5/12
To
quote Inigo Montoya from the Princess Bride (one of my top 5 favorite movies),
"Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum
up".
Without a doubt, the biggest news in the past several months is that we
played our 1000th gig on January 30th, 2010. It was quite the extravaganza as we
returned to the venue of our very first gig 7-1/2 years ago, the Willimantic
Brewing Company. Approximately 50
fans were in attendance to celebrate with us, and since it was around the time
of the Haitian Earthquake disaster, Willimantic Brewing also ran a fundraiser
that night, raising over $1,000 for Haitian relief efforts. Our reigning Fan of the Year and all
past FoTYs were in attendance, and as is usual when the gang gets together,
hilarity ensued. FoTY08 Tim the
Enchanter wrote and read a commemorative poem for the occasion, and the FoTYs
did a flip-card presentation for the event. It reminded us yet again of all the
great people we've met and friends we've made while doing this whole WsQ
thing. Wouldn't trade that for the
world. FoTY09's husband and
Seequence band member Brian played Congas for us all night, and was a show all
by himself. No, it's not
caffeine...he just really is that way naturally.
We
had a couple of 50th Birthday Parties to play for
fans/friends...Donna and Mary, congrats on the milestone...you have climbed to
the top of the sliding board, now sit down and get ready for the big downhill
plummet!!! (Just kidding--it's not
so bad--welcome to OUR club!!)
We're excited that the weather is generally heading in a more positive direction now. It's a sure sign of Spring when WsQ returns to Bill's Seafood, and we re-started there in mid-March. Brother Dan has been sitting in with us almost all the time there now, and they've decided to even PAY him this summer. Bet he's looking forward to THAT. We've played outdoors at Angelico's once already...there'll more of that as the weather continues to improve.
We've also picked up a new venue in our neck of the woods, Mozzarella's in
Dayville. Where's Dayville, you
ask?Don't bother looking on a map, it's probably not there. But Mozzarella's is a nice place--good
food, and a "neighborhood bar" atmosphere--if you'e one of our fans from
We'e also ecstatic about our return to Billy Wilson's in Norwich, now under new ownership; it's been great to see the old crowd again.
Just recently, we
played Avon Old Farms Inn for the first time, with Brother Dan. If you'e North-Centrally located, you should check
that place out--if you have a predetermined idea that it might be too "snooty",
it's not; it's a beautiful old building with an upscale feel, but the bar area
is very relaxed: sports on the tvs,
no fancy dress code, and a very accommodating bartender. Come on down, don't be afraid! They WANT to have fun there! We hope to be back again
soon.
The new 2010 T-Shirts are here and you need to grab one for
yourself. many Thanks to the Fan from Nothampton MA who asked the question
"How many pints in a Quartet?" and inspired the design.
So
Summer is just around the corner now, and while summertime can get pretty hectic
for us, we'e looking forward to some new venues, making some new friends, and
enjoying some warm air and sunshine!
Until next time....acoustic-rock on!
Okay, Okay
After a barrage of abuse at the hands of current and former
Fans of the Year it's time to update the News.
First off, we've been playing
a lot of gigs recently with Brother Dan and we're actually starting to sound
like we know what we're doing. To make things even better, Jeff the
Drummer has been joining us when the venue permits it. Our setlist
incorporates a lot of WsQ stuff when we do this, but Dan likes to throw us the
occasional curveball. Nancy gets to show off her talent as a lead player
in these instances as well. And of course for Jeff every gig is another
game of "Stump the Drummer". The amazing thing is, most of the time you'd
never know it was his first time playing a song (of course there are
exceptions...)
Dan's band (the UnUsual Suspects) finally imploded after an
extended period of strife. After the dust settled, Dan got custody of just
about everything of value except the band name. The good news for us is
that the new band is only gonna play a couple of gigs a month so Dan will still
have some time to play with us, too.
We played a couple of Halloween gigs
this year. Nancy played a farmer while Braden and Jeff were her
"cows". Braden's costume even had a strategically placed, 5 teat
udder.
Thanksgiving Eve found the four of us at 2 Doors Down in Moodus
playing to a capacity crowd. Christmas Eve eve we played with Brother Dan
at Rosies (one of his regular haunts). New Years featured a quartet
consisting of (you guessed it) four again. We ended up playing a 5 hour
marathon.
Of course, we still have occasional guest appearances by Brian and
Jim (SeeQuence) and Ken the Drummer as well. You never know who's gonna
show up on a given night.
After cooking a pair of speakers, we decided to
break down and see what new and exciting things have happened in the world of
guitar amplification. After a little shopping around we picked up a guitar
amp and a bass amp. It's amazing how small and light these have become
recently. Not to get into a treatise on live sound but the bottom line is,
stuff sounds better when an instrument is played through an amp designed
specifically for that purpose. Vocals are clearer because they're not
sharing a speaker with instruments. (of course it's easier to here our
mistakes, too)
We're not sure if it's the economy or just the usual winter
slowdown, but we actually have a few open dates. We'd like to say that
we're going to learn a whole bunch of new songs with the extra time but that
would probably be a lie.
