deep muddy hillgrass bluebilly movement in the 413!

so the past few days an idea had popped into my head that i am very excited about. i have been really juggling the available dates at venues with available dates for artists coming through the area. it's been a challenge with a lot of loose ends. so, after a suggestion a while back from a friend - i decided to try and put on a regular event. one part featured artist showcase and the other part open mic/jam.

i'm thinking that i would like to hold this during an earlier slot than other shows - partially to avoid competing with other shows in the area. i would also like to have it at a venue that serves food - decent food too. the reason is that perhaps people may stop in for a bite or a few drinks around the dinner hour. a good house PA would be nice too - but not a deal breaker.

the theme would be blues, roots music, country and folk. most gear would be provided by my band as we'd be hosting and acting as a house band. i think a sticking point is to hold this no more than once a month - in an effort to keep it from burning out and being too much of a demand on the participants. speaking of participants - i would love some feedback from people interested in coming out, playing a set, jamming, or just hanging out and networking while checking out some different music.

so i am talking with one venue fairly seriously about this whole thing. they have everything i am looking for - but i am a guy that likes options, so i can weigh them. i'll ask all of you for some input on some cool venues - and contact info of it's something i might not have worked with in the past.

on another BCBM note - i am psyched that i have booked another BCBM Showcase for later in July with Husky Burnette at Snowzee's Music Shack in Sunderland! It's on 7/22 - Damon and the crew will share the bill and it's going to be nuts! i'll be posting some event information soon, standby.

ok - i am gonna wrap up watching this episode of weeds and hit the hay.

g'night folks!

been a great week for me! for starters, we got new pictures taken of the girls. Chloe of course is a clown in them all, but Delaney - well she's been smiling and so good lately. her new pictures look great and the process was basically painless this time around.

i had gotten a lot of things accomplished this week for the Japan Disaster Relief BLUES BASH at Maximum Capacity. the show is coming up soon, so i have been sweating getting all the details in order in good time. this week i managed to get a bunch of details confirmed. first off, i got the ticket situation under wraps. i set up an account with Brown Paper Tickets for this event. i love the way that company works - gives you complete control to create and promote your event. They even will supply me with pre-printed tickets to sell person to person, the old fashioned way. All if the money raised from tickets sales and the door will be donated to help relief efforts in Japan. At this point we're still looking at a red cross donation as the beneficiary of the show - but Yukiko Fujii (Tokyo Tramps bassist) is looking into more direct charities involved. mainly so that the funds raised get the maximum amount of use where it counts.

The other aspect of the event that was solidified this week was the line-up. i've got five acts lined up, i'll post a short video of each to give some idea what they are all about!

so the line-up is pretty fantastic, if i do say so myself - and i do! there is one other thing that i managed to get tied together this week, a television appearance by Wildcat O'Halloran on TV 22's Mass Appeal on April 25th. granted i work at the station - but it was one less thing to get in the works later on. i may actually look into having a second act do the show too maybe earlier in the month - we'll see what i can swing. it's an early morning for some of those musicians traveling out from Boston!

lastly, i played a show last night with Damon and the crew at Snowzee's in Sunderland. it was the early show from 5-8pm - good times! part of me wishes that more bars would put some early show on for friday nights! we played 3 short sets, got out some covers we had been wanting to try out. even played this tune --

yea - we did that. kind of made me a little nostalgic for back in the Prescription America days. We played a great gig in Northampton one night and used that song as intro music. i miss that band sometimes - we had a long string of memories!

well folks - that was my week in a nut shell. please, if you could take a moment and see if you're available for the benefit show - it'd mean the world to all of us if you were there. all the details, as well as online ticket sales are at the link below. Thank you!

 http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/168830

watching "Whitest Kids U Know" for the first time in AGES!!!

also - working on planning the Disaster Relief Benefit Blues Bash.

i am so stoked to be doing this! so far the tokyo tramps are confirmed, along with wildcat o'halloran. i've been running into a lot of bands already having bookings for that date - as expected with the short notice of this benefit. i have a few other irons in the fire - just waiting on hearing back so i can get the final lineup together.

i also need to get a batch of tickets together for pre-sale.

i have also been talking with Yukiko Fujii from the Tokyo Tramps about how to handle the donation aspect of the event. i'd like to have some representation from the charity present to collect additional donations.

this show is going to be a lot of fun - but there is a reason behind it.

here's a video - enjoy!!!