Blues and Bread

Small music venues in struggle over copyrights

2011-12-14T11:36:00.002-06:00

The Bucky Walters Band from Arcata played Friday night at Mamma Llama. Live music has returned to Mamma Llama Coffeehouse in Weaverville.

Last Friday the Bucky Walters Band from Arcata took the stage. "It feels great to have the music back," said Steve Friedman, who owns Mamma Llama with his wife, Donna.

The coffeehouse was quiet for several months as the Friedmans sought answers to a dilemma shared with small music venues across the country.
The couple had worked hard to get Mamma Llama's name out, Steve Friedman said—on the Internet, in publications and on radio. "I guess by doing this it put us in the spotlight," he said.

The trouble started in 2007 with e-mails, letters and calls from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). ASCAP is one of three performing arts organizations in the United States that grant licensees the right to publicly perform the works of their members. Without these licenses, the organizations say, businesses can run afoul of federal copyright law.

The price for an ASCAP license was $800 a year, but the Friedmans doubted the legitimacy of the organization and continued to bring in bands while considering what to do. Then ASCAP sent a researcher to a show by a local band at Mamma Llama, and the band played another musician's song.
"They told us if we didn't get a license, they would take us to court," Steve Friedman said. "So we bought it."

What followed, Friedman said, was a barrage of e-mails, letters and calls from the other two organizations, Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) and SESAC Inc. Even though he told them he was not playing their music, they were in "attack mode," Friedman said, "very threatening over the phone."

In 2008, the cost of ASCAP license dropped to $350 for smaller venues. BMI and SESAC wanted a similar amount, Friedman said.

Eventually, he said, Donna Friedman threatened to file harassment charges against BMI, and those calls stopped. But SESAC, which represents fewer musicians than the other two organizzations, continued. "Over the phone one of the guys told me they were going to sue us," Friedman said.

Written messages did not go that far, but they did include links to court cases SESAC had won. An e-mail from SESAC stated that penalties for copyright infringements range from $750 to $150,000 per single performance.

"When they threatened to sue I canceled all the music we had," Friedman said.
He let the ASCAP license lapse and e-mailed 19 bands he had booked to explain the situation. The response, even by musicians represented by one of the three entities, was supportive. One was outraged, Friedman said. "She couldn't believe the place she licensed with was cutting her throat."

Articles on the situation at Mamma Llama and other establishments in similar situations
ran in the Christian Science Monitor and USA Today
recently.

A SESAC official did not return a call from the Journal for comment. However, BMI spokesman Jerry Bailey did, and he sees things differently than Friedman.
If BMI has not sent a researcher to an establishment, he said, the calls and letters are "educational."

"We don't threaten anyone unless we know they're playing BMI music for certain," Bailey said, and even then "it's not really a threat, but then they're told what legal action is possible."

He said BMI has not contacted Mamma Llama since July 2007.
Bailey acknowledged that not everyone needs a music license, but said that in most cases when a business says its performers are only playing original music and a researcher is sent, they find that BMI music is being played.

The Friedmans think they can manage. In December they began featuring live music again with the Monsters of Shamisen, after Friedman was assured their Japanese, Celtic and bluegrass music would include no copyrighted material.

Friedman said he finally did get some frank information from an ASCAP representative, and there is a way to have live music without a license.
"I'm not going to have bands play here if they're playing other people's music," he said. "It has to be their own original music," and if they're under the umbrella of an agency, there needs to be a letter from the producer giving up royalties.

Friedman said he will comply with that, although it hurts upand coming bands and denies them the stepping stone many established bands did have.
If a band plays a song by Bob Dylan (signed with SESAC) at a small coffeehouse, "Isn't it more of an honor than a threat?" he asked.
Bailey agreed that a bigname artist whose music is played in a small coffeehouse "probably doesn't know or care."

However, he said, if that performer contracted with BMI to ensure they're getting all the revenues they're entitled to, "it's our commitment," he said. Also, he said, often there is a little-known songwriter behind the star who should get royalties.

Friedman also questioned the percentage of the license cost that goes to the smaller performers as royalties. Bailey said that at BMI, distribution is based on use that can be tracked, including television, radio and international royalties from music played overseas. Music played at coffeehouses, for example, cannot be tracked and is not figured into the royalties.

Friedman thinks the contacts with businesses should have been handled much differently, particularly by BMI and SESAC. Although he has not heard from them for some time, he said, "I know it will start up again."

"I want them to stop scaring people," Friedman said. "Be truthful and tell how you can do without a license."

Furthermore, he said, pricing consideration should be given by all three groups to venues in rural areas, which have a harder time filling the house. "Usually I'm breaking even and I'm totally happy with that," Friedman said. "I enjoy it."

The Sound of Silence

2011-12-14T11:25:00.002-06:00

When you walk into One Love Café on Main Street you’re greeted by the tangy aroma of Jamaican Jerk Chicken, vibrant paintings on the walls and a kind word from owner Venice Fouchard.

What you aren’t greeted with is music.

“It’s become a joke here now,” says Fouchard. “My regulars will come in and ask ‘Venice, why no music?’ and I just say ‘ASCAP.’”

One Love Café has stopped live music performances.ASCAP — the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers — is one of several music-licensing giants controlling the rights to much of the popular music you hear everyday. Since she opened her restaurant seven years ago, Fouchard says ASCAP and BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) have “harassed” her on a regular basis about paying them licensing fees.

“They are really belligerent on the phone and they call constantly,” she says. “I also believe that they call sometimes and don’t say anything, just trying to listen to see if I am playing any music in the background.”

ASCAP and BMI, which licenses about half the music played in America today, and SESAC (the Society of European Stage Authors & Composers) monitor establishments that play music, whether they are hole-in-the-wall cafés with someone sitting on a stool strumming a guitar, or large bars and restaurants with full-blown music scenes. The companies are responsible for making sure that any place playing licensed music pays a fee, ensuring that the proper royalties are paid to musicians and composers for the public performance of their music.

“It really gets to the point where all these people want is a contract from you, because no matter how you flip the script they have an answer for you,” says Fouchard.

One Love used to have live musical performances sporadically throughout the year, with musicians playing original music.

“That was the first thing I’d tell an artist when they stopped in and asked if they could perform here,” she says. “‘You can’t play any covers.’ And they are usually happy about not doing cover songs.”

Now, Fouchard says, the hassling from ASCAP and BMI became too much for her, and she decided to stop hosting live acts.

“I think it was finally last year when I said ‘I’m so tired, I’m so drained,’ and I wrote back to [ASCAP and BMI] saying that I don’t play live music here anymore. And then I had to tell my customers that we wouldn’t be having live music at the café.”

Paying licensing fees is something that all public establishments must deal with if they are going to play music. But in Worcester, several local business owners assert that these companies are aggressive to the point of harassment.

ASCAP and BMI insist they are just doing their job to protect the interests of the artists they represent.

“We will continue to call if they continue to play music [without a license],” says Vincent Candilora, Senior Vice President of Licensing for ASCAP. “We have an obligation to the members of ASCAP, which is the only organization run solely by songwriters, producers, musicians and publishers.”

Asked why ASCAP would tell an establishment it cannot play original live music, as Fouchard insists she was told, Candilora responds that there is no reason such a demand would be made.

“I’d like to know specifically who told them that they could not play original music, because they can,” he says. “These places say that they play only original live music, but what do you play in between sets? During breaks? Before the live acts go on? To be honest, we’ve been doing this for many years and there are very few establishments that just play original music.”

Assertions of “original only” music are rarely based in fact, company representatives say.

“Most venue owners and managers don’t know about the songwriters who own the songs played in their establishments,” says Jerry Bailey, Senior Director of Media Relations and Business Communications for BMI. “They simply assume that a performer in their venue is playing ‘original’ tunes because that may be the instruction given the performer. That defense has not held up in court.”

*****

The owner of Acoustic Java says he's had multiple go-arounds with BMI, and sticks to live original music.Stephanie Katz, who played guitar and sang indie/folk tunes at One Love Café every other Sunday for more than a year, counters that the place upheld the original-music pledge. Katz says that when she performed she often brought in other local and regional musicians who, like her, played their own compositions because she knew that Fouchard was not licensed.

“In some ways this made it an even better venue, because it’s all original material and it is all small artists, so you know you’re going to get something different,” says Katz. “But I just came home from being away for a few months, and Venice told me she’s not hosting music anymore because she can’t handle the stress of being harassed by BMI. I definitely understand why she made the decision, but it’s a big loss for local musicians and music appreciators.”

David Fullerton, owner of Acoustic Java in Worcester, describes his interactions with BMI representatives as frequent and “nasty.”

“Some of them were extremely rude and extremely aggressive, and occasionally insulting,” he says. “When I bought the café in 2007, the previous owners told me about BMI and how they were being harassed by them; it was kind of a cautionary tale. [The original owners] told me that they had an open mic night and somebody had come into the café wearing a trench coat. He sat in on the performance and heard a song that was a cover that BMI owned the rights to. That man in the trench coat was a BMI rep and told the owners that they had to buy a license or BMI would prosecute them. So they stopped the open mic nights.”

