Artful Adventures

Hayward Williams & Friends concert!

 

This past Saturday night was another concert at The Flying Pig.  Having not read the entire announcement, I was under the impression that we were going to see Hayward Williams perform, and I was looking forward to it, having heard him perform there last year.  What I didn't know was that Miles Nielson & Dan MacMahon of The Wandering Sons, would be performing with him.  May I just say--WOW!!!  Nope, this night deserves another WOW!!  Seriously, it was freaking amazing!  If you'd like to see where The Wandering Sons are playing next & hear them sing while you're looking at their schedule, just click here.  And for some Hayward music & his upcoming schedule, click here.  Can't forget Dan MacMahon, you can find him here.  Take a listen to these guys, and then try to imagine them all together, and then take my word for it that it was a gazillion times more than you could imagine!  Bet you'll be getting some of their music from itunes:) 

Miles is in the process of recording his own album, and I'll be standing in line to get it!  As great as blogging is to be able to share these kinds of things, this was something that you really had to be there to see!  So make sure you check those links to see if you can catch them somewhere else, I believe there's a schedule of when these 3 are playing again on Hayward's schedule.  So start clicking!   

Our friends & neighbors that live across the street from us, met us at the concert along with their 2 daughters, Paige & Sarah.  Paige has been taking guitar lessons for over a year, so she was tickled when she got her picture taken with the guys that played.  Hayward actually asked if she'd like to play his guitar, but she declined.  But Hayward, if you happen to read this, thank you so much for not only a great night of music, but for making the night a very special one for Paige!  These concerts in the garden are something I wish you could all experience, sitting under the stars, listening to some great music, munching on popcorn while sipping a glass of wine.  Seriously, does it get any better than that?    

Martha Berner Live!

This past Saturday night we had the pleasure of going to an outdoor concert at The Flying Pig and hearing Martha Berner.  If you click on her name, you'll be taken to her website which is really very cool.  Move your mouse around and you'll find that what appear to be inanimate objects turn into links with a mouse-over.  Down on the bottom right side there are links to a few of her songs-treat yourself to listening, you won't regret it!

We just love going to these concerts, sitting outside under the cedars and watching the stars pop out as the sun goes down and the lights on the trees appear as it gets darker.   Through these concerts, we've been exposed to musicians that we may never have heard before, and we've seriously never heard a bad one in the 2 years that we've been going!

OK, the picture's not perfect, but you get the idea of how it looks where we sit after it gets dark.  As we're sitting there, a couple of times it felt like a giant bug had hit my back, turned out it was friends sitting behind us that we hadn't seen tossing popcorn at us-one way to get my attention:)

I love the way the pictures turned out, catching the motion of their hands while playing.  It's fun when they play to a smallish group like we had (it's the best kept secret around!) because they tell the stories behind the music, as well as some life stories-always fun!  This coming Saturday is Hayward Williams , we heard him last year and he was wonderful, so we're looking forward to seeing more of him.  If you're in the area, come join us!

CD Debut Party-for Harps!

Last night, we attended a CD debut party/concert at The Flying Pig for Watercolor Harps, Tammy Naze & Cheryl Murphy, accompanied by a cello player (I'm so sorry-can't remember the name!) who played an earthy sounding cello that was made in 1914! 

They've just released 2 CD's, one based on the color green and the other based on the color blue.  It's an intriquing concept, at least it was for me.  When I think of any given color, I think of emotion, a visual of a colored object, possibly a memory, a piece of art that I've made, but have never thought of color in terms of sound.  But that's exactly what they've done!  If you click on this link and scroll down a bit, they give a much better explanation of the process than I can. 

The CDs were made with the intention of being played so when you listen to them, you relax and are transported to the sounds of spring, the inspiration for the About Green cd, and the sounds of Lake Michigan inspired the cd About Blue, both of which are for sale at The Flying Pig. 

Notice the peaceful, serene looks on both Cheryl's and Tammy's faces while they worked their magic, running their fingers over the strings of the harps?  It was a unique experience to have seen & heard in person, I'm so glad that we went.  We bought one of the cd's already, and the 2nd one will probably be gotten real soon.  It might be just the kind of music I need in the studio!.  They' have more cd'd in the works, as they work their way through the color palette-can't wait to hear more colors!

When they asked for a volunteer from the audience to come up and try a harp, Pat was more than willing!  Her smile says it all, playing the harp is cool, and we were warned, addicting, as well!

No concert here would be complete without hearing the bullfrogs singing from the pond that's adjacent to the stage.  For those who have performed in the past and have never heard a bullfrog before, their reaction is hilarious!  But then I think it's hilarious that there are people who have never heard a bullfrog:)  Tammy was waiting for them to accompany them last night though, and for once they didn';t cooperate-go figure!

And to make the day even better at The Flying Pig, yesterday morning the Press Gazette not only published an article on them, but had the headline, big as life, right on the front page-cool!  You can read it here, and I hope you do read it.  As often as I speak of this place, the article manages to capture it very well.  If you're still with me, stay tuned for another post, maybe today yet, for news of a new award-I'm excited!

Who could refuse this offer?

