What an amazing birthday month! Hard to believe I still have one day left! This month really started out right from the start when my amazing friend Cindy delivered my magazines for me for my birthday present! It allowed me to have the maximum amount of fun! I am truly grateful for her assistance.
Cindy’s delivery assistance allowed us the time to go to Doyle Hotel to see the 176ers Dueling Pianos. They had a ticketed event up in the ballroom so everyone had plenty of space and plenty of fun! We were dancing, singing and having an amazing time! I can’t believe it took me this long to figure this out, but do you know why 176ers? It’s 88 (keys) x 2! HA! Genius! Dr. Nyce and Cagan make a great team, and put on a great show that is very unique to this area. A little side note, today, Dr. Nyce released his first original “High” on all streaming platforms. Do yourself a favor and check it out!
The next morning I had to head up early to Mt. Airy Lodge for Richard Marx. It was a great sold out show at Mt. Airy’s event center. Holly came with me to Mt. Airy and had her first experience as a merch girl! The next morning we zoomed home to make it in time to go to Matt’s private party back on Shelly Island at Cape Carl. It was one heck of a party with delicious food, amazing friends, and even more amazing music! It was beautiful waking up on an island on the Susquehanna on my birthday! Thanks again to Jeff and Kierstin Carl for their amazing hospitality.
The following weekend kicked off on a Friday night with Dave Gates and his surprise duo partner Colin Alvarez. It’s awesome to see musicians collaborating with other musicians when time allows. Dave and Colin are both awesome with taking requests and getting everyone up dancing and having a good time! I was happy to see Wolf’s implemented clear straws in their mocktails to make them more obvious to the bar tenders and servers, and the partakers too! Thanks Michele for the drink and helping me brave enough to give it a try!
We ended the night with a trip to Flinchy’s for Derek Henry, and his guest percussionist John Staz. Again, musicians working together! Gathering at Flinchy’s is always a good time. I’m glad I made it to enjoy a longer portion of Derek’s show. I know he’d rather be playing as a full band, but it’s always awesome getting to hear him do his solo show too. He’s an awesome musician, and is always a pleasure to listen to.
After a quick trip to Florida for some amazing shelling fun with Terri, it was right back to the music! We kicked things off early on a Thursday and Michele, Cindy, and I all went to Greystone Public House for Jason Carst. It was a beautiful Thursday night for music out on the patio. Jason is well known for always live-streaming his shows. Megan couldn’t physically make it to the show, but she was watching the live-stream, so we stormed Jason’s stream and said Hi to Megan! Thanks Jason for being a good sport and welcoming us up to crash the stage and your stream!
After Jason’s show we ran over to Copper Pub for the end of Natalie Ness’s special birthday show. She had the opportunity to play music on her birthday! Her family was out in full force supporting her on her special day. The deck was packed full of family and friends. At the end of the night we all sang her happy birthday and sent her off on a birthday adventure with a smile!
On a Wednesday night I headed to Flinchy’s for a Stephen Robert solo show. Stephen also had the new Hank the Buffalo shirts, and I was thrilled to be able to add to my merch collection. It’s awesome to watch Stephen get more confident on the stage! I love that he’s constantly adding to his song list too! By the end of the night Flinchy’s was once again packed with fellow musicians. Stephen is constantly out supporting live music, it was cool to see his support get reciprocated.
Thursday night was a busy one! Matt Jameson had his debut show at Wild Rabbit in New Cumberland. It was cool to hear Matt at another local venue. Wild Rabbit is a cool venue with a mini arcade room with some pinball, skee ball and other fun games!
After Matt’s show we finished the night with All About Chuck at Sturges. Chuck was playing with John Staz on percussion and Dan Mowery on electric guitar. More collaborating musicians, and again a beautiful thing to see! I love watching our music scene working together and supporting one another!
Friday night FUN was long, yet lovely! It all started at Hershey Vineyards with Katz 22. It took a little bit, but eventually people got up dancing to all of their amazing hits! I just love listening to their harmonies and watching them all rock out together. Katz 22 plays so many of your favorite classic rock songs. So many times you hear people saying, “I love this song!” throughout their whole show!
Next we headed to Beerded Goat for Megan & Dave. Megan and Dave play songs from 7 different decades, and they keep all people of all ages entertained all night long. These two have really been building their fan base and expanding their song list. It’s been cool to see them both get in the groove and watch their confidence grow!
After their show Michele and I picked up Dave and his girlfriend Jen and we headed to the casino for the Vertigo Vultures. It’s been a while since I got to hear these guys rock out as a full band. OwenX has really gelled well with the guys, I’m so glad they were able to find such a great replacement so they could keep rockin’ for many more years to come!