Fullerton received a call from BMI within the first week of taking over the business. The calls continued … and continued.

“They would explain to me that they had an account with us, or they’d have some other reason to call, but I would tell them I had no information about it and that they would have to contact the original owners,” he says. “But they would keep calling and asking me questions. I essentially got in the habit of hanging up on them because they wouldn’t let us get off the phone.”

After doing some research about BMI, Fullerton says he understands that the licensing organizations are designed to help musicians, but “it doesn’t always work out that way in practice. In theory, they do protect the rights of people who play music for a living and it seemed like not a thing to really rail against but to accept. So I either had to buy a license or not play live music.”

Fullerton decided to call BMI and ask them to cease the relentless phone calling.

“[The manager I spoke with] was somewhat apologetic and he said he would make sure I wouldn’t receive further calls. I told him we don’t play any music under their copyright, but he told me it doesn’t matter and that I still had to buy a license. The manager said it’s complicated because sometimes it’s not always clear what songs someone’s playing. I said ‘Well let’s just say that it is clear, and they are only playing original music or something they’ve written.’ After 30 minutes on the phone he finally admitted, ‘Well if there really is no copyright you really don’t have to buy a license.’”

So Fullerton now has live performances at Acoustic Java with musicians who only play original music. It was a struggle to reach this point, he says.

“My business has been affected. We play live original music, but that’s it. The attendance is extremely low usually. It’s just easier to attract a larger crowd if you can play anything. It didn’t make sense for me to pay the licensing fees, which are in excess of $1,200 [if fees are paid to all three companies, ASCAP, BMI and SESAC]. And I don’t really generate that much in a year off of open mic nights, at least not in a café like mine.”

*****

Lucky Dog owner Erick Godin questions how the licensing companies fi gure their fee structures.Candilora of ASCAP says licensing fees are generally tied to the size of the establishment.

“We use the fire code of each establishment, their max occupancy, and we work off of that,” he says. “For example, if you were only playing CDs at your café, it would be $3 times your occupancy, and that would be your rate for the year. So if your occupancy was 100 it would be $300 a year. That’s less than a dollar a day. If you play live music less than three nights a week, that is $4.30 times your capacity. And if you do both we offer a 33 percent discount on your recorded music fee. It’s all pretty logical.”

But for small businesses like One Love Café, the fees can be too much.

“There are some places where it’s feasible [to pay] and then there are some places where it’s not,” says Fouchard. “And I think that those places that are feasible will go right ahead and sign their contract and pay the fees. It’s not worth doing it for us.”

For Farid Aude, owner of the Sahara Café and Restaurant in Worcester, paying the licensing fees is doable, though a nuisance.

“Obviously nobody likes to pay fees,” he says. “I can afford it, but I don’t think it makes much sense to be paying as much as we do. But it’s the law.”

Aude says that if he added up the fees he has to pay to ASCAP, BMI and SESAC the total is close to $2,000 a year.

“We’ve been open for 15 years, but I didn’t get a license until about five years ago,” he says. “I always ignored their requests because we were playing primarily ethnic music and I thought that I didn’t fit into that category. But they kept insisting and I felt I had to protect myself.”

Besides paying a fee for playing live covers, establishments are also charged for playing any CDs or public radio.

“You can play XM Satellite radio,” says Fullerton, “because satellite radio pays these companies to play the music.”

It’s not only small cafes that have issues with the fees. Some larger venues are also struggling to make payments.

“The way that they formulate [the fee] is too general,” says Erick Godin, owner of the Lucky Dog Music Hall. “They figure your capacity times the number of nights you are open, but if I only have 10 people in our place all night, I’m still paying for 230. I think they need to be a bit more responsible and work with each venue on a monthly basis, like taxes — whatever you sell you get charged for that. If they want to get money for their artists, they should have to do a bit more than sit behind a desk and make phone calls.”

Godin has been on a payment plan with the licensing companies for years, and although he says he’s not particularly frustrated with ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, he does understand why some business owners can be caught off guard.

“Most people that start a business have no idea these companies even exist,” he says. “A little fear of a court case or collection agencies really wakes up a business owner. I knew about it before I started so they weren’t aggressive with us until I let my payments fall off for a while, and now I get threatening phone calls and more letters in the mail. For the most part, I don’t feel like they are too aggressive. As much as I disagree with it, they are all still trying to get paid, just like everybody else. They just have a huge armada of lawyers and decades of triumph behind them.”

ASCAP regularly dispatches employees to ferret out establishments that may be playing licensed music without paying a fee.

“These licensing managers work out of their cars and their homes,” says Candilora. “They are all over the place. They subscribe to local newspapers and arts rags. It’s the same way you would pursue any sales lead.”

Candilora notes there are licensing managers throughout the region who stay on top of any new business that opens, and to find them they look where the alcohol is being served.

“We have a number of sources we use. When bars open or they change hands, we will look at the Alcohol and Beverage Association for each state. Where there’s beer and wine, there’s usually music.”

Corey Graves plucks the strings at One Love, but only for a Worcester Mag cover shoot. Otherwise, live music is no longer allowed.It’s still a touchy subject, however, when it comes to the way the companies approach businesses to collect their fees.

“I don’t think they believe Venice that she’s not playing licensed music,” says Katz, “and even if they do, I think it pisses them off that some little independent restaurant owner has a legitimate way to get out of paying them their fees. BMI is this huge multi-million dollar corporation that is used to bullying around pretty much everyone, and here’s this little immigrant woman from Jamaica not paying up, and it challenges their position of power.”

*****

For BMI and ASCAP, it’s all about doing what’s fair and what’s right.

“If you had a bar and you got a license to play music, and you see a bar across the street that did not pay for a license but still plays music anyway, don’t you think that’s a little unfair,” says Candilora. “Doesn’t it give them an advantage? That’s the reason why we don’t go away.”

At BMI, the protests largely fall on deaf ears.

“We usually don’t have much use for the term ‘original music,’ because we represent about 6.5 million ‘original’ compositions owned by about 400,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers,” says Bailey. “BMI does not own the music, and the company does not earn profits. All revenue received, after expenses, is paid out to the songwriters, composers and publishers who sign with BMI to represent them. BMI does not represent record companies or recording artists, unless those artists compose music. Our focus is on helping songwriters receive payment when their songs are played in public.”

Fouchard says she misses the sound of live music in her café.

“It’s very frustrating because it used to be so warm in here on Sunday, when I had singers here like Stephanie. She’s funky and original; she plays a musical saw. And I tell these BMI and ASCAP reps to come and listen to a musician like this and then tell me how you have this in your ‘repertoire.’ It really broke my heart when I realized I couldn’t do it anymore. We used to have a ball.”

BMI Unfair to Musicians

2011-12-14T11:05:00.002-06:00

The threatening letters started arriving in early 2009, a few months after Jim Whitney opened J Dubs Coffee, a tiny storefront coffee shop in a Manchester, N.H., strip mall. Fifteen came over a few months, right around the time Anthony Demings, owner of the Brooklyn Coffee and Tea House in Providence, was receiving his own string of letters, and Lorraine Carboni, proprietor of Somethin’s Brewin’ Book Cafe in Lakeville, began getting calls and then lunch hour visits from a brusque man.

“I was blown away by his demeanor,’’ Carboni said. “He was rude to my staff. He was adamant about getting information. They were threatening me with lawsuits. So I did what I had to do, and ended my music program.’’

Across New England, church coffeehouses, library cafes, and eateries that pass the hat to pay local musicians or open their doors to casual jam sessions are experiencing a crackdown by performance rights organizations, or PROs, which collect royalties for songwriters.

Copyright law requires that any venue where music is performed publicly, from cheerleading competitions and mortuaries to nightclubs and stadiums, have a performance license. Recorded music is subject to license fees as well. The three US-based PROs — ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC — collect the fees and distribute them to their members.

With the music industry in steep decline, PROs are ramping up their pursuit of the little guys, who acknowledge that songwriters are entitled to compensation but are angry and frustrated at what they see as unfair targeting of small businesses and nonprofits that make no money from the music they present.

Among them is Magret Gudmundsson, who until recently hosted a monthly acoustic open mike in her Middleborough cafe, Coffee Milano. “I like having it here, but we’re not making any money from it and they wanted $332 a year,’’ Gudmundsson said. “The town really needs something like this. They ruined it.’’

Performance license fees are calculated based on a variety of factors: a venue size and seating capacity, the number of musicians who perform there, and the number of live performances per week, among others. The average fee for a small coffeehouse would be $200 to $400. But owners could be required to buy licenses from all three PROs.

The PROs have been criticized for years for their aggressive stance; in the mid-1990s ASCAP bowed to public outcry after attempting to collect licensing fees from the Girl Scouts for singing campfire songs. (They now charge the scouts a symbolic $1 a year.) But Vincent Candilora, ASCAP’s senior vice president for licensing, has no sympathy for Gudmundsson and her ilk.

“They’re selling coffee for four dollars and they can’t afford a dollar a day for music? If they don’t think it’s worth it, that’s their choice,’’ Candilora said. “But I have to say that most people recognize that music is a value to their business. Every now and then we run into people that think, ‘I’m just a small little bar; they’re not going to sue me,’ and that’s a mistake. Frankly, once you’re on our radar we can’t let you go.’’

