Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire

It was recently the 40th anniversary of Monterey Pop, the California festival that brought artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Laura Nyro to the world's attention. That's where my dear friend Ed Caraeff, then 15 years old, took what Jann Wenner once called "the most famous rock 'n roll photo ever" of Hendrix setting his guitar on fire.
Eddie, who went on to a successful photography career and is now an equally successful LA chef, was honored at the anniversary celebration for his work, and is shown here standing next to the photo display. Way to go, Eddie!

Waverly Wonderful

I had the pleasure of spending the day with Waverly Seven, the septet of Anzic Records artists, yesterday. These young New York jazz musicians ooze talent out of every pore, every minute but what I also found out was that they're a bunch of goof balls.
After an interview with MSG Channel and a rehearsal at the Anzic Townhouse we headed to the Bronx for an interview with WFUV's Idiot's Delight where the band played songs from their 2 CD set honoring Bobby Darin 'Yo! Bobby' (out today).
Back row: Joel Frahm, Avishai Cohen, Daniel Freedman, Barak Mori. Front row: Vin Scelsa, Manuel Valera, Jason Lindner, Anat Cohen

Highlights included:
*Avishai playing every instrument in the room.
*Anat and Avishai dancing to a latin melody played during a warm up (as seen below).

*Daniel jokingly saying "The more cymbals I have at a gig the more chicks I get."
*My impromptu dance with Vin Scelsa during the performance of "Splish, Splash."
*Manuel's special composition called "The Scelsa Shuffle" (TUNE IN ON JULY 14th)

We wrapped the evening with a performance back at the Anzic headquarters and an amazing dinner created by world renown chef Daniel Boulud.

The Force Is With Her

I snuck away from the office for a couple hours last week to catch my daughter, Emma's year-end school performance. The kids were encouraged to come up with their own "act" for the show, so Emma combined her love of Star Wars (a fact that pleases me no end) and playgrounds. She dressed up like Princess Leia, and then pulled off a balancing act on the school jungle gym that had my wife and I covering our eyes in fear. But she pulled it off flawlessly, and ended with a Mary Lou Retton-caliber dismount. Here's a pic of her, post-performance.

What's Emma's favorite line from Star Wars, you ask? Naturally, it's: "Will someone please get this big walking carpet out of my way!" by Princess Leia.

Rock Shirt Friday

Sometimes our love for music spills over into the rest of our lives... including our wardrobes. This past friday several Shore Fire staffers arrived at work sporting some of our favorite rock and roll t-shirts -- and you know we never miss a photo opportunity.



Here's Diana D'Angelo showing her love for New Kids on the Block, Marilyn Laverty in an Elvis Costello tank, Michael LaVigne in a Keep Rock & Roll Alive T, and myself, never too far away from my love of the Beatles (In My Life is, like, my favorite song ever).

Everybody Loves Pink Martini

Last week Portland, OR's Pink Martini came to NYC to kick off their summer tour in support of their latest release 'Hey Eugene!' Being the ever fabulous "little orchestra" that they are, the week was filled with lavish parties, a stellar performance on Letterman and a mind-blowing headlining gig at Carnegie Hall. Never in my life would I believe that I'd see a band inspire a conga line up and down the aisles of the legendary concert hall. Needless to say, I had a blast and enjoyed every second of it.

Our week kicked off on Tuesday, June 12th with an appearance on WNYC's Soundcheck. Here's vocalist China Forbes gearing up for her interview (with pianist/band leader/founder Thomas M. Lauderdale in the background):


I met the band downtown later that evening for an in-store performance at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square. I was pretty amazed to see the 12 piece band fit on the stage in the cafe. Here's a shot of China Forbes, singer/percussionist Timothy Nishimoto, and guitarist Dan Faehnle:


On Tuesday evening Paper Magazine sponsored a Pink Martini party to celebrate 'Hey Eugene' and their performance at Carnegie Hall the next night. Several Shore Fire staffers attended the event including Nick Baily, Diana D'Angelo, Alexis Tedford, and Nora Lyons. Here's Diana and I enjoying (what else?) Pink Martinis!



Wednesday night Pink Martini took the stage at Carnegie Hall and blew the crowd away. They brought out legendary jazz singer Jimmy Scott to sing 'Someone to Watch Over Me' and duet with China on 'Tea For Two'. Alba Clemente and Johnny Dynell joined the band on stage and infused the set with an unparalleled energy and joy. For the encore, the band invited many of their special guests on stage and performed 'Brazil' -- which inspired the aforementioned conga line up and down the aisles of Carnegie Hall.

