October Brick & Mortar show

Sep 27, 2010 Brick & Mortar shows, Newsletter

Join us for the October Brick & Mortar show featuring Laddie Ray Melvin and Banjo Bill Wylie (bios below), plus an open mic to kick things off. This promises to be another very entertaining show so we hope you can make it!
Thursday, October 7th, 7 to 9 pm, Coffee Social, 113 W. Indiana. ***free***

Laddie Ray Melvin is a folksinger and songwriter who has played music in the Pacific Northwest for many years. As a songwriter, he carefully crafts his lyrics and surrounds them with music from the American folk tradition. Country, blues, folk and folk rock are all colors this mature artist works with as he sings of life, death, family, love, hope and our shared humanity. Ray has produced three independently recorded CDs in the last decade. The first is Rocky Ground (2002) followed by In The Aftermath (2006) a collection of tunes considering what it means to be human in times of trouble. Laddie Rays third CD is, A City Glows In The Distance (2009), and is a collection of songs that are intentionally spare. Each cut a live take, and the stories the songs tell are about how the characters in them see the world they inhabit.
www.laddieraymelvin.com
www.myspace.com/laddieraymelvin

Banjo Bill Wylie is one of those legendary characters that, unlike today’s celebrity culture icons, is not a familiar name and face for nearly everybody, but rather is a well known and long remembered presence for a smaller but much more intensely interested group of afficianados and desperados, adherents to good words and good music that smells of the earth and whistles in the winds. Of time and place, birth and growing this writer cannot say much about Bill, except to know that he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Spider John Koerner of Minnesota and Pete Seeger, another lover of the banjo from “back East” as they say. He came our way via a poet, and a storyteller he is with hands and arms and body swaying and face crinkling up with the flashing of eyes, and then in the middle of a story the banjo tinkles and rattles a bit, and with a thump thump of rhythm he is singing. If at times the stage manager stands close by with the sheep hook, nevertheless, with an evening of Bill Wylie one knows that he has been entertained, and maybe educated a bit.

by the other Bill (Kostelec)

Brett Dodd

Sep 9, 2010 Members

When I was 20 years old I decided that after years of playing “air guitar” that it was time to buckle down and learn. Plus I was sequestered in a Forest Service camper 5 days a week doing vegetation surveys of the Montana/ Idaho divide out of the Wallace Ranger District with my guitar pickin’ buddy, Michael Cembalski (aka Bosco) and our dogs who couldn’t play or sing either. By the end of the summer I could play “Hello Cowgirls in the Sand” and several Dylan tunes tolerably. Soon after, I began learning to play string band music by sitting in at Contra Dances and Square Dances in Corvallis Oregon where I lived. Since then I’ve played old time, bluegrass, folk, klezmer, swing, jazz and what ever else I was drawn towards for 30 years in a variety of bands. Song writing for me represents some new and unfamiliar waters. I’ve always heard songs that I would connect with and would immediately have to run to the guitar and figure them out and test drive them. Guy Clark, BIll Staines, Kate Wolf, Townes Van Zandt, Buddy Miller, Dylan, Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia, Norman Blake are a few of the many who have inspired me. Locally hearing Jim Faddis’s work as well as Laddie Ray, Bill and Kathy and my Wide River pals, Dave McRae and Brad Keeler inspired me to jump into the creek and see where it leads. Two instrumentals and 10 songs later, I am humbled by the process, but loving it. Performing my songs with my wife Janet is a plus! We hope to record the songs with 2 or 3 covers this winter. We go by the name of String Creek when we play and hope to see you sometime soon.

Bill Tierney

Sep 7, 2010 Members

Bill Tierney has been writing original music since he was 12 years old. His first song, “The Unbelievables” was inspired by the pop group “The Monkeys” in 1967 and was performed with backups by his brother Stan and his sister Jeanne in a front yard concert in Topeka, Kansas. Influenced by the Beattles, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Loggins and Messina and a host of 70’s performance artists, Bill has been playing guitar since he was 10 years old. Many years passed before Bill wrote another song. After his wife’s death in 1989, he wrote a dozen or more songs with the help of his friend and roommate, Ray Solomon.
Beginning in 1980, Bill has played in bands in Kalispell, Montana and Spokane Washington. After his second marriage ended, Bill began creating music again, this time with the help and influence of his fellow musicians in “The Blisstrz” and later in “The Detour Project”. Since The Detour Project disbanded in the fall of 2009, Bill has been playing occasional gigs with singer, songwriter and guitarist, Sam Endress. In addition, Bill has been performing his original music with singer and bassist, Brian Jones. Bill plans to record a CD of his original music soon. You can check out some of his music on his Youtube channel.
www.myspace.com/billtierneymusic
www.tuningforkintheroad.com
www.youtube.com/user/TierneyBill

Cheryl Branz

Sep 7, 2010 Members

Cheryl Branz is a local singer/songwriter who performs throughout the
region armed with her acoustic guitar, versatile voice and engaging
personality. In 2006, she released her first cd of all original music
titled, “Disappear.” She followed that up in 2008 with a holiday cd,
“The Christmas Gift” blending elements of folk, jazz and classical
styles in one seamless package. Known for her powerful vocals and
honest lyric style, she continues to gather a loyal following of fans
throughout the area.
www.cherylbranz.com