Song Talk with Morry Campbell

Songs in the woods...and maybe bears too!

If you're up for a mini-Woodstock experience with a lot of talented indie-musicians in a pristine, beautiful setting, check out Out in the Woods, the first annual LGTB Music festival at Easton Mountain. (August 13 and 14th, Easton Mountain, near Greenwich, NY, events starting at noon on the 13th. Check the website for details). I'm going to be there, along with some of my best buds and fellow musicians: Dan Manjovi, Roger Kuhn, Terry Christopher, Norine Braun, John Small, and Susan Souza, to name a few. Should be a great event. Easton Mountain is one of the most beautiful places east of the Mississippi, and coming from a Montana boy who grew up in the Rockies, that's saying something. I hit the stage at 5:45 on Saturday.

If you want to contribute to a great cause, you can support the festival with a little cash infusion, and you get some cool prizes if you donate. More bootie the more you contribute. Check it out here. Hope to see you under the open skies in the mountains.

Video: Good (Good video)?

And now, drum roll please:  rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrh!  Here's my very first posting to YouTube. This is an excerpt from Terry Christopher's now annual (for the last three years) United For the Ride Concert, benefitting the NYC LGBT Center's Braking the Cycle Event, the annual fund-raising bike ride from Boston to New York City. We raised a lot of cash that night, and it was a great concert, as I hope this little bootleg video testifies. Many thanks to Terry for filming the event, and for the magical, mystical Barry Childs for operating the camera for us. And it's still possible to donate to the cause. All proceeds go to HIV and AIDS services for the NYC LGBT Center. Click here to donate to this very worthy cause.

Gig: Rye, NY Playland

The Westchester Pride Coalition is holding its first ever Gay Pride event, and I've been asked to be a part of it. There's actually a great lineup of indie musicians performing all day long.  I'm up at 5:15PM sharp. The event itself begins at 1:30 and goes until 7:00PM. Come up, ride the rollercoaster, take in the splendor that is Rye Playland Amusement Park, and enjoy some great indie music. Directions are here. 

If you want to ride the rides all day, tickets are $25. If you just want to hang, check out the vendors, take part in the health fair, and enjoy the entertainment, tickets are $5. ($3 for Westchester residents).

Benefit Concert, Saturday, July 24, 6:45PM

We're doing it again. United for the Ride, masterminded by Mr. Terry Christopher, is up for it's 3rd annual fundraiser concert.  It's for a good cause, and you'll hear some great music.  What else could you want?

Here's the deets:

3rd Annual United for the Ride Benefit Concert
Saturday, July 24, 6:45PM
The Triad Theatre
158 West 72nd Street (at Broadway)
Free Cover, 2 drink minimum
Donations are for a good cause, and much appreciated.

Get out of town! (gig in Poughkeepsie)

NOTE: First time, got the gig time wrong. It's corrected below. Festivities begin at 7:00PM, NOT 7:30 PM

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Hey, New Yorkers! Get out of town! Take a break from the hustle and bustle, and come  up and enjoy a relaxing couple of sets of songs with me in nearby beautiful Poughkeepsie!

Morry Campbell
Saturday, April 24, 2010
7:00-9:00PM
@Caffe Bocca
14 Mount Carmel Place
Poughkeepsie, NY  12601
(854) 483-7300

Going to be playing some old songs, and a lot of new ones, and some covers, including covers of songs by Fleetwood Mac, Annie Lennox, Neil Young, James Taylor, and maybe one or two old standards too. Yeah, the train ride is $28, but the coffee, tea and desserts at Caffe Bocca are some of the best upstate New York has to offer, and hey, everyone needs some time away from the Big City, no matter how much we all love it.

xo,
M

Friday Happy Hour with Carene!

Here's a great way to kick off the weekend: Carene Lydia is doing 2 sets of eclectic songs at the Vandam Diner, and I'm playing guitar for her. Here's the deets:

Carene Lydia
with yours truly on guitar
Friday, Feb 5, 2010
6:00-8:00PM
Vandam Diner
12 Vandam Street  (C or E to Spring Street)
 

Come on down and hear this lady sing the blues!

World AIDS Day Concert

Hey kids,

This past weekend, my good friend Terry Christopher and I went up to contribute our talents to Newburgh, NY's World AIDS day event, organized by Markus Payne. Terry videotaped the event, and here is his (our) rendition of the song, Wade in the Water. Hope you enjoy it.

xo,

M

Amy Rocks

From last night at the Bitter End. Amy was dazzling. Photo courtesy of Rock Star Diary.

Amy Clarke at the Bitter End, NYC

My good friend and extremely talented musician/singer/songwriter Amy Clarke is in town for the weekend, and she's performing at The Bitter End on Monday at 7:30PM. I'll be sitting in and adding some guitar to her song From Here. It' promises to be a very good show.  $10 + 2-drink minimum, the proceeds of which are split between an Environmental non-profit called Amazon Conservation Team, and the Artist.

You can't see much in New York City anymore for less than $20. Come down and support live music AND the Environment at the same time.

We're doing it again

Hey y'all.  The lovely and talented Carene Lydia is back doin' her thing at Mood Restaurant  in Kew Gardens, Queens.  Some old songs, and some new songs, and I'm backing her up on guitar. If you're in the neighborhood, or if you feel you need a break from the craziness of a Manhattan Saturday night, come out to the provinces and join us for an eclectic evening of music.

