VOCAL Showcase March 2010

            A large audience was treated to a mostly up-tempo, bluesy musical evening at O’Toole’s Restaurant and Pub on March 15, 2010, for VOCAL’s 224th consecutive monthly showcase of original songs.

            The opening performance was a nice mix crowd-pleasing songs by James Lester and Tom Mayer, using guitar and harmonica to accompany their singing.  Their songs ranged from medium to up-tempo, nothing real slow, in styles showing influences from acoustic blues, country, and standard pop music.  James started off with a straight-ahead, up-tempo song saying “I like your love,” and continued with a song telling about being “rode hard and put up wet.”  He then did a song dedicated to one of our central-Virginia congressmen, saying “it’s all about the money.”  All of these songs were accompanied by Tom Mayer on harmonica.  Then Tom took over the singing duty with some songs that were positive but a bit more serious.  The first of these was about “heaven in your eyes,” then “you’re the best I’ve ever had,” then a song that promised “think of me, and I’ll be right here.”  James Lester came back with a finger-picking guitar song for people who wake up with “an empty wallet and a broken heart” with more harmonica work by Tom Mayer.  They closed their set with James doing an up-tempo song wondering “did I stay or did I go.”

            The headline performer this evening was our guest from out of town, Pops Walker.  Pops reported that his influences ranged all the way from the Allman Brothers to Ravi Shankar, then opened with a guitar instrumental that contained some passages with sitar-like sounds.  Pops went on with a down-and-dirty, growling vocal in a song saying “can’t do it alone” and continued with a song about doing the “best I can.”  These songs implied a strong back beat that made you really want to stomp on a bass drum pedal.  The next song contained a little more sadness but maintained the rhythmic and bluesy, occasional slide-guitar accompaniment.  Pops kept up the rhythm as his set went on with songs about down home food, “hoppin’ John”, and a semi-gospel song saying “it don’t matter where you come from, it’s a long way to the promise land.”  Pops Walker kept up his audience-engaging chatter and strongly rhythmic music for the rest of his set, leaving everyone in the mood for more at the end.

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VOCAL Showcase December 2009

VOCAL’s holiday showcase was number 221 in the longest running continuous showcase in Central Virginia! It was much more than a typical showcase with 10 performers, a standing room only crowd and a festive atmosphere.  The festivities were almost brought to a halt by a surprisingly large winter snow storm two days earlier, but with passable roads, the showcase went on without a hitch!

While the music is the reason for having a showcase, the December showcase was much more than a musical exhibition.  The night came together because of the generosity of our supporters, the hard work of our performers, the spirit of our audience!

We were all glad to be back at O’Tooles restaurant at 4800 Forest Hill Avenue in Richmond for the second showcase at this great location.  It’s a wonderful venue for music, food and to celebrate a festive time of the year.  

Part of the evening’s festivities were giveaways for the audience.  CD’s were donated by The Taters, Marna Bales, Dave Pollard, Norman Roscher, Cy Taggart, Gerry Laverty and Pops Walker.  We cannot thank these folks enough for their generosity, wich added a lot to the evening’s excitement.  During short intermissions spread across the evening, drawings were held for the audience members who received boxed sets of the donated CD’s.  We also must pass along a huge thanks to Gary Shaver for bringing along the tickets for the drawing and generally helping with the giveaways.  Matt Manion was invaluable in his assistance with the giveaways for the VOCAL members in attendance.

The music was the main point of the evening, but there was so much packed into this one evening, it would be impossible to fit it all into one article.  Gary Shaver was on hand to play with fellow songwriters such as Bill Wellons and John Ellis as well as performing some of his own work.  Rose Ann Robbins did a spoken word performance of one of her poems, adding a unique touch to the evening.  Other performing songwriters included Steve Nuckolls, Norman Roscher, Matthew Costello, James Lester and Don Pinkleton with son Robbie.

The Taters wrapped the night up in a great big bow for the holidays, with a thirty minute set that included tried and true, tasty Tater tunes, as well as some cover songs including a grand jam of Feliz Navidad that included most of the performers from the night!  It was such a great time.  The night just flew by and everyone was in great spirits heading up to Christmas.

Thanks to Larry Cody for producing the evening’s flyers, to Matt Manion for his continued assistance with anything that is needed and to all the fans, listeners, members of the public and anyone within listening distance!  We’ll see you in 2010!

