Nippertown!

Archive for the ‘Five Firsts’ Category

Five Firsts: Mary McCaslin

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

NAME: Mary McCaslin
INSTRUMENT: Guitar, banjo

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … Marty Robbins’ “Gunfighter Ballads & Trail Songs” (Vol. 1 – followed by Vol. 2)

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … Marty Robbins

3. THE FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I EVER OWNED OR PLAYED WAS … an accordion!! (Took up guitar at age 15 – accordion taught me rudimentary music theory)

4. THE FIRST SONG THAT I EVER PERFORMED IN PUBLIC WAS … “Beautiful Brown Eyes”

5. THE FIRST BAND I WAS EVER IN WAS … solo / Mary McCaslin

Mary McCaslin returns to the stage at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs at 8pm Friday, as the coffeehouse continues its Decades Concert series in celebration of the Caffe’s 50th anniversary. McCaslin will team up with Garnet Rogers to represent the ’80s.

Tags: Caffe Lena, Mary McCaslin, Saratoga Springs
Posted in Five Firsts | No Comments »

Five Firsts: Voley Martin of Bulletproof Messenger

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Bulletproof Messenger

NAME: Voley Martin
BAND AFFILIATION: Bulletproof Messenger
INSTRUMENT: Guitar, electronics and backup vocals

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … Man, this is kind of embarrassing now, but it was Arrested Development. I was probably somewhere between 10-12 years old, and new to music in general. Genres didn’t really mean anything to me back then. Innocence was a wonderful thing.

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … Stone Temple Pilots with the Smashing Pumpkins. STP rocked. Smashing Pumpkins sounded like noise and feedback. My ears hurt for days after that one.

(more…)

Tags: Bulletproof Messenger, Clifton Park, Northern Lights, Voley Martin
Posted in Five Firsts | No Comments »

Five Firsts: Vincent Lane of What She Said

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

NAME: Vincent Lane
BAND AFFILIATIONS: What She Said and reaLation
INSTRUMENT: Bass/Vocals

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … Rick Springfield/Greg Kihn at SPAC in August, 1981. I went with my neighbor Steve (Webb), who happened to be the music editor of the old Knickerbocker News. We had great seats because he was covering the show for the paper. Steve and I then went backstage for an interview with Rick and his band. As a little kid, I must have been annoying, but Rick was very cool and even let me play his guitar.

3. THE FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I EVER OWNED OR PLAYED WAS … Mexican Fender 4 string bass. It was black.

4. THE FIRST SONG THAT I EVER PERFORMED IN PUBLIC WAS … “Interstellar Overdrive” by Pink Floyd. Boy, did that ever go over like a lead balloon.

5. THE FIRST BAND I WAS EVER IN WAS … A high school band by the name of Afterbirth.

Vincent Lane and the rest of What She Said – a new Nippertown band of rockers formed from the ashes of the Fizziks and Subzero – take the stage at Katie O’Byrne’s in Schenectady at 9:30pm on Saturday.

Tags: Katie O'Byrne's, Schenectady, Vincent Lane, What She Said
Posted in Five Firsts | No Comments »

Five Firsts: Michael Eck

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

NAME: Michael Eck
BAND AFFILIATION: Ramblin Jug Stompers, Lost Radio Rounders
INSTRUMENT: I own guitars, mandolins, ukuleles, jugs and a bunch of other stuff. Whether I actually play them is open to debate.

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … Well, I had records before I bought them – mostly plastic bags of old jukebox 45s from L.J. Mullen Pharmacy that my mother bought for me and my two older brothers. I also pilfered stuff from her album collection, and I remember having the Dewey Martin and the Medicine Ball album from a garage sale. But the first album I ever bought with my own money was Peter Frampton’s “Frampton,” from the Woolworth’s at Delaware Plaza, which, believe it or not, had a pretty awesome record section in the days before Record Town opened. Korvette’s – at Northway Mall – also had an amazing music department. My vinyl copy of Television’s “Marquee Moon” still proudly sports its Korvettes sticker. Then you had Just a Song at 20 Mall, and the one on Central Ave, and World’s Records…but I digress. The first single I bought, if you want to believe, by the way, was Barry Manilow’s “Daybreak,” but that’s an altogether different question, isn’t it?

