We had a wonderful MUNY hit the other day at Union Square. This is the very first time that we actually got some dancers to busk with us. It was George Yi’s idea. He’s a great dancer and we’d been enjoying his moves for a while now. He brought Akemi with him and they were quite a team. It really did add to the whole specialness of the flavor. We plan to do it again soon!
One person sat down with a whole mess of magic markers and made us the drawing that you see here. The name he wrote on the back of the drawing was Eric Champagne. Lovely. Thanks Eric.
A few different kinds of people were taking video and photos and we encourage it because you never know where its gonna go and its good to get the music out there into the world. Well this time it went all the way to the talent scouts at “America’s Got Talent” and they invited down to audition on Sunday! We have 90 seconds to perform. Hmmm. Just short enough to not quite be long enough to do a song. I’m sure its by design to see how well we can arrange something stellar that fits their format. A good challenge I think! So wish us luck.
We got to meet the prolific and legendary John McEuen live on the air on the Joey Reynold’s show last Wednesday. McEuen is the prime mover behind the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and he instigated what Rolling Stone (in 1972) called ‘the’ most important record to come out of Nashville, and what the 2004 ZAGAT survey called the most important record in country music, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”
Clifton was in “playing it cool mode.” He took a deep breath and went into the booth to play music with a man that he had idolized. Long story short, everyone got a long real well and McEuen invited Tin Pan down to City Winery to play a few tunes with them on Monday, November 16th.
Posted here is a version we all did together of “Over in That Glory Land.” It’s a gospel / spiritual / traditional tune that we’ve been enjoying a lot these days. McEuen is playing the tasty banjo licks.
If you are reading this in syndication you can listen here.
We were hanging out at Little Branch in west village. I’m not going to tell where it is because I don’t want it to be all crowded when I go. So there. Anyway, they do make some fine drinks there. Chillin’ with Joel Noyes, a cellist from the Metropolitan Orchestra, and the legendary Joe Peretore who mastered our second album. Anyway, Joel ordered something special from the bar because occasionally he likes to leave certain decisions to the professionals. What came back from the bar was a drink called a “Vieux Carré.” Man, this is the best, most delicious thing I’ve tasted in a while. I even started ordering it a Hotel Delmano a block from my house in WIlliamsburg. Just delicious. You can make it for yourself.
Equal Parts Cognac, Rye Whiskey and Sweet Vermouth. Add a “capful” of Benedictine and splashes of both Angostura bitters and Peychaud’s Bitters. A big slab of lemon peel and a huge chunk of ice. A real, homemade maraschino cherry is a plus.
Tin Pan – Official App
Rated 12+for the following: Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes
Yes, if you figured it out, Tin Pan now has an iPhone App. What’s on it: Most importantly, exclusive music from some of our live shows like the ones at Pete’s Candy store and from the Joey Reynold’s national broadcasts that we do from time to time. There’s some photos, video on there too. Concert listings are coming soon and we will update it with new content every month at least. Only $1.99. Come on, people. Enrich your life! We have an iPhone app!!
Last night we held another Lindy Bomb at Union Square. This is an unofficial thing where a group of dancers find out that we are playing in the Subway and come out and dance.
New Yorkers are some generally fairly jaded cats. When you can create and environment that stops people in their tracks with wonder and joy, it is a rewarding achievement. So big thanks to all the dancers that came out especially Akemi and Voon for telling some of their friends about it. A few months ago the New York Times wrote a piece about one of these events and I’ll send you to that article so you can get a journalistic perspective on it.
There’s a viral video on Facebook documenting last night’s lindy bomb. I’m not sure if these links work if you are not a Facebook member already but perhaps it will. Here’s the link.
So much to do and say. I’ll err on the side of Brevity.