Lightning on the Earth - Kevin Johnson

2011-10-13T16:42:00.002-05:00

The newly released music CD entitled, “Lightning on the Earth” is a unique blend of country blues and contemporary folk songs. Clinton resident, Kevin Johnson has self produced a collection of original tunes and lyrics that sometime seem to border on the mystical. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Johnson has spent the last 20 years researching ancient culture, philosophy, natural health, sourdough bread baking and meditation. Recently, he’s taken to the art of writing songs about the advantages of living the simple life.

“Lightning on the Earth – Esoteric Folk Songs” was recorded and produced by Joel Whitten at the Metal Shed Studio in Baton Rouge. (It’s available at www.bluesandbread.newlibertyvillage.com.) The project began in early May after Johnson arranged a set of new material he’d written over the winter of 2011. Most of the songs are biographical in that they depict emotional challenges and hardships that have shaped and led he and his wife, Donna, to choose a lifestyle of voluntary simplicity.

“I wanted to write songs that poetically express issues that matter to me, rather than just telling stories.” he said. “A lot of the lyrics are ambiguous because they actually contain a couple of different meanings. The words can be interpreted in a number of ways.”

Several talented musicians assisted in the project, including Adrian Percy, “Fiddlin’ Doc” Chaney, Heather Feierabend and Alan Morton, all members of the local Americana Folk group, the Fugitive Poets. Also featured are Donna Johnson on baritone ukulele, Joel Whitten (bass & keyboard), his son Sam on drums, Steven Smith (lead guitar and harmonica), and Betsy Braud, an extremely gifted jazz flutist.
The title track, “Lightning on the Earth” is really a song about man loving woman with purity and integrity. Though it’s not a love song per se, the song is sort of a testimony to the spiritual love between a committed couple. The cover art was painted by Kevin’s daughter and depicts lightning striking a tree, the re-energizing connection between heaven and earth – male and female. On his blues and bread blog, Johnson writes, “I knew that song needed a female vocalist and that Heather had the perfect voice for it. She’s got that sweet country quality that makes the song credible.”

While in the process of working on the recording, Johnson said he kept thinking about the past, about all the incredible musicians who developed their skills watching and listening to other musicians, before radio and records. “What I really wished,” he said, “was that I could have heard my Grandfather, William Zurich Coglizer, play the fiddle. Since he died when I was very young, I never knew him. But he had an old German violin that was made sometime around 1870. After grandpa died the fiddle sat in the closet at my aunt’s house for 43 years, wrapped up in woolen cloth and duct tape. No one on that side of my family was interested in it, so one day I called my aunt and asked her if I could have it. Surprisingly, she packaged it up and mailed it to me last summer. I was absolutely stunned to see it for the first time and hold it in my hands. I wanted that fiddle featured on my new CD, so I asked “Doc” Chaney to play it on several of the tunes. When Doc played on the song “Hear Her Drawing Near” I just knew it was going to be one of the sweetest songs I’d ever recorded because of that fiddle.”

“To me, familiar songs bring back good feelings of a simpler time, but new songs give us hope for a brighter future.” Whatever economic conditions are unfolding in these challenging times, it will be those who come together in a sense of community and spirit of helpfulness that are going to get through it. This CD is filled with hope and vision for the dawn of a new and brighter world.

Barry Hebert – Worn Wooden Floors

2011-09-02T12:58:00.002-05:00

When I finally received Barry Hebert’s new CD – “Worn Wooden Floors,” I knew I needed to set aside a full hour to really give it a listen. This recording features some of the best folk rock, country ballads you’ll ever hear. When the acoustic rhythm guitar starts on the opening track “Three Miles Ahead, Fifty Years Behind,” you’re hooked. Barry told me he got the idea for the song after seeing the phase on a t-shirt.

The musicianship featured here, the quality of the production as well as the timing is so clean you just can’t help but feel the groove. Barry gives a lot of credit to Al Berard who owns the studio in Cecilia, LA. where the CD was engineered and produced. Al also plays mandolin and electric guitar on the recording, giving the entire project a level of professionalism that you’d expect to have come out of Nashville.

The songs on this CD weave stories, through a tapestry of images and melody, and take the listener on an audio landscape journey that is relaxing and fun to listen to. As a songwriter, Barry puts a lot of thoughtfulness into the words he chooses. His lyrics evoke pictures and similes that draw you in. there is no doubt that these songs deserve careful listening.

When I first heard “St. Francisville” with the headphones on, my eyes were closed and all of a sudden, I felt as if I was there, walking barefoot along the river, sitting at a coffeeshop or strolling among the live oaks at The Myrtles Plantation. At first I was puzzled about the album’s title, until I heard the line “where theres’ front porch swings and worn wooden floors, even your first time here, feels like you been here before…” Barry’s talent for song-smithing is terrific. It is obviously a skill that he spent a lot of time and patience to develop. Furthermore, he really has a knack for paying attention to what’s going on around him and keeping his eyes and ears open to phases and ideas that can inspire a good song.

My absolute favorite track is “Hot Beer, Cold Woman”. This song echoes that typical new country sound you hear on the radio, with the classic electric guitar opening lick, but unlike the commercial tunes, these lyrics really grabbed my attention. When he sings, “With a hot beer and a cold woman, I don’t think I want another round,” I thought how clever that was. I could relate to it. And that’s the thing about this record, each song has the ability to lure and entice you so that you want to listen to the words.

On the track entitled, “Your Tears,” Barry tenderly expresses the emotional joy of falling in love, getting married and experiencing the wonder at seeing a newborn baby. When I first listened to it I thought about the zillions of people throughout earth’s history who have experienced the same thing. And yet, somehow we seem to take for granted these common events, which in the end, turn out to be what matters most. Barry’s ability to hint at the simplest things, such as the little nuances between men and women, is what impresses me the most about his songwriting.

“Rings” is a nice tune too. In the same way, he takes a seemingly common place object and then poetically composes a song around it. This tune is another example that reveals his keen sense of observation. As Barry describes the symbolic significance of things like wedding rings, nose rings, and toe rings and so on, all the while he’s steering the song into a perceptive metaphor about the cyclical nature of life.

Barry Hebert has been professionally involved with music for a long time. In the early years he wasn’t particularly interested in singing, preferring to stand aside and play, but sometime around 1982 he became involved with a country group called the Basin Brothers Band, performing in and around South Louisiana. The group enjoyed some real success, playing the Texas dancehall circuit and eventually touring nationally.

During the last few years, however, Barry has focused more on his own songs. Worn Wooden Floors is a delightful CD and the start of something good. I hope you will take the time to really listen to it. Check out Barry Hebert’s new webpage at www.barryhebertmusic.com

The Ukulele Revolution

2011-08-28T16:40:00.001-05:00

It has been over thirty years since the ukulele was given any seriousness in American popular music. Now a recent comeback of this noble little instrument is bringing about a worldwide revolution. Artists all over the world are embracing the ukulele as a major voice in their new brand of contemporary pop music. Such artists include folk singer songwriters Uni, Lil’ Rev and Victoria Vox, as well as classic virtuosos like James Hill and Jake Shimbakuro. There are even Hip Hop artists playing ukuleles and famous people you may have never expected like, Paul McCartney, Pete Townsend and Robert Plant, who all revere the mighty uke for its sophistication and versatility.

The ukulele was the vehicle by which many people enjoyed the classic Tin Pan Alley and ragtime songs of the 1920’s. In those days it was essential that every young man going to college have a uke. Now, the new craze is causing a shortage in availability for some ukulele manufacturers around the country to provide instruments.

In fact, this hasn’t happened since the Great Depression. Back then, few people had extra money to purchase guitars and other stringed instruments. But C.F. Martin & Company in Nazareth, Pennsylvania was able to survive the economic downturn by producing affordable quality ukulele’s at a time when people really valued making music themselves. Maybe the current downturn in the American economy has been influential in bringing about a similar round of interest.

Here in South Louisiana, one can find an occasional ukulele singer-songwriter playing at a pub or community market. My wife and I recently met a young girl named Sarah singing and playing at an open mic at Birdman Coffee & Books in St. Francisville. Her enthusiasm for the ukulele and her voice were enchanting.

Donna and I have both been very excited about ukuleles. We’ve been incorporating them in our own music performances for the past two years. And when we play at markets or private parties, we always try to include ragtime songs, folk and pop tunes using baritone and tenor ukes as well as acoustic guitar and harmonica.

We enjoy the delightful voicings of these little instruments and want to see other people enjoy them as well. So recently we decided to begin hosting ukulele workshops. Along with our friend, Charlene Heaton, we’ve formed the Baton Rouge Ukulele Club as a way to support others who want to enjoy ukulele music.

To get a club established and recruit more participants there is a need to offer introductory workshops and classes. Therefore, the first workshop we’ll direct is scheduled for September 25, 2011 at Birdman Coffee & Books. Following workshops are planned for Baton Rouge and Hammond too. This is an opportunity to introduce others to playing, as well as network with people who want to experience the purity and simplicity of ukes. The cost is only $25.00. Ukuleles will be available for sale for those who don’t already have one.

