New England Music Scrapbook Newsletter
Alan Lewis, Editor

Our Corner of the Rock 'n' Roll Life

March 1, 2008
Issue 2008:264

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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, March 1 - Once again in the Friday-Saturday
overnight, the radio news is running a story about how the collective
oh-so-nervous folk of Wall Street are worrying themselves to death
over fears that they may worry themselves to death. Meanwhile,
GRASSROOTS activity is running at full steam. We have e-mailed news
(e-mailed to us, that is) in excess of excess. We have more news in
this e-mail account than I have time to compile into this newsletter
issue. And we have even more newly-arrived news in our
FredRemainsLost account that I have not had time to look through for
forwarding here.

This 2008 phenomenon is shaping up as a VERY busy year hereabouts. It
beats 2007 all to pieces. Let's enjoy it, shall we?

>>>

Leading up to last issue of this newsletter, it was a very great
surprise to be reminded that we have been doing this NEMS News thing
for five full years. To me, this seems like a very big, newsworthy
thing. To me.

Do you know how many responses our announcement of our fifth
anniversary drew? Zero. Precisely zero. If we could have achieved
less than zero, you have my pledge we would have gone for it. I wrote
two private e-mails about this operation reaching the five year mark
and received nice replies to each. And that was it.

I hope I am not misquoting John Prine as having said

Pretty good, not bad, I can't complain
When actually everything is just about the same.

Well, "just about the same" is pretty good for us, so we will move
right on into our Year No. 6.

By way of 1968...

Blowfish's reference to the 40th anniversary, this year, of the
BOSSTOWN event got me to thinking of the varied music of 1968.
According to the book, "Rock Almanac," by Stephen Nugent and Charlie
Gillette, these are the singles that made the top of the Billboard
chart in 1968:

"Judy in Disguise" by John Fred and His Playboy Band

"Green Tambourine" by The Lemon Pipers

"Love Is Blue" by Paul Mauriat

"Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding

"Honey" by Bobby Goldsboro

"Tighten Up" by Archie Bell and the Drells

"Mrs. Robinson" by Simon and Garfunkel

"This Guy's in Love With You" by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass

[I got this far in transcribing the present list when noon news time
was a couple minutes away. Turning on a radio station which, at this
point in the day, is normally heavy on 1980s hits, I came in at the
middle of a great big - 1968 - hit, "Mony Mony" by Tommy James and the
Shondells. Back to our regular programming...]

"Grazing in the Grass" by Hugh Masekela

"Hello I Love You" by The Doors

"People Got To Be Free" by The Rascals

"Harper Valley PTA" by Jeannie C. Riley

"Hey Jude" by The Beatles

"Love Child" by Diana Ross and the Supremes

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye

There is some pretty decent variety in that there list.

Not all the best records top the charts, of course. This list does
not include the name of Aretha Franklin, though in 1968 she had a
string of great singles including hits with such diverse fare as
"Think" and "I Say a Little Prayer."

As promotions go, it is hard to imagine what standard we could use to
allow "The Boston Sound" to come in as anything less than a total
failure. But New England's music community was actually doing quite
well in those days. I most often mention legendary and HIGHLY
influential mandolin picker David Grisman, who was in the Boston
psychedelic band Earth Opera, and The Crow, featuring Queen of the
Discos and Boston native Donna Summer, who would go on to be one of
the world's biggest dance music stars of the past half-century. I am
always in the mood to hear "11 P.M. Saturday," the album by the Boston
band, The Bagatelle. Cambridge folk-rocker Tom Rush was on a fast
track in '68. Waterville, Maine funnyman and President Kennedy
imitator Vaughan Meader, who released the classic early 1960s comedy
album "The First Family," was handed an easy comeback by the Bobby
Kennedy presidential campaign. And Dick Curless, whose origins were
split between northern Maine and central Massachusetts, was having a
great time roaming the country music charts in and around 1968.

The high-profile failure of the "Boston Sound" promotion gave Boston -
and New England, by extension - a black eye as far as the national
rock scene was concerned. The closing of Harvard Square's legendary
Club 47 in April 1968 did not help the cause any, either. But on the
local level, none of this hurt quite as much as I personally once
thought. Several years back we had an e-mail exchange with bluesman
Paul Rishell in which he talked about what Cambridge was like when he
arrived, and clearly a heck of a lot was going on in the
Boston-Cambridge area.

Bosstown was still alive in the persons of the members of Orpheus,
when in 1970 one of my all-time favorite Boston ensembles, The J.
Geils Band, finally put out that long-promised eponymous debut album.
Make no mistake about it, with the advent of the J. Geils Band in the
record bins and on the rock music-hall circuit, the Boston flame was
re-lit.

That same year, 1970, Rounder Records got started releasing vinyl.

And while Club 47 went away, the Club 47 audience most certainly did
not. They agitated for and got a restoration of music in the old room
at 47 Palmer Street, and the enterprise which is now called Club
Passim was born.

1968 was a fun year of music in New England, and it does not deserve
to be tarnished by a fiasco - the "Boston Sound" promotion - that was
corporate, not musical, in nature.

