New England Music Scrapbook Newsletter
Alan Lewis, Editor

Our Corner of the Rock 'n' Roll Life

February 2, 2008
Issue 2008:260

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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, February 2 - There are certain phenomena in the field
of popular music where it is necessary to hear A LOT of it to get
anything close to the full experience. My favorite example is an
extraordinary local radio program which, unfortunately, has gone off
the air. It was called "Saturday Morning With the Oldies." Listen
once, and you would have heard a really good oldies program. But you
could listen for weeks on end and no records at all would play more
than once in that time. For many of us, the total lack of repetition
over big stretches of time and the amazing diversity of music
performances which were showcased was what the program was about.
Great host, too, in John Ashley, who clearly loved every minute of
what he was doing.

We just heard from a Maine gentleman who is responsible for something
similar in a way. His name is

CHARLIE GAYLORD

and he releases compilation CDs under the running title,

GREETINGS FROM AREA CODE 207.

If you were to hear just one GFAC207 album, there is a pretty good
chance you would really like it. But if you were to hear several of
these records, chances are decent that you, like me, would rate this
as one of the best local music CD series out there ... ever.

Maine music fans, who have lived with this series for years, I imagine
know what I mean.

New music, great music, though I have not actually heard, I imagine
Charlie Gaylord is working on the next GFAC207 release.

Evidently our correspondent has something to send us, so we won't know
what he is up to for a while.

I was just about to fish out "Greetings From Area Code 207 Vol. 6" to
get ideas from it for mailing lists we ought to be on. An ABC of
recent examples of our mailing-list sign-ups is

Aerosmith

Sarah Borges

Slaid Cleaves.

It is AMAZING that we were not on any of their mailing lists prior to
this. I have an excuse in Sarah's case in that her website's
subscription form was not working when I first tried to sign up.

I also have an excuse in the case of Aerosmith and their totally
crummy website. I can get into their site just enough to say so from
home and can't get in at all from the public-access computers I use.
I had to get kin to sign us up.

But Slaid Cleves? THAT omission is clearly my fault.

A favorite album of recent years is one by a GFAC207 band,

TREE BY LEAF.

If I remember right - and I am fairly sure of this - Tree by Leaf is
set to try the novel experiment of switching to HARDCOPY, POSTAL
mailings, abandoning altogether the twenty-first-century e-mail bias.
If they carry the no-tech approach any further, they may collectively
transform into John Lincoln Wright.

This week we have just the sort of problem TO have: we received more
news than I have time to compile. This certainly beats the shortage
of news we had a good part of last year.

Press releases appear in full or near full toward the end. At this
point we have one for the annual Joe Val Bluegrass Festival and
another for a special upcoming Boston Babydolls event.

What is the name of the music hall in Springfield, Massachusetts,
where an indoors rock festival (possibly a heavy metal festival) has
been held? The Hippodrome? It was once a vaudeville theater. Back
in the 1970s, an attempt was made to revive old-style variety shows at
that hall. It seems doubtful it was a financial success, and I do not
recall the revival lasting long. But I caught one of the shows, and
it was definitely worth doing. A comic who I once heard open for
Elvis Presley was very much in the vaudeville tradition. It gives
some idea how much vaudeville and burlesque were woven into American
entertainment and how the influence of those shows held on long after
variety/burlesque theaters went dark.

It seems likely a night with the Boston Babydolls could be a fun
throwback to an earlier era of American stageshows ... or maybe just
plain fun.

You would not need to stray from my livingroom windows to get a
fantastic example of the peculiarities of New England winters.
Yesterday, on a local radio station that is only two to three miles
from here, I heard three reports of how really, really messy the local
road conditions were. Each time, I looked out the window and saw
nothing but a snowstorm and a small one at that. It was twenty-nine
degrees out: a good temperature for straight snow. Well before I went
to bed, though, I noticed that my windows were wet, suggesting a
turnover to freezing rain and possibly even just plain rain. When I
got up at 2 a.m., which is my habit, I looked out and saw one of the
most hideous messes we ever get hereabouts. We were plowed in with a
good-size ridge of dense, wet, crusty snow. Beyond that is a wide,
thick sheet of slush. Then a steady stream of water. Then slush,
slush, and more slush. Then another plowed-up ridge of hard, wet
crusts of snow on the other side of the street. Then something that
looks like it may have once been a sidewalk. Just what was being
described on radio, a short distance away, many hours earlier.

