Singer/songwriter Danielle Doyle is set to perform with fellow Boston-based band Garlic & Moonshine at Studio 99 in Nashua on March 14, 2010.  They have both also released fresh albums; for Danielle, The Cartographer's Wife, and for Garlic & Moonshine, In Waves.  It's the first time that both will be performing in Nashua.  The show will begin at 8 p.m. and tickets are $5 for general admission. 

About Danielle Doyle:

Newcomer Danielle Doyle has been garnering much attention among audiences and fellow musicians, since she first emerged on the scene at the beginning of 2009. Danielle has been named a 2009 Mountain Stage NewSong Youth Winner, a winner of the weekly Lizard Lounge Open Mic challenge and has earned some incredible supporting slots including opening for Loudon Wainwright III, Dawn Landes, and Heather Masse (of The Wailin’ Jennys).  A true performer, Danielle’s songs are best heard when she’s singing them live, when beautiful melodies, “sultry alt-country” vocals, and rich lyrics are interspersed with relaxed and comic banter that makes you feel like you’ve known the young songwriter forever. 

Danielle will be touring the Northeast throughout the spring in support of her debut album The Cartographer’s Wife.  The album is a collection of songs about love, home, longing, and a little bit of murder. While some of these stories were inspired by real life – a failed move to California (“Roots/Wings”), college years in Ohio (“Lake Erie”) –others were borrowed from imagined women – one who waits at home while her husband crosses the globe (“The Cartographer’s Wife”), one who’s fleeing from the apocalypse (“Pompeii”) and one who murders her lover when the going gets rough (“Salome”).

While the stories took years of crafting, The Cartographer’s Wife seemed to come together rather quickly. When it came time to hit the studio, Danielle enlisted friends and fellow Boston area up n’ comers to play on the album, including singer-songwriters Beth Colegrove and Meg Smallidge, members of Garlic & Moonshine, and John Nolan (of Flightless Buttress) who produced the album.  The ten tracks were recorded live over three days at the Hi n’ Dry Recording Studio in Somerville, MA.  The Cartographer’s Wife will be released at the Lizard Lounge on March 13^th. 
 

Danielle Doyle… is often as entertaining in between songs as she is when playing them...  Her quirky, quick-witted humor sets everyone at ease and then her songs, with brilliant imagery and soft-spoken honesty blew us away. – Tom Bianchi

About Garlic & Moonshine:  

Boston-based Garlic & Moonshine developed roots in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts when long-time friends and collaborators Matthew Rowen (acoustic guitar), Kirsten Lamb (upright bass), and Avi David (electric guitar) came together in January 2009 to record their debut album In Waves (to be released in March 2010). Their eclectic sound is grounded in creative songwriting and strong musicianship. In Waves is at times playful and bouncy, at others sparse and introspective. 

From the Nashua Telegraph's Encore magazine, 3/4/10:

Friends since grade school, Louis Gendron and Michael Cusanelli hadn’t spoken in 20 years.

After reconnecting on Facebook, they found they still shared much in common: careers in the entertainment industry, a love of music, children of their own and families that have been touched by the diagnosis of autism.

On Friday, March 12, these connections will come together in a benefit concert, Acoustic for Autism, at Studio 99 in Nashua. The show is the result of more than a year of research, dedication and passion put forth by these two friends.

When Gendron’s daughter was diagnosed with autism in August 2008, he decided to begin learning more about the disorder and the emotional and financial burdens that often accompany it, and he became determined to do something about it.

Thus began the Acoustic for Autism project.

“I wanted to do a benefit show from the get-go,” Gendron said, but he found organizing a concert was “a bit more difficult logistically” and opted to start work on putting together an album.

Gendron had connections in the music industry, and a number of musicians expressed interest in being a part of the project.

There came a point when production of the album began stalling, and around this time, Gendron and Cusanelli reunited. The two met for lunch, and while catching up on the previous 20 years, they began talking about the Gendron’s project.

Cusanelli, experienced in sales and marketing at Worldsound Records, a music-management company, decided to get on board as executive producer for the “A4A” album.