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Steve Nuckolls and Norman Roscher VOCAL Songwriters Showcase Podcast December 2009

Give a listen to this month’s VOCAL podcast featuring upcoming Showcase Steve Nuckolls and Norman Roscher:

[display_podcast]

Coming up on December 21

  • The VOCAL Songwriters Showcase O’Toole’s.
  • The Taters
  • John Ellis
  • Norman Roscher
  • Steve Nuckolls
  • Matthew Costello
  • Don Pinkleton
  • James Lester
  • Bill Wellons
  • Rose Ann Robbins
  • Gary Shaver
  • 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
  • Click here for directions

See you there!

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VOCAL Showcase November 2009

Showcase 220 was a new adventure for all of VOCAL as we crossed the mighty James River to bring original songwriting to a favorite Richmond spot, O’Tooles Restaurant & Pub. Jim Uzel, Gerry Laverty and Louie Millhouse christened the new location and kept a full house entertained with a fantastic selection of original material. The showcase was on November 16, 2009.

We couldn’t be more thankful at this time of year than to have a wonderful new room for the showcase.  We are now presenting our original songwriters in a wonderful room at O’Tooles Restaurant & Pub. With a tasty menu, a friendly staff, and a large, open room for the performance, VOCAL couldn’t ask for more from a host.  Join us next month at 4800 Forest Hill Avenue in Richmond for another musical, and culinary adventure!

Jim Uzel took the first performance spot and gave the enthusiastic crowd a nice sampling of his extensive songwriting catalog.  Jim has self produced a lot of material over the years as well as participating in songwriting with friends such as Gary Shaver and even produced a boxed-set a few years ago that has original art work on the cover.  Jim’s set list included ‘The Drifter’, ‘Deep in the Night’, ‘My Summer Dream’ and ‘Spirits in the Rain’.  The subject matter for his songs often touches on the spiritual and the emotional as with this set.  His nice, inspired guitar work is paced and carefully crafted to match the mood of the song.  Thanks to Jim for a great start to the evening.

Next on the bill was Gerry Laverty.  Without a doubt, Gerry has shown over the years that poetry and songwriting often go hand-in-hand, and along the way he has earned fans among his peers.  In the November Showcase, Gerry had a set list that included many of the favorites from his years of songwriting.  He kicked off the set with ‘Bad Seed’, then followed up with a classic ‘Jerusalem’, which searches for peace in the ancient city.  Gerry then showed his ability to cross genre with his wonderfully bluesy guitar work in ‘Blues in the Nite’.  The bending of the guitar string in the ‘Blues in the Nite’ riff is so sweet, it keeps your ear longing for more.  Gerry kept the mood mellow, but focused on the longing that comes when you’re separated from someone you miss so much, in the song ‘Lonesome Blue Eyes’.  This song is a favorite of many fellow songwriters and is a wonderful blend of melody, lyrical fluidity and inspired poetry.  The set closed with ‘I’ve Been Worried so Long’ and another classic Laverty composition about a mysterious woman ‘Zion Crossroads’.

 The featured performer for the evening was Louie Millhouse.  Louie brought in a great line-up of guest performers including Gary Shaver, who played piano for most of the set, and Louie’s daughter Nancy, who represented the rhythm section on bass guitar.  The set list included compositions from both Louie and Gary Shaver and the musical styles included jazz, ballads, pop and rock.  The first song, ‘Marauder’ has a very latin or Spanish feel to the guitar rhythm and is a wonderful addition to the many styles we hear on the showcase.  ‘The Stone’ is a Gary Shaver composition and a fantastic representation of Gary’s songwriting abilities.  The night was full of surprises including the song ‘And I Always Will’ where Louie performed a duet with guest singer Robyn Kim.  Robyn’s smooth, light voice was a nice counterpoint to Louie’s male lead.  After the duet, Louie brought out his flugelhorn for another Gary Shaver composition ‘Tutti’ which is a nicely done jazz instrumental. 

