It’s so hard to believe it’s already the last month of Summer. My Summer didn’t go according to plan, but when does life EVER go as planned. I think we make plans just so God can have a good laugh.. Sorry if you haven’t seen me this month, I spent most of the month with my Mother-In-Law who had a heart attack June 16th, a 2nd heart attack, July 12th, which ultimately led to Triple Bypass Surgery and recovery, so a lot of my free time has been spent with her. Believe it or not I love my 2nd Mom.. she’s pretty awesome!! A HUGE shout out and THANK YOU to all of the nurses and doctors at Williamsport Hospital. You are all amazing! Many thanks to all of you nurses, doctors, first responders, service men and women, etc.. All of you that put your lives on hold and in jeopardy to keep us all alive and FREE! Thank you!!!! Enough with the mushy stuff on to the music..
This year I was able to make it to the Central PA Jazz Festival Kick-Off Party at the Abbey Bar at Appalachian Brewing Co. This was their 38th Annual Festival! 38 years!! They’ve been around even longer than us! I unfortunately didn’t get there until the last band was taking the stage, but late is better than never. I talked to Mike from Mike’s Music Store and heard about all the great acts I missed. If you want to know about the Jazz musicians in this area and beyond, just stop in and talk to Mike, he definitely loves Jazz music and supports it every chance he gets. The Gavin Horning Quartet was on stage and they definitely had the room captivated with their music. Even as late as I was there it was standing room only, but plenty of people were in their chairs tapping to the beat, enjoying every note. Gavin Horning is one heck of a guitar player but he was nicely supported by Connor Rohrer on keys, Andy Alonso on bass, and Tommy James on drums. There was a whole weekend planned of lectures, shows, and a big picnic with obviously more music on Sunday. We do have a great group of Jazz Musicians in this area. If you want to hear some jazz music, you can stop by River City Blues every 3rd Monday of the month for the Big Band show, or you can also swing in to Cliff’s Tavern (the old Gullifty’s) any Wednesday in August. They will be doing jazz on the patio, and if weather is bad they will move it indoors. The 4th Wednesday of every month is an Open Jazz Jam Session at Cliff’s grab your instrument and come out and play, or just stop on by to enjoy the music. You can see more jazz news at www.friendsofjazz.org.
Next, I ran over to Chick’s to hear the last set of Frayed Nott rockin’ out in their hometown! Frayed Nott always has a party going on at Chick’s. It was great to see and hear the guys back to their original 3-piece. They just seem to know each other more and they are just there to rock out and have a good time. Did you hear Frayed Nott is opening for the one and only FireHouse!! On September 22nd they will be playing in Granville, PA (not to be confused with Grantville). Granville is up towards Lewistown. If I understand it correctly it will be an outdoors event at an amazing farm. It sounds like one heck of a party. For more details you can check out their facebook page, facebook.com/frayednottrocks you can also check out their ad in this issue.
My next night out and about was a special trip to support my sister and her Newville Lions Club at their annual fair. They had great bands every night, but Friday night was a Journey tribute band, Eclipse. If you know me, you know how much I love Journey, I just couldn’t resist. I grabbed my Journey loving friend Terri and we went to check it out. They nailed all of our favorites, and I even had the chance to dance with my son Zack during “Open Arms”. Thanks Terri for the video! Ha! Eclipse came up from Maryland for the show, but I’m told they play all over PA and beyond. We were even able to sit and play some Bingo where my sister Andrea Greene was the amazing caller, and we could still hear the show. It was a great night just to kick back and relax which is exactly what I needed.
On a special Tuesday night my family and I headed to Skyline Park in West Hanover for Movies in the Park to see Wonder. Little did I know the pre-show entertainment would be Jason Carst. I haven’t seen him play in quite a long time, but as soon as I heard a musician performing that sounded so much like Dave Matthews, I knew it was Jason before I even saw him. Jason plays a lot of acoustic shows. He’s even the house musician for the Susquehanna River Boat, he gets to play Brews Cruises on Wednesday nights from 6-8. Do you know they have a full bar on the boat? What a great way to relax and help make it through Hump Day!
My next night out was the 16th Annual Ffej of July Party. This is a private event, but one heck of a party in someone’s backyard right on the main strip in Annville. I don’t know how he manages to pull it off every year, but he sure does wake up the tiny town of Annville. I’m sure they are all in shock and don’t even know what hit them until it’s over! Ffej is a great musician that plays in several bands, most might know him from his RUSH tribute band, Solar Federation. I like usual didn’t get there til later, I was bummed to miss One Trick Grizzly, I’ve been trying to catch one of their shows, I’ve heard a lot of great things about them, one of these days I’ll make it somewhere in time. When I got there UZO was just taking the stage, some funky jazz jam band. Everyone was just chillin’ drinkin’ and having a great time. Ffej built a whole big stage in his backyard for this event so it was one heck of a show with lights, sound, etc. The last band of the night was Brazilian Wax. They haven’t really played much for 10 years, but you definitely couldn’t tell. They were super tight and tons of fun, and a great way to end the night!
After the party I stopped in at Double K for some Booby Trap. These guys are always a blast. Their original songs are hilarious and very well written. Jeff can really sing a wide variety of songs from today and yesterday. When you hear these guys play you can tell that Sammy, Paul, and Jeff have been together forever, and even though Chris is the newest member, he fits right in. David their faithful sound guy has them tuned in nicely for the Double K room. It always helps when bands have a consistent sound man because he knows what the room and the fans can handle and he makes sure everyone has a good night. I’m glad I got the chance to catch a set, it was a perfect way to end the night! Check out Double K’s schedule in this issue and get out to your local watering hole and support local music!!
Last but not least, after an extremely long day, I stopped in at Chick’s to see E22 Acoustic. Jeff and Darrell are always entertaining so I knew it was well worth my effort to stop in and check them out. Since Jeff practically lives across the street from Chick’s it’s easy for him to fill in at the last minute, and that’s exactly what happened. Jeff also plays quite a few shows at the VFW in Hummelstown, so he has fans that come out and support him too, so it’s a win/win. Jeff and Darrell have been teaming up playing shows as E22 and Asking Andy. Sometimes they play with different people, but they do a great job supporting each other or should I say putting up with each other. You can check out E22’s schedule in this issue and get out there and support live music! Don’t forget your dancing shoes!!
Well that’s all the music I have for this month. Remember to turn the pages and check out all of the schedules. We are surrounded by so much amazing music: inside, outside, underground, on a boat, you name it, music is EVERYWHERE!! On a side note, unfortunately The Gong Show is no longer coming to the Harrisburg Scottish Rite Theatre due to unforeseen circumstances. It’s a bummer.. I was really looking forward to the show. I’m really hoping to get out more this month, but my life is To Be Continued…. Thank you so much to everyone for all of the continued support and for reading this article. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, or better yet if you’d like to advertise, please email me at RachelRocks@pamusician.net Please get out there and SUPPORT LOCAL MUSIC!!! And don’t forget to tag us.. #pamusician or @pamusicianmagazine.