Exboyfriends Tonight At The Mercury Lounge

Shameless plug for my a cappella band, The Exboyfriends. If you're in NYC tonight, check us out!

THE EXBOYFRIENDS at MERCURY LOUNGE
Saturday, Sept 29th
7:30PM SHARP
MERCURY LOUNGE
217 E. Houston St.
New York
$10 Cover

www.theexboyfriends.com
www.myspace.com/exboyfriendsnyc
www.mercuryloungenyc.com

Telluride Blues and Brews Redux - 2 weeks late

Lately it's been too busy to blog, which is unfortunate because all the business gives me a lot to blog about!

So, I'll skip backward to 2 weeks ago (9/13-9/16), when I went to the Telluide Blues and Brews festival. It far exceeded my expectations, which is surprising especially considering I had been there 2 years before. I had great memories of the last time I was there, but it mostly had to do with hanging with my friends. For some reason the music part was a bit hazy. I also remember being cold a lot, and having to take naps to be awake enough for the late shows. I was going to be ok with skipping it this year to go to the Austin City Limits festival instead, which was the same weekend. But since I couldn't get any takers for the ACL, I opted to return with my Colorado friends Dave, Evan, and Bethann to Telluride and give it another go.




I'm so glad I did. The more I go to festivals, the more I realize that you can't tell too much from looking at the line-up. If you know every band on the list, and have seen them live, you may have some inkling of what you're up against. But even then, you might be surprised. For example, the first time I saw Keb Mo at the New Orleans Jazzfest in '05, I was mesmerized by his performance. It was just him and his guitar just putting out one good tune after another. No major jamming, no mutant guitar craziness - just good tunes. So, I was so looking forward to seeing him again in Telluride. And I enjoyed the performance. But it was very different - him with a band, different audience, different vibe. Maybe it was because I had seen him before. Who knows? But whatever it was, I was impressed, but not in the same way as that first time in New Orleans. There are so many ingredients that go into a live performance - the sound system, the audience, your view from the crowd, your state of intoxication, the performance itself, whether the band had a gig the night before...i can go on and on.



On the other hand, EVERY TIME I see Henry Butler, he blows me away. This guy plays keyboard like nobody's business. At the festival, he played in a new band called The Rhythm Council which featured Butler on keyboards and Papa Mali on guitar. This was the first band we saw when we arrived on Thursday night. It was a special "BAL DE MAISON" at the "Fly Me To The Moon Saloon", my favorite venue in Telluride. Papa Mali is a fine guitarist, but you could have put almost any blues guitarist next to Henry and he would have sounded amazing. If you've never seen Henry Butler live, DO IT AT ALL COSTS! This gig rocked it out. The whole club was in full boogie. They played until the wee hours of the morning with the crowd pumping 'til the end.


Henry Butler


Papa Mali


My favorite "artist I've never heard before" from the festival was Joe Bonamassa, a young blues rocker who just wails on guitar. He played the main stage at the festival and the crowd was simply open-mouthed. I heard lots of "wow"s and comparisons to Stevie Ray Vaughan. I don't know Stevie's stuff too well (yes - God forbid), but I can definitely recommend checking out Joe's live show!

There were too many amazing performances to go into detail about every one. But here were some of my festival faves:

Rhythm Council with Henry Butler & Papa Mali - Fly Me To The Moon
Joe Bonamassa - Main Stage
Kent Burnside & The New Generation - Juke Joint at Las Montanas
Johnny Sketch & The Dirty Notes - Juke Joint at Fly Me To The Moon
Eric Lindell's Soul Roots Movement - Late Night Juke Joint at Fly Me To The Moon
The Black Crowes - Main Stage


Eric Lindell


The Black Crowes

I have to mention of the beer fest part. It was damn fun! I found it a bit hard to listen to the music when I was focused on finding the next drink, but luckily they left the hottest bands for another time.


My buddies and I drinkin' away

And lastly, a bit about the festival vibe. The people who go to this festival were pretty cool. It was mostly an older crowd. It was kid friendly, so there were lots of families. It wasn't crowded in the least bit, so people could stretch out and you could get a good view of the stage for pretty much any show. People were generally cool about you using their blankets when they weren't around. We met some great people throughout the fest, and we ended up hanging out with them a lot. The one negative was the prevalence of scalpers near the ticket sales area. They were like vultures. People were legitimately trying to sell their own tickets for cost, and the scalpers were everywhere ruining it for them. And they just create a sleazy vibe that's hard to shake.



