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More Music on Wednesday!

Posted on December 1, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

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.

 

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Late Post about The Posers

Posted on August 11, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

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.
Steve busting a move.

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.

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Love Those Posers!

Posted on July 12, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

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.

 

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Oh, That Band!

Posted on August 17, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

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.

 

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Party Like It’s 1980something!

Posted on February 18, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

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.

 

 

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Further Analysis on a Silly Song

Posted on June 22, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

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.

 

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I Am a Dancing Fool

Posted on June 11, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

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.

 

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I Rock Out

Posted on January 26, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’ve given a shout-out to the Rick Short Band before (I think my exact words were, “They rock!”). Thursday night, we were excited to attend their CD Release Party on the Utica College campus.

The party was in the Pioneer Pub in the Strebel Center. Steven and I felt fortunate to catch a ride with our friends Phyllis and Jim. They are also fans of the band, and quite familiar with the Utica area.

We arrived right around five. We had marked “going” on the Facebook event, so they had name badges for us. We also got wrist bands. That way any time I left and came back (say to utilize the Ladies Room), I could show my wrist band and say, “I’m in the club.” It’s the sort of thing I do.

Shaye Jennings played an acoustic set to start things off. She was very good, very mellow. Then when the Rick Short Band took the stage, we were ready to rock. So were they.

We got drinks and something to eat and enjoyed the sounds. When I had to cross in front of the band, I danced my way across, to let them know I was enjoying the music. I was happy to see two lovely ladies get up and start dancing. I asked Steven to dance with me. Later when Steven didn’t feel like dancing again, I danced with the two ladies. I love to dance.

My antics on the dance floor won me a copy of the CD. Later I purchased a t-shirt. I felt since I had gotten something for free, I should also buy something. Also, I wanted a t-shirt.

It was so much fun. We were all very glad we went. I can’t wait till the next time I can catch the Rick Short Band. For more information on the band, visit their website at www.rickshort.com, or you can Like them on Facebook. If you do that, you can easily find out when you can go hear them play.

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Friday Fun

Posted on January 12, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I started my weekend fun at the Belly Up Pub Friday evening with music by Philip Arcuri.

Belly Up Pub is located on Albany Street in Herkimer, NY. Happy Hour is usually from 6 to 8 p.m. Fridays, but in January they are offering a bonus hour beginning at five. Steven worked till 5:30, so we met at the Pub.

Drinks and food were half price. I got a Pinot Grigio while Steven got a Brown Ale. We ordered nachos and an appetizer sampler which included chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks, jalapeno poppers and sweet potato fries. The nachos came with queso dip, salsa and sour cream. We chose Ranch dip for the sampler.

The most enjoyable feature of the evening was the music by Philip Arcuri, who played guitar and sang. He played classic rock, mostly from the ’60s and ’70s, with a few thrown in from the ’80s. A lot of his playlist was mellow, but there were a few toe tappers. My favorite was “Mustang Sally.” I woo-wooed when he was done with that one.

The atmosphere in the BUP is very relaxed. I observed a wide range of ages in the patrons. Everybody seemed to be having a good time. Two bartenders took good care of everybody. Arcuri reminded us to tip them well.

When I had been talking about going to hear a musician at BUP, a co-worker had asked if there was dancing.

“There’s not a lot of space,” I said. “But I wish there was; I’d love to go dancing.”

“Oh, go ahead and dance. As long as you don’t do any lap dancing.”

When I came out of the Ladies Room just before we left, Arcuri was playing, “Last Kiss,” one of what Steven calls a Dead Teenager song from the ’60’s. For being about a sad subject, it is a really catchy tune. I came out of the bathroom dancing. Nobody seemed to mind.

It was a fun interlude to begin my weekend. It won’t be long before I make my way to the Belly Up Pub again. And I’ll be looking for another time to catch Philip Arcuri play.

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Props to the Belly Up Pub

Posted on June 27, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I believe I’ve given a shout-out to the Belly Up Pub before. It is on Albany Street in Herkimer, NY, in the space that formerly housed Albany Street Cafe and before that something called Dineen’s (that was before my time). My husband Steven and I had a very fun time there last Saturday night.

It was a sort of a reply to Utica’s Saranac Thursdays: a live band in the parking lot. Simple Props was playing.

We arrived shortly after eight and paid our $5 cover, then wandered into the bar to get a drink. We found a tall table (my favorite kind) next to the window. Steven had been at work all day and wanted to sit down just at first. We noticed a couple of people had brought their own chairs to sit outside in. Not a bad idea.

We ended up going back and forth between inside and out. We’d go outside and enjoy the band, then go back inside when our feet started to hurt. There was not as much dancing going on as I would have liked, but we did boogey down to one song.

The band, Simple Props, was excellent. I especially liked their ’80s covers. They were obviously having a good time, which is something I always look for in a band. Some people congregated across the street, listening for free. The lead singer invited them over, but I don’t know if any of them came. I think at least some of them were underage.

The event drew a pretty good crowd. I observed a variety of ages, which I always like to see. Security was very much in evidence, but nobody was getting out of hand while we were there. Even I behaved myself.

We did not stay too late, because Steven had to work the next day. The Belly Up Pub is close enough to our house that we could walk, which is another think I like on a night out. We’re going to watch for more bands at the Belly Up. If you like them on Facebook, you can watch, too.

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