Saturday night up north

I pilfered this from the Truffle site. Dave writes:

Saturday September 13 * Red Parka Pub

Rt. 302, Glen, NH (603) 383-4344

Truffle w/ Pete Kowalski ~ 9:00

The band heads north to a very fun place that has been around for 30+ years. The Parka has a great vibe, dance floor and stage, and is the premier live music venue in the north country. Pete now joins us on these shows with his hybrid percussion/ drum kit set up; resulting in us doing a half acoustic/ half electric type show. It's a gas, if you haven't caught it yet.....come join us!

Throwing Stones

In a previous post, I borrowed a line from The GD's Throwing Stones. In many ways, I have found this to be one of the tunes most relevant to modern times in the band's vast collection. It is a celebration of how wonderfully apolitical the Grateful Dead was on stage. In so many ways the performances were a true escape from many of the world's harsh realities.

Enjoy this vid (not mine):

Picture a bright blue ball just spinning, spinning free
Dizzy with eternity.
Paint it with a skin of sky, brush in some clouds and sea
Call it home for you and me.
A peaceful place or so it looks from space
A closer look reveals the human race.
Full of hope, full of grace, is the human face.
But afraid, we may our home to waste.
Theres a fear down here we cant forget hasnt got a name just yet
Always awake, always around singing ashes to ashes all fall down.
Now watch as the ball revolves and the nighttime calls
And again the hunt begins and again the bloodwind calls
By and by again, the morning sun will rise
But the darkness never goes from some mens eyes.
It strolls the sidewalks and it rolls the streets
Stalking turf, dividing up meat.
Nightmare spook, piece of heat, you and me, you and me.
Click, flashblade in ghetto night. rudies looking for a fight.
Rat cat alley roll them bones. need that cash to feed that jones
And the politicians throwing stones
Singing ashes, ashes all fall down.
Commissars and pin-striped bosses role the dice
Any way they fall guess who gets to pay the price.
Money green or proletarian gray, selling guns instead of food today.
So the kids they dance, they shake their bones
While the politicians throwing stones
Singing ashes, ashes all fall down.
Heartless powers try to tell us what to think
If the spirits sleeping, then the flesh is ink.
Historys page, it is thusly carved in stone
The futures here, we are it, we are on our own.
If the game is lost then were all the same
No one left to place or take the blame.
We will leave this place an empty stone
Or this shinning ball of blue we can call our home
So the kids they dance, they shake their bones
While the politicians are throwing stones
Singing ashes, ashes all fall down.
Shipping powders back and forth
Singing black goes south while white comes north
And the whole world full of petty wars
Singing I got mine and you got yours.
And the current fashions set the pace.
Lose your step, fall out of grace.
And the radical he rant and rage, singing someone got to turn the page
And the rich man in his summer home,
Singing just leave well enough alone
But his pants are down, his covers blown
And the politicians are throwing stones
So the kids they dance they shake their bones
Cause its all too clear were on our own
Picture a bright blue ball just spinning, spinning free
Its dizzying, the possibilities. ashes, ashes all fall down.

Stone Church sold at foreclosure auction

Okay I'm going to take a chance at reposting this article. I think the credits are in order. This is good news!

ck


Stone Church sold at foreclosure auction: "By Karen Dandurant
kdandurant@seacoastonline.com
September 12, 2008 1:02 PM

NEWMARKET — The new owners of the Stone Church vow to keep the music alive.

Scott Orlosk of Londonderry, Adam Schroadter of Newmarket and Art Murphy of Epping were the successful bidders at a foreclosure auction held on Friday, Sept. 12.

“Saving the music was the mission,” Orlosk said. “The Stone Church is a significant cult phenomenon and Newmarket really needs it. We know we have some things we need to do but we hope it will be a special place again, maybe even more special.”

Schroadter said it was important to them to preserve the nature of the popular music club that has been around since the late 1960s.

“We didn’t want to see it become a shoe store,” Schroadter said.

John Pasquale, one of the former owners, said he is glad the auction went the way it did. Before the auction started he said he hoped whoever got it would keep it as a music club.

“I know Scott and have been talking with him,” Pasquale said. “I’m pleased he’s the winning bidder. He wants the same type of club with the same type of music.”

The partners got the place for what seems like a song, $195,000. Still, they have to pay $16,762 in back taxes, and that number will keep.....

Anyhow you should probably click this link to read the whole thing.

Art Murphy and Scott Orlosk, center, speak with former owner Paul Nessel, right, after successfully bidding $195,000 for The Stone Church Music Club in Newmarket on Friday, Sept. 12, 2008.Scott Yates photo.

So the kids they dance, they shake their bones.

Let's put aside the sadness of the pending Stone Church auction and the possibility that this is the end of an era for that location. The scene there on Tuesday night was inspiring and refreshing. There was a line out the door at 10pm and the twenty-somethings were dancing their brains out to organic, acoustic music. The bliss was real and the vibe was huge.

I had my trusty camcorder and captured about half a dozen tunes. The sound quality is what you would expect but captures the scene well.

A special thanks to all of those involved in resurrecting the Stone Church. I went to the previous closing event with Truffle and feared that was the end of the road. Incidentally, that was the same day The Old Man Of The Mountain slide of the hill. I believe that this is a difficult business to sustain and hopefully the property is somehow preserved as celebration of musical arts. I also hope and pray that the current owners are able to chase this dream again in a way that works financially for them.

ck


Now check out a little medley of tunes from Tuesday, September, 9th, 2008. (I will update this with credit to the musicians when I have that in order)

This Can't Be The Last Bluegrass Jam At The Stone Church

I headed down to The Stone Church last night to catch the bluegrass jam. The place is scheduled for the auction block this Friday and I needed to catch some live music there at least once more in case it doesn't return as a music venue (which would be a shame).

I figured this would be a somber evening and probably modestly attended. I couldn't have been more wrong. I got there about 10 pm and there was a line out the door. The UNH kids are back. The place was wall-to-wall hippies!

On stage was Nikolai Fox on fiddle, Mary whose last name I should know by now on an upright bass, a guitarist and a banjo player. They were picking away and the room was reeling with energy.

I tried to find a friend, who is old as dirt just like me, but was unsuccessful. I pulled out my camcorder and captured some of the magic. Anyhow, here's a little nugget. I'll post more later.

Hoof, the ChickenJam house band, at a practice 2 weeks before CJ8

Hoof is the band that started ChickenJam. I had asked to get some kind of Big Chicken for my wife's 40th birthday surprise party and Hoof was there. Apart from Chuck, the lead guitarist on the left, these guys have all been part of Big Chicken. Unlike High Range's exploration and mastering of the acoustic aspects of the BC sound, these guys chase the country rock flavors.

See for yourself:

Meet the bartender

Everybody, this is Virtual Gary