May 31, 2010 - The "Sauna" Jam (part deux)

Hi everyone:

Well, I just got done wringing out my shirt from last night's jam - which seemed vaguely familiar to a similar situation last summer (see "The Sauna Jam").

It's the first time that I've ever had to put my instruments back in their cases with a de-humidifier! 

Because of the Memorial Day holiday, things were a little more relaxed than usual - Karen brought some of her family down for the fun - and Steve sold a few more Sprites than he normally would on a jam night.

Her son Rex (who I call "T-Rex", because of his love of the Natural History Museum) put on a pretty good show dancing and just being plain curious. Don't feel bad staring, Rex - nobody else knows what that thing that Howard plays is either! (And it IS about your size...)

He seemed a little perplexed about the dobro as well - why play a guitar on it's side? Hey Rex, now if I played it upside down - that would be weird! (Although some might argue that it would sound better - right Tony?)

Howard did manage to put down his toy for a minute and revive an early Bob Dylan's "Let Me Die In My Footsteps" - a highlight for me:  "...And some people thinkin' that the end is close by, 'stead of learnin' to live, they are learning to die."

Craig continued to impress throughout the night, with Loudons' "Dead Skunk" and a Yonder Mountain String Band song - now, if he would only become an A/C technician, as well as a sound guy - he would really kick!


Steve took a break from his favorite - "June Apple" - to lead Steve Earle's "Mercenary Song" on mando, just to show his diversity.

After co-host AJ's first half of the evening, which heavily featured "Beyond" songs - "Running Down A Dream", "So Far Away", "One After 9-0-9", "Hey Joe", "Goodbye Heart" and "Midnight Rider" to name a few - co-host Bill took over vowing to play fiddle tunes and banjo instrumentals with John, Kim and Mike until the A/C started working again...

Appropriately enough, our own Big Man - Mr. T - led it off with "Big Mon" - followed in short order by "Bill Cheatum", "Newton Grove"  and "Red Haired Boy" - at which point, I passed out from the heat! (I did have a dream about a uke solo on "Cherokee Shuffle" - nah, it couldn't happen...)

When I revived, Bill was leading "Jumpin' Jack Flash" - the heat must've gotten to him finally as well. 

Lynn continued her quest to lead famous Alison Krauss classics - this time "Steel Rails" - and rather successfully at that.

Finally, the holiday brought out an old friend Gerald - who lead a song for the first time - Townes" "Ballad Of Pancho And Lefty" - and left us all wondering why this was the first time? If I could lead like that, I wouldn't have AJ and Bill doing all the work at these jams. He probably can blog better than me as well.

See you next Monday, and Craig, night school classes start on Wednesday!

Bluegrass & Beyond NYC @ LaGuardia Corner Gardens, Greenwich Village for Make Music 2010

Bill, Sarah, Dave and AJ at the LaGuardia Corner Gardens - Make Music NY 2009

AJ Bender, Dave Comins, Sarah Galloway and Bill Giles will be performing as Bluegrass & Beyond NYC as part of Make Music NY 2010.

LaGuardia Corner Gardens, Greenwich Village, Make Music NY 2009

We'll be performing again this year at one of our favorite outdoor venues - the LaGuardia Corner Gardens - right in the heart of Greenwich Village.

Here's the info:

Sunday, June 20th, 2010 between 5:30 and 7:00pm 

at

LaGuardia Corner Gardens  - between Bleecker and Houston St. (much closer to Bleecker).


It's a free event!

LaGuardia Corner Gardens, 2009

We'll be playing an acoustic set - mostly non-bluegrass numbers - for an hour and a half.

Hope you can make it!

AJ Bender, Dave Comins, Sarah Galloway and Bill Giles

Bluegrass & Beyond NYC 

Below are some shots of us playing at Make Music 2008 on the Upper West Side at the 2nd Presbyterian Church as part of the NY Pinewoods Folk Music Club :

The May 17, 2010 Jam

Hi All:

This week's jam seemed like a Thursday night in NYC during the summer - we caught everybody still in town, but getting ready to come or go!

It took me a couple songs to realize that that was Leslie playing right next to me, leading "Mr Engineer" - she's back for the summer - and meaner than ever (on the mando, that is)!

