All of us here at Yellow Sofa Open Mic blog. . . (Excuse me, my dog hears something, I'll be right back). . . want to wish you a very happy, prosperous, and most of all, especially for you Mayan prophecy scholars, a somewhat routine 2012 calendar year.
Though we may not be out of the woods of surrealistic novelty yet, things seem to be lining up felicitously, and at least the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza is now significantly less likely to be assuming the presidency and having "The Power of One" theme from movie Pokemon 2 performed at the inauguration by Yo-Yo Ma, so that's progress right there.
Reflecting on the year about to end, we recall some of the many moments of skill and talent and human realness in music and spoken word. And it can't be said enough how many of us feel ongoing gratitude to the Sofa's proprietor Gabriel Moushabeck for his commitment to offering a community space for emerging performers, to Hannah who oversees programming, to songwriter Scott Cadwallader who is the Cal Ripken/Lou Gehrig of Open Mic that keeps the flame and the mic stands deployed, and to everyone who brings their A-game and an open heart to their performances and to the way they listen and support everyone.
It would be great to see you there tonight, sign-ups are at 6:30.
Tomorrow night, Friday, New Year's Eve-Eve dont miss!:
6:30
Mr. Silverstone and the Velveteen Overpass
4 person rock combo
They will play in its entirety their new 15 song album of all original, surprisingly good songs.
For more information check this link:
It is with a sense of our gravest solmenity that the Yellow Sofa Open Mic announces the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il.
He is rumored to have really liked Hennesey Cognac and at one time spent like $400,000 on it, if you can believe that. He also owned 20,000 DVDs and among his very favorite films were "Friday the 13th", "Rambo" and anything that Elizabeth Taylor ever starred in.
Along with the North Korean State media, the Yellow Sofa community marks this time of loss by looking to the the ascension of his worthy, foreign-educated designated heir, youngest son Kim Jong-un, who is being called the "Great Successor" and are reassured by the continuity of leadership as Kim Jong-Il's long deceased father, Kim Il-sung, remains technically still in charge of North Korea
Bonus quiz: Write a short essay explaining how in comparison to events on the North Korean penninsula, the affairs of state and government are far more stable and advanced here in the United States.
If you were to believe the late and brilliant and Terrence McKenna, (look up his name on the subject of Time Wave Zero and Transendental Object at the End of Time) the the talismans of multiple cultures suggest strongly the elves at the end of time should be at this moment in feverish preparation for for the mother of all Y 2 Ks on 12/31/12.
It could be paradise where everyone gets a pony. It could be something more like this:
The proprietors of the Yellow Sofa Cafe have asked me to remind you, sir, that this evening they will be presenting their usual Thursday night program of top shelf amateur musical entertainment by guest performers.
I would hardly call it amateur, James, though that may be technically true.
Sorry sir, poor choice of words. Your discernment in these matters is certainly right as usual, and superior to mine, if I may say.
Please, James, spare a little of that. What time does it begin?
The usual time, sir, 7 with sign-ups beginning at 6:30. I've also taken the liberty to post some photographs from last week. Here they are. . .
Did you ask the performers in advance if you could do this?
No, sir, but since they were performing in a public space, I merely assumed--
You assumed James?
I truly regret the error, sir. I intended only to represent the flavor of the evening and honor the excellence of these particular performers and composers. If you think I should remove them, sir, I most certainly will, and immediately.
No need, James. No need. Little point now. What's done is done.
As you think best, sir. I only hope you can forgive this well intentioned mistake. Should we prepare for you to be there tonight?
We'll have to see. Christmas shopping and all. Change the strings, though, just in case.
Bronze wound D'Addario mediums, sir?
Whatever's on the guitar now, James.
Excellent, sir. . .
And to you all, if I may, many of us hope to see large numbers of you tonight at the Yellow Sofa, in support of a worthy establishment, that serves the public good and offers good food, warm beverage and good company.
