Racky Thomas Stirs the Strange Brew Tavern

       

   
     I have seen Racky Thomas numerous times over the years, as he is a regular on the Strange Brew rotation.  One thing is for certain, there could be 5 people or 105 people in the place, and Racky is going to give it his all and entertain you.  Although he may be small in stature, he has a huge stage presence.  His vocals and harmonica playing are top notch.  He always has a tight band with him as well.
They do a great job getting crowd participation as well, through either dancing or clapping along to their infectious beats.
Racky mixes original tunes and cover songs in his show and though the songs sound old, they seem brand new at the same time.  You should go see him for no other reason than to hear his version of "Not Fade Away" by Buddy Holly.  Man, he delivers this song straight to your bread basket and knocks the wind out of you!  My musical life hasn't been the same since I heard him do this song. Sadly, I could not find a video of it. I did find a couple of other good tunes however.
                       

            I am going into a sidebar here to talk about an audience member from this night.  So this guy comes in with what looked like a fishing tackle box and what may or may not have been an easel (turns out it was a mini-easel).  He proceeded to setup shop near my table.  Inside his tackle box were a bunch of tubes of paint.  He began to paint using only his fingers, no brushes.  I believe in the Art world that is called "finger-painting."  His subject was the band, but I really couldn't tell that until about 45 minutes into the painting.  Long story short, the painting turned out to be a masterpiece and is pictured somewhere in this blog.  My friend Bowler Aimee, who you heard about in the Barnful Of Blues entry, bought the painting from him.  I don't want to talk money, but it was double figures.



          During one of the band's breaks I got into a conversation with this genius of the paint tubes.  He told me a great story about visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY as a youth. He came over to me because he noticed the super cool Reggie Jackson shirt that I was wearing. Now I can't type that whole story here, or I might as well make this a blog about mysterious finger painters of New Hampshire.  He already got as much ink as Racky.

          Anyhow, go see Racky at the Strange Brew or wherever else he pops up. He will make it well worth your while.
                   

The Pat and the Hats Band are the Cat's Pajamas!

     

      I know what all of the cool kids in NH are doing now.  They are following the Pat and the Hats band all over the state.  I had read quite a bit about them, but had not seen them until recently.  My friend Gorden and I took a trip to my second home, the Strange Brew in Manchester, NH to check this band out for ourselves.  Between the two of us, we have roughly 90 years of listening to all sorts of music.  Surprisingly, we both still have decent hearing.  I reserved some prime real estate right in front of the stage, so we could capture the whole experience.  Good thing I did because this band has quite a following. The front of the stage area was packed with their fans.  I don't know if their followers are called "Hatties," but quite a few of them were sporting hats.  Gorden and I were surrounded by thousands of these young adults, or maybe twenty of them.  It was hard to count with all of them moving around.  It seemed kind of funny to me that the only person there that night that was close to our age was the owner of the place.  It is times like these when I realize that I am still cutting edge.

     The leader of the band is Patrik Gochez.  He sings, writes the songs, plays guitar and piano, then cashes you out, calls a cab for you if needed, and then looks for more to do.  He does it all.  The Hats cannot be discredited however.  They are all ultra-talented and make this band top-notch.  The poor guys in the band may get overshadowed by their charismatic frontman.  These guys put on a fantastic show and were exciting to watch.  I guess you could call them Alternative-Pop if that is a category?  They can play many styles and would be hard to pigeonhole into one category (I don't get to use "pigeonhole"enough in my writing).
   
     After their first set, I went up to the "Merch table" (that's what I called it to fit in with the hipsters) and scooped up the band's first CD which just came out in June 2014.  Patrik released a solo CD in 2012.  The name of the disc is "fake it 'till you make a hit."  They didn't use capital letters in the title, so neither did I.  The songs on the disc are phenomenal.  I have not heard song variety like this since the Beatles released "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" back in 1967.  Ironically, that album was also released in the month of June.  Coincidence, or a musical milestone that will be discussed by future generations?