Now, let's hear a chorus of "The Red Sox Are Winning"! (An amazing
Earth Opera track)

>>>

ORDINARILY WE POST VERY FEW show listings. Our rule is that we do
not run show listings as a rule except in what, for us, are
exceptional cases. We came upon more exceptional cases this week than
usual: possibly more than ever. Coming up is the first batch of
several batches of show listings.

>>>

ALMOST LUCILLE
Lounges Almost Lizard-Like
With the Carla Ryder Band

New York City's Almost Lucille has a new CD and is splitting a Lizard
Lounge show with the Carla Ryder Band.

When 1: Saturday, March 1
Where: Lizard Lounge, Mass. Ave., Cambridge
When 2: Music Starts at 9:30

-- Carla Ryder, "Lizard Lounge Sat. Night,"
February 25, 2008

>>>

NAMELESS COFFEEHOUSE
Age 41

"Our 41st Birthday show features Hard Times, Emily Elbert, Lloyd
Thayer and Spitzer Space Telescope. The show, hosted by PJ Shapiro,
begins [Saturday, March 1] at 8:00 p.m. (doors open at 7:30 p.m.).
There is a suggested donation of $8.00."

-- M. LeBlanc, "Nameless Coffeehouse 41st Birthday
Show," February 27, 2008

THE NAMELESS COFFEEHOUSE, WHICH does not look a day over 40, is
offering what certainly sounds to be a special show. For those
wanting details, we are running the full press release below. - Ed.

>>>

"Kris Delmhorst's 'Shotgun Singer' tour kicks off this weekend on the
West Coast! Full details at

http://www.krisdelmhorst.com/

"West Coast CD Release Tour
(all shows with Winterpills)"

-- Kris Delmhorst, "CD Release Tours,"
February 28, 2008

>>>

THE BLEND
We Are Seeking To Pass Along a Message
To Band Members, Family, and/or Friends

THE BLEND was a very popular New England rock band back in the 1970s
and possibly into the '80s. We receive a small but VERY steady number
of e-mail messages about The Blend. This ensemble has long been very
popular. Even if you were not around in the years the group
flourished, you still may know the name from periodic references made
here. Sadly, in December, we announced the death of Donnie "D.P."
Pomber of The Blend.

This week we received an inquiry for surviving members of the band or
for people closely connected with them. It seems that a group that
opened for The Blend in New York State, possibly using The Blend's
sound system, made some live recordings including, I guess, about
three songs by The Blend. Apparently the recording quality is quite
good, thanks, in no small part, to The Blend's sound person. Our
correspondent basically would like to call these recordings to the
attention of Blend band members who might want to give them a listen.

If you are in contact with a member of The Blend or you know someone
who may be, please direct that person to the e-mail address posted at
the website of our correspondent's current band, Hair of the Dog:

http://www.hair-of-the-dog.com/

(Go ahead and try the address as posted here; but because of the
dashes it includes, I could not totally rule out the possibility that
it might need to be retyped. Dashes, as recognized by computer
systems, can be tricky business.)

We always like to know if these things work out. So if contact is
made, it would be terrific if someone involved could let us know by
e-mail by way of the following Web page:

http://www.geocities.com/nemsbook/fred.htm

>>>

SARA COX AND DARIEN BRAHMS
Together Again

Darien Brahms and Sara Cox [correcting for alphabetical order] have
each released one of my favorite albums of the past ten years:
Darien's "Little Bundle of Sugar" and "Beauty of a Heart" by Sara's
band, The Coming Grass (which group we first heard about from Darien
Brahms). These two together should be amazing, and Portland's hip
scenesters are getting a chance to find out for themselves.

"Sara Cox and Darien Brahms
at the Empire Room

"Thursday, March 6th, 8 PM Sharp
21+ $6 COVER

"With Special Guests Megan Jo Wilson, Chicky Stoltz
and Ginger Cote

"We'd love to see you there!!!"

-- Darien Brahms, "March 6th at the Empire Room,"
February 27, 2008

>>>

HARVEY REID
Pickin' His Way to
New York State and Vermont

Wednesday, March 5, Good Times Cafe, Hinesburg, Vermont

Friday, March 7, Palmer Street Coffeehouse, Plattsburgh, New York

Saturday, March 8, BluSeed Studios, Saranac Lake, New York

"This will be Reid's first Vermont area appearance in two years and
his first time in the Saranac/Plattsburgh area in nine years. Expect
his usual mix of thoughtful originals, rocking & traditional songs,
and dazzling instrumentals on acoustic & slide guitars and autoharp.
He has just released his landmark twentieth CD after almost a year of
work. 'The Song Train' (www.songtrain.net) is a 56-song, 4-CD set
with an 80 page color hardback book, and the critics and fans have
been jumping up and down in praise of it."

-- "Harvey Reid VT & NY Concerts 2008," Hardcopy
Postcard, Postmark Is Illegible

IT IS EMBARRASSING TO ADMIT, but I have never actually heard Harvey
Reid. He used to sell a lot of albums at a mall record store I used
to frequent in the Portsmouth area. But I was always frazzled when I
hit Portsmouth, on my way to and from northern Maine, and I never
picked up one of Reids CDs, though they came highly recommended.