The workshop is specifically tailored for beginners, people with no previous musical knowledge or skill. Everything you need to get started right away will be covered in this three hour introductory class. It will include: a brief history, how to tune and maintain the instrument, playing melody, chords and songs, strumming and finger picking techniques, chord progressions, simple harmonized scales. This is a great chance to get started the right way, learning how to be a part of music jams and singing circles.

For additional information about the workshop of monthly club meetings, please contact the Baton Rouge Ukulele Club via e-mail at: brukuleleclub.yahoo.com

Rhythm & Grooves: Blues for Kids

2011-05-17T12:43:00.003-05:00

This is my second year to travel around the great state of Louisiana and share traditional folk and blues music for kids. Last year Donna and I traveled to cajun country, mostly around Jennings and Ville Platte. This year we'll be down in Cameron Parish, south of Lake Charles, which still hasn't recovered from the effects of the hurricane of 2005. Also, on the circuit is Catahoula Parish, Terrebone and Lafayette.

Sadly the arts budget has been drastically cut this year and next year will be even worse. The state has only received about 1 million dollars in funds which is more than a 70% cut in arts programs. Part of the joy in being about to visit these rural areas, is bringing some cultural folk heritage to kids who often never get to see live music.

More later...

Kevin Johnson – Lightning on the Earth

2011-04-27T14:25:00.001-05:00

My latest CD project gets underway in the middle of May. I’ll be back at Joel Whitten’s Metal Shed Studio in Baton Rouge to record some new songs. It’s really weird and wonderful this time around. When I wrote the Songs for Gilead Valley, I spent weeks trying to incorporate some of the blues themes that I was learning after having listened for months on end to the old records of Skip James, Mississippi John Hurt, Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, and Tommy Johnson and so on. But this time, most of the songs I wrote were all hammered out in just one night.

One day, I was baking a batch of bread and listening to the Whitmark recordings of Bob Dylan. These are some vintage raw demos that he did in the early 60’s and I just loved how straightforward his songwriting was. Dylan simply strummed and sang verses that he obviously penned quickly. Some of it was crude, but a lot of it was brilliant. After a few hours I thought to myself, “Man, I should be able to write stuff like that.” So I went to the computer and just decided to empty my mind all at once. In fact I didn’t even try to make it sensible or even edit it. I just dumped out words on the screen. After about three hours of doing this, I came up with six or seven songs. It was incredible. I’ve always thought that it was necessary to be very thoughtful and clever whenever you want to write a song. And though that is often true, it doesn’t have to be. There is a lot of great stuff out there in the cosmic consciousness, as long as you’re willing to let it flow out and not judge it.

A couple of days later I worked up rhythm and melodies to the verses and the songs were done. Though I wasn’t trying to write in any particular style, I realize that the tunes were coming out folksier than the Gilead Valley material. Since I’ve been interested in the wisdom of A Course in Miracles for many years, I also realize that some of my lyrics have a kind of Course theme to them. One in particular is an anthem-like tune called “The Real World.”

“When I close my eyes it’s clear as day
Nothing here can stand in the way
If you could only hear & trust what I say
Come on, my friend, there’ll be a real world someday
Why wait for heaven
When love is around
Why wait for heaven
There’s a real world now”

In fact, my friend Marnia Robinson (reuniting.info) who is also a Course student recently sent me song ideas that she wrote some twenty years ago. In following the same desire to express feelings from the Course she wrote one I really like entitled “Now is the Time.” I noodled around with the lyrics a few days ago and a melody just flowed out effortlessly. It’s great stuff. She wrote,

“Now is the time, spread your wings and fly
Sail through the stars, there’s nothing too high
Lift up your eyes, cast your gaze to the sky
All of your dreams can come true if you try
From above, all is love
We are one…
It is begun.”

So why is the record going to be titled, “Lightning on the Earth”? Here’s the story: I recently became interested in the information on healing relationships through Marnia’s website. And one of the things that really impressed me is the idea that most men need to learn to heal themselves around the issue of sexuality and women. The image of lightning on the earth came to me while watching a storm one night. I saw a flash hit a tree and it felt like this tremendous male energy grounding and balancing itself in alignment with the female (earth). I realized that this was symbolic of what I’d been working on in myself. So the song, “Lightning on the Earth” is a lively bluegrass tune that expresses the joy a woman feels when a man begins to love her purely, like ‘lightning on the earth’. I’m currently scouting around for the right woman to record the vocal for me. What’s neat is that my friend, Adrian Percy from the band, the Fugitive Poets, is going to help me out with the recording, playing some guitar licks and banjo. Now if I can just entice Steve Smith to come back in the studio and do some of his harmonica and incredible acoustic G-licks, it will be even better. More later…

Steve Judice - When Darkness Falls

2011-04-27T14:19:00.002-05:00

If there is a “Zen to the art of Songwriting”, Steve Judice is a real master at the craft. His latest CD entitled “When Darkness Falls” is a compilation of some of the most thoughtful, brilliant musical narrative. And the storytelling is first rate. For example, the opening tune, “Rockin’ the Blues Away” (written along with his wife, Kathy) is a lyrical work of genius describing a homecoming queen who was forced to give up her dreams because she became pregnant; or how about “Private Miller’s Momma’s House”, a song which grabs your heart right from the start with a somber account in verse about those who didn’t come home after the war…

“Granny killed the rooster, the day I got home from Nam.
She cooked him up with dirty rice and a mess of candied yams
But I couldn’t think about eatin’, I sat quiet as a mouse
I kept on thinking about the empty chair at Private Miller’s Momma’s house.”

Even though Steve doesn’t always live what he writes about, it doesn’t matter because he feels it. And that’s the thing that really impresses me about his songwriting, Steve Judice’s unique knack for it all comes from the fact that he pays attention to life, he listens to people. Unlike a lot of veteran songwriters I’ve met before, he isn’t full of himself. And this is the one thing that amazes me when I see him at a performance, Steve talks to people, he’s interested in them. And not only does he like all kinds of music, he likes people as well. His sensitivity to other people’s suffering is obvious in the song he wrote about the people who died in the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon. He writes, “…they gave us nothing to bury but his hope for the future…” On the first anniversary of the disaster (in April 2011), a radio station in New Orleans played the song.

The quality of this recording is amazing, especially given he fact that the whole thing was set down at Swamp Studio (Cedar Creek, Texas) in only four days. It proves what can be accomplished when you’re under the gun. Steve’s voice is powerful and sublime. You can hear his passion in these songs. The musicianship is delightful, featuring a wide variety of rhythm, instrumentation and harmony, thanks to the multi-talented Slim Bawb who plays just about every instrument imaginable on this record (resonator guitar, banjo, bass, mandolin, pedal steel, organ, mojo stomp, background vocals). Steve’s acoustic Gibson guitar playing is solid and he put a lot a thought into making arrangements that keep a listener interested.

I think my favorite tune features Barry Hebert on accordion, a song called “Slow Down,” a cheerful little Cajun ditty about appreciating the present moment and living for today. (See, I told you Steve was a Zen Songwriter!) It’s a terrific album and one that I really want to listen to over and over.

Robert Johnson Tribute, May 7, 2011 at Taste of Louisiana Cafe (Denham Springs, LA)

2011-03-03T09:56:00.004-06:00

Robert Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) is among the most famous Delta Blues musicians. Considered by some to be the “Grandfather of Rock and Roll,” his style influenced many, including, Robert Plant, Keith Richards, Rory Block, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and others. He displayed a remarkable combination of
singing, guitar skills and tremendous songwriting talent.
As a tribute to Robert Johnson’s 100th birthday, I'll be at Taste of Louisiana Café (105 N. Range Ave., Denham springs, LA) to share some of Robert Johnson’s most popular tunes as well as other songs from the early 1900’s. This is a great opportunity to learn more about Robert Johnson's music and meet some other blues fans. There will be dinner and drink specials available. For more information, call 225-664-4181.
Hope to see you there.

Music Perspectives

2010-11-26T12:30:00.004-06:00

Everyone has their own unique perspective of things. It always amazes me when I listen to other people speak about what they values or believe, because it makes me realize how little I know. When it comes to music it is the same thing. I still feel like I’m faking it. I learn songs that I like and pay attention to songs other people like and try to learn a little bit of everything, whether blues, country, folk, rock & roll, Irish songs, old spirituals and so on. There is just so much good music out in the world; it would take a couple of lifetimes to hear it all (if that is even possible!).

When I play at a community market, someone inevitably comes up to me and asks me to play something they've heard. Sometimes I know it, sometimes it’s, “sorry, I never even heard of that”. And yet, I really do want to hear it all, while still knowing that it will never happen.

