what else happened that was different from last year… oh yeah… We got rained out midway through!

That’s right, for once the weather people got it right. The sound crew, Randy and Tom, arrived at the Shipyard and started setting up gear, so we figured Geri had decided the threat of rain was minimal. Kipley was pretty sure it was going to rain halfway through our set and he was dead right (as he pointed out more than once during the hurried tear-down afterwards). Oh well. We went for it, put on a great 30-minute show, then spent an hour back at the studio, toweling off our gear.

Joe Epstein got some great shots of us before the skies opened up. Thanks Joe!

Last year the town threw a magical birthday celebration for a true Hudson River hero, Pete Seeger. I was honored to be a part of it. Even better, Geri Fallo asked me back to join everyone in a reprise this year!

The amazing members of the Demolition String Band (Boo Reiners, Elena Skye, Clarence Ferrari and Skip on bass) put the show together and served as the MCs and “house band” for the night. Just as last year, rehearsing with Elena and Boo was a treat and a half. Even better, as we were running through “Turn, Turn, Turn,” local guitarist Julio Fernandez (you may know him from a little jazz combo called Spiro Gyra) was hanging around, and accepted our invitation to join in. He harmonized and we even threw in an extra slot for a guitar solo for him. All of a sudden I was a member of a supergroup!

I tried to remain cool on the outside, but I gotta say I was positively giddy inside. I was so cool I even offered to buy a round for everyone (rehearsal was at the Shannon Lounge, a classic pub in the true Hoboken tradition). No one took me up on it, but Julio did let me buy him a bottle of water and we sat and gabbed for a bit at the bar, where we were soon joined by Abbe Rivers on her way to rehearse her numbers. I love Hoboken, have I mentioned this lately?

Last year’s event was marred by drizzle, and the weather threatened to turn ugly again this year, but as of this writing we still haven’t seen a drop of the predicted downpour. Sinatra Park was bathed in a gorgeous sunset as we all gathered to perform.

Here’s the line-up from this year’s event:

1. The Hoboken Youth Choir did “If I Had A Hammer,” “This Little Light of Mine” and “This Land is Your Land.” Kate Jacobs, youth wrangler, asked me to stand by and play some guitar chords to keep everyone in the same key, which I was happy to do. Little did I know that Boo would join in on mandolin, along with Skip, the Demolition String Band’s stand-up bass player. It was a regular hootenanny.
2. Then it was my turn! I did “The Garden Song (Inch by Inch),” throwing in a little talkin’ blues cribbed from some classic Arlo Guthrie bits but also containing some of my own original insights. If Pete Seeger can make a speech during a song, the by gum so can I. Then the rest of the band came up, along with Julio, for “Turn, Turn, Turn.” The extra guitar and fiddle solos made the song last longer, but it was still over far too quickly for me.
3. Jon & Deena of The Cucumbers did “Kisses Sweeter than Wine.” I cornered them later and invited them to the Gordys show on June 24 (we’re covering one of their songs!)
4. Boo Reiners and the Demolition String Band led the crowd in singing “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore.”
5. Abbe Rivers melted some faces with her powerhouse renditions of “Mary Don’t You Weep” and “Jacob’s Ladder.”
6. Kate Jacobs, again in delightful counterpoint to Abbe, led the crowd in “Goodnight Irene,” one of my favorites.
7. Elena Skye told us about the times she’d met Pete Seeger, then picked up her banjo and did “Union Maid” and “Little Boxes” with the Demolition String Band.
8. Tom Vincent, former mayoral candidate, did a jazzy “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy.”
9. Eddie Fogerty ripped into “John Henry.”
10. Martha Fraiser played dulcimer and harmonized with her dad on the country classic “Get Along Cindy.”
11. I finally got to hear Annalee Van Kleeck sing “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” and WOW.
12. Gene D. Plumber did his classic rendition of “Joe Hill” and gave a shout out to union workers who gave us the greatest gifts of all: the 8-hour work day and the weekend!
13. Julio Fernandez led the crowd in a soulful “Guantanamera.” Earlier that day, talking with Julio, I found out he’d been born in Cuba and was sent to live with an aunt in Hoboken when he was 6. The man should write a book. I’d read it.
14. Dave Calamoneri channeled his inner Steve Earle for a sweltering “Bring ‘em Home.”
15. The it was time for the big “This Land is Your Land” ensemble number. There were plenty of singers and guitarists on stage, so I grabbed my harmonica and threw that in instead, which was kinda cool, I thought.