Also please bear in mind the big Eve of New Year's Eve (Friday, December 30 6:30) show by Mr. Silverstone and the Silvertone Horns in what will not doubt prove to be their very last performance of 2011, though something else may come up on the Saturday following. Many believe this local Northampton music combo features some of the best original songwriting this of side the halcyon days of 1970s FM radio. Should you want to hear what the fuss is about, you are more than welcome to try this link, I'm sure:
Tonight musicians, poets, singers, and songwriters will gather at the Yellow Sofa and take the stage for the purpose of dramatizing the importance of restoring a legislative and regulatory firewall between the ownership of financial institutions and speculative investment, as recent events roiling the European bond markets have so vividly illustrated this week.
With original songs, instrumental performance, poetry and stand up comedy, an array of dazzilingly talented and intelligent performers will do their utmost to make a compelling case for financial reform.
to see and hear more about the upcoming Mr. Silverstone and the Silvertone Horns Concert on the Big 2012 New Year's Eve Eve Mayan Calendar Closeout Show
For too long have the .000000001 percent corporate-sponsored musicians maintained a stranglehold on the megaphone of musical consciousness in this country.
What gigantic thumb on the scales of popular taste accounts for Foreigner's "Double Vision" being played on thousands of trips into Trader Joe's and in the airport news stands where $4.00 bottles of water are sold. I don't mean to single out "Double Vision"--which is a well recorded and composed song. To be honest, after I goofily pretended to boogie out on it, as a joke to my shopping partner, I then found myself a scant few minutes later without mental filter, actually humming it, no more reflectively than a parrot (or leg humping dog) might do. . .
"Ooh, when it gets through to me/
it's always new to me/
My double vision always seems to get the best of me,
the best of me". . .
It is time that we stopped regarding the infinitely echoing soundtrack of competently produced banality as music. It is actually as a kind of vaccination against anyone either caring about music, or trying to make it themselves. Why do Selena Gomez and Foghat get all the fun, while the souls of billions of people at a time of epochal change must die with the music locked within them? Just asking?
We are the 99.99999999 per cent. . .
We are the 99.99999999 per cent. . .
As Mario Savio might have said.
"There's a time when the operation of the mass-media dominated music becomes so odious that you've got to put your fingers on the power buttons, upon the faders, upon the sliders upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless music is free, the machine will be prevented from working at all." That time is tonight.
Come to the Sofa tonight. Listen to real humans like those pictured below, articulating sounds as only doomed, big- brained primates can.
Be one of the people bearing witness to the sublime and ingenious and touching sonic invention and expression that redeems the human experiment to the angels. Be one of these people. Support the Sofa, one of the rare public spaces where it can happen. Make your own music, and listen to music. The whole world is watching. . .(--television, and that's part of the problem). Occupy the space in you and in all of us that isn't!
--A message brought to you by Thursday's Open Mic host,
an unpaid person using the internets
Tomorrow is Armistice Day--the anniversary of the end of World War I--an event which led people to see criminality and barbarism of elective war as a dead end (and sparked the beginning of the American Public Relations Industry, in order to reverse such common sense in the mass media). If you study or work in a school or work in a government office, chances are you don't go in on Friday. Consider staying out late tonight to celebrate the progress of humanity towards a better world.
Could coming to a cafe for a gathering of live performers bring about world peace? Consider: When a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazon, so the theory goes, a hurricane forms somewhere eventually.
The Law of Unforseen Consequences isn't just a good idea--it's the Law.
Example: Unseasonably warm weather preserves foliage on trees late into October.
Then, an early, but heavy, snow in the Northeast
weights the leaves and branches,
which causes limbs and trees to sag and break and fall on powerlines,
which causes more than two million people to be without electric power
giving a lot of song writers extra time in unheated homes to write a bounteous crop of new
songs on acoustic instruments
many which get played at the November 3rd Open Mic:
Noah Schmitt (cello) and Rob Douglas (guitar) play Noah's song "Dish After Dish". An insanely catchy tune written from the perspective of a brilliant rock cellist/dishwasher. Rob later debuted two new songs himself, including "To Think That There is Always Hope," a highlight of the evening which he performed in a characteristically humbly-humorous way, (nearly, but not ultimately) obscuring its (and his) fabulousness.
