The expanded Fricknadorable for the debut of “Wolves and Women”

Thursdays at 9pm, the West End Ale House (Haus) has an open mic night, hosted by Darren Inman. Open mic is like a box of chocolates; at West End there are lots of undergrads during the school year, and things quiet down somewhat in the summer. Lately there have been occasional mass showings from the dePrisco musical orbit, with Loomis, Fricknadorable, Negodniki, and Ed Zuber playing in various configurations. Last night was an especially good one. Fricknadorable, Jeremy & Audra’s duo, grew to thrice its normal size with the addition of mandolin, banjo (me), accordion, and snare drum for the debut of the epic 7-minute “Wolves and Women”.

Nothing says rock & roll like baggy shorts and orange racing flats.

Also, I took a break from World Famous in Bloomsburg material to play three songs from Yuspe.

All this, and it’s only 320 steps from my front door. It’s a good world.

Lovely time at the Ferry Street Growers Market last Saturday – nice weather, a vibrant market, friendly people, a few CDs sold, and the lovely thing about playing at a farmer’s market: on the way out, a number of vendors saying “hey, you’re the musician, right? How about some [insert one or more: bread/cabbage/potatos/beans/summer squash/cherries]?”

Only one regret: I didn’t get any photos. If you took one, let me know!

(And thanks to Jeremy for loan of the tent. I would’ve gotten all red and crispy without it.)

If you’ve never been to Forks Farm (between Orangeville and Stillwater) you should go sometime. There is good food to be had. Lots of other lovely locally made stuff. And almost always some enjoyable entertainment. Sometimes they let me play too. Once I was upstaged by a pig giving birth in the barn behind me. Every few minutes someone would yell out “there’s another one!” and my entire audience would disappear.

We sing about beans and corn. But mostly corn.

Most of the time I played solo, but why give you pictures of me solo when I can give you pictures with Anna and Zeke?

We sings about poles. Poles that are covered in creosote.

(Thanks to Leon Weber for the photos.)

It has been a great spring for shows. Instead of 8,000 words, here are 8 pictures. Thanks to Audra, Anna, and Miranda.

Audra appears! (That means Anna had the camera.) King St Coffeehouse, 4/17/15

A&Z, King St.

Children’s Museum, 4/18/15.

Guest xylophone and trombone players…

World Famous in Danville? The Booth Theatre, 5/8/15

At the Booth

Rare banjo/harmonica/bass on Sunday Morning (Winter)

Creosote covered pole!

mostly corn

The spring ArtWalk-In show at the Caldwell Consistory gave me a chance to play with Negodniki (Jeremy dePrisco, Mike Hickey, John Huckans, and Safa Saracoglu, who all played on World Famous in Bloomsburg as individuals, not as part of Negodniki…), who were playing after me.

creosote

Now the spring has been busy for all of us, and we didn’t have chance to rehearse. But these guys know the songs, and if they don’t, they fake it well.

the whole band (almost)

The room was buzzing – it’s where the food was, after all – and it seemed like the louder, livelier songs would hold attention better, so we went after those.

me + negodniki

The feeling of playing with 4 others behind you is a little like driving a train. A little like surfing, or riding a bronco. A little like being the puppet president at the head of a junta. With all that momentum behind me, I had a little less control, but the energy makes up for it.

we have to have a little birds picture, no?

So thanks, guys. It is a pleasure.

Zeke’s stage glare

And thanks, Audra, for the pictures. In the next post, we will actually see Audra (Anna took a few photos.) And thanks to the folks who make ArtWalk happen, and those who show up. It was a good day to be in Bloomsburg.

Paul & Jeremy – this is probably Line Line

I’m really excited about the Greenwood Friends School auction this year. If you don’t know, Greenwood is the snall but great Quaker school that Anna & Zeke attend, and the auction is our big fundraiser each year. This year the focus is on art and goods and services by local businesses and local folks; as I write this I look up at a wonderful forest painting on our wall that we bought at the auction last year.

This year’s auction is on April 18, from 6-10pm, at the Caldwell Consistory at 150 Market Street, Bloomsburg. Tickets are $35 per person (or 4 for the price of 3) and they include good food and spirits and other drinks and the good stuff I’m about to mention. See the websites below for tickets, or, if you know how to contact me, contact me!

