"Song of the Week" SWAN Day CT ~ Good Ones by: Laura Ganci

In Celebration of SWAN Day CT. Sat Mar. 26, 2011

"Song of the Week"
for 03-23-11 is:
Good Ones* by: Laura Ganci

Four years ago, when Jennifer Hill organized the 1st SWAN Day CT, which was held in New London, CT, I was not able to attend due to scheduling conflicts. I also wasn't sure how it would go over, a one night mix of multiple arts presented in a, what almost seemed like, carnival atmosphere. I derived that analogy based only on the description provided in the press release. Yet, when Jen continued SWAN Day, CT the next 2 years in Hartford, CT and I was able to attend both, and I found the mixture to work much better than I anticipated.

Now moving the event to The East Hartford Community Cultural Center 

50 Chapman place, East Hartford, CT, the press release once again describes it as such: 

"If you think this show is your run of the mill art show, prepare to be pleasantly surprised by the eclectic mix of talent this event has to offer. 7 bands will be rocking the house, all female fronted and from jazz to rock to pop to funk etc.
 

Besides music, Artists, of the “art” kind, will be setting up mini galleries to show and sell their work. The Art category touches on all genres from photography to paint, film, mixed media etc.
 

There will also be the art of dance as well as the art of costume design, with several artists performing burlesque routines.

This event is truly more Lollapalooza than Lilith Fair and not a place reserved for just women. The bands, art, and dancers appeal to both sexes and you will find both genders having a blast checking out all the different things going on."

Not only that, but you'll come away with a few new favorite artists that you might never have even realized existed before. That alone is worth the price of admission for the evening. 

At 4, SWAN Day CT is already an adult among the many Festivals that come and go, but it is still Jennifer Hill's baby that she has and will continue to nourish, along with the help of those who enjoy supporting the arts as well as the women who create them.

Support Women Artists Now

Attend this year's SWAN Day, CT Festival

and I guarantee we'll see you next year too.

Leave a comment to be entered for a chance to win a pair of FREE Passes to SWAN Day CT.

Drawing to be held live & announced on Radio IndepenDisc Wed. 03-23-11 

*Link is a direct .mp3 audio stream.

SWAN Day CT. A Celebration of Women in the Arts.
This year’s Festival includes: Jennifer Hill and Co., Laura Ganci, The Grimm Generation, She Eats Planets, Sarah LeMieux, Sister Funk,
Canyon, Addie Brownlee, The And Band, Waking Elliot,
and live painting by: Kerry Kozaczuk, serpent belly dancing by: Nikki LeVillian, burlesque performance by: Lily LaVamp,
also: Olde Burnside Brewing Co. & Pin-Up Girl Catering.

Support Women Artists Now Day
Sat Mar. 26, 2011 ~ 6pm-11pm. $12.00
East Hartford Community Cultural Center
 50 Chapman Place, East Hartford, CT
More Info HERE.

Also, Check out the Documentary from last year's (3rd) SWAN Day CT.

Interview ~ Jennifer Hill ~ SWAN Day CT

I had the pleasure of interviewing Jennifer Hill, the SWAN Day CT organizer,
on my Radio Show last night (3-16-11). 

Click HERE* to listen to the complete interview in streaming .mp3. 

Jen tells us everything you need to know about SWAN Day CT.
Saturday, March 26th, 2011
East Hartford Community Cultural Center
50 Chapman Place
East Hartford CT. 

6pm-11pm.  $12

Leave a comment to be entered for a chance to win a pair of FREE Passes to SWAN Day CT.

Drawing to be held live & announced on Radio IndepenDisc Wed. 03-23-11 

*Link is a direct .mp3 audio stream.

"Song of the Week" SWAN Day CT ~ Real Bad Voodoo by: The Grimm Generation

In Celebration of SWAN Day CT.
Sat Mar. 26, 2011

The "Song of the Week" 

for 03-16-11 is: 

Real Bad Voodoo* by: The Grimm Generation

SWAN Day CT. Organizer Jennifer Hill
will be interviewed by DJ: G.Gone
on Radio IndepenDisc Wed. 3-16-11.
She’ll talk about the up coming
SWAN Day
and the artists appearing, which includes:
The Grimm Generation, Jennifer Hill and Co., 
She Eats Planets, Sarah LeMieux, SisterFunk, Canyon, Addie Brownlee, The And Band,
Kellee Maize, Laura Ganci, Waking Elliot,
and live painting by: Kerry Kozaczuk,
serpent belly dancing by: Nikki LeVillian,
burlesque performance by: Lily LaVamp,
also: Olde Burnside Brewing Co. & Pin-Up Girl Catering.

