Live Music This Week, Somewhere Under the Radar

We won't bother to promote the music of Devil Makes Three and Nat Baldwin to those who don't already know it. But for those who do, we want to make sure you know they are playing weeknight dates in Ithaca this week.

Devil Makes Three is at the Haunt on Wednesday the 15th. Doors open at 7:30. Tickets are $12.50.

Nat Baldwin is at Culture Shock on Thursday. Doors open at 8 p.m. for the 9 p.m. show. Tickets are $10, and are limited to 50.

Tickets for both events are available at Angry Mom Records, on the Commons, and business has been brisk today.

Steve Burke
for Angry Mom Records/Small World Music
and Ithaca Blog

Get Out

We guess people really mean it when they say they miss and like winter, as there are a lot of people downtown today, though nothing special is going on, and it is one of the first snowy days this season.

We guess they just want to experience cold. We understand; we like planet Earth too.

So imagine what next weekend will be like downtown, with the Light In Winter festival in the State Theater and other city venues, and the Chili Cookoff on the Commons on Saturday afternoon. Busy, that's what.

We hope and trust we will see you out there, enjoying Ithaca's cultural climate.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Coneheads Puzzler Revealed

So you can all enjoy the football contest tonight with a clear head, we will reveal the answer to the Coneheads crossword puzzler, previously posted.

The correct New York Times crossword puzzle answer for the clue, "The Coneheads, etc.", six letters, was "aliens."

My answer was "French." And I was sincere. 

The winner of our contest, for a $10 gift certificate to Angry Mom Records/Small World Music, is Chris M., of Lansing. Chris was randomly selected from a number of people who gave "aliens" as the correct answer, and guessed our incorrect answer was "sketch", which is a good guess at an incorrect answer, but not as funny as our actual one, is it?  We wouldn't have brought the whole thing up if it wasn't funny.

Enjoy the game!
Steve Burke
for Itahca NY Blog

"Coneheads" Puzzler

One of our missions here at Ithaca Blog is to provide high-caliber intellectual fodder for our readers. Here goes.

We're doing a crossword puzzle. New York Times, the best, we don't bother with anything else.

3-across is six letters. The clue is, "The Coneheads, etc."

We are very fast at crosswords, like Bill Clinton, and we pen our answer in. Easy one.

Except our answer was wrong.

We found this out when we started working on the downs.

We're making this a contest for you. Tell us what our wrong answer was, or what the right answer was, and we enter you in a drawing for a $10 gift certificate to our business, Angry Mom Records/Small World Music, on the Commons.

Tell us what both answers were, and you're in a drawing for a $20 gift certificate.

Knowledge is good -
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

CD By Mary Lorson, Among the Greats

There's a roster of musicians comprising the great, not unified by style nor even proficiency, but with the simple quality that as soon as you hear them, you know it's them.

Sinatra, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, T. Monk, Muddy Waters:  you get the idea.

I remember once pulling my car off the road, about 20 years ago, to make sure I caught the name of this song on the radio with beautiful slide guitar that sounded so much like George Harrison. The song was "Handle With Care" and of course it was George Harrison.

You'll have your own list. May I suggest you listen to Mary Lorson ( Ithaca's own) and see if you don't add her to it, sooner rather than later.

Ms. Lorson has a new CD, with her new band the Soubrettes, "Burn Baby Burn," which is released for radio play this week, after first release in 2011, to glowing reviews. (The last Sunday New York Times of 2011 named it as a recording not to miss from the year.)

Ms. Lorson's singularity includes her singing, playing (guitar and piano, primarily), and songwriting, which are all of a piece, a trifecta that not many achieve (Sinatra doesn't play or write; Monk doesn't sing).

The songs are mostly piano-based, which generally rules out folkiness, but Ms. Lorson rules it in, composing also for banjo, tenor guitar, and standup bass. The rhythms are direct, with a modest backbeat, but are mostly propelled by Ms. Lorson's vocals, and the meters of her lyrics. This is the strongest part of the hey-that's-Mary Lorson factor. Her singing sounds like her lyrics, her lyrics sound like her songs, her songs sound like her singing.

Ms. Lorson is a just-right singer: never attempting to overpower the notes, but never afraid to meet and define them. Her voice is understated in its beauty. Her diction is perfect but never fussy.

The CD's last song, the only one not written by Ms. Lorson, is "I Don't Care," a vaudeville tune popularized by Eva Tanguay, a favorite of Ms. Lorson's. The final words are "If I'm never successful, it won't be stressful, 'cause I don't care." We don't know how ironically to take this, which is probably the idea, but we think Ms. Lorson will be as successful as she wishes with the strength of this release.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Music Versus Football Fans, Sunday 22 Jan.

There is excellent local music tonight, for those fortunates unensnared by the evening's football hype (New York Giants, championship game).

The Black Walnut Band plays western kind of music at Maxie's, from 6 to 10. It jumps, and is a great tonic for a winter night.

Rockwood Ferry is a new amalgam of acoustic musicians playing original songs: love songs, ballads, perfect ponders. Richie Stearns plays banjo and our pal Tenzin, who we think is the best male singer in town, writes the songs and plays guitar. At Felicia's, 7 - 9 p.m.

Both shows are free, and both venues feature fine drinks, with a limited menu of food at Felicia's (tavern), and a practically unlimited one at Maxie's (restuarant).

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog (and, from the sports desk: we predict NY 27, SF 10.)  

Uncle Jimmy, The Great Black Sheep

My Uncle Jimmy passed away this week. Cancer.

Or smoking, basically. Of the 10 siblings of my father's family, the 4 who are alive do not smoke, and the 6 who have died all did.

Jimmy cooperated well with his doctors, which surprised us, as he could be irascible, especially with authority figures. On the other hand, he could be charming, especially with children. He and my Aunt Sheila had three great boys. He loved children, and they loved him.

Including me. He taught me the expression "Peepings might be catchings." We were riding in a car and I pointed out a prison on Atlantic Avenue. He physically turned my head. "You should never look at a prison," he said. " 'Peepings might be catchings,' you ever hear that saying? It means if you want to look at it so bad, maybe you'll be inside next. Get me?" I suppose I did, but I was 3 at the time.

Jimmy would pay bridge tolls for people behind him, whom he didn't know, but would tell the collector they were his family and they didn't have cash. Then we would all turn and watch the confusion.

And as much as I regret his smoking, I will mention that he made me laugh pretty good once as the only person I ever saw smoking a cigarette in church.

He was a tough guy, a funny guy, and a good man, especially a good family man. I loved him and will always miss him.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog