I haven't written in my blog for, like, weeks - I have been busy and this has just been low on my priority list. Anyhow, lemme get right into a few things:

WEB DESIGN:
I have been playing around with the image maps functions in Adobe Image Ready and have begun to create a series of exciting new image navigation maps for my site here - of course my use of the word 'exciting' is relative - and in the process I have discovered a few minor discrepancies between the way IE handles image maps and rollovers and the way that Netscape handles maps - gee, I might as well get this off my chest right away: When you mouseover my fancy new buttons in IE you get the rollover effect, and the link - however, when you mouseover my fancy buttons with Netscape, you only get the rollover image UNTIL you hit the actual dimensions of the IMAGE MAP and then you get - the original image. Blah!!! I cannot figure this one out, so what I have done is to create little tiny map hotspots within the middle of the image so that you get the rollover effect in both browsers. The limitation is obvious, is it not? You have to mouseover the tiny image map to get the link to the target page, otherwise, you get no link at all. But if I make the map as big as the button image, then you get no rollover AT ALL when browsing the page with Netscape. Well, we all have to compromise don't we, I have done so JUST to accomodate any Netscape users.

CD LISTENING:
I have a whole bunch of new CD's to listen to - Justin Markert recently sent me one, so did Chris Viola, I have listened only to a little of both of those 'demo' CD's. Chris Nekvinda had a FABULOUS CD release party at UCA early this month and since then I have been listening to his CD "Picture Show" and just yesterday while listening to the track "Lost in America" (or maybe it's "3000 miles" ) I got all misty. I have Tim Fry's new CD - very nice sounding, open, mellow and peaceful solo acoustic tunes with interesting and introspective lyrical poetry - these recordings capture a focused studio performance on Tim's part, recorded mostly at Strangelove and mastered by Charlie Mosbrook. Good job Tim!!! I have been listening to "Mirandas Moon" - the first CD, with the cut "Saturn Five" - and I have been diggin it waaay more since giving it some time in the CD player. All the tracks from that CD are super well done and the music is really unique and interesting and fun too. I have a copy of Jake Harper's demo CD and I need to spin that one up a few more times before I can get a feel for it - it sounds good at first listen, but I usually need several listens before I can fully tune my ears into a new voice. And lets see, I have XelaKooshtick - and these cuts are so big sounding and warm and alive! I just am totally into the sound of those tracks, they were recorded in front of a live audience at a soundstage somewhere in the TRI-C campus, and Xela man plays some great songs (I just groove out totally to LALALAND) with Nick Gaudette's accompany on double bass, if you have not heard this CD yet, get it very soon, I think it's his best recorded work to date, however, I am a huge fan of the XelaMonster and I have all his full-length CD's sometimes I get to accompany him myself on acoustic bass and I listen to the CD's frequently so don't hold me to my word if I all a sudden decide that I like one of the other CD's better again. I must not forget to mention that I have Mike Allan's illicit demo CD (Thanks Roger!) and I have been listening to that allot as well - although, recently, Mike has recorded new vocal tracks to those cuts and has been working with the music and the vocals during trips to Detroit, so I cant wait to hear the final versions! The Stoigatronic one laid down some delicate, tender and generally sweeeeet asssss solo acoustic versions of a few of those tracks during the Strange Night event this past SAT - heheh!!

STRANGE NIGHT:
Ok, enough about what I have been listening too - and back to what is happeneing! The Strange Night at UCA with 'Mobile Love' (Mobile Strange Love Recording) went of without a single hitch - it was smooth, flawless, perfect in every way. All the artists showed up, every one played really, really well - probably better then they would under 'ordinary circumstances'. It was an OUTSTANDING event and one worth repeating which is exactly what we are going to do. Look for another Strange Night sometime in FEB 2005 - thanks to everyone who made this night so special, y'all know who you are: Terry, Miriam, Tim, Jim, Mo, Brittany, Mike, Chris, Veronica

CROP CIRCLES:
I have been kind of a little bit obsessed with the crop circle formation phenomenon just recently and the nav map idea that graces the home page is made from a legitimate crop circle photo here are the details about that particular picture:
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Location (nearest town or landmark): Noyan, Quebec
Date First Reported or Discovered: August 24, 2004
Crop: cattle corn (9-10 feet tall)
Shape: circle
Size: 27 metres (89 feet) diameter
On-site investigation: CCCRN Quebec (Denyse Aita), BLT Research Team (Nancy Talbott)
Found August 24 by farmer. Later reported September 11 in Le Canada Francais newspaper. Offset centre. Plants flattened radially outward from centre to outside edge, never seen before in a corn formation. Cavities / splits in some stalk nodes. Additional photos and diagrams coming soon.