Support Women Artists Now Day CT
Sat Mar. 26, 2011
East Hartford Community Cultural Center 6pm-11pm. 
More Info HERE.

Leave a comment to be entered for a chance to win a pair of FREE Passes to SWAN Day CT.

Drawing to be held live & announced on Radio IndepenDisc Wed. 03-23-11 

*Link is a direct .mp3 audio stream.

"Song of the Week" SWAN Day CT ~ Stay by: Jennifer Hill & Co.

In Celebration of SWAN Day CT.

The IndepenDisc "Song of the Week"
for 03-09-11 is:
Stay* by: Jennifer Hill & Co.

off the CD: Fifteen Minute Long Sentence

**On Saturday, March 26th, 2011, Jennifer Hill will be hosting the CT chapter of a world-wide commemoration of women artists titled, SWAN Day (Support Women Artists Now). The CT chapter of the international event will take place at the East Hartford Community Cultural Center from 6pm-11pm. ($12)
SWAN Day is a celebration facilitated by the Fund for Women Artists, a non-profit art service organization which is devoted to help women artists receive the resources that are needed to accomplish their creative endeavors. Over the past decade, this foundation has risen over $4 million and has built a website (http://www.WomenHYPERLINK "http://arts.org"arts.org) that offers art resources such as, networking, fundraising and advocacy services to over 500,000 visitors a year. This holiday is meant to give recognition to female artists all over the globe by having them come together to support one another. SWAN DAY CT is the only SWAN event in CT and is also one of SWAN day’s most successful events.
SWAN DAY CT’S organizer, Jennifer Hill, front woman of local band Jennifer Hill & Co. (also Hartford Advocate’s Grand Band Slam Best Female Vocalist winner of 2009) has been arranging SWAN Day CT since 2008 and has blossomed into one of SWAN Day’s most successful events. Through Hill’s hard work and devotion to the arts, this day has not only formed a fantastic alliance of creative and artistic women in the east coast region, but has given recognition to female media and empowerment.
For More Info. Click HERE.

To be continued next week...

Leave a comment to be entered for a chance to win a pair of FREE Passes to SWAN Day CT.

*Link is a direct .mp3 audio stream.

**From the SWAN Day CT press release.

Catching up and previewing...

Last night was the 1st time I was in Cafe` 9 since they remodeled. When I say it's a whole new place, I say that in a very good way. Cafe` 9 Rocks!
And so did The Reducers and The Manchurians.

So, while I will be spending most of March promoting SWAN Day...

This did make me look forward to April, when both The Reducers and The Manchurians play the Meriden Daffodil Festival. Enjoy!

The Manchurians ~ Patricia Don't Want It.

Live @ Cafe` 9
Sat. Mar. 5, 2011

"Song of the Week" ~ Sleep Alone by: Mollycoddle

The IndepenDisc "Song of the Week"
for 03-02-11 is:
Sleep Alone*
by: Mollycoddle

off the CD: Lucky

In Tribute to Swan Day 2011

Over the next couple of weeks I will be telling you about Swan Day 2011 – Support Woman Artists Now Day. And I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the month of March with what was the 1^st Female fronted band from New Haven, CT that was Featured on IndepenDisc. Mollycoddle, and their CD: Lucky
was the March 2001 Feature.

Heather Orser (McDonald) and Ralna Ramse
the first of many CT SWANs on IndepenDisc.

©Kathleen Cei photo

This year Swan Day CT will be held on Sat Mar. 26, 2011 at
The East Hartford Community Cultural Center  6pm-11pm.  Get more info HERE.

*Link is a direct .mp3 audio stream.

"Song of the Week" ~ I Can't Add You To My List by: Saint Bernadette

The "Song of the Week"
for 02-23-11 is:
I Can’t Add You To My List
by: Saint Bernadette

off the CD: Word To The Lourdes

Featured on IndepenDisc in Jun. of '09

and here's what I (G.Gone) had to say about it then...

...Not many independent bands in this day and age have this belief in their convictions. The true love and spirit of the music gets lost in translation due to the greed of the business. Too many sheep fall by the wayside and are lost. Yet every now and then, a teacher comes forth to shepherd the flock. With Word To The Lourdes, Saint Bernadette continues to fulfill the prophecy as the ones chosen to spread the gospel of Rock. The power of the word can be found in the hell-bent deliverance of Meredith’s angelic vocals rolling over the heavenly intensity of this hammer of the gods outfit.

Have you suffered at the hands of the false idols of Rock-n-Roll?
Then let Saint Bernadette’s Word To The Lourdes be your saving grace...

Read the entire review HERE.

*Link is a direct .mp3 audio stream.