Felix Harvey plays "Sorry, I Missed the Bus," a song of his so finely made, that once heard, it is that is hard to imagine that there was a time before it existed.
Electric (even during power outages) and talented Laura Titrud, who would headline at the Sofa the next night, unveils a newly-written song, last Thursday.
Your correspondent, and bassist Rob Douglas play a new song Thursday night.
It is tonight beginning at 7:07 p.m.
It is for anyone who wants 10 minutes on a stage with an appreciative audience.
It ends up being a performing community, but just because people come here a lot, and like what they hear and like each other, but if you like that sort of thing, all you have to do to be part of it, is be there.
It is a place of tremendous possibility that the, with performers and musicians and talkers and stand ups and poets and bands show up in a one of the highest creative talent areas in the northeast, and regularly surprise and amaze those who are there.
Sometimes bands who are going to play at the Iron Horse come in to do a live practice (that has happened more than once).
Sometimes people who have never gotten on stage come up and delight everyone (that has happened a lot.)
It is a place to hang out.
There is middle eastern-style food felafel, babaganosh, soups and more, as well as coffee, and more.
Don't let television win. Come out and take part in live performance. It needs human power.
Lately we've been joined by some fabulously talented new regulars, such as stand-up comics (Chance, Corey Dimmer) and new singer songwriters (including Brian Stokes, Jackie and more). It has been really great just to be surprised and delighted by the scene developing at the Sofa--in the middle of the summer, no less, which in previous years has tended to be like a month for Oysters without an "R" in it.
Hope you can come out tonight. The Christophers (Goudreau and Griffin) will lead the end-of-night-singalong and have selected a Neil Young jam song beloved by generations of teen aged guitarists for its fabulous intimations of rock and roll glory, for its unchallenged ease in soloing and for its rarely-questioned, questionable lyrics: "Down By the River (I shot my baby)" from the indispensable 1969 Crazy Horse Album "Everybody Knows this is Nowhere."
Also hope to see many of you at the Michael Silverstone and the Foregone Conclusions show at the Sofa this Saturday Night, Aug 6 @ 8:00. More information at:
The more we do this thing at the Yellow Sofa, by the grace of its management, the more I realize how and valuable it is. What do I mean by "this thing?"
Last night, in search of another open mic to play music, I went to a place, where there were comedians telling jokes. I thought, "Oh good, I like comedy." After a violence against women joke followed by a swearing at a heckler joke, followed by three self-degridation jokes, I decided to leave and go listen to sports radio for some higher consciousness and uplift--and found it in a discussion of why J.D. Drew was currently worthless to the Red Sox and should be replaced with this guy named Riddick who has excellent stats in limited at bats. It felt like listening to Mozart. But I'm someone who thinks Margaret Cho, Bill Hicks, Dave Chapelle, and Sarah Silverman are geniuses on the Alice Walker level.
We may suspect what a wasteland our commercial culture can be, but I did not realize what brutally barren stretches the local public culture contains--and how rare when there is a place where there with is a sense of "beloved community". This term was originally applied to the non-violence based-Civil Rights followers of Dr. King, but in a more general sense, for me, it applies to wherever feelings of inclusion and affection allow people to feel seen as themselves in a community trying to achieve something together that includes taking care of all of the people it comes in contact with.
There is something we are trying to achieve, I can see. It is to make a place where someone can come in and get listened to and where we can practice listening and being open to performers. What happens is that there is a high level of audiencing being practiced. In this field of trust and appreciation, people boldly bring or discover their A-game. The feeling of encouragement and acceptance become self-sustaining. Excellence is common, and excellence takes many forms, including direct expression of what is genuinely true for the person on stage. How rare to see people in their truth, offering what matters to them, and calling out more of this in one another.