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Here are the actual picture credits for the photo I used to construct the image map: Aerial view - October 15.© Denyse Aita, CCCRN Quebec
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Ah, I feel so much better publishing the picture credit.
Here is a blurb about CCCRN:

(visit the site for a whole bunch of really neato pictures taken of and around legitimate crop circle formations)

===============
"The Canadian Crop Circle Research Network (CCCRN) was started in 1995 (initially as Circles Phenomenon Research Canada, an affiliate of Circles Phenomenon Research International in the USA, before the later closure of the CPRI offices, and then refounded in 2001 as CCCRN), as an effort to investigate and document the crop circle phenomenon in Canada. Up to that point, there was no organized means of doing this, other than a handful of very few independent researchers. As the phenomenon was now being reported virtually across the whole country (since 1990), although concentrated in the prairies, it became clear that a more organized approach was necessary, including having field researchers spread out geographically to cover as many reports as possible, as quickly as possible. The situation was different than in England, the long-standing centre of activity, where by far most formations are found within an eighty kilometre (fifty mile) or so radius of the Stonehenge / Avebury region. In Canada however, and in the United States, they have been found literally from one side of the continent to the other, although again, most have been in the prairie provinces. Thus, CCCRN was born."
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So, there you go.

And here is a link to another really interesting site devoted to crop circle formations and the investigation of them. Go eahead, click on over there, I would not steer you wrong.

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I gotta go pee. See you later.

All right - Lets get this party started!

Audra Kubat has updated her website - she is in Brooklyn NYC, she has an apartment, she found a job, AND she has finished her new album with Times Beach Records! Whew, that girl can move through the world like a warm spoon through butter - here is a link to a recent interview with Audra, check it out - there is a cool picture of her as well.

UCA recently hosted and evening of acoustic pop rock with Bay Village teenage pop diva Kate Voegele and I don't remember seeing you there - and I have to ask myself - why the hell weren't all of you at the cafe for that night? It was a great show! She brought young guitar slinger Sam Getz and Will Voegele (her dad) to play alongside her and between them they made truly fantastic music (the three of them together and Kate solo) there is no longer any doubt in my mind that Kate is capable of getting to the top of the 'business model'. Ok, juicy gossip: Kate is working with Marshall Altman (yup that A&R guy from Columbia Records) - and I understand that Kate has procurred the services of both an Entertainment Lawyer and a Manager - she ain't foolin' around here - she has recently re-recorded several of the already-hot-sounding songs from "The Other Side" EP (which was recorded in Lakewood ohio) with Marshall out in some fancy schmancy Hollywood studio - whew! I would loooove to hear those new cuts! I bet they sparkle like diamonds! Will explained briefly that after Altman heard songs from "The Other Side" EP he picked a couple to re-record with an 'edgier' groove in order to shop them to the major lables. Kates fabulous acoustic performances indicate to me that she has developed (in only a short period of time) a healthy and mature 'working musicians' respect for acoustic instumentation and an already excellent grasp of what it takes to work within an acoustic performance setting, I guess it's up to the Mighty Music Industry Machine to lift Kate's warmly glowing gift up up and away into the pop-culture ubersphere where it can be heard and seen by all - that is after all what they do best. Until Kate has 'flown the coop' so to speak I hope we get to hear more than a few more of those parred-down style performances with Sam and Will - the next show here in town is at Hard Rock, Kate is the local Pantene Pro Teen voice finalist: Kate Voegele Fri, Nov 19 7:00-9:00PM Pantene Pro Voice & YM Magazine Listening Party Hard Rock Cafe CLEVELAND OH

Solo performance newcomer Miriam Mendelson will play songs and recite poetry for a couple of hours over at the Eye Candy Gallery in Tremont for the 2nd Friday Art Walk November 12- she has been coming out to the Open Mic events at UCA religiously for a couple of months now, singing her heart out at every chance, and had asked me for the opportunity to stretch out a little bit more into an evening of music and poetry that she could 'call her own' and so be it! The Eye Candy is the place to be to begin or end the Tremont Art Walk and that's where you will find artist and gallery operators Rita and Bob Telaak. The fabulous hand fabricated Art Jewelry pieces that Rita creates are not to be missed, you will probably decide that you cannot live a single day longer without one or more of her pieces adorning your body and life!

Adam Zadok is finally coming into town this month from Buffalo NY for a night of acoustic musical revelry at UCA on Saturday November 13 - and I am looking forward to hearing him play live after speaking with him on the phone, and hearing his CD. Check the entire November UCA Music Calendar for all of the music scheduled this month.


December will be a light music calendar with our last live music night of the year at UCA being Dec. 18th - a "Strange Night at the U.C. Arabica" with live recording sponsored by Strangelove Recording and a lineup of musical acts featuring --- well, we are going to have a bunch of acts, I am not ready to publish any potential lineup yet because its still only November. I am personally going to want to try to fit as many acts into the one night of recording as will be humanly possible - think of all those clowns coming out of a tiny car at the circus - just like that - but I don't know that Adam feels exactly the same way about things so - well - I dunno - at 2 to 3 songs per act I think its going to be crazy night anyway we work it. Just plan on being there even if you are not 'on the bill' because we are going to have fun - so there. If you are interested in recording that night, lemme know, and soon.



Anyhow, I hope that these blog entries are interesting to a few readers, if you have anything to say to me just drop a line to my email address music@steve2.net

Audra K. updated her website recently - it's really nice to read a few words from her, she writes that she is in Brooklyn NY and has an apartment! Sweeeet! She explains she is looking for work, and will be playing guitar and singing in The Big City for about the next six months or so. She also writes that her new album is completed - Audra is such a hot singer/songwriter talent and I like her so much ... I can't wait to hear the new songs!!