Our milestone 1000th gig is fast approaching.
We'd like to do something special, but it will depend on the venue. Keep
watching your Emails for details.
The incredibly busy summer has finally come to an end. Of couse the high point had to be Fan Appreciation Day. Jan Caron was crowned Fan of the Year and since she frequently interprets 'American Pie' for us, her gifts included a tiara, sash and roses. You can see pictures by clicking this LINK.
The afternoon featured food, beer, jello shots and an ice luge along with performances by Seequence, Bluesberry Jam and guest drummers Jeff Bauer,Ken Reid, John Harnett and John Anderson.
We're sad to report that Homie the Gnomie was stolen sometime during our last gig at the highliner. Our friends Tim, Gail, Quack and JB brought him back from Gettysburgh a couple of year ago and he's been following us ever since.
Ironically, our friends Lucy and Jackie found a companion for Homie recently. Now you'll be able to see Hiney (allegedly Homie's less dignified and significantly heavier cousin) at all our shows.
As we look toward fall we move back into some of the venues we miss during the summer including Chacer's, 2 Doors Down, McKinnon's and Dunn's. We hope to see some of our old friends...
Sorry about the lapse here but we've been busy. We've been playing anywhere from 3-6 nights a week for the past 6 months but it's time to get this thing up to date.
During the last few months the scene has changed. We've become favorites at Bill's Seafood and at Strawberry Park Campground.
Weather has forced us to play inside most times at Bill's but heavy attendance by the Blowhards has more than made up for having to play indoors. On our first Sunday at Bill's, the staff was pretty wary when the Blowhards whipped out their kazoos to play along with us. When they realized that they were part of the show and that they had specific parts, they were delighted.
At Strawberry Park we've played at their Thursday night bonfires to crowds of upwards of 200. The fires are quite spectacular. The stack of wood and pallets is over 10 feet high. We've also gotten a chance to play poolside there both as WsQ and as guests of the UnUsual Suspects.
We've parted ways with Angelico's. They insisted that they be the only place in East Hampton that we were 'allowed' to play. Since they offered no guarantees and would not even match the deals we were give at other clubs we decided not to play there any more.
We've had a lot of fun playing private parties this summer, the most notable being the Shack-Stravaganza jointly hosted by our friends JB and Quack. This year's band featured our friends Brian & Jim from SeeQuence along with Brother Dan and Jeff the Drummer. The combination really seemed to click. The highlight of the marathon session was the debut of Brian & Jim's tribute to the festivities, entitled 'Quack Shack'.
As fall approaches, we look forward to returning to some familiar places and to some that are new for us.
In Norwich, we're looking for things to pick up at Chacers as people get out of the vacation mode. Billy Wilson's has a new owner. We have high hopes and look forward to getting back there.
During the summer we were approached by the owners of the Westside Bar and Grille in New Haven. Even though it's a bit of a haul for us, we like it there. Another new place we picke up was the Highliner II. We urge you to check the calendar and follow us down to either of these fine establishments.
Our summer will conclude with a multi-band bash at Brother Dan's on Labor day weekend followed by our fourth annual Fan Appreciation Day on September 13. This year, we expect over 100 attendees who will enjoy free food and beer along with performances by SeeQuence, The UnUsual Suspects and Bluesberry Jam. The highlight will be the annual Fan Of The Year award. The party is only open to people on our mailing list and is our way of saying 'thank you' for the support they give us during the year.
The first coupla months of '09 have been really interesting. We were averaging a new place a week for a while there. One didn't make the cut (lakeview tavern in coventry--owner was a weasel) While another has emerged as one of our favorite places (chACEr's in Norwich--It's like coming home) Also new (for us) are Brookside Steakhouse, Franko's, Whitney Bar & Grille and 2 Doors Down. Each place has its own character and should be experienced. Watch the calendar to see when we're returning to these fine establishments.
We've been doing a lot with the large format band lately. Whether we add a drummer and guitatist to WsQ or we move Nancy over to keyboards as in Calamity Brothers and Sister Strange it really is a lot of fun for us and we hope for all of you. It's really cool to see the whole room up and dancing. We're gonna record a Calamity Brothers demo soon and try to promote that band so that we get to play every couple of months. Lets face it, we could all use a blow out occasionally.
The summer calendar is beginning to fill up. If you're thinking about us for a private party. Get in touch with us soon or you'll be outta luck. We have a couple of clubs intersted in our Sunday afternoons and we'd like to keep a few for ourselves. We'd much rather spend our summer Saturdays playing private parties then clubs. Send us an email at wsq@wsqband.com if you're interested in a summer party.
