images, refrigeration, new hours

Dan Walkner (image by Nate Walkner)

Here's the Flickr set for Dan Walkner's most excellent performance last night. I love the kind of blues rock that Dan plays. He's a heckuva good guitar player and has his Dad's (Bill) gift for good humor and banter with the audience. Bill sat in for a few tunes with him later in the evening and that was fun to see. It was a real fine evening. Dan's band, Clovis Mann, is playing Sunday afternoon (4pm) at the Waverly Inn and I wish we were going to be in town so we could see them, but we have to take our daughter Cheyenne to camp right in the afternoon. Click here for Dan's myspace site.

Dan and Bill

The rest of the day was fairly trying though. First thing in the morning the beer and soda cooler broke down (again!) and so we unloaded everything, rearranged the kitchen fridge and then loaded everything into that. Then later in the day the kitchen fridge went on the fritz and so we unloaded that and rearranged the wine coolers and brought a small counter fridge up and reloaded everything again. The humidity yesterday was heavy and we were soaked and drained by the end of the night (mighty hard to get out of bed this morning).

Fortunately, Marty from Refrigeration Repair in Manitowoc was willing to come in around 8:30 last night (during Dan's performance no less) and sorted things out with the kitchen fridge. The guys at Refrigeration Repair have been simply fabulous with us. They come in as quickly as they can, assess the situation and do what needs to be done in a timely manner...they're efficient, concerned and fair priced and we use them every time we have refrigeration issues (which has been a number of times this past year). They get our business and our recommendation.

Marty from Refrigeration Repair saving the day

Starting next week Wednesday (July 23rd) we're going to change our hours of operation a bit. People have been "suggesting" (whining really) that we open on Mondays and Tuesdays, so we're going to give it a try and see how it goes. And, since we'll be adding a couple extra days we will then be closing earlier than we do now during the week...weekend hours will stay the same.

So, beginning Wednesday, July 23rd, the Stumpjack hours will be:
Monday-Thursday: 7am-4pm
Friday-Saturday: 7am-9pm
Sunday: 8:30am-1pm

Nate

Here's Nate's Flickr set of Dan (I co-opted a few for our set).
Here's another cool set of night shots from Nate of a few places around Two Rivers (Nate is the man...these have such a great ambiance and feel).

Steph and Matt Davies

Steph Davies

Small crowd last night (Fri, July 11) for Steph and Matt Davies, which was too bad for people who dig good, original folk and blues music. These two musicians write some real heartfelt and lyrically intelligent songs. They alternated sets between each other, which made for a nice juxtaposition, and received very appreciative applause after each song from the dozen or so people in the audience.

Matt's performance was perhaps a bit more "forceful" in that his voice and guitar work was more aggressive than Steph's, with his song list covering both his own compositions and some very complementary and somewhat deep cut covers of people like Dylan, Waits and Taylor. He's definitely got the traveling folk/blues songster mojo, and his own songs are thoughtful, clever and honest.

This was cool. This little boy's name is Bodin and his Dad asked Matt if he could pose with him on the bench outside. "Bodee" was so into playing Matt's guitar. I like this picture.

Steph's performance was (forgive this trite description) sensitive and endearing, with her own songs being very sincere and emotionally beautiful. Her voice is pillowy soft, almost shy, which fit quite nicely with the kind of personal and love-filled lyrics she writes. She forces you to pay attention to what she sings...it's the kind of music that mellows you out and makes you feel good inside or glad to be in love (or want to be in love of you're not already).

They did join together on a couple of songs, which was cool to watch (they ought to do it a couple more times, imho, when they play together...they complement one another beautifully. Anyway, it was a night that I personally enjoyed very much because even though the cash drawer didn't open as much as we might like, I did get to really relax and enjoy the music, which I don't always get a chance to do.

Steph is an accomplished graphic artist as well and we've tentatively scheduled an art exhibition of her work for November 7. I just got an email from Steph as I was finishing this post and they're going to be coming back to perform at the Stump on Saturday, September 27th...mark your calendar and plan to be here if you can.

Click here for the Steph & Matt Davies Flickr set.

Art & Music images

Full house

Here's the Flickr set from last night's soirée for Andrea Drida's art opening and Kyle Feerick's gig. A busy, fun night and a lot of pictures in this set.

Allie and Andrea

It was a very nice opening for Andrea, with a ton of compliments on her work and several sales. And Kyle was great, with a couple of sets that included just a few covers (that he made his own), but mostly his own original tunes, which were very well received by the audience (lots of whistles and shouts). Doug (Day) set up his gear and recorded Kyle, so hopefully we got some good stuff down on tape (or more accurately, down on digital).

Kyle Feerick

Our pal Marty also has some Stumpjack images on his own Flickr site, including a few from last night.

New Flickr Sets

click the links below each picture or on the right side column

Koz 5/17/08

Kerry Michaels & Tom Reynolds 5/23/08

Jeannie Mayotte 5/24/08

Pagel & Turner 6/6/08

Lloyd Rohr 6/7/08

Bill Walkner 6/13/08

Nick Venturella is the man

We have the absolute most fun when Nick Venturella comes to town to perform at Stumpjack Coffee. Nick has a wonderfully earthy and upbeat musical style, that comes across as very immediate and spontaneous. That impression is a testament to his stage presence and competence, because with over 14 years of performing experience and a half-dozen CD's under his belt the man is as prepared and professional as can be. But that's the old saw isn't it...the people who make it look easy are most often the ones who work the hardest and are the best prepared. And Nick does make it look easy. He's got a great sense of humor and wonderful ability to connect with his audience, and if you check out the pics from last night that I just placed on Flickr you will see an awful lot of smiles and laughs in the house. I defy anyone to not have a good time at a Nick Venturella concert and to not immediately like this guy. This might sound a little corny but Nick is just a heckuva decent guy, without pretense or conceit, and generous with his knowledge and time...a straight arrow, as they say. It's a real pleasure to work with someone of his character and talent. And the music is pretty dang awesome too!

I just woke up from a long nap on the couch at the Stump...it's been a long couple of weeks and I'm going home now to go to bed early, but I wanted to get this post in and put the pictures on before hitting the hay. We're working on having Nick back sometime this summer and will hopefully post the date in the next day or two...when we do, make sure to mark it on your kitchen calendar and set that night aside...you will be glad you did, guaranteed.