If you are reading this at a southern address, this is your lucky day.

One last-minute, preliminary thought. Something has come up in recent
months to interrupt my efforts every Thursday and some Saturdays,
putting tremendous pressure on me all day Friday. So I have not been
able to keep up with weekly favorites such as "Sounds Local" by Sheryl
Hunter and Dave Madeloni's Ovation column. But we have been tipped
off that Dave has a new column which covers a favorite artist of both
many of our readers and myself,

DENNIS BRENNAN.

The problem is, chances are about zero percent that the direct Web
address we received will work. For Dave's Dennis Brennan column,
please visit:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=45781020


MARDI GRAS BALL 15

Shaun & Suzi's
MARDI GRAS BALL XV
Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008
At T.T. the Bear's Place

A Benefit for The New Orleans Musicians Clinic

Tickets Now On Sale
at the T.T.'s box office and via TicketWeb

The Vudu Krewe All-Star Mardi Gras Band w/special guests: John Powhida
(Rudds), Peter Moore (Count Zero), Holly Brewer (HUMANWINE), Chris
Mascara, Jordan Valentine (World's Greatest Sinners), Courtney
Naliboff, Bo Barringer Plus: Corn Mo, The Jelly Rollers, & burlesque
by Boston Babydolls, and more!

10 Brookline St. Cambridge. 9:00. $12. 18+ www.mardigrasballs.com

-- Shaun Wolf Wortis, "Shaun and Suzi's
Mardi Gras Ball," accessed January 30, 2008


NAMELESS COFFEEHOUSE
February 2008

"We're coming up on the first Saturday of the month and that can only
mean one thing ... the Nameless Coffeehouse!

"We have another wonderful night of real, handmade music planned with
Thea Hopkins, Eric McDonald & Friends, Jann Klose, and Raymond
Gonzalez, all hosted by our buddy, journalist and raconteur, Daniel
Gewertz.

"So come on out to the Nameless in Harvard Square for a fabulous night
of great music!"

-- M. LeBlanc, "Nameless Coffeehouse Concert
Saturday, Feb. 2," January 30, 2008

WE HAVE BEEN ON THE NAMELESS COFFEEHOUSE mailing list only briefly.
What I like about the bookings there so far is that I am not familiar
with the performers. To me it is like something new and different
each time they put on a show. This time, though, the Nameless has an
artist who I know, from personal experience, comes highly recommended,

THEA HOPKINS.

I would not want to put too fine a point on this without having an
opportunity to form my own opinion first, but descriptions of her
songwriting are often remarkably similar to descriptions of Bill
Morrissey's work.

The Nameless Coffeehouse's bookings this month also include a real
star of another category,

DANIEL GEWERTZ,

one of my all-time favorite folk music journalists. We receive many,
many press kits; and I assure you, Daniel is one of the most
often-quoted journalists in them. It seems to me it was for about ten
or twelve years that the Boston Herald provided remarkable space for
coverage of Boston-area folk music. And as a result, Daniel's
writings were circulated far and wide. Deservedly so, too. I
personally am a fan going all the way back to his days as the Boston
Phoenix's folk music critic.

This ought to be a big night at the Nameless Coffeehouse. They must
be expecting a full house.


CHARLIE CHESTERMAN
At Kitty O'Shea's

A lot of Charlie Chesterman fans may not have heard yet about his
last-minute Kitty O'Shea's show because ... it is a last-minute
booking. Here are some details:

"A last minute show has been offered to us and we decided to take it
in lieu of a rehearsal.

"It's at a joint called Kitty O'Sheas and it's a cozy pub in Beverley,
Massachusetts that has good beer and a nice booth for us to set up in
and make a racket.

"We accidentally played there last weekend and they must have liked
the fact that we weren't an Irish folk band so they asked us back and
this time it would be nice to see some old friends.

"Here are the clickable details:

February 2nd, 2008
at Kitty O'Sheas
298 Cabot Street
Beverly, Massachusetts 01915

"We're playing from 9:30 until 'too much beer o'clock'

"No Cover"

-- Andy Pastore, "Charlie Chesterman Gigs,"
January 31, 2008


JESS TARDY
A Romantic at (a Great Big
St. Valentine's Day) Heart

"You are invited to celebrate/mock Cupid with me and my band on
February 14th, from 7-10 at Toad in Porter Square, Mass. Ave, Cambridge.

