These guys are good! - Bob
The bad news is that The Flying Fox String Band Free Concert at Rosendale's Willow Kiln Park was rained out August 27th. The good news is that the Concert has been rescheduled to Sunday, September 17th at 3PM.
So if you were intending to attend on the 27th and just couldn't make it, you still have a chance to see one of the better Bluegrass/Traditional ensembles in the Hudson Valley in a beautiful and intimate setting, Rosendale's Willow Kiln Park (located behind the theater).
The FLYING FOX STRING BAND is Michael Hunold, Guitar and Lead Vocals, Gail Whistance, Fiddle and Vocals, Bruce Whistance, Guitar, Freddie Blue Fox, 5-String Banjo and Percussion, Ed Seliger, Mandolin, Tin Whistle, Harmonica, Andy Bing, Dobro and Mandolin and Frank Stettner, String Bass.
We will be recording the concert for use on a future CD entitled, "Hot from the Kiln." We hope to see you all there!
Support Bluegrass and Traditional Music in the Hudson Valley!
Freddie Blue Fox
James Krueger performances
Go and catch James if you can - I'm afraid I'll be in Canada this weekend. - Bob
Hello all - hope you're well. Just a quick note to let you know about the Rosendale Homegrown Folk Festival, happening on Saturday September 2nd with a rain date of Monday the 4th. Location and info to be found here: http://www.hvmusic.com/folkfest/rosendale/
I'll be MCing at the Open Mic stage at 11:00 AM; then performing a 45 minute set on the Canal Stage at 12:30 PM, followed by a workshop which I'll co-teach called "Alt Folk, Garage Folk, New Folk, Whatever Folk", also at the Canal Stage. There are a ton of great performers throughout the day, so come on out if you can.
Other up-coming performances: Saturday September 16: Catskill Heritage Alliance Fall Music and Family Fun Festival: 1 - 5 PM, I'll be performing at 4:00.
Info here: http://www.catskillheritage.org//.
And please mark your calendars for Saturday October 14, which is my birthday. I'll be performing a concert at the Old School Baptist Church, a little country church turned performance space in the Denver-Vega Valley near Roxbury, one of the prettiest valley's in the Catskills. I'll go on at 7:30, and we'll have a little celebration party after, so bring instruments. I'll also be recording this performance. Info on the Old School Baptist Church here: http://www.roxburyny.com/visit/history/first_old_school_baptist_church.html.
More performances found at my website, listed below.
Peace,
James Krueger
www.jameskrueger.com
Hello all - hope you're well. Just a quick note to let you know about the Rosendale Homegrown Folk Festival, happening on Saturday September 2nd with a rain date of Monday the 4th. Location and info to be found here: http://www.hvmusic.com/folkfest/rosendale/
I'll be MCing at the Open Mic stage at 11:00 AM; then performing a 45 minute set on the Canal Stage at 12:30 PM, followed by a workshop which I'll co-teach called "Alt Folk, Garage Folk, New Folk, Whatever Folk", also at the Canal Stage. There are a ton of great performers throughout the day, so come on out if you can.
Other up-coming performances: Saturday September 16: Catskill Heritage Alliance Fall Music and Family Fun Festival: 1 - 5 PM, I'll be performing at 4:00.
Info here: http://www.catskillheritage.org//.
And please mark your calendars for Saturday October 14, which is my birthday. I'll be performing a concert at the Old School Baptist Church, a little country church turned performance space in the Denver-Vega Valley near Roxbury, one of the prettiest valley's in the Catskills. I'll go on at 7:30, and we'll have a little celebration party after, so bring instruments. I'll also be recording this performance. Info on the Old School Baptist Church here: http://www.roxburyny.com/visit/history/first_old_school_baptist_church.html.
More performances found at my website, listed below.