This was a fantastic event featuring local musicians and performers including The Fuzzy Lemons, Big Jeff, and the kids from Garden Street Music and Be Vocal. Kipley was absent so Dan McLoughlin sat in on keys and we had a blast. Plus, I had the honor of serving as MC for the event! Woohoo!

Everyone did a great job and we raised a few grand for Haiti. Later in the evening there was a grown-up show too, featuring even more bands! Here’s what Geri Fallo wrote the next morning:

On behalf of Mayor Dawn Zimmer & the City of Hoboken, I want to thank you for sharing your time & talent and helping us make the Hoboken for Haiti benefit concert such a wonderful success. Your generosity & support are so appreciated. Please send my regards to your other band members as well.

We raised $4,433.00, twice what was anticipated. The money will be divided between the American Red Cross & the Clinton Bush Relief Fund.

Thanks, Hoboken!
~ Dave

This morning I got a call from Geri Fallo at city hall, the nice lady who books all the gigs for the town. She said Telemundo was taping a show down at Sinatra Park and I should go down there and sing on hispanic TV. “Can’t be that simple,” I thought to myself, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to put on my Fuzzy Lemons t-shirt and check it out.

Well, in the end it happened pretty much like Geri said! None of the other leading Lemons were available, but I wasn’t going to miss a chance to be on TV. Around 3:00 I went down to Sinatra Park, site of those gorgeous waterfront Gordys shows. Sure enough, they had a bunch of cameras set up and a bunch of Telemundo TV personalities taking turns performing and interviewing local artists and musicians. I asked a production assistant if it was true I could sing some songs and she said “sure,” so I frantically texted Kipley and Dana to see if there was any chance they could come down. None at all, as it turned out.

But because the universe is a cool place and Hoboken is an awesome little town, Justin and his wife had wandered by, and I corralled them into being my moral and technical support. They sat with me for over an hour as I waited my turn and tried to figure out what to perform.

I figured I could give them a Fuzzy Lemons CD and lip-synch to it, as a lot of the other artists were doing. But the problem was, the songs on the CD are in English and this was clearly a Spanish-based program. So I shifted gears and remembered that Music Together has taught me several songs in Spanish. I asked Justin to use his blackberry to help me e-mail some folks and drum up some kids to help me sing, and ran through the words and chords to the two easiest, most fun Music Together spanish tunes I know.

The director (the person with the headset who snapped her fingers and pointed at people the most) called me over at one point and asked what I was going to perform. I’d been given to understand that lip-synching was preferred, because overall the sound of a CD was better than open microphones on a breezy riverside promenade. I said I could lip-synch in English, or sing live in Spanish.

“Ok, you sing in Spanish,” she said, and went off to snap her fingers and point at some other people.

So that settled it, I was going to do Music Together stuff, and for that I wanted some kids (I work better with a crowd). No families showed up that I knew, but there were some kids around, some of them the offspring of the Telemundo crew or of the performers. I gathered a couple of them and taught them “Don Alfredo Baila” and prepped them to come help me on stage. They were enthusiastic (read: hyper).

Finally, around 5:15, I the director snapped her fingers and sent me to the stage, in front of the camera. I brought my little flock of kids with me, we plugged my guitar in, and on cue I launched into “Don Alfredo.” It was a hoot. The production assistant and Justin were both standing beside the camera, pantomiming along with the song, giving the kids silent direction to dance and smile and follow the motions of the song.

Then the interviewer came up and did a little bit where she waved our CD in front of the camera and spoke rapid-fire spanish. She asked me some questions (in English, thank goodness) and I think I gave coherent answers. I did a second song, “Maria Isabel,” with the kids dancing around me and Justin and the PA pantomiming moves for them from offstage. Then I finished, and we were done.