Laura Webster at U.C. Arabica this weekend - if you get the chance to stop by on Sat. night please do, Laura has a really pretty voice and she is a graceful talent - check out her website for pictures and more biographical information.


Kate Voegele at U.C. Arabica Sat. Oct. 30th for an acoustic show and she will bring with her a couple of other musicians for this show - Will Voegele and perhaps an electric guitarist. I am excited about this show and a little nervous because I want Kate to have a good crowd to play to and latley the neighborhood (Barking Spider and Arabica) have been a little bit slow at night - at least on the nights I have been over there. So, if you read this and you can make it out please come to hear Kate, she is a really bright young songwriting talent and her voice is ... there is so much already written about her songwriting and her voice - just google her name and see what you find. I have been digging the K.V. EP "The Other Side" - check out her site, it was recently re-designed and it looks really good!!


Kate Morrissey called me recently to setup a show at U.C.A. for Friday Jan. 28th - gee, thats Next Year!! She has a show at the Barking Spider that weekend so I really won't have any excuse not to make one of the nights - Kate has played the U.C.A. a couple of times and I have not yet managed to get to the shop for one of her shows - uhm, I have listened to the samples of the music on her site, and I have also noted with much appreciation that she has a really nice phone voice.




Kristine Jackson has tentativly agreed to play a solo acoustic show at U.C.A November 11 - Kristine is a fabulous young blues singer and she is also a working horn player - she was a member of the local group "Blues On Purpose" and she has played horn with many blues greats including Cleveland's own Robert Lockwood - she has lots of top-notch real-world experience as a horn player and now she is fronting her own act as a singer, I have her demo, I listen to it frequently - it's really good!



OK, well this is just a preview of what's coming up - I need to work on getting the whole November calendar up. In November U.C.A. will host shows with Chelsea and Allen, "Flip Side" (with Beth Hyland), Ryan Anderson, and Ben Jacobs as well as Adam Zadok and Xela and John Toula. The calendar is coming .....

I have been on hiatus from work (took some badly needed vacation time) and have been listening to some music and I have some news items to share with you:

OPEN MIC:
Open Mic at the Arabica University Circle has been going really well this past few weeks and I want to thank all those who come to play and hang out: Matt Rayl, Terry Writz, Dan Rose, David Mansfield, Dan and Ben, and Dan and Lee and finally Dan and George. A special thank you to Jim Snively for not only making his own Open Mic very special but for making the effort to come out and make other events happen. And thanks to Ben Jacobs for bringing in his original songs and his friends. Thank you to Miriam for putting up with all the ‘cavernous’ sound issues - please keep coming to Open Mic, OK? Thanks Angelisa for coming out to play last week even though it was late I enjoyed listening to you and I hope to see you again.

AUDRA KUBAT:
You may or may not know that I am a HUGE Audra Kubat fan and that she is moving to NYC, I am going to miss seeing her here in Cleveland once in a while. I went to her biter sweet going away party this past weekend in Detroit and I got to say I felt only a little out of place not knowing anyone there (other than Audra) – I was the only out-of-state fan to be invited to the party. But everyone was friendly and nice, the crowd was composed of totally eclectic hipsters of all ages and the music, of course, was really fantastic. I noticed Audra was a little bit nervous – maybe because her parents were in the audience? I met Audra’s brother Chris, but I neglected to make a pointed effort to introduce myself to her parents. I got a really cool poster and I met a nice girl there by the name of Gwen Joy and I hope maybe she might read this and if she does, well I gave her my web site address, maybe she will contact me, but probably not. Anyhow, Audra is wrapping up her second full length CD release with Times Beach and she told me it would be done very soon – probably done by now. How exciting! I cannot wait to hear it!

SPECIAL EVENT:
I have an associate in Lakewood who owns and operates a really nice full-service recording studio – perhaps you are familiar with Strangelove Recording? Adam Probert is the engineer and the owner operator of Strangelove and he has done tons of work with bands around town, releasing several compilations CD’s along the way. Adam is interested in finding and recording acoustic talent and is looking for ways to promote his studio. So, after batting a couple of ideas around, we have decided to coordinate a live recording event at the U.C. Arabica and we have even decided a date: Saturday December 18 2004. For this date Strangelove and U.C. Arabica will co-host an evening of music at the café with anywhere from 5 to 8 acoustic acts (to be decided upon in the very near future). Each act will have about twenty minutes to play a TFA (Totally Freaking Acoustic) set. Each act will be recorded, free of charge and professionally, with a mobile 16-track studio setup. Please stay tuned for more details as to which acts will be included in this very special event.

WHAT I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO:
Here are a few things I have been listening to:

NEIL JACOBS: Neil is a local resident guitar player of astounding talent – I heard him for the first time at the Lakewood Arts Festival this past summer and I won a CD and only recently started listening to it. It is full of the most amazing acoustic twelve string guitar playing I have ever heard. According to the bio, Neil has traveled the world playing the guitar and the music on this CD ‘World Blue’ is nothing short of simple brilliance.

JOHN MONTGOMERY: Just got this CD in a press kit from John and – wow! John has a really gorgeous voice talent and his writing is superb – maybe when he comes out here he will make a stop at the U.C. Arabica.

