Garage Set

8/22/2010

Plymouth Studios

"Sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes the bar.........well."

Tonight (the last month actually) certainly feels like the latter. It's been tough days at Chez Jasse and a little musical reprieve was necessary for this strummer.

I made my way down Rt. 3 south, and when I walked into the future home of Fozapalooza all was well with the world.

Foz, Crystal and I caught up with all things Justin, Jennifer and Amanda as well as having a couple of howls recapping the Comedy Central Roast of The Hoff; just some scathing, brutal and hysterical one-liners.

"David, when alcohol does it's taxes it claims you as a dependent." Brilliant.

Well, the teenage lovebirds had claimed the basement for movie-watching so instead of jammin' in the den Crystal suggested that we rock out in the garage. Outstanding suggestion; we can really let 'er rip, have instant access to the outside for pre and mid-show festivities and it was a SPECTACULAR breezy evening. Quasi-outdoor jam it was.

As we were going through our usual rigmarole of what to play first (or some nights what to play at all), I had mentioned to Foz I ran into a guy who was in a band who played Folsom Prison Blues by Senor' Cash. So, leading off the night was a little FPB.

The on-deck circle was occupied by Sweet Virginia by Mick and the boys (which we nailed, I might add) and the 3-hole was Jethro Tull's Locomotive Breath (which we also nailed). I stepped up for the clean-up spot for an emotionally relevant Can't You See by Marshall Tucker.

Crystal revealed that this was her single favorite guitar night song (stunned but gracias, gracias). She then started to tell Jeff and I that she played the accordion (news to us) and I made some reference to a squeeze-box and suddenly, thanks to Jeff's never-ending mental collection of chords and lyrics, we found ourselves bangin' out a decent version of the Who's Squeeze Box.

Now I'm here to tell you followers of the Cellar Dwellers (all 5 of you) this next musical lineup was about as good as we get; Jeff just CRUSHED Treehouse by Buffalo Tom and then we slapped on the capos for a TERRIFIC version of Beautiful Wreck by Shawn Mullins-such a good, catchy tune. We ended the first set with an incredible go at The House of the Rising Sun.

Always nice to enjoy the break with a couple of cold ones. Cheers.

Prior to the well-deserved break Crystal had requested some Eagles, so we came back from the reprieve and starred the 2nd set with a nice harmonious version of Take it Easy. The Band's The Weight was next and this tune is either a hit or miss for us and this time it ended up being a pretty solid 'hit'. It was nice to have Crystal's vocals on this one because of all the harmonic nuances; particularly the chorus. Good stuff. On to Blood & Roses by The Smithereens which is quickly becoming a fave of the band.

I had mentioned to Foz in the pre-show that my melancholy state was begging for a little darkness, a little heaviness, a little gloom and despair & that a Floyd medley was in order. Well, you ask the Foz and you shall receive.

We didn't play four, five, or even six. We played eight.

"Eight. 8 Pink Floyd tunes in one night, Renee'.

Breath, Brick in the Wall, Mother, Nobody's Home, Vera, Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, and we wrapped it up with Hey You.

My need for musical darkness was completely and utterly satisfied.

We just ripped Dan Bern's Black Tornado (which Foz just nailed along with nice vocal harmony from Crystal), a FUN, FUN version of Dylan's All Along the Watchtower (good vocal trio on this one) and closed it out with Dead Flowers by Mick & the boys.

Not only a great night musically but one that was good for this strummer's soul.

Thanks to Jeff and Crystal for hosting a muuuch needed strum. Thanks also to Amanda who's movie night in the basement ultimately led us to the garage; which given the tremendous weather that evening turned out to be a great place to jam.