“His expertise in the music biz really helped get this album out,” Gendron said.

Gendron and Cusanelli collaborated, lining up musicians for the album by reaching out to their respective contacts. They compiled the songs using music they loved that fit the project, Gendron said.

“We didn’t want the songs to be specifically about autism,” he said, “we wanted to reach a broad audience.”

The resulting 12 tracks highlight positive messages of strength and perseverance.

“I think anybody listening to the album can get something out of it,” Gendron said. “I worked hard on the sequencing of the songs, to have it flow together.”

The track lineup was complete and the talent of Matt Mahurin, who has created music videos for U2, Metallica and Tracy Chapman, was enlisted to create a unique illustration for the CD cover.

“When we had the CD done and were ready to release it, (Cusanelli) wanted to release it digitally,” said Gendron, citing concerns about the environmental impact of production and manufacturing costs.

The initial release in the fall of 2009 was digital, but, after a large demand, they began offering CD sales in January.

The project was funded almost entirely out of pocket, Gendron said, with Cusanelli putting up much of the money for the manufacturing. The album is now offered at Bull Moose Records, Newbury Comics, Best Buy and Amazon.com. All of the proceeds benefit autism charities. Copies of the CD will also be available for purchase at the Studio 99 show, benefiting the Autism Society of New Hampshire.

Gendron said they wanted to maximize the amount of money that goes to charity, and they have local sales and live shows that target local charities.

“It’s nice knowing that the money is going back to your community,” he said.

Cormac McCarthyAdditionally, ticket sales for the concert will be donated to the Autism Society.

The concert is their first based on this project and, Gendron said, in keeping with the community-oriented spirit, they wanted to hold it in New Hampshire, since it’s where he and Cusanelli are from. While Cusanelli has since moved to Connecticut, Gendron still calls Wilton home.

Mike Morris, of Strafford, one of the musicians performing at the concert, says he’s looking forward to a night of “firsts.” He has never played at Studio 99 or with fellow musician Cormac McCarthy. Morris, a friend of Gendron’s, was asked to participate in the event, but wasn’t able to contribute to the album.

“We had tried to coordinate our efforts a couple of times, but this was the first one that worked out,” Morris said.

McCarthy, of Maine, will also perform a full set at 99, and his track “This Beautiful Place” is on the “A4A” CD.

On choosing the two performers, Gendron said, Morris is “kind of bluesy,” while McCarthy is “a little more country.” Gendron “thought it would be great to have two different styles of music” and have both playing full sets in one night.

“I wanted to pick a smaller, more intimate venue” for the performance, Gendron said, and when he saw what Elise MacDonald was working on as director at Studio 99, he found what he was looking for.

“I reached out to Elise,” Gendron said, because “I really liked the fact that she was supporting local musicians.

“Music is always going to be a live thing. People are drawn more to the overall experience.”

Gendron says he hopes to do more shows, as well as another album: “We still have a long way to go as far as education about autism goes.”

Beth Eisenberg can be reached at 594-6431 or beisenberg@nashuatelegraph.com.

From The Hippo Press, 3/4/10

Nini & BenOne advantage of living close to the Massachusetts border is frequent visits from Berklee School of Music alumni. The Boston arts college has an embarrassment of talent, and many of these bands choose to play out in New Hampshire. The latest is Nini+Ben, a young sextet with an original repertoire that melds folk pop, rustic Americana and country rock.

Named for leaders Christina “Nini” Fabi and Ben Gebert, the band released a full-length album, The Reasons We Try, last November, and it’s a gem. Frequently, it’s hard to translate a good studio effort to a live setting, and vice versa, but Nini+Ben have no such problems. They have an easy onstage chemistry, and possess a knack for performing note-perfect versions of the album’s songs in concert.

Their music evokes many familiar elements without being derivative. It’s not hard to spot Edie Brickell in the lilting, laconic rhythms of “You Don’t Love Me” — until the song is punctuated with a sly dobro straight out of a Ryan Adams record. Fabi’s voice bears an eerie resemblance to Stevie Nicks on “Down to the Road,” but the bluesy riff driving the song gives it a sinister edge. Such surprising elements turn up on just about every one of the album’s 10 tracks.