Louie then turned the mood to a cool, jazzy, funky thing with ‘Lonely Waters’ featuring daughter Nancy on a funky bass line, Louie on some nice jazzy electric guitar chords, and Gary Shaver on flute.  Louie’s vocals were smooth, low and smokey as the band rolled through the song.  From the jazzy to the near impossible, Louie took the crowd on a humorous, outlandish ride, with more syllables than you could believe would fit in one song titled ‘Doctor McBoogie’.  The good doc is a proctologist by day and a hot trombone player by night, whose best cure is packaged in a musical note!  You have to hear it to truly appreciate it.  The mood was taken back to an easy, mellow tone on ‘Now That We’ve Said Our Goodbyes’, by Gary Shaver.  ‘We’d Better Leave it Alone’ is a country-pop sounding song, starting with an a-cappella including Robyn Kim, the song also featured Gary on lead vocal.  Louie then gave us another glimpse of his sense of humor and revealed who has a nice looking mom, with ‘Kara’s Mom is Hot’.  This unique dedication, based loosely on a true story from a family trip, has a calypso or island rhythm and won’t let you go without singing along or at least tapping a toe.  Then Louie let us go with the beautiful imagery of Key West with his song  ‘Marathon’.

 The evening was a great success thanks to so many volunteers and performers.  Special thanks to Jim Uzel for sound services and once again to Dave Pollard for his assistance in setting up the showcase at our new location.  Larry Cody produces the table tent cards for the showcase and Matthew Costello handles web services for VOCAL.  Extra special thanks to Bud Brinkley, photographer for being on the scene to provide photography services.  See you next month!

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100 Years Of Johnny Mercer, Pop Poet Laureate

A celebration of 100 years of Johnny Mercer.
If anyone can’t quite place him, you’ll know him by his lyrics of the 30’s & 40’s . His career was revived in the 1960’s when Henry Mancini asked him to write the lyrics to “Moon RIver”.
His catalog is pretty incredible. “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive”, “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe”, “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)”, “Fools Rush In” and “That Old Black Magic”.
I remember many of these songs because they were in my parents record collection, but they were also standards performed in many of the TV variety shows I saw growing up.They are still great standards that you’ll hear in many a club.
This is a nod to the days when a lyricist worked with many composers and performers to craft a myriad of hits.
There’s a great NPR story here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120541054

Johnny Mercer

If anyone can’t quite place him, you’ll know him by his lyrics of the 30’s & 40’s . His career was revived in the 1960’s when Henry Mancini asked him to write the lyrics to “Moon RIver”.

His catalog is pretty incredible. “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive”, “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe”, “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)”, “Fools Rush In” and “That Old Black Magic” and many, many others.

I remember many of these songs because they were in my parents record collection, but they were also standards performed in many of the TV variety shows I saw growing up.They are still great standards that you’ll hear in many a club.

This is a nod to the days when a lyricist worked with many composers and performers to craft a myriad of hits.

There’s a great NPR story here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120541054

More at Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Mercer

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First Showcase at O’Toole’s was Great!

Congratulations to everybody who played Monday, November 16th for our first Showcase at O’Toole’s. The crowd was around 45 strong, our headliner Louis Millhouse having brought out a big group of supporters. John Ellis will be following up with a Showcase review so I won’t get into all the specifics. I just wanted to say O’Toole’s is a great spot for us and the first Showcase was outstanding. There menu has a wide variety of meals,and is reasonably priced, the room is large and wide. There’s plenty of on street and parking lots either behind O’Toole’s or across the street in the bank parking lot. If you haven’t been to a Showcase in a while, this is a great spot to come see VOCAL’s songwriter’s serving up original music Virginia style. Matthew Costello VOCAL President

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VOCAL Showcase October 2009

The October 19, 2009 showcase was a little new, a little old, a little folk, blues and soul!   We welcomed new member Cheryl Fare to the stage for her showcase debut, Darry Ellyson brought out some new songs as well as some of his great older material, and Steve Nuckolls treated the showcase crowd to his featured performance including new material.  Showcase #219 was a great event for live, original music in the river city!