"The event? We're calling it 'Down With Love' ... which can mean a
few things, depending on your outlook. For me, it means I'll be
singing my favorite low-down, dirty, blues tunes and wistful ballads
from the Dinah Washington songbook - all accompanied by a smokin'
band, and generous amounts of whiskey.

"Wear your best black and blue attire, bring your single friends, and
plan on being late to work on Friday. There will not be a cover
charge ... which means you can buy a cute stranger a drink or two."

-- Jess Tardy, "Down With Love (un)Valentine's
Show," January 28, 2008

JESS TARDY'S GEOGRAPHIC ORIGINS are not far at all from my own.
Bangor, Maine, is my old hometown, and Jess grew up not a great
distance from there. I actually first heard about Jess from my
mother. Right from the start, I marveled at Jess' reputation, being
built, as it was, on her abilities as a jazz vocalist.

Be

cause

for many years Jess' home area was also home for one of my all-time
favorite country singers, Yodeling Slim Clark. And I always think of
it as C&W territory. Who knows whether Jess can yodel, but I am one
hundred percent assured she is dynamite singing the songs of Dinah
Washington. Her Toad show should be well worth checking out.


TODD THIBAUD
Courage, Brother

Just two days before Tardy Time at Toad, according to an events
calendar sent us, another of our favorites, Todd Thibaud, plays the
same establishment.

Tuesday 2/12
THE EARLY SHOW @ 8:00 with
TODD THIBAUD

www.myspace.com/toddthibaud

Followed at 10 by
THE RESIDENCY FEATURING
THE BLUE RIBBONS
www.theblueribbons.com

Thibaud is a native of this lovely state, Vermont, and we will take
all the credit for him we can get away with, especially since his
"Squash" album. But he is probably lots better known as a Bostonian.

I wonder whether Thibaud ever regrets leaving the Green Mountain
State. You can get the full experience of all that is unique to
Vermont at my place, where I enjoy breathtaking views of the hills of
New Hampshire, U.S. Route 5, and Domino Pizza.

Ah, the pastoral charms of rural Vermont...


= = = = =


BRIEF ITEMS :


SEEKING MUSIC FOR A TV PILOT

TELEVISION PILOT SOUNDTRACK MUSIC is an area where I claim no
expertise. But as a totally casual observer, it sure looks to me as
though the following could represent a great opportunity for someone
out there.

"I will be shooting a half hour pilot to be marketed for TV, cable,
and/or PBS this spring. It's about a children's health show called
POWERHOUSE STATION. I want to use native New Englanders with their
music (rock, rap, country and jazz) in certain pieces of the show.
Making a pilot I can't afford much if any for the music since all of
the money raised for the pilot is already earmark for set
construction, crew and filming. I can offer music credits in the
credits of the show for the bands or singers. If the show gets picked
up by a network I will still use only New Englanders for the music.
Then with a contract and having a budget to work with will be able to
pay, plus give valuable exposure to the New England music scene. If
you could ask your network if they would be interested to help would
be greatly appreciated. Feel free to ask any questions about the show
and me. Thank You."

JAMES MARSZALKOWSKI
Producer/Writer/Director
GOLDSTEIN/SILVERSMITH/CASH
ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTION Co.

Jim242526@...


ENTRAIN
Coverage in the Cape Cod Times

Many of our readers will likely recall that one of Mickey O'Halloran's
favorite bands, covered often in items in the old Boston Rock and Roll
Museum newsletter, was

ENTRAIN.

We have been tipped off to an Entrain article in the Cape Cod Times
and were supplied with the following link:

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080126/LIFE/801260301/\
-1/NEWS

After first getting this operation going, we wanted to broaden our
information sources a bit. I don't recall who first tipped us off to
the Cape Cod Times as a really good publication to turn to, but
saxophonist Circe Miller is the first person coming to mind. She has
long-standing musical ties to a Cape Cod gal of fame, Patty Larkin.

Unfortunately, I have some pressing paperwork that has to be tended to
immediately if not sooner - including a 2007 form that I didn't even
receive until quite recently - so I am going to have to look through
this article sometime after sending this newsletter issue. But if you
are interested in catching up on a music group that has been out
there, for a long time, entertaining and setting feet in motion,
linking to the Cape Cod Times Entrain article would be a good way to
start.


