Art, Music and Coffee at Stumpjack

Man, I have got to get our web site up and running! I'm accumulating so many photos from stuff at the Stump and don't want to clog the blog with them all. Here's a few from this past weekend though.

Friday, Feb 16th - The Poster Art of Wade Marks.

A busy evening and great fun seeing people respond so positively to Wade's art. He was the king of the evening, holding court and explaining his work to appreciative folks all night. We sold several pieces, which is always a great thing, and everyone enjoyed the loose improv playing of The Lonely Sound, unplugged (thanks Derek and Dylan). Kim and I had a fun post-reception dinner at the Element Bistro with our friends Paul and Laura from Oconomowoc (Thanks Paul!).

Wade explaining his working process...or pretending he's on his Big Wheel again...

Wade and his Mom...very nice...

Saturday, Feb 17th - Live Music: Happenstance

After last weekend's raucous party with Marcella and The Lonely Sound it was a great counterbalance to have Happenstance play a mellow acoustic set on Saturday night. Becky and Debbie were great, with lovely vocals and guitar work. I continue to be pleasantly surprised at how much coffee we sell in the evening at these events, even though most of them are mochas and other flavored drinks. People are definitely digging the coffee.

Happenstance: Becky and Debbie

It was also the beginning of a week's vacation for yours truly, during which I intend to get some house work done, finish reading Barak Obama's book The Audacity of Hope (and try to decide if the guy is legit or too far left for me), get ready for CoffeeFest this coming weekend, do a little cooking, walk the dog and enjoy some Puerto Rican coffee with a couple of Torano cigars (although as I'm writing this, just a few minutes ago I received a package that I'm hoping are the ACID samplers I won on auction last week).

Kim tickles Glen...Glen responds with the beginning of the Chicken Dance...

TURN THAT THING DOWN!!

This past Saturday night was so hot at the Stumpjack that the front windows were steamed up enough to prevent passersby from seeing the place packed wall to wall with people gettin' into Marcella and The Lonely Sound. Several people came in Sunday morning and told us that when they drove by Saturday evening they could barely see through the windows but that the music pumping out into the street and the people outside in front told them that something was goin' down at the Stump. I couldn't say it in my last post announcing Marcella but the night really came together because of our friend and poster artist-extraordinaire Wade Marks (the opening reception for Wade's showing is this Friday night). The party and band gig were a surprise birthday gift from Wade to his gorgeous wife, Melissa.

Wade & Melissa

So the place was loaded with people invited to the party and people who came in just to hear the band (everybody yelled "Surprise!" when Melissa came in). Even though we had a half-barrel of Sleeman Honey Brown, bottled beer and wine available, we served a lot of coffee early in the evening, with a number of single and double shots of espresso, which was both a little surprising and very cool.

Marcella was simply awesome. Anna, Ben, Dana, James are a well oiled machine, play their own tunes and have a really unique jazzy rock sound. Trust me, it probably won't be long before Marcella has a national recording contract and is getting a lot of critical acclaim. These "guys" are that good.

Marcella

They're so good, in fact, that the local police came by a couple of times to see and hear the band (yes, many of our local police officers are blessed with good taste in both coffee and music). The boys in blue responded to a noise complaint (we were loud and proud) and they handled it with class, humor and professionalism. We did have to turn things down a notch or two to jive with the city ordinance and decibel meter, but that had no affect on the energy the band generated. We play Marcella's CD in regular rotation now, and you can get a copy either directly from them (visit their web site) or from us here at the Stumpjack.

The Lonely Sound is a duo of Dylan Koch (drums) and Derek Czekala (guitar) and these two cats are unbelievable. All instrumental...like the best tiramisu you've ever had, ethereal and very heavy and rich at the same time. We were totally blown away. We quit and went home a bit after 1:00 a.m.. And a good time was had by all...

The Lonely Sound

This Friday (the 16th) is Wade's opening reception for his poster art exhibition; it's open to the public, of course. The local paper is coming to interview him today. Then, this Saturday (the 17th) we have Happenstance, an acoustic/vocal duo playing here. Then next weekend it's off to Chicago for CoffeeFest for me and Kim (the Stumpjack will be open, manned by my charming partner, Glen).

Wade Marks Exhibition Poster