Hey Folks,
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 mySongwriter Notes.
On Thursday, 10/5, Jack Jones, Kendall Paul Wilt, and Fran Cary (The Stid Hill Stompers), will be our guests in the Side room at Buffalo Bill’s. In addition to being an outstanding Journalist and biographer, Jack is a great songwriter whose songs beautifully reflect his many interesting experiences! Take a look at the videos listed below, and see for yourself!
”I’d Be Grateful”
”98.7”
”I’m Sorry, John”
”My Brother Chimpanzee”
”Rag & Bone Man”
Want to know more about The Stid Hill Stompers? Check them out right here.
Stid Hill Stompers
The concert is free, but we do ask for donations to support our performers. Siobhan has created five CDs, one for each of our five 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 every 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
Here is a link to videos of performers playing in the Side Room. The videos will give you a feel of how much fun we have at each show. Check them out!
Hope you can join us!
All the best,
Siobhan and Frank
Upcoming Shows:
Tom Whitmore, October 19
Loren Barrigar, November 2
John Dady, November 16
Kerry Regan, December 7
Michael George, Perry Cleaveland, and Doug Henri, December 21
Gordon Munding and Genesee Johnny, January 4
John Carter, January 18
Fred Vine, Lynn Pigage, and Alex Vine, February 1
The Maria Gillard Trio (Maria Gillard, Elaine Verstraete, and Perry Cleaveland), February 15
Brian Ayers and Mike Nelson, March 1
Connie Deming, March 15
Warren Paul, April 5
Paul Swiatek and Perry Cleaveland, April 19
Scott Regan, May 3
Jeff Riales, Mike Wittek, and Dana Fine, May 17
The Healing Committee (Alan Whitney, Kathryn Koch, and Tim Pitcher), June 7
Ben and Rita Proctor (members of Crooked North), June 21
Joe Rickard (AKA Joemama), July 5
The Michael Yacci Trio (Mike Yacci, Bryan Maslin, and Paul Yacci), July 19
Steve Piper, August 2
The Brothers Blue, August 16
Paulsen and Baker with Tim Chaapel, September 6
The Cadleys with Perry Cleaveland and John Dancks, September 20
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Sunday, September 17, 2017
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
AUTHOR'S NOTES ABOUT "LAST MAN STANDING" AND LINK TO SPODIFY
Similar to John Prine’s “Hello in There,” in tone, mood, and theme, “last Man Standing” depicts an aging WWII veteran listening to songs that take him back to significant moments in his life.
How did “Last Man Standing” come to fruition? Well, in June of 2010, my mother died suddenly from complications caused by a massive stroke. This devastating event broke my father’s heart, and he has still not recovered from it. I doubt he ever will. Since my mother’s death, I have spoken to my father at least once a day on the phone, and now that he lives here in Canandaigua, NY, I visit with him every day. Despite his intense loneliness and indifference towards life, he does the best he can to keep going, and I admire him for this. Listening to his favorite oldies of the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s often fills up his afternoons with great memories of his life.
He shared many of these memories with me, and most of them focused on some of the great times he had with my mother and their best friends, Tom and Marge Tynan and Phil and Dot Breithaupt. The “six pack,” as I often called them, did a myriad of things together. Parties, picnics, dances, and trips filled up their nearly fifty year friendship. In the late 1990s, the “six pack” began to empty, and with the death of Phil Breithaupt a couple of years ago, my father became the last bottle in the pack. Since Phil’s death, he has expressed to me several times that his bottle is empty, and whenever God is ready, he’s ready to join the other empties.
Along with his stories about his times with my mother and their friends, he also told me stories about his time in the Marines during WWII. He never spoke of the war before this, and most of his generation did not speak of it either. I learned about his experiences in the war in the Pacific, and he described the awful night he was severely wounded and nearly killed on Okinawa. I discovered that most of his friends from the military were also gone, and he was ready to join them, too.
Like many people who are my father’s age, he is the “last man standing” in his group. That phrase entered my mind one day, and I started playing around with some words that eventually became the chorus of the song. Using military imagery, the chorus depicts a soldier who wants to die, but he will not leave this earth until he fulfills his purpose.