It makes me think about the past, incredible musicians that grew up learning to play by listening to other musicians, before radio and records. What I really wish is that I could have heard my Grandfather play. His name was William Zurich Coglizer. He died in the late 1960’s and I never knew him. He was a fiddle player and had an old German violin that was made sometime around 1870. After he died the fiddle sat in the closet at my Aunt’s house for 43 years, wrapped up in woolen cloth and duct tape. No one on that side of my family was interested in that old fiddle, so one day I called my Aunt and asked her if I could have it. Surprisingly, she packaged it up and mailed it to me this past summer. I was absolutely stunned to see it for the first time and hold it in my hands. Except for the fact that the bridge and the tail piece were broken, it was still in very fine shape. It had a thin crack on the top and there were signs that it had been repaired a few times in the past, but overall, it looked great. I brought it to Keith Davis’ Violin Shop in Hammond, LA (985-340-0137). Keith is a fine luthier and he took his time getting it back into shape. I finally got it back this week and am thrilled to finally get into learning to play it.

When I recorded my latest music CD, Gilead Valley – Original Country Blues, Robert Chaney, who plays fiddle for the Fugitive Poets, kindly offered several tracks for me. He did such a wonderful job embellishing my arrangements and creating counter melodies on several songs. It really makes me appreciate what a fine instrument the violin is.

Anyway, getting back to personal perspectives… I realize that the vast majority of people see things totally differently, but none the less, it is obvious to me that most of us are moving into some challenging times. It’s as if the big corporations of the world have just stepped all over the working middle class and instituted laws and policies to rob the savings and resources out of the hands of the little guy. Whatever is going on with the devaluation of the dollar and the higher food prices, it is obvious to me that more and more people are beginning to feel the pinch. Gasoline prices are starting to rise again, and the latest estimates say that the price per barrel is going to get up to $150 - $200. That is going to devastate truckers, commuters; it’s going to raise prices on everything from food to household supplies. It is a bad situation. And it looks to me like the next few years are going to be a real challenge for a lot of hard working Americans.

All I know to do is keep focusing on living simply, learning how to do practical skills, and keep playing music. I was at Café Taste of Louisiana in Denham Springs this afternoon, playing for a small lunch crowd and it was such a delight to share old familiar folk songs with the people there. There is something magical about the singer-songwriter era, that time of great folk music from the early 60’s to the mid-70's. Most people just seem to enjoy those inspired songs, if played well, and it makes me delighted to see people singing along. I just know that for a few minutes they are having a memory of the past.

Though there are plenty of places in and around Baton Rouge to go and listen to bands, it’s still strange that there are hardly any places to go and enjoy solo performers. The majority of restaurant business owners and managers don’t seem to get it, not everyone wants to hear a loud band, sometimes it is nice to just sit back with a glass of wine or beer and listen to some nice mellow songs, with great lyric and simple melody. I can’t figure it out why there are only a handful of places that feature local musicians around Baton Rouge, (in fact I can just about name them all: Brew-Ha-Ha, LaFonda’s open mic night, Birdman Coffee & Books, Taste of Louisiana, Whole Foods Market, Magnolia Café, The Red Dragon Listening Room…and that’s just about it.) Hopefully Dorothy Leblanc will soon be able to get her new coffee shop, The Third Place, up and running. And when she does, you can bet they’ll be some great music there all the time. www.dorothyleblanc.com

Familiar songs bring back good feelings of a simpler time. Whatever economic conditions are unfolding, it will be those who come together in a sense of community and spirit of helpfulness that are going to get through. Try to get more places to allow solo or duo performers. There are many talented musicians around town willing to share their stuff, but few places to do so.

Blues and Bread

2010-05-08T10:16:00.002-05:00

From Steven Smith's webpage: http://scratchandsnifflive.com/

Recently I met a guitar player when I was playing LaCaliente Mexican Restaurant in Central just northeast of Baton Rouge. His name is Kevin Johnson and he is a very good player, so much so that I had the opportunity of doing several gigs with him. We played in Clinton at the Clinton Community Farmers Market, which is directly in front of the Courthouse on Hwy 10 and we also played a gig at Grill Room at Perkins Rowe in Baton Rouge. I really enjoyed playing with Kevin, as I mentioned, he is a very accomplished player in the styles of Delta Blues players like Robert Johnson and the other legendary bluesmen from Mississippi and the South which includes Baton Rouge, La.("The unofficial home of the Blues")

I have always wanted to be able to play in this style but never really had an opportunity to do so until Kevin gave me a chance to play along with him, which allowed me to improvise on some of great songs the bluesmen released upon the world. One of todays most famous players who was intrigued by this sound is Eric Clapton who considers Baton Rouge's "Buddy Guy" as one of the best guitarists he has ever heard.

Besides playing guitar Kevin has also written several articles, and produced an instructional DVD entitled "The Art of Sourdough Bread Making" which is available on his website "BluesandBread.newlibertyvillage.com" Check it out. He has a wealth of info there along with songs from his latest CD.

He also has started a "Blues and Bread Blog" where he wrote a very nice article about me and the two of us playing together.

We plan on continuing to play together whenever possible.
We will be playing at "Birdman Cafe" in St. Francisville January 25th starting at 6:00 pm

Till next time Baton Rouge, keep playing your guitars

'Scratch'

Gilead Valley - Original Country Blues

2010-05-08T09:56:00.004-05:00

It’s been quite some time since I’ve written any good songs or at least songs that I actually like. In the last few weeks several tunes have come to mind and I’ve worked out enough of them to put together a collection of originals in the country blues fingerpicking style. This is one of the most enjoyable forms of music expression for me because the melodies and words are so simple. I’m not a big fan of complicated songs. And though I like a good story, my songs are more like poetic hints of certain states of consciousness rather than detailed accounts of events.

One good example is the song entitled: “Tree of Life”. Rather than laying out a story the song moves through a repetitive guitar ditty with one line descriptions of the way things are, as in the opening verse, “It's been a long day, walking alone and cryin'. I lost my good friend, can't be satisfied...” It’s more about expressing how things started off bad in my life, gradually getting better over time as I started going back to basics; building a home, working in the garden, standing in the sunshine, living on the tree of life, and so on.

The title song, “Gilead Valley” is a symbolic reference to a place where one can go and psychologically escape the struggles of survival in life. It is like going through a doorway into a mystical reality. The words describe “going down to Gilead Valley, going there no more to weep… where souls redeemed, their vigils keep." The idea came to me one morning when I began feeling that there was no relief from the burden of having to earn a living in our present society, and so the longing to descend into a valley became kind of a metaphor for attaining spiritual and material freedom. I think it is a common theme in the heart of most of us, to find a sacred place where there is a promise of hope and happiness in the afterlife.

Many of the songs reflect my inner feelings about the joys of simple living and seeking to follow a path of true values. It seems that these songs are more biographical in that sense. I really wanted to express these themes in a way that would paint a picture of what simplicity is really about without trying to tell it in a fictional tale.

My good friend, Joel Whitten is helping me with this recording. His “Metal Shed Studio” is a great little place where we are trying some new recording techniques in order to produce the cleanest sound possible. We are using mikes along with inline plugging this time because I want the acoustic guitar to have the kind of full tone that you can only get from live performances, but we’re separating the vocal tracks this time which is such a hard thing for me to do, especially since I am used to singing and playing at the same time. It has required that I practice playing and singing silently in my mind, recording to a click track, then going back and singing over it. I do find, however, that it makes me concentrate on singing better, really projecting my voice.

The opening song is called “Been Going Nowhere”. This is an upbeat country tune that I really enjoy singing. I intended this song originally for the Fugitive Poets to sing. I wrote the song after seeing folk singer, John Craigie a few weeks ago at Boudreaux’s & Thibodeaux’s. John played song after song, telling these remarkable stories about traveling around the country, playing coffee shops and bars for tips, and I came away feeling a little envious that I’ll never be able to have that kind of adventure and experience. So the song is about the flip side, the benefits of staying home with your woman and discovering something deeper in the long run.

I'm doing a couple of ukulele fingerpicking tunes this time as well,“Saddle Up My Pony,” and "Biscuit Roller Blues". Also some folky guitar ballads such as “People Are So Mean,” “Angels Are Calling,” and there is a wonderful instrumental tune recorded in open G tuning called “Essene Cakewalk”. I tried to do this tune with a looping track and layer 3 other guitar parts but it soon became a horrible mess. Finally i told Joel, "the hell with it, I'm going back to playing it like I do live and it came out fantastic." Simpler is always better.

The record will take a while to complete; I'd hoping to get Steve Smith to play on a couple of tunes so the possible release will be sometime early this summer. But in the meantime I’m working in a few of the numbers at some of my performances.

Barry Hebert – Storytelling & Songwriting

2010-03-15T09:02:00.005-05:00

Date: March 15, 2010
Name: Barry Hebert
E-mail: fourcajunbears@eatel.net
Genre: original folk/country
Instrument: Acoustic guitar, bass, Cajun accordion

When a songwriter can tell a good story and create vivid pictures in your mind with his or her lyrics, then you know there is something remarkable going on. Such is the case with Baton Rouge singer-songwriter, Barry Hebert. I first met Barry a couple of months ago at one of the weekly Songwriter Spotlight nights which is hosted by Dorothy Leblanc at Brew-Ha-Ha on Thursday nights.