RHODE ISLAND SONGWRITERS ASSOCIATION
Compilation CD

News Item From Lisa Martin

"[M]y song, 'Greed,' is featured on the new Rhode Island Songwriters
Association compilation CD, RISA Round 3, Volume II, along with
seventeen other of my compatriots in that organization. These songs
were born of the RISA monthly songwriter series hosted by Ryan
Fitzsimmons in which we are assigned a theme, chosen by the audience
from the previous month, and must write a song based on that theme for
the show. It's a wonderful exercise in songwriting and the audience
gets to see the diversity in how writers approach a subject and the
end results. I have a limited number of these CDs available for
purchase at any live show. For more info on this series visit
www.risongwriters.com"

-- "Lisa Martin Music ... News for February 2008,"
January 31, 2008


JOSH BROOKS
New Album Is Coming Right Along

" ... I'm excited to be able to let you know that the new album has
been recorded. Kent and I took a couple of days after the holidays to
lay down live tracks, and since then I've been working on some basic
overdubs - harmony vocals and harmonica, nothing fancy. Chris Clark
at Big Orange Studios in Addison [Vermont] was once again at the helm,
this time in his incredible new studio space, which you can check out
at www.bigorangestudio.com. Although I would really like to put a
demo or two on www.myspace.com/joshbrooksvt, for now you'll have to
settle for some pictures from the sessions. All I can share is that
this record was made under the influence of Led Zeppelin, the
Drive-by-Truckers, and a case of local ale. Enough said for now..."

-- Josh Brooks Mailing, January 27, 2008


DRUNK STUNTMEN
"State Fair" CD

"[T]he much anticipated album, 'State Fair,' ... is currently being
pressed for distribution."

-- Drunk Stuntmen Stunt Mailing, January 28,
2008


BECKY CHACE

"We're continually amazed and encouraged by the response we've gotten
from our 2007 release, 'Best of Me,' and our latest album, 'A River
Under Me.' We're inspired to keep writing and get back into the
studio as soon as possible. You can count on hearing more from us in
2008!

"Big Hit of 2007

"The Providence Phoenix recently named 'A River Under Me' among the
Top 18 Big Hits of 2007 saying, 'Chace's acoustic persona suits her
beautifully, providing her voice, lyrics, and shimmering arrangements
the perfect, gilded frame.'"

-- Becky Chace, "February 08 Newsletter,"
January 30, 2008

A NINETEENTH-CENTURY SEA CAPTAIN, Capt. Chace, has come up lately in
my research. He was based very close to Becky Chace's area, and I
wonder about a possible family connection. This Capt. Frederick Chace
was already known to me a bit: he was Asa B. Hutchinson's
father-in-law. But in my current line of research, he is really quite
new. I believe, though, that some of you may have encountered one of
his voyages in your reading. I am going entirely on memory, but I am
fairly certain that he was the captain on a famed South Pacific voyage
in which one of the mariners was rescued quite literally from the jaws
of a whale.


KATE SCHROCK
"Invocation" CD

"'Invocation' [Kate Schrock's latest CD - Ed.] was an absolute labor
of love, but it tapped out all my resources. A majority of the promo
for this record has relied upon word of mouth and has been positive
but slow going. However, I have just received some very good news:
the record has made some inroads, and there is now enthusiastic
interest coming from two prominent national radio promoters who, on
the strength of the record as a whole and, despite my being an
independent artist on a small budget, want to work the album's first
single this Spring in the AAA market with us. We are so excited - as
this is a crucial piece of the puzzle to bring the album into the
world and to make it possible for myself and band to perform in
regions outside the Northeast US. This is the first time, in all my
releases that I will have professional help with a radio publicity
campaign."

-- Kate Schrock, "Reaching Out to Fans,"
January 31, 2008


PETER MULVEY
"Notes From Elsewhere" CD

"[T]he new solo record is out and people are telling me they're
diggin' it."

-- "Peter Mulvey Newsletter," January 31, 2008

THIS MULVINATOR CHARACTER IS NOT EXACTLY heavy on self-promotion, is
he. He didn't even drop a hint as to the title of his new album. But
I'll tell you one thing, fans who are saying they are digging the solo
record are not just buttering up the artist. Everyone is telling me,
too, that they really like Mulvey's "Notes From Elsewhere." This is
easily one of the best New England-connected record releases of 2007,
and a lot of people out there know it.


