Thursday, February 26, 2015

"SINGER/SONGWRITERS IN THE SIDE ROOM" PRESENTS LESLIE LEE, STEVE GRETZ, AND PERRY CLEAVELAND

Hi,

This blog started out giving you posts of the songwriter’s notes, lyrics, and music for my original songs. As with many things, it has gone in new directions. So, if you just started reading my post and are interested in my original material, here is a link to "Sometimes You’ve Got To Do What You Can," one of my original songs. You can read about the song’s history, review the lyrics, and listen to the song. If you want to add the song to your playlist, you can download it at Amazon or iTunes.

On Thursday, 3/5, Leslie Lee, Steve Gretz, and Perry Cleaveland will be our performers in the “Side room” at Buffalo Bill’s. This engaging trio has done several shows in the “Side Room,” and they always give us a great performance. If you don’t know them, Here’s some info I snatched from the web. Hope it entices you to come to the show!

“Leslie was born in southern California and grew up in the Kansas City, Missouri area. She earned a BFA in Commercial Art from the University of Central Missouri. Although relatively new to the world of folk music, Leslie has been surrounded by music since childhood. Her dad always kept a guitar around, and when he wasn't teaching her how to play a slide version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb", he picked out tunes by Hank Williams and Johnny Cash, among others.

Leslie's introduction to folk music came when she created the artwork for Steve's first CD, Waiting for the Sun. (She went on to design the packaging for all their CDs, as well as artwork for other musicians on display at Leslie Lee Graphic Design.) She was a volunteer at The Mozaic Room from its opening in 1996 when her first duty was to design and print out tickets for each show and send them to Steve via snail mail. In 2000, she started singing out loud in front of people as a member of the Avon Baptist Church choir. In 2003, she stood behind the microphone for the first time to record the vocal tracks for Steve and Leslie's debut album, Recovered.

Steve was born and raised in the Finger Lakes region of New York. He moved to Germany with his parents as a teenager, then returned to the US to complete his schooling. He graduated from Stanford University in 1979 and Princeton Theological School in 1986, where he once accidentally shot Brooke Shields with a rubber band. An ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches USA (they are the Baptists who will still talk to you even if you disagree with them!), he currently serves as pastor of the Greece Baptist Church.

He has been involved with music most of his life from childhood lessons (piano and trombone), through years of singing with choral groups, to his midlife debut in folk music. In the mid-90s, Steve performed as one half of the acoustic folk duo Arnold+Gretz, producing four CDs. One of Steve's songs, "My Dad Told Me", was selected as one of five finalists in the 2003 Boston Folk Festival songwriting contest. Another song, "Who Taught These Idiots to Drive?", was featured on NPR's Car Talk radio show and appeared on their compilation CD, Car Tunes Volume 2: Born Not to Run.

Perry Cleaveland is a SAMMY Award winning mandolinist who also adds lead and harmony vocals, fiddle, lead guitar and clawhammer banjo. Born in Louisville, Kentucky Perry emigrated to Syracuse, N.Y. and grew up in a household that hosted many bluegrass luminaries during his formative years. In his High School years, and continuing later, he began playing in a number of New York State Bluegrass bands including: Hard Times, Pleasant Valley, Bristol Mountain Bluegrass, Rosewood, John Rossbach & Chestnut Grove, The McCarthy Paisley Band, and Lost Time. He has performed for festivals, colleges, clubs, private parties, corporate events, arts centers, schools, town concerts, PBS/NPR affiliates: WCNY, & WXXI, and New York State Council on the Arts-sponsored events, including Arts in Education series’ under the auspices of Young Audiences of Rochester.
His innovative mandolin playing keeps him in demand as a recording session player throughout New York State having played on projects by many regional Bluegrass, Old Timey and Folk artists such as: Joe Davoli, Maria Gillard, John Cadley, Ted Lambert, John Stevens, Andrew and Noah Van Norstrand, Jim Clare, Northwater, The Atkinson Family, Lisa Bigwood, Rebecca Colleen & the Chore Lads, Meyer & McGuire Brian Coughlin, and those bands as previously listed. Perry recently shared a CD release with the Rochester's Impressario of 'Songwriters in the Round', Brian Coughlin, and, as well, is featured on a new project from Meyer & McGuire. He is currently working on a project of his own original melodies and musings.”

