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Field Recordings
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Written by Matt Kanner
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Friday, 10 July 2009 |
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at the Press Room July 1
Dave Gerard jokingly thanked
folk legend Tom Rush for opening for him on July 1. Rush had played a
show under the tent at the Prescott Park Arts Festival, finishing his
set about an hour before Gerard kicked off his solo gig at The Press
Room. Gerard regrettably confessed that he did not know any Tom Rush
songs and could not pay tribute to the fellow New Hampshire resident.
Instead, he dove into a fresh and energetic set of mostly original
songs from his new CD, “The Zoomy Trail.”
A veteran Seacoast performer with unmitigated passion for his
craft, Gerard meshes blues, rock and bluegrass into a distinctive
guitar and singing style. When he’s not gigging as a solo artist, he
can often be found fronting his Portsmouth-based rock band Truffle,
which has been together since 1986. That experience all comes to bear
on “The Zoomy Trail,” his fourth solo album.
Gerard’s acoustic guitar expertise was on full display at The
Press Room, where he often indulged the Wednesday night crowd with
extended instrumental interludes. He strummed chords easily and
proficiently, complementing his own playing with his often guttural
vocals. His voice, similar in pitch to Eric Clapton but with a slight
Louis Armstrong growl, invokes the spirit of New Orleans music on the
Seacoast.
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Written by Matt Kanner
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Wednesday, 06 May 2009 |
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During the band’s extended closing number, the two guitarists and
bassist strolled away from the stage one at a time, leaving drummer
Rodney Holmes to paralyze the audience with an absolute thunderstorm of
percussion. The unaccompanied solo, a throwback to John Bonham’s
lengthy percussive tantrums with Zeppelin, had the crowd slack-jawed
and awed for more than five minutes… But we’ll come back to that.
Project Percolator made the trip to York, Maine, from the band’s
headquarters in New York for two shows at Inn on the Blues on April 30
and May 1. The show was slightly off season for the Inn, which reserves
most of its live music for the busy summer months. But bandleader Jim
Weider, who refers to York Harbor as “a second home,” rarely fails to
draw a crowd in the area.
The bar was mostly full when Weider strapped on his telecaster
guitar and dove into a set of classic instrumental rock in support of
Percolator’s new CD “Pulse.” A veteran performer capable of truly
explosive solos, Weider adopted laboring facial expressions as he hit
the upper registers, demonstrating undiminished passion for his craft.
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Written by Jared Roberts
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Thursday, 26 March 2009 |
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venue opens its doors for Krystal Polychronis CD release show
With
much trepidation I made the familiar trek up Zion hill toward The Stone
Church on March 21. The Newmarket venue, closed since being sold at
auction in September, was open for a single night—a CD release party
for Hampton-based singer-songwriter Krystal Polychronis. As the wide
doors flung open, I could hear the excited chatter of concert goers
embracing their beloved hall. They, like me, were anticipating a good
show at their favorite venue.
There was no cover charge, but the room was filled with children
holding balloons and doing handstands while someone told a story into
the microphone. My initial impression was part birthday party, part
basement concert and part family reunion, but the Terrapin Station sign
still hung from a reinforced wooden beam and the bar seemed to be open,
so I headed that way.
At this point, an intermission band (apparently Polychronis had
done half her set already) was in the midst of one of its many
covers. Amongst the U2 and Coldplay covers I think I heard “Eagle Eye
Cherry.” The sound system left much to be desired. The mikes were
trebly and far louder than the instruments, resulting in some piercing
sounds whenever one of the singers got a little overzealous. I did,
however, feel my foot tapping every once in a while. The highlight was
the last song, when the band invited some guy in a Superman T-shirt up
to play lead guitar. He proceeded to blow away the rest of the band
during a 15- to 20-second solo.
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Written by Matt Kanner
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Friday, 13 March 2009 |
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The four members of Boston-based indie rock band Aloud seemed
undeterred by the evening’s obstacles. The band was supposed to split
sets with Portland, Maine’s The Cambiata, who canceled at the last
minute due to illness. The room in the basement of The Muddy River was
mostly empty on this winter weeknight, with a row of attentive patrons
dotting the bar. But the low turnout didn’t stop Aloud from spinning
the adrenaline dial all the way to max.
The band is led by dual vocalists/guitarists Henry Beguiristain
and Jen de la Osa, who have been collaborating as songwriters since
their early teens. Behind the two leads are bassist Ryan Majoris and
drummer Jonathan Schmidt. During their hour-long set, the group
performed several songs from its sophomore album, “Fan the Fury,”
released early last year on the band’s own Lemon Merchant Records.
The four band members demonstrate striking chemistry onstage.
Beguiristain occasionally sidles up to Osa to sing into the same
microphone, and the pair often meet center-stage to play guitar face to
face. Majoris and Schmidt, too, seem to get caught up in their musical
collaborations, often grinning at each other when the beat strikes them
as particularly satisfying.
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Written by Tom Kressler
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Thursday, 05 February 2009 |
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It’s been almost two years exactly since Jake Mehrmann self-released
his first Tan Vampires record “I Can Hear Them in the Dark,” an RPM
Challenge record that scored him a loyal brood of fans. After years of
playing solo shows, Mehrmann recently roped in a cast of local
musicians to play and write music as a full band and the results are
worth checking out as soon as possible. The revamped Tan Vampires have
played a handful of shows in the area recently, including gigs at the
Barley Pub in Dover every fourth Wednesday of the month, and a show on
Saturday night at The Muddy River in Portsmouth with Boston-based
pop-rock band The Honors.
“We’re still working out a lot of things,” Mehrmann said before the show.
But it wasn’t obvious at The Muddy on Saturday night. A good
crowd, including many who were familiar with Mehrmann’s songs, if not
the new arrangements, was dazzled as the five band members behind him
fleshed out songs that were stark with atmosphere and solid rhythms.
Guitarist Nick Phaneuf, formerly of The Sixth Root and The Texas
Governor, took a lot of this on himself, running his guitar through a
live computer program and emitting lush tones to complement Mehrmann’s
strong voice. Keyboardist Mike Effenberger, playing a Fender Rhodes and
a synthesizer, and trumpeter Chris Klaxton were also great additions.
There was a real ease between all the musicians onstage, probably
because most have played together in some form over the years. It’s
really a small, incestuous world for musicians on the Seacoast.
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