After getting the chorus together, I had to develop a setting and story to support it. As with most of my songs, when they are ready to come out, they do, and this one was ready, and it flowed out like a waterfall. The setting is my father sitting in an easy chair listening to his favorite oldies. As he listens, the songs take him through the events of his life from his war years to the death of his wife. I knew it was a keeper instantly, and now all it needed was a melody and some chords.
To enhance the tone, mood, and theme of this sensitive ballad, it was essential to keep the chord progression simple and the tempo slow. So, that’s just what Siobhan and I did with her bass, my guitar, harmonica and vocal. After we put the song together, we went over to record the basic tracks with Rich Cooley, a neighborhood friend. Following this, we brought in two fine musicians, Perry Cleaveland and Bob Spadafora, to add some finishing touches. Perry with his mandolin and fiddle and Bob with his acoustic guitar created some awesome sounds. Along with their instruments, they added some terrific backup harmonies to the chorus. We could not have asked for more. In the final mix, Siobhan and I decided to leave the harmonica out because we had too many other great sounds we wanted to include. Hope you enjoy the stream , and I hope it becomes part of your permanent playlist!
If you want to listen to the song on Spodify, Here is a link to it:
“Last Man Standing”
If you want to own the song, here’s a link to where you can download it:
CD Baby Download Page for “Last Man Standing”
How did “Last Man Standing” come to fruition? Well, in June of 2010, my mother died suddenly from complications caused by a massive stroke. This devastating event broke my father’s heart, and he has still not recovered from it. I doubt he ever will. Since my mother’s death, I have spoken to my father at least once a day on the phone, and now that he lives here in Canandaigua, NY, I visit with him every day. Despite his intense loneliness and indifference towards life, he does the best he can to keep going, and I admire him for this. Listening to his favorite oldies of the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s often fills up his afternoons with great memories of his life.
He shared many of these memories with me, and most of them focused on some of the great times he had with my mother and their best friends, Tom and Marge Tynan and Phil and Dot Breithaupt. The “six pack,” as I often called them, did a myriad of things together. Parties, picnics, dances, and trips filled up their nearly fifty year friendship. In the late 1990s, the “six pack” began to empty, and with the death of Phil Breithaupt a couple of years ago, my father became the last bottle in the pack. Since Phil’s death, he has expressed to me several times that his bottle is empty, and whenever God is ready, he’s ready to join the other empties.
Along with his stories about his times with my mother and their friends, he also told me stories about his time in the Marines during WWII. He never spoke of the war before this, and most of his generation did not speak of it either. I learned about his experiences in the war in the Pacific, and he described the awful night he was severely wounded and nearly killed on Okinawa. I discovered that most of his friends from the military were also gone, and he was ready to join them, too.
Like many people who are my father’s age, he is the “last man standing” in his group. That phrase entered my mind one day, and I started playing around with some words that eventually became the chorus of the song. Using military imagery, the chorus depicts a soldier who wants to die, but he will not leave this earth until he fulfills his purpose.
After getting the chorus together, I had to develop a setting and story to support it. As with most of my songs, when they are ready to come out, they do, and this one was ready, and it flowed out like a waterfall. The setting is my father sitting in an easy chair listening to his favorite oldies. As he listens, the songs take him through the events of his life from his war years to the death of his wife. I knew it was a keeper instantly, and now all it needed was a melody and some chords.
To enhance the tone, mood, and theme of this sensitive ballad, it was essential to keep the chord progression simple and the tempo slow. So, that’s just what Siobhan and I did with her bass, my guitar, harmonica and vocal. After we put the song together, we went over to record the basic tracks with Rich Cooley, a neighborhood friend. Following this, we brought in two fine musicians, Perry Cleaveland and Bob Spadafora, to add some finishing touches. Perry with his mandolin and fiddle and Bob with his acoustic guitar created some awesome sounds. Along with their instruments, they added some terrific backup harmonies to the chorus. We could not have asked for more. In the final mix, Siobhan and I decided to leave the harmonica out because we had too many other great sounds we wanted to include. Hope you enjoy the stream , and I hope it becomes part of your permanent playlist!
If you want to listen to the song on Spodify, Here is a link to it:
“Last Man Standing”
If you want to own the song, here’s a link to where you can download it:
CD Baby Download Page for “Last Man Standing”
Saturday, September 2, 2017
THE SIDE ROOM PRESENTS PAULSEN AND BAKER WITH TIM CHAAPEL
Hey Folks,
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 mySongwriter Notes.