This unique sound has drawn the attention of producer Don Was, who tapped them for a recent showcase of selections from the producer’s many works. Two of their songs appeared on a school-produced showcase album, Heavy Rotation Records: Dorm Sessions Volume 6. Nini+Ben was among only nine Berklee bands chosen for the project.

Nini+Ben’s history is both a love story and a musical tale. The Ohio-born Fabi moved to her mother’s native Germany at a young age. Growing up, she spent a lot of time shuttling between Europe and her father’s home in the United States. She met Gebert in high school, and the two quickly found a common bond, which eventually led to something deeper.

“We were a couple after we started making music together,” the 25-year-old Fabi said recently. “It wasn’t serious at that time, but the music was definitely our connection.”

The pair sharpened their songwriting skills, performing throughout Europe and as far away as Australia. On the road, they lived out a rough and ragged fantasy life of club and coffee house shows, rides in rickety microbuses and collaborations with like-minded players; everything became the stuff of art. “The Reasons We Try is all about personal experience,” Fabi said. “Not always 100 percent autobiographical, but the gist of it is … we really want to create songs that are true to us that can apply to people.”

Around this time, Fabi and Gebert set their sights on a formal music education in the United States. During a visit with friends in Boston, they checked out Berklee and decided to audition, something they each did separately, not as a duo. Gebert focused on piano; Fabi studied voice, harmony and ear training. Each took classes in business and theory.

Early on, they took a semester off to record an EP, Rise and Shine.

“We just got the feeling, it was pretty intense,” Fabi said of the decision to make the recording. “When you first go to Berklee, you get caught up in all these other things and doing other people’s music and honing … your craft.”

Fabi and Gebert will both graduate in May, and they’ve already begun to make the most of the new record. A show at Nashua’s Studio 99 this Saturday (March 6) is part of that effort. When they finish at Berklee, the couple plans to move to Brooklyn for the many artistic opportunities there. “It seems like there is a scene for our kind of music, and we just want to be performing a lot,” she said. “We’re getting a manager, so we don’t have to pull out our hair doing that stuff all of the time.”

“Sometimes it feels like this is the only thing we can do,” Fabi said, adding that the creative rewards outweigh the business challenges. “This is a tough time, but if you stick with people of your generation and kind of go with it, it can be a really exciting time for new ideas and creating a new kind of music business.”

Friday, February 19

8 pm

Tickets: $12 general; $8 for students and seniors with ID

or online in advance via Brown Paper Tickets

Michael Bellar and the As/Is Ensemble played a wonderfully received show for us last fall, and we are thrilled to host them once again!  On their way to South by Southwest 2010 in March, this band represents the best of NYC's alt-jazz scene --- and we're thrilled to bring them to Nashua again.

Michael Bellar has performed music on six continents but being a native of North Carolina, he stands by his slow, southern roots. Along with creating music and touring with his group, the AS-IS Ensemble, Michael has also toured and or recorded with Amos Lee, Art Garfunkel, Howie Day, Wheatus, Jump Little Children, Teddy Geiger, Euro pop superstar Giorgia and Jay Clifford’s Rosebud. His national TV appearances include Late Night with David Letterman, the Late Show with Conan O’Brien Show, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Ellen Degeneres Show, TRL, Good Morning America, Regis and Kelly and the CBS Morning Show. Michael has produced and scored music for CUT Music (LA), Fluid (NYC), Bang Music and Razorhead.

Michael is the founder, composer and keyboardist of the AS-IS Ensemble. This highly excitable, alt-jazz group has performed at such venues as Avery Fischer Hall at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, South By Southwest and the JVC, Bell Atlantic and New York City Winter Jazz Festivals along with being the former house band at the world-famous Blue Note jazz club in NYC. They have opened for John Scofield, Tea Leaf Green, Medeski Martin & Wood, Grant Green Jr. and JFJO.  In a review of their first ever performance in New York City, they were hailed as “Generation Next” by Billboard Magazine. The group has recorded three studio CDs – “Turned On Turned Up” (2009), “Like It Is,” and “REACT!”