Performers from the Open Mic have begun to do feature shows on Friday and Saturday night, that draw crowds of new listeners and a core of people from Thursday nights. How cool is that?
Last week I had one of these shows, and because my regular band was out of town, I took an idea from Christa and Jeremy and invited people from Thursday nights to join me for a cover song we both liked. Here are a few of those: Christopher Goudreau ("Eight Days a Week"/Lennon-McCartney), Christa Joy ("Love Hurts"/Bryant), Jeremy Anderson ("Time"/T.Waits), and Chris Griffin ("Pony Ride"/Silverstone)
Tonight's end of night song will be "Respect Yourself" by the Staple Singers.
Beautiful day in summer. We notice this summer phenomenon. Summer open mics tend to start slow, then like moths, people come indoors seeking light once the sun has gone down. If you have been considering getting up to play but would like a more casual kind of scene, aim for early this evening. We always seem to run out of time before we run out of players, but its a different scene at 6:30.
It's too nice a day to write too long an essay here, but two items.
Tonight's end of night song is "When the Ship Comes in" (Dylan--we're still in post DylanPalooza mode. Too many great songs to just quit on him.) Lyrics and chords to be made available tonight on site, but here they are below.
Also, this Saturday 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. at the Sofa will be my summer replacement band Michael Silverstone and The Foregone Conclusions and the show will feature a number of Sofa friends such as Dave Franklin, Christa Joy, Jeremy Anderson, Chistopher Goudreau, and more, doing cover songs that we love the best.
Hope to see you tonight,
Michael
When the Ship Comes In Bob Dylan
Chords: GD11? (x54030) CEmC/BD/AD
GD11CG
Oh the time will come up when the winds will stop
EmCG
And the breeze will cease to be a-breathin
GD11CG
Like the stillness in the wind before the hurricane begins,
GDG
The hour that the ship comes in
D11CG
And the sea will split and the ships will hit
D11CG
And the sands on the shoreline will be shaking
D11CG
And the tide will sound and the waves will pound
GCC/BD/AG
And the morning will be a-breaking
Oh the fishes will laugh as they swim out of the path
And the seagulls will be a-smilin'
And the rocks on the sand will proudly stand
The hour that the ship comes in
And the words that are used for to get the ship confused
Will not be understood as they're spoken
Oh the chains of the sea will have busted in the night
And be buried on the bottom of the ocean
A song will lift as the main sail shifts
And the boat drifts unto the shoreline
And the sun will respect every face on the deck
The hour that the ship comes in
And the sands will roll out a carpet of gold
For your wearied toes to be a-touchin'
And the ship's wise men will remind you once again
Wow, that was fun! Not only did the sponsors come up with great prizes that were given away by random drawing to four lucky people in the room, but there was really, really, great music.
Special thanks to Ashley our music program director and Barista-in-Chief for being so continually awesome, to Darcy for also being there on Saturday, and also to Gabriel Moushabeck, the Sofa's impressario who continually pursues the special mission of running conscious and community-centered local business. And speaking of which, additional thanks to Turn it Up! CD's and More for donating a $25 gift certificate, to Downtown Sounds for contributing a $25 gift certificate for musical equipment, to Booklink Booksellers (the Yellow Sofa's favorite independent Northampton Bookseller) for donating a great Dylan photography book, and to recording master Jim Matus at Old Schoolhouse Recording Studio for his generous donation of the grand prize 3 hours of recording time (to the equally lucky and deserving Christopher Griffin!)
Newcomers Denny Wolfe, Tom Neal (on Ukelele), Jake Bernaz, Chris Shanahan, and many familiar Yellow Sofa potatoes like Fongster 100, Chris Griffin, Cristopher Goudreau, Jeremy Anderson, and David Waldfogel, did Dylan's material proud, although Bob would have said, "Just because you like my songs doesn't mean I owe you anything, man."
