Rosalee in Sheboygan last night

Last night I drove over to Paradigm the coffee house in Sheboygan to catch John and MJ again. It was a real treat to be able to just sit and listen and enjoy, without having to work while doing it...and it only made me appreciate the talent these guys have even more. MJ is an excellent guitar player, moving back and forth from 6-string to bass,and occasionally using a cool little gizmo called an Ebow to make some beguiling, haunting sounds. John is also a skilled player, but the thing that really grabs you while watching him is his voice, alternating between lilting, almost fragile sweetness to powerful and deep resonance. He sings with conviction and passion, and a clarity that draws you into the song like a good writer or poet's work should. MJ has a really fine voice as well, and his backup to John on several songs is rather beautiful.

The guys also make a great duo, MJ being more the outgoing "jester" of the two while John appears a bit more reserved, maybe shy even...they have a really nice stage presence together, one that encourages intimacy and directness with the audience. The songs are strong, passionate, fun, sad, melancholy, thoughtful, picturesque. Great stuff...

Thanks again John, thanks MJ...well worth the drive.

RoMoRev...good Muscatine mojo...

John and MJ played last night to maybe the best Wednesday night crowd we've had at the Stump (Wednesdays are generally the slowest night of the week by far)...I'd say at its peak we had 60-65 people in the house, with others coming and going throughout the night. I walked around and chatted with several folks who told me how much they were digging the music, the drinks (made a few Doodah Smoothies too) and the whole vibe. Here's a few images from my crappy camera (have decided to start saving seriously for a new, good digital...too many of the crowd shots didn't turn out at all).

It was a fun day and a half with John and MJ...good humored, self-effacing and just dang nice guys...we most definitely want to have them back, maybe once or twice a year at least. We were able to get five decently recorded songs too, and we'll be gearing up for putting out a CD soon I hope. My daughter Jesse did a nice job on the video camera and got at least one song recorded nicely (haven't looked at the whole tape yet)...will put that up on here soon too.

The guys said that they had a great time and were pleasantly surprised at the diversity of the crowd we had...young and older, punks and church kids, yuppies and grandmas...nothing new for us, we've always enjoyed a real diverse group of friends and coffee lovers.

Earlier in the afternoon we went over to the Courthouse Pub in Manty for a mighty fine lunch and a couple of tasty microbrews from them (try the "fuggled" brew). After the gig we went over to Element for a drink from our friend and bartender el supremo, Justin. It was a tad difficult getting into work this morning...

When we get our web site up and running I intend to enrich these stories and accounts with more detail than I do here on the blog...but for now I'll just say that in the few hours we hung around together we think of John and MJ as dear friends (oh, and they're pretty good musicians too, btw...seriously, you ought to stop in and pick up a copy of their CD "Tablespoon"...it is simply excellent). Can't wait to have the guys back again.

Thank John, thanks MJ...safe travels and appreciative audiences...

The Big News of the week (after the Packers-Bears game of course)

Ok, you know that we post our live music nights here and that I always say to come on over and have a great time with us...and that's always the gospel truth, those nights are always a good time. But this time I'm telling you to definitely ink your calendar and make plans to be here next Wednesday night, October 10th, because there're some guys coming who you really will be mighty pleased to see and hear. MJ Dunlap and John Watkins from Rosalee Motor Revival are stopping by on their tour through the Midwest to do a one-nighter here at the Stump. John told me that some have labeled their music "dark weird indie folk," and I suppose that's as accurate as anything.

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In any event, I know that Wednesday nights are funky for a lot of people (kids church stuff and sports, rehearsals and practices, meetings and so on...), but make it happen anyway! Come on over to the Stump at 8:00 or after, to unwind, have a smooth coffee or a fine brew, and listen to some darn good music...you'll be glad you did. Check out their sound at the RMR myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/rosaleemotorrevival.