If you want a feel for the group’s sound, check out these videos:
Here is a video of the trio doing one of Leslie and Steve’s songs, “Immigrants.”
Here is a video of the trio doing one of Leslie’s songs, “’Til September.”
To learn more about Leslie and Steve, click here. Hope you can join us for the show!

The concert is free, but we do ask for donations to support our performers. Siobhan has created three CDs, one for each of our three seasons. Each CD contains songs of the performers who appeared during that season. The requested donation for each CD is $10, and the proceeds go to the performers who are playing on the night of the donation. The CDs have gotten good reviews, and we hope they get passed around to let others know about the great talent we have appearing at this venue.

The concerts take place on the first and third Thursdays of each month in the side room of Buffalo Bill’s Family Restaurant and Taproom (19 Main Street, Shortsville, NY). The show runs from 7 to 9 PM. To learn more about Buffalo Bill’s, check out their site right here:
Buffalo Bill’s Family Restaurant and Taproom

Maria Gillard, Perry Cleaveland, and Elaine Verstraete were our guests on February 19. To give you a feel of the setting of these concerts, here is a video of the trio doing one of Maria’s songs, "Wish I Could Find You."

If you would like to see videos of the other performers who have taken the stage at “Singer/Songwriters in the Side Room” concerts, check out this link:
Videos of Performers in the Side Room

Hope you can join us on Mar. 5!
All the best,

Siobhan and Frank

Upcoming Shows:

Brian Ayers, Mar. 19
Stid Hill Stompers (Jack Jones, Kendall Paul Wilt, and Fran Cary), Apr. 2
Lisa Bigwood, Apr. 16
Scott Regan, May 7
Paul Swiatek and Perry Cleaveland, May 21
Connie Deming, June 4
Jim Clare, Taylor Pie, and Perry Cleaveland, June 18
Bonnie Abrams and Allen Hopkins, July 16
Eddie Lee, August 6
Steve Piper, August 20
Mike Yacci, September 3
Joe LaMay and Sherri Reese, September 17
Tom Whitmore of Watkins and the Rapiers, October 1
Rick Hoyt and Cool Club, October 15
The Cadleys, November 5
John Dady, November 19
Kerry Regan of Watkins and the Rapiers, December 3
Gordon Munding, December 17
2016
Eva and the Dog Boys, January 21
Jeff Riales, February 4
The Maria Gillard Trio, February 18
Joe Dady and Perry Cleaveland, April 7

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

"SINGER/SONGWRITERS IN THE SIDE ROOM" PRESENTS THE MARIA GILLARD TRIO

Hi,

This blog started out giving you posts of the songwriter’s notes, lyrics, and music for my original songs. As with many things, it has gone in new directions. So, if you just started reading my post and are interested in my original material, here is a link to "Home Town," one of my original songs. You can read about the song’s history, review the lyrics, and listen to the song. If you want to add the song to your playlist, you can download it at Amazon or iTunes.

On Thursday, 2/19, Maria Gillard, Perry Cleaveland, and Elaine Verstraete will be our performers in the “Side room” at Buffalo Bill’s. This engaging trio has done several shows in the “Side Room,” and they always give us a great performance. If you don’t know them, Here’s some info I snatched from the web. Hope it entices you to come to the show!

“Maria Gillard is a talented singer, songwriter, and educator from the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. Best known as a folk musician, she has grown to embrace a wider style range including jazz, swing, and blues. She leads the Maria Gillard Band, a four-piece Rochester-based swing/jazz band. She is also revered in folk and bluegrass circles, often toting a mandolin and singing impeccable harmonies.
Her compelling voice draws you into her lyrics which, when combined with memorable melodies, head straight for the heart. Maria’s songs offer wise, humorous, and sometimes painful observations on life and relationships. She tells stories through her music in ways that are soul stirring, evocative, contagious, lively and energizing. When you listen to Maria’s songs, you feel her heartache and, more often, her joy and delight at life’s experience. She has a warm, inviting, natural flair, which leaves audiences wanting more and coming back!
As an educator, Maria received a bachelor’s degree in Music from SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music. She is a music instructor and directs a vocal jazz ensemble at Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua, New York. She has worked for the Aesthetic Education Institute as a teaching artist, given concerts and held workshops in schools and nursing homes for many years. She teaches private voice, piano and guitar lessons in her home and has toured as a folk musician throughout the northeast