Okay, hold on, let me calm down.  The Beatles stuff may have been over the top, but I was trying to show that these guys are good.  You should check them out for yourself.  If you go to their website you can see a list of where they will be performing.  There were no high-quality videos of the band to share, but if you scroll down to bottom of their website you can hear some songs by clicking on the Play arrow on little Soundcloud thing.   Hopefully that makes more sense when you get to website.
                                                       http://www.patandthehats.com/

Barnful of Blues Festival in New Boston, NH

     

The Barnful of Blues Festival in New Boston, NH is "an annual fund raising event in support of the Webster House, Manchester NH a supportive environment for adolescents."  If that isn't a good cause then I don't what is.  Apparently this was the 12th annual festival here.  I am not sure why this was only my first time attending, but I will definitely go again.  I went there with my friend Bowler Aimee, who became Bowler Aimee over ten years ago due to confusion with my other friend, Regular Amy.  I don't think I was ever in New Boston for any reason.  It is a nice drive out there, very pretty.  I would have seen more if my driver obeyed the local speed limit.  It seems like Bowler Aimee has a dream to become Nascar Aimee, but that is a story for another day.

The Festival takes place at the 4-H Youth Center and it is setup perfectly for this type of event.  We did not bring chairs, which was a mistake, but we did have a blanket.  The only problem with that is I haven't sat on the ground for any length of time in roughly 42 years.  Now sitting on the ground was rough, but the toughest part was gracefully lowering my large carcass down to the ground.   A couple of times I looked like a giant sea turtle on its back.  Thankfully Aimee was there to roll me onto my side.  She is a great friend as she did this with limited laughter.  I wish the people around us were as kind.
   
                  
The festival ran from 12pm to 8pm with 7 bands featured.  We arrived at 2pm and stayed until 6pm, catching the middle part of the show.  The first performer we saw was Sweet Willie D with Delanie Pickering on slide guitar.  This was some old school Blues singing and playing.  He sat and belted out some heartfelt vocals which matched up quite nicely with Delanie's guitar.  It was an enjoyable set.  Sweet Willie D also has a BBQ business which was one of the vendors at the show.  Aimee gave his BBQ two messy thumbs up!

                     
The James Montgomery Blues Band was the next band to play.  They were supposed to be the closing act, but were switched to the middle of the day due to a scheduling conflict.  This didn't work out so well, as the band was late due to severe rain in Massachusetts.  Delanie Pickering returned to the stage and did a nice job entertaining the crowd while we waited for James.  Eventually the band arrived and took the stage.  They are a polished bunch for sure.  I don't think I caught them on their best day.  They seemed rushed and did as much hawking of merchandise as they did playing.  I think everyone in the band had their own cd's for sale which was mentioned many times.  The bass player did a couple of his own songs which seemed unnecessary.  The highlight of their set was when James named great guitar players and his guitarist, George McCann, would imitate their style with his own excellent guitar playing.  I have heard nothing but good things about James Montgomery and would definitely give him a second chance to win me over.  I would think that would be important to keep his musical career of 30+ years going.


                     
Next up was Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers.  Now before I get started, I have to confess I have what some would call a major "band crush" on these folks.  I could easily change this whole blog thing into just the Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers blog and write about them every week, but I feel that might be obsessive.  They won the 2012 Boston Music Award for Blues Artist of the Year so I am clearly not the only one that thinks they are great.  The whole band is crazy talented.  Erin sings and plays guitar and is an appealing blend of sass and sweetness.  I have to stop my description there due to her marital status and a very detailed restraining order.  Just kidding, a little wholesome Blues humor there.  Anyhow, their set was tremendous as expected.  They will be at the Strange Brew in Manchester, NH on October 3rd.  You should see them now before they become an international sensation!

     So here is what you should have learned from all of this nonsense:

1.  Go to the Barnful of Blues Festival in 2015 and bring a chair.
2.  I did not give James Montgomery a great review, but I might be jealous of all of the famous musicians he has played with.
3.  Go see Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers and you will be smitten just like me (bonus pic of me with Erin and my niece Heather when I saw them at the Governor's Inn in Rochester, NH)!
 

Sarah Borges - Radio Sweetheart - (Someday I Hope)

       
 
  Sarah Borges is an up and coming performer from Taunton, Ma..  Her new cd "Radio Sweetheart" should add to her popularity.  I heard about her because she frequently does shows with one of my new favorite bands, Girls Guns and Glory.  I figured if I liked them, and they liked her, then I should like her.  Makes sense right?  I can put one plus one, plus one, together thanks to my schooling in Merrimack, NH.
     The disc has a great pace to it.  The first song, "Girl With A Bow," reels you in with nothing but visions of sunshine and flowers.  This is followed by a couple of slower numbers.  When you reach song number four, prepare to be punched in the gut.  "Think of What You've Done" is a down and dirty tune which showcases Sarah's gritty vocals.  Think of Lucinda Williams with a splash of Janis Joplin for a point of reference.  I included the solo acoustic version of this song at the end of this piece of literary wonder.  Wait until you hear it all plugged in with her full band!