It couldn't be Cinco de Mayo, she missed that (plus we all know that she celebrates that holiday in October) - it must be the upcoming 2nd Ave. Mountain Boys summer season...

Bassist Dan shocked everyone, except himself, by leading "Don't This Road Look Rough & Rocky" - and then announcing that he's outta here for the summer, along with Cynthia for better times in Asbury Park - thanking all of you jammers and promising to be back for Grey Fox and then at B & B in the fall.

Before leaving though, he invited a Princeton, N.J. bluegrasser (and beyonder, it turns out) up for a look at what we're doing. Bill (who mysteriously went by the name of Jim throughout the evening) proved his Bluegrass & Beyond mettle by leading both Hank William's "Jambalaya" and "Friend Of The Devil".

If you want to hear some good bluegrass & beyond (...like, maybe you're home sick one Monday night), check out his Riverside band's website, with the unambiguous url: www.BluegrassBand.com - check out their cool arrangements of "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" and "Cumberland Blues".

Kim continues to prove himself a great addition - this week exciting co-host Bill with Ricky Nelson's "Goodbye Heart" and an obscure Elvis song - which I'm sure Elvis doesn't even remember doing.

Bill immediately followed that up with his own Elvis - "Too Much"; and earlier, had led a rousing version of the Band's "Up On Cripple Creek", complete with some poor yokel's local yodelling!

Liz, getting ready for Grey Fox, I guess, pulled out Crooked Still's version of "Shady Grove" (who needs minor chords for a mountain song?).

Banjo Mike, after an early successful "John Henry", had the misfortune of leading "Newton Grove" during the Yankee's 9th inning heroics over the Red Sox - completely flummoxing me, at least (my break coming right after the walk-off homer). Note to self: don't get distracted during that song again!

Bob was back, leading Hank's "Lonesome Homesick Blues", Lester Flatt's "Why Don't You Tell Me So" - and comparing the loudness of his Martin with Princeton Jim's (darn, did it again... Bill's). Unfortunately for me, I was in between them at the time. I felt like Russell Crowe in "Master And Commander".

Speaking of Bob (one of my favorite targets, I know, but for all the right reasons): I don't get why he's always cracking up (along with my wife, or Karen, or anyone else he happens to be standing next to) whenever I'm singing or playing - it's like he's never heard a New Hampshire yodeler, "skinning the cat" on his dobro before, all the while telling a joke (usually about Bob - unless Scotty's there, too)!


(Poor Scottie, he's not even there this week and he still gets it...)

All right, so maybe my version of the Delmore Bros. "Weary Lonesome Blues" was a little over the top, but Carl Perkin's "Gone, Gone, Gone" was pretty good I thought - Sam Phillips would like it!

Sarah did a little B & B with Iris Dement's "I've That Old Time Religion In My Heart" and Merle's "Sing Me Back Home". 

Co-host A.J., after recovering at the bar from his early evening leadership role, came back to lead the Stone's "Sympathy For The Devil".

Soon after this, the "Mystery Woman" appeared (name unknown) to lead Kris Kristofferson's "Me And Bobby Magee" - pretty much sounding like Janis! (and bringing out the dart players from the back for a rare appearance). I hope you averted your eyes when she modulated in public - I know I did. She took a B & B card, so we may see her again, and catch her name...  

Non-Mystery Sound Man, Craig, followed that with the Dead's " Monkey And The Engineer".

By then, I was spent (my ears still ringing from the earlier Martin cannon broadsides) - so who knows what happened after midnight... Scottie had just arrived, Mike was coming back in...

SyFy's Ghost Hunters At Paddy Reilly's Stirs Up Our Poster Poltergeist Yet Again!

For those of you from another planet, SyFy's "Ghost Hunters" crew came to Paddy Reilly's just before St. Patrick's Day to investigate ghost sightings throughout the bar and building!


We could have told them something about it ourselves from our own two earlier incidents - the December 14th original poster visitation , and the January 4th second poster visitation.


Nonetheless, the results were broadcast on SyFy March 17, 2010 - and things haven't been the same since...


Here are the UTube links (part 1  and part 2) of SyFy Channels "Ghost Hunters" episode called "Shamrock Spirits".


Observant viewers will note, in part 1, that the Bluegrass & Beyond poster is visible, and clearly unaffected, at both 2:38 and 3:32 during the program.


