New England Music Scrapbook Newsletter
Alan Lewis, Editor

Our Corner of the Rock 'n' Roll Life

December 8, 2007
Issue 2007:252

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We've got Thrills, chills, Dirty Water
What more do you need?
When the big beat hits ya
Comin' from your transistor
Like the T at full speed
When the big beat hits ya...

-- "Boston Lullaby," Dudick/Naihersey.
Copyright c. 1980 by Camaraderie Music, BMI.
All rights reserved. Used with permission.


. . . . .


BRATTLEBORO, VT, December 7 - It has been a fascinating week around
the ol' hearth at the New England Music Scrapbook headquarters. For
instance, we have heard from a good number of people who at the very
least OUGHT to be legends of the New England popular music community.
Most of these folks, though, have done and continue to do a lot of
their work behind the scenes, and they may or may not be especially
well known to general music-loving public.

A couple of the people we heard from actually are legends, and of them
I will simply mention

MISS LYN.

When the Boston rock-club circuit was basically re-launched as a
vehicle for original music, Miss Lyn, by way of her Boston Groupie
News, was a key player. These days,

bostongroupienews.com

is among the best sources of New England music news, and I hope a lot
of our readers check in there often.

We also heard ABOUT a guy who, over the years has cast a very long shadow,

BOBBY KEYES.

I have great rock, country, and blues-rock records featuring expert
picking from this guy. He has a Boston-area Bobby Keyes With Friends
and Special Guests gig coming up in the next few days (Wednesday,
December 12, Wild Horse Cafe, Beverly, Massachusetts), and it ought to
be a fantastic show. (It takes the place of a booking that was
originally for his band, The Mystix.) Once Jeanne French rattled off
a list of good size of high points in the career of Bobby Keyes. I
know a good deal about his work, but her list included a fair amount
that was new to me.

When pulling together last issue of this newsletter, something really
horrid happened. I didn't mention it because I didn't know a thing.
I don't know much more now. But this little community, Brattleboro,
Vermont, lost a huge piece of its culture: an unbelievable radio
broadcast, "Saturday Morning With the Oldies" (SMO). I have no idea
at this time why SMO has gone off the air. But as I have said before,
I have been listening to oldies programs of various sorts since there
first started being such things, and "Saturday Morning With the
Oldies" was hands down the best I ever heard. What I do know is that
the show did not come on at all last week or this week. In the past
the host and creator, John Ashley, might take some time off (which he
did rarely); but someone else with the station would always fill in.
But not now. This show appears to be totally gone. Ashley has a
general message of the "it's been fun" variety on the station's
website, and that is about all I know. It seems entirely possible to
me that no one will ever do an oldies program as good as John Ashley's
twenty years of Saturday morning broadcasts right here in Brattleboro.
I could not even begin to tell you what a monumental loss this is.

Years ago, we had kind of the opposite - a Monday-Friday morning new
music broadcast called "The 5:30 Club." All of a sudden, it wasn't
there any longer. A decade later and maybe more, I still feel the
loss. There will never be any forgetting "The 5:30 Club" and
"Saturday Morning With the Oldies."

One of our e-mail correspondents lately enjoyed playing one of the hot
computer games - Rock Band, I think - to the tune of the Charlie
Daniels Band song about the devil going down to Georgia. That song is
credited to all the then-current members of the band including the
drummer who, a few years before, had been one of the stalwarts of the
amazing Cambridge country-rock scene of the late 1970s and early
1980s. If you play that song in the game, you might be amused to know
of the Cambridge connection.

From time to time we copy very extensively from fan mailings just as
we would from press releases. One case in point this week comes from
a fan e-mail sent by singer-songwriter-comic

DON WHITE.

White - the currently most famous musician who isn't female and
doesn't play keyboards from Lynn, Massachusetts - has a little
different booking coming up. This is experimental; and depending on
how it works out, he may follow the same format in future years. If
you scroll down to his item below, you will see what I mean.

As far as actual press releases go, it is shocking to be reminded, by
the Rounder Records announcement which appears below, that Tony
Trischka's Grammy nomination is his first. First?! For Tony
Trischka?! You've got to be kidding!!! Tony Trischka has been a
fantastically influential banjoist. He should probably have multiple
Grammy nominations EVERY year.