Cheryl Fare kicked off the evening with her mixture of folk, jazz and blues.  In addition to songwriting, Cheryl’s creative endeavours include 17 years in theater.  Her website www.cherylfare.com includes a blog and bio – check it out!  Cheryl started her set in a laid back fashion with the first song she recorded ‘The Messy Song’ which sounded wonderful with the piano accompaniment of Sonny Baharloo.  Many sources in life provide inspiration for her songs like ‘Roll Me Under’, which is based on a book she read.  Throughout the set, Cheryl’s smooth, but strong vocal was a pleasure to drink in, made all the sweeter by strum of her acoustic guitar and Sonny’s work on the keyboard.  The song ‘Stones in my Pocket’ was a wonderful lead-in for the next song, which celebrated the bygone days of the Ford Pinto, ‘Springfield’.  This song brought back a lot of memories for those of us in attendance.  It is wonderful to have Cheryl as part of VOCAL and to have this opportunity to hear her original works on the showcase stage – we hope she’ll come back in 2010!

Darryl Ellyson was up next with new material, and the beautiful tone of a Martin guitar for accompaniment.  The crowd did not have to wait too long for a sample of Darryl’s new material, because he started off with the fresh new lyric ‘Romeo’s Hot Tonight’.  Darryl kept the theme of love going through much of the set as he worked his way through ‘I’m Still in Love With You’ and ‘I’m a Fool for You’.  As always his booming vocal was strong and carried throughout the venue like a thunderclap across a summer sky.  After the song ‘I’m Late Again’, Darryl decided to treat us to his attempt at his own version of Bluegrass music ‘The Diamond Ring’, then closed out the set with a favorite ‘When I Get Home’.  Learn more about Darryl’s music and where he’ll appear next at www.myspace.com/darrylellysonbluelightdistrict.

After Darryl packed up and mingled with the crowd, it was time for the much anticipated appearance of our featured performer for the night, Steve Nuckolls.  Steve is a Virginia songwriter who is originally from a musical hot spot known as Galax, Virginia.   Known for thoughtful songwriting with a very human quality to his subject matter, Steve has written many great songs based on his travels, whether overseas or in the small town where he grew up, often inspired by the people he has met along the way.  Love was the theme of choice for the first part of Steve’s set as he began with ‘Living Out This Love’, then moved right into ‘Die for Love’ (one of the first songs he wrote) and ‘Your Loving Arms’.  ‘Hand Me Downs’ is a wonderful song about making due with what you have as seen from the viewpoint of growing up as a younger sibling.   Amidst some classic songs such as ‘Greetings from Normandy’, ‘Much Obliged’  and ‘Alley Man’, Steve offered a new song to the crowd ‘Something About Your Love’, a wonderful surprise for the crowd.  The song ‘Alley Man’ has a true backstory to it, from Steve’s interactions with a gentleman who would patrol the alley’s in his neighborhood just looking for the time and maybe some tin cans to take away.  With his quiet, but confident vocals and a guitar style that jumps between strumming and fingerpicking, Steve evokes images of James Taylor and other singer/songwriters who have made major contributions with an acoustic guitar and a thoughtful lyric.  The set closed out with a song inspired by a trip to Africa ‘Simunye’ and a song inspired by a trip down Interstate 95 ‘Sunrise’. 

Thanks to all of our showcase attendees for supporting live, original music, it would not be a showcase without you!  And since we are a volunteer organization, we could not get the showcase off of the ground without help from dedicated members like Larry Cody who provides table tent cards (and a whole lot more), Matt Manion for sound services, as well as just being there when you need him, and Matthew Costello of Costello Media www.costello-media.com for photography and web services.  We’ll see you next month at a new location O’Tooles Restaurant and Pub www.otoolesrestaurant.com .  See you there!

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VOCAL Showcase September 2009

Showcase #218 was an electric night of musical variety and prime songcraft.  From solo artist to full-blown band, from classic, crisp acoustic sounds to fiery electric rock, there was a little something for each listener and a whole lot of music for everyone.  John Ellis, Steve Nuckolls, and The Taters were the musical livestock and they were corralled and put to work on the showcase stage by guest emcee and ringmaster Norman Roscher.  September 21, 2009 was a night to remember.

The showcase is produced each month at the fine location of VOCAL’s host, Richbrau’s TapHouse, every 3rd Monday.  With a seasonal list of fine micro-brew and some delightful meals masterfully prepared by the chef, the TapHouse is an ideal location for the songwriter’s showcase.  Join us each month at 1212 East Cary Street in Shockoe slip for the best in food and music.