SESSION AMERICANA
Lizard Lounging Around

It seems to me that the following Session Americana cryptic critique
qualifies as friendly criticism. Be that as it may, these are words
worth reading and maybe even heeding.

"The Tuesday residency at Lizard Lounge is in full swing. It has been
a little crowded, which is a good problem to have, but nonetheless a
problem. For our dedicated lover of music types, we are trying to
work with the club to figure out how to establish some trace of
decorum without becoming total prudes or folk-fascists. Don't give up
on us!!"

-- Session Americana Mailing, February 1, 2008


GALAXY RANGERS

There were some really great animated television series in the 1980s.
One I often forget to mention is "Cities of Gold." Does anyone
remember the full title of that series? "The Lost Cities of Gold"?

There were also some really stunning short pieces that I remember
being on HBO, but our correspondent who reminded me of them thinks
they were on PBS. Anyway, they were by Pixar, and they were wonderful.

Best and funniest - by far - was the space western, the

ADVENTURES OF THE GALAXY RANGERS.

You have never fully explored and exercised your laughing powers until
you have watched computer-expert Doc Hartford match wits with a
machine or with some weird space alien.

Doc Hartford's commanding officer was Zachary Foxx, whose voice many
of you would recognize as belonging to Jerry Orbach, since deceased,
of the "Law and Order" television series. Yes, exactly, "Law and
Order" is the TV series made famous by my friend, Susan Green.

I, personally, have a homebrewed Galaxy Rangers screen saver, along
with Galaxy Rangers wallpaper on my desktop.

Koch issued Galaxy Rangers episodes on DVD a while back, apparently as
something of a test run. From there, the Galaxy Rangers underground
went to work, pressuring to get the series done up right on DVD. And
now, it looks like it may be happening.

We were sent this which, in turn, I guess was sent from the Galaxy
Rangers list:

Straight from TVShowsonDVD.Com tonight -
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Galaxy-Rangers-Collection-Volume-1/8892

I visited this GR site from our library's new public access computer
system, which is not yet quite fully operational. So I am not certain
I got the full effect. But the images - which are plain, old Galaxy
Rangers visuals - look spectacular on the new monitors.

It is enough to make me break out in a verse of the Galaxy Rangers hit
song, "O! Tortuna."

O! Tortuna,
O! don't you cry for us
We're gonna make our fortunes soon
Utopia or bust!


ROCK BAND DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT

The Following apparently appear in Official XBox Magazine.

March 4: Three-Pack Thrash
At The Gates--Blinded By Fear
Evile--Thrasher
Haunted--Shadow World

March 11: Single Tracks
Bad Company--Shooting Star (Cover)
Lynyrd Skynyrd--Simple Man
The Police--Message In A Bottle

March 18: Three-Pack Nine Inch Nails
March of the Pigs
The Collector
The Perfect Drug

March 25: Three-Pack Metal
Iron Maiden--Wrathchild (Cover)
Black Sabbath--Supernaut (Cover)
Metallica--Fuel


JOHNNY RIVERS

We received a very nice e-mail about 1960s music star, Johnny Rivers.
Unfortunately, the message totally broke up; and it is much too late
in the game for me to be patching up a busted e-mail. The short
version of the message we received is that Rivers will be speaking at
this year's South by Southwest Conference and, believe it or not, he
has a new album in the works. Now THERE is a man who leads a life of
danger...


THE ART OF SPAM FILTRATION

It can be amusing to observe which non-spam e-mail messages are,
nontheless, delivered to our bulk mail folder. The Pioneer Valley's
Seth Glier sent a mailing where the "From:" line was filled in by the
short form of his website's address and the "Subject:" line read

Single of the Month.

The "single" he had in mind is the modern counterpart to an old
single: a 45 RPM vinyl recording. Imagine, though, what the spam
filter must have taken his meaning to be - Single of the Month - to
have stuck his message in with the raunchy, raunchier, raunchiest junk
that fills up our spam folder.


WANTED!
Bush and Cheney

On Wednesday, January 30, 2008, Yahoo News ran this headline:

Vt. town wants Bush, Cheney held
for Constitutional crimes

This refers to my town, Brattleboro, Vermont, and I assure you there
is not a word of truth to the Yahoo News headline.

