Pick & Squeeze nearly cause riot as rabid fans rush the stage!

Here are the pics from tonight's gig with Andy and Greg...what a blast! I'm beat and am going home to pass out...will add more tomorrow...

Ok, it's "tomorrow" now...Monday actually. What a night that was. At one point I wormed my way up front and yelled at Greg and Andy, "What the heck are these people here for? You guys aren't even that good!" To which I was immediately manhandled by the attendant throng, body-surfed to the front door and summarily tossed out into the street.

Andy and Greg are two of the nicest guys around, and what fabulous musicians. Just another example of how rich the talent pool is in this little corner of the country. They'll be back on Friday July 25th...and we'll be bringing in reinforcements to help handle the mob. Greg will be here on Friday, June 6th with cellist extraordinaire Matt Turner.

More Poetry & Music pics

Derek

Flickr pics for Friday's Poetry Night.

Flickr pics for Saturday night's gig with Derek.

One of Derek's buds...I'm sorry but I don't know his name, but I like this picture of him holding his little boy (who seems very focused on Derek's performance at the moment).

Ethan Keller & Koz pics

Image by Nate Walkner

Just finished loading up all the images from this weekend's musical funkfest. Koz just left the building, I'm dog-tired but stoked. It was a great Friday and Saturday. Ethan was fan-freaking-tastic and, as Ed Sullivan might say, a thoroughly all-right chap. If you ever are in Milwaukee and looking to catch some live music make sure to check Ethan's myspace calendar to see where he's performing in brewtown...then go see him. You will most definitely be glad you did (then, after doing so you will feel an inner urge to email me just to say "Thank you, David, for suggesting that we see Ethan Keller do his thing. We followed your sage advice and now are eternally grateful. Thank you oh infinitely wise one!" Ethan lays it down, brother! This cat played a marathon session and I mean just about everybody was coming up to tell me how good he was and how much they were digging his sound.

One little musical tidbit of many: After some joker (me) threw a request at him for something by the somewhat obscure Thomas Dolby, Ethan ended up doing the most amazing version of "She Blinded Me With Science." One of those "Dang, I wish we had that on tape" moments. Click here for the Flickr image set (included are photos from Nate and Marty).

Click here to go to the Flickr set of Koz's pics from Saturday night.

One of the fun things about having Koz perform with us is all the stuff he brings with him: lights, amps, backing music gear, the various instruments, even his own mini-stage...wires and cables and lights everywhere. I tease him about all the toys he brings but it's pretty cool to see him set everything up and to see the final set-up of all that gear in a small space. His song catalog is extensive and covers such a range of styles, there's something for everyone to enjoy as his binder of tunes travels around the room and people holler out requests that see him switching from guitar to sax to clarinet to banjo between songs. The diversity of ages in his audience is noteworthy as well...from junior high age to grandparents, and everyone has a great time...it's a very nice, mellow vibe in the shop when Koz performs.

Pictures from the weekend

Flickr pics from this past weekend:

Wencel getting schooled in Checkers by his granddaughter, Sunday morning.

Kelly Underwood - Friday, 2/29/08 (click here) Kelly was fun and silly and sounded great again.

Kim and John, Friday night.

6 Degrees - Saturday, 3/1/08 (click here) Becky and Bill...love the way those two sound together. Becky was a trooper...on crutches and lost her voice near the end of the night. Bill took over and closed the night...he was great, with awesome versions of Gordon Lightfoot and Johnny Cash.

Marty & Lori, Saturday night.

Sunday morning, 3/2/08 (click here) Had a busy morning on Sunday. Kim made breakfast paninis. The usual Sunday morning gang of misfits and several new faces...a lot of fun.

Sunday morning

Reidl & Mayotte awesome!

JoAnn Riedl

It was around 6:30 Saturday night and I was starting to get a little worried that JoAnn and Jeannie weren't going to make it on time (or at all) for their 7:00 gig. I pictured them driving somewhere north or south of Two Rivers in the dark, "Where the hell is this place!?" "I told you to take that exit 10 miles back!"

Jeannie Mayotte

But in they walked with thirty minutes to spare, each carrying nothing but a single guitar case. We all said howdy and I asked "Can I help you unload?" "Nope," replied JoAnn, "we're good." Then I felt another little tick of doubt...what, no amps? We're so used to unloading and setting up amps and gear and doing sound checks that I think I felt a little naked without all that stuff (and I wasn't the one performing!). But as soon as JoAnn hit the first chord and sang the first line we all just went "whoa...cool..."

JoAnn and Jeannie, hereafter referred to as "the gals," confessed a bit of nervousness themselves, performing without so much as a microphone to hide behind. While they may have felt a bit exposed everyone else was totally entranced. Those gals got some serious chops. JoAnn would do four or five tunes before giving up her place under our makeshift purple spotlight for Jeannie to do her thing. And so it went throughout the evening with the two taking turns and performing a really powerful mix of songs that alternated between full throttle, full lung wailers and stuff so delicate that it made you lean in and tilt your head to make sure you caught it all. That kind of audience response was also one of the things that we couldn't help but notice: people were quiet and focused when either JoAnn or Jeannie were playing, listening intently and clearly appreciating what they were a part of. It was a small crowd last night, but the applause after each song was loud and immediate.

I don't want to get too much into actual musical or performance reviews in these follow-up posts (though maybe I should...would it be of any interest, I don't know), because up to now my main purpose has really just been to post the images from the event for people to enjoy, and to not say much more than that we had a great time (which we always do...it is honestly always just a heckuva lot of fun when we have live music). But I have to say that this night was one of the best of the best, and that had as much to do with the intimacy and immediacy of the performance as it did with the musical skill and talent the gals possess. JoAnn and Jeannie had a lot of fun too and so we're having them back, sometime in the next several weeks. When we nail down the date(s) we'll let you know on here and on the StumpjackCoffee myspace calendar. You will not want to miss them.

After the gig we all went over to Element Bistro for a drink and smart-talk. Bought a pound of some outstanding cave aged cheese from Kevin (Voysey) in his Abotzo wine and cheese shop there. Jason (Prigge), who is the chef and runs Element, stopped by the table to say hi and said he's going to book JoAnn and Jeannie to play there sometime very soon too, which is awesome. It is extremely cool to have Element and Abotzo in this city, it's a fantastic place (for those who don't know, both businesses share the space). Saturday nights Element has live music as well, and so it's a great opportunity for people to bounce around between Stumpjack and Element (and the Waverly Inn also often has live music on those nights) for some great food, drink and entertainment.

Click here to go to the Flickr images from last night...or on the right side column to see them and any others anytime you feel like it. Remember to click the "view as slideshow" link in the upper right corner above the set when you get to the Flickr page, if you want to view as a slideshow.