Hattiesburg: Played at Bennie’s Boom Boom Room which was a trip. Bennie himself was on hand. What a cool cat. The show was even recorded so hopefully there will be some useable stuff there to listen too later. I will keep you posted. We did a hit up at Southern Miss during the day to try to generate some interest in the evening time hit and around 11pm it started to work. Over 40 Southerns came down to the show. It seemed like the real party was out on the street in front of the club. Everyone could hang out and smoke and the air was perfect. For our second set we started out on the street and then paraded everyone in to the club On our third set, we just stayed out in the street. 1am Downtown Hattiesburg with blaring trumpets and honking saxes out on the street. Grindy dancing, shouting frat boys, beer in a cup. etc… The cops didn’t seem to care – or rather they seemed pre-occupied. A high speed chase went by at some point. It was wild.
New Orleans: Played out at Jackson Square where we made friends with the artists there and the restaurant across from where we were playing. A good sign, when the local business approve. They protect you in a way. When the cops come by and in New Orleans this seems to happen a bit, they look and listen but they also look to the business people around us to see if we have the thumbs up or not. In this case we did. Bourbon street itself was fully spring-breakified and not fertile ground for doing anything constructive. We wound up heading over to Frenchman Street where we would have had luck. Instead, we opted to eat Japanese food and drink beers. Tired. Sousaphones are very prominent in New Orleans These funky, one-chord, drum / tuba driven bands. Honestly, there were only a few that were bringing it. Most were just noisy and weren’t getting much response. A fun town though. I would love to hang out there more and know what it feels like to be a local.
Lafayette, LA: Did a swamp tour during the day. Large carp jumping out of the water and flopping in the air before splashing back down. Beautiful herons with HUGE wingspans covering the silent mirror of the bayou. Later, we drove and picked up some Boudin and Cracklins from a local spot. Dang, that was one good meal. All this courtesy of Drew Landry. A great musician and the guy behind the Bourque Social Club. A hall made of cypress and sweat on the outskirts of Lafayette. This was one of my favorite shows of the whole tour. Drew himself had a gig elsewhere so he just left us the keys to the joint and split. We had about three hours to hang out and get used to the place. Set up the sound, eat more boudin, read, nap etc… Eventually the peoples started to show up and it all turned out more than alright.
At one point I had to go around to local business to get some small bills so folks could get change when they paid the $5 cover. (no bar, no cash register at the bourque) One of my stops was the bar next door. The bartender gave me smalls for forty bucks but she apparently told her boss about it. This guy was a true ragin’ cajun. He was an older dude and after the second song of the night he showed up and just starts getting into the band. First he comes up and just throws a fistful of bills at the band. Stefan was jumping all crazy doing the Stefan thing and he just stuffs more bills down his horn. At one point point he tries to make fun of me and asks if I have enough change now! He asks us what we’re drinking and Clifton yells “gin.” He leaves and comes back with a bottle of Tanqueray and a bottle of tonic, 12 beers and a bucket of ice and some cups and HIS BARTENDER. Apparently everyone from his spot had come over so he figured he’d just shut down for a while and get everyone over to our show. At one point I was singing “Comes Love” and he takes out a twenty and shows it to me and then he folds in half length-wise, comes right over to me and while I’m singing on the mic he UNZIPS MY FLY and sticks Andrew Jackson halfway in there. What could I do but smile and keep singing.
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There’s a lot of things we learned on this trip. Maybe with a little more reflection and some time I’ll write them up here on the blog. And now we’re back. At some point my horn got a little busted up and I went to Josh Landress‘ repair shop over on 48th and had him do some work on it. I’ve said it before but I will say it again: Josh is always ready willing and able to give great advice about technical stuff. A real resource. Thanks Josh!
So yes, back. Back to the lovely Central Park for about 5 more weeks of the season. Back for many weddings and private parties. We have at least 5 this month! Rumors about a trip to Italy in November. Stay tuned.
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for October, 2009.
We had a wonderful MUNY hit the other day at Union Square. This is the very first time that we actually got some dancers to busk with us. It was George Yi’s idea. He’s a great dancer and we’d been enjoying his moves for a while now. He brought Akemi with him and they were quite a team. It really did add to the whole specialness of the flavor. We plan to do it again soon!