MIRANDA’S MOON: These guys are friends of mine and I just got a copy of the most recent complete ‘demo’ CD and it is a rock and roll boner for sure! The guitar sounds are alternately clear and springy (in that glass tube way, you know) then growling, lush and punchy crunchy with plenty of edge. The drums are sounding great, even from my little speakers, the cymbals get plenty of mix and the snare and bass drums are both really well represented. The bass guitar sounds are clear and tight punchy, course my home speakers are just itty bitsy things so I don’t get all that fat low end but overall this is a really great sounding mix. Finally, the raspy and keening whining vocals are delivered right into the center of everything just as pretty as a picture. These songs are all very different from one another and this is not your typical homogenous sounding rock music, it’s sort of equal parts bashing garage and melancholy geek rock and it takes a few listens to get below the surface of MIRANDA’S MOON. My only complaint is that the lyrics are not printed on the CD insert.

KATE VOEGELE: Kate’s CD ‘The Other Side’ has top notch production values applied to it – it just a huge sounding CD with crystal clear sparkling warm acoustic guitars and dirty clean Fender sounding electric guitars. There are sweeping keyboard sounds, accordions, organs and assorted ‘orchestrations’ – no effort was sparred in putting this work together, it’s a jewel with Kate’s sinuous voice glowing at its center. I can’t really say much more that hasn’t probably already been said, Kate has had this ‘demo’ CD heard by some of the music industries top producers and I guess she is well on her way to making a full length CD sometime in the very near future. I imagine she will sign some kind of lucrative record deal before she is twenty years of age.

BASICALLY BLUE/ACOUSTICALLY BLUE: I really dig Kristine Jackson’s voice and on this demo CD she sounds dusky, honeyed, serious, sweet and sexy and green enough to sound ‘cute’ in the way one might apply the word to a playful and purring young kitten. The full band cuts are clean and groovy funky with sweet orchestration and really nice big brassy horn parts and some horn solos (Kristine is also a trumpet player). I also like the relaxed sounding acoustic tracks on this CD and hope Zack and Kristine will be able to play the U.C. Arabica some night.


I am so certain there were some other things on my mind, but now I dunno what they might have been.
Until later, have a nice … whatever it is you have.

Hey y'all - Chris Nekvinda and Veronica Darby are coming out to Tremont Art Walk this Friday (tommorrow) - they will jam a T.F.A. set at the good Eye Candy Gallery on Professor Ave. - its gonna be a good time, Eye Candy always has a good night during art walk with lots of foot traffic and bottles of wine and finger foods - I have heard that Will Cheshier might stop by (I have heard that Will's sister owns the gallery next door to Eye Candy) and we will hope to see more than a few friends of Nekvinda and Darby come round. Oh, dig this - Bill Morrissey is in town tonight, if you aren't going to the Beachland to hear the mellow acoustic sounds of Bill's music than you might enjoy a nice MP3 ("If you dont want me") from his site off of the album 'Songs of Mississippi John hurt'. Here is a cool link to an online archive (www.archive.org) of live recorded shows - I pulled in an entire show (350MB worth) of 'lost in america' live at Grog shop and it sounds great!! I also got a few other goodies, its worth checking it out.

Hey y'all, I don't have allot of time for this bloggin' thing tonight - but I think I have to post some really cool links - here is something about Elliott Smith and a new recording that is being released by ANTI records of material he was just completing before his death in 2003 and there are a couple of really nice MP3 songs to go with the brief news - wow, I hope these links stay up for awhile the songs are so nice and just pure Elliott loveliness. The actual text of the article/blurb is under the album picture under the heading 'RELATED NEWS'. Looks like the release date is slated for later this month..

My singer songwriter friend Michael Allen (who has been the bass player for local rock act Jericho Turnpike) has most recently been writing, recording, and playing (solo) a whole bunch of shiny new songs. Funny, but it seems that we had been seeing and hearing each other around the town at various open mic events for months before we finally got around to talking to one another for any length of time about who we were, what we were doing, and who our common friends might be, it's such a small world sometimes! So, anyway, after hearing Michael play and sing on many occasions (and at the Barking Spider very recently) I invited him to play a Friday night solo set at the U.C. Arabica and this past weekend and he had a cozy and intimate audience that included his lovely young baby daughter Eva and her mom (Michael’s wife) Jennifer and also a few of their close friends - including Rodger Mendez and his wife, Beth. It was a good solid solo show, a real nice bare-bones reading of Michael’s new tunes - and afterwards Michael and I had a chance to talk a little bit about the 'demo' tunes he has been working on up in Detroit at Rust Belt Studios - and I admitted to him that I had an illegitimate copy (how appropriate!) of some of those tunes and that I have been listening to the mixes quite a bit recently, and the current opinion on my part is (drum roll please) that the mixes really rock! Mike has said that most of the vocal tracks are not 'final' in that they exist more in capacity as 'scratch tracks' however steve2 has noted with much stereo-turned-way-up-loud-during-morning-shower glee that the majority of the mixes sound really huge and totally professional just the way they are (scratch track vocals or not) so good in fact that they can be cranked WAY up LOUD because the guitars growl, sing, and twang just shimmeringly and the bass guitar sounds are sweeeeet and tiiiight and the drums are sounding, like, huge and perfect – sounds like with only a little more work on the voice parts Mike and Rust Belt will have put together a real nice slamming piece of rock and roll Detroit style by way of Cleveland!! Is that cool or what??