Please enjoy a little audio of Foz's rendition of Black Tornado

All Along the Watchtower-audio

21 Song Salute

6/6/2010
Basically what happened was I called Jeff and said,
"Sorry for the rude self-invite but I need to jam and I'm comin' down."
What is poor Jeff to do but open the doors to the Plymouth studios and crack open some cold ones?
Treehouse by Buffalo Tom lead it all off; one that we had played maybe once before but is sure to become part of the CD's stable of tunes. Hotel California was next followed by a regular Dwellers fave, Ring of Fire.
Michael requested Shawn Mullins' Beautiful Wreck which is another one of those tunes that once you hear/play it's tough to get it out of your head.
We ripped through both Born to Run and This Hard Land by his excellency, Mr. Springsteeen.
We then added to our Rolling Stones repertoire with Sweet Virginia (good good stuff) and then dusted off a classic in Jethro Tull's Locomotive Breath. Neil Young's Hurricane was next followed by another Cellar Dweller first; Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead.
Back to Neil for Powderfinger and then yet another first in Allman Brothers' Sweet Melissa.
Just to we got the somewhat complex strumming right, we went back to Beautiful Wreck and then on to one of my personal recent adds; Blood & Roses by The Smithereens. And then just for good measure, ANOTHER TWO FIRSTS; What's Going On-Four Non Blondes and Me & Julio by Simon & Garfunkle;OUTSTANDING ADDITIONS!
Take it Easy followed and then Michael took the vocals for Petty's Yer So Bad and then back to Jeff and Mr. Young for Cortez the Killer.
We wrapped it up with Runaway Train and of course, Dead Flowers.
All in all, another good way to have a few pops and enjoy the company of good folk. Another fun evening.
Thought I would post a vid of our closing song, Dead Flowers by the Rolling Stones.
Enjoy

6/6/2010 Set list:

1. Treehouse Buffalo Tom
2. Hotel California Eagles
3. Ring of Fire Johnny Cash
4. Beautiful Wreck Shawn Mullins
5. Born to Run Bruce Springsteen
6. This Hard Land Bruce Springsteen
7. Sweet Virginia Rolling Stones
8. Locomotive Breath Jethro Tull
9. Hurricaine Neil Young
10. Fake Plastic Trees Radiohead
11. Powederfinger Neil Young
12. Sweet Melissa Allman Brothers
13. Beautiful Wreck2 Shawn Mullins
14. Blood & Roses Smithereens
15. What's Going On? 4 Non Blondes
16. Me & Julio Simon & Garfunkle
17. Take it Easy Eagles
18. Yer So Bad Petty
19. Cortez the Killer Neil Young
20. Runaway Train Soul Asylum
21. Dead Flowers Stones

Cocaine, hookers and Jack Daniels

6/3/2010
Jeff swung by to watch a little Celts-Lakers, catch-up and play some tunes. The title of this blog came from Michael looking at a very haggard Jack Nicholson on the sideline and quipped to Jeff that,
'He doesn't look like he's going to make past halftime'.
Jeff retorted,
"That's what happens when the last 30 yrs of your life is dedicated to cocaine, hookers and Jack Daniels."
Cheers.
We opened up with an ez-peezee by CCR; Looking Out My Backdoor followed by a nice rendition of Ring of Fire by Senor Cash. A rarity for the 3-hole in My Hour of Darkness by Gram Parsons (not sure if we've ever plated that tune but a good one nonetheless).
Similar E minor/G/D strumming patterns brought us Melloncamp's Rain on the Scarecrow and The Smithereens' Blood & Roses (a tune that when we play I can't seem to get out of my head).
We then strumbled our way through Dan Berns' One Thing Real and realized we desperately need to play with Robert ASAP. We made up for it w/ Dylan's Tangled Up in Blue (been a while on that one) and a newbie from our Rolling Stones song list; Sweet Virginia.
Michael took the vocal helm with Petty's You're So Bad and Foz introduced a newbie to the Dwellers; Treehouse by Buffalo Tom. MJ went back to the mic for Seger's Hollywood Nights and then Foz belted out Dweller fave, Home on the Range. He then had a great time with Springsteen's This Hard Land. We rounded out the evening with Under the Milky Way Tonight by The Church, an appropriate Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd and ended with of course, Dead Flowers by The Rolling Stones.
A nice way to spend a Thursday evening.
Set list for 6/3/10

1. Looking Out My Backdoor CCR
2. Ring of Fire Johnny Cash
3. My Hour of Darkness Gram Parsons
4. Rain on the Scarecrow Melloncamp
5. Blood & Roses Smithereens
6. One Thing Real Dan Berns
7. Tangled Up in Blue Dylan
8. Sweet Virgina Stones
9. You're So Bad Petty
10. Treehouse Buffalo Tom
11. Hollywood Nights Seger
12. Home on the Range Higley
13. This Hard Land Springsteen
14. Under the Milky Way Tonight Church
15. Comfortably Numb Pink Floyd
16. Dead Flowers Rolling Stones