Our town has taken no position whatsoever on this question. There is
to be a ballot item on the matter at the time of the upcoming
election. The ballot item was approved by our selectboard on a
three-to-two vote.

I guess the basic idea is that certain people feel really strongly
that the president and vice president have substantially violated the
constitution, and they did the work to get the petition signatures
needed to qualify for a place on the ballot. Our selectboard, by the
slenderest of non-tie margins, went along: not endorsing the
proposition but allowing voters an opportunity to express a formal
opinion, either way, on election day.

Last I heard, our town government was receiving numerous, spirited,
and mostly highly UN-favorable messages about this matter.

I am not expecting Bush or Cheney to visit Brattleboro anytime soon;
and if they do visit, it seems highly doubtful either will be arrested
for anything.


FRIDAY AFTERNOON YAHOO NEWS HEADLINE:

More U.S. diplomats straying from
White House foreign policy

Really? Isn't it traditional for diplomats to follow instructions?


end BRIEF ITEMS


= = = = =


KRIS DELMHORST

"Welcome to a brand new year! I'm excited about this one for many
reasons, especially because i'll be releasing the new record, 'Shotgun
Singer,' and getting to bring you the new songs on tour. This one has
been quite a journey over the last couple of years. I made a lot of it
entirely by myself, working mostly in my friend Erin McKeown's house
while she was on tour, and then added other people into the mix as I
went along. At the end, I got Sam Kassirer on board, and we
co-produced our way to the finish line. Sam plays keyboards with Josh
Ritter, among others, and brought great ideas and enthusiasm to round
out the project. Anyway, I'm really proud of this record, and I can't
wait to share it with you. It includes a few songs some of you may
have heard live, such as 'Riverwide,' 'Birds of Belfast,' and
'Midnight Ringer' (the song formerly known as Shotgun Singer), as well
as a whole lot I've never played on stage. Along the way I also
concocted a little EP called 'horses swimming' which includes solo
acoustic versions of several songs i've been playing live for a while,
such as 'Anybody's Heaven,' 'Made of Time,' and 'Early Everlasting.'
Lots of new music to offer this spring!

"I'll be out & about touring with these new creations starting on the
West Coast on March 1. I'm really excited to report that for the west
coast dates, I'll be joined by my label-mates the Winterpills
(http://www.winterpills.com), who will be playing a set as themselves
and then backing me up as my band. The Winterpills are such a great
band - Philip Price's songs are mesmerizing, and they play them with
amazing textures and flat-out beautiful vocal harmonies - so I can't
wait to hear what they bring to my songs.

"Some of the venues, both west coast and later east coast, are cozy,
so you might want to get tickets on the early side ... just a public
service announcement.

"And, there are a few east coast shows in February, at which I will
probably not have the new records to sell, but I will happily talk
your ear off about them - and of course it'll be the virgin run for a
lot of the songs. These shows will be mostly solo or duo, so it'll be
a chance to hear them in their elemental form."

-- Kris Delmhorst, "KD February," January 31, 2008


MARK ERELLI
Musing on a Giant Hall
Tuned to the Key of C

"A Secret Chord

"Some of my favorite opening lyrics of any song are from Leonard
Cohen's masterpiece, 'Hallelujah': I heard there was a secret chord /
that David played and it pleased the Lord / but you don't really care
for music, do you?

"This verse hit home during a recent gig with Lori McKenna at Mohegan
Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. We played in an area called
the Wolf's Den, a stage and recessed seating area situated smack dab
in the middle of the slot machine room. However, calling it a 'room'
is not accurate, for there were no proper walls between our venue and
a gi-normous football field-sized area with a bazillion slot machines.

"Each slot is festooned with blinking multicolored lights, and plays
rudimentary, happy-sounding electronic ditties in order to entice
gamblers. A few of them together would be easy enough to tune out,
but once you get a few hundred in the same space, the casino takes
great care to tune them to a common chord, because a dissonant
environment would soon drive gamblers from the room. In the case of
Mohegan Sun, this means this entire enormous room is tuned to a C
major chord.

"I didn't find this not-so-secret C chord to be a problem with Lori's
band, because we played loud enough to drown it out. My solo opening
set, however, was an entirely different matter. Forget any songs in
Bb. And singing a song in the key of F created this weird suspension
that my mind wanted to resolve to C, which for reasons I'll spare you,
is just wrong.

