Category Archives: music

Another Posers Post!

Monday I braved the heat to walk down to Meyers Park for the Herkimer Downtown Chowdown.  My favorite band, The Posers, were playing.  How could I not go?  As it happened, I had not been feeling well all day.  No specific symptoms, just very run down, tired, and blah.  Could I have partied too heartily on the weekend?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!  I walked to the post office first, to mail a few postcards, then wandered around the park, deciding what to eat.

I finally decided on a hot dog from K Dogs BBQ.  It was big!  It was yummy!  I sat down at a picnic table in the shade and did not have long to wait till the band started.

They rock!

It was difficult to get a good shot, because of the posts on the pavilion and the setting sun.  Then again, I am an amateur with a cell phone.  A professional photographer was there and a friend shared some beautiful shots from him on Facebook.  Minter Photography was the guy (for once I was not too lazy to go looking for it).  You can check out his Facebook page.

It’s too bad I was not in the mood to dance.

I did boogey a little while I took the pictures but was not my usual Dancing Queen self  (I did not dub myself that; a fellow at work did) (yes, I dance at work.  If they don’t want me to dance, they should not play music).

Bass players rule!

Of course I had to zoom in on my friend Rick, the bass player. I also tried to get a good shot of Becky, the drummer.

You just can’t beat a good drummer. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Probably I should have tried for a few shots.  I must clean out the storage on my Tablet, which takes better pictures.

I love the ceiling of the pavilion.

I guess I don’t have a whole lot more to say than they were great, here are some pictures.

One more shot.

I was sorry I did not feel up to staying to hear more, but I was happy I had been there to support a community event as well as some of my favorite local musicians.  The Herkimer Downtown Chowdown runs every Monday in Meyers Park.  You can get some good food and hear some great music!

 

Mid-Week Music in Mohawk

I just got back from Mohawk American Legion where I enjoyed listening to my favorite local band, The Posers.  I took a couple of pictures with my phone, but they did not come out very well.  I wonder if I have some other pictures in my Media Library.

Not the best picture, but it will have to do.

This is a picture taken at the Mohawk American Legion a few years ago.  You can’t see the band members very well, I’m afraid.

Another venue, another view.

Here is a better shot, taken at the Herkimer Downtown Chow Down last summer.  The Posers’ gig there got cancelled because of weather this year.  I believe they are supposed to try again before the summer is over.  I will try to be there.

You can see my buddy Rick DeJohn in this one!

As a matter of fact, The Posers were supposed to be at Ilion Food Truck Frenzy this evening.  It was cancelled due to weather, so the band played at the Mohawk American Legion.

I had a delightful time this evening dancing and listening.  I even made a couple of new friends by sitting down at a table that was only partially occupied.

It was a different Wednesday night for me, since I usually go to Fratello’s Pizzeria in Frankfort for music and food, but I still enjoyed some wonderful music.

 

Music, Wine, and Scenery, Yes!

Yes, it is another late Saturday blog post, but at least it is prior to whatever time I was posting last Sunday (don’t remember, but it was later than this).  I had a wonderful time yesterday, but it was such a lot of car time to get to it!  Worth every mile, but it wore me out.

Not the best lighting, but you can read it, I think.

My parents, sister Cheryl, and I went to Geneva, NY, to the Inspire Moore Winery, to hear Big Blue House.  What a great band!  What a beautiful setting!

My pictures of the band didn’t come out so great, either.

When we arrived, a guest artist had joined them for a couple of numbers.  I stupidly did not write down his name, but I loved his harmonica and vocals.

At one point, a guy in the band reminded us that the open space in front of the band was there for a reason.  He didn’t have to tell me twice!  I got up and started dancing.  If Steven had been there, he would have gotten up, too, so I guess I was dancing for the both of us.  I was soon joined by three other ladies, and we all four loved it.

After they sat down, another song I couldn’t resist played and I was dancing by myself again.  An older man started crossing the area, and I danced around him, thanking him for dancing with me.  He said he was looking for his wife and did not bust a move, but I think he was amused.  Later I saw him slow dancing with his wife.  When they finished, I went over and said, “Sure, you wouldn’t dance with me!”  We had a nice conversation.

Just to share another picture of the winery.

I had other conversations with other people, including a couple cousins and my sister Vicki, who had driven up from Pennsylvania with her husband.  I also tasted some wine and enjoyed a glass of dry Rose (how embarrassing that I do not know how to put the accent on the e).

Lots of gorgeous scenery.

The afternoon came to an abrupt end with a loud rumble of thunder.  The musicians quickly unplugged their instruments.  The downpour started almost immediately.   One aspect of my personality which I particularly enjoy is that I laugh at bad weather.  When I am getting rained or snowed on, I find myself laughing.  I laughed as Dad and I walked to the car.  We drove back to pick up Cheryl and Mom,

I was happy to finally make it back to Herkimer, although I felt too tired to articulate a blog post.  However, I think I did OK with it this morning.  Or do I flatter myself?