Several of the most interesting mailings we received this week
nonetheless are not represented in any way in this newsletter issue.
They are terrific examples of a major problem in the area of promoting
independent artists.

There are just so many hours in the day, and there is just so much one
person can do. So independent artists typically send out the same
mailings to both their fans and the press. Efficient. The trouble is
they also send their mailings quite close to show dates, targeting
times when fans most likely are making their plans to step out for
entertainment. These mailings, then, more often than not go out too
late for press deadlines. So a well-intentioned effort to save time
by sending announcements to a single mailing list backfires by often
totally eliminating any prospects of press coverage.

Many of the news e-mails we receive, though quite informative, drift
off, toward the end, into a kind of sales pitch. Nothing wrong with
that as far as their own mailings go. But when copying from messages
of this sort, I ordinarily truncate them to avoid the sales passages.
In general, it seems to me this is an area we should not get into. I
have made an exception below for a rather remarkable special being
offered by the Maine band, The Coming Grass. There is some technical
advantage to sending this newsletter before I restart this computer,
and I am coming up fast on a reboot. So maybe I can explain this
another time, when time is a thing I have more of. The short version,
though, is that this The Coming Grass special includes individual
tracks and whole albums that I could easily picture music fans
becoming quite fanatical about, if only they hear the music in the
first place.

This week we received a good number of announcements of shows that
were special even by our definition and that we would have loved to
help promote if we had only received the announcements in time for
LAST issue, when they would have needed to run.

And there is that word, "run." Since the beginning of the universe, I
have gone out running in the month of December exactly twice. Both of
those occasions came this week. I am now capping off the most
fantastic running year of my life ... by far. Today may be my last
day of 2007 running. My ankles are a weak link, snowstorms create
really bad under-foot conditions, and snow is in the forecast for
tomorrow (Sunday). You are not going to hear a lot about running
being one of those things that get better with age, because it
doesn't. So having had such markedly improved success this year is
genuinely astonishing. It is a thing to be thankful for, and I hope
you all had equivalent areas of good fortune in 2007.

It has long been my fond hope to arrange for a foot-race with my
e-friend, Maria McLaughlin. Evidently the talk going around is that,
if I should ever succeed in setting up such a contest, the smart money
as to who will win is on Maria.


RUBBLEBUCKET ORCHESTRA
A Message From Alex Toth

"I'm writing you about our new band, Rubblebucket Orchestra. Since or
first show in Boston on September 26th, we have played sixteen shows
(several northeast runs) and recorded a full length album. This
should be released in mid to late February with an NYC CD release
slated for Smalls Jazz Club on February 29th.

"Everyone in the band has been dedicated, hard-working and
consistently performing at their highest level. On the road we cook
meals and eat together and it feels more like a family - we're all
working together to make this music.

"www.myspace.com/rubblebucket has vibe, photos, blog, music, etc."

-- "RubbleBucket Orchestra Loveness," December 3,
2007


JOHN COSTER
"Back to America" at the Neil Young Site

"I haven't promoted the song but I did post 'Back to America' on Neil
Young's collections of songs about the war and the situation we're in,
and it seems to have climbed a couple of thousand places very quickly,
to 184 I guess; so if any of you would like to hear it, go click on
it. I mean it might even help get a couple more paying gigs ... who
knows? It's a living room recording, with Mary Serreze playing piano
and doing the recording, just one room/vocal mike for harp and voice
and guitar, a DI from the guitar and two lines out of Mary's keyboard.
I do like the plain no frills performance, just what you would hear
in the room if you were sitting there. No mastering, just the raw
sound. What the hell are we going to do to stop sliding away from
everything that used to make this country the place to be. Pass it on
if you like it."

-- John Coster, "Back to America," December 4,
2007

WHAT JOHN COSTER LACKS in fame, he makes up for in brilliance. He is
one of our greatest songwriters. I don't know about this particular
song. This computer remains on dialup. But Coster had one of the
best songs about the Vietnam War and its veterans.

The war isn't over
It's still ringin' in my ears...

Ray Mason's lonesome fans may be interested to know that he played
bass on that record.


