August 2010 E-News

Quote of the Month

We’re just a band… John Lennon

Blog

August - the dog days of summer and the beginning of the end of not making the playoffs for many of our favorite major league baseball teams - especially my Neu Rotic Mets. Words cannot express my disappointment in their lack of clutch hitting and the ineptness of their front office so I’ll leave it at that, wordless.

After performing our S&G Songbook Show at The Kate in Old Saybrook, CT, Neal and I are looking forward to coming back to play our original songs this Saturday. And besides some other wonderful shows and festivals in August and September, we’ll be performing in Kent, Ohio and Chicago this October 22^nd & 23^rd. Before I forget, our booking agent Bobbi wanted me to mention that If anyone is interested in having us play a private party or hosting a house concert on our way to and fro, we’re available. Also, because of the way the weekends line up for Christmas and New Years this year, we’re available to perform on or around those dates.

And now, a drum roll please........ After ten months of recording and tens of thousands of miles traveling back and forth to Eaton, NH (OK, a slight exaggeration on the millage but not by much) my friend Tommy Dean of Devonsquare and I have finally finished Imagined, our John Lennon Song Project CD. After years of wishful thinking, this is adream come true album for me that features 22 of Lennon’s better known Beatles songs, many of them artfully woven together. The two exceptions are Imagine and Johnny’s An Angel,which was originally on Aztec’s 1986 Living In America album. We’ve gotten nothing but rave previews from everyone who’s heard it so far including my friend John who wasserving in Kabul, Afghanistan at the time, and my band mates Neal and Freddy. And how about this from WFUVs’ Pete Fornatale: One listen to these intelligent, heartfelt covers will convince you that Rex and Tom have been infused with the spirit of John Lennon and that they rank right up there with the very best Lennon interpreters ever.

The official release date is October 9^th - John’s 70^th birthday - but is available to you all now on our ATS website. Tom and I are very excited about the CD and our upcoming 2010 live shows, which kick off on September 17^th at the Gracie Theater in Bangor, Maine. We’ll be performing live with Tom’s band mate Alana MacDonald who sings a heart-wrenching version of In My Life, plus four other terrific musicians. And like the CD, the live show’s instrumentation features bass, acoustic and electric guitars, cello, violin, mandolin, accordion, chromatic harmonica and some crazy cool vocals. For complete details, song samples and such, you can visit our JLSP website.