Right away I was drawn to his singing and smooth rhythm guitar playing. Most notably was a tune he sang called, Three Miles Ahead and 50 Years Behind, about a family going to grandma’s farm on vacation. The song is from a kids’ point of view, not much to do, no video games, no high tech entertainment, just simple country things that the dad remembers enjoying years ago. Barry said he got the idea for the song from seeing the phrase Three Miles Ahead and 50 Years Behind along with a milk truck pictured on a tee shirt.

The youngest of four children in a family that loved music, Barry Hebert grew up listening to singer-songwriters at an early age. He is especially fond of artists like James Taylor, Hank Williams Jr., the Eagles as well as the old country Texas artists. Today he still appreciates classic songs such as Fire & Rain and Tequila Sunrise.

Barry enjoys a long, impressive history of being involved with music professionally; he actually took an interest in junior high when his older sister, Nanette, started taking guitar lessons and showing him a few chords. His sister eventually went on to become a music teacher while Barry continued to play guitar, sing in church and jam with friends throughout high school and later during college at USL.

At first he wasn’t particularly interested in singing, preferring to stand aside and play, but sometime around 1982 he became involved with a country group called the Basin Brothers Band, performing in and around Lafayette, Breaux Bridge and Arnaudville. The group enjoyed some real success, eventually playing nicer gigs such as dancehalls in Houston, Bay City and other places around Texas. By this time Barry was accomplished, not only on acoustic guitar and electric bass guitar, but playing Cajun & Zydeco accordions as well.

Eventually, the Basin Brothers made some personnel changes and the band evolved into a Cajun band. This happened at a time when Cajun music was just beginning to spread beyond Louisiana’s borders. Around the mid to late 80’s, a man named Frank Randol, the owner of Randol’s Restaurant in Lafayette, was busy setting up a musical tour with notables such as Doug Kershaw, Eddie Raven and Jimmy C. Newman. These artist, together with the Basin Brothers Band (including Barry Hebert) spent time traveling around the United States playing places like the Greek Theater in Hollywood, Atlantic City, New York, Canada and so on. The group ultimately released a CD entitled "Let’s Get Cajun", in 1989 which was actually nominated for a Grammy, losing to Doc Watson. The record was, as you might expect, picked up and distributed by Flying Fish Records.

While the late 1980’s was an exciting and busy time for Barry, enjoying the exciting activity of traveling and playing music, the 1990’s was a time for changing direction. In 1990, Barry got married, quit the band, settled down and went to work in Baton Rouge as an environmental consultant. He actually stopped playing music for about 5 years, until one night he and his wife Tiffany were out to dinner and he heard Mitch Landry and the Cajun Ramblers (which later became Gumbeaux Rouge). Barry felt inspired once again to make music. In time he was invited to join the band. This opportunity enabled him to get back to his roots, playing Cajun and swamp pop music. Currently he is still active in two bands, Louisiana Breeze and Gumbeaux Rouge.

Barry started writing country songs while with the Basin Brothers, yet it was only about 4 or 5 years ago when the creative spark came back to him stronger than ever. Lately, his concentration is on being a storyteller-songsmith. Barry, along with his friend Steve Judice, often work together bouncing ideas, lyrics and melodies off one another. “I’m always looking for ideas,” he says, “phrases that people say. When thoughts come I’ll write them down in a folder. Then before bed I go through my notes and see if I can get a verse.”

He told me that lyrics are his primary focus and sometimes a melody will come to mind, but what he really attempts to do is tell stories. The few songs I heard that night at Brew-Ha-Ha really impressed me. I was captivated by the content of his original songs; his stage presence and delivery was delightfully reverent and inspiring.

Another one of his best songs is called Gene’s Pool. It is whimsical song, a play on genetics and the stereotypical redneck activity of beer drinking, skoal dipping and cousin’s kissing around the swimming pool. The bridge of the song says:
“All good things have to come to an end,
But we’ll do it all over come next weekend
We’re gonna get crazy and gonna get loud,
and do some things that will make ole’ Darwin proud.”

Though Barry Hebert is still actively involved with a couple of cover bands, he also performs occasional solo performances at restaurants, coffee shops and so on. This is a guy that loves to play music and his enthusiasm is contagious. Recently, Chris Maxwell invited Barry to open for Bill Kirchen at the Red Dragon Listening Room. Whenever you get a chance to see this guy perform I know you will be uplifted by his music.

Steve Judice – Outlaw Country Songwriter

2010-02-03T13:13:00.005-06:00

Date: January 2, 2010
Name: Steve C. Judice
E-mail: sjudice@kcwlaw.com
Website: www.facebook.com/stevejudice
Genre: original red dirt Americana, outlaw country
Instrument: Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica, keyboard
CD Titles: Stormy Goodbyes & Laughing Eyes

Steve Judice is one of those amazing songwriters’ who can take simple ideas and weave them together through melody and lyric and create imaginative poetry. The first time I heard him play was at an open mic at LaFonda’s in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I sat there captivated by his tragicomic themes, such as Viagravation (grandpa’s insistent fondness for Viagra) to the perfect divorce anthem “if you’re going to leave me, why don’t you leave me alone.” These songs may sound a lot like outlaw country rock and roll, but are really a lot more sophisticated and thought provoking than most of the pop new country tunes of today.

Steve’s early musical influences came from listening to seasoned songwriters like Willie Nelson, John Prine and Mike Williams, artists who write simple tunes and tell great stories. Billy Joe Shaver was probably his biggest influence. His first attempt to write a song came around the mid 80’s in the form of a contest with a friend after they heard George Jones’, “He Stopped Loving Her Today” on the car radio. Steve said, “I can write a song like that” and before long he penned “Big Hat, No Cattle, Cadillac Driving Man.” From then on he realized he had a knack for crafting a song.

Some 25 years later, Steve Judice finally cut his first CD (Stormy Goodbyes & Laughing Eyes - 2009) at Gordon Graham’s Dog House Studio in St. Francisville. With some talented local musicians playing on the record, guys like Pete Verbois, Joe Ropollo, Ken Rust, Phil Gay, and others, it is one of the best collections of originals I’ve heard in a long time. Though not necessarily biographical, the songs depict heartache, struggles in relationships and plain old anguish, such as in the opening song, Outta Luck Again, which begins with the line, “There’s a brand new church where the snake farm used to be…” This song came to Steve in about 15 minutes while he was driving down Highway 190. An old snake farm, which had been a landmark for many years was gone and in its place was raised a new church. Seeing this, Steve came up with a fictional, humorous story about a guy who keeps coming up empty handed at every turn. The new record is getting some well received airplay in Europe as well as on the independent internet radio station radiofreetexas.org

It is this intriguing expression of ordinary themes that really make Steve Judice a great songwriter because he has the innate ability to observe and pay attention to common things that happen in life and poetically convey them in stories that any listener can relate to. One of my favorite songs, “By Heart” poignantly describes the rarity of being truly loved by someone who really understands you on a personal level. Ironically, it was inspired by a 6 year old boy, who upon changing schools, told his mother that he liked his former teachers better because they “know me by heart.”

Steve was first introduced to acoustic guitar by his brother-in–law, a man named Richard Lewis. In 1974, Richard was in the Navy during the Vietnam War and would often leave his guitar, encouraging Steve to play it while he was away. Years later Steve took up playing the piano when his daughters were taking lessons. He also plays harmonica, mandolin and fiddle. But he’s most comfortable singing his own songs and strumming the guitar. Lately, his main concern is writing and he spends a lot of time thinking about ideas and keeping a notebook handy all the time.
He was involved with a few Baton Rouge bar bands over the years, such as Bleeker Street, a 1990’s Classic Rock band, Gunsmoke, and Slightly Off. Recently, however, Steve Judice has decided to focus on writing and playing his own songs almost exclusively, playing open mics, benefits, private parties and coffeehouses.

When I asked Steve what he would do if he could start over as a young musician he said passionately “I’d start writing songs sooner.” It’s clear that he has a gift for writing and playing because whenever I get the chance to see and hear him do a set, he’s always relaxed and confident. His voice and stage presence are energetic and lively. Steve is also one of the favorite performers at Birdman Coffee & Books, in St. Francisville at the Monday night listening room. Check out his webpage at www.facebook.com/stevejudice and for a real treat, listen to his music. Steve's CD "Stormy Goodbyes & Laughing Eyes" is available through www.CDBaby.com

Spencer Bohren at the Red Dragon Listening Room

2010-01-12T11:55:00.009-06:00

When Spencer Bohren took the stage last Saturday night at the Red Dragon Listening Room in Baton Rouge, I was thrilled to get the chance to see him after so many years. My daughter, Lorena was born near New Orleans in 1981 and Spencer’s wife, Marilyn was the attending midwife at her birth. Marilyn was expecting their second child at the time.

In my conversations with Marilyn between my wife’s contractions, I learned about Spencer Bohren and his roots blues. He was making a living, supporting his family, playing clubs in New Orleans, doing a lot of musical experimentation, hosting a weekly Monday night jam session at Tipitina's and playing weekends at the Old Absinthe Bar on Bourbon Street. Still, it wasn’t until a few years later that I actually got a chance to hear him perform.

