Friends of The Moonlight——
Insistent commentary about the weather is usually the province of dullards, the decrepit elderly, and a certain mostly-glabrous, gesticulating gentleman who sometimes takes command of the TV screen in shirtsleeves and suspenders—- but we gotta wonder, what the hay is going on with all this early-vernal meteorologistical moderation? One recent year we found ourselves making a joke about swapping Easter with Valentine’s Day—- in 2012, it looks like there may be no need to visit a florist to gather a February bouquet for ya sweetheart, you can just clip the rosebuds abloom in the front yard, well before next Tuesday’s deadline. Recalling the Siberian conditions of exactly twelve months ago, we have got noooo complaints… just a quizzical curiosity regarding the disappearance of seasonal equilibrium.One of the many consequences of these warmish, mostly sunny days is the tendency of various species to gather in greater numbers—- redwing blackbirds by the hundreds, ladybugs by the thousands, Moonlight visitors, well… by the dozens, shall we say. Whether it’s in response to the preeminence of our presented performers, or just the tribal compulsion to flock for social reinforcement, we’re grateful for the uncommon flush of new faces that have chosen to investigate our functions. Welcome, all—- we’ll continue to reward your attentions, with attractions like this upcoming weekend’s spectacles—->
COVERS, CO-BILLS, AND A COUPLE OF CONTINENTALS—-
Thursday the 9th —- THE BASEMENT COLLECTIVE,
A Moonlight Benefit, 7:30pm, $10
From the day we opened nearly two years ago, Moonlight’s enjoyed the welcoming support of our neighbors up here in Bluff Park— we’ve come to know them through their regular attendance at shows, their donations and contributions, and their use of the room for private events. Happily, a few of them are musicians, too—- and tonight is a showcase for a band they’ve recently formed, with an emphasis on the kind of music we like to present. Doug Dean, Robin Beach, Dawn Burke, Brian Edwards, and Jonathan Phillips get the most out of a stockpile of guitars, bass, mandolin, harmonica, and drums, rendering a night’s worth of cover tunes by Americana roots-rock artists such as Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, The Jayhawks, Ray LaMontagne, and the like.
The best part is that they have offered to donate the entire ticket box to The Moonlight, helping us continue in providing a stage for traveling and local artists, in display of their most carefully-crafted work… and in making sure everybody has a good time in the process. These are folks you probably know, playing music you are surely familiar with, in a casual format that allows us all to relax and have fun. We’re extremely grateful for this generosity, we hope you’ll come out and be a part of it—- every dollar we collect goes to keep the doors open!
http://www.basementcollectiveband.com
Friday the 10th— GARY FURR, and ADLER & HEARNE,
7:30pm, $12
Few of our local songwriters have been as disciplined or productive as Gary Furr, who always has a cache of new tunes cookin’— besides being the front man and chief tunesmith for bluegrass group Shades Mountain Air, he’ s released a couple of CDs of his own material… the most recent being “Overload of Bad News Blues”, from which he’ll do most of the songs in his one-hour set tonight. As a little extra attraction, he’s invited fellow players Don Wendorf and Brent Warren to sit in with him on mando and guitar—- Gary’s show is a fine mixture of wit, whimsy, and sentiment, spread throughout with some fine pickin’—-
www.garyfurr.com
Lynn Adler and Lindy Hearne return to our stage tonight as music venue comrades, as much as performers—- they raised the cultural level, and the fun factor, of life in Winnsboro TX when they opened the Crossroads Music Company and began to host, and join in on, live concerts with the cream of the Lone Star State’s famous singer/songwriter elite. After several years of presenting other traveling players, the duo decided to return to the road, and have been touring behind their sweet CD “To the Heart” since their last show here in May. They call themselves “organic song farmers”, more migrant now than before, we guess— come taste what’s on the truck!www.adlerandhearne.com
Saturday the 11th- KAIVAMA, and OCEAN VERSUS DAUGHTER,
7:30pm, $12
So much of our schedule is devoted to the music known as “Americana”, so it’s past time we invited more performers who base their sounds on influences from the place some Alabamians would refer to as “Yerp”—- what’s ironic is that the our actual musicians tonight are mostly US nationals, a fact not immediately discernible from the international flavor of their work.
Kaivama, a duo of gifted Great Lakes natives, updates the traditions of Finnish pelimanni fiddle tunes by adding the rawboned urgency of more modern guitar rhythms, to transport listeners to the frosted shores of a distant continent. Their set will be followed by one from Ocean Versus Daughter, an abridged version of the pandemic Prague-based band formed by Virginia-born Flanna Sheridan; her ethereal vocals and keyboard inflections hover just above a pulsing percussion. Our friends at Birmingham International Center have alerted many foreign-born citizens to this evening’s event, so we’re looking for an interesting cross-cultural turnout—-
www.kaivama.com
www.myspace.com/oceanversusdaughter
EVEN MORE EXCEPTIONAL PLAYERS NEXT WEEK—->
Friday 17th— DANNY SCHMIDT and CARRIE ELKIN, two celebrated solo performers met and melded, & there’s a rare and true magic in their duality
Saturday 18th— JON VOGEL, TIFFANY THOMPSON, ADAM WRIGHT, two o’ this town’s favorites welcome a DC lovely for a funtime songwriter’s round
Sunday 19th— MEGHAN BURTT, and ROY SCHNEIDER, double-header featuring a world-traveling folk/pop lass, and a witty, soulful acoustic rocker
Monday 20th— OPEN MIC NIGHT, the Winter Hilltop Songlympics continues in earnest
Delve even further into the star-studded future with a visit to our website Calendar page
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The fair weather has blessed us with a beguiling lightness of spirit, and the refreshing sense of accomplishment in The Moonlight’s purpose—- we’re happy to report that a greater number of our recent shows have been more bountifully attended, which is certainly, as they say in certain parts of Yerp, our raison d’etre. This in itself results in less fretting about the venue’s being able to pay fer itself, though we can’t quite say we’re a lap ahead of our recurring financial compulsories. And as all of us have come to know, Fortuna’s wheel reverses its direction with confounding abruptness, so we imagine one day being able to create a reserve fund, to which we can turn when our field once again lies fallow and dusty. Your slightest endowment today would be a brick in that vault, and welcomed with a gratitude that we can hardly express—->
www.moonlightmusicalliance. org
Our perpetual thanks to you for your presence, and your provision!
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