Poobah at the Boom Room

Mahoning Valley icon Poobah, featuring Jim Gustafson, put the "boom" in the Boom Room Saturday night. You can see Jim perform "Peace", from Poobah's soon-to-be-released CD "Salad", from the Videos link above. Champion OH band Its All Been Done, minus their drummer, opened the show with an enjoyable acoustic set. Pictures of both bands are in the slideshow and the Photos page. (6/14/09)

Artists of the Rust Belt Festival

Artists of the Rust Belt presented their talents this past weekend at a festival at the B&O Station, to the accompaniment of live music from many bands and individual performers. Sunday's acoustic stage line-up opened with Teddy Pantelas' fantastic presentation of jazz and blues standards and original songs, followed by outstanding performances by Tim Drummond, Katie Ferrall (Just Teasin' Arounds), Madam Weez, Alex and Chris of McKelvy Raygun, and Ralphie Rich. Oh, yeah, I played an hour in there somewhere, though you wouldn't have known about it by reading the newspaper. Youngstown's best kept secret was only published here, on this site. ARB spokesman Daniel Horne explained it to me - they were afraid that if too many people found out that I was playing there wouldn't have been enough parking for the crowds!

The musical talent wasn't limited to the inside stage. Gary Markasky of Dream Maker entertained Sunnie B's customers on acoustic guitar as they browsed her collection of stained glass stepping stones, lanterns, and really cool kaleidoscopes. I even had the pleasure of accompanying Gary with some chords and harp under the tent.

You can view pictures of the performers in the Photos page, and videos from the Videos link. Sorry, circumstances kept me from getting vids of Katie and Ralphie, but I'll try to make that up to them as soon as I can. Previous videos of Madam Weez can also be seen from the Videos link, and on her page at www.youtube.com/Madamweez.

A special thanks goes out to Rust Belt Brewing for keeping the musicians wet and happy. Love the Stout! (6/8/09)

A Message from The Music Center

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We want to THANK everyone that supported our Hospice Benefit, especially those that came out to The Dive Bar Sunday. It was such an awesome way to celebrate our Dad's (what would have been) 60th Birthday and raise money for such a great organization! We were able to raise $445 for Hospice of the Valley and want to let everyone that helped us know just how much we truly appreciate their kindness!!

We also want to thank everyone that participated in our Open Stage: John Ruman, Zach Cogley, Steve Wittkugle, Christine Witt, Jimmy Martin, Joe Barbutes, Ryan Lubin, Katelin Deutsch, Rick Hartley, DJ DePanicis, Michael O'Grady, Madam Weez, Jeff Huth, Gary DeFrance, and Dennis Drummond! You guys just prove how much GREAT talent we have here in the Valley!

To view all of the pics from Sunday, please visit our myspace @ www.myspace.com/musiccenterohio

Thank you,
Kathy and Cindy
The Music Center
(330) 652-1300
www.musiccenterohio.com
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And, yes, the rumors are true, I did win BOTH gift baskets. If I would have won the guitar I would have played the lotto! (6/8/09)

Ten-Year Old Bass Player

10 year old Katelin Deutsch has been showing up for an early hour or so at open mics, layin' down perfect bass grooves for Rick Hartley and others. She's taking lessons from Rick's former student and current Music Center instructor, DJ. She'll knock you out on Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds! Check out the pic, with Frank Castellano and Rick, in the slide show above and in the Photos page. (6/4/09)

Even More Open Mics!

I just found out about another open mic (they're cropping up everywhere!) and went all the way across the county to Hubbard to check it out ... at Barkley's (no, not Barley's) with Crazy Eddie. It's hard to find. After two trips down West Liberty Street I finally asked someone at a gas station. The bar is in the basement of a plaza, below a Subway, and the entrance is on a side street. The bar crowd is receptive and enthusiastic, and Eddie is a great host - he gets everyone on stage in a timely manner and doesn't try to turn his open mic into a solo gig. I met several cool musicians, and I was thrilled to meet up with old friends, too.