>>>

HELLBENT AND HEARTBREAKIN'
Their Roots Are Showin'

Providence's Your Roots Are Showing series brings Hellbent and
Heartbreakin' to town on Saturday, March 8. Here is the Roots Are
Showing mini-essay on the band:

"New London, Connecticut-based Hellbent and Heartbreakin' brandish
their own flavor of New England hard and classic country music,
replete with fiddle, upright bass, mandolin and pedal steel. Regular
players at New London's popular 'Blue Collar Happy Hour' at the Bank
St. Cafe and part of this season's 'Cabin Fever' series at the Eugene
O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, they make their
first appearance in Providence performing real, bass thumpin', country
swamp music."

-- Lucky 57, "March 'Your Roots Are Showing'
Brings Hard Country to Providence,"
February 27, 2008

>>>

35TH PARALLEL
MediterrAsian Jazz Ensemble

I HAVE BEEN IN VERMONT listening to music, for decades. Through that
long spell of many, many years, 35th Parallel is easily among the
all-time best Vermont bands I have heard. (The duo has one member in
Vermont and the other in New Hampshire.)

We do not get a chance to post a lot about 35th Parallel. But a
special show coming up creates an opportunity for us.

You may know that the basic 35th Parallel group is a twosome. But
every now and then, this outfit expands into the

35TH PARALLEL MEDITERRASIAN JAZZ ENSEMBLE.

This bigger band has a Vermont booking at Johnson State College's
Dibden Center for the Arts on Sunday, March 9. That night, the 35th
Parallel MediterrAsian Jazz Ensemble ought to have a swinging good
time; and if you catch the show, you could get right into the groove
of it.

Gabe of 35th Parallel - a good guy - says show details are at

http://www.35thparallel.com/

>>>

UNCLE EARL'S
Album of the Year

UNCLE EARL is not really a New England band in a typical sense. But
Uncle Earl is New England-connected by virtue of one of its members
also being a member of Sometymes Why, a trio including Bostonian (more
specifically, Newtonian) Aoife O'Donovan.

Uncle Earl has big news, which we are including here. This came as
part of a broader Rounder Records press release, which we will post in
full, or nearly in full, further down this newsletter issue.

"UNCLE EARL'S 'WATERLOO, TENNESSEE' TAKES HOME 'ALBUM OF THE YEAR'
HONORS AT THE THIRD ANNUAL FOLK ALLIANCE AWARDS

- - - - -

"Burlington, MA – The four-woman acoustic stringband, Uncle Earl, was
awarded 'Album of the Year' for 'Waterloo, Tennessee' at the third
annual Folk Alliance Awards at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis,
Tennessee, on Wednesday. The Folk Alliance Awards honor merit and
achievement within the folk music field and mark the beginning of the
International Folk Alliance Conference.

"Released in 2007 on Rounder Records, 'Waterloo, Tennessee' is 'a
delightful, incentive spree: lyrically modern yet intensely rooted in
old-time string-band tradition.' (Boston Herald) Produced by John
Paul Jones, 'Waterloo, Tennessee' combines raucous fiddle tunes and
blues with ballads of loss and exile, affectionate love songs, and a
profound longing that can only be echoed in the strains of fiddles,
banjos, mandolins, and tender harmonies. Harp magazine calls
'Waterloo, Tennessee' ... 'music of uncommon grace, joy and force.'
Part of a new generation of bold young acoustic musicians, the four
women who compose Uncle Earl are awakening the sleeping giant of
old-time string band music and holding it up as a mirror to our
present era."

-- Rounder Records, Excerpt From a Press Release,
February 25, 2008

>>>

IT IS HARD TO KNOW JUST YET (Friday evening) but this issue could
come across as looking a little long. A couple press releases of good
size have already been copied in this newsletter, down below. Press
releases about recognition for a Rounder Records band and for the
label overall, plus a big followup press release about the coming
Rothbury Festival. It seems to me there may be more.

We are also posting, as a whole, all of the latest Drunk Stuntmen
mailing down to but not including the tour dates section. Steve
Sanderson and his Stunt buddies are very concerned about New England's
music community, and it seems best not to carve up their observations.
You can get your fill of the Stuntmen's "Food for Thought" after
scrolling way down in this e-mail newsletter.

This could make for a lot of reading. But even if you are pressed for
time, why not scroll to the end and then judge which, if any, of the
longer pieces you would like to look through.

>>>

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I am really puzzled by news reports on
the economy. This is literally true. Early this week, in the
overnight one night, CBS radio news reported that the price of oil had
dropped below $100 a barrel. Two or three hours later, CNN radio news
reported that oil prices had risen above $100 a barrel, setting a new
record for the highest price ever. In hindsight, no matter which
report was most nearly correct, it appears that, at the time, neither
may have been quite right. I heard both items quite clearly and
believe a degree of bad writing was involved in the copy of each report.

A day or two later, one of the radio networks started an item, saying
that most economists thought the economy was slipping into a
recession. "Most" economists turned out to be forty-five percent of
them. Forty-five is a substantial percentage; but I would think the
fifty-five percent who were clearly reported as believing the US is
NOT sinking into a recession had a little better claim on the title,
"most economists."