WsQ has opened a
brand new year by playing some brand new places. On January 2nd, it was Franko's in
The next new venue
was the
This past Saturday
we tried out a new spot in
We've revisited a
few of our old haunts as well so far this month; at Café on Main in Colchester,
we were joined by Billy the Drummer (always a surprise!) and many friends and
fans were in attendance. At the
Gelston, we were joined by the multi-talented Brian Caron on percussion for a
perfect evening--that is, until we had to clear out to make room for a scheduled
'Cabaret Night' that the Goodspeed was doing. That's okay, it?s all good; we went and
partied with our kazoo backup-band, the Blowhards, afterwards and had a great
time.
Speaking of the
multi-talented Brian, he also did a stint for us as stage security last Saturday
night when the kids from Quinnipiac decided to do 'Just one more pitcher' and
got a little out of control. He
kept the end of the evening from turning into karaoke night. You can see him do what he does best
(performing) when his new project, SeeQuence, debuts at the Brookside
Steakhouse in Higganum on 1/31.
Winter can have its
share of cancellations due to imperfect weather, and we had one of those as well
already as well--another Hamden gig, one at Dunn's Pub, was called off due to a
snowstorm. We will be working on
scheduling some more there 'cause it's such a cool little place, and we hope we
get better cooperation out of Mother Nature next time.
We have more new
venues coming up in the next couple of weeks as well, so stay tuned for more
news and reviews!
We've decided to go with a different look here too. We're also gonna try to get input from other members of the WsQ family.
2008 was a big year for kazoos.
We started the year playing Wednesdays at the venerable G*** Inn. Unfortunatley, we weren't quite what they we looking for so we were let go in June. That's OK, it was hard coming up with a new setlist week after week.
February we went to Ireland and got to play a song in a real Irish pub. In March we got to play real Irish songs at the Gelston House. We got to play our first outdoor gig of the season there in May. It was made memorable when our friend Jan had to wrap her feet in napkins when the temperature dropped to 40 degrees.
May was also memorable for the Middlesex Hospital Cancer Survivors Day party we got to play. We got to dress up like HIPPIES!! A lot of the WsQ family was there to help out and we all had a really good time.
In July we added Homey the Gnomey to the WsQ family. Tim, Gail, JB & Quack went to Gettysburgh for the July 4 reenactment and when they got back they presented us with a lovely 1 foot high bundle of joy that comes to every show.
Also in July was Kristin & Donnell's wedding reception. It was an important event for two reasons:(beside the fact that Kristin and Donnell celebrated their nuptials with large quantities of alcohol and food)
1)-We played the gig with Bill and Brother Dan from the Unsual Suspects and from that we (eventually) got the idea for the Calamity Brothers & Sister Strange (more on that later)
2)-We caused our first dance-related injury when JB fell and broke his ankle. (he claims we missed a beat)
August brought the legendary Shack Party and the debut of our friends Brian & Jim (now called SeeQuence).
At the end of summer we held the annual WsQ Fan Appreciation Day. We wer joined onstage by the Suspects, Brian & Jim and a host of guest drummers. We were almost brought to tears when a dozen or so of our best fans paraded into the pavilion playing their kazoos and wearing their BLOWHARDS T-Shirts. Our friend Dan provided all the food (boy was it good!). Tim the Enchanter was annointed 2008 Fan of the Year.
The fall was highlighted by the wedding of Bonnie & Fred. It was a Scottish-Biker affair if you can imagine such a thing. Tim (a.k.a. Crocodile Guy) gave a command performance--it was his first official gig.
We also played our last gig at Ray's. It was memorable because it almost didn't happen but our friend Deb berated the new owner so much he HAD to let us play. Since we had nothing to lose (we were never going back there) we just let everything rip. Of course it being 'Talk like a Pirate' day had nothing to do with it.
The winter season found WsQ and the Blowhards disrupting a perfromance of Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas with yet more kazoo shenanigans.
New Years Eve Marked the debut of the Calamity Brothers. Although there were a few rough spots, the overall reception was good. In addition to Brother Dan and Bill, the band features Tommy Batko on drums and Nancy on keyboards, and electric and acoustic guitars.
Throughout the year we were privileged to play with a number of talented musicians. We'd like to thank Brian Caron, Dan Pastore, Billy Barry, Ken Reid, Bill Kopf, Jim Stopa, John Anderson, Jeff Bauer, John Harnett, Carl Fazzio, Joe Pastore, Ross Swientisky, Leon Coutu, & Win Schmidt.
Ok, that's the year in review--we know we probably left out some pretty important moments but hey, we usually drink when we play.
By the way,some guy named Grzesiek designed this stylesheet--nice isn't it?