"Song of the Week" ~ above the weather by: Eula

The "Song of the Week"
for 02-16-11 is: above the weather*
by: Eula off the CD: language of threat

Featured on IndepenDisc in Jun. of '09

and here's what I (G.Gone) had to say about it then...

...Equivalent to a Mythical Beast, New Haven’s Eula uses the gigantic rhythm section of Jeff and Nate to lumber in with intense grooves that are the body of this beast. Thick and heavy, these guys have a cosmic awareness of how to slam their “in-your-face” punk attitude across the soundscape with a very knowledgeable, polished, and raw feeling that is unique in today’s modern music. While Jeff and Nate keep this beast crunching forward, it’s Alyse’s innocent, yet experienced, sharp-edged vocals and guitar that are the teeth of this beast... Read the entire review HERE.

*Link is a direct .mp3 audio stream.

CD Review: The Sawtelles ~ TRYPTYCH

TRYPTYCH

by: The Sawtelles

"Song of the Week" for 02-09-11 is:
Ghost of Johnny Cash*
by: The Sawtelles

Passion, Love, Fire.

TRYPTYCH is the 4^th release by the husband and wife musical team of Peter & Julie Riccco under their moniker The Sawtelles. Totally DIY from the writing, recording, engineering, mastering, and production of the album/CD right down to the manufacturing, packaging and distribution, Peter & Julie show their passion for their art. Add to that their love and dedication, coupled with an almost unheard of 83+ live shows in the past year, in addition to full time day gigs, and it’s no wonder that they are on fire.

Stripped down bare to guitar (Peter) and drums (Julie), The Sawtelles unleash dreamy pop into a sparse soundscape that allows the instrumentation to breathe and expand into the airy corners, filling your senses without crowding them. Peter’s production of each of the 3 main guitars used – 3 songs with electric guitar, 3 with electric banjo, and 3 with electric slide – adds to the depth and dimension that Julie’s strategically amped drums carry forth on the shoulders of the Bernie Taupin style poetic tale lyrics.

Love, Fire, Passion.

A magnificent album of lost love, new love, tragic love, ultimate love, and more, TRYPTYCH rediscovers Stereophonic and fires it up in a mod style that brings back lyrical content as a passionate instrument used a lá street-corner powered, disjointed harmonies and airy backgrounds that draw to mind The Jam, The Velvet Underground, and REM conjuring The Brill Building.

To get into the depth of the lyrics, as well as the importance of the music and the chosen instrument for each song, would require a dissertation on the passion involved in every nuance of this record. It is a piece of art in which each song commands its uniqueness, yet when heard collectively they become even more unique as a whole. TRYPTYCH is a listening experience that expands further into your reaches, much in the way that The Sawtelles’ passion expands further into the musical reaches…

“A change is about to begin
Toward a shift to faith that comes from within
Let the detractors have no doubt
That the fire I’ve started can’t be put out”

Fire, Passion, Love.

TRYPTYCH by: The Sawtelles.

*Link is a direct .mp3 audio stream.

"Song of the Week" ~ Riffy by: Jellyshirts

The "Song of the Week"
for 01-26-11 is: Riffy* by: Jellyshirts

off the CD: Sail On Sally

Featured on IndepenDisc in May of '09

and here's what I (G.Gone) had to say about it then...

... Riffy takes the pick-n-soar guitar rock, combines it with a vintage 20’s microphone style vocal and angelic harmonizing to extol the virtue of spontaneous love and the glorious benefits of pursuing a euphoric Shangri-la within ones conscious life efforts. When Jellyshirts hit the soaring vocal homily of “Heaven… Heaven… Heaven… Heaven,” we truly understand that Heaven can be found within a lifetime. That it can be experienced in multiple lifetimes, or whatever it may account for in accordance to your spiritual beliefs, if you allow it to… Read the entire review HERE.

*Link is a direct .mp3 audio stream.

CD Review: Not Before My Time - The Amy O'Neill Songbook

Not Before My Time

The Amy O’Neill Songbook
(Various Artists)
"Song of the Week" for 01-12-11 is:
The Third Time’s The Charm
by: Christine Ohlman

The good folks over at Golden Microphone have quietly released a hidden gem of a compilation album. A benefit for Amy O’Neill, who was born with a rare and progressive skin disease known as Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). All proceeds from the sale of this CD are donated to the Amy O’Neill Fund. It is a tribute not only to Amy, but to Golden Microphone as well, that all the songs on this CD, and more importantly, the time and effort to create them, were donated by all the artists involved. Special mention must go to Shandy Lawson, who not only penned and performs the title track – an instant classic in its own right – but also recorded and mixed a good majority of the album at his Shandyland Studios.