Peace,
James Krueger
www.jameskrueger.com
The Perfect Song
(Cross Posted at
http://bhaavram.blogspot.com/)
As a singer, I have been intrigued by the difference between "good" and "bad" performances. The ideas of "good" and "bad" in bad in this context are both internal and external experinces. I may feel that I have done a wonderful job of singing a song, but the listener may not have enjoyed it. The listener may have negative association with the song, my voice, the physical space that they are listening to it in or there may be countless other reasons that they had a negative (or a positve experience). My experience likewise will be based on how it sounds to me, how I percieve the listener reaction, what my mood is on the day of performance and what my expectations are. As the singer, I also hear the song internally while I'm singing it. the sound resonates incide of me and adds to the harmonic overtones and undertones that are projected, but there is also a feedback loop to my ear that causes me to hear the sound differently than an outside observer. This is one reason it is hard to get the sound of a recording to be like the sound that you think of as "your voice". And then of course is the question of what is a "performance". I have heard people say that Kirtan and other religous music should not be a "performance", but then heard people criticise the singer for bad technique. In that context I believe that you are performing for your God and question of technique....... sorry, this probably needs another 20 pages........
I could go on and on with what causes the subtle philisophical experience of good" and "bad" performances, and I may expand on this elsewhere sometime, but I actually started this post for a different reason - to mention a couple of times when I really nailed the song to the wall, did what I thought was my personal best. They have been few and far between, but one has been on my mind lately and I thought I would mention it.
In May of 2006 I played at a memorial service for a close friend and coworker, Ellen Asher. I sang “Danny Boy”. Now I have sung DB about a hundred times. A lot of people think of it as a corny song. Actually there are a lot of people who think of all Irish Amercan songs of that genre as "corny", ie., not capable of being artistic, having no legitamacy. Well I've always liked cornball stuff and think that it is legitamate in it's own right. Ellen was Irish American and an intelligent, poplitical, modern gay woman. She had mixed feelings about her roots, which is normal and natural, but she had a great sense of humor and I think she would have laughed at the idea of me singing DB at her funeral.
I didn't do it for laughs though. I sang it straight, from the heart, with every nuance of emotion I could get out of it. I have heard people do it as a light hearted song, but I've usually tried to do it as a full voice, emotional ballad. In consequece, if I am singing with other people, if it's appropriate to do it as a throwaway song, I will usually let somebody else do it. At Ellen's memorial service, it was a perfect opportunity for me to give it my all. I gave an apology to the group, saying that I knew some people thought it was corny, but that (true), it had been going through my head ever since Ellen died and it was a song I needed to do. I did it at the beginning of the program, when people were still having trouble acknowledging their grief.
Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide
I had my eyees closed at the beginning of the song, but opened them at this point, just to check out people's reactions. They had obviously all conncected with me.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
It's I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so
At this point most people think the song is finished and are suprised when I start the second verse.
And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me
Here I had a slight brain fog and was congradulating myself on how well I was doing, which of course made me lose the emotional thread of the song for a minute. (This happens to performers a lot more than people realize.)
And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warmer, sweeter be
If you will bend and tell me that you love me
Then I will sleep in peace until you come to me
By the end I knew I had done a good job and I modestly excused myself and sat down. The afterglow when you've know you've done a good job of singing is a very heady thing and I spent some time trying to focus on the service and thinking what else I could do. The organizers had asked me to do a song at the end. About halfway through the service I remembered a funny song written by a man named Tony Herbert circa 1965. I was only able to do a few verses, but it fit. Ellen was known for her sense of humor and love of word games.
I’m playing scrabble and I’m feeling so depressed
And the cause of my depression is one you might have guessed
I’ve got most of the letters except perhaps a few
And I know I’ll never find another U
I tried writing a verse during the service, but I couldn'tget the words out right. I la, la'd and said something about "dropping by your office". People were emotionally right with me and were able to excuse my lack of ability to remember words with emotion, which perhaps it was. The second verse was funny enough to end on.