Justin gave the director a Fuzzy Lemons CD and she said something to the effect of “You’ll come back with your band and be on the show again next Saturday in Prospect Park.” I have no idea if she meant it or what; she said she’d call the Fuzzy Lemon line on Monday. But I’m going to devote a little free time tomorrow to translating a Fuzzy Lemons song into Spanish. Who knows?

[Concert number three, band number three...]

Once again, the Gordys dodged bad weather and slogged through last-minute rehearsals to pull another delightful sunset show out of our collective hats. This year’s line-up:

• Howard Olah-Reiken: electric and acoustic guitar, vocals
• Adam Laden: acoustic guitar, mandolin, clarinet, saxophone and vocals
• Pamela Strell: vocals and percussion
• Rob Harari: keyboards, percussion and vocals
• Dave Lambert: electric and acoustic guitars, banjo, vocals
• Barbara Arnett: Accordion
• Justin Michael: Bass
• Joe Harari: Drums and vocals

We were pleased to welcome Rob’s teenage son Joe to the fold, and even more excited when he took lead vocals on a song, “Pizza Day” by the Aquabats.

It was another magical night, once we waded through our first few warm-up numbers. Every year, once the sun goes down and we get the audience revved up with the Klezmer set, it really lives up to the title of a “Summer Enchanted Evening.”

Hats off as always to Randy Taber and Tom Sweeney, and to Geri Fallo and Wendy Setzer for their hilarious performance. Every year they outdo themselves. Watch this space for photos, I hope…

Wow, what a show! What a crowd! What a band! Everything I love about playing music came together last night. Which is not to say we played a flawless show–far from it. There were minor technical issues and I KNOW I made some tragic gaffes on the guitar. But the band’s energy was amped up so high that we barreled right through all of it and kept the crowd dancing the entire hour.

I have to say that it was an amazing sight to see an ocean of people on the lawn; in fact there wasn’t a bare patch of grass exposed anywhere. The place was wall-to-wall kids, and yet (with the exception of one “lost child!” alert, quickly resolved) I didn’t see any wailing, shoving, or anything, just shiny little faces bopping in the evening light.

There’s always a mob right up at the front of the stage, kids clambering over equipment and one another to be closer to the band, but even that mad crush didn’t turn ugly. In fact it was cute as can be, and no one touched our mic stands, which meant none of the Lemons got knocked in the teeth by microphones. Bonus.

It was a bit of a landmark night for the town of Hoboken, in the wake of the recent political shake-up (our mayor got arrested and then resigned recently). Geri Fallo seemed even bubblier than usual as she announced the new acting mayor’s name in public for the first time, eliciting a huge cheer from the gathered throng. I think the enormous energy of the crowd had us all feeling pumped before we even started the show. In addition, we just finished an intense week in the studio and these days we’re feeling pretty darn good about ourselves musically.

Right as we launched into our first song, “Let’s Be Nice to Monsters,” the PA let out a gawd-awful crackle. It interrupted Kipley just as he was about to start his little into monologue. I looked over at him and he had a huge grin, like he was slightly concerned about the technical issue but it wasn’t going to stop him for a second, and he powered on, never losing the grin. (He later told us that he’s never played one of these shows WITHOUT a technical issue, so he just expects it.) I took my cue from that and played my heart out, and I think everyone else did too.

Which brings me to Randy Taber, who has been doing sound lately for Geri (we first met him at Kiddiepalooza in June). First of all, he and Sweeney arrived at, like, 5:15 (as opposed to their usual 6:00) which gave us GOBS of time to set up and run soundchecks before the show. Then, when we had the issue with the cable crackling, he jumped up on stage and corrected the problem lickety-split. He’s been a tour manager for Pink Floyd cover band The Machine, he teaches sound engineering at William Patterson University, he’s run sound for the Wetlands and B.B. King’s in NYC, and we’re lucky to have him.

Randy’s the reason we felt so good about our performance: Like Dave Entwistle, he makes darn sure we’re getting a great monitor mix and that we’re able to hear ourselves and each other. That’s the key to a great show (the downside is, when I make a goof on the guitar, I can hear it clear as a bell). If we’re struggling on stage, the audience knows it. That was not the case tonight. We were in sonic heaven and as a result–we ROCKED!

Photos and write up here!

~ Dave

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.

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: