Here we go! It’s article time once again! This one is going to be short and sweet! I apologize for my lack of details this month, but this article is all about getting ‘er done so I can go have some fun!
It all started with a wild birthday bash at Flinchy’s for the owner, Matt Flinchbaugh’s birthday party with Swisher Sweets on stage. The band managed to squish in the corner and rock out! Matt even got up and sung a few songs with the band! Needless to say wild shenaningans were had by all and it was a great night of music, fun, and lots of friends!
The next night was the first open mic of the month. Weekends have been so busy, that the best time for me to catch music is during the week, the open mics are always fun because you never know what’s gonna happen or who you are going to see. It’s also cool to be in a room with musicians and music lovers just talking about music and having a good time! The talent this night was Crasher Acoustic, Jon from Hat Trick, Merv, Mike, I believe from Pair of Aces, Ben, Crash & Cross, Derek Avalon, and then of course a killer acoustic jam to end the night!
Thursday, Horn Pub decided to have entertainment for their first Bike Night of the season. Stephen Robert pulled a bunch of friends together and turned it into a Hank and Friends jam! Stephen, Slade, and Derek were the main rockstars and then we also finally, heard a bit of Coal State!! (You’re welcome Derek.) Bobby Crum was in the house and showed us his many talents on guitar, drums and vocals. Stave Mazur stepped up for a few, and Crasher Acoustic was also in the house, and jammed on a few songs as well. A crazy amount of motorcycles came out and it was a great first Bike Night for the Horn Pub. I wonder why all bike nights in the area are all on Thursdays? It seems a little odd to me, but hey, I’m not a bar owner!
I’ve been phasing myself out of my BRP work, but I do help out when I can. I hope everyone is being nice to the new girl Liz! We will be tackling Q4 availability soon, so get ready to help her out and treat her nicely. I covered a show for them at Ocean Downs casino. When that one got booked I knew I had to be the one to cover it! I was able to see Flock of Seagulls and Confederate Railroad! What a great weekend of entertainment for the Kentucky Derby!
Sunday I came home and had to deliver my mags, and it happened to be Cinco De Mayo Eve, aka May the 4th, and Stephen texted me to let me know they were hanging at Tequila Willies for Los Monstros. I booked them for quite a few shows, but it was about time I finally got to hear them. What a great show! Their son, at only 16 years old, plays multiple instruments, sang, and really made their show! What a great way to start the week. On Cinco de Mayo itself, I was too tired, and finally took a day to rest!
Tuesday night it was off to the Copper Pub for open mic hosted by Megan and Dave. I got there a little late, but still heard a lot of great talent! Steve Mazur, Crasher, Merv, Dave Gates and Colin Alvarez as a duo, and then RJ Conrad even stepped in and made it a trio! Then Megan grabbed a mic and started singing, and Matt Jameson couldn’t resist and jumped in on Cajon and we had a full band! Another super cool part about open mics is how musicians just jump up and start jamming with each other. It’s always awesome to see how versatile everyone is, and how accepting everyone is! This group of musicians really work together. RJ Conrad can usually be found jamming with his original band, Rascal Revival. I haven’t heard him play for so long, he can definitely jam! Maybe one of these days I’ll actually catch a full band show. Great job to Megan and Dave for hosting this open mic every first Tuesday! The next one on June 3rd, will be co-hosted with the Central PA Music Hall of Fame, so I can’t wait to see how crazy that one is!
Wednesday night after another trip to Blue Sky for Open Mic, we zoomed over to Flinchy’s for Sam M Music. It’s always awesome to hear women rockin’ out! Cindy and I came in dancing and we livened up the deck with our shenanigans!
Thursday I headed in to Sturges Speakeasy for Derek Avalon. This was a last-minute show, but the place was still packed. It’s always cool to see how many people love coming to Sturges to listen to music, hang out, and have a great time. It’s so awesome to see and hear Derek rockin’ out for his friends!
On a Friday night I finally had time to go to Shermans Creek Inn for some full rockin bands, Hot and Dangerous and Road Case! It has been way too long since I’ve seen both of these bands! Hot and Dangerous had parts of Road Case filling in, they had Ed on drums, and even had guest guitar performances from Clint and Jeff! Erica can sing! It’s always amazing watching her in action!! So glad I made it in time.. finally! Then it was time for Road Case! Watching these guys perform is always pretty amazing! It’s an absolute bummer that full bands don’t have more places to perform! Road Case is tired of constantly fighting to find places to play, so word on the street is their Final show will be at Crossroads Wine Shop on June 28th! Let’s pack the place and give them some love!
On a Saturday night I ran out to Fredericksburg Eagle Hotel for Matt Jameson on the deck! He also had Slade playing drums with him to make it an extra cool performance. I absolutely love the Hooooootel! It’s always a great place to hear amazing music and eat delicious food! Cindy and I made sure we did some dancing and had some fun with the fine folks of the Hooootel!