I don’t know the reason I find this game so hard
I should have stuck to Ma Jong or perhaps a game of cards
The creators of this board game are making me feel blue
Cause I know I’ll never find another U
Although I’ll probably be asked to sing Danny Boy again at some point in my life, I doubt if I will ever do it as well as I did for Ellen. This is my subjective feeling. Someone who was there may have had a totally different experience. And of course I would want to know that, but the p-ersonal subjective experience is on some level enough. I sang to Ellen and I think she may have heard me - and loved me - and laughed.
http://bhaavram.blogspot.com/)
As a singer, I have been intrigued by the difference between "good" and "bad" performances. The ideas of "good" and "bad" in bad in this context are both internal and external experinces. I may feel that I have done a wonderful job of singing a song, but the listener may not have enjoyed it. The listener may have negative association with the song, my voice, the physical space that they are listening to it in or there may be countless other reasons that they had a negative (or a positve experience). My experience likewise will be based on how it sounds to me, how I percieve the listener reaction, what my mood is on the day of performance and what my expectations are. As the singer, I also hear the song internally while I'm singing it. the sound resonates incide of me and adds to the harmonic overtones and undertones that are projected, but there is also a feedback loop to my ear that causes me to hear the sound differently than an outside observer. This is one reason it is hard to get the sound of a recording to be like the sound that you think of as "your voice". And then of course is the question of what is a "performance". I have heard people say that Kirtan and other religous music should not be a "performance", but then heard people criticise the singer for bad technique. In that context I believe that you are performing for your God and question of technique....... sorry, this probably needs another 20 pages........
I could go on and on with what causes the subtle philisophical experience of good" and "bad" performances, and I may expand on this elsewhere sometime, but I actually started this post for a different reason - to mention a couple of times when I really nailed the song to the wall, did what I thought was my personal best. They have been few and far between, but one has been on my mind lately and I thought I would mention it.
In May of 2006 I played at a memorial service for a close friend and coworker, Ellen Asher. I sang “Danny Boy”. Now I have sung DB about a hundred times. A lot of people think of it as a corny song. Actually there are a lot of people who think of all Irish Amercan songs of that genre as "corny", ie., not capable of being artistic, having no legitamacy. Well I've always liked cornball stuff and think that it is legitamate in it's own right. Ellen was Irish American and an intelligent, poplitical, modern gay woman. She had mixed feelings about her roots, which is normal and natural, but she had a great sense of humor and I think she would have laughed at the idea of me singing DB at her funeral.
I didn't do it for laughs though. I sang it straight, from the heart, with every nuance of emotion I could get out of it. I have heard people do it as a light hearted song, but I've usually tried to do it as a full voice, emotional ballad. In consequece, if I am singing with other people, if it's appropriate to do it as a throwaway song, I will usually let somebody else do it. At Ellen's memorial service, it was a perfect opportunity for me to give it my all. I gave an apology to the group, saying that I knew some people thought it was corny, but that (true), it had been going through my head ever since Ellen died and it was a song I needed to do. I did it at the beginning of the program, when people were still having trouble acknowledging their grief.
Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide
I had my eyees closed at the beginning of the song, but opened them at this point, just to check out people's reactions. They had obviously all conncected with me.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
It's I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so
At this point most people think the song is finished and are suprised when I start the second verse.
And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me
Here I had a slight brain fog and was congradulating myself on how well I was doing, which of course made me lose the emotional thread of the song for a minute. (This happens to performers a lot more than people realize.)
And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warmer, sweeter be
If you will bend and tell me that you love me
Then I will sleep in peace until you come to me
By the end I knew I had done a good job and I modestly excused myself and sat down. The afterglow when you've know you've done a good job of singing is a very heady thing and I spent some time trying to focus on the service and thinking what else I could do. The organizers had asked me to do a song at the end. About halfway through the service I remembered a funny song written by a man named Tony Herbert circa 1965. I was only able to do a few verses, but it fit. Ellen was known for her sense of humor and love of word games.
