Monday, July 29, 2013

Off Stage With Meyer and McGuire

Hey Folks,

As always, hope you are all doing well! If you have some time for reading, viewing and listening, here's what I have for you this month.

We're back at it again regarding our "Back Porch Videos!" "Last Man Standing" is a ballad describing how an aging WWII veteran spends his days. The idea and details come from discussions I have had with my father over the past three years. During these talks, he has reminisced about various stages of his life. He has shared details about his growing up in Queens, NY, running away to join the Marine Corps, meeting my mother after WWII, bringing his family to Saugerties, NY, spending many memorable times with my mother and his life-time friends from Saugerties, and coping with being the last one left in his immediate circle of friends. This small group, composed of my mother, Dot and Phil Breithaupt, and Marge and Tom Tynan really knew how to enjoy life. My father often wonders how they are all doing, and he looks forward to catching up with them as soon as he can.

The song, a slow moving sensitive story, depicts an aging man listening to his old records while sitting in his easy chair. As he listens, each tune triggers his memory back to a special moment in his life. Here is a link to the song. As always, any suggestions or feedback will be greatly appreciated. Hope you enjoy it!

The "Singer/Songwriters in the Side Room" concerts at Buffalo Bill's in Shortsville, NY, continue to grow each month. The concerts are on the third Thursday of the month from 7 to 9 PM. In my last post, I played you a video of Jed Curren doing one of his songs, "My Name Is Peter Biss." In this post, we have a video of Rick Hoyt and Cool Club playing his song, "I Can't Be Any Better Than I Am." Rick, who describes his music style as a blend of jump jazz blues with a mixture of boogie woogie swing, ignites the room with help from Tom McClure and Oscar Yuan. The musicianship in this piece is simply fantastic. Here is the video. Hope you enjoy it, and I hope it encourages you to check out this venue. We have some great songwriters in this area, and if you like original music, you owe it to yourself to experience some of these artists. Stay tuned for more videos of other songwriters we have showcased.

Since I am on the topic of the songwriters' series, I want to thank Shawn Middlebrook and some of the members of Misfit Karma for the great show they did for us in July. Shawn and his band are a well-known acoustic folk rock jam band in the Finger Lakes Region, and it was great to see him in an intimate setting sharing his original music. On August 15, we are having Pat Maloney return to the side room for another show. Along with being one of the finest songwriters from this region, Pat is a very entertaining story teller. Here is Pat doing "Good Night Irene Again" at a show he did for us in March of 2012. You can learn more about Pat right here! Hope you can join us on August 15!

Since songwriting seems to be the main focus of this post, here is a link to "Seasons With You," one of my original songs. You can read about the development of the song, check out the lyrics, and listen to the song. If you like the song, you can download the MP3 right here at the iTunes store. If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you may have seen this one already. If this is a new song for you, I hope you enjoy it!

For those of you who have stumbled upon this post accidentally and have no knowledge about Meyer and McGuire, here is a link to our web site. Hope you enjoy learning about us!

Well, once again, it's time for me to stop babbling. Since it is summer, I replace my regular evening walk with a late-night swim in our pool. Swimming under the stars and moon in the quiet of the evening has to be one of the most peaceful experiences there is. As I do my laps, many of you pass through my thoughts, sometimes for a fleeting moment and other times longer. I want to thank you for being in my thoughts. You have contributed to my life much more than you will ever know. So, see you back on the streets sometime in late September!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Off Stage With Meyer and McGuire

Hey Folks,

As always, hope you are all doing well! If you have some time for reading, viewing and listening, here's what I have for you this month.

Sorry. Still no "Back Porch Video for you. We have the material, but the health issues of our aging parents are keeping us very busy. We do, however, see a little light at the end of the tunnel, and we hope to have one for you in the August post.

The "Singer/Songwriters in the Side Room" concerts at Buffalo Bill's in Shortsville, NY, continue to grow each month. The concerts are on the third Thursday of the month from 7 to 9 PM. In my last post, I played you a video of Joe Dady doing one of his songs, "My Conesus Cabin Home." In this post, we have a video of Jed Curren playing his song, "My Name Is Peter Biss." Jed met Peter Biss, a homeless person from the Streets of Washington D.C., while visiting his daughter. Curren's daughter, a social worker, has a great ability to connect with Peter and people like him, and Jed was very inspired by his daughter's talents. Here is the video. Hope you enjoy it, and I hope it encourages you to check out this venue. We have some great songwriters in this area, and if you like original music, you owe it to yourself to experience some of these artists. Stay tuned for more videos of other songwriters we have showcased.

Since I am on the topic of the songwriters' series, I want to thank Jeff Riales and Mike Wittek for the great show they did for us in June. Jeff and Mike were our guests last year, and their return performance was terrific. On July 18, we are having Shawn Middlebrook as our guest in the side room. Shawn is the lead singer and guitar player for Misfit Karma, a well-known acoustic folk rock jam band from Phelps, NY. In the side room, Shawn will be doing an evening of his original material. You can learn more about Shawn and his group right here! Hope you can join us on July 18!

Since songwriting seems to be the main focus of this post, here is a link to "I just Try To Move the Chains," one of my original songs. You can read about the development of the song, check out the lyrics, and listen to the song. If you like the song, you can download the MP3 right here at the iTunes store. If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you may have seen this one already. If this is a new song for you, I hope you enjoy it!

For those of you who have stumbled upon this post accidentally and have no knowledge about Meyer and McGuire, here is a link to our web site. Hope you enjoy learning about us!

Well, once again, it's time for me to stop babbling. Since it is summer, I replace my regular evening walk with a late-night swim in our pool. Swimming under the stars and moon in the quiet of the evening has to be one of the most peaceful experiences there is. As I do my laps, many of you pass through my thoughts, sometimes for a fleeting moment and other times longer. I want to thank you for being in my thoughts. You have contributed to my life much more than you will ever know. So, see you back on the streets sometime in late September!