I remember the first time I saw Spencer singing and playing guitar at Chelsea’s near LSU. I actually sat six feet in front of him, drinking beer and watching his fingers in amazement. He was making exotic chord progressions, doing solo embellishments and finger picking melodies like I’d never heard before. At the time, a B7 chord was awesome and mysterious to me, but this guy was playing harmonic partial chords all over the neck. Man, I wanted to be able to play like that. His style and energy was so vibrant and alive and I’ll never forget how thrilled I was to watch that kind of guitar playing. He was such an inspiration to me at that time.

A year or two later, I had an opportunity to sit and jam with Spencer at a mutual friend’s house. I played him the only blues song I knew at the time, a subdued version of a tune called “How Long” by Christian folk guitarist, John Michael Talbot. I don’t know what Spencer thought of that song considering he was into the real country blues classics, styles by artists such as Mississippi John Hurt, Tommy Johnson, Charley Patton and so on, but he played along with me with absolute politeness, enthusiasm and respect. Just that short time with him really gave me the encouragement I needed to work harder at improving my playing skills.

Thirty years ago Spencer was just beginning to make his mark in the music world of delta and country blues, traveling around the United States, hauling an Airstream trailer with his red and white ’55 Chevy Bel Air, along with his wife Marilyn and their young children. During that time he actually gave me an autographed copy of his first solo LP album entitled “Born in a Biscayne”, which I played over and over until it was completely worn out.

Spencer’s music is born right out of that folk-blues revival of the late 1960’s. In fact, early on in his career, he actually met one of my favorite guitar heroes, the eccentric ragtime genius, Reverend Gary Davis. Over the years, Spencer has established himself as a torch carrier of the old traditional roots music, mixing in some creative, thoughtful originals as well. One of my favorites is a tuned he wrote called, “Cry of the Blues,” on his 1996 CD, Dirt Roads

Spencer probably doesn’t know how much I appreciated that first album he gave me when I was in my early 20’s. But it opened up my ears to a world of music that I love dearly to this day. There is so much unrefined emotion in this old style of music. So when he played blues classics like “Canned Heat,” and “Ain’t Nobody’s Dirty Business” at the Red Dragon this weekend, it was like teleporting back to that time once again. Throughout the evening, Spencer sang and told stories while moving effortlessly from lap steel guitar to banjo to his old Gibson and then back again, painting a melodic panorama of poetry, image and sound. My friend, John Baute, elbowed me more than once between sips of wine, as if to say, “Wow, this guy is great.”

Patrick Sylvest, from Thibodeaux, generally plays in an old time string band trio called the Mosspickers. Patrick opened the performance with a set of inspired and imaginative originals which gave voice to environmental concerns such as coastal restoration and conservation awareness to Louisiana’s dwindling black bear population. Patrick is a talented musician with a pleasant voice and a great sense of sensitivity and rhythm.

The Red Dragon Listening Room is a very special place, thanks to its’ sponsor, Chris Maxwell. What Chris puts into this place is nothing short of a labor of love. It is the ideal setting for experiencing intimate, live music. Spencer said that he’d been all over the United States and that places like the Red Dragon, which cater to live acoustic music, are very rare. Through the Red Dragon Listening Room, Chris Maxwell allows professional songwriters the opportunity to be heard in an atmosphere that is truly unique.

I always have a feeling of being at home at the Red Dragon Listening Room, a comfortable relaxed feeling of being with a room full of friends. The people who love this place come because they know it will be a pleasurable experience of appreciating the excellence of talented acoustic musicians. It is a venue unlike any I’ve known before and I truly appreciate the fact that we have it here in Baton Rouge. If you’ve never been there, please check it out and support the cause of great quality acoustic music in Baton Rouge.

Spencer Bohren’s web page is at: www.SpencerBohren.com
Patrick Sylvest’s web page is at: www.myspace.com/mosspickers

Steven Smith – Acoustic Lead Guitarist

2010-01-08T13:19:00.012-06:00

Date: January 2010
Name: Steven Smith (Scratch)
Website: www.scratchandsnifflive.com
Genre: acoustic pop rock
Instrument: Lead Guitar / Harmonica

Steven Smith (a.k.a. Scratch) is one of those rare accomplished guitarists that enjoy playing just for the sake of the music itself. His rhythmic accompaniments generate a bouncy groove that really allows one to hear the richness of acoustic guitar playing. The first time I heard Steve play was while he and Peter Duffield (3 Blind Mice) were performing a gig at Calente’s Restaurant in Central, just northeast of Baton Rouge. Their music was tight and polished, performing as an acoustic duo known as Scratch & Sniff (www.scratchandsnifflive.com), and playing a variety of 60’s & 70’s folk rock cover tunes.

Steve’s guitar playing was inspired by the early country fingerstyle guitarists, Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed, who both utilized a pulsating bottom end in their playing. Steve’s guitar style, however, exhibits a lot more melodic flow rather than an alternating bass rhythm. And his ability to intuitively blend harmonically with just about anyone, accentuating major and minor based melodies between lines, seems to express a hint of ragtime syncopation. But it is apparently obvious that his foundation is deeply rooted in folk rock. One can easily discern surf and country blues techniques from American bands like the Beach Boys, Grand Funk Railroad, The Grateful Dead and the Eagles in his style. I really enjoy listening to him play and I’ve met several people who agree that “Scratch really has a nice touch on the guitar.”

Steve’s grandfather became his first musical influence. Amos Callegari was from Cottonport, Louisiana. And he played fiddle for a Cajun band for many years. One day he decided to donate his fiddle to a Catholic School. After that, the old man kept up his musical interests playing the harmonica, sometimes playing simple tunes for his grandchildren.

This early introduction must have really impressed Steve because he can play blues cross harp just as well as any old bluesman from Mississippi. A couple of years ago Steve was hired to record a unique blues harmonica lick that was actually used in a jingle for the Team Toyota commercial, which has aired thousands of times on television since.

By the time Steven Smith was in high school his desire to play music led him to getting one formal lesson on the snare drum. After a month of pounding out cadences his mother had enough. She took the drum back to Montgomery Wards and got him a guitar and amp instead. One day, Steve heard a neighbor named Randy Borne’ playing guitar; Randy had begun taking guitar lessons around this time and was sitting on his porch playing “House of the Rising Sun”. After hearing that, Steve started hanging out with Randy, absorbing as much as he could and then eventually showing him some things on the guitar as well.

At the age of 16 Steve got his first acoustic guitar and it was during these early years that he actually began developing his own unique melodic playing style. His emphasis was always on being an accompanist rather than a solo guitarist. He says the best gig he ever played was in November of 2005 at the Beaumont Civic Center, where he and 3 Blind Mice were privileged to open for Edgar and Johnny Winter at a benefit for victims of Hurricane Rita.

Over the last 40 years, Steve has developed a solid understanding of musical scales and has formed his own method of practicing them as a kind of warm up fingering exercise. His guitar picking technique employs holding a flat-pick while clawing the treble strings with his middle and ring fingers. Preferring nylon strings, the effect he produces is very punchy, yet mellow at the same time.

One night I invited Steve to come check out the open mic at LaFonda’s. When he showed up, he just leisurely introduced himself to a couple of musicians and before you know it he was sitting down and effortlessly playing along like it was nothing. He has a natural ability to blend in with any kind of musical style or genre. Later in the evening, he played lead guitar for Steve Judice, performing a few original Red Dirt Americana tunes such as “Outta Luck Again,” and “Nobody Talks”. It sounded incredible. Donna and I wished we would have had a film recorder going.

The first time I performed live music with Steven Smith was during the Clinton Community Art Market last November (2009). We set up a small P.A. in front of the Landmark Bank and played out toward the street nonstop for three hours - everything from the Beatles to John Prine to the Doors – and had a blast. I was absolutely amazed at how he could just follow along on a song he’d never heard before and just come up with some of the most incredible musical embellishments right on the spot. There were a lot of people who came up to me afterward to say how much they enjoyed the music.

Be sure to check out Steve Smith’s calendar and new music webpage at www.scratchandsnifflive.com and try to make it to one of his performances or just listen to some of his music online.

Open Mic

2010-01-02T10:18:00.003-06:00

Venues that offer open mic nights are great. That is, as long as the right elements are there. I’ve met some wonderful people at open mic's and learned a lot from networking with other musicians. For those of us who are really into music, it’s a good way to have some kind of social life without having to join organizations.

Here are some simple suggestions that I’ve found makes the event work best. You can use them to set up your own open mic night. It is a great way to network with other musicians, share musical ideas and learn new styles. In our current climate of social apprehension, where so many people suffer tension and anxiety, we need secular avenues where people can come together and experience live music. Open mic's provide that kind of opportunity so I think business owners should try to accommodate them. Musicians will surely come, they’ll invite their friends and family to eat and drink and listen to music.

Be sure to check out our open mic at LaFonda’s Restaurant on Airline Hwy in Baton Rouge each Wednesday from 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm.

1. Have open mic’s no more than once a week, and always schedule them consistently on the same night.

2. If at a restaurant, try to designate a specific room just for the open mic, so that people who are not interested can opt out.

3. Turn the televisions off. The worst open mic’s I’ve played always have a football game going on. You’ll have two dozen enthusiastic fans screaming at the TV while the guy on stage is trying to sing his best love song. It doesn’t work. Let the football fans have their own night and let the musicians and listeners have theirs.