(more…)

Tags: Michael Eck
Posted in Five Firsts | 11 Comments »

Five Firsts: Abbie Gardner of Red Molly

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Red Molly

NAME: Abbie Gardner
BAND AFFILIATION: Red Molly
INSTRUMENT: Dobro

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … The California Raisins

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … My dad, playing with the Galvanized Jazz Band (dixieland)

3. THE FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I EVER OWNED OR PLAYED WAS … violin, though I quickly switched to flute.

4. THE FIRST SONG THAT I EVER PERFORMED IN PUBLIC WAS … probably a classical flute piece at my first recital, though I don’t remember which one. (It was 4th grade.)

5. THE FIRST BAND I WAS EVER IN WAS … The Bluefield Elementary School Band. The first modern band I was in was Silent Q, a garage rock band, playing bass and singing backup. We did Rush, Yes, Pink Floyd and Genesis covers.

Abbie Gardner and her bandmates in Red Molly take to the stage at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs for two shows (7 & 9:30pm) on Friday in support of their brand new album, “James.”

Tags: Caffe Lena, Red Molly, Saratoga Springs
Posted in Five Firsts | No Comments »

Five Firsts: Deb Cavanaugh of Cavanaugh & Kavanaugh

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

NAME: Deb Cavanaugh
BAND AFFILIATION: Cavanaugh & Kavanaugh
INSTRUMENT: voice, mandolin, guitar, mountain dulcimer, piano

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … “Tapestry” (Carole King)

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … Sly and the Family Stone at Madison Square Garden

3. THE FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I EVER OWNED OR PLAYED WAS … an upright grand piano that I still own.

4. THE FIRST SONG THAT I EVER PERFORMED IN PUBLIC WAS … My first song for pay was “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” played at a wedding.

5. THE FIRST BAND I WAS EVER IN WAS … an unnamed blues band/sometimes wedding band – then General Eclectic

Deb Cavanaugh teams up with her partner Dick Kavanaugh to become – that’s right, you guessed it – Cavanaugh & Kavanaugh for a family-friendly (ie, bring the kids) show at the Perfect Blend in Delmar from 11am-1pm on Sunday.

Posted in Five Firsts | Comments Off

Five Firsts: Don Dworkin of Doc Scanlon’s Rhythm Boys

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

NAME: Don Dworkin, aka Doc Scanlon
BAND AFFILIATION: Doc Scanlon’s Rhythm Boys, the Doc Scanlon Trio, Reggie’s Red Hot Feetwarmers
INSTRUMENT: Acoustic and Electric Bass

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … “Meet The Beatles”…unforgettable, neuron-shaking music…the perfect album cover, and I wore out the grooves. Still have it somewhere…I also remember the first time I heard “I Want To Hold Your Hand” coming out of the radio upstairs at my friend Johnny Small’s house. The transistor radio seemed to levitate.

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … Bob Dylan and the Hawks (soon to become the Band), Kleinhan’s Music Hall, Buffalo, NY, Fall of 1966…Dylan just went electric at Newport Folk Fest that summer with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. The first set he was the earnest folk hero that people worshipped, then he brought on the Band, and they rocked. All of a sudden, there was a person or persons hitting cowbells in various parts of the theater and yelling for him to go back to his acoustic music. He had betrayed the Folkies!

(more…)

Tags: Albany, Doc Scanlon's Rhythm Boys, Don Dworkin, The Linda
Posted in Five Firsts | 1 Comment »

Five Firsts: Jim Gaudet of the Railroad Boys

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

NAME: Jim Gaudet
BAND AFFILIATION: The Railroad Boys
INSTRUMENT: Guitar

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … This is sort of tricky because the first album I ever owned was by the Beach Boys (“In My Room,” “Little Deuce Coupe”). However, it was not purchased. I think it’s in the best interest of protecting the credibility (and liability) of Nippertown.com that we don’t go into detail about that.

