Bill Schwartz of North Wales recording studio Catapult Sound describes what a recording studio is simply as "a place where you're gonna move air." Conveniently, the studio shares the same space on Center Street where he and business partner Jason Murray operate their web development business, Catapultweb. The Catapult thing comes from a song they recorded with their band, Winston's Dog, which also features Community Housing Services social worker Jon Robins on vocals. In a recent session at Catapult, Murray is laying down some important guitar riffs to the Winston's Dog song "Hairless." The song got airplay on WSTW's "Hometown Heroes" radio show, but the band feels the song needs to be freshened up and re-tracked. The song is a swaggering, to-the-point rocker that will be on the band's to-be-named next CD. Besides Murray and Schwartz, bassist Pete Mazzaccaro is present at the session. Murray is playing a worn Fender Stratocaster plugged into an intimidating assortment of effects pedals and a reconstruction of a 1958 Fender Twin amp. He opts not to wear headphones while tracking his part, and does his first run-through sitting on the control room couch.
Proceeding takes are done in the control room rather than the Catapult live room. "This way I know they're not in here secretly making fun of me," Murray says. Having their own studio allows the band to be meticulous in their recording approach. Take four finds Murray hitting his stride. Take five has to stop because of a guitar switch mishap, which is finally remedied by electrical tape. Taking a break from the song, Schwartz calls up songs recorded by other local artists on the control rooms 42-inch monitor. There's rapper Trel Mack, sensitive rockers Spells and Curses, and singer/songwriter John McKeever, who lately has expanded his repertoire to include sketch comedy with the Bird Text Comedy Show. "We're always here. Bands are always here," Schwartz said.
I'm working on a story about the way-under-the-radar Rock Cafe in Vernfield in the former Nyce Printing building at 857 Main St., Harleysville. I recently attended a multiple local act CD release party for the band Earl & Raine at the Rock, which featured Lansdale's Brian Medlin, plus Eric Lee Burkert, Former Belle, and this duo that just knocked me out called Among Trees. These young guys have the souls of old folkies. How many dudes, as young as they, are incorporating BANJO into their songwriting (besides Mumford and Sons)? Here's some all-too-short video of their song "I Don't Wanna Suffer (I Don't Wanna Sing the Blues)." It's a shame their entourage started lining up to grab free copies of their CD and talk their ears off right after their set, because I would have liked to know more about them. You heard it here first. Xtreme Folk Scene and/or the Philly Folksong Society needs to hear Among Trees and get them into their festivals ... yesterday.
Heck of a weekend, musically speaking. *Last Saturday, some youth musicians from the Upper Bucks Alliance for Creative Expression entertained at a Salford Valley Winery event benefiting epilepsy awareness. It turns out they have a concert saluting "classic progressive rock" at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 at Pennridge High School, 1228 N. Fifth St. in Perkasie. Tickets are $17.50 at the door, $15 in advance, $12 for seniors and $10 for students. A fun time was had by all. It had been three years since the winery had held an event, and I think Brenda and Ed Staehle could use some encouragement to not wait another three years to open up the barn for tastings. So click on the link to their site right now. I'll wait. *The Lansdale Community Concerts series has always been a maddening thing for me. It's a subscription series that's forever sold out. You can't get tickets to individual concerts; you have to purchase a season subscription. And in order to get a subscription, you have to be put on a waiting list. Also, judging by the sea of white hair in the audience at North Penn High School for these things, it looks like it's a requirement that you have to be old to attend. Or maybe it's the wait to get off the waiting list that ages you? So through my connections, I got a pair of unused LCC tickets to see Chespeake, Va.'s Hunt Family Saturday night. Wickedly talented stepdancers, songwriters and musicians, with a mom, dad and seven kids, ages 13-21. Younger audiences would have loved this concert. They played songs by Mumford & Sons and Jason Mraz, for goodness sake! However, for some reason, LCC seems unfairly hellbent on keeping these events exclusive to the silver-haired set. As my girlfriend pointed out in the concert program, the organization's biggest patron is Elm Terrace Gardens. Of the other 13 major contributors, five of them are retirement communities. When Sandy Hunt, the mother of the brood, mentioned that you could follow The Hunt Family on Facebook, she asked if anybody in the audience used Facebook. A big laugh went up from the predominantly senior audience. Yeah, you can take that as a "no," Sandy. *Dirty Jerzees? Sounds like the name of a strip club! Crazy Train? Sounds like the name of an Ozzy Osbourne tribute band! And there actually is an Ozzy tribute band by that name. However, this venue is the new sports bar that's in the same building as Clubhouse Too in Upper Gwynedd, and this Crazy Train is a nice 'n' tight classic rock cover band. Check out my video.
With the number of food scares in recent years -- including a recent outbreak of listeria linked to Colorado-grown cantaloupes -- local artisanal food matters. And there's loads of it in Bucks County. A food blogger and an employee of NFL Films, who attend the same New Hope synagogue, have teamed up to bring you an impressive array of sustainable, organic foods in off-the-beaten-path locations with Bucks County Food Tours.This new venture from Lynne Goldman and Alan Brown takes five hours (10-3 Fridays through Sundays; other times by appointment) to fully appreciate as they chauffeur you, take you to lunch, and personally introduce you to the proprietors of family farms, orchards, bakeries, and ice cream makers that insist on locally produced ingredients. "Bring your camera and your cooler," said Goldman, noting that once you get an appreciation (and maybe a sample) of the difference grass-fed beef, artisanal ice cream or raw milk makes, you'll want to buy and take some home the day of your tour. There are also special interest tours available, such as "Meat and Greet," which focuses on butchers, "Seize the Cheese," and "Vegan Voyage." The "Mixed Bag of Bucks" tour that my girlfriend (who took the terrific pictures) and I hit on a crisp fall day began with "Sticky Buns 101" with Roseann and Kerry Burns of the Town Crier Bakery at Peddlers Village in Lahaska. Three Newtown area locations followed. Be advised that you will need sturdy footwear to negotiate the pastures at Birchwood Farms. It's worth it to have a taste of the flavorful, raw milk garlic cheddar cheese. Also the hairy, boar-like breed of pigs, which are later rendered as organically certified, grass-fed pork, like to give "love bites." Hoping that I might be carrying a chicken egg snack like the ones farmer Mike Tierney was tossing about, one of them nipped my knee.