PS: You have no idea how badly I want to post a nice single MP3 from the oh-so ‘illegitimate copy’ of the tunes I have on hand – it takes allot of self control not to do so – and every day I listen to the mix I feel that self control slipping away… Agh! I cannot promise that I won’t DO IT!

Open Mic Shenanigans!!

Thanks to all recent participants in the U.C. Arabica Open Mic Night - lately its been a really happening event with anywhere from 8-11 performers contributing songs and stories. Last week Todd Wieder played a few poignant original songs on his beautiful Larrive - wow, it was a real shiny guitar and it sounded fantastic, made my Larrive look like it has been around the block a few too many times! Todd had until recently been playing with 'Lost in America' and he tells me that the group has disbanded. I look forward to hearing Todd again real soon. Jim Snively also dropped in and illuminated the room with his gracious voice, playing three of his original tunes - always good to hear you Jim keep up the good work out at McNamara's! Ben Jacobs played several high-energy original songs and he brought along a nice cozy crowd of Case Western listeners with him - great to have had your company Ben, hope to see you again!! Miriam Mendelson also stopped by and played a few songs, as always it's a delight to have Miriam's company on Wednesday night. Thanks to all the other participants - Josh, Matt, Dan and a few others who I may have only met once or twice - please keep coming out and bring your friends!

Have you recently hit my home page? Or do you just click directly over to this weblog from parts uknown - the reason I ask is, well, I make effort to change the content of my home page frequently, every week at least. And thanks to my regular visitors, when I type steve2 into GOOGLE I get my own site (my home page no less) as the number one return result!! Doesn't that call for some kind of a celebration? I will drink in honor of your increased visits! And I did do some drinking this past weekend, ended up drinkening big Pabst cans at the Grog Shop last weekend for John Petkovic and COBRA VERDE - I only heard the last few songs but they rocked! There was a fellow there making a live recording onto a mini-disk and I have his contact information and I hope to hear some of the recording. The 'headliner' was this band called NEBULA and they site Mudhoney as one of their influences. Granted, they were velvet heavy, and the guitar sounded really great, but as a band not exciting enough to remind me - much - of Mudhoney. Of course lyrically I had NO IDEA what was going on - I had to wear earplugs for most of the evening, and that does NOT mean I am getting old, it means it was REALLY FUCKING LOUD in there! I once was at a show and saw earplugs sticking out of the head of the cutie pie lead singer of VELOCITY GIRL. I wonder if any other well known 'rock stars' wear em on stage. Whatever, I figure I need my hearing and I don't care to abuse the priviledge. More later -

Last nights Open Mic was terrific! I brought my own P.A. setup for a change of pace (the big Peavey speaker is a drag to move around but its the killa') and yes indeed it tunes up real nice into the room and sounds just way better then the lil' house amp could ever hope to. Many thanks to all participants: Beth Hyland, Mark Ronan and Bob Gibbons turned in a kind of a mini-song-circle style performance as "Flip Side" each taking turns at the mic singing and backing each other up with Martin guitars and really pleasant folk style harmonies - very nice! Chris Nekvinda and Veronica Darby came by and Chris played a few songs (with his shoes off heheh - now thats totally freaking acoustic of Chris ain't it) later heading of to the spider to help Will Cheshier out - it was really good to see and hear Chris and Will and Veronica! Congratulations to Will C. on what by this time must be the brand new babies!! Twins no less, wow, the party is just getting started over at the Cheshier's place!! Samantha (Guitar and Voice) rocked out on several numbers with Bill (Piano and Sax) , Terry Writz sang a few of his quirky and jazzy sounding original 'folk' songs, Jim Snivley treated the room to his mellow voice and original songsmithing (and then he went over to the Barking Spider and probably stayed up way past his 'bedtime' - Jim, your kind of a party animal), Miriam sang a few songs and also recited a poem (I liked the Eliza Gilky song, dunno the name of it though) Alex Brandy chipped in with a closing song, and acted inauspiciously as the un-official 'amp turn off' dude.

Unfortunately, Adam Zadok of Buffalo New York has had to cancel his performance appearance at U.C. Arabica this Friday. Ditto that for guitarist Moises, who has had to cancel his appearance this week as well. Both of these artist will be re-scheduled for future dates.

Yo! You might appreciate a little poetry and also some insight into my personal history. I am giving you just a little here and only a little, this poem is a cool lil' ART-tifact from my past, it was written by my one-time wife Michelle T. (now my lovely ex-wife) and as one of several "Poetry on the Buses" winners it hung inside Seattle buses for a long while, riding around the city being read and re-read by I am sure hundreds of people:



"You take on the shape of the things you swallow. Be careful of people who are kites, who make you rise so sweet, tangle you in trees & wires: the same shocks that give you ecstacy can steal your life. Swallow horses if you feel strong enough to gallop for miles across landscapes,tossing your mane in the sun. What I am saying is: you are what you eat. Eat oceans. Eat the moon with your eyes, the wind with your skin. Do not eat too much. Do not be so full you cannot swim the rivers or wake when it is time. Better yet, take the world into you in smallest bites, only what you need. Leave the rest. You take on the shape of the things you swallow. Swallow rainbows. They suit you. Swallow love."