= = = = =


BRIEF ITEMS :


ASHLEY GEARING
Forthcoming Album
First Single Set for February Release

Massachusetts country singer Ashley Gearing got a good deal of
publicity when she was quite young, and this helped bring her a sweet
recording contract. Things seem to have slowed down a bit later on,
and it may have been for good reason. As I recall, her family moved,
and one of her mailings I think spoke of knee surgery or some such
thing. But Gearing is still very much out there, and she has a new
record coming out. Her latest mailing says the first single is to be
released mid-February.

-- Information source: Ashley Gearing, "Ashley's
Angels," December 4, 2007


THE PUSH STARS
A New Year and Paradise, Too

"Just announced: THE PUSH STARS will perform on New Years Eve at the
Paradise Lounge in Boston, Massachusetts."

-- Chris Trapper of The Push Stars, "New Years Eve
With The Push Stars," December 6, 2007

I DON'T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I saw a New England show listing for
The Push Stars. If it has been a long time, as I am thinking, this
appearance at the Paradise Rock Lounge ought to be quite an event.


DROPKICK MURPHYS
"The State of Massachusetts" Single

OF ALL THE ARTISTS WHOSE MAILING LISTS we are on, none are anywhere
near as motivated to get out word about their music as the Dropkick
Murphys. When it comes to feeling a sense of urgency about keeping
fans informed, these guys are tops. It is no accident that they have
become successful

"Now available for pre-order, limited edition green vinyl single of
'The State of Massachusetts' (also available as a CD single) available
through Cooking Vinyl in February to coincide with our tour. Features
bonus tracks 'The Thick Skin of Defiance,' 'Breakdown' and a new
acoustic style version of 'Forever.'"

-- Dropkick Murphys Mailing, December 4, 2007


A GUITARZAN NEW YEAR'S

"Mark your calenders now [for] Guitarzan's fourth annual New Year's
Extravaganza! This year at The Plough. $5 cover.
http://www.ploughandstars.com Show starts at 10. See
www.myspace.com/guitarzanrocks"

-- Russell Chudnofsky, "Guitarzan December 31,"
December 4, 2007


DAVE CROSSLAND
News

"Still floating in sea of bliss from the Illinois gigs with Shawn
Colvin. Classy headliner, spacious halls, effusive Midwestern
audiences, and I do believe I'd be willin' do that just about every
night if time allowed.

"Also took part in a tremendously great song circle the last Saturday
with Jim Infantino, Jennifer Kimball and Rose Polenzani. We were
closing down the night in Cambridge after Jim's Big Ego put on a
killer show at the Lizard Lounge. The place was packed and we
transcended time and space laying down harmonies on each other's
songs. Seriously, it was one of those musical moments that make
anything worthwhile."

-- "Dave Crossland - Peace on Earth and Other
Cool Stuff," December 6, 2007


"Mummified dinosaur reveals never-before-seen details"

-- Current Yahoo News Headline

A LITTLE OVER A HUNDRED YEARS AGO a (nearly) local guy - a professor
at Amherst College - put out the idea that birds might be descended
from dinosaurs. I'll bet a lot of people got a good laugh out of it
at the time. But ... not no more. You may or may not be interested
in dinosaurs. But there are three words in this Yahoo News headline
that ought to interest all of us:

never before seen.

Adventure may be found in many different areas of life. For dinosaur
enthusiasts, getting to see these details for the first time ever must
have been one gigantic thrill.

Do you remember the awe felt, by astronomers and by people in other
walks of life who had a keen interest in astronomy, when the first
photographs from the Hubble space telescope were made available?

Much of what is great about versions of the King Arthur stories, out
of the High Middle Ages, is the quest for adventure.

Adventure is where you find it; but wherever you find it, it is a
priceless thing.


end BRIEF ITEMS


= = = = =


DON WHITE
Looking Way Ahead to an Experimental Booking
at the Regent Theatre

Saturday March 8th (8:00PM) Don White and Christine Lavin at The
Regent Theatre 7 Medford St in Arlington Mass. This is a co bill with
Ms. Lavin and I each doing a full set. Pre sales for the best seats
and for exclusive gold circle seating will go on sale for members (and
friends of members) of this mailing list on Monday Dec 3rd at 9:00 AM.
Seriously, these seats that are not available to the general public
will make the Best Holiday Gift Ever. The Regent is a beautiful 500
seat theatre. There are several excellent restaurants within walking
distance and ample parking. When I stopped doing the Festival of Funny
Songwriters after 14 years in 2006 I wanted to move toward doing a
unique co bill once a year instead. This is the first one. If it goes
well, there are other great artists waiting to book shows with me for
2009 and 2010. This is going to be a tremendous night. Don't miss it!
Get your pre sale tickets at www.planetarygroove.com 617-469-2159