Maybe he's got his own point, but a lot of us owe a debt to Dylan for being a 300-year genius in a one-year culture, making it possible for us to think of music and our times in ways much more rich than a lot of us would have ever considered on our own--but now can. Just to keep this from getting too effusive, there was a really creepy but brilliant fictional characature of Dylan at age 70 in Miami Beach with a bunch of guys by the pool made by the baby boomer show-business id/kitch artist Drew Friedman (a personal favorite of mine, but then I also like to heat unbearable hot peppers and used to eat lemons when I was a kid) that we considered, but rejected using for the poster for this event.
If you performed and would like a lasting memory of your performance, filmmaker Curtis Simpson captured it on high quality digital, and can get you a copy of your performance for a reasonable fee. You can get ore details by contacting him directly at:
I (Michael) am playing here at the Sofa on July 16th without the Silvertone Horns. I'm two-timing them (while they travel to the Cape and the Colorado mountains and such with my other band, Michael Silverstone and the Foregone Conclusions. I want to take a page from our friend Christa Joy's book. Like her I want to invite musical friends from the Sofa to share the night so the concept is this, let me know if you're willing to play a cover song we both think is great, you can also do one of your own on your own or with my help if you want. Let me know by emailing at yellowsofa@gmail.com
For those of you that would have actually come out just for a Mr. Silverstone and the Silvertone Horns concert (and doG love you for that) you might enjoy peeking at my blog:
Songwriting and Stuff Like That: Ongoing documentation of an artist's various unauthorized do-it-himself pop music-making explorations, in the era of the collapse of musical imperialsism.
Tonight's End of the Night Jam is another Three Chord Special, a sweet and cool classic blues structured song by Tracy Chapman called: Give Me Just One Good Reason
Doesn't that sound delicious?
Don't forget how great she is, in case you ever do for a second.
We need someone to sing verses tonight. Study up, and I'll try
Continuing the celebration for Bob Dylan's 70th birthday, the Pioneer Valley Dylan and Dylan impersonation communities will converge on Northampton's storied Yellow Sofa Cafe on Saturday, July 2nd beginning at 6:30 p.m. for DylanPalooza--a 4 hour marathon open mic consisting exclusively of performances drawn from Dylan's back catalog of over 500 songs.
Communal Dylan jamming at the Yellow Sofa Cafe
earlier this Spring. "Million Miles" from "Time Out of Mind"
"I mean, you're talking to a person that feels like he's walking around in the ruins of Pompeii all the time. It's always been that way for one reason or another."
— Bob Dylan
"I say, any figure in popular music this well-known that has even heard of Pompeii deserves to be celebrated just for that." —Rob Douglas, Yellow Sofa performer
The idea originated asYellow Sofa owner Gabriel Moushabeck was savoring the success and communal euphoria of the Sofa's annual April "Beatles Night" hosted by local musician and writer Dave Stern and decided to have another tribute night later in the year.
DylanPalooza participants are invited to pre-select two songs to perform from the vast Dylan catalog. In order to minimize transition time, and cut down on equipment clutter, drums, bass and keyboards and guitars lent. Musicians are encouraged to leave their things at home and use the instruments, harmonica holders, sunglasses and broad brimmed hats provided.
The evening will be hosted by veteran Yellow Sofa Thursday night Open Mic organizer Michael Silverstone who promises an evening of surprise guests along with Yellow Sofa Open Mic regulars, such as Scott Cadwallader, Dave Franklin, Jordan Franklin, Christopher Giffin, Laura Titrud, Christa Joy, and Jeremy Henderson. Says Silverstone, "This event is for everyone, from people who have never been on a stage to people who have been doing it for years. The thing I love about the Sofa is that its audience listens and gives attention to the performer. There are some amazingly talented people who come out to Open Mic, but they also have a talent for bringing the best out of whoever plays."
Prizes will be awarded in the categories of best Protest Era Song Performance; Best Born Again-Era Rendition; Best Appropriated Blues Structure Song Performance; and Most Accurately Memorized Song With More than Seven Verses.
