Come Out Tonight to Listen and Maybe Join in

Dear Yellow-sofateers,

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.

Listen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1II2nPmBZJk

and follow here:

Respect Yourself/  Staple Singers

B

If you disrespect anybody that you run in to

How in the world do you think anybody's s'posed to respect you

If you don't give a heck 'bout the man with the bible in his hand . . . (y’all)

Just get out the way, and let the gentleman do his thing

You the kind of gentleman that want everything your way

Take the sheet off your face, boy, it's a brand new day

Chorus:

B               D B               D

Respect yourself, respect yourself

Respect yourself, respect yourself

F#

If you don't respect yourself

Ain't nobody gonna give a good cahoot, na na na na

B               D B               D

Respect yourself, respect yourself

Respect yourself, respect yourself

Dada dad a dad a   Wa wa

Everybody  

Dad a dad a doo wha wha       Hit de de de de

If you're walking 'round think'n that the world owes you something cause you’re here

You're here you goin' out the world backwards like you did when you first come here

Keep talkin’ bout the President won’t stop Air Pollution

Put your hand on your mouth when you cough, that'll help the solution

Oh, you cuss around women and you don't even know their names

and you Dumb enough to think that'll make you a big ol man

Chorus

B               D B               D

Respect yourself, respect yourself

You oughta, yououghta Respect yourself,respect yourself etc.

Hope to hear you there,

Michael Silverstone

When the Ship Comes in

Hi Yellow Sofa-teers,

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:  G  D11? (x54030)  C  Em  C/B  D/A  D

G                           D11         C           G 

Oh the time will come up when the winds will stop

        Em          C             G

And the breeze will cease to be a-breathin

         G                D11             C           G          

Like the stillness in the wind before the hurricane begins,

       G           D          G

 The hour that the ship comes in

        D11       C            G 

And the sea will split and the ships will hit

         D11           C                G

 And the sands on the shoreline will be shaking

       D11                      C          G                  

And the tide will sound and the waves will pound

         G      C    C/B   D/A  G

 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

That the whole wide world is watchin'

DylanPalooza!

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:

CRSMediaTech@gmail.com
Facebook.com/CRSMediaTech

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.

http://songwritingandstufflikethat.blogspot.com/2011/07/aint-summer-great.html 

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 

and have some lyrics sheets.

The Yellow Sofa Cafe in Northampton to Host the Saturday Night 70th Birthday Year Open Mic DylanPalooza This Weekend

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.



                             

Heating Up--Tonight's End of Night Song "Everything is Broken"

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.

This Thursday June 9th

Dear Yellow Sofa-terians;
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.