On Thursday, 9/7, John Paulsen, Keith Baker, and Tim Chaapel will be our guests in the Side room at Buffalo Bill’s. For over forty years John and Keith have entertained thousands with terrific renditions of a wide variety of cover tunes, but in this show, they will be showcasing their original material, a real treat. These guys are a lot of fun! Take a look at the videos listed below, and see for yourself!
”Sunday Afternoon”
”This Song”
”It’s All Right”
”Consumer Blues”
”The Circle”
Want to know more about John and Keith?
Paulsen and Baker Band
The concert is free, but we do ask for donations to support our performers. Siobhan has created five CDs, one for each of our five 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 every 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
Here is a link to videos of performers playing in the Side Room. The videos will give you a feel of how much fun we have at each show. Check them out!
Hope you can join us!
All the best,
Siobhan and Frank
Upcoming Shows:
The Cadleys with Perry cleaveland and John Danks, September 21
Jack Jones, Kendall Paul Wilt, and Fran Cary, October 5
Tom Whitmore, October 19
Loren Barrigar, November 2
John Dady, November 16
Kerry Regan, December 7
Michael George, Perry Cleaveland, and Doug Henri, December 21
Gordon Munding and Genesee Johnny, January 4
John Carter, January 18
Fred Vine, Lynn Pigage, and Alex Vine, February 1
The Maria Gillard Trio (Maria Gillard, Elaine Verstraete, and Perry Cleaveland), February 15
Brian Ayers and Mike Nelson, March 1
Connie Deming, March 15
Warren Paul, April 5
Paul Swiatek and Perry Cleaveland, April 19
Scott Regan, May 3
Jeff Riales, Mike Wittek, and Dana Fine, May 17
The Healing Committee (Alan Whitney, Kathryn Koch, and Tim Pitcher), June 7
Ben and Rita Proctor (members of Crooked North), June 21
Joe Rickard (AKA Joemama), July 5
The Michael Yacci Trio (Mike Yacci, Bryan Maslin, and Paul Yacci), July 19
Steve Piper, August 2
The Brothers Blue, August 16
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 mySongwriter Notes.
On Thursday, 9/7, John Paulsen, Keith Baker, and Tim Chaapel will be our guests in the Side room at Buffalo Bill’s. For over forty years John and Keith have entertained thousands with terrific renditions of a wide variety of cover tunes, but in this show, they will be showcasing their original material, a real treat. These guys are a lot of fun! Take a look at the videos listed below, and see for yourself!
”Sunday Afternoon”
”This Song”
”It’s All Right”
”Consumer Blues”
”The Circle”
Want to know more about John and Keith?
Paulsen and Baker Band
The concert is free, but we do ask for donations to support our performers. Siobhan has created five CDs, one for each of our five 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 every 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
Here is a link to videos of performers playing in the Side Room. The videos will give you a feel of how much fun we have at each show. Check them out!
Hope you can join us!
All the best,
Siobhan and Frank
Upcoming Shows:
The Cadleys with Perry cleaveland and John Danks, September 21
Jack Jones, Kendall Paul Wilt, and Fran Cary, October 5
Tom Whitmore, October 19
Loren Barrigar, November 2
John Dady, November 16
Kerry Regan, December 7
Michael George, Perry Cleaveland, and Doug Henri, December 21
Gordon Munding and Genesee Johnny, January 4
John Carter, January 18
Fred Vine, Lynn Pigage, and Alex Vine, February 1
The Maria Gillard Trio (Maria Gillard, Elaine Verstraete, and Perry Cleaveland), February 15
Brian Ayers and Mike Nelson, March 1
Connie Deming, March 15
Warren Paul, April 5
Paul Swiatek and Perry Cleaveland, April 19
Scott Regan, May 3
Jeff Riales, Mike Wittek, and Dana Fine, May 17
The Healing Committee (Alan Whitney, Kathryn Koch, and Tim Pitcher), June 7
Ben and Rita Proctor (members of Crooked North), June 21
Joe Rickard (AKA Joemama), July 5
The Michael Yacci Trio (Mike Yacci, Bryan Maslin, and Paul Yacci), July 19
Steve Piper, August 2
The Brothers Blue, August 16
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