So here’s why I’m extra excited:

6-7pm: Fricknadorable, the funny and sweet duo of Jeremy & Audra dePrisco
7:15-8:15pm: Paul Loomis & friends (including Jeremy and Audra).
8:30pm: live auction (there’s also a silent auction that goes on through the evening)
9-10pm: Raven Creek, a great bluegrass group from near Benton

A Paul Loomis house concert will be among the items up for auction. Might it go for thousands of dollars? Who knows! (OK, I do. It won’t. That means it’ll be a bargain!)

You can see more items at
biddingforgood.com/auction/auctionhome.action?vhost=gfsauction2015 .

Thanks,
Paul

Saw this poster at the bagel shop. Hey! My name! On a poster I did not tape to the wall! Success just keeps getting sweeter.

Seriously, this will be a fun evening. You should attend, if you can.

It was another cold night February 20, but there was a hardy and friendly crowd at Fog & Flame, entertained not just by us but by a guy taking all kinds of construction debris past the front windows to a dumpster in the alley.

Cold and nasty outside. Warm and folky inside.

As I play these songs in different settings, it is interesting to see them jell into little blocks – like the all birds set of crows nest, little birds and ruffled grouse (I didn’t play the raven this time) or the Indiana segment, in sunday morning (fall), mostly corn, anna’s canon in B flat, and grand buffet. OK, I didn’t play those four in a row. But I should sometime.

Mostly corn.

Thanks to Jeremy and Audra for bass and backup singing, Anna and Zeke for singing and playing, Fog and Flame for hosting us, and everyone who showed up, sang along, or just smiled on their way by.

Yes, of course, we played little birds.

And thanks again to Audra, who isn’t in any of these pictures because she took them.

Next up? Wednesday, March 11, ArtWalk at the Caldwell Consistory, right in the middle of Bloomsburg. There will be art. And music. And much more. It’s free. Stop by!

After typing this title, I thought about writing something really introspective about time. But that wasn’t the plan, and I’m gonna stick with the plan. About time really meant it’s about time for another post here.

What’s been happening? Well, after all those November/December shows, there was a holiday. The family came for Christmas after Christmas, which meant 14 people for 3 days in our one-bathroom house. But my family is very adaptable, and there were no bathroom emergencies or long shower arguments.

Then we spent two weeks in Costa Rica – an account of that is showing up slowly over at the Waiting for a Bus blog.

Then we jumped back into school and life and I started getting shows on the calendar. The first came last Saturday night at Fog & Flame on Main St. This was during the Destination Blues music festival, this show was a late add, and Leticia, Anna, and Zeke were in upstate New York for the weekend. So it was a truly solo show. The set list, as best as I can remember it (I always have a written list, but I always change things around as the spirit leads).

grand buffet
science fair
anna’s canon in B flat
susquehanna
one two
toast
peanut butter
ruffled grouse
little birds
the raven (yes, the Edgar Allan Poe poem, played like an early-60s Dylan song. It works surprisingly well, and I think the Poe/Dylan connection is worth at least a doctoral thesis project. Also, it’s about 12 minutes long.)

set break, because we all needed it after the raven

digali
sunday morning (fall)
chimpanzees
have to pee
crows nests
a 19th century dandy reconsiders his hair
when the ship comes in (an actual early 60s Dylan song)
another piece of toast
toast (again, by request)
line line
oscar wilde and chamomile

It was an enjoyable show with a friendly and lively crowd, part of which fed me borscht, salad, macaroni, and beer afterword (thank you!)

The band gets larger now, adding Jeremy, Audra, Anna, and Zeke for the February 20 Fog & Flame show. Then larger still, adding (I believe) Mike, John H., and Safa for the March 11 ArtWalk show. It’s never the same show twice, folks.

December 13: Upper Susquehanna Quarter’s Meeting for Singing, at Dancing Bear Farm outside Lewisburg, PA. (Translation: Quakers from all over northern Pennsylvania gathering for a yummy potluck and to sing lots of Christmas songs and others, like “Bad Moon Rising”.) Thanks, everybody!

at Meeting for Singing

Then that evening, a Local Music Collective jam session at the Booth Theatre in Danville.

It was a good day for music.