Meanwhile, it seems as though a very large number of people in
political life, who really want something, talk "hard times" in
explanation for why they ought to get what they wanted in the first place.

We should be really careful not to contribute to a self-fulfilling
prophecy that no sensible person would ever want.

As far as this operation goes, we witnessed a considerable downturn in
energy levels, according to every measure available to us, through
well over half of 2007. Overall activity here in 2008 comes across as
fantastic by comparison. From this point of view, it looks more like
we are slipping OUT of a recession than drifting into one.

Who knows where truth lies; but it seems to me that people in
government, business, and the media really ought to be discouraged
from piling on and making matters worse with unnecessary and sometimes
even self-serving (in the short run) talk of doom and gloom.

[Here in Vermont, it is possible to vote in advance of an election
day. As you may be able to guess, I just came from voting, having
anticipated trouble getting to the polls this coming Tuesday.]


= = = = =


BRIEF ITEMS :


SACRED SHAKERS
Album in the Works

"Eilen Jewell Band, Eric Royer, Greg Glassman, Daniel Kellar and
Daniel Fram will head into the studio in mid-March to record a Sacred
Shakers album. For a couple years, the Sacred Shakers hosted a
Country Gospel Brunch in various Boston area locations. Look for the
release on Signature Sounds this Summer with performances to follow."

-- Eilen Jewell Band Mailing, February 28, 2008


ROSE POLENZANI
New Recording on the Way

"Rose's new record (recorded with Session Americana) ... is literally
on a UPS truck to my house right now.
Pre-ordering and release party planning is about to go on. I might
have a party just to celebrate personally,
and though I can't invite all of you, I'll let you know when it is and
we can synchronize a little toast or something."

-- Rose Polenzani Mailing, February 25, 2008


LIBERTY ELM'S AMERICANA BREAKFAST CLUB

Mark Cutler and Friends
Sunday, March 9

I do not personally recognize the names of performers in Liberty Elm's
Americana Breakfast Club series in March except for

MARK CUTLER AND FRIENDS
Sunday, March 9

But around here, any exception that includes Mark Cutler (Schemers,
Raindogs) is major. So I am guessing Providence's Americana Breakfast
Club is looking pretty good in the coming weeks. The other acts are
in good company.


THREE DAY THRESHOLD
To Europe and Back

The good folk of Three Day Threshold are no fools. So they effected a
pre-departure posting of their homecoming show. Here is what they are
saying about it:

" ... We are planning a huge welcome back/St. Paddy's Day show, March
14, at Church (formerly the Linwood):

"So mark your calendars!

"MARCH 14 – THREE DAY THRESHOLD'S ST. PADDY'S DAY
HOEDOWN

At Church
69 Kilmarnock St.
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Phone: (617) 236-7600

"Featuring: The Andwutz, Tester, Max Heinegg, Autumn Hollow, and Brian
Carroll as well as some special guests."

-- Three Day Threshold, "3DT in Europe,"
February 28, 2008

NOT WANTING TO INJECT domestic politics into foreign affairs, 3DT
members dropped their "Peace and Whiskey!" campaign in favor of the
flavorful slogan, "Here's to Belgium Waffles!"

We hope they come back weighing the same as they did going over. - Ed.


LAURIE GELTMAN
Cold Boston Weather,
Warm Reunion With Bandmates and Fans

"First of all, thanks to Boston folks for coming out and making the
Passim show so special in January. We got great press and I saw lots
of old friends. Some of you even double dipped a few days later at the
impromptu band reunion in Jamaica Plain. That was icing on the cake;
next time we'll have more time and Daniel won't have three gigs in one
night! And maybe it won't be so darn cold! But I loved it and it
whet my appetite for more shows like that when I come east. Thanks to
Daniel Kellar, Woody Giessmann and Brian Karp for playing and Martin
Doyle, promoter/sweet heart for making it happen."

-- Laurie Geltman Mailing, February 29, 2008


MARK ERELLI
"Abraham Volunteers Once"
Would Have Made a Descriptive Name
For His Forthcoming "Delivered" CD

"NEW CD UPDATE:

"The new record, tentatively titled 'Delivered,' has been mixed and
will be at the manufacturer's by month's end. As of now, I am told it
will be officially released sometime in June, with the barn-raisers
receiving their copies at least a month before the official street
date. This collection will include many of the songs you have
inquired about after recent live performances, including 'Volunteers,'
'Once,' and 'Abraham.' I am very excited about this cd, and look
forward to sharing more specific details as they are available."

-- "Mark Erelli March 2008 Newsletter,"
February 27, 2008


BECKY CHACE
Thinking Ahead to a Fall Tour

"It's hard to imagine how my music career will have evolved once the
next February 29th rolls around. Four years ago we released Rescue.
Four years fly by. With that in mind, we're doing more long-range
planning these days and we've got high hopes for some big summer gigs
and another fall tour. Exciting stuff!"