What makes this project even more worthy (besides the goodwill) is the quality of the music involved (again, kudos to Shandy). Here you will find the very first official release of a song by New Haven’s legendary trio,  The Who Whos (Barbara Shepard, Kriss Santala, and Anne Donohue): Boy in the Hallway is a must own by anyone who knows what perfect 3-part harmony is all about. Add the slow burner, The Third Time’s the Charm, by Connecticut own Bee-Hive Queen Christine Ohlman, and we’re already justified in stating that this local New Haven/Connecticut scene compilation should not be overlooked.

Consisting of 12 more singer/songwriter compositions created and donated by artists, ranging from the local, popular, favorites - each with their own place on the area’s musical map - to those that fly relatively under the scene’s radar, Not Before My Time delivers each artist’s musical interpretation to complete a collection that stretches the boundaries of the genre.

Quietly and metaphorically, Not Before My Time, The Amy O’Neill Songbook, represents its namesake and its purpose as beautifully as the good folks at Golden Microphone represent its cause.

Best Local (New Haven) Music of 2010

It's already Jan. 5th and I have yet to find the time to write my "Best of" list in regards to local music. Maybe that's because I've basically been writing that list all year long. How so you say? Well, throughout the year I have 100's of CDs cross my desk, not all local mind you, but a fair share of them are. From those, once a month or sometimes twice, even thrice - I pick what turns me on the most (a "Best of" at that moment, I suppose), and review it. So the best place for me to start would be from the CDs that "made the cut" each month throughout the year. However, before doing so I must lament that after reading some of the other Local CT "Best of" lists, I feel as though my exposure has been lacking. Right now I regard the state of CT to have 4 thriving and representable scenes, my hometown of New Haven, New London, Hartford, and recently Fairfield/Bridgeport. Except for a few crossovers, I am relatively unfamiliar with the New London, Hartford & Fairfield/Bridgeport scenes (Resolution #1, try to get more connected to the other scenes throughout the state of CT). One of my favorite New London acts, Low-Beam, released a CD this year that has made several "Best of" lists, even included in a Hartford one, yet I not only haven't heard it, I didn't even know it was released. As far as Hartford, if it wasn't for Jennifer Hill & Co. and their incredible release "Fifteen Minute Long Sentence" I would know nothing of that scene. The same goes for Saint Bernadette from Bridgeport, their "Cover Thy Neighbor" release (technically released in Dec of '09) is an amazing testament to the quality of music that can be found in the Fairfield/Bridgeport scene. Their 11 covers of obscure local songs by obscure local artists is an unbelievable primer that should be required listening for anyone who questions the importance of this local scene.

As for myself, and this Blog, it's still New Haven (& Beyond) that gets the nod, so while I have sung the praises throughout the year for such great local releases as The Frank Critelli Band (The FCB EP), James Velvet's latest endeavor, The Lonesome Sparrows (Black Velvet Royalty), The Mold Monkies (Stoats Afire!), Titles (Dirt Bell), Shark (Shark), and Age Of Reason (Acoustic and Live at Studio 23) - there is one release that found it's way into my players on an almost daily basis since it's release back in April. That alone tells me how good it is, how much it turns me on and how much I'd love to turn you and everybody else onto it as well. It's True, Pure, Rock-n-Roll with a little bit of everything that you can identify Rock-n-Roll with thrown in. It's a Good time, party, smile inducing platter that defines why we write these lists in the first place.

It's Rock-n-Roll.

It's the 2010 "IndepenDisc of the Year"

Chicks Dig It
The Big Fat Combo

Honorable Mention: All those mentioned above ;-)

A few quick 2010 notes:

Best live performance by a (semi)-local band (that I witnessed): Shark at Artspace Underground.

Disappointment #1: Meriden Daffodil Fest's Sunday schedule washed out due to rain.

Disappointment #2: The quiet loss of Frank Critelli's long running "Songs From the Sofa" series at Books & Co. in Hamden CT.

Encouraging signs #1: The continued support and recognition of the local scene involved with the National "Gathering of the Vibes" Festival at Seaside Park in Bridgeport

Encouraging signs #2: The BOMB (Bring Our Music Back) Festival in the state, didn't actually BOMB.

and a lot more stuff I really should have written about in this here Blog, but couldn't find the time (Resolution #2 - write and post more about the Local scene (& Beyond) here on this Blog in 2011).

With that I will wrap this up by stating that I have 5 "IndepenDisc 2010 Sampler" CDs to give away. I will randomly draw 5 names from those who share what you feel is your #1 Local Music release for 2010.

So, What say ye?

Wishing You all a Healthy, Safe, Happy & Musical 2011.