This guy didn't bite...
These guys do, however.
The curious cows at Birchwood will also walk right up to you as you don blue booties over your shoes to prevent the spread of any animal diseases. The Milk House Farm Market, which has been in the same family since 1813, grows 42 varieties of tomatoes, every kind of squash you can think of, 75 hens, muscovy ducks, two alpacas, a llama ... but no partridge in a pear tree.
Peppers at Milk House Farm Market.
Brown claims Ely Farm Products has "the best bacon in Bucks County." Their different kinds of bologna are pretty darn good. "Nationwide, we're in an arc of learning and an awareness of our food. The cream really rises to the top," Brown said. The lunch portion of the tour involved a trek across the Delaware River to Frenchtown, N.J. to the Lovin' Oven. The locally sourced, three course meal changes. Ours consisted of an heirloom acorn squash soup that was too heavy on the ginger, a Swallow Hill Farm mixed greens salad with red beet matchsticks (yum) and Appetehikan Farm goat cheese, and either an omelet or an open faced sandwich. The sandwich, which had hearty bread, brie and a honey/balsamic reduction, featured slices of apples from the next destination, Manoff Market Gardens, in a bucolic section of Solebury Township.
Feng shui with pumpkins at Manoff Market Gardens.
Manoff grows 26 different kinds of apples, five of them go into their apple cider. "This is a problem. We need to grow them with their names on them (so people know the difference)," joked Amy Manoff. Manoff's canned peaches are also popular. "Once we discovered (Manoff Market Gardens), we had to keep coming back," commented Warminster resident Judy Miller. OWowCow Creamery at the Carousel Village in Wrightstown makes a point of using locally sourced, organic cream, free range eggs, and local honey, fruits and berries, to make small-batch ice cream. They have some of the strangest flavors ever -- chocolate jalapeno, sweet potato wasabi, rose water cardamon ... There's three different flavors of VANILLA, for cryin' out loud. "It's the flavor that hits you first, and the intensity of the flavor," said Goldman, noting that you don't find chunks of anything in OWowCow's ice cream. Owner John Fezzuoglio described ice cream making as a personal voyage of self discovery after sensing a lack of sense of community in his native Brooklyn. Bucks County Food Tours cost $95 per person. Call (215) 794-4191 or (215) 598-3979.
I'll admit to being a hater. When Chris Brown broke onto the scene with "Run It" at the age of 16, it smacked of a Hanson- or Aaron Carter-like fast track to oblivion.
Yeah, it's supposed to be a Michael Jackson tribute. But the song actually sounds more like SWV's "Right Here/Human Nature."
Chris Brown ... come on, man. We've already heard this song ... twice! It's true that top-of-his-game MJ (who is now back in the news because of his doctor going on trial) gave that SWV song a chance to be a hit in the first place. But "She Ain't You" seems to have every bit to do with SWV as it does Michael Jackson because Chris Brown flat out steals the "Right Here" melody. Why no love for the Sistahs With Voices, Chris?
Props to my man, Randy Alexander for letting me know about this song. In TAYLOR BRIGHT’S “PSYCHO,” the 1st single from her forthcoming EP, Mixtape Love,the 18-year-old Philly pop artist encourages her peers to take the power back from bullies and stalkers and adopt more of a “We’re not gonna take it,” attitude. It was written by RoboPop (Maroon 5, Gym Class Heroes) and the video was shot at West Chester University. "By embracing that nervous energy and ultimately taking back the power, the stalker has failed and gets a taste of his own medicine," Bright says. This speaks to my life because I have a female one of these who has sent unspeakably hurtful and untrue messages to my girlfriend and a previous girlfriend. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
The Philadelphia Folk Festival brings out the weirdest in people. It made my girlfriend want to walk the Perkiomen Trail at 12:20 a.m. the Saturday night of the Fest. For whatever reason, she was convinced I was going to stumble upon some major scoop; never mind that it was dark and I wouldn't be able to take notes. "What kind of reporter are you?," she said, baiting me. Groan! Somebody watches entirely too much Nancy Grace. To my surprise, a good many festers were indeed on the part of the trail that crosses the Perkiomen Creek and Haim Road, going toward Spring Mount. At almost 1 a.m.? You betcha -- with glow sticks and LED lights, yet. That is, except for the not-too-bright bicyclists with no headlights that almost ran several people over. The late night hikers were most definitely festing because they all were friendly. I always say that if everybody had the mindset of people at the Folk Fest, the world would be a nicer place. Once the trail led to the Folk Fest site, I was surprised to observe how raucously loud the campgrounds were at that time of the night. How the heck does anybody sleep when they camp at the Fest?! Wish I had brought my Flip camera so I could have posted video. Maybe it had something to do with being rained on Thursday and Friday night? You always hear about how cool it is camping at the Folk Fest, and about how fun it is to party there. I decided that night that it was not for me. Among the interesting sights on our late night hike were campfires, down a ravine, on the side of the trail opposite the Folk Fest grounds. Apparently people camp there too.