On Saturday I took a pit stop on my way to Mt. Airy to go to the Fall Music Fest at the Fogleman Farmstead. This yearly event has definitely become the party you do not want to miss. The food, the fun, the music! It’s all top notch and so much fun for an amazing cause, the PA Wounded Warriors. This year they had acoustic shows on a separate side stage so they could keep the music flowing all day/night long! It all started with The Neighborly, a duo I haven’t seen before, but was quickly hooked to their song choices and their amazing harmonies! At noon they had their opening ceremonies. Keara Rose sang the National Anthem as they raised the American Flag, and it literally gave me goosebumps, it was a very beautiful moment. The first full band of the day was the Full Circle Band. These guys rocked the stage from the first note! 80’s, 90’s all the good old classic rock that even made me take my hair down and do some head bangin! It was awesome to hear how these guys are Full Circle because they’ve known each other since Elementary School, but they all went their separate ways, but now are bck together making music, and creating the “Full Circle” of life. Very cool! Next up on the little stage was Matt Jameson. He actually created a set list for this show, and definitely made some new fans! I had to leave after Matt’s set for Mt. Airy, but I heard the whole day was tons of fun with lots of great music! I was super bummed I had to leave early, but grateful I was there for some of it!
The next week I was busy adulting, but by Wednesday I was ready for more music! I headed to one of my favorite places, South County for delicious food and some more Matt Jameson Live! After dinner and a set of music I headed up to Flinchy’s for Crash and Cross. Crasher was jamming with Dave Gary and had the whole bar singing along. Crasher is always filled with so many smiles. He truly loves having the opportunity to play music whenever he can. When he’s not playing at his own shows, you often see him out supporting live music as well. He’s watching his fellow musicians intently, learning the tricks of the trade!
Thursday was another musical night. I actually got my whole family out for dinner and a Matt Jameson show at Greystone. It was a very rare husband sighting. Kris likes going along when it’s close to home and has good food! After Matt’s show we all headed down to Sturges for Hank the Buffalo.
I had so much fun with Hank at Sturges, that Friday I stampeded my way up to Millerstown Moose for their show. It was a full PA Musician Family show. We all showed up to see Hank so Josh could take some notes and write this month’s cover story. You can read all about Hank the Buffalo in this issue, and you also can Join the Herd!
I finally had a Saturday off! I couldn’t believe it! I started the day off early with a stop to Mechanicsburg’s ½ Way to St. Patrick’s Day Celebration. They closed down the street and threw one heck of a party! Lounge 611 and Hellcat Maggie Entertainment put on a great show. It kicked off with Traced in Air’s first show ever. Wow! I will keep my eyes out for this group. Such amazing originals. I can’t believe this was their first public show! Matt Jameson took the stage next. He was the only solo, cover music, performer, so he thought it would be awkward, but again, the crowd was pleasantly surprised. It’s cool watching people see and hear Matt for the first time. I can tell him 1,000 times how good he performed, but it doesn’t mean nearly as much as hearing it from a stranger. We were able to stick around for Restrung, they were just a 3-piece band, but put out one heck of a sound. I even saw a ukulele on stage again! Super cool! I’m sure the rest of the day was fantastic! It was going to be CoalState and then Hold Fast! What a great line-up and an absolutely beautiful day for live music outdoors! Matt had another show at Hook and Flask, so we had to head to the next show!
When I dropped Matt off at his show, I then took a musical tour around Carlisle! I stopped by the Carlisle Moose Family Center for some Famous Rumors Band & FR Country Band, they had the crowd dancing to everyone’s classic rock favorites! Then stopped by Back Porch Brewing Inc for Cosmos Fury, 90s alternative rockers had the place packed! Finally to Hook and Flask Still Works to end the night with Matt Jameson Live! When I got back there he had that place sounding like a full blown chorus with all the people singing along! It was an awesome night in Carlisle!! I’m so glad my first Saturday home in forever was filled with music from beginning to end!
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon I took a trip to Hershey Vineyards to see DMC Duo. I haven’t seen these two for a while so I’m glad our paths finally crossed again. I was able to hear a new original! I’m so glad they both got the bug and are both knocking out original music. I have their EP, and their songs added to my playlists on all my streaming platforms.
This month technically ended with a trip to Indiana for BRP for a Fall Fest! I was able to see Dillon Carmichael and Walker Montgomery. Both young, upcoming, country artists. For those not on Facebook, my flight out was terrifying. My plane lost cabin pressure and had to descend quickly from 28,000 feet to just shy of 8,000 feet. It’s a little intimidating when the oxygen masks fall, and for a split second you’re hoping this is just a drill! But as the ground starts getting closer quickly, you realize this is real! I have to give huge kudos to my American Airlines flight crew for knowing what to do, and getting us safely to our destination. We were 38 minutes from an airport, and I’d have to say it was a very intense flight for sure. You can guarantee on my flight home I was listening intently to my flight attendants speal, knowing that if I ever need to use any of those fancy life-saving gadgets, I want to make sure I understand it all in full detail. There’s a little quick line where they say, “when the oxygen masks fall you have to pull a chord to get them to activate.” Umm.. let me warn you, you have to yank that sucker and mean business when you do! I’m very grateful for my family, and I learned to appreciate life just a little bit more!
That’s a wrap for this month! Thanks so much to everyone who helped me celebrate my birthday month. It truly was a magnificent month! October is another busy one with a nice, family vacation right in the middle of the month. Yes, there will be more beach pictures in my future! HA! But there will also be more live music! Get out there and support live music and the venues that support it! Check out our website, www.pamusician.net.