To participate, sign up for up to two songs, either by e-mailing yellowsofa@gmail.com or calling the Yellow Sofa Cafe at 413 585-5877 @ 24 Main Street, Northampton. More information is available at http://yellowsofaopenmic.blogspot.com
"Kid, don't worry about writing songs; work on your singing."--Woody Guthrie's early advice to the young Bob Dylan.
With uncanny appropriateness, given the tropical stormy weather and Christopher Goudreau's birthday night, we ended a memorable night of music with an extend jam on "Born on the Bayou" with Christopher burning it up with a harmonica solo.
Other highlights (not to say the only ones) included the father, son and son performances by Mark, Jordan and Dave Franklin; the sweet and gorgeous round sung by 2nd Grader Khalila and her family; to say nothing of the amazing spontaneous Happy Birthday choral tribute to Mr. Goudreau on his 20th.
Special thanks to Christopher Griffin for his donation of a magic carpet to the Sofa stage.
There are regularly so many fine and versatile musicians present, that we're going to try an experiment tonight called the Yellow Page, where we will post the names and skills of people who would be willing to collaborate or back you up if you want harmony, percussion, lead instrument, kazoo, or other musical support. Consider what you might want, and if you bring a lead sheet with you, you might just find a way to get exactly what you want, or at least what you need.
Hope you can join us tonight. The end of the night song, a favorite Dylan song of Fongster 100's is, "Everything is Broken" another blues in E7.
On Saturday, July 2nd the Yellow Sofa will be holding its first annual DylanPalooza All-Bob Dylan song open mic. All Dylan, no repeats, don't bring guitar, bass, keyboard or amps, there will be ones set up there already. To play, choose up to two songs, and let us know here at yellowsofa@gmail.com what they are. We'll post them on this blog so you can see what's already been taken, and we'll let you know that we got your request.
Live music in Northampton can always use your support, enlist a friend to come with you tonight and tell them to frequent the Sofa so we can help keep it stuffed.
Tonight's weekly Open Mic (sign up at 6:30, first performer begins at 7:05) will end with a jam song that anybody and everybody is invited to take part in. "Born on the Bayou" by John Fogarty/Creedence Clearwater Revival. For reference, and for fun, here's some video footage (micronage?) of last week's jam on "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". Special thanks to Chris Griffin, Laura Titrud, Rob Douglas, Scott Cadwalader, Ryan Franklin, Dave Franklin, and Joe Ihopeididntleaveanyoneout on Drums.
Here's a message for musicians and other performers from Lena Amick who has performed at the Sofa in the past.
"Hi (she says), I'm helping Carla Racine, of the Easthampton Outdoor Market, to organize a benefit concert to raise money for tornado victims in the valley. It will be a festival of music, local food vendors, and raffle tickets, with an admittance fee and many chances to donate. Right now, we're just beginning to plan things, but we know it will be all day on June 25th and 26th (Saturday and Sunday) at the site of the Outdoor Market (off Route 10 in Easthampton). We're looking for bands and musicians to play one or both of those days? Could you pass on this message or just give me some contacts of people who also might be interested in playing? think it will be a lot of fun and a great thing for the community.
For more information: contact Lena Amick lamick@oberlin.edu
Finally, save the date of July 2nd 7-11 p.m. for the 1st Annual DylanPalooza all night/all Dylan open mic. In the tradition of the great annual Yellow Sofa Beatles Night hosted by Dave Stern, instruments bass, drums, guitars, keyboards will be provided and set up on stage for quick access, so you don't have to bring your own. In fact, we hope you don't, so people don't have to climb over 50 guitar cases to get to the bathroom. The format is that you and whatever musical friends you choose (and there will be lots you can choose from right there) can play up to 2 songs. There will be no repeats. Send your claim on up to two songs to yellowsofa@gmail.com with the heading "DylanPalooza" and we'll confirm with you as soon as we can, to let you know if it wasn't already taken. You can also check the list at the bottom of this blog which we'll keep updated.