-- Becky Chace, "March 08 Newsletter,"
February 29, 2008


EILEN JEWELL BAND
Triumphing at Folk Alliance

"Eilen and the band had a triumphant return to Folk Alliance in
Memphis playing the awards show and a packed showcase set. Thanks to
all who said hello."

-- Eilen Jewell Band Mailing, February 28, 2008


end BRIEF ITEMS


= = = = =


DEADLY GENTLEMEN
The New, Urban Sounds
Of Old Trad Country

"This is Greg [of Crooked Still] speaking, and I hope you are all
recovering from Wintergrass and planning your trips back there next
year. We are doing both. It was a life-saving infusion of bluegrass
during the tough winter months.

"And speaking of life-saving infusions, we're going be releasing a new
Crooked Still song any day now. More info very soon.

"Until then, I have some interesting news for you:

"I have started an Americana rap band called the Deadly Gentlemen.
Maybe it's banjo rap. Maybe it's not rap at all. Heck if I know.
It's definitely NOT hiphop, and it's definitely NOT whatever it is you
are expecting. It definitely IS all acoustic and very groove-heavy.
And has words. Lots of them."

-- Greg of Crooked Still, "Banjo Rap?"
February 26, 2008


P. T. BARNUM
Known Nutmegger

My research into the nineteenth-century music group, the Alleghanians,
has broadened to at least touch on the lives and careers of some very
famous people. Many of these were widely known in their own day, and
a few are household names even now. The first of this latter group to
come to my attention was Ulysses S. Grant, arguably the greatest
American war hero of the entire century and a guy whose face appears
on our currency.

P. T. BARNUM of Bridgeport, Connecticut, as far as I know, has never
appeared on any official United States folding money. But he was,
none the less, a man of great renown. He turns up in the Alleghanians
story lots more often than Grant and in quite a variety of ways.

As much acclaim as P.T. Barnum has received, strange to say I am not
convinced it is enough. This man was of huge importance to the field
of American entertainment in countless ways, from setting off
something like Beatlemania by bringing soprano Jenny Lind to the
United States to inventing the baby show.

One of Barnum's most fun contributions to American music involved
importing a jingle-jangle band from Lancashire, England that, for
promotional purposes, he chose to call the SWISS Bell Ringers. This
was one of my hot topics of research Friday.

An article I read not long ago said that Barnum could not tell Jenny
Lind and Irish opera singer Catharine Hayes HOW to sing. But he knew
what audiences liked, and he could tell these vocalists and others
WHAT to sing for maximum popularity.

Barnum was a character, no doubt about it, but he was a
dyed-in-the-wool Yankee. And it seems to be a good idea, as we
consider New England music once a week, to give this Yankee character
a little plug.

Barnum was a prime influence on the nineteenth-century's principal
opera impresario, Max Maretzek. My Hutchinson Family website leads
off with a quote from a fantastic P.T. Barnum letter of reference.
Barnum exploited advances in transportation systems to pioneer routes
for grand national tours. Variety shows in the Lecture Room of his
famed American Museum in New York City created work for countess
fiddlers and banjo pickers. And he brought us the sweet sounds of the
Swiss bells. He was all over the place. But he was most at home in
Connecticut.


NAMELESS COFFEEHOUSE
The First Forty-One Years

Hi Folks.

Please join us as we celebrate the 41st Birthday of the Nameless
Coffeehouse on Saturday night, March 1, 2008! We have a wonderful
show lined up for you, with a super group of performers. See the
details below. You won't want to miss these folks!

We'll have a crew from SCAT TV (Somerville Community Access TV) taping
our humble shindig and doing their very best to stay out of your way.
Our fantastic lineup of folks will sing y'all into Spring, which can't
be all that far off, right? (Right?!?!?!?) Cake (mmm... cake...) and
ice cream (whoa! ice cream) will set this crazy world right back on
it's axis again, trust me.

Come on out to the Nameless, where it's always safe and warm.

Hope to see you at the Nameless! Thanks Everybody!

Maureen

3 Church St., Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA:

Our 41st Birthday show features Hard Times, Emily Elbert, Lloyd Thayer
and Spitzer Space Telescope. The show, hosted by PJ Shapiro, begins at
8:00 p.m. (doors open at 7:30 p.m.). There is a suggested donation of
$8.00.

Emily Elbert is driven by a passionate love of music. Her deep
admiration for classic jazz, blues, reggae, and folk is woven into the
music she creates and performs. Unique guitar riffs, chord voicings,
and soulful singing combine to surprise and delight her listeners.
Emily was selected, from musicians of all ages, as "Local Rookie of
the Year" by the Dallas Morning News, and was named a winner of
Berklee's Performing Songwriter Contest during a five-week summer
program. She was chosen for the 2007 Gibson/Baldwin Grammy Jazz
Ensemble in Los Angeles, and was the Grand Prize Winner of the Dallas
"Texas 10 Under 20" Competition. Emily spent the summer of 2007
performing in venues from Alaska to New York City. She is thriving in
the Boston music scene, where she is a full-time student at Berklee.
Emily's debut CD, Bright Side, is available on iTunes and CDBaby.
http://www.emilyelbert.com and http://myspace.com/emilyelbert