A Night of Firsts

Fellow Dwellers,
As was noted during our pre-show prep last evening, it had been exactly 3 months since our last strum session. 3 months! We just can't let can't let that kind of time go by in between gatherings. That being said, after a Sunday Valentines Day filled with family, Omaha steaks on the grill and an all girl sleepover with Madison and her cousins, this strummer had a sudden and urgent need to let the girls have their fun whilst getting out of Dodge for a wee bit of playing. So, I texted Foz and pretty much invited myself down to the Plymouth Studios for a rare Sunday evening of tunes. The self-invite was received with open arms and I headed down Route 3 South with guitar in hand.
I arrived in the midst of some drama; Jeff and Justin had been embattled in a wrestling match and an errant elbow had caught Justin right in the kisser. In the eyes of this bystander, no intent on Jeff's part but it could have easily been deemed a flagrant indiscretion. However, the old sandlot rule abides; no blood, no foul. Game on.
Nothing like a little pre-bed ice cream to heal all wounds and that's just what the good Doctor ordered.
As Justin was licking both his bowl and wounds, Amanda came home with boyfriend Tom from her first official Valentines dinner. Sounded like the happy couple enjoyed a whole lotta deep-fried for dinner. Yum.
They immediately proceeded downstairs, overtaking the studio for an evening of young couples only movie-watching; only to be periodically interrupted throughout the night every 7 minutes by concerned but well intended mom, Crystal.
The first-first for the night was yours truly leading off the night at the mic when we had a nice rendition of Accompany Me. Major vocal gaffe aside, it sounded pretty good. We continued with Seger with Foz leading us in the always fun, Hollywood Nights. Foz continued with CCR's Looking Out My Backdoor which led right into a terrific version of Neil Young's Powderfinger-a song that Jeff just nails and is quickly becoming a CD's favorite. We continued with Neil by performing a solid version of Long May You Run.
The 3 month lapse reared it's rust with Bad Company's Shooting Star- where due to a near complete loss of vocal recall, it almost became our first completely acoustic song in our repertoire. We then revived our selves with a first for the Dwellers, Beautiful Wreck by Shawn Mullins. A tune that once you hear just remains implanted in your head for days-good stuff.
Springsteen's Highway Patrolman was next followed by a requested Take it Easy. Once the requests started flowing, the unthinkable happened. Amanda broke the silence from the darkened basement with a pleading cry for Dead Flowers. Jeff and I stood dumbfounded; Dead Flowers? Now? Can we do that? What would we close with? We almost had to call an emergency meeting of the CD board of directors (whoever that is) to decide if this was completely against established CD protocol. But we chose to give into the fans and we rocked it as usual.
Well, a mid-set version of Dead Flowers prompted a slew of firsts:
Jeff, introduced us to a tune he hadn't played in 10 years; Jethro Tull's Locomotive Breath. I didn't see that one coming but it was great-fun tune to play. We then turned to Mr Cash for Ring of Fire and a newbie-Folsom Prison Blues. Soul Asylum's Runaway Train was next followed by (get this):
Science Fiction Double Feature (the intro song to Rocky Horror Picture Show), In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel and Sister Golden Hair by America.
Wow! Did NOT see those coming! Good stuff.
I jumped back in front of the mic for Marshall Tucker's Can't You See and Foz closed the night out by taking lead vocals on Jonathan Edwards' The Shanty and Dylan's All Along The Watchtower.
All in all twenty songs were belted out (also a first for the Dwellers) and an excellent way to spend a Sunday evening with friends.
2/14/2010 Set List:

1. Accompany Me Seger
2. Hollywood Nights Seger
3. Looking Out My Backdoor CCR
4. Powderfinger Neil Young
5. Long May You Run Neil Young
6. Shooting Star Bad Compamy
7. Beautiful Wreck Shawn Mullins
8. Highway Patrolman Springsteen
9. Take it Easy Eagles
10. Dead Flowers Rolling Stone
11. Locomotive Breath Jethro Tull
12. Ring of Fire Johnny Cash
13. Folsom Prison Blues Johnny Cash
14. Runaway Train Soul Asylum
15. Sci Fic Double Feature Richard O'Brien
16. In Your Eyes Peter Gabriel
17. Sister Golden Hair America
18. Can't You See Marshall Tucker Band
19. Shanty Jonathan Edwards
20. All Along the Watchtower Dylan
    

The Ern Show

When word gets out that the effervescent Uncle Ern is in town, those who have met him always go out of their way to rekindle their relationship with him; he is after, a good one.
So as luck would have it, The Uncles was in town TCB and came up the Cavern Tavern for the rest and relaxation on the eve of Veteran's Day. Since the next day was to be a holiday, The Big 3 decided to put on a show along with Beth and Crystal to provide the backing vocals. Well, this strummer put together a tasty, tantalizing roast pork (special marinade provided by Mrs. Strummer) and the gang sat down to break bread and catch up.
Beth and Madison headed upstairs to prep lil' Maddy for night-nights (more on this later) and Foz, 'dro, Miguel, Crystal and UE headed down to the Cav for some pre-show prep and to tune up.
We started out with an ezy peezy in CCR's Looking Out my Backdoor which segued nicely into The Eagles (C’mon, man, I hate the f'n Eagles!) Peaceful Easy Feeling; which was nice b/c we hadn't played that one in a while. We asked our guest of honor if he had any requests and Dylan was asked for. So, a little Tangled up in Blue made its way on to the dance floor. I believe it was then when our backup vocalist, videographer, photographer and keeper of the set-list extraordinaire, Crystal, inquired to the whereabouts of her fellow female companion. Oh oh. A pregnant woman, who has had a long day, goes up to lie down with her daughter? That spells trouble my friends; big trouble. Trouble with a capital T...or should I say capital Z? Well, this strummer sauntered upstairs in hopes to find the lovely Miss Beth about to make her way down to the Cav. Instead he found fully clothed, glasses on and in a DEEP sleep Beth lying next to Miss Madison.

Oh well-we can certainly understand the pull of a cozy bed and snuggly kids.

A fun-filled, everyone belting it out version of The Shanty by Jonathan Edwards revived the group from the loss of our fair hostess (captured nicely on video by Crystal-see below) and then I requested one of my faves, The Band’s The Weight which truthfully was met with a little reluctance. But we pressed on with Crystal operating the audio recording equipment and all Dwellers (including our surprise guest vocalist, UE) belting it out, we did OK. Not our best version of The Weight but we hung in there. I think it’s a tune that needs consistent practice b/c of the vocals involved. We then messed around with The Who’s The Kids are Alright as well a Bad Company’s Shooting Star. We had great fun with Sympathy for the Devil by Mick and the boys and then it was time for our Floyd medley. Another Brick in the Wall, Mother, Nobody’s Home (with a wonderful pickin’ intro by ‘Dro), Vera and closed out by a decent version of Wish You Were Here. Crystal was BEGGIN’ for us to ‘pick it up’ before we lost her to the cozy confines of the couch and Ring of Fire by senor Cash lifted our collective energy. A nice rendition of This Hard Land by the Boss and a very solid Dead Flowers to close it out.

Thanks to Ern for bringing us all together on a very rare Tuesday evening as well as pitching in socially as well as vocally. Thanks to the Big 3 and Crystal for making it out mid-week.

Always a pleasure to jam and hang with you all.

1. Looking Out my Backdoor CCR
2. Peaceful Easy Feeling Eagles
3. Tangled up in Blue Dylan
4. Shanty Jonathan Edwards
5. The Weight The Band
6. The Kids are Alright The Who
7. Shooting Star Bad Company
8. Sympathy For the Devil Rolling Stones
9. Another Brick in the Wall Pink Floyd
10. Mother Pink Floyd
11. Nobody's Home Pink Floyd
12. Vera Pink Floyd
13. Wish You Were Here Pink FLoyd
14. Ring of Fire Johnny Cash
15. This Hard Land Springsteen
16. Dead Flowers Rolling Stones
    

Weeknight jam sensation!