"I soldiered through my opening set, hearing this heavenly C chord
every time I paused between songs. Seeing throngs of people just
beyond the seated audience area, automatons pulling slots, I heard
echoes of Leonard Cohen: you don't really care for music, do you? My
set with Lori and the band was a blast, surreal in the best sense of
the word. As for my solo set, well, I'll just say I'm grateful this
month to return to more wholesome folksinger haunts like churches and
nature centers."

-- "Mark Erelli February 2008 Newsletter,"
January 31, 2008; Reprinted Here by
Permission


The Near-Death Experience of
SLIM WHITMAN

I missed this, but evidently there were published reports that country
music veteran Slim Whitman died. Never wanting to leave the work for
others to do, Whitman, himself, checked to learn whether the published
reports were true. Here is what he found...

Slim Whitman talks about reports of his death (from today's TWANG TOWN)

Slim Whitman talks about reports of his death

By LINDA ZETTLER • Entertainment Editor • January 23, 2008

Slim Whitman would like to clear something up: He's alive and doing
pretty well despite reports of his death on Monday.

The country singer, who experienced his first surge in popularity in
the '50s, has no idea how it got started. But e-mails began
circulating and next thing you know, a disc jockey was announcing it
on the air, a tearful friend performing on stage was announcing it to
his audience and online sources reported it in news updates, including
Tennessean.com on Monday.

"All of a sudden on Sunday, Jan. 20, I died," said Whitman, who turned
84 on Sunday. "I knew it was a lie. I kept looking at it. I thought,
this could sort of get out of hand here. I thought, oh well, if it
gets out of hand, I'll go on a TV show and show them that I'm not dead."

Whitman, a Grand Ole Opry guest in the mid-1950s, has traveled the
world spreading his brand of country music, enjoying chart success in
England in particular. Known for his high falsetto on songs such as
"Indian Love Call" and "Secret Love," Whitman toured last in 2002. But
that's not because of his physical condition.

"The wife is on dialysis, so she can't go. I would not go back to
England and leave her, so I just tell them I can't go. I take care of
her," he said. Whitman met his wife Jerry when she was 13, and they've
been married 66 years. She bought him his first guitar and was his
announcer as he started in radio. "I would probably not have gone on
radio if it hadn't been for the wife…. She is probably the reason I
was in show business."

Whitman lives on his Woodpecker Paradise estate outside Jacksonville,
Fla. He says he's in great shape. The only medication he takes is an
aspirin every other day because his doctor told him to. He doesn't
even wear glasses.

"As a matter of fact I don't feel anything like 84 years old. …I don't
know why I don't, but I don't feel like an old man," he said. The fact
that people recognize him in the grocery store still leads him to
believe he doesn't look like an old man either.

This morning, Whitman spent time on the air for a Jacksonville radio
station and he has gotten many inquiries since the news of his death
circulated.

"It seems like every 10 years something weird happens like that," said
Whitman. Last decade, it was that the 1996 Tim Burton film Mars
Attacks! used his voice as a martian-killing weapon, saving the world
from invaders.

It keeps things interesting.

"I'm here," he said. "I'm happy to be alive."

I AM NOT FAMILIAR with the publication, Twang Town, but the title
brings Arlington to mind. No, no ... not the Arlington in Vermont
made famous by Norman Rockwell. The other Arlington. Ironically,
weeks before receiving this item, kindly sent by Country Gordy, I
started singing a song which has long been associated with Slim
Whitman: "Indian Love Call." - Ed.


JOE VAL BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL
The 23rd Annual Event

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY
28, 2008

ROUNDER ARTISTS PARTICIPATE IN THE

23rd JOE VAL BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL

WHO: Rounder Bluegrass Artists Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, The
SteelDrivers, Alecia Nugent, Blue Highway, Dailey & Vincent, and The
James King Band

WHAT: Performing at the 23rd Joe Val Bluegrass Festival

WHEN: February 15– 17, 2008

WHERE: Sheraton Framingham, Framingham, MA

TICKETS: Vary from $25 - $85, visit www.bbu.org

Many Rounder artists will be performing at the 23rd Joe Val Bluegrass
Festival, presented by the Boston Bluegrass Union (BBU), Presidents
Day Weekend, February 15 – 17, 2008, at the Sheraton Framingham,
Framingham, MA. The festival's Main Stage will be showcasing
established icons such as Blue Highway and The James King Band, and
new favorites such as fiddle phenomenon Michael Cleveland and singer
Alecia Nugent. Also appearing will be up and coming acts Dailey &
Vincent and The SteelDrivers, both of whom are making their area debuts.