I met Michelle in front of a 'Kinkos' copy shop way back in the summer of 1997 in Seattle WA on University Way. How time flies.

THE MIGHTY TASTY SONGSMITHS OF CLEVELAND! The Song Circle on the Local Stage at the Taste of Cleveland this past weekend was well worth the modest admission price of the entire event (I got in for 5 bucks with a coupon - a lady next to me bought tickets from some dude for four bucks and so gave me her coupons). Jim Miller was fresh off the road from a tour and he was singing big songs in a true and mighty voice - he also added some tasty licks here and there to others songs. This was the first time I had heard Jim play and I was suitably impressed! This songwriter circle was orchestrated by none other than Cleveland's own Annie DeChant as an extension of the Winchester rounds she has been putting together out in Lakewood (at the Winchester on Madison of course) and if you have not heard Annie recently please remind yourself what a powerfully engaging talent she is by coming out to hear her play - she shines her songs like diamonds and delivers them with a fierce conviction and I like her style more and more each time I hear and see her play and sing! For her performance last Sunday she was waering her cowgirl hat and some rose colored sunglasses and she had her accomplices singing harmony and playing guitar with her, wow, she is really real!! And speaking of talent, this was the first time I heard young Kate Voegel sing live - previous to this past weekend I had only heard her 'demo' recordings on Broadjam - and does she ever sing sweetly, with a beautiful enchanting and quavering lilt to her voice! She is playing Farm Aid this year in Seattle with the likes of Willie Nelson and Neil Young - heh, can you say wowy zowy?? I don't really know who to compare Kate's singing and or writing style with to give you an idea of who she 'sounds like', my advice to all you live music lovin' Clevelanders is listen to Kate's music, get her CD, and go to her shows when she is in town. Oh, wait, what's that you say you have no K.V. CD and its cold and raining and you are NOT going out NO WAY to ANYTHING you are staying right there in front of your warmly glowing PC?? Ok, no problem I have done all the work for you - here are some DIRECT LINKS to some 'demo' K.V. tunes hosted at Broadjam.com - just kick back and turn em' up loud now, ok?? Kate Voegele - "Footprints" Kate Voegele - "Wedding Song" Kate Voegele - "Facing Up" Kate Voegele - "Good Old Self" Kate Voegele - "Where The Sidewalk Cracks" OPEN MIC WEDNESDAY AT ARABICA U.C. Last nights Open Mic at U.C. Arabica was good but attendance by artists was light compared to last week. It's only the attendance of musicians, singers, poets, and writers that make the Open Mic night happen. I just want to thank a few Open Mic participants (if your name is not in here then you should come by on Wednesday night) : Alex Brandy Allan Madej Audra Kubat Brent Kirby Brian Catherine Clyatt Chelsea Ryan Chris, Liz, and Stella Danny McNamara Dick GERMAINE SCUDIERE Jeff Jeff Lakatos Jim Snively Laura Webster Mark and Jack Mark Ruppe Mike Allen Naomi Peter Smakula Ryan Anderson Viola Xela Special thanks to Miriam for playing this week and last week, and the weeks before that - I look forward to hearing her sing and always grateful to have her talent and company on Wednesday nights - hope to keep seeing and hearing Miriam! Special thank you to Chelsea R. and Allan M. for playing at many of the Wednesday Open Mic events, and other Open Mic events around town - they are two really talented artists/players/singers and nice company as well!! Come and see them at the UC Arabica when they perform!!

So, you might know from previous "PS" entries (I usually have a PS entry of some kind on my home page) that I have had this very interesting audio interview with Audra Kubat stored on my PC hard drive for a few weeks now, and I am in need of a secretarial service of some kind, because I want to have it transcribed 'professionally' - the last interview I transcribed took a long time. Until I get the interview transcribed (assuming I ever do get it done) I have extracted a couple of really pretty songs from the bulk of the interview: "Rainbows and Butterflies" and "Lost to You" were both recorded mono at my apartment in Lakewood during Audra's September visit, she explained "Rainbows and Butterflies" as one of the first songs she wrote and "Lost to You" as one of her most recent - heh, pretty juicy interview material, dontcha think?? I don't know if Kubat has much recorded 'bootleg' material out there, well, if she does then here is something new to add to her bootleg history!!! (PPS: Sept. 14th I have pulled the link to these two MP3 files for now, both files have a very obnoxious overdriven spot in them and I don't want to blow out anyones headphones - I might try to 'doctor' the waves up a bit and re-post them later. Sorry!)

My dear hotsy totsy friend Michelle has been doing a whole lot of really interesting artwork recently and I just wanted to share a cool picture of one of her most recent pieces because it is sweeet:
I have no idea what she calls this piece, but I just think its super duper delux and fine.

Thanks again to Alan Semerdjian and his piano playing associate Matt Iselin from the Big Apple for bringing really great music into the cafe last week - hope to see and hear you guys sometime in the not-too-distant-future! Allan's music page is packed with great tunes - take a lil' side trip over there for some MP3 listening.