Here's video from the Fall 2009 performance at Studio 99...

Miss Tess

& the Bon Ton Parade

Thursday, February 18

8 pm

$12 general in advance, via Brown Paper Tickets

$15 general at the door / $10 students & seniors at the door

Named by the Boston Globe as a "Local on the Verge" for 2008, Miss Tess is a young, Boston-based performing songwriter. Aptly naming her style “Modern Vintage” , her music bridges eras and genres. Miss Tess is celebrating being named “Outstanding Folk Artist of the Year” at the December Boston Music Awards. The Folk part was a surprise but the award is much appreciated. She has been nominated for another BMA this year, this time in the jazz category.

Miss Tess has just released her fifth album, "Darling, Oh Darling", a collection of original songs, drawing inspiration from many roots genres including swing, blues, jazz, country, and folk.

Brian Tucker of Bootleg Magazine on the new album: "Miss Tess has grace, and the chops, to deliver an album of new material brimming with ‘30s era jazz and swing or bouncing energy of the 1950s. Tess sounds transported from decades past without ending up a caricature. She’s sultry, sassy, fun, and all heart. While steeped in the era that spawned Fats Waller or Bessie Smith she’s completely her own voice, capable of stepping outside traditional sounds altogether."

She’s grown leaps and bounds since the 2007’s Modern Vintage - her voice warmer and more lighthearted, and variety on Darling, Oh Darling is abundant. All of the songs are written by Miss Tess, no covers or standards here, the material ranging from steamy jazz to swing and country rave-ups. Her voice is what the word romantic means; the sound easily a soundtrack to relationships at their best or a little rocky. It’s uplifting and caressing; imagine Sade or Linda Ronstadt performing in the Jazz Age. The band is tight, the playing sharp and steadfastly inspired.

‘Oh No’ sonically informs the ear to what’s at work here. It begins monotone, as if pouring out from an old radio, then comes forward in stereo, how we’re used to hearing music. It’s fuller, richer, and regardless, it still sounds timeless and effervescent. Miss Tess doesn’t stick to a single period, from the country stroll of ‘Love’ to the on-fire swagger of ‘That Oo Oo Oo,’ the rockabilly showstopper ‘I Don’t Want to See You Anymore’ or the carnival feel of ‘Time Can Take the Pain Away.’ Parts of Darling, Oh Darling are downright sexy, like moments of new love and candlelit rooms, notably the heavy horns and easy tempo of ‘Riding Home,’ where her low voice accompanies them, singing “Ridin, Ridin, Ridin home to you/There’s nothing I’d rather do.” It doesn’t get any better, more exemplary, than that. It’s the sound of love, of longing, of someone dug in deep. But Miss Tess illuminates the sadder side with similar strength and earnestness. The title track is a heartbreaker, in which the narrator sings to their lover of not worrying about them leaving, that their love is true. It’s bittersweet, yet tender regardless of its austerity.

What’s imperative, and fantastic, about an artist like Miss Tess is that she sounds real, the music equally real. Her singing is like someone looking you in the eye, the feeling genuine and meaningful. Miss Tess doesn’t attempt to borrow an old style; she exudes a breathy style of performing that’s both timeless and new."

Miss Tess continues to tour around around the country with her backing band, The Bon Ton Parade: Alec Spiegelman (sax & clarinet), Ben Davis (upright bass), Matt Meyer (drums), bringing her sound to theaters, nightclubs, bars, and coffeeshops.

Our first standing-room-only event was last night's appearance by Liz Longley.  What a great night!

Here's a casual snapshot from Sid Ceaser's TwitPic stream...thanks to all for coming out, and to Liz for an amazing evening of music.

Minutes after she returned home, Liz learned that she'd just won the Grand Prize for the International Acoustic Music Awards.

We hope to host Liz again very soon.
 