This summer, I had the pleasure of seeing Jon Troast perform live at The Flying Pig, and it was wonderful!  Each song he sings, you'd swear he's written just for you, a huge talent that's going to go far, no doubt in my mind!  Yesterday I got an email with an offer that would be hard to refuse, seriously!  Read through this & then let me know how many of you are having him come to your home for your very own private concert!  And make sure you take a minute & go to his Youtube link, this guy has a sense of humor:)

I'm going to play a concert at your house!?

Here's the way I picture it. There I am, sitting in your living room,
talking about the song I'm about to play, when suddenly the timer on
the oven goes off or the phone rings. "Go ahead and get it." I say.
"I'll wait." A few minutes later, you hang up from talking to Aunt
Bernice or you finish pulling the cookies out of the oven and walk
back into the living room. The music continues...

What am I talking about? Well, it's a little thing I'm calling the
"Jon Troast Hundred Dollar Tour". An experiment of sorts. Let me
explain. I've had a number of people tell me, "You need to come play
in _______ (fill in the blank)." Well, believe me, I'd love to, and
I'm going to try, but I need your help. Sometimes it's easiest just
to break it down to bullet points, so here we go-

-I will travel to your town (ANYWHERE in the contiguous 48 states)
and play in your living room, dorm room, coffee shop, business, etc.

-I will play for one hour.

-The cost will be $100 (hence the name of the tour)

-BUT, in addition to a one hour performance, I will also give you 10
copies of my latest cd, Second Story! You can sell or give them to
your guests. Charge them $10 to get in and then give a complimentary
cd to the first 10 people through the door. Whatever. They're yours!

I know, you're thinking "Jon, you must be crazy!" Believe me, I've
thought it through, and I've decided it's worth it if it gets the
music into the hands of people that enjoy it.

Now, of course there will be some other details to work out (usually
referred to as the "fine print"). Let's try bullet points again-

-You will need to be open to midweek scheduling. I realize weekends
would probably be best for everyone, but only 2 out of 7 days are
weekends, so why not schedule something for a Tuesday night, or an
afternoon for that matter? If you've got a big family, I could play
while you eat dinner! We've got options. The point is, please be
flexible.

-If for some reason you need to cancel, I'll still need to be paid.
No deposit is required or anything. Just the honor system. Don't
worry though. I will still send you 10 cds in the mail. So,
essentially you're just ordering 10 cds.

-If for some reason(car trouble, illness, etc.) I can't make it to
the show, you don't have to pay me, but I will still send you 10 cds.
Bonus for you!(besides the fact that you'll miss out on my show of
course). That's just my way of doing business.

So, call up 10(or more) of your family and friends, invite them over
for a game of pinochle(it's a pretty cool card game if you've never
heard of it), and let me provide the music!

I'm hoping to make my first run of this at the end of November
through most of December. That's just a little over a month away, so
act quickly(wow, that really sounds like an infomercial)! I realize
that's a fairly busy time of year, but it's also a great time of year
for a holiday party or reunion. Sorry though, I won't be playing any
Christmas songs...well, maybe I could play one.

If you're interested, it's very simple- email me your:
NAME,
the CITY and STATE where you live,
any CONTACT INFO you have,
and the DATE(S) you're interested in. Again, PLEASE be flexible.

I'll follow up with you as I try to put my calendar together. Also,
please tell anyone else you think might be interested in being part
of this.

I think this could really be a lot of fun! You'll get to hear the
old songs and quite a few new ones(as well as some of the stories
behind them) up close and in person!

Normally I don't ramble on this long about one thing in my emails,
but I wanted to get you as much info as possible.

I'll limit my other news to one very simple thing- the third episode
of "Jon's Place" is now available on YouTube and my myspace page!

Alright, please send me an email if you're interested in being part
of the "Jon Troast Hundred Dollar Tour". I've got a new car, and the
odometer has way too few miles on it!

Here are some of my upcoming gigs-

Wednesday, October 24th, 7:00 PM
Milwaukee Ale House
Milwaukee, WI

Thursday, October 25th, 9:00 PM
Student Center in Brownstone's Annex.
DePaul University
Chicago, IL

Wednesday, November 14th, 7:00 PM
Yardarm
Racine, WI

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007 7:00 PM
Milwaukee Ale House
Milwaukee, WI

I would also suggest checking my website calendar for details and to
confirm there are no last minute changes or cancellations.

Jon Troast

Related links:
http://www.jontroast.com
http://www.myspace.com/troast
http://www.youtube.com/jontroast
 

Some SAturday night Jazz--

Last night, we went to the Flying Pig for their regular SAturday night live music in the garden .  We went for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and last night was just as nice, listening to  The Jana Nyberg Group.  Besides Jana singing, her husband played trumpet, there was a sax, guitar, and percuission.  I'm not sure if it's a jazz thing or what (yeah, I know, we don't get out much) but it was a different kind of format where there were more solos, than playing as a group, so each of their individual talents were able to be showcased nicely.  And when they did "Summertime", they just let loose with everything they had-it was great!  I'm really liking this whole concept of sitting under the trees with the little white lights, listening to music & the bullfrogs:)   
All those years of him working swing shift, me working, raising the kids, we finally have a little time to ourselves to do this sort of thing.  To be honest, it took some getting used to, but it's kinda nice:)