The September Music Calendar is posted up for the Arabica U Circle - click the little blue link from the home page of Steve2.Net for the advanced scoop (at the time I wrote this the schedule wasn't even up at the cafe yet)

Mirandas Moon guitar player Ryan Smith is having his birthday party September 10th at the Peabodies Downunder - or maybe the Pirates Cove - one of those rooms (I think he told me they were playing in the big room) and it ought to be a pretty good party with those guys, check the web page out if you want to hear some tunes.

Kate Morrissey is visiting the Arabica U Circle on Saturday September 11 and will play an evening of piano and voice music - I have not heard Kate 'live' yet have only had the pleasure of speaking with her on the phone (she has a pretty sweet 'phone voice' as well) and hearing the clips of music that she has posted to her website - she has a lovely, rich and fine voice talent that is immediately accessible and appreciable so c'mon out yer hive and listen to an artist who does not get into Cleveland very often (even if she only lives in PA).

Jim Snively continues his Monday Night Open Mic series at McNamara's (on the Near West Side - the address is in this blog here somewhere) and from what I understand it continues to go strong with lots of talent turning out to make the jam up every Monday - so if your looking to play get there early. Jim has started another Open Mic recently this one at Dempsies in Tremont (W14th & Starkweather) on Saturday night. I have not been getting out to as many Open Mic nights this month as I have been busy with my home life, the Arabica, and my work schedule. If you really want to party an Open Mic night with me, the one and only Steve2.Net, then you pretty much got to come out to my mic on Wednesday.

Songsmith Jim Snively Thursday September 9 at Arabica U Circle
Jim will coax sweet woodsy acoustic guitar tones from his 60’s Martin guitar while singing original songs with a mellow edged voice that will appeal to a wide audience of listeners.

More later....gotta get out of here (my workplace -whew its been a looong week).

What a great weekend of music and beer drinking! Some of my favorite things!! Lemme tell you a little bit about it:

My friend Audra Kubat came down from Detroit on Friday and we met at the Eye Candy Gallery for the Tremont Art Walk and - wow - she was dressed so elegantly in a beautiful long black gown and high-heels - she had her hair hangin' long and pretty it was soo nice to see her! By the time I arrived Audra was already playing a low-key set of pure TFA (Totally Freakin' Acoustic) tunes and it was the sweeeeetness!

Lots of art patrons came and went through the gallery during the evening, and I think that Bob and Rita sold a few pieces (in between plastic cups full of red wine) and everything went really well and Bob and Rita both seem to like having a guitar player singer in the shop - as it should be! This is only the second time (that I know of) they have had a guitar player, and it seems to work really well in the Gallery as a TFA set - however, I have thought that it might be really sweet to do one Art Walk where we setup a PA outside of the gallery and, you know, 'crank it up a bit'.

Inside the gallery it's a small space and the art patrons are SO important to the overall ambiance - the patrons and the visual art are the focus so the TFA thing works real well and serves the purpose. I am pretty sure that we will get another TFA artist in there for the next Art Walk - and I think it would be so appropriate to have the king of TFA himself (Chris Nekvinda) do the honors! We will see about that - I am currently in negotiations with Chris to get him into the Arabica for a set and, you know, its very difficult because Chris is such a busy guy.

After the Art Walk cooled down we drove West to the domesticated wilds of Lakewood - where we simply crashed out at my place - at least for a few hours anyhow! We were both up at the crack of dawn (4AM for me) listening to music, drinking beer, smoking and chatting and by 7 we were getting lit up and ready for a trip to the beer store for IPA and American Spirits!

Later in the afternoon (we were properly lit up by that time) we went to the Phoenix Cafe where we had coffee and Audra played a few tunes - she sounded really sublime with her rock and roll poet core folk girl gears all smoothly oiled and meshing with her SMOKINGLY georgous voice - whoo! You have just GOT to see and hear this woman play! And if you have heard her play then you know what I mean.

Later that evening at the good ole' Arabica University Circle Audra gave a more concentrated and purely powerfull performance displaying the full range of her vocal talent singing songs (in her beautifully honey thick voice) from all three of her releases and a few new songs that she hasn't even recorded yet. It was great, there were only a few folks there but among them I was thrilled to see Mike and Amanda - its always super nice to see them!

Thanks also to Mike Allen for playing and singing three of his own original songs - Catch Mike Allen at the Barking Spider on the FULL MOON the 30th of this month for about an hour long set from 8-9:30PM

SONGWRITER AUDRA KUBAT SAT. AUG. 14 ARABICA UNIVERSITY CIRCLE

Singer songwriter Audra Kubat has come into Cleveland Town for a couple of gigs one tonight at Eye Candy Gallery in Tremont for the Art Walk and again tommorrow night at the Arabica from 9-11PM - if you have not heard her play guitar and sing then you better get to one of these shows - Audra is busy busy and does not get into town frequently. On her web site www.audrakubat.com she has a blog where she leaves thoughts and facts concerning her music and her travel, looks like Audra will be starting her third recording project with Times Beach Records come the Fall and then away she goes! So, come on out and give a listen to this rare bird while you can!!