Setting a festive mood and delivering the first musical offering of the evening was VOCAL’s own dreamweaving, creative maestro, Norman Roscher.  With a special tribute written just for the showcase, Norman immediately set an atmosphere of fun with a circus-music theme, lyrics that included the names of the evening’s performers and a salute to Richbrau’s micro-brew creations.  Thank you, Norman for getting the night off to a rousing start!

After the completion of Norman’s introduction, Norman introduced the first of two short set artists.  John Ellis had electric guitar in hand, with backing tracks queued up to deliver a 15 minute set of rock and blues-based songs.  Starting off with an instrumental number, the first song was divided into two parts, a guitar only, finger-picking prelude called ‘Chimes’ which led into the all out rockin’ ‘Groove Thaing’.  With blues inspired licks and a high energy backbeat, the song was a good excuse to jam.  John then moved into the bluesy, rock number ‘The Stranger’, which is a song about the isolation that can be felt in the realm of the search for love.  The next song was another instrumental with a heavy blues influence ‘Blues No1’ complete with backing tracks that covered bass, rhythm guitar and drums.  The song was part slow blues and part melodic rock.  The set wrapped up with one of John’s favorite closing numbers ‘In My Place’, a rocking, electric number about the frustration of a relationship where one party was only there until something else came along.

Norman then introduced the next performer of the evening, a long time VOCAL member who has written many wonderful songs that show a lot of thoughtful reflection from life experience and the ways of the world.  In addition to his participation in VOCAL, Steve Nuckolls is an active member of the Nashville Songwriters Association.  ‘Making My Getaway’ was Steve’s first song followed by the reflective and inspiring ‘When the Flag’s Half Mast’ .  A new song added to his great catalog, ‘About Your Love’ was a wonderful creation consistent with Steve’s thoughtful style.  The set closed with a favorite of mine ‘Sunrise’, which is about driving down I-95 one New Year’s day.  Thanks to Steve for a great performance that really set a nice mood for the evening.

With a quick switch of the guitars and the addition of a bass, electric lead and a drummer, the featured performance of the night was none other than Richmond’s The Taters!  In support of their upcoming release Menagerie, The Taters put on an hour long set of their amazing blend of ‘eclectic roots pop’ as they like to describe their music.  With a scaled down drum set for Buz King and the electric guitar finger work of Greg Marrs, The Taters had a full, rich sound that really adds a sonic backdrop to the wonderful vocal work of Craig Evans and T. Bradley (Brad) Tucker.  With Craig on bass and Brad on acoustic guitar the duo are formidable on their own, but it was quite a treat to hear the full band in the setting of the TapHouse.  Most of the set featured music from the new CD Menagerie, including the first song of the night ‘No I Don’t’ , which had the kind of vocal harmony that Brad and Craig are well know for.  ‘Oceans Apart’, also on the new CD, included a bit of guitar from Greg that was somewhat reminiscent of surf guitar.  Taking the audience back a few years to the CD Recess, The Taters played two songs from that release, ‘On Our Own’ and ‘The Kiss’ – the song ‘The Kiss’ has a rather dramatic sense to it with the strong emotion in Craig’s vocal.  Another song from Recess, which has been redone for the Menagerie CD is ‘That’s Me’ – an interesting rework of a familiar Tater tune!  ‘Wolfman Told Me Tonight’ is a new song which will also be featured in the film Virginia Creepers, www.virginiacreepersmovie.com – check out the website for info!  The documentary will feature highlights of 50 years of late night TV horror host shows.  The Taters played many more songs from their extensive catalog and wrapped up the night with three more from Menagerie ‘Spend a Little Time’, ‘Such a Good Day’ and the encore performance of ‘Sing a Little Sunshine Song’, written by Roger Miller.  The performance certainly builds the anticipation for the new release which will be coming out within the next few months.  Keep up with The Taters and all things Tater related at www.thetaters.com.

What a fantastic night for live, original music!!  We can’t thank John Ellis, Steve Nuckolls and the The Taters enough for performing and an extra special thanks to Tater soundman Mike Gribik for running sound.  Thanks to Larry Cody for table tent cards, to Matthew Costello for his web services and photography and our guest MC Norman Roscher.  And the biggest thanks of all to fans and the general audience members who come out to listen – it wouldn’t be a show without you.  Thank you and we’ll see you next month!

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