Perry Cleaveland is a SAMMY Award winning mandolinist who also adds lead and harmony vocals, fiddle, lead guitar and clawhammer banjo. Born in Louisville, Kentucky Perry emigrated to Syracuse, N.Y. and grew up in a household that hosted many bluegrass luminaries during his formative years. In his High School years, and continuing later, he began playing in a number of New York State Bluegrass bands including: Hard Times, Pleasant Valley, Bristol Mountain Bluegrass, Rosewood, John Rossbach & Chestnut Grove, The McCarthy Paisley Band, and Lost Time. He has performed for festivals, colleges, clubs, private parties, corporate events, arts centers, schools, town concerts, PBS/NPR affiliates: WCNY, & WXXI, and New York State Council on the Arts-sponsored events, including Arts in Education series’ under the auspices of Young Audiences of Rochester.
His innovative mandolin playing keeps him in demand as a recording session player throughout New York State having played on projects by many regional Bluegrass, Old Timey and Folk artists such as: Joe Davoli, Maria Gillard, John Cadley, Ted Lambert, John Stevens, Andrew and Noah Van Norstrand, Jim Clare, Northwater, The Atkinson Family, Lisa Bigwood, Rebecca Colleen & the Chore Lads, Meyer & McGuire Brian Coughlin, and those bands as previously listed. Perry recently shared a CD release with the Rochester's Impressario of 'Songwriters in the Round', Brian Coughlin, and, as well, is featured on a new project from Meyer & McGuire. He is currently working on a project of his own original melodies and musings.

Elaine (Eva) Verstraete Bassist and lead/tenor vocalist is a fast study. Elaine is in real life a respected illustrator and university faculty member, who draws from a wide-ranging musical background. She has a restless desire to sing almost anything and has drawn heavily from her strong family musical history. Known for her photogenic Germanic face, her athletic figure, and survivalist instincts, she leads by example. Eva draws from a wonderful musical experience with Lisa Bigwood and The Washday Band and is currently a member of Eva and the Dog Boys and one half of regional recording artists , birds-on-a-wire, with her close friend, Brooke Pevear.”

If you want a feel for the group’s sound, check out these videos:
Here is a video of the trio doing one of Maria’s songs, “It Used To Be Darker.”
Here is a video of the trio doing one of Maria’s songs, “Steady Woman.”
To learn more about Maria Gillard, click here. Hope you can join us for the show!

The concert is free, but we do ask for donations to support our performers. Siobhan has created three CDs, one for each of our three seasons. Each CD contains songs of the performers who appeared during that season. The requested donation for each CD is $10, and the proceeds go to the performers who are playing on the night of the donation. The CDs have gotten good reviews, and we hope they get passed around to let others know about the great talent we have appearing at this venue.

The concerts take place on the first and third Thursdays of each month in the side room of Buffalo Bill’s Family Restaurant and Taproom (19 Main Street, Shortsville, NY). The show runs from 7 to 9 PM. To learn more about Buffalo Bill’s, check out their site right here:
Buffalo Bill’s Family Restaurant and Taproom

Jeff Riales and Mike Wittek were our guests on January 15. To give you a feel of the setting of these concerts, here is a video of Jeff and Mike doing one of Jeff’s songs, "Blow That Whistle Loud."

If you would like to see videos of the other performers who have taken the stage at “Singer/Songwriters in the Side Room” concerts, check out this link:
Videos of Performers in the Side Room

Hope you can join us on Feb. 19!
All the best,

Siobhan and Frank

Upcoming Shows:

Leslie Lee and Steve Gretz, Mar. 5
Brian Ayers, Mar. 19
Stid Hill Stompers (Jack Jones, Kendall Paul Wilt, and Fran Cary), Apr. 2
Lisa Bigwood, Apr. 16
Scott Regan, May 7
Paul Swiatek and Perry Cleaveland, May 21
Connie Deming, June 4
Jim Clare, Taylor Pie, and Perry Cleaveland, June 18
Bonnie Abrams and Allen Hopkins, July 16
Eddie Lee, August 6
Steve Piper, August 20
Mike Yacci, September 3
Joe LaMay and Sherri Reese, September 17
Tom Whitmore of Watkins and the Rapiers, October 1
Rick Hoyt and Cool Club, October 15
The Cadleys, November 5
John Dady, November 19
Kerry Regan of Watkins and the Rapiers, December 3
Gordon Munding, December 17
2016
Eva and the Dog Boys, January 21
Jeff Riales, February 4
Joe Dady and Perry Cleaveland, April 7