A shout out to Dave, Evan, Bethann, and Elizabeth - my festival buddies!

The Frames at Webster Hall

I had the pleasure of checking out Irish rock band "The Frames" on Monday, 9/10/07 at Webster Hall. I was first introduced to Frames lead singer Glen Hansard's music when listening to All Songs Considered, one of my favorite podcasts. They were reviewing the best albums of 2006, and chose an album of beautiful stripped down songs called "The Swell Season", featuring Hansard and 19 year-old Czech singer Marketa Irglova. I loved the earnest feel of the songs, and the way their voices blended. Hansard sings with so much emotion. I was hooked. Several months later I learned that Hansard had made a movie called "Once" which starred himself and Irglova in the lead roles. The movie is a musical built around Hansard and Irglova's music. It was featured at the most recent Sundance Film Festival and received raves from critics. As soon as it was released in New York, I ran to the theater and saw it, and was enchanted. Even if the movie had sucked, which it didn't, it would have been worth it to hear those fantastic songs through a movie house sound system.

Then I saw Hansard live with the Frames, and...damn, what a show! Hansard plays with an energy that you'd expect to come from someone who had just been given his first and last opportunity to perform in front of a crowd. He's like a kid in a candy store, and his energy is contagious. The Frames have been together since 1992, although they have had marginal success in the US. Hansard's songs are good - not great, but really really good. But I the overall packaging is awesome - the energy, the emotion, the harmonies, the little jokes he throws in. This band is just pure rock and roll in the raw, and i love it! Although his recent popularity in the US is mostly due to the success of his movie, in his main set he didn't play any songs from the "Once" soundtrack or from the "Falling Slowly" album, opting instead for sticking strictly to Frames material. That didn't matter to me - in fact I was that much more impressed by the fact that I was getting so much enjoyment out of songs that I had never heard before.



For the encore they brought out Marketa Irglova, and performed some of the more popular songs from the movie, most notably "Falling Slowly", which is a gorgeous tune.

If you get the chance, see this band live! Buy Glen Hansard's solo album! See Once! Get hooked! Just like I did! You won't be sorry!

Escher's "Relativity" in Lego

You're probably quite familiar with this piece of art. But I doubt you've ever seen it quite like this!

RIP Madeline L'Engle

I just learned that Madeline L'Engle passed away yesterday, September 6th, 2007 of natural causes. She was 88. One of my favorite books growing up was "A Wrinkle In Time" by L'Engle, and it was probably that book that was my introduction to the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres. Her legacy will certainly live on in her wonderful writings. RIP Madeline L'Engle.

OK - never mind

I think in my last entry I provided the answer to my own problem. See, there really IS a therapeutic side of writing shit down. It helps you figure shit out on your own. And you can use the word shit as many fucking times as you want.

So, I will try my best to be open and honest here and to show you the real me. Let's see how that goes, and if I can actually do it.

Blogging about....what?

Those who have read this blog, and you are few and far between, would agree that there really is no specific purpose to it. I just ramble on about what I did over the weekend, or what band I saw, or what my newest obsession is. But is that interesting to anyone? I know I want to write here, and I assume that at least some people will stumble upon it and read it, but will they return, and if so why? Are they dying to find out what Jeff did over the weekend? Is that important? Does that matter? Maybe I'm just writing for myself, and it's good enough to just ruminate over my latest activities.

Or perhaps I need more focus to these writings. Art imitates life, don't it? If my blog lacks focus, is that symbolic of my own lack of focus? Am I reading way too much into this?

If I had to pick some focused topic, what would it be? What do I know about? What wisdom can I impart to my "readership" that would help them in their lives - that would entice them to come back day after day to sniff around for next tidbit?

I am fairly hip to good music, so maybe I should focus my site on music. People could come to my site to see who they should check out this week. Who has a new album that they absolutely need to buy? Who has a concert going on that they must attend?