Established in 1985, the festival honors the legacy of the late Joe
Val, a bluegrass pioneer in the Northeast. While the event had humble
beginnings as a local tribute to Joe and the regional bluegrass scene,
it has grown to become one of the premier festivals in the country.
In 2006, the 21st Joe Val Bluegrass Festival won the prestigious Event
of the Year award from the International Bluegrass Music Association.

Friday
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper "...brings fire and personality...that
few could match." – USA Today www.mikecleveland.com

Saturday
The SteelDrivers "...a force in bluegrass and beyond." – USA Today
www.steeldrivers.net

Alecia Nugent "...the most riveting new female voice and stage
presence in bluegrass..." – Wall Street Journal
www.alecianugent.com

Sunday
Blue Highway "Why are these guys super? They can make your heart soar
even as it's breaking." – Entertainment Weekly
www.bluehighwayband.com

Dailey & Vincent "What a great sound." – Dolly Parton
www.daileyvincent.com

The James King Band "...no one sings a sad song like James King." – No
Depression www.thejameskingband.com


BOSTON BABYDOLLS
Press Release

PRESS RELEASE
Jan. 31, 2008
For Immediate Release

Contact:
Boston Babydolls
(617) 869-2000
scratch@...

T.T. the Bear's Place
(617) 492-BEAR
ttthebears@...
A Big Top full of Romance
The Boston Babydolls Meld Burlesque, Cabaret, and Circus
Brookline MA - It's Barnum & Bailey as re-imagined by Billy Minsky, a
modern blending of burlesque, carnival, circus, and cabaret. More
than a dozen talented performers and the quirky band Cirkestra gather
under the "tent" of T.T. the Bear's (10 Brookline St., Cambridge MA)
on Valentine's evening, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008 for a show designed to
set hearts pounding... in more ways than one.

Inspired by the German spiegeltents, large decorated, travelling tents
built in Belgium during the late 19th century, Carnaval d'Amour stars
well-known burlesque dancers like Miss Mina, Betty Blaize, and Honey
Do. The circus and variety acts include Boston Babydoll member
Dominique Immora, stiltwalker Michelle Jeffalone, object manipulator
Baz, and juggler Johnny Cakes. The evening is hosted by perennial
Boston Babydolls M.C., Ol' Scratch. The red-suited raconteur does
more than just thrwo zingers at the auidence; he's also an
accomplished magician and swordswallower.

Carnaval d'Amour is made up of more than two hours of music, dance,
magic, striptease, and variety acts designed to set hearts aflame.
Miss Mina, the co-founder of The Boston Babydolls, heats things up
with Blue Angel by The Squirrel Nut Zippers (a band who took their
name from a local candy bar) and plays homage to Marlene Dietrich with
Moritat von Mackie Messer ("Mack the Knife" performer in German).

Tickets to Carnaval d'Amour are $10.00 in advance and $15 on the day
of the show. They are available at T.T. The Bear's box office (10
Brookline St., Cambridge, MA in Central Square) or on-line at
www.ticketweb.com or by calling (617) 492-BEAR.

>>>

The Boston Babydolls are the leading burlesque troupe in Boston. They
have a monthly residency at The Paradise Lounge (Boston), host a
monthly party at Flat Top Johnny's (Cambridge), and are frequent
performers at The Coolidge Corner Theatre. More information about
them can be found at www.BostonBabydolls.net

Interviews with the principals and press photos are available.


MY HEARING IS BACK, at least off and on. If it holds, I will get our
backlog of new music listened to, one CD at a time. Right now,
though, it is a little after 6 a.m. Saturday: not the best time to
listen to rock 'n' roll in an apartment building.


NEMSnews

New England Music Scrapbook
Brattleboro, Vermont

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main point of an item of this sort is that an act has a new record.
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Issue 2008:260

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

Copyright © 2008 by the New England Music Scrapbook. All rights reserved.

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