Of course that wasn’t enough fun for a Saturday, so I ended the night zooming over to Flinchy’s for the All About Chuck Duo: Chuck Britton and Ronnie Rhoads. I made it for the end of the night, and the guys were doing their best to play some songs that neither of them have played before, let alone together, but they did what any cool musician does, and they faked it, and made sure the crowd was having a good time! I love when musicians don’t care about making a song perfect, but make sure everyone is having a perfectly amazing good time!
On Wednesday night I finally had time to meet up with Cindy at Flinchy’s with our good friend Frank for JJ Rupp. You can usually see JJ performing with his full band, but tonight was just a solo show. It’s hard to believe that it was a good 16 years ago I saw JJ performing with Knotfal, when his Mom had to give him special permission to play in a bar at only 19 years old! It’s a friendly reminder of how many musicians I’ve seen playing in so many different bands over the years, not to mention all the friends I’ve made!
On a Friday night I headed over to Copper Pub with Cindy for a very special night with Megan and Dave. Cindy had special Megan and Dave shirts made by the merch queens Casey and Angie! The shirts had Megan and Dave’s log with “Road Crew” on the back! Needless to say Megan and Dave were super surprised and touched by the amazing shirts! Cindy is such a thoughtful friend, we are all so lucky to have her in our lives! Megan and Dave put on a great show, soon Megan will be playing guitar on every song! That girl is a strumming maniac! It’s awesome to see Dave encouraging her and helping her along the way. They make a great team! After their show we all zoomed over to Flinchy’s to catch the tail end of Hank the Buffalo.
Saturday was a big shindig! It was Mike and Pam’s 35th Anniversary Party at the Doyle Hotel! Mike is a councilman for Duncannon, but if you’ve ever been to the town, you know that Mike and Pam are what make “Fun”cannon, FUN! These two are always out supporting music, talking to friends, dancing, and having a good time. And if it’s during daylight hours, you usually find them making the town beautiful! They are extremely proud of Duncannon and they do everything they can to make it GREAT! It was quite fitting they had their party at the Doyle. It all started with a private party with some of their favorite musicians: Crash & Cross, Matt Jameson, Dr. Nyce, and Hank the Buffalo. It’s hard to believe so much greatness could fit in one room, but we made it happen! Singing, dancing, and having a blast! Then at 8pm, they opened the doors to the public and the massive jam ensued! All of these great musicians and more, jammed on one stage and rocked out! What an absolute blast! Thanks Mike and Pam for the invite, and for always bringing the FUN everywhere you go! You are a great example to us all! Cheers to 100 more years!!
I had limited amount of time but I still zoomed down to open mic at Blue Sky and I’m glad I did. I was able to hear Ricky, Rob Davis, Brandon, and some new attendees, Lucid Ruby! I heard of Lucid Ruby because of the CPMAs, but so glad I finally heard two out of the 3 of them. WOW! These guys were great! I loved their original music, and they definitely left the stage wanting me to hear more! Cindy and I left to go see Wally at Flinchy’s, but I got video and pics of Lucid Ruby pulling out a Cello for the jam session at the end! Super cool!
Wally was rockin’ at Flinchy’s. I haven’t seen Wally for a little while, and it was cool to see him smiling when we walked in the door. He pretty much instantly played “What’s Up” for us, and quickly had us singing and dancing along. When he took his break, we also were able to hear a few songs from Nick Minahan. He’s been jamming the solo circuit for a while now, so that was an added bonus!
After a super long day I wasn’t going to go out, but then Scott texted me to ask me where I was.. Steel was playing at the Mechanicsburg Legion, Post 109. Ohhhh man! Peer pressure, time to head out! I am sooo glad I did! Wowzers that was fun! Headbanging, dancing, and having a great time with friends I haven’t seen for too long! Steel has gotten a new resurgence of energy with this line-up, learning so many new songs, playing new instruments.. they even created new merch! So happy for these guys! Hopefully they keep grinding, and we can still see Steel rockin’ for another 30 years!
Since I was already out I decided to end the night by stopping in at Flinchy’s for Matt Jameson Live. It was cool to see Mike and Pam outside of Duncannon, but still out supporting the music that they love. Matt had a great crowd, and of course played past 11pm, so I still heard quite a few songs! I’m so glad I made it out before I left for vacation the next day. It’s amazing how much I miss my musical family even when I’m on an amazing vacation!
June has me running around pretty much every weekend! I will of course be out as much as humanly possible. Zack leaves for Army Boot Camp on June 2nd. If you see me and I’m an emotional mess, that would be why! Right now I have to get this done and go enjoy more Family Florida time!! Have a great month everyone, and get out there and SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC!!!!