(more…)

Tags: Caffe Lena, Jim Gaudet, Saratoga Springs
Posted in Five Firsts | Comments Off

Five Firsts: Broadway Blotto of Blotto

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

(photo by Martin Benjamin)

NAME: Broadway Blotto
BAND AFFILIATION: Blotto (Lifetime Member. Unless they kick me out. Again.) also the Sea-Monkeys
INSTRUMENT: Guitar, Ukulele, Accordion, Plunger, Keyboard

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … “Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Fabulous Beatles.” VeeJay Records had an early lock on the moptops in the US but couldn’t get anything happening when they released singles here in the summer of 1963. Then came Capitol Records with a many dollar promotion campaign, Ed Sullivan, Cassius Clay & the rest is hysteria.

So VeeJay, basically a little R&B label, jumped on the groupwagon & released what is essentially the lads 1st Parlaphone LP “Please Please Me” (Capitol released it in the U.S. about a year later as “The Early Beatles). It had a spooty fold-out album jacket with fotos & fun facts of the fab four. There was even a place where you could paste your picture under your favorite. But, I’ve said too much. See for yourself.

(more…)

Tags: Blotto, Broadway Blotto, Exit-Dome, North Greenbush, WEXT
Posted in Five Firsts | Comments Off

Five Firsts: Jonathan Russell

Monday, February 8th, 2010

NAME: Jonathan Russell
BAND AFFILIATION: Several bands including the Hot Club of the Lower East Side, but this weekend I’ll be playing with the Doc Scanlon Trio in Saratoga
INSTRUMENT: Violin

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … The first album I ever bought was the soundtrack from the new “Star Trek” movie.

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … My mom says that the first concert I ever went to was one of hers when I was six weeks old. I don’t remember it. The first one that I remember was a klezmer band playing at a library near me.

(more…)

Tags: Caffe Lena, Dance Flurry, Doc Scanlon Trio, Jonathan Russell, Saratoga Springs
Posted in Five Firsts | Comments Off

Five Firsts: Rick Rourke & Lost Wages

Friday, February 5th, 2010

NAME: Rick Rourke
BAND AFFILIATION: Rick Rourke and Lost Wages
INSTRUMENT: Guitar, saxophone, harmonica, vocals

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … “Animalism” or “Animalization,” whichever came first.

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels with the Illusion as openers

3. THE FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I EVER OWNED OR PLAYED WAS … a bugle I found in the barn when we moved to Lansingburg

4. THE FIRST SONG THAT I EVER PERFORMED IN PUBLIC WAS … “Gloria”

5. THE FIRST BAND I WAS EVER IN WAS … The Bag, with Gary Canfield (may he RIP), Pat Tucci and Kevin Davey.

Rick Rourke and his roots-rockin’ band Lost Wages land at TJ’s Flightline Pub in Glenville on Saturday night, where they’ll be joined by special guest guitarist Denny Dwyer and other members of the Out of Control Rhythm & Blues Band.

Tags: Glenville, Rick Rourke, TJ's Flightline Pub
Posted in Five Firsts | 1 Comment »

Five Firsts: Andy Campolieto of Jo Henley

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Jo Henley

NAME: Andy Campolieto
BAND AFFILIATION: Jo Henley
INSTRUMENT: Vocals, rhythm guitar

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … First album I ever bought for myself was a Beatles compilation called “Beatles Love Songs.” It’s out of print now, but I must have worn that tape to shreds. I actually almost picked up a copy of it last week on eBay, coincidentally.

2. THE FIRST CONCERT I EVER SAW WAS … My first real concert was Lynyrd Skynyrd at SPAC, probably in ‘89, I would say. I still can picture when they closed the set with “Sweet Home Alabama” and dropped the most gigantic Confederate flag behind them. The biker chicks, the tailgating, the loud guitars, the beauty of SPAC, the sense of freedom – yeah, it was love at first sight!

(more…)

Tags: Andy Campolieto, Caffe Lena, Jo Jenley, Saratoga Springs
Posted in Five Firsts | Comments Off