Music at Arabica University Circle:
 
I suppose its not news by this time that I have become the entertainment coordinator for the Arabica U thanks Brandon and Mark for giving me the gig - I like the job! I have posted blurbs and pictures of some of the acts that are lined up to play this month and next, you can check it out by going to the Arabica Entertainment Schedule Page.  

Don't miss Alan Semerdjian Thursday August 19th he is an English teacher, poet, visual artist and a singer songwriter guitar player of particular noteworthiness from the Big Apple. Alan writes dense lyrical poetry and enfolds the stories into engaging soundscapes of post industrial acoustic emocore - I have been listening to his CD "Hero City" and its really really good stuff for the heart and ears!

On the Full Moon this month (July 31st) the Arabica Mansion hosts Tanya Elise Kos for "Full Moon Folk Fever" (dontcha just love the sound of that)  Tanya is a fabulous singer songwriter with a vocal delivery that is at once powerfull and potent yet mellow smooth like good wine - please don't miss this night!

Xela says he is coming back to town next month on the 13th of August - it will be great to hear some of his stories, he has been gone now for at least a month...I just heard that Phill Cameron is going out there to Cali to hang out with Xela for a couple few weeks before they come back here to Cle town. Sounds like fun guys!! Whish I could go along!

Jim Snively is back from 2 splended weeks of vacation (riverside camping I think I heard) to assume his duties as host to the McNamara's Monday Night Open Mic

I have heard through the 'grape vine' that Mike Allen (who once regularly attended Open Mic nights around town) has signed a deal with Times Beach Records and Rust Belt Studios - yeah, that's producer Al Sutton's place up in Detroit MI. Mike and I have a couple of common friends and I have heard some of his 'demo recordings' (he has been up and down between CLE and Detroit a bunch over the past few months cooking up demo recordings at Rust Belt)  - he has some really good songs and if the truth is that he has finally inked a recording deal it wouldn't surprise me at all. I heard Mike perform a couple of songs recently at the Barking Spider and he told me that he has recently had a baby with his wife - so congratulations Mike on the new baby, er babies?? Micheal Allen will be bringing his songs and voice talent to The Arabica Coffee Mansion with a solo acoustic show on September 24th

Here is the August 2004 schedule for the Arabica:

ACOUSTIC OPEN MIC EVERY WEDNESDAY FROM 9PM TO 11:30PM
WITH HOST STEVEN WILSON (AKA: STEVE2)
 
THURSDAY AUG 5   “FOUR SHILLINGS SHORT “ (DUO)
CELTIC AND AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC
 
FRIDAY AUG 6  “CORY RYAN” (SOLO ACT)
SINGER SONGWRITER FROM NASHVILLE TEXAS
 
SAT.  AUG 7  “BROTHER HASHIM” (SOLO PERFORMANCE)
TRADITIONAL MBIRA MUSIC 
 
THURSDAY AUG 12  “MOSES” (SOLO ACT)
BOSSA NOVA ACOUSTIC GUITAR

FRIDAY AUG 13  “GERMAINE SCUDIERE” (SOLO ACT)
PIANO PLAYER - VOCAL PERFORMER

THURSDAY AUG 19  “ALLAN SEMERDJIAN” (DUO PIANO AND GUITAR)
POET-CORE FOLK SINGER FROM NYC 

FRIDAY AUG 20  “JAMES PEQUIGNOT TRIO” (TRIO)
CLEVELAND SINGER SONGWRITER

SAT. AUG 21  “JOHN TOULA” (SOLO ACT)
JAZZ GUITAR MUSIC

TUESDAY AUG 24  “KRIS KOCH” (DJ)
WORLD MUSIC DJ

THURSDAY AUG 26  “ALAN MADEJ AND CHELSEA RYAN”
ORIGINAL SINGER SONGWRITERS - GUITAR AND PIANO

FRIDAY AUG 27  “RYANN ANDERSON” (SOLO GUITAR)
INSTRUMENTAL GUITAR MUSIC

SAT. AUG 28  “BRENT KIRBY” (SOLO)
ORIGINAL AMERICANA AND ROOTS ROCK
 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

Sum Sum Summertime is almost here!

The first 'official' day of Summer is Monday the 21st of June (that's next week - next Monday to be exact) which means LONG HOT DAYS - think you can handle it? Well, it's tough if you are in an office all day long working on a computer. Here is some really cool SUNRISE and MOONRISE data from a reliable source:

U.S. Naval Observatory
Astronomical Applications Department


Sun and Moon Data for One Day
The following information is provided for Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio (longitude W81.7, latitude N41.5):

Tuesday
15 June 2004 Eastern Daylight Time

SUN
Begin civil twilight 5:18 a.m.
Sunrise 5:52 a.m.
Sun transit 1:27 p.m.
Sunset 9:02 p.m.
End civil twilight 9:36 p.m.

MOON
Moonset 6:23 p.m. on preceding day
Moonrise 4:11 a.m.
Moon transit 11:43 a.m.
Moonset 7:26 p.m.
Moonrise 4:42 a.m. on following day


Phase of the Moon on 15 June: waning crescent with 4% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.

New Moon on 17 June 2004 at 4:27 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

And what does all this mean?

ITS TIME TO GET THE HELL OUTA TOWN AND GO CAMPING!!