Hard Times Hard Times is a young, up and coming Boston-based Bluegrass
band. Out of love and admiration for the classic styles of the
Monroes, Stanleys, Osbornes, and Whites, the group plays traditional
Bluegrass without frills or modern influence. The band has been a
subject of a Channel 5 Chronicle Magazine program and they are
favorite traditional bluegrass performers in the area and beyond.
http://myspace.com/hardtimesbluegrass

Lloyd Thayer is a unique performer who plays a 1929 National tricone
squareneck steel guitar with the instrument laying flat in his lap,
fretted with a metal bar. Lloyd plays on the streets and in the
subways of Boston, as well as in clubs and coffeehouses around New
England. He also teaches at Club Passim's School of Music. His songs
are thought provoking, powerful, and often absurdly funny. Downbeat
Magazine has described Lloyd's performance as "a convincing drama that
turns one small paved patch of Harvard Square into a back-alley,
down-and-dirty heaven. " Performer Magazine writes: "The guy's like
Bill Jackson, Jesse Fuller, and Captain Beefheart all rolled into
one." Lloyd is also an accomplished writer of short stories, as well
as an artist and poet. http://www.lloydthayer.com

Spitzer Space Telescope -- In addition to capturing images of deep
space, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the largest infrared telescope
ever launched into space, provided a stage name for young folk
phenomenon Dan MacDonald. Originally from St. Johns, Michigan,
"Spitzer" is now a student at Boston University. "I accidentally typed
in 'SST' on a Google search in one of my classes, and saw that it came
up. It kind of stuck in my head," MacDonald says. "I think it kind of
fits. I kind of look like a telescope." After starting his music
career in Michigan, Dan came East to attend Boston University and has
quickly built a fan base in the Boston/Cambridge area. His self titled
EPs with their distinctively illustrated brown paper with red thread
covers are in high demand. He has graced stages at The Ark in Ann
Arbor, MI, as well as at the Nameless Coffeehouse, Squawk, TT the
Bear's, The Cantab Lounge, Harper's Ferry, BU Central, and area house
concerts, and has been featured on radio stations such as WMBR and
WTBU as well as on SCAT TV in Somerville, MA. Look for great things to
come from the artist known as Spitzer Space Telescope! "Spitzer Space
Telescope's sets at the Cantab open mike are blasts of joyous
immediacy that invariably spark loud applause. He seems bent on
drumming away all complacency and pretense... penetrating,
unpredictable lyrics burst from him with great force, bristling with
humanity, hope, exuberance and precocious wisdom [. . .] There's
plenty of talent and intelligence here." -Geoff Bartley
http://www.myspace.com/spitzerspacetelescope

PJ Shapiro is a large, bipedal mammal. He uses his clever forepaws to
extract varied sounds from the pieces of wood and metal strewn about
his habitat, and to help him forage for the caffeine and capsaicin
laced foods that sustain him. He is the creator and host of the new
Something Live podcast, a series featuring live original music. A
long time friend of The Nameless, P.J. has appeared here as both a
host and a featured artist in previous seasons.
http://www.pjshapiro.com and http://myspace.com/pjshapiro

Call 617-864-1630 or visit http://www.namelesscoffeehouse.org or
http://www.myspace.com/namelesscoffeehouse for more information.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FEBRUARY 25, 2008

UNCLE EARL'S WATERLOO, TENNESSEE TAKES HOME "ALBUM OF THE YEAR" HONOR
AT THE THIRD ANNUAL FOLK ALLIANCE AWARDS

ROUNDER RECORDS RECEIVES THE ELAINE WEISSMAN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Burlington, MA – The four-woman acoustic stringband, Uncle Earl, was
awarded "Album of the Year" for Waterloo, Tennessee at the third
annual Folk Alliance Awards at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis,
TN on Wednesday. The Folk Alliance Awards honor merit and achievement
within the folk music field and mark the beginning of the
International Folk Alliance Conference.

Released in 2007 on Rounder Records, Waterloo, Tennessee is "...a
delightful, incentive spree: lyrically modern yet intensely rooted in
old-time string-band tradition." (Boston Herald) Produced by John
Paul Jones, Waterloo, Tennessee combines raucous fiddle tunes and
blues with ballads of loss and exile, affectionate love songs, and a
profound longing that can only be echoed in the strains of fiddles,
banjos, mandolins, and tender harmonies. Harp magazine calls
Waterloo, Tennessee "...music of uncommon grace, joy and force." Part
of a new generation of bold young acoustic musicians, the four women
who compose Uncle Earl are awakening the sleeping giant of old-time
string band music and holding it up as a mirror to our present era.

Rounder Records was also a recipient of the 2008 Elaine Weissman
Lifetime Achievement Award (LAAwards). The awards are given to those
who have inspired others, achieved definitive leadership in their
field, and contributed to the advancement of folk music and/or dance.
Each year the LAAwards honor two performers, one living and one
legacy, and a person or institution involved in the business or
academic side of the folk world, who has devoted their life's work and
talent to the advancement of the performing folk arts.