Ben Geyer, piano

Matthew Bryan Feld, vocals 

present a special evening of music in support of 

The HorsePower Therapeutic Riding Program 

at Pony Farm, Temple, NH

Saturday, February 27

8:00 pm

Tickets:  $25 per person or $120 for a reserved table for four

available in advance via Brown Paper Tickets

The Geyer/Feld Duo has performed at Studio 99 several times, captivating our audience and beautifully serving their repertoire of jazz standards and originals each time.  Here's an example:

From HorsePower's mission statement:

OUR COMMITMENT

Horse Power's high standards for a competent, compassionate and skillful staff, along with the careful selection of appropriate horses, creates a safe environment in which students can build trusting relationships and experience new levels of self-confidence. We increase our positive impact by reaching out to over twenty local communities in the Monadnock region and by carrying this mission to other communities around the nation by teaching aspiring instructors to achieve their NARHA Instructor Certification.  

OUR SPIRIT

Horse Power's supportive environment is created by staff, board members, volunteers and students who embrace the mission through hope, compassion, competence, and skill. Each understands there is dignity in risk and is committed to helping others achieve personal growth. All are willing to sacrifice for the good of the whole.

OUR VISION

Horse Power leads the way in providing state of the art therapeutic horsemanship which builds courage, hope and self-confidence for those coping with physical, emotional or learning challenges through our local programs and our nationally recognized instructor training school.

From Georgetown, MA, I drive to Nashua, NH, via Cambridge, MA (to attend Asa Brebner’s art show opening at Passim) and poor planning lands me about 20 minutes late for Studio 99’s early starting time of 7:00. I stroll into a medium-size room with folding chairs covering two-thirds of the space; the other third is the stage area. On the stage side sit two guitarists, spread out about 10 feet apart, performing “Ashland,” a mellow Jeff Beck-like instrumental. There’s no singing here. On left is Jimmy Gaudette, playing his ’56 natural sunburst Gibson ES125 hollow body with F holes, and on the right is Mike Loce on a ’71 Les Paul Recording—a guitar that has as many switches and knobs as a cockpit. These guys are both above-excellent guitarist. They swing into “Red River Valley”—though they call it “Merrimack River Rock.” The show is a study in pure guitar sounds. They close the show with covers of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown” and the Ventures’ “Walk Don’t Run.” I think I have to go home now and work on my guitar skills.

Okay, I decide to stay to see Kate Taylor, who also performs tonight as a duet with Billy Derby—another guitarist who puts me in awe of his playing. Kate plays an acoustic in most of her songs too, but, when she doesn’t, Billy has no fear in taking solos that leave wide-open space for you to feel the beat—not as easy as it sounds. Kate is a wonderful storyteller between songs—her daughter pleaded with her not to play “Don’t Break Two Hearts” before her wedding—the opening line is “Stop the wedding!” She learned about carny barking at the Martha’s Vineyard annual agricultural fair and found it a place full of romance to be had. The title of her latest CD is Fair Time, and she plays the title track. She and Billy do almost all their recording in Billy’s home studio in Bedford, NH. One highlight is their soul groovin’ version of Ike Turner’s “You’re Just a Fool”—made for a duet to sing. Kate tells a touching story before “Red Tail,” a song about her late husband, Charlie Witham, and the embodiment of his spirit in the red tail hawk, who would circle the sky during family occasions. With “Soap Opera Life” and “King of the Pond” the story telling is as much a part of the show as the musical performance. After the duet ends with “Auld Lang Syne,” Kate heads right into the small audience and chats with everyone individually. This was a very special night. (T Max)

The Noise has covered Boston-area music longer than any other music publication.

Love Gone Bad, Part 2:  

This Time, It's Personal

You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs...Bring your bitter breakup poems, love-gone-wrong songs and broken-hearted monologues for a celebration of bad love poetry and prose. 

Musicians:  Song accompaniment by iPod (bring your own; we have speakers), boom box (bring your CD; we'll provide the box) or piano (if it's a well-known pop song, we'll accompany you without sheet music, piano-karaoke style!). Instrumentalists:  please bring a guitar, etc., or play our piano in self-accompaniment.

Writers:  bring your poetry and spoken word pieces...

Admission: $10 / seniors & students w/ ID $5

 all proceeds will go to VH1's Save the Music

coffees, teas, snacks, and chocolates available for sale

Twitter updates:  #lovegonebad