Things stayed quiet for most of April, but on May 3rd, two new sightings were made on the official Bluegrass & Beyond poster.


Most of the jammers weren't scared, comforted by owner Steve's assurances on the program that, "If we did find any spirits at Paddy Reilly's, I can assure everybody that they're all very friendly spirits..."


I can't argue with you there Steve, it looks like a friendly ghost to me.


On the other hand, I have to disagree with Steve's comment that, "I don't know if it looks like Gene Hackman or not..."


Steve, it sure looks like Gene Hackman there, waving at us from above the dobro!


Oh well, you be the judges. Here's the evidence (fleeting as it is):

The April 19, 2010 Jam

Well, it appears that co-hosts Bill and A J kept the jam fires burning while I was gone, because last night's jam was "one of our absolute best" - according to no less of a source than our own co-host Banjo Bill.


Of course, someone less modest, less humble than myself MIGHT speculate that the awesome turn-out was for a fondly remembered returning host.


In any event, the bar had never been so full on a Monday night - apparently owner Steve's appearance on SyFy's "Ghost Hunters" series ("Shamrock Spirits") - has brought forth an cavalcade of spirit-chasing tourists from all over.


Wait until they discover the haunted Bluegrass & Beyond poster (now sporting a St. Patrick's Day hat-wearing Casper the Friendly Ghost - who mysteriously appeared right after the March 17th TV airing)!


Anyway, for whatever reason, everybody was there Monday night...

Even Tony, who I used to think came only to make great music, but who I caught red-handed copying down jokes to use at his own Sunday soiree (oddIy, I don't think he borrowed any of my Tony jokes... and those are the best ones).

Scott dipped back into his Elton John pool to do a beautiful "Love Song", and later, did a short classical set with Mike (the "Banjo Bach") that sounded an awful lot like Masterpiece Theatre (Mouret's Rondeau).

Paddy's sound man Craig (who someone kept calling Mike, or was it "Mic"?) openly pandered to yours truly by doing Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" - and later got Scotty (and all the rest of us) excited about Louden Wainright's "Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road". Funny, I didn't think Scott had a car - and where would you even find a skunk in NYC?

Bob took a while to warm up (I didn't want to tell him that the fireplace that he was standing next to was a fake!) - but when he did, watch out - "Take This Hammer" was just the beginning.

Some of the other regulars did their part as well - Karen led "Handsome Molly" and Jon did a couple of good ones - The Dillards "Old Home Place" and "Eight More Miles To Louisville". It was fun listening to Jon explaining to Scott that: "No, it wasn't his Grandpa who wrote it..." (Grandpa Jones, Scotty).

Dan (with Cynthia in support) did a great tag team bass job with Vinny, who showed up just minutes after Dan's departure. I'm not sure that they missed a beat - although they certainly missed each other!

Chris showed off his dobro playing (he's getting serious), and Liz just plain showed off - leading a fiddle tune (on fiddle) after playing for only two months. She can add this to her flat-picking guitar, clawhammer and Scruggs style banjo, mandolin and, apparently, piano playing. Did I miss anything Liz?

Mark re-appeared and led two songs - who ever said that he was shy about singing?

Newbie Kim proved that he understood the B & B concept by knocking off the Stanley Brothers "Midnight Train" and a couple of Beatles songs.

Steve and Scott #2 (big shoes to fill with a name like that at our jam) both contributed with traditional songs "Swing Slow Sweet Chariot" and "Nine Pound Hammer".

And lastly, you all know that I don't like to brag - being a quiet, unassuming, retiring "legend in my own mind" - but co-host Bill and I kicked butt last night.

Bill led "Drive My Car". "All Shook Up" and a seemingly 10-minute version (with Scott and Sarah's help) of the Allman Bros. "Midnight Rider" - fast, slow, medium and back again - it was like being in the United Palace Theatre.

My meager contribution to the evening was Sam The Sham's "Wooly Bully" on banjo - afforded a rare Paddy's encore later in the evening - including an energetic young dancing patron (no, not Tony...) - I thought I was on "Shindig"!

It's gonna be hard to top, but we'll try again in two weeks,

Dave Comins

www.bluegrassandbeyondnyc.com