Carene Lydia
@ Mood Restaurant
Saturday, August 15, 11:30PM

Read Carene's bio and get more info below the fold.

CD Release Event: United For the Ride

Hey, all,

There's a CD Release/Benefit concert this weekend, and I'm a part of it.

Organizer Extraordinaire Terry Christopher has rounded up 8 of the 12 contribution artists to sing and play for you. It should be a terrific evening.  Here's the details:

United for the Ride, Vol. 1 CD Release and Benefit Concert

The Triad Theatre

158 W 72nd Street, NYC

Saturday, June 6, 2009 at 7:00

$20 Donation (this includes a free copy of the CD!)

2 drink minimum

For tickets, contact smarttix, or call 212-868-4444.  Participating artists include Jushua Klipp, Roger Kuhn, Randi, Driscoll, Dan Manjovi, Norine Braun, Jeffrey Wilgus, Terry Christopher, and Me. Hope you can make it!

Jammin' with Carene

I play guitar for a beautiful person who goes by the name of Carene Lydia. You will not find a singer with more heart or soul than Carene, nor a more eclectic song list. And she's doing two sets on Saturday, May 2, starting at 11:30PM, at Mood Restaurant in Kew Gardens. If you're in the area, or even if you're not, come out and give her a listen. You will have a good time and hear the widest variety of songs that you have possibly ever heard. Details, and Carene's bio, are below the fold.

Gordon Smith and The WAVOS rock the Alphabet Lounge

On Saturday night, Barry and I went out to see my good friend Gordon Smith, and his new 80s Band, the WAVOS. Okay, so an 80s cover band doesn't have too terribly much to do with songwriting, but it's a hellofalotta fun. They do a fantastic job of recreating songs by bands like Fine Young Cannibals, Simple Minds, and Men Without Hats. Special guest Virgo came to the stage for a great rendition of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's  Welcome to the Pleasuredome , and Soft Cell's Tainted Love . Great songs. Fun band. And if there's a drummer who's more fun to watch than Anthony, I'll eat my...well, I don't really have a hat I wear much. He plays with an exuberance and joy that would be hard to match, is my point. 

Which brings me, sort of round about, to a point about being a singer/songwriter: you need your covers. No matter how much you love performing your own stuff, people like to hear things that are familiar. Which means for most of us covering other  people's tunes. And Gordon and the Wavos do a great job covering these other bands, and even got a couple originals in on the sly at the end of their set. Brilliant self-promotion. And perfect "product placement" in putting them last in the set.

So thanks, Gordon, Anthony, and Joe, for a great set, and a fun evening. And Happy Birthday, Gordon.

Terry Radigan at Rockwood Music Hall

Went out into the snow storm Sunday night to see Ms. Terry Radigan perform at Rockwood Music Hall. (The link is to a review of Terry's CD because she doesn't have a web presence of her own just yet. "But soon," she promised last night).

Now, Terry Radigan is an accomplished singer, and a superlative guitar player. That's reason enough to love her. But I think the reason I enjoy going out to listen to her when she performs is that she has succeeded in crafting a sound for herself that is unique, and perhaps trend-setting. Maybe if we're lucky.

Terry performs with an old Gibson electric hollow body, and a small Vox amplifier. It provides rich warm tone, and the ever-present hum of feedback throughout the performance. It's very consciously present. I'm not sure quite why, but it lends an irresistible authenticity and immediacy to her performance. Maybe it's because it creates the impression that the music is bigger than it is.  Maybe it's because it gives it a sense of space and dimension. Maybe it's because it's so refreshingly different from the flat, scrubbed-clean sounds so seemingly popular in today's music. But whatever the reason, the result is captivating and invitingly absorbing.

I also don't know of many songwriters currently out gigging with an accordion player. The combination of electric guitar and accordion is ear-catching and unusual, especially with one as gifted as Josh Camp. If you get a chance to go out and see her, take it. 

Singing to a track

I went out last night to see my colleague and good friend Dan Manjovi sing.  He's a terrific singer and brilliant keyboard player and it's always a joy to hear him.  And last night was no different. Dan was wonderful, as usual.  But the venue (Porno Bingo at Pieces, on Christopher Street!) had no piano, and did not have the facilities to plug in an electric keyboard either. Not really a musician-friendly set-up. So what did Dan do?  He did it with...the T word.  He performed both songs with a track.

Watching Dan taught me two things about myself.  One, I miss Dan's playing when he has to pull out the tracks. Yeah, he's a great singer, but the power of him on a keyboard cannot be beat.  The second thing was, I don't get up there and sing to tracks because the mere thought of it changes me into a big bowl of jello.

I need my security blanket, for me a guitar.  Since I've stopped doing musical theater, I haven't sung a song without a guitar in front of me.  Not in ten years.  As I watched my friend up there on the stage, working the crowd, skakin' his goove thing, and holding a microphone, all I could think about was, "thank God it's not me."  That seems too vulnerable.  Singing without a guitar in hand?  Well, yes, I hear people do it, but is it wise? Doesn't it lead to something, like instability in the ozone?

I gained a lot respect for "track" artists last night (singers that perform to pre-recorded tracks). Getting up in front of an audience with a microphone, nothing else, somebody pushes play, and you sing your song and do your do. Just you and your microphone.  I'll take me with my guitar any day.

So here my hat goes off to you, track singers.  I need my guitar to hide behind.