Rounder founder Ken Irwin was on hand to accept the award on behalf of
himself, his partners Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, and "all
those who have worked so hard with us to bring quality music to the
public and, of course, for the artists who make the music which keeps
us excited and dedicated after all these years." Irwin also
emphasized that the award is, "....for all those who have found,
helped make, helped sell, helped to promote, publicize and market the
music...this kind of achievement is the work of hundreds of people
over the years and thousands and thousands of hours of hard work and
ideas. Three of us started it, but the recognition is for what it has
become." Irwin added, "While it's always nice to have Rounder
recognized within the industry, it's particularly meaningful when it
comes from an organization so devoted to the music and made up of
fellow-music lovers like ourselves."

>>>

February 25, 2008
For Immediate Release

ROTHBURY ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL ARTISTS.
RODRIGO Y GABRIELA, THE WAILERS, MICKEY HART BAND FEATURING
GEORGE PORTER JR. AND STEVE KIMOCK, AND
TRAMPLED BY TURTLES JOIN THE ALREADY STELLAR LINEUP.

TICKETS ON SALE ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27 AT NOON EST AT
WWW.ROTHBURYFESTIVAL.COM

Today, ROTHBURY announces the addition of Rodrigo y Gabriela, The
Wailers, Mickey Hart Band featuring George Porter Jr. and Steve
Kimock, and Trampled By Turtles to the artist lineup. Tickets go on
sale this Wednesday, February 27th at 12pm Noon EST. Check out
www.rothburyfestival.com for more details.

On July 4th weekend 2008, ROTHBURY emerges as a new American
celebration. For this next generation of the rock and roll music
festival, ROTHBURY sets forth as a huge party with a purpose. Hosted
at the one-of-a-kind Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury, Michigan, the unique
festival site offers trails, forests, fields, lakes and beach fronts,
and even on-site lodging, bars and eateries. The four day,
environmentally sustainable music and camping festival promises to be
an inspiring cultural assembly; one where music fans, artists and
progressive thinkers gather to celebrate much more than music.

It is ROTHBURY's goal to harness the unique energy of the live music
community into a durable social movement toward an important cause:
Climate Change and Clean Energy Alternatives. In addition to a diverse
and stellar lineup of over 70 bands on 8 stages, ROTHBURY will host a
Think Tank and Energy Fair, and features unprecedented audience
participation opportunities.

Music is the soul of ROTHBURY, which today adds to its initial artist
line-up announcement. Confirmed musical acts include Dave Matthews
Band, Widespread Panic, John Mayer, 311, Phil Lesh and Friends, Modest
Mouse, Primus, Snoop Dogg, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Thievery
Corporation, STS9 and many others. A complete list of confirmed
artists follows, and many others will be announced in the coming months.

The ROTHBURY Think Tank is an event within the event, offering various
buzz sessions and roundtables between leading scientists, scholars,
writers, progressive political and corporate leaders, youth leaders,
and entertainers. Confirmed as ROTHBURY Think Tank Curator is Dr.
Stephen H. Schneider, with participants Dr. Eban Goodstein, L. Hunter
Lovins, Winona LaDuke , and many, many others to be announced. The
Think Tank will address the topic of Climate Change and Clean Energy
Solutions, geared toward conversations related to corporations,
government/policy makers, and the individual. Think Tank events will
share ideas about how to lessen our ecological and carbon footprint.
Interactive participation, both face-to-face and through the use of
multi-media technology, enable the ROTHBURY community to engage with
the Think Tank at multiple levels.

ROTHBURY's Energy Fair, where attendees engage hands-on with cutting
edge, sustainable technology and products, offers a flurry of
scheduled and surprise activities, plus food/drink, vending,
performances/presentations on the Workshop Stage, contests and
interactive opportunities, and so much more.

ROTHBURY itself is committed to producing a near zero-waste concert.
The first to tackle a green program of this magnitude at an
around-the-clock (camping) concert in the USA, ROTHBURY has an
on-staff Greening Chief, and has implemented multiple initiatives
toward this effort, including replacing disposables with 100%
compostables, recycling and composting, choosing clean energy,
carbon-offsetting, and Green Ticket options.

ROTHBURY's Solar Schools Program powered by Black Rock Solar will
outfit a local school with a free solar panel system. ROTHBURY is
committed to donating an absolute minimum of $50,000 worth of solar
panels. This year's Solar Schools Program recipient: Shelby High
School in Shelby, MI. Visit www.rothburyfestival.com for more
information on ROTHBURY's School Solar Program and other
sustainability initiatives.