OR, I can talk about my deepest thoughts, feelings, and philosophies. I have thought about doing this a lot recently. I think a blog like this would be interesting, because I truly believe that there are people out there that could relate to me, or at least understand what I'm going through. This would stimulate a dialog, I believe, because everyone has their own philosophies and experiences which they are dying to contribute to such a conversation.

Ideally, I'd like to do both of the above. But I find it hard to do the latter one, because I'd be baring my soul to the world, even if that world is small. Just thinking about it makes me feel vulnerable, like the idea of publishing the lyrics to a song I write which addresses some deep feelings. People who know me know that I do keep a bit of myself to myself. OK - maybe a lot of myself. So, this would be a tremendous departure, and it could even become the case that you'd find more about me on this blog than by talking to me in person. That seems ludicrous, but maybe it's indicative of how closed off I am to people around me.

So, what to do? I can stay with the status quo and just write about my experiences or my opinions on music. But those things do seem somewhat empty without being colored with a bit of myself. Or maybe there's some happy medium I can find.

If you are reading this, please comment. I want to know what you think.

Galactic At Summerstage - 8/10/07

Galactic joined onstage by the Soul Rebels Brass Band


New Orlean's Galactic brought their brand of New Orleans Funk to Central Park's Summerstage this Saturday afternoon. It was a beautiful day with lots of beautiful people groovin' to beautiful licks. The band was especially tight this day. They had some guest saxaphonist who really kicked ass. If anyone sees this post and knows who that was, pleeeeeeze email me or comment here. I really enjoyed a few of the songs they performed with the Soul Rebels Brass Band and with Jon Cleary on Keyboards, but some of the jams they did with ALL of the guests on stage got a little mushy in my opinion. But all-in-all, a jammin' dancefest at Rumsey!

Before I start ranting I want to say that I love the Soul Rebels Brass Band. At New Orleans Jazzfest 2006 I got to see them play the night away at Le Bons Temps. They have some outstanding musicians. But I have one thing to say to those dudes: shut the fuck up and play! You guys really bring in the funk, but all the shoutin' out to the audience, call and answer shenanigans, whoopin' it up during people's solos - all that stuff detracts from the great music that you're creating. I just don't get why bands think that stuff is good. Maybe they just play for lemming audiences who get all in a froth when bands interact with them in any way. Just play, dammit - let the music speak for you.


And one other thing, while I'm ranting. What was the deal with Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & The Golden Eagle Mardi Gras Indians? I didn't see their set, but I can't imagine what they could have performed. They were 3 old dudes dressed in these huge Indian Headresses. One guy had a cowbell, and the other 2 had tamborines. When I saw them, they had Galactic and the Soul Rebels playing behind them, but who was accompanying them during their set. The fact that they looked so ridiculous would have been ok if they actually showed any talent on stage. Just goes to show you, sometimes all it takes to get a gig is a big huge headress. Maybe I'll go out and buy 7 of them for The Exboyfriends. Actually, I think Rex already got one for our "Village People" get-up last Halloween...but I digress.

Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, The Golden Eagle Mardi Gras Indians, and their ridiculous headresses


The Exboyfriends with Rex as an Indian Chief on the Right

Crescent and Frost at The Living Room - 8/9/07

I heard Brooklyn's "Crescent and Frost" at the Living Room on Thursday. They played some nice country-twinged singer-songwriter type stuff. I especially enjoyed Maryann Fennimore's gorgeous voice. And as a bonus she's extra easy on the eyes. Her voice reminds me of Shawn Colvin's a bit, but even sweeter. They included a few peppy bluegrass tunes in their set, and a cover of the Police's "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic", a song which also happens to be covered by Colvin on her "Cover Girl" album. I look forward to hearing more of this band. Check out their website for a link to a free video.

I also heard Lipbone Redding who played before Crescent and Frost. He's a lot of fun. His signature is being able to do a spot-on Trombone sound with his voice. But I was most impressed by the Tuvan Throat Singing he threw in during the set. Great fun!