Saturday March 8th (4:00PM) Don White and Christine Lavin at The
Regent Theatre 7 Medford St in Arlington Mass. That's right. We're
doing a matinee. If you have plans for the evening or if you just like
to be in your jammies by 10:00 come to the afternoon show and be on
your way home or off to another event by 6:35.

www.planetarygroove.com

617-469-2159

About Christine Lavin

In 1996 I opened for Ms. Lavin at the famed and fabled Olde Vienna
Kaffeehaus in Westboro, Massachusetts. She took ten copies of my new
CD (Live at the Somerville Theatre) and in five weeks she was able to
do more for my career than me or my record company at the time or
anybody else had been able to do for me in five years. She gave my CD
to all these heavyweights in New York and suddenly I was performing at
the legendary NY club The Bottom Line. I was being interviewed by Vin
Scelca on KROC radio. My album was being called one of the best
releases of the year by Robert Christgau in the Village Voice. Ms.
Lavin later included my music on two of her compilation CDs. One of
which got me the air play in Detroit that led to my first performance
at The Ark and all the other amazing Michigan experiences that I have
had since 1999.

It is not an exaggeration to say that I owe at least half of my career
to her generous endorsements and enthusiasm.

In addition to being a tremendous advocate for me and many, many
unsigned or small label artists, she is wickedly funny and a brilliant
performer.

-- Don White, "News," December 2, 2007


GUITAR HERO
News

We received the following from a computer game enthusiast:

"Activision, who's currently making the Guitar Hero franchise, just
had a major merger with software company Blizzard. Among other things
mentioned in the news was a deal between Universal Records and
Activision for unlimited access to their catalog for Guitar Hero. If
I understand things right, they've also evidently confirmed Guitar
Hero 4 is already in the works. Yikes. Forget about downloadable
content and such."


KRIS DELMHORST

"Hello people of the year's end.

"It's been quite a 2007 here in our world!

"It's time to give you an update on the new record. First and
foremost I want to send big heartfelt thanks out to everyone who's
supported me - financially and/or morally - as I've been working on
this record. It's been an exciting journey and I truly can't wait to
share the results with you. We're now moving into the home stretch of
the record-making process which should be all wrapped up and off to
the printers sometime in January. Originally we had hoped to be done
a month or two earlier, but as always, there have been some issues
with waiting for peoples' schedules to align and such. So, we'll be
sending preorder packages out at some point in February - as early as
we have them in hand. For these last stages of the record I'll have
the additional help of Mr. Sam Kassirer, who plays keyboards in Josh
Ritter's band and produced Josh's newest record. After so much
solitary work I'm really looking forward to the collaboration.

"Release tours will start in late February/early March on the West
Coast and run throughout the late winter and the spring. I haven't
really been in touring mode since last spring, so I'll be chomping at
the bit to get back out there and see some of my favorite places
again. In the meantime, all my best wishes for a happy and peaceful
end of your year, and I'll see you in 2008!"

-- Kris Delmhorst Mailing, December 4, 2007


THE COMING GRASS
Easy to Love Holiday Specials

Hello!

We're running two holiday merchandise specials.

1. We'll gift wrap all three Coming Grass cds
(self-titled, Transient, and Beauty of a Heart) and
mail them to you or directly to your loved one for
just $20. That's about $5 per cd plus S&H. heck of a
deal, heck of a deal

OR

2. Receive a signed copy of Sara Cox's most recent
solo cd, "Crowded is the New Lonely" (which is #32 on
the Americana Music Chart this week!") and a "Crowded
Is the New Lonely" T Shirt (see attached image)
also gift wrapped and also just $20. T Shirts are
available in

Mens' M, L, XL
Women's M, L, XL
Toddler 2/3
Infant onesies 12 and 24 month

We're sure there is a music fan on your Christmas
list who would love one or both of these packages. Or
maybe you need a little something for yourself this
season.