No pics or video on this post kids, just words to try and capture what might have been our best performance thus far. This random and unusual midweek gathering all took place because of pie. During our last session
http://caverntavern.blogspot.com/2009/08/sat-8809-strum.html
Jeff and Crystal PLEADED with me took take one of their 4 homemade apple pies courtesy of Jeff's mom. This strummer aims to please and I graciously took the pie off their hands. First of all, the pie was FREAKIN' SPECTACULAR! Tremendous baking ability by the Foz's mama. Turned out the pie dish was needed for her next bake-off, and Beth and Madison had plans to have dinner with fellow Cellar Dweller, Robert 'Cuz' Raposa, so a rare midweek Plymouth Studio session it was.
It was established that curtains-up was to be at 8:30pm and I arrived with cleansed bakeware in hand as Jeff and Justin were curled up reading The Hobbit. Not to disturb the enjoyment of Tolkien, this strummer went down to the basement to tune up. Jeff arrived shortly thereafter and we immediately embarked on one of my favorite traditions of the Dwellers; the pre-show meeting (for purposes of catching up, and to quell any pre-show jitters). We enjoyed the crisp evening air as well as the quiet tranquility of the pond. We spoke mostly of our beloved hockey teams and how we fared on Monday night's tilt against arch-rival The Tigers (a 4-1 pounding by the good guys of team Schlitz).
We ambled back into the basement ready play but as usual not exactly sure what we should play. Well, I'm not sure what inspired him but Foz had the suggestion of diggin' deep into our repertoire and playin' tunes that we haven't dusted off in a while. So, we led off with Pink Houses by JCM and we were off to a fine start. An earlier conversation revolving around reciting lines from The Big Lebowski led us into the back track of one of our favorite scenes of the film, Lookin' Out my Back Door by CCR. We then introduced a bit of a sad tune in Springsteen's Highway Patrolman, which was vocally, right down Broadway for Foz. Then we started to tighten up and blasted through a hard rockin' version of Keep on Rockin' in the Free World by Mr. Young. Michael stepped up to the mic for Petty's Yer So Bad, a song that really began our vocal harmonization for the evening. Jeff took over lead vocals for a recent band favorite, Hollywood Nights, and the harmony just kept getting better. We continued with Seger and I stepped back in front of the mic again for You'll Accompany Me as well as Marshall Tucker's Can't You See (w/ Foz's harmonizing and pickin', this sounded about as good as we've ever done it). We wrapped up the first set with a ROCKIN' Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who.
Good time for a break as Crystal came home and joined us outside for an adult beverage as the dogs ran off some energy. Always nice to catch up but as usual time got away from us and it was about 10:45pm as we came back in for the second set. This time Crystal (who I must say without agenda or intent was looking FABULOUS with her new coif- Very stylish) joined us on stage and supplied the always welcome backing vocals. We began set # 2 with a Pink Floyd medley (I must say I'm always thrilled whenever an assortment of Floyd tunes makes its way into the setlist) starting off with Michael taking the strumming lead on Mother. Jeff took over on Nobody's Home which led into a FANTASTIC version of a not oft played, Wish You Were Here.
We dramatically shifted gears into 2 Jonathan Edwards' songs, The Shanty and Sunshine; both were fun to belt out and we continued our good play. Then, despite a couple of variances off of Rhythm Highway by yours truly, we had a tremendous time with Dylan's All Along the Watchtower. It was close to 11:30pm but the truth was I just couldn't watch the Yankees win their 27 title so we called it with our own bullpen stopper, Dead Flowers by The Stones.
I gotta say, we're sounded pretty darn good last night.
Thanks to Jeff and Crystal for a grand time as always.

