Summer shows and KFOG news

My fellow Americans:

Hello.  We've missed you these past few months of summer vacay.  We're back now with news and gigs to pimp and photos to share and oh so much more.

Where to begin?  How bout the lovely house concerts we did the last weekend of July, our first shows since May.  We played two very unique and beautiful events in the east bay.  The first night was at the Niles Home Concert Venue in Fremont, CA.  Our hosts were Paul & Jana Welschmeyer and Matt Hayden.  They've created a one-of-a-kind top notch music venue in Paul and Jana's backyard.  Very pro: stage, lights, PA. Doesn't get any better than this.  The local paper even gave us a little write-up. We had a very groovy acoustic-y opener, Misner & Smith who set the tone on the mellow with some very beautiful stuff. Sitting in that night with them was local Fremont'er, Bruce Kaphan on pedal steel and guitar (google him). Not quite knowing what to expect from this audience of total Felsen newbies drinking wine by candle light, we eased in with some of the kinder, more gentle felsen repertoire. How can we better serve you? Do we rock or do we soft rock? We put on the full Felsen charm attack and they eventually caved. (booze+felsen=fun.) I beat them down about their cell phone usage and their social inhibitions, I dragged them by the hand to the foot of the stage for dancing and by 9.15pm they belonged to Felsen. From the very first downbeat though, they were an absolutely great listening audience. Many of them had been to Paul and Jana's casa for concerts in the past, true blue die-hard music fans. Hooray for that. And Hooray for Paul, Jana and Matt for creating a venue out of thin air simply because they felt their beautiful town needed a proper place to go to hear and support local musicians. They are indeed true believers. We dug deep and gave it all we had. We ended the night in typical Felsen form, out in the audience, busking for the love of it. Breaking up With Loneliness. Thanks again Niles Home Concert Series.

Night 2 was at 27 Powers in Alameda.  Our host was Laurie Wagner.  Laurie has a really lovely home  tucked away in a hidden corner of Alameda.  It's like Shangri La inside of Brigadoon. She's a writer and a writing teacher and her home and yard has hosted many concerts, poetry readings, writing classes and now, God save her, Felsen.  Our own Gal Pal Numero Uno, backing vocalist and Go Go Dancer extraordinaire, Dara Ackerman opened the evening up with a few of her finely crafted tunes.  

Alameda is my home town.  Lots of friends and family were there.  AND my main man, my son Levi was in attendance and he rarely gets to see Felsen--we're normally playing in a bar waaaay past bedtime.  He was pumped up and got to reunite with some old friends from way back...from day care.  Laurie created a really beautiful space for us to perform.  The deck of her writing cottage (everyone needs one) acted as our stage.  She put up some colorful twinkling lights, chairs and couches for peeps to sit on, lit a fire in the fire pit and served wine, booze and snacks (all for a very reasonable price I might add).  Laurie is a bonafide artist and it was nice to be among another of our ilk, another refugee from the land of misfit toys.  She gets it.  She lives it.  She made us feel very at home.  

This crowd was easy.  Again, we started kinda chillax and then slowly ramped up the energy and vibe.  Soon enough it was time for the full-on audio assault squad Alameda Backyard Style.  Better Thoughts will keep you happy and alive!

The bunny visited us, nearly caught himself on fire in the process, but once again took the show from 4th to 5th gear.  Thank you bunny--you know who you are. 

We ended the night again busking sans electronic amplification.  Take Me Back.  And we played Water Fit For Babies, which was especially fun to sing as I had my son standing near me.  I wrote it when he was just a wee little thing and he has a starring role in that tune.

Fun times in rock and roll.  

We’ve been honored by SF’s KFOG radio to be part of their local scene compilation volume 11.  You can download a copy of the compilation via the KFOG website.  All proceeds go to Music in Schools Today.  MUST is a non-profit that supports and develops music education programs.  KFOG has invited us to perform a Free Happy Hour show in Sausalito on Thurs Aug 21.  DJ Renee Richardson will MC the event.   We have a few other great local shows coming up.  We’ll be at our fav east bay hang, The Starry Plough and we’ll be returning to a new fav in Benicia, the Rellik Tavern.  AND we’ll be back in the historic Niles  district of Fremont for an outdoorsy show in the town square come early September.  More details on upcoming shows here.

Lastly, rest in peace dear Robin Williams.  You are very near to our hearts.  

Love, 

Felsen.