I’m playing scrabble and I’m feeling so depressed
And the cause of my depression is one you might have guessed
I’ve got most of the letters except perhaps a few
And I know I’ll never find another U
I tried writing a verse during the service, but I couldn'tget the words out right. I la, la'd and said something about "dropping by your office". People were emotionally right with me and were able to excuse my lack of ability to remember words with emotion, which perhaps it was. The second verse was funny enough to end on.
I don’t know the reason I find this game so hard
I should have stuck to Ma Jong or perhaps a game of cards
The creators of this board game are making me feel blue
Cause I know I’ll never find another U
Although I’ll probably be asked to sing Danny Boy again at some point in my life, I doubt if I will ever do it as well as I did for Ellen. This is my subjective feeling. Someone who was there may have had a totally different experience. And of course I would want to know that, but the p-ersonal subjective experience is on some level enough. I sang to Ellen and I think she may have heard me - and loved me - and laughed.
Rick Nestler's "River that Flows Both Ways"
I've just posted (with his permission) the lyrics to Rick Nestler's classic song "River that Flows Both Ways" at:
http://bobluskcatskills.blogspot.com/
It's a great song that deserves to be sung by more than Rick, Pete Seeger, Rich Bala and myself.
If you want to know how it goes, contact Rick through his website at:
http://www.ricknestler.com/
I'm sure he'd be glad to help you out.
http://bobluskcatskills.blogspot.com/
It's a great song that deserves to be sung by more than Rick, Pete Seeger, Rich Bala and myself.
If you want to know how it goes, contact Rick through his website at:
http://www.ricknestler.com/
I'm sure he'd be glad to help you out.
Squat, Squat, Pray for the Spot!
From wonderful Hudson Valley songstress Cecilia St. King- To find a parking spot, especially in NYC, you need to pray to the diety "Squat". The mantra goes: "Squat, Squat, pray for the spot". Keep on reciting it until you find a parking place. Once you find your space, make sure to throw some money under your car in offering.
Lyrics
I've added some new Catskill mt/Hudson Valley lyrics to the site at http://bobluskcatskills.blogspot.com/ . If you have any lyrics that your think should be there send them to me at boblusk@hvc.rr.com
Vocal Toning
April and June 2007 - I just got word that I will be teaching some Vocal Toning classes at Dutchess County Community College in Poughkeepsie, NY on tuesday evenings next year. 7:30-9:00. Call 431-8916 to register or for more information.
Gigs, New and Old
On 9/9/06 I'll be at the Bronck House and Museum, Green County, NY 7:30. Traditional music of the Catskills and Hudson Valley. (518) 731-6490.http://www.gchistory.org/barns.php
I was afraid I was going to miss the annual benefit for Forsyth Nature Center in Kingston on 10/15, but it looks as if I will be able to do an early set. Come on over and check out the zoo!
I was afraid I was going to miss the annual benefit for Forsyth Nature Center in Kingston on 10/15, but it looks as if I will be able to do an early set. Come on over and check out the zoo!
From Patty Lee Parmalee - Dear fellow folkies-Once again the New Jersey Folk Project will be spending Friday evening through Sunday afternoon at my barn eating and jamming and partying. There are less people in summer than in winter, but many of the regulars will be there, including some excellent musicians who like to play and sing until late at night. Genres run the gauntlet - originals, folk-pop like Paul Simon, Grateful Dead or Bruuuuce, true blue folk, blues, bluegrass, you name it. They (and I!) are always happy to have local folk join in. If coming anytime other than evening, you might want to call first to make sure everyone isn't out at the Ulster Co. Fair. Or just come by - there'll probably always be someone. Phone is 845-744-4201.We ask that you bring some food and/or drink.Note that I myself will be at a wedding in Hartford most of Saturday (back Saturday evening). No one will even notice - just come anyway. Also there is still room to stay over, in your own bedding in the house or in your own tent. If you are into that, bring a $30 contribution and contact liz@lizpagan.com about what food to bring. - Patty Lee Parmalee
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