Tish! You spoke French!

One of the many ongoing gags in "The Addams Family" TV show was that whenever Morticia coined an English-borrowed-from-French phrase, Gomez turned into a lecherous arm smoocher.
That's all I kept thinking about during the performance of this chanson by Cathy Rocher, who came all the way from France for one of the periodic David Ivory/Dylanava Studios showcases at Puck, 1 Printers Alley, Doylestown. The lyrics are about how complicated love is ... and that's good enough for me.
What you can't see is me on the other side of the camera getting those maniacally glazed Gomez Addams eyes!
Check www.pucklive.com

A lot of cool stuff (too much?)

*Cancer medical expenses benefit party featuring the music of 7 Point Red, 7 p.m.-1 a.m. June 26, VFW, 805 W. Second St., Lansdale. Suggested donation is $15.

*Audio Challenge and Car Show, 1-5:30 p.m. June 27, Bob & Ron's Worldwide Stereo, 754 Route 309, Montgomery Township.

*Sheryl Crow's former guitarist Todd Wolfe, 8 p.m. June 26, McCoole's, 10 S. Main St., Quakertown. $10. Call (267) 221-8915.

*Pennsylvania Helping Nashville benefit concert will feature a lineup of more than 21 songwriters, artists and bands performing original songs. Performances will take place from 2 to 9 p.m. June 27 at Brownies 23 East, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $10 for adults and $5 for children. Check this link.

*Amy Regan (the girl with the guitar in the Hertz TV commercial), 7:30 p.m. June 25, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., Philadelphia, $10 cover. Call (215) 928-0978.

Hail to the chief!

Gwynedd Valley music producer David Ivory, 1999 Grammy nominee and the producer for The Roots, The Manatees, Halestorm, Patti Labelle and others, was elected president of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. That's right - the Grammy people!
At a swank soiree at Puck in Doylestown, whose several high profile attendees included R&B songwriter Bunny Sigler, arranger Lou DeLise and attorney Simon Rosen, Ivory spoke about his ambitious outreach plans to musical artists across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The first place he advised you to go is www.grammy365.com. You can get a pretty good idea what it's about even if you're not an Academy member.
The party continued downstairs on the stage at Puck with the monthly live showcase of Ivory's stable of recording artists, which this month included the local band I&I.

X stands for danger

Sure, it's easy to be snarky and make fun of the name Xtreme Folk Scene.
But are you brave enough to come to the Country Creek Winery Friday night the 11th and/or Saturday the 12th to find out what it is at the 10th annual XFest? Well, are ya, punk?
The Berrys should be a good, comfort zone starting point for you. Briana Berry's MySpace has some recognizable covers.
And don't let the name fool you; the West Philadelphia Orchestra is nothing like the Philadelphia Orchestra. In fact, you may have seen them in this area before. The video says it all. Holy crap!
Electric Man has been featured on Talk about the Passion before, but this time I've also provided a link to his Website for you.
Hopefully you're not thinking about heckling me at XFest during Raspberry Tea's set.
Brenda Kahn, who I have heard described as "old school anti-folk," has a new CD in the works. Her songs are kinda seductive, and I hope this veteran performer doesn't put Raspberry Tea to shame too terribly much.
Since the time I wrote a story on the Bucks County branch of the Paul Green School of Rock, they have a whole new set of kids. They were a hit at last year's XFest.
Who could resist a progressive bluegrass band that named itself after the stuffed pig stomach dish HogMaw?! I'm a fan of the songs "The Flood" and "Sauerkraut." There's even an XPN interview with them on their MySpace, if you have time to listen to it.
Chattanooga, TN resident Butch Ross can't do anything right.

1. He plays the mountain dulcimer.
2. He plays it standing up like a guitar.
3. He holds it upside and strung backwards.
4. And Butch Ross plays rock n roll on it.

His 'While My Dulcimer Gently Weeps' is above.
Psych-A-Billy are nuts. If you dare, download their tunes "If Love is Blind" and "Let's Get Drunk and Break Bottles in the Alley."
Slo-Mo and Mic Wrecka has a truly unpredictable sound. Will they go hip-hop, Americana, somewhere in between?
The schedule and ticket information is all at www.xfsmusic.org.

Welcome to The Machine

A wave of Pink Floyd nostalgia is cresting thanks to the 30-year anniversary of "The Wall."
Floyd charter member Roger Waters has concert dates to perform the harrowing rock opera in Philadelphia Nov. 8-9 and 11. The last date was added because the other two sold out. The iconoclastic Waters has a fascinating link to Philly. During a 1977 visit to the Spectrum with Pink Floyd, he became ill before the show. When his medication wore off, he was unable to complete the performance. He left the Spectrum before the encore ("Us and Them") to go to the hospital. Back-up guitarist Snowy White filled in for Waters. Based on his experience that night of trying to perform during his illness he created one of the band’s most popular songs, "Comfortably Numb."
Unencumbered by the clash of the titanic egos of Waters and David Gilmour, the band Beyond the Wall is out to recapture that theatrical sensory stimulation of a Pink Floyd concert Friday night June 4 at Sellersville Theater 1894. Tickets are $21.50 and $26.50. Call (215) 257-5808 or visit www.st94.com.
Named for the fabulously depressing track on "Wish You were Here," The Machine, a Nyack, N.Y.-based Pink Floyd show, has been performing the Floyd catalogue for 21 years.
The Machine returns June 18 to one of their favorite places to play, the Keswick Theatre in Glenside. They've even released "Two Nights at the Keswick," a CD and DVD release culled from performances in 2003.
"They're only one of two Pink Floyd tribute bands in the world that travel with a full light show," Machine publicist Michelle Roche tells me.
One time, The Machine performed the "Dark Side of the Moon" album with the video accompaniment of "The Wizard of Oz." In case you didn't know, when the CD of the Floyd album is started at the MGM lion's third roar, there are some coincidental oddball moments when the music and the movie sync up.
No telling what they'll be up to Friday the18th.
Tickets are $27 and $32. Call (215) 572-7650 or go to http://www.keswicktheratre.com/.