After closing down Barkley's I had an hour left to follow US 62 to the Royal Oaks, one of my very favorite bars and open mics. Last night was John Koebel's off week so his co-host (someday I'll remember his name) was in charge. That late in the evening (or early in the morning?) most of the crowd was already gone, but I still got to play a couple songs and to enjoy listening to other fine musicians. Oh, and I found out about ANOTHER open mic - Thursdays at One-Eyed Willie's, with the same two Oaks hosts. Looks like I have another place to get to tonight. (4/9/09)

U-Pie Open Mic

In case you haven't been paying attention to my rambling muses, I usually spend Friday and Saturday nights listening to local bands (one to four places a night), but the rest of the week I can almost always be found hanging around open mics (again, up to four a night!), strumming my 12-string Carvin, accompanied by my half-octave vocals with a few attempts at harmonica thrown in. One of my favorite stops for oh-over-a-year is Mr. Kyle's jam at U-Pie (University Pizzeria, for the uninitiated). Unfortunately, Lincoln Ave is quite a ways from my home and there's lots of other happenings on Thursday nights, so I can't make it as often as I would like. Well, this past week a mix-up in the Boom Room's scheduling put me back on the road with a couple hours left before closing time. The most logical direction to head was straight down good old US 422, with a left on 5th and a right on Lincoln, where a convenient parking spot put me in the U-Pie door before midnight.

This was my first visit to the expanded U-Pie. I was surprised to see that the removed wall was, in reality, only half-removed, which still allowed viewing of the spacious new stage from most of the old back room. The new floor space was effectively hidden from the bar and featured some couches and candle-lit tables, which gave the appearance of an inviting make-out spot (oh, to be a young college student again)! U-Pie outfitted the stage with a house PA, and Kyle made sure to point out the addition of monitors because of previous bitching from this old deaf guy.

The short walk from the front door to the stage took quite a bit of time as I stopped to say "hi" to Denny London, Chris Rutushin - the house bongo player :-) , gorgeous Alex Ahren of McKelvy Raygun (don't mistake my orientation, she's "Alexandra"), and Matt Palka, before finally greeting Mr. Kyle himself, hidden behind the wall at the mixer board. Dave Rowe of Bourbon Brothers, another open mic regular, followed me in the door a short while later with Whitey, his band's bass player. I got to hear Courtney's beautiful, distinctive voice and imaginative original music when I arrived, and in the course of the night I also enjoyed performances by Denny, Matt, and Alex, among others. Alex's and Kyle's short a cappella duet of "The Sound of Music" was a way-too-cool interlude.

I met Matt last year at a previous U-Pie open mic. I was already aware of him, his music, his VW Bus Tour, and his book "Moment in the Sun", and had him listed in the Musicians page. It was a pleasure to finally shake his hand. That night he helped me with harmony on "The Weight", as he did the next time our paths crossed, at Royal Oaks. So it was natural for me to ask again at U-Pie. We were aided by Chis' rhythm and Kyle's vocals from behind the board. I asked Matt to stay for "Mary Jane's Last Dance", which he did, and then he left the stage. He hurried back up, though, when he heard me start my next song, "Here Comes the Sun", and stayed for "Get Back". Matt is originally from western Ohio and adopted the Rust Belt as his second home (so to speak - he's at home throughout the US). He's a cool guy with a great outlook and philosophy, and I plan to someday get away from all this website work long enough to read his book. He's got some other neat things in the works, too much to mention here, so keep updated through his website and MySpace.

It will be too late by the time you read this, but Mr. Kyle, Denny London, and McKelvy Raygun are appearing in an Acoustic Showcase tonight at U-Pie, along with Tim Drummond. Hope you didn't miss it! (4/4/09)

Another typical MVLiveMusic.com Weekend

So here it is, 2:30 AM, Saturday morning, March 14th. Earlier I was going to stop in the Niles O'Donold's for a short while to say "hi" to Frank Castellano and take a new photo for MVLiveMusic. com, but I was enjoying his solo act so much I didn't leave until it was over. I always knew Frankie was an exceptional guitar player and a superb vocalist, but tonight's show was his best performance that I've witnessed. Frank uniquely adds incredible finger-style solos, often in conjunction with his loop pedal rhythm background, in such a way that makes each of his cover songs his own without distracting from the tune's familiarity. Tonight I was doubly impressed with his ability to further inspire an already-enthusiastic audience group. It's not often you see a crowd of spirited dancers in front of an acoustic performer. Frank is in my personal A-list of local musicians, and if I didn’t have hundreds of others to try to visit in the interest of my web site I would go out of my way to catch every one of his gigs.

