April 2011 E-News

Quote of the Month

“April comes like an idiot, babbling and stewing flowers.” Edna St. Vincent Millay

Rex’s Blog

Happy April All, no foolin’!

Speaking of Edna St. Vincent Millay, if you’re a nut for her and her poetry like Risa & Laird Scranton and I are, you must check out The Edna Project. Our friends Seth Farber and Liz Queler have brilliantly set some of her poetry to music.

Sad news: I just learned my Imagined CD that honors the musical legacy of John Lennon lost the Independent Music Awards ‘Best Tribute Album’ competition. Yes we are disappointed but there’s still the equally important People’s Choice Award that will be announced later this summer - so if you haven’t yet, please VOTE FOR US ASAP. Music fans from around the world have until July 11 to cast their votes. I’ve never had an album elicit such passion from so many people since our Elektra album so please, if you haven’t yet, PICK ONE UP SOON!

March was a great month for us Two-Steppers. Our four ATS/S&G combo shows at The Phil in Naples, Florida were a delight, not to mention the 80-degree weather! Plus, our two 40^th Anniversary shows at The Sanctuary in Chatham, NJ with Pete Fornatale and Buskin & Batteau and at The Narrows were a total joy. We’ll be doing another 40^th Anniversary show with B&B at Infinity Hall on June 25. This is a must-see to believe venue and show if I do say so meself!

Neal, our bassist Freddy, and I will begin recording songs for our Cause and Effect (the working title) CD later this week at Paul Guzzone’s Triple Z studio in Pomona, NY. Paul produced our last studio album Days of Horses back in 2004, which many have compared to our 1972 debut album on Elektra. We’re revisiting many of our “give a damn” songs like War, Rabbit In The Moon, Shanty Town and Living In America, as well as some new songs that fit thematically with this concept. It will be a stripped down, all-acoustic, live in studio project that captures the energy of our live performances. We hope to have it ready to folk and roll by summer’s end.

April is rather lamb-like with just two shows scheduled. They include our 40^th Anniversary show at the marvelous TCAN in Natick, MA this Saturday the 2nd, and a Nu-Utopians show celebrating the songs of John Lennon at the equally marvelous Palace Theatre in Manchester, NH on Saturday the 23rd. As I stated earlier, Neal, Freddy and I will put this “down time” to good use by rehearsing and recording for a new CD as part of our 2011 anniversary celebration. With all the political and social upheaval going on here in the U.S. and abroad these days, this seems like a relevant and worthwhile endeavor.