 

More Music on Wednesday!

Regular readers may have wondered if I was ever going to return to my Wednesday Night Thing of going to Fratello’s Pizzeria in Frankfort for music and food.  Well, tonight I finally did.  I had the best time!

I got there between 5:30 and 6:00, and noticed a bald, bearded man setting up equipment. I asked who the musical talent was.  The bartender, Kimberly, told me it was Justin, at the same time the man setting up told me, “Justin!”  I said, “What’s your last name, Justin?”  He told me Smithson but I could put “Smithsonian.”  I told him I would put it in my blog post, and he acquiesced with Smithson.  Another patron told me Justin was the lead singer with Showtime.  I have heard of that band but never seen them, so I was interested to hear this Justin.

Great guitar!

I was not disappointed.  He opened with “Layla,” followed by “Peaceful, Easy Feeling.”  He asked for requests, so after a couple other numbers,  I asked if he knew “Sister Golden Hair.”  He looked up the lyrics on his IPad, saying he would rather cheat and do that rather than cut the song short.  He did a wonderful job on the song.

“Looking up lyrics on your IPad isn’t cheating,” I told him.  “It is research!”  He liked that.

I like the hockey pennants you can see in the background.

I greatly enjoyed my evening.  I even stayed for one more song than I intended, dancing with another patron.  It was a friendly crowd at a friendly venue with a friendly, talented singer.  How I have missed my Wednesday Night Thing!

Fratello’s Pizzeria is located at 158 E. Main St., Frankfort, NY, phone number 315-894-8484.  They are open 11 a.m. to 10 pm. Monday through Saturday, 1 to 7 p.m. Sunday.  Local music is featured other nights than Wednesday.  You can follow them on Facebook to find out more.

 

Late Post about The Posers

I have mentioned our favorite band, The Posers. The best Friday night we had in a long time was the night we went to see them at the Mohawk American Legion.

These guys rock!

The event took place in the parking lot. Food and drink was available. I had some salt potatoes while Steven had a hot dog. But of course the main draw was the music.

I danced around, clicking.
Drummer and bass, the backbone of the band.

As you can see by Steven’s ensemble, it was one of the cooler evenings. We had a blast, though. I’m glad I finally wrote something about it.

Love Those Posers!

I had a great time last night having a delicious dinner with good friends and listening to a great band.  The dinner was at The Brass Tack in Frankfort, NY and the band was The Posers.  Today’s post is going to be mostly the pictures I took.

I think I needed a bigger flash.

Normally I would be boogying down to the sound,  but there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of space on the patio. I ventured out to take a few pictures, though, and danced my way back to our table.

I got a couple shots of the band, but they didn’t turn out so good, because of them being backlit.  Everybody was having a great time.  I took a few crowd shots, which people seemed delighted to have me do.

Nobody seemed to mind the heat and humidity.

One of the friendlier tables.

We sat inside, in the air conditioning.

Jim, Kelly and Phyllis.

Steve and Jim.

We drank good wine, ate yummy food, heard great music, and had a lot of laughs.  I think I need more dinners with friends in my life!

The Brass Tack is located at 458 Acme Rd., Frankfort,  NY, 13340.  Phone number is 315-894-7996.

 

Oh, That Band!

When I was running the Boilermaker 15K in July, I LOVED the band that was playing outside the Utica Zoo.  They were bluesy and danceable.  I dance-ran by them, a move which I am sure looks perfectly ridiculous but is fun nevertheless.  I still had not gotten around to looking up who the band was.  In my defense, I’ve been busy.

Fast forward to Chicks Along the Canal, part of Little Falls Canal Fest, last Saturday, Aug. 12.  While the cast of The Tempest (remember, that play I’m in?) waited to perform, the best band was playing!  They were bluesy!  They were danceable!  I went over to the tent and danced.

“Bands like it when you dance to their music,” I told my fellow cast members.  Another listener was dancing, a gentleman wearing an ARMY cap.  He waved at me, and  went over and dance with him.

It was while I was dancing that the band began to sound familiar.  Ooh!  Was it the awesome band from the Boilermaker?  I thought maybe!

After their set, I saw the lead singer chatting with someone, so I approached and asked if they had been in front of the Zoo during the Boilermaker.  They had!

“I LOVE you guys!”  I said.  “What is the name of your band?”

“The Cathie Timian Band,” was the answer.  She gave me a card.  When I got home, I looked up their website: http://www.cathietimian.com/.  I also Liked the Cathie Timian Facebook page.  I hope to hear them play again soon.  You bet I’ll write a blog post about it.

 

Party Like It’s 1980something!

So this Friday I am staying home and putting rollers in my hair (long story for another post), but last Friday, Steven and I and a couple of friends partied like it was the ’80s’s.  Yes, I said like it was the 1980’s, not like we were in our 80’s (although that it does feel like sometimes).  We went to the American Legion in Mohawk and danced to the sounds of The Posers.