4. Have a sign up sheet. Someone has to run the event and keep tract of how long each person can play. Twenty minutes is the max, less if there are lots of people waiting to play. There’s always going to be someone who wants to hog the mic, so the coordinator has to enforce the time limit and keep it fair for everyone.

5. Don’t talk too much. Don’t go on and on about what the song means to you, how you wrote it and what it’s about, blah, blah, blah. Sure you can mention the title and say a little something. But for the most part, people in the audience aren’t interested in all that. They will usually be talking to each other at their table, so just shut up and sing!

6. Be sure to practice what you’re going to play before you go. It is awkward when someone plays a song they’ve forgotten the chords or the words. Do yourself a favor and put your best foot forward. Practice what you want to play.

Loud Music

2010-01-02T10:03:00.003-06:00

This week Donna and I worked on a lot of different music; mostly country blues classics, some folksy pop stuff and a few ragtime tunes. She’s really into the ukulele and this was the first time since taking up playing that she felt confident enough to come out with me to a coffeehouse and play in public. There was so much receptivity and enthusiasm for old time music at this one particular place - such a great venue for intimate, live acoustic music.

There should be a lot more places seeking to create that kind of atmosphere. It is unfortunate that most business owners don’t see the value in it because there are a heck of a lot of people who really enjoy that kind of experience. They come there just to drink coffee or have breakfast, and they want to be able to talk, visit with friends and listen to quiet, relaxing live music. In many cases, places that do have live music are too dang loud. You can’t talk, and you’re just pummeled to death by the ferocious volume coming out of the P.A.

Anyway, this past Monday Donna and I played for a nice crowd, which was partly due I suppose to the “after Christmas” travelers along the Interstate. On Thursday (new Years’ eve) we went back there and played again for a slightly smaller group and had an equally enjoyable time. Later that evening some neighbors invited us to a party, so we showed up with guitar, uke, harmonica and a bottle of wine, and sat around the kitchen table with a few friends and played and sang some more.

Not everyone liked our country blues and folk tunes though. In fact, there were a couple of people who were annoyed and waited around for us to stop so they could crank up the stereo and play some contemporary dance music. Wow, what a contrast! But one woman who had stayed to listen to us with her grandson said, “Your music is so much more soothing than that stuff.” But the thing I finally realized is this: there is a genuine sense of longing in many people to experience a kind of life-affirming kinship that only live acoustic music can provide.

So when they cranked up the stereo, turned on the flashing disco lights and started wildly gyrating to “Mustang Sally”, the atmosphere in the room drastically shifted from people relaxing, visiting, talking and sharing songs to one of stress, tension, even an odd feeling of enmity. No one could talk because the music was so loud and aggressive. There was a harsh sense of disconnection that seemed to take over. It was so weird to see it happen. Obviously the majority of us could feel it, but the “others” were absolutely oblivious. They wanted the music to be loud and they wanted to dance. And they did. So they simply took over. There was no more relating or sharing with one another. Everyone just stood around watching the two or three drunken dancers whooping and hollering.

Donna and I stayed a little while longer and watched the crazy scene unfold, surprised that the good energy had died out so quickly. But we were happy that we had been able to visit with some friends. After a few minutes and a couple of pieces of fudge, we packed up the instruments, left early and went home.

The next day she and I went for a long walk and talked about the party the night before and concluded that there was something significant about that hour we had created a setting of relaxed camaraderie. I think that was the first time Donna ever had that kind of experience around playing music. But I’ve known about it ever since high school. Nearly all my friends played in the school band or were into guitar. And we used to spend hours sitting around at my house drinking beer, eating pizza, playing songs, laughing and singing. It was one of the best times of my life.

I felt it then, as I do now, that this is one of the best ways to connect and relate to others. Unfortunately you don’t see it much these days in the lives of young people. Too much technology has busted the desire or need to come together in singing circles. Though many of them love their digital music, they are still eager to go out to clubs and listen to extremely loud bands. But these kinds of gatherings are not so much for the purposes of social networking. They’re not getting together to discuss issues of social injustice or causes they believe in, they’re going out to relieve frustration.

This new generation, more than any other before has a completely different idea of what is important. To them the American dream is not so much about having an opportunity to work for and build a modest home, learn wisdom from elders, raise a family, cultivate relationships, learn creative life skills, or develop some form of art - for many teens, 20 and 30 something’s, it is simply about wanting to be famous like the people featured on popular reality shows like American Idol, Big Brother, Dancing with the Stars, and so forth.

When I heard this mentioned on a public radio program recently I was stunned, but it does make sense. I’ve noticed that many young people who are into playing music seem to be more concerned with putting together a band, performing on a stage, earning money playing gigs, or simply hoping to gain some recognition or fame. What ever happened to just getting together for the sake of playing and sharing music?

My friend, John Baute has the right viewpoint, that’s why I admire his approach. He’s been learning to play the guitar for about a year now, going along at his own pace, just trying to create a solid groove so he can experience the pleasure of playing music for his own enjoyment. He describes it like this, “I just want to be able to sit on my porch and play the blues.” Too me, John has discovered a profound secret, which is that the seed for satisfaction and success in music exists whenever someone plays for the sake of the music first. Anything else just stirs up ego and corrupts the creative energy. But if a person participates in music with the purpose of sharing their own joy and enthusiasm with others through learning, listening and playing songs, there is a whole other dimension of experience available to them, one where making other people happy is more important. I’ve seen this happen over and over, but sadly, it is something that few musicians seem to be conscious of.

That’s why I really like places that offer open mic performances (as long as the place has the right atmosphere, which I’ll talk about in another post). An open mic is an opportunity for an amateur musician to get up there in front of people and just pour their heart and soul out. It takes a lot of guts to get up in front of people and sing, but the cool thing is audiences love it. The majority of people would still rather experience live music rather than listen to the TV or digitally recorded music. And I’ve found that in certain situations, the simpler the music is, the better it is for the listener to enjoy.

Many hard-core rockers would disagree. They assert that if more instrumentation is louder and better, increasingly more louder is even better! But I still maintain that the music that has the most “spaciousness” is far more enjoyable to experience. Once you get beyond three or four instruments, it gets too hectic. There are exceptions of course, depending on the song and the mood of the music, but for the most part, I’d say, keep it simple and people will appreciate it more.

There is just too much NOISE these days in most public venues, too much happening all at once. I think it is crazy that restaurants have 5 televisions going on at the same time, especially when there’s a band playing. And now-a-days bands are even louder than ever before. People sit there in front of the PA speakers like it’s no big deal, constantly screaming at one another trying to talk. What in the world is going on? Are people that oblivious and deaf that they can subject their body to that kind of noise and pretend like it’s not abnormal?

I actually watched a 20-something year old girl sit inebriated and seemingly comatose just four feet from a PA speaker on the balcony at Boudreaux’s & Thibodeaux’s in Baton Rouge while this deaf-inducing heavy metal blues band blasted out the most outrageously loud and darkly inert music(?) I’ve ever heard since seeing Ritchie Blackmore at the Centroplex in 1977. I actually went downstairs to the street still plugging my ears from the volume. It’s just unbelievable that young people can subject themselves to that kind of assault without blinking. To me it is a symptom of a society desperately trying to feel something they sense is missing and the only way they can is by exposing themselves to as much noise, entertainment, pleasure and intoxication they can get.

Free Wine Tasting

2009-12-17T13:14:00.000-06:00

Last night I had a great time at Cafe Roux in Central. It is a wonderful little cafe with separate rooms for entertaining and dining. The place is owned by Rick Bennett. I was hired to play acoustic blues during the wine tasting event hosted by Debi & Lonnie Nogle from Lafayette, Louisiana. They taught us the fine art of wine tasting which is like an exact science, including seeing, swirling, sniffing and sipping. Needless to say, after the third bottle to sample, we were all feeling really good. And there were five more to go. My buddy John Baute rode along and helped me carry the amp and gig bag. He's an unpaid roadie. And I don't know how many verses I forgot when I started playing again, but no one seemed to mind. We were all singing and laughing and enjoying the food. Check out Cafe Roux sometime and if you know of a cafe that is willing to host a similar wine tasting event, let the Nogle's know. www.debidoeswine.com

Too much music, or not enough listeners?

2009-12-15T15:17:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I feel that there is perhaps too much music in the world. And what with all the latest technology available, everyone can be jacked in all the time to headphones or find a club with some kind of live music going on. Still, people love to hear songs they know, they still like to feel the groove that music provides, provided the music is worth listening to. Here in South Louisiana there are some incredible, talented musicians. I've been fortunate to see, hear and play along with a few of them. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to try to introduce some of them here, so more people can have access to their music and unique talent. Maybe it isn't that there is too much music, it's just that it's getting to the point that the saturation level makes it harder to discern what's worth listening to. I remember Dr. Szekely wrote somewhere, "we should go back to reading the ancient knowledge instead of being content upon reading the commentaries on the commentaries." Similarly, I feel that the best songs have probably already been written, but it is the delivery and re-interpretation of them that gives old songs new vitality.