Afterward, a short drive up Youngstown-Warren road took me to Alberini’s Restaurant for a duo of whom I had just recently become aware. Tony Peluso (guitar and vocals) and Matt Yovich (12 string guitar, bass, and vocals) played in different local bands in past years, and united a few months ago as Wasted Youth. I had stayed too late at O’Donold’s and only caught their last few songs, but if they were any indication, I missed a pleasurable evening of vocal and guitar harmonies. I’ll certainly make time for a longer listen at a future Wasted Youth gig.

I met James Morrison and his Stone Ridge Band only a short month ago at Papa Nick’s, and tonight I just had to return with my C&W-loving traveling companion for another listen. I knew she would be impressed. There are several excellent country-style bands in the Valley, but Bert DeSanzo’s fiddle makes Stone Ridge unique among the crowd.

Back up Niles-Warren road to complete the loop, and a final stop at Blue Magoo’s and Madam Weez. Louise Hathaway has been demonstrating her lovely vocals in area country, rock, and blues bands for over 30 years. She is currently performing solo, sometimes over recorded background tracks, but my personal preference is her self-accompaniment on a sweet-sounding 12-string Ovation, and particularly when she covers Bonnie Raitt. New photos and videos of these performers will be posted here soon.

On an unrelated note: I highly recommend the wings with Papa Nick’s Special Sauce, Buffalo-style with Parmesan and whatever-else. Delicious!

Back on the road Saturday evening - a night of Kick-A** Rock & Roll, with Shakedown at Leon's, Sonic Age at McMenamy's, and Sideshow at Tommy Dogg's. I swear I felt the ground shake while driving past the Waffle House on SR 46. Later analysis proved that spot to be the confluence point of subterranean sound waves emanating from three of the rockinest bands in the Valley. Don't believe me? Hey, you read it on the internet so it must be true!

I took photos of Shakedown and Sonic Age, and videos of Sideshow. They'll all be uploaded to MVLiveMusic. com within a few days. Chuck Gisewhite sat in on bass and vocals for a couple songs with Sideshow. He and Bill Scudier will be joining me at my Cafe 83 gig this coming Wednesday. I can't wait - it'll be a gas! (3/15/09)

4 out of 10 ain't bad!

Ten open mics yesterday - MVLiveMusic made it to 4...

8PM: Grist Mill w/ Bermuda Triangle, Steve Olinger-guitar, Dave Tacsik-drums, Jeff Weston-bass, every other Wednesday. Played with the band, and heard another guest play great harp. When I told Steve about the 10 open mics, he mentioned another one! Dave, thanks for the kind words over the mike about MVLiveMusic. com. I took photos, to be published in the slideshow soon.

9:30PM: Khaled Tabbara's Drunken Mic Night at the Austintown O'Donold's, with Zou bandmate Dean Anshutz, who backed me on drums. I stayed for the cheap drinks, and took more photos.

10:45PM: Stopped at Dash Inn to check out Steve's rumor. It was a jam between friends, no open mic. I talked to a couple musicians and the manager, gave them my card, and asked them to check out MVLiveMusic.com and keep me updated.

11:15PM: Downtown 36 for Denny London's open mic. Very cool decor in this new club. I played between Mr. Kyle's and Dave Rowe's sets. Other visitors included Chris Ahren of McKelvy Raygun, Chazz Sutton, and Ken Blair from Rust Belt Brewing (no free samples, dammit!)

1:00AM: This was John Koebel's turn to host at Royal Oaks. Great late crowd! Sonny Hopchek and Matt Palka were there, and Dave Rowe followed me in the door from Downtown 36. Matt previously did a fantastic job backing me up at U-Pie on "The Weight", so I just had to ask him to join me again!

Thanks to all for allowing me to play in the short time I visited. I realize I broke the unspoken open mic rule, and I appreciate your understanding and tolerance. To those whose gigs I missed - sorry, and I'll be back around soon. (2/19/09)

MVLiveMusic.com 2nd Birthday Bash

MVLiveMusic.com 2nd Birthday Bash / the Professor acoustic show ... was a blast! Thanks to all the friends who joined me, on stage and in the audience, and all those who sent their best wishes. Photos are in the slideshow, and can be viewed full-size in the Photos page. (2/1/09)