We had never heard the band before, but we were interested because the bassist is our good friend, Rick DeJohn.  We got to the Legion shortly before they started.  I texted the  couple who planned to meet us that we had arrived.  They soon joined us, and we were enjoying the band.

It was not long before they played a song I remembered well from my days of watching Mtv, back when they actually played music most of the time.  I asked Steven to dance with me.  We bogeyed down!  Not many people had been dancing prior to this, but afterwards, the dance floor started to fill up.  We danced a lot, and I loved it.  They did not only play 1980’s music. We enjoyed it all.  It was easy to see the band was having fun, and I think everyone listening was having fun as well.

The Posers will be playing at the Team Rebecca Fundraiser at the Ilion Moose Lodge, on Barringer Road this Saturday, Feb. 18.  Donation for admission is $15.  For more information, go to http://teamrebecca.alfordplace.com/. For more information on The Posers, you can visit their Facebook page.

 

 

Further Analysis on a Silly Song

I confess that I like my own writing.  I don’t care to look at my face in the mirror or in pictures, I sure as hell don’t want to hear my voice on a tape recorder (does anybody even use tape recorders any more?), video of me? Yikes!  But to go back and read previous blog posts, I find that kind of fun.  One of my all time favorites of my own blog was called “I’ll Say the Lights Went Out.”  It was about one of the all time dumbest popular songs: “The Night the Lights Went out in Georgia.”  As you see, I put a link back to it, in case anyone is interested in reading it.

That post and the song that inspired it were brought back to my mind a few days ago with an “On This Day” post on Facebook.  I had thought of something that explained the whole song.  You’ll need to know the song for the rest of this post to make sense, by the way.  And the more I think about it, the more I think,  THAT’S IT!!!

The narrator was in love with Andy.  Think about it: it’s the only way things make sense.  She killed the wife first, in hopes Andy would turn to her.  That’s why she hid the body and made it seem that the wife had left town.  It is unlikely that Andy was the kinky sort who would fall for his lover’s murderer, although I guess you never know.  We already figured Andy was not the brightest star, even given Georgia’s dark firmament.

Furthermore, Little Sister no doubt blamed her brother for the whole Andy/Cheating Wife hook-up.  After all, if Brother would have been a better husband, Wife would not have strayed and Andy would have been available.  This, of course,  accounts for her willingness to let Brother take the fall for Andy’s clumsier murder.  IN FACT, and I think of this right now as I type this:  Little Sister probably hurried over to Andy’s and said, “You’ve got to get out of here!  My brother is coming to kill you!”  She figured once she saved his life in this fashion, he would fall into her arms, happy ending, yes.

But, no, Andy spurns her.  He still thinks Cheating Wife left town and will someday return to him.  Little Sister shoots him in a vindictive rage.  In the meantime, Brother is “slipping through the backwoods, quiet as a mouse”  with his heirloom gun with the intention not of killing Andy but of confronting him and demanding the full story, complete with dirty details.  He plans to threaten Andy with the gun, perhaps frighten him and make him pee his pants, then demand to know where Cheating Wife is, because she probably sent her lover a post card.  That explains why he loses his head and “fires a shot” to summon the police.

Ah, it is so satisfying to spin a tale.  What an enjoyable time I have had writing this post.  If only I could use my powers for good.  Thank you for tuning in.

 

I Am a Dancing Fool

I may have mentioned in passing that Steven and I danced the night away at the Silverado Inn last Saturday.  We’re still talking about what a fun night we had.

We had made our plans to go a week or two before,when I saw an article in the Utica O-D about a band called Mersey Side 5, which has been together for 50 years.  Impressive, but what really caught my attention was that we know two of the members.  Rick DeJohn, on bass, has been our sound and light guy at Ilion Little Theatre for some time now.   He is a great musician, an all-around awesome person and our very good friend.  Rick Short, guitar and vocals, is of course leader of the Rick Short Band, a hard-rocking group we enjoy very much.

After our stressful week last week, we were not sure if we would be up for going out, with the result that we did not organize a bunch of friends to go with us.  I ended up feeling very bad about that, but I really did not want to say, “Hey, let’s go!” then be too sad and tired to enjoy it.

We arrived early and sat in a booth.  Steven got us beers while I greeted a friend from work.  I had not been at the Silverado on a Saturday night in years.  I have, however, enjoyed numerous fundraisers there on a Sunday, most notably the HALO Hoedown in September.  I noticed a lot of older people in the crowd, and by “older” of course I mean my age (middle).

Soon the music started and things got really fun.  We danced to almost every song, as did a lot of people.  It was a nice bunch, too.  When things got crowded on the dance floor, nobody got annoyed at being bumped into.  As it said in the article, the band played classic rock, including music by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Animals and more.  It was one good dance tune after another!  We loved it.

We would have stayed and danced as long as the band played, but Steven had to work the next day.  As it was, we didn’t get to bed till after midnight.  It did not matter.  Such a fun time is worth feeling a little tired the next day.  I hope we get a chance to hear Mersey Side 5 again soon.