Patrick Watson - The Great Escape

Indroducing Mr. Patrick Watson of Montreal, Canada. Thanks to my Cousin Adam for pointing him out to me. He has a voice reminiscent of the late Jeff Buckley. Just transcendently beautiful. Interesting video, too although I'm not sure what it means. Your interpretations are welcome. He either is playing or already played the Iceland Airwaves festival, which is known as fantastic event where a lot of great new artists get their start.

1 day on the wagon

I'm very happy to say, that after yesterday's Battlestar Galactica-fest, I didn't turn on the TV once today...AND I actually visited the gym...AND I used the equipment there. The real test will be when I get CD #4 of the 1st season. Can I sit through just one episode without progressing to the next one. Stay tuned, if you dare (I mean, care). Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. Serenity now, serenity now.

Obsession...Frak!

I'm currently obsessed with the new Battlestar Galactica series. Those of you who know me know that I don't subscribe to cable TV, so I'm playing "catch-up" by ordering the series on Netflix. But I can't seem to watch just one frackin' episode. I turn on the DVD with every intention to watch just one, and then 3-hours later, I've wasted the whole night. I really do consider this a psychological problem. It's the exact reason why I don't have cable. I do have a TV, but only can get a handful of channels, and even those I get with really bad reception. I do this on purpose because I figure I'll flip through the few channels I have, get disgusted, and then turn off the TV and do something productive. But even then I sometimes find myself watching hours of Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens, Bernie Mac, that show with Jim Belushi and Courteny Thorne Smith. The list of syndicated crap goes on and on.

I know that I'm not alone in this. Which leads me to my question: What is it about our brains that hardcodes us to get obsessed with stuff, even against our own best interests. I guess there is some modicum of pleasure we get out of the object of our obsession. For example, Battlestar Galactica ROCKS! So does LOST and Heroes. So what the Frak am I doing watching Girlfriends or George Lopez, some of the worst crap on Television! There's no answer here, folks, just questions. Perhaps more exploration will occur later. This is just on my mind because just tonight I wasted 3 hours watching 4 episodes of Battlestar Gallactica.

And now off to bed, where I will fall asleep to another obsession...the "Keith and the Girl" podcast.

Toothcare

Today I got my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fillings. No kidding! 2 of them were in wisdom teeth, so - not so bad. Until very recently, my father was my Dentist, so this visit was traumatic in more than one way. Happily, Dr. Jankowski did a great job, and I left the office an hour later with my lip dragging on the floor (love that Novocaine).

Also, today I bought tickets to the upcoming Frames show at Webster Hall on Sept 10, continuing my current obsession with the music (and film) of Glen Hansard, the lead singer of the Frames. It all started when I heard a song from Hansard's solo album, The Swell Season (more of a duet with Marketa Irglova) toward the beginning of this year. Then, a few months later, I heard that he had created a film called "Once" starring...himself and Irglova! The film was featured at the Sundance festival and got rave reviews. I saw it a few months ago and it was pretty damn good. Great music of course, along with a simple and romantic story about 2 singer songwriters who fall for each other, but their circumstances create barriers for them.

So, nobody, reads my blog as of yet, but I haven't really told anyone about it. If I continue writing, and there's something interesting to read, maybe I'll let a few people know. For now, it is for my own self-expression. But if you do happen upon it, please feel free to say hello. :)

Coney Island Going Buy, Buy!

We've all heard the rumors, which of course are now more than just rumors, about Coney Island's Astroland Park being sold to the highest bidder. Yes, "the man" is taking away our freak show, the phallus, "Shoot the Freak", etc., etc., and putting up. Well, it's still under discussion...

So, Cousin Adam, Ari, and I spent a nice Summer Saturday at Coney Island to try and preserve our memories of it in it's current form. And, in true Jeff fashion, my visit HAD to coincide with a music festival. Specifically, the Siren Music Festival. Good times were had by all. Sorry so short - here are some photos of the glorious day it was.

Cousin Adam - not a speck of dirt on those white pants!

SHOOT THE FREAK!!!

Ari in his usual pose

Elvis Perkins at the Siren Fest

To Blog Again

Gotta get connected, gotta get addicted, gotta get conflicted, gotta keep it separated, gotta network, gotta do work, gotta be Turk, gotta see Kirk.


OK - so there's Kirk. I hope you like his picture. He's a good guy, Mr. Kirk.