Ahhh.. Another month of amazingness! I am so lucky to live in Harrisburg and have so many musical options within a couple minutes of my house! Even when I’m super busy, to be able to pop-in for the last 30 mins, or whatever it may be, is just so refreshing to my soul. Some people like to come home sit on the couch and watch TV, I like to go find friends, listen to music and just hang out to finish my day, and I do exactly that, as often as possible!
I started off this month on a Tuesday night, I made it out to Copper Pub’s open mic hosted by Megan and Dave. This open mic is held every first Tuesday of the month. I missed some, but saw some! I saw Julia Denne, unfortunately missed her sister Kelsie.. next time! Then Kaiden McGruther, Quincy Rogers, Chris Auxt, the combo of Megan and Chris Auxt, with a song where the student taught the teacher! (Chris Auxt is an amazing guitar teacher, and he has openings if anyone is interested. His studio for his classes is held in Lemoyne.) Then wrapped things up with the the hosts.. Megan and Dave! What a great night as always! Right down the street from my house!
The next night was delivery day! While I was out delivering, I made some quick stops. 1st quick stop at The Blue Sky Tavern for open mic. I caught performances by Merv, Rick and Brandon, Rob, Bill, and Nashandre! Then I zoomed up to Flinchy’s for Shine Delphi! I absolutely adore his jazzy blues!! Ya can’t help but dance!!
Thursday night, the 4th of July, was of course another night of shenanigans!! 1st stop Ridge Run Tavern for Matt Jameson Live! What a fun place, that loves live music!! I’ve seen quite a few shows advertised out there, but it was my first visit. Definitely a place that makes you feel like one of the family as soon as you arrive. Just keep in mind it is cash only! Matt has quite a few guests singing along with him. Cindy even got up there and serenaded the crowd! Then we zoomed to The Sturges Speakeasy for Hank The Buffalo! It was a weird crowd for Hank the Buffalo, but I’m sure most of our herd was busy celebrating the 4th outside with fireworks!
On a Monday I finally made it to Open Mic with Hank The Buffalo at Sierra Madre ! They do this open mic every Monday, and it’s always $5 Burger night! That’s cheaper than McDonald’s! So many new faces! The talent was TERRIFIC!!! Erick Moyer, Keegan, Megan Sheibley busting out originals!, Matthias Cabbell on keys with his band! Zig Project XYZ! So cool! Blues/Rock amazingness! Of course Hank The Buffalo themselves. Open Mics are fun! And always entertaining!
On Wednesday I headed down to a full night at The Blue Sky Tavern’s open mic! Hosted by Matt Jameson Live! Another night of amazing music and lots of originals!! Which is always super cool!! I of course arrived late.. but did get to see Rob Davis, Ben Darrow, Mike Press, he broke out originals! Bill Lang of BL Custom Guitars, always plays amazing and sometimes hilarious originals, Gerald Ketterer and Mute Balloon, young 19 yos, with originals that sounded like we were back in the era of the Beatles!! So good!! Dan Mowery solo and with his son Beau! Chris Auxt and Dan and Matt joined him for a few.. and then of course the jam!!!! Every cord was used out of Matt’s arsenal! Everyone jamming! Everyone in the room was either playing, singing, dancing, or a combo of all 3!! It’s magical!! So glad I made it for the 2nd half of this night!! Oh and I forgot to mention Blue Sky got a new NA!! And it’s called The Sunshine State!! Yummy!!! Give it a try when you come visit.
Wowzers Gettysburg during bike week is insane! I started my Friday with a trip to O’Rorkes for Matt Jameson Live! He was outside in the heat, but the people kept piling in all night long! I don’t know how Matt managed to sing above the roar of the engines, but people were joining in, singing along. The streets of Gettysburg were a constant parade of motorcycles! People were lined up on the streets just watching the bikes go by! It was crazy! As we were leaving we heard music on the square, so naturally we had to stop and check that out! Not sure who they were, but the square was packed with people listening to the music and the roar of engines! Then, zooming home we took a detour to Flinchy’s for Joe Cooney and Friends. The heat didn’t stop any of the decks from being crazy! The people were packed in, enjoying the music there too! It was a great night of music no matter where you were!
Saturday night was a delight!! I kicked the night off at Copper Pub and Grille for Derek Avalon’s debut performance with a bunch of friends! Matt got dropped off after his show at Stoney Creek, so we could go adventure. He plays so much it’s rare and so much fun when he gets to zoom around with me like old times. We headed to Flinchy’s for a little bit of Colt Wilbur. Thanks for rockin’ your original “Everclear” for us! Then it was down to 2nd street for some delicious Shawarma!! Which led to JB Lovedraft’s MicroPub, where David Damone, lead singer of Gun Metal Gray, was hosting karaoke. We decided to pull out some inner Staying Vertical and signed up to sing! What a blast! We also ran into Lauren from Hot & Dangerous, who snapped some pics of us! Always good to see you Lauren!