Happy December,
The Coming Grass

www.myspace.com/cominggrass
www.myspace.com/saracox

-- The Coming Grass, "Holiday Specials,"
December 4, 2007


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 6, 2007

ROUNDER RECORDING ARTISTS EARN MULTIPLE

GRAMMY® NOMINATIONS

Burlington, MA – Rounder Records is pleased to announce that its
artists have received twelve Grammy® nominations for the 50th Annual
Grammy® Awards, the most nominations in Rounder history! The awards
ceremony will take place on February 10th at the Staples Center in Los
Angeles, and once again will be broadcast live on the CBS Television
Network at 8pm EST.

Banjo giant Tony Trischka received his first Grammy® nomination for
Best Bluegrass Album with Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular and
joining him in this category is legendary bluegrass band J.D. Crowe &
The New South with a nomination for Lefty's Old Guitar. Mary Chapin
Carpenter earned a Grammy® nod in the Best Traditional Folk Album for
The Calling while string sensation Cathy Fink garnered a nomination
for her acclaimed album Banjo Talkin'.

Alison Krauss picked up nominations for Best Female Country Vocal
("Simple Love") and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals ("Gone Gone
Gone [Done Moved On]") with Robert Plant. Krauss, as a solo artist,
collaborator, producer, and with Union Station, has 20 Grammy® awards
to her credit, the most of any female artist or any country artist.
She's also tied for 7th on the all-time Grammy® winners list.
Accompanying her on that list is polka king Jimmy Sturr with 16
Grammy® awards. Sturr and His Orchestra are nominated in Best Polka
Album category for Come Share the Wine.

Below is the complete list of Rounder Records' Grammy® nominations:

Robert Plant|Alison Krauss
Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals – "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On),"
from Raising Sand

Alison Krauss
Best Female Country Vocal – "Simple Love," from A Hundred Miles or
More: A Collection

J.D. Crowe & The New South
Best Bluegrass Album – Lefty's Old Guitar

Tony Trischka
Best Bluegrass Album – Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular

Cathy Fink
Best Traditional Folk Album – Banjo Talkin'

Mary Chapin Carpenter
Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album – The Calling

Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra
Best Polka Album – Come Share the Wine

Peter Himmelman
Best Musical Album for Children – My Green Kite

Philip Glass
Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television, or other
Visual Media – Notes on a Scandal
Best Instrumental Composition – "I Knew Her," from Notes on a Scandal

Harry Connick Jr.
Best Instrumental Composition – "Ash Wednesday," from Chanson du Vieux
Carré: Connick On Piano 3 [Marsalis Music/Rounder]

Best Instrumental Arrangement – "Ash Wednesday," from Chanson du Vieux
Carré: Connick On Piano 3 [Marsalis Music/Rounder]


NEMSnews

New England Music Scrapbook
Brattleboro, Vermont

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. . . . .


IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS WHO WOULD BE interested in any of the items in
this issue, please forward this newsletter to them. Thanks! We
believe this is one of the main ways we pick up readers.


As a rule, we do not post SHOW LISTINGS. The reason is quite
simple. Though our name is the NEW ENGLAND Music Scrapbook, probably
an easy majority of our readers are based outside the six New England
states. The great majority of show listings would be of no interest
at all to the great majority of our readers.

We make exceptions when show listings are part of an item of more
general interest. CD-release events are great examples. For us, the
main point of an item of this sort is that an act has a new record.
The show being announced is of secondary interest to us - if that - as
far as the contents of our newsletter goes.

In the very few, truly exceptional instances where we post show
listings...


... Shows can be canceled, sold out, or even moved to another
date or location. We recommend checking the Web, calling ahead or
otherwise confirming details.


To SUBSCRIBE to this newsletter:
http://www.geocities.com/nemsnewz/subscribe.htm

E-MAIL via:
http://www.geocities.com/nemsbook/fred.htm
(Please do NOT click the Reply button.)

NEWSLETTER's Yahoo Groups Home Page:
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General CONTACT Information:
http://www.geocities.com/uridfm/contact.htm


Issue 2007:252

Published no less often than monthly.
We're guessing eventually we'll settle
into an every-other-week schedule.

Copyright © 2007 by the New England Music Scrapbook. All rights reserved.

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