Weekend Revellers

Roxy, Will and Mary visited our humble burg this weekend.  On Saturday, after an emergency trip to the mechanic and a slightly more leisurely visit to the Music Museum, we had quite the "Mother of a Blow-Out." During which, Will and Mike wowed the crowd and , thanks to the internet, you as well.

 As you can hear, they soon had us "Feeling Alright."

WHAT WAS I THINKING!

How could I have forgotten to post this gem from our Des Moines hootenanny?

This is in honor of Jefe's much too short visit this weekend, here is to the hope of an Ames hootenanny soon!

These Are Days

This is off Natalie Merchant's solo album...FROM 18 YEARS AGO! To give this some perspective, when this song came out I was an adult.


EDIT:
Oops, I was wrong! it is a 10,000 maniac's song (I can't believe Dusty Hotbox didn't lambast me for such an egregious error!) which means it came out over 20 YEARS AGO... which means i was STILL an adult when it came out!  ARRRRGH, when will this damned adulthood end?!?

We Just Got Back From Kansas

Here is Mary singing with our old high school buddy who now lives in Lawrence.

The Key West Room is Now Open

 

LIVE 'ENTERTAINMENT'!

TWO DRINK MINIMUM!

MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS SOON!

Don't Want to Say Goodbye

Ask

Trainables Reunions in the Works?

Jefe (and the surrounding community) Has Found His Voice

Sparky's Dream

 

Here is a Teenage Fan Club song I have loved for years.

You and I

Here's a Wilco song I've been enjoying of late. I thought the gang may want to try playing it when we get together (soon.)

Why Jeff is Not a Youth Pastor

Yes, I concur, his atheism would be considered a red flag in the hiring process. But I contend that his mood swings would ultimately be the deal breaker. If you doubt me, let's consult the videotape.

This Must Be the Song...

That turned my house into a home.

Mollypalooza!

Forgotten footage has recently surfaced of this amazing weekend (I had literally forgotten that I had taken any video of the event.  (I swear I put the "Al" in Alzheimer's disease))

 

Here is a powerful rendition of 'Stepping Stone'

  

Followed by a brain storming session (oops, to be politically correct, I meant to say  'thought shower') to try to make this monkees' classic less intimidating to the gentler midwestern sensibilities...

Because the Night

I know that Roxy has been doing this song for several years already. So I thought if I was going to 'wow' anyone with my interpretation, it would be crucial that I:
(1)upload my version before she uploads her's
(2) pepper it with a creepy yet compelling video effect
and
(3) give it my patented segue spin.
This time my segue is based on the premise that Bruce Springsteen refused to co-write a song with Patti Smith once he discovers that she is a girl. (We have all seen 'Jersey Shore', we know how sexist all guys from New Jersey are.) He'd be all like,"Pat, the guy with the hairy armpits, is a GIRL!?! No way, I'm outta here!" So Patti would have to call in a fellow 'riot grrrl' to help finish writing the song. And I think the results would sound a little...something...like...THIS!

Honeycutters Cover

It has been a while since we had a 'cyber-sing-a-long', so I thought i would kick things off with a recent favorite of mine.



Here is a link to hear the original version.
http://www.monkeywhale.com/profiles/honeycutters/


BONUS CONTENT! (OOOOH! pinch yourselves, you fucky luckers!)

I guess I will also upload this Mathew Sweet cover.

Labor Day Tries Desperately to Compete with John Henry Day

I spent Labor Day weekend visiting friends in Minnesota, They certainly do things differently compared to West River. Instead of building a rock wall on the side of a house, James and Tinea took me to the State Fair with Mary, where we saw Junior Brown and Dr. John play free concerts. We still got to have a Hootenanny with Roxy (see videos below) but instead of dismantling a huge old wooden deck, my friend Amy took me to her partner Tony's house to sup on some delicious dumpling soup that he had prepared.
It was all very lovely, yet quite disconcerting to someone like me, who had been duped into believing that Labor Day with out 'labor' is just a 'day'.



this is a lovely song by Teenage Fanclub



Roxy and I have finally revisited an old classic we use to do some twenty (yes, two-zero!) years ago.



Here is a great Jonathan Richman song Roxy learned

Desperate Attempt to Turn the Head of One Tim Hanson

These are a few of Tim's favorite songs. Roxy and Mary thought if they performed them, they could garner his attention.

First they cajole him to do something "cheap and superficial"


Sorry ladies, HE'S MARRIED!
And, as you, yourself, sang,
"Rainy day lovers don't love any others, that would not be kind."

Babyshower Afterparty!

Katy and Mike invited Jefe and me back to their house after Krista threw them a shower. It was great to have a chance to hear Mike play guitar again after so long. Here are several of the songs we played. The first two are cover songs that dated back to when Jefe first moved back to Vermillion and the three of us would get together every week. Hard to believe there was an era when Jefe and Mike would have that much free time!





This third song is a number I call "Prenatal Freak Out!"

Alison

Here is an old favorite of mine.