When one of my close friends is playing the beach.. of course I’m gonna go to the beach!!! Matt Jameson had two shows in a row at Kiwi’s Kove, right on the Rehoboth Boardwalk. The first night he played with his friend Ken Damelio on percussion. Night 2 he just played solo. I love going new places and watching people’s reactions when they are hearing Matt play for the first time! A bunch of Holly’s Air National Guard friends were working at Dover Air Force Base, so they came down for the show. It was awesome for them to come down and support Matt and Holly. Kiwi’s Kove was hopping all night long! Matt even had a guy doing some crazy dancing on his head! I don’t know if I’d call it breakdancing or what it was, but once again ya never know what’s going to happen at a Matt Jameson Live show!
Sunday Funday!!! Sundays are insane because I spend most of the day just waiting for Zack to call from Basic Training. He’s allowed to call on Sundays, and I can’t miss it!! So I just usually sit at home and wait for the call. After my weekly call, I zoomed as quickly as possible over to Flinchy’s. So glad I squeezed in the last bit of Hank The Buffalo’s Sunday Funday show! It’s one thing to see these guys at an open mic, but a full show is so different. It’s always so much fun hanging with so many friends!
Monday night Open Mic with Hank The Buffalo at Sierra Madre was once again packed full of people! I only made it for the last hour, but still heard tons of talent! I was able to catch Megan Yvonne, Bonnie, a Mom of 5, that’s getting back out there after her Mom time hiatus, Mathias, Zig, Ruddy Turnstone, and Merve. It was such a gorgeous night too, with plenty of people there just to enjoy the show.
I do a lot in a day.. not gonna lie.. I know it and I feel it! But even if I only get to walk in to the last 30 mins of a show, to me it’s soooo worth it! Music and friends are my lifeline! And so is family! I’m truly a lucky girl to have the freedoms I have and do the things I do! It was getting late, but I knew Cindy was over hanging at Flinchy’s, so I sucked it up and zoomed over for Derek Henry Acoustic’s last bit of his show. He can only handle me for 30 mins. So it all works out! Ha!! Plus I got to see Cindy!! I’ve been going through withdrawal. I’m so glad that she continues to go out without me, even when I’m crazy busy. She does a great job at filling me in on everything I miss.
The Central Pennsylvania Music Hall of Fame co-hosted Erica Lyn Everest Music’s weekly open mic at The DogHouse. It was awesome to see so many musicians show up to play, and also so many of the CPMHOF’s Board of Directors and Advisory Committee out supporting live music! Yet another awesome night of music! I was able to catch Erica and Drew Hall open the show, then Engage the Day, Michael Friedman, Quincy Jones, Ricky Lee, Julia and her sister Kelcie, Curtis Smith, Derek Avalon, Merve, Clint, RJ, and Megan Yvonne ended the night.
On a Friday night I was busy volunteering at Free Movie Night in Duncannon. It was a huge success! Food, Fun, and Fellowship! Abundant Harvest Church hosts this amazing community event with the help of a lot of great sponsors and partnerships. If ya missed this one, mark your calendars now for Aug. 22nd!! We will have all of the amazing games, food, and fun for FREE, and the movie will by Toy Story. I would love to see you there!
After an amazing weekend away at Bitter Goose Lodge up at Lake Raystown, I made it home to messages from my friends that they were right down the road at Royal Winery. I’m so grateful I was harassed til I showed up for the Country Music Fest! I missed Nick Minahan once again, but luckily Frachel was on duty and was able to cheer him on and snag pictures!! I did make it in time for the Hopeless Semantics and in time to hang with my friends! Linda and Mike do a great job playing together. It was a great afternoon at the vineyard.
We ended the month with A Tuesday night of terrificness! We kicked things off at Shermans Creek Inn for Ragged Grace and some delicious tacos! Rachael and Slade put on such a great show, singing so many of my favorite songs! Then we zoomed to the Doyle Hotel for the last bit of Nick Turk’s open mic! It was crazy walking into the bar and literally knowing everyone there! So many friends all in one spot! I was able to see Derek Avalon, Chris Auxt, Councilman Mike on the Drum Pad, Matt, Slade solo on guitar, and Nick got up to finish off the night with Derek on the drum pad! I also saw the whole Katz 22 band, decompressing after practice, some day I will hear that band again!! And so many other friends. So glad we did the extra stop! Sorry to Holly for once again keeping Matt out late!
Another month of tons of fun! I hope you enjoy following along on my adventures. Everyone is always welcome to join in the fun, anytime.. anywhere! Just get out there and Support Local Music and check out our website, www.pamusician.net.