     Next the songs continue to build momentum until you reach the final two songs.  "Heavy Dreams" is the second to last song on the cd.  This happens to be the only song on the disc that Sarah did not write.  This is one of my favorite songs on the cd.   The vocals are fabulous.  There is also a bass line running throughout this tune that reaches out and grabs you by your eardrums and doesn't let go.   I also enjoy the guitar sparks provided by guitarist Lyle Brewer in the song.  There is also a strong likelihood that Lyle is married to Sarah.  This is the usual spot in my blog entries where I provide sketchy facts.   Anyhow, the song is fantastic.  The disc ends with "Record On Repeat" which is an old school Rock and Roll scorcher.   In fact, it kind of reminds me of "Rock and Roll" by Led Zeppelin, which is some lofty praise.   I view the end of this cd like the Season Finale of your favorite TV show.   This was a great episode and you can't wait to see what comes next!

Check out her website to find out more about her , buy her CD or catch her at an upcoming show:
http://sarahborges.com/index/


                    

Uptown At The Nashua Downtown Music Festival

I attended the first of three installments of the Nashua Downtown Music Festival recently.  It is pretty exciting to see this type of thing in Nashua, NH.  They have landed some good bands to perform here in the first Summer of this event.  The Boston-based Love Dogs, opened up for a band born in Rhode Island 45 years ago, the Roomful of Blues!  Nashua closed down a few blocks of  Main St in order to setup the stage and concert area.  The area was pretty much right in front of Martha's Exchange Restaurant, a popular destination on Main St.

I liked the setup for the show.  The sound was good, vision was good, and beer was good.  They had a good turnout and great weather as well.  I think with a few tweaks it can even get better.  People seemed to come and go easily from inside and outside the gated concert area.  It is highly likely that not all of the concert goers had paid for their tickets to get inside.  I, of course, paid for mine as part of being a fine citizen of Nashua.


So, I was preparing for the show with my longtime buddy Erik (pictured with me to the left).  He is the first of a long line of Eriks and Erics that I like to spend time with. Pre-show preparations were going well until we unexpectedly got hungry.  We both ordered delicious pastrami sandwiches and proceeded to enjoy them immensely. 

The downside to the sandwich story is that by the time we finished our sandwiches and walked downtown, the Love Dogs were leaving the stage.  We got a "F" for pre-show prep.  Like a cat dropped from a rooftop, I landed on my feet however.   I went to the merchandise table and bought a live cd by the Love Dogs!   Next best thing to actually seeing the show, right?  I even got to meet lead singer Ed Scheer, who was quite nice.  The cd entitled "Alive and On Fire" is excellent by the way.   I have seen the Dogs many, many times over the years and can safely tell you they put on a great show.  Two standouts in the band are Alizon Lissance on keyboards and Myanna on saxophone.  The Love Dogs play often at The Strange Brew in Manchester, NH in case you missed them in Nashua, you can catch them there or wherever else you might be lucky enough to find them.
              

 I did actually see the Roomful of Blues perform on this night in downtown Nashua!  Like I mentioned earlier, they have been around in various forms for 45 years!   They still sound as good as ever in my book.  I love their current vocalist Phil Pemberton.  This guy can sing any style and his emotion draws you in.  Lead guitarist Chris Vachon has been with the band since 1990 and he can really play.  He follows a long line of Roomful guitarists which includes Duke Robillard and Ronnie Earl.  Saxophonist Rich Lataille is the only member of the band that has been there forever.  He has been part of the band since 1970!  The horn section is still a huge part of what makes the Roomful special.  They played their usual high energy show with lots of opportunities for the audience to dance.  I don't dance much, so it wouldn't be right for me to criticize the people that tried to dance that night.  The only drop in the crowds energy came during back to back instrumentals by the band.  One featuring the guitar and one featuring the horns.  They may want to break those up in the future, but what do I know?

             

I would like to mention one Roomfuller that wasn't at this show.  Trumpet player Bob Enos(pictured below) passed away in 2008.  I remember seeing him and he was a captivating performer.  He grabbed your attention every night with his skill and seemingly love of performing.  I missed him at this show.  Rest in Peace Bob Enos.  You will never be forgotten.

The next installment of the Nashua Downtown Music Festival is August 16 and features Entrain with opening act Hot Like Fire.

The third and final installment of the concert series will feature local legends The Fools paired with the beloved Stompers on September 13th.

Hope to see you there!