Here's the set 11/4/09 set list:

1. Pink Houses JCM
2. Lookin' Out My Back Door CCR
3. Highway Patrolman Bruce
4. Keep on Rockin' in the Free World Neil Young
5. Yer So Bad Tom Petty
6. Hollywood Nights Bob Seger
7. You'll Accompany Me Bob Seger
8. Can't You See Marshall Tucker
9. Won't Get Fooled Again The Who
10. Mother Pink Floyd
    
11. Nobody's Home Pink Floyd
    
12. Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd
    
13. Shanty Jonathan Edwards
14. Sunshine Jonathan Edwards
    
15. All Along the Watchtower Dylan
    
16. Dead Flowers Rolling Stones
    

Sat Night Strum-Plymouth Studios

Well, it had been quite a while since our last strum (5 weeks on the road will put a dent into any social calender) and we were itchin' to play. Fortunately, the tumblers of the universe all fell into the right order and Michael and Madison hopped in the car for some QT together and headed south to our Plymouth studios in search of some much needed hang-time with the Fosdick/Cormier gang o fun.
We started off by greeting Amanda with a big hug and happy birthday wishes from Madison. The sweet-sixteen soccer extrodinaire responded graciously by fixing Madison's rat nest of hair (coif maintenence is not daddy's strong suit) and then it outside for toy-time. Justin, Jennifer and Madison took advantage of a little New England Indian Summer and had great fun playing together. Justin took Madison on an off-road adventure in his electric jeep and Madison was DELIGHTED to zip around the yard with her buddy. Meanwhile, the adults (I use that term loosely) caught up with one another. The focus was on our very own candidate for Tommy John surgery, Crystal and her injured wing and the resulting need in prescribed pain blockers. Being the tough little fire cracker from Fall River that she is, Crystal fought through the constant throbbing (as well as the occasional humorous verbal gaffe from said Percs) and enjoyed the day with us.
Eventually the skies opened up (about 4 seconds after Jeff and Michael took our pre-show stroll to the pond for reflective purposes) and we headed in to tune up. As they say, timing is everything and it just wasn't time for strumming just yet. Hours of friendly play suddenly turned hostile and the emphasis on sharing quickly was replaced by a 'me first' relationship with toys. The band simply cannot function in this environment. Well, mom certainly does know best and in a flash, Crystal swooped down to our basement studios/Lego Land, grabbed all 3 decible busters and wisked them upstairs. Within 10 minutes, a nice hot delicious dinner was served and the only sound one heard was the occasional clinking of silverware. Serenity now.
Well, with tummies full and peace restored it was back down for a little band time.
Considering our audience we started off with I've Been Working on the Railroad which was followed by our first request of the evening; Jennifer had been aching to hear, Twinkle Twinkle, which I have to say, the band rocked. The Alphabet Song was next followed by a stirring rendition of Ba Ba Black Sheep.
Then we got to the adult portion of our program and led it off with the Eagles' Take it Easy. Inspired by our success with that one (not an easy one vocally but Foz's clear, melodic pipes led the way nicely) we tried our hand at CSN's Helplessly Hoping. I heard one time that a mistake is like a Buddhist gift and this was no exception. We certainly had the chords and the rhythm down but after the first stanza, we were a little lost when it came to the lyrics. So, what does one do? Keep strummin' and it's improv time. We launched ourselves into a rarity for the Dwellers; a free-wheelin' jam session with made-up vocals on the spot. Not since 'Till My Fingers Bleed have the CD's had a free-form tune such as this-good stuff. We stuck with CSN for Southern Cross, a tune which has eluded us in past sessions but thanks to Foz's persistence on getting the flow of the ever-changing pattern of the chords right, we nailed it. Finally.
Another rarity for the Cellar Dwellers, a hard-strummin' tune by The Who, Won't Get Fooled Again made its way into our ever-expanding repetiorre. We had a good thing going on that one until the lovely Miss Madison interrupted Foz by requesting we stop playing so loud; immediately smashing any self-images we had of a being God-like rock stars . Sigh.
Well, we've never had to 'call' The Rolling Stones' Dead Flowers for this particular reason but Justin announced to the room that 'something stiiiiiinks' and low and behold, it was time for this strummer to change Madison's diaper. Well, it was getting late so might as well wrap this eveing up.
Many thanks to Jeff, Crystal, Amanda, Justin & Jennifer for their awesome hospitality. Good times as always.



Sat 10/24 Set List

1. I've Been Working on the Railroad
2. Twinkle Twinkle
3. Alphabet Song
4. Baba Black Sheep
5. Take it Easy
6. Improv Groove
7. Southern Cross
8. Won't Get Fooled Again
9. Dead Flowers

A 7 second video of Jennifer and Madison cuttin' the rug to Dead Flowers