ROTHBURY's current list of confirmed artists is as follows:

Dave Matthews Band
Widespread Panic
John Mayer
311
Phil Lesh and Friends
Primus
Thievery Corporation
Snoop Dogg
Modest Mouse
Michael Franti and Spearhead
Gov't Mule
Slightly Stoopid
Rodrigo y Gabriela
STS9
Colbie Caillat
The Black Keys
Yonder Mountain String Band with Jon Fishman
Gogol Bordello
Citizen Cope
Keller Williams and The WMD'S
The Disco Biscuits
Medeski Martin & Wood
Ray LaMontagne
Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Soul Stew Revival
Drive-By Truckers
The Mickey Hart Band featuring George Porter Jr. and Steve Kimock
Of Montreal
The Dresden Dolls
Gomez
Brett Dennen
Taj Mahal
Mike Gordon
Zappa Plays Zappa
Crystal Method DJ Set
State Radio
JJ Grey & MOFRO
The Greyboy Allstars
The Secret Machines
Railroad Earth
Beth Orton
The Wailers
Jakob Dylan and the Gold Mountain Rebels
A 3
Bettye Lavette
Lotus
Yard Dogs Road Show
The Beautiful Girls
Sage Francis
Tea Leaf Green
Emmitt Nershi Band
EOTO
Panjea with Michael Kang
Bassnectar
Diplo
Flosstradamus
The Juan MacLean
The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker
Dead Confederate
Trampled By Turtles
DJ Rekha
Motion Potion
DJ Rootz
SOJOURN
Busdriver

Additional acts to be announced in the coming months.

Early Bird Tickets to ROTHBURY go on sale on Wednesday, February 27 at
noon EST at www.rothburyfestival.com and at 1-888-512-SHOW (Open
Mon-Sat 9am-9pm CST).

ROTHBURY is produced by Madison House Presents and AEG Live.

For more information please visit www.rothburyfestival.com


ROUNDER BLUEGRASS
Rising to the Top

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY 27, 2008

ROUNDER RECORDS RULES THE TOP OF

THE BILLBOARD BLUEGRASS CHART!

Burlington, MA – Rounder Records is currently holding the top four
slots on the Billboard bluegrass albums chart with Rhonda Vincent's
Good Thing Going at #1, Blue Highway's Through The Window Of A Train
at #2, and the self-titled albums from Dailey & Vincent and The
SteelDrivers at #3 and #4 respectively. This is Rhonda Vincent's
seventh week at #1, a position that she's held since the album's
release on January 7. Blue Highway debuted at #2 last week, moving
Dailey & Vincent to #3, while The SteelDrivers' release from January
15 has stayed within the top 10 over the past 6 weeks.

Good Thing Going is Rhonda Vincent's most personal album to date.
With hope, resilience, and gratitude, Vincent presents a set of songs
that range from timelessly straight-ahead bluegrass to effervescent
swing and heartfelt ballads. The twelve tracks that make up Good
Thing Going include five originals or co-writes, alongside a range of
contemporary and classic cover tracks including a beautiful rendition
of "The Water is Wide" with country superstar Keith Urban. The Boston
Globe calls it a "...superb new effort...no messing up this `Good
Thing.'"

Blue Highway's Through The Window Of A Train, the band's eighth album,
was released on February 12 and features 12 songs, all written or
co-written by Blue Highway's five accomplished songwriters whose songs
have been recorded by bluegrass staples Ronnie Bowman, Mountain Heart,
Ricky Skaggs, and others. Through The Window Of A Train showcases
Blue Highway at their songwriting, instrumental, and vocal peak. With
a nod to family, tradition, and travel on the album's title track, the
account of a fading cowboy on "My Ropin' Days Are Done," the
characterizations of wars past and current on "Homeless Man" and "Two
Soldiers," and through the virtuosic picking on the instrumental "The
North Cove," Blue Highway simultaneously deliver the past, present,
and future of bluegrass.

Released January 29, the self-titled debut of new bluegrass duo Jamie
Dailey and Darrin Vincent features a broad spectrum of traditional
bluegrass, country, and gospel sounds, unified by the duo's
breath-taking vocal strength and harmony as well as their virtuosic
musicianship. While not related by blood, Dailey & Vincent invite
favorable comparisons to the best in brother duo singing – the Stanley
Brothers, the Osborne Brothers and Jim and Jesse. The power of Dailey
& Vincent's duo singing is stunningly revealed in the David
Rawlings/Gillian Welch gospel number "By the Mark," as well as the
tender "My Savior Walks With Me Today," written by Dailey and former
employer Doyle Lawson. Pure, rapid-fire bluegrass with fleet-fingered
picking and high lonesome singing flows through the album, from the
beginning notes of Al Wood's "Sweet Carrie," through Randall Hylton's
"Cumberland River."

On their national debut album of all original material, The
SteelDrivers' back-country high lonesome collides with Delta soul and
is one of the most refreshing sounds to emerge from Nashville in a
long time. Highly regarded behind the scenes as songsmiths and
session players with innumerable hits, cuts and licks to their credit,
this batch of seasoned pros has performed to sold out crowds from
their inception almost two years ago. While offering new takes on
classic themes of redemption and loss, and hope and home, their songs
are equally informed by the mountain sound of Ralph Stanley and the
rhythm and blues of Ray Charles. Stretching the boundaries of your
typical bluegrass band, the rock/blues/soul vocals of guitarist Chris
Stapleton put back country lonesome sounds smack dab in the middle of
town.

>>>

Sorry ... there is lots more news; but I am sending this many hours
late already, and I am simply out of time.

The New England popular music circuit is really humming these days...


NEMSnews

New England Music Scrapbook
Brattleboro, Vermont

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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.

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... Shows can be canceled, sold out, or even moved to another
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Issue 2008:264

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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