The New York Times loved the show too. Check out the review here -- http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/arts/music/15pink.html

Wednesday morning brought us to Sirius Satellite radio for an interview with Meg Griffin. Meg is a huge fan of the band and was thrilled to have Thomas in the studio. Here's a picture of the two of them following the interview:


Thomas went straight from Sirius to the Ed Sullivan Theater to prepare for that afternoon's taping of the Late Show with David Letterman. I took this photo of the dressing room mirror covered with stickers of bands who have performed on the show. Pink Martini was delighted to join their ranks. Look for the cover of 'Hey Eugene!' in this shot:




Peter Murray traveled from the Pink Martini/Heinz Records offices in Portland to join the band here in NYC for the week. Here's a shot of him backstage at Letterman:



Following their performance of 'Hey Eugene!' China paused outside her dressing room for a quick shot with myself and Nick Baily:



Friday morning we headed uptown to the Bloomberg News building to tape an interview on 'Night Talk with Mike Schneider'. Here's a shot of Thomas and a friend on the set:



All in all, my week with Pink Martini was a great success and a fantastic time was had by everyone involved. Check out 'Hey Eugene!' here" http://www.pinkmartini.com and make sure to catch them on tour this summer!

Brandi's New York Trip...

We were delighted that throaty, articulate and interesting singer and songwriter Brandi Shearer visited us here at Shore Fire yesterday during her first-ever (!) trip to New York City. In town for photo shoot and a showcase, here's Brandi enjoying a moment in my office. Shearer's Amoeba Records debut 'Close To Dark' is out August 28.

Hangin in NYC with Future Clouds and Radar

Hanging out with talented and enigmatic musicians is one of my favorite things about my job. This past week I had the pleasure of spending time with the Austin ensemble Future Clouds and Radar. Prior to their stellar performance at Pianos last Wednesday the band and I stopped by WNYC Soundcheck where they performed a couple of songs. And on Monday we made a visit to Fearless Music:The TV Show where the band taped a segment which will air on the FOX network this fall.

WNYC Soundcheck

Fearless Music: the TV Show

R.I.P. Hank Medress

It's not all fun and cake in the blogosphere. I'm very sad to report that Hank Medress, best known as a member of The Tokens (“The Lion Sleeps Tonight”) and most recently a consultant for SoundExchange passed away on Monday from lung cancer. He was 68 years old.

When Hank (pictured above with SX Executive Director John Simson) joined SoundExchange I had the opportunity to speak with him for a press release I was writing. For a man who accomplished so much as a songwriter, producer, and music industry executive he was humble and entirely dedicated to educating other musicians about their rights.

He will be missed.

The White Stripes Rock The Fillmore

"Do you work for a record label? I work for a record label. Do you work for Spin Magazine? I work at Spin magazine too." - Jack White (6.19.07)

Although I do not work at either a record label or Spin, my roommate is diehard enough to wake up at 4am to stand in line for concert tickets to the White Stripes - and then invite me along! Last night, Jack and Meg played a secret show at the Fillmore/Irving Plaza, a rare chance to see the duo in such a small venue (they play Madison Square Garden Sunday July 24.) Needless to say, they were awesome. Jack White is an utterly amazing musician and after watching him play for almost two hours I am still in awe. The man is a maniac, we are talking one-handed guitar solos during the encore. They played many songs from the new record 'Icky Thump' which came out yesterday, some covers ("Jolene", "Draft Dodger Rag") and of course favorites like "Ball and Biscuit", "My Doorbell" and "Cold, Cold Night."

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/danfun/tags/whitestripes/

Loss-Eaton's Birthday Bash including Carrot Cake

It's not that every day's a party day, but with our ever growing staff, it's getting near twice a month (though there are a couple of combo-parties). Today, it was Nick Loss-Eaton's turn and we celebrated with a scrumptious carrot cake and another with chocolate and strawberries. That's official cake and pie-cutter Rebecca Shapiro below, seated across from contemplative Loss-Eaton. To Rebecca's left are Alexis Tedford and Diana D'Angelo.




Here's Maggie Poulos next to the birthday boy:

Apples @ Housing Works

As any faithful Suite 16 reader already knows, I’m a huge Elephant 6 fan. So you can imagine how excited I was to see The Apples in Stereo (finally!) at the Housing Works Used Book Café on Friday night.

Housing Works, if you’re not already familiar with their mission, is an organization committed to providing a variety of support services to homeless people suffering from AIDS and HIV. Their used book café in SoHo helps fund the project, and occasionally hosts special events and concerts. I was happy to find out that guitar maker (and Shore Fire client) First Act sponsors these great shows, and they even donated a custom painted Steve Keene guitar that was raffled off Friday night.

In terms of the band and the show itself though, things started being awesome right away and only got better. I met Apples’ lead singer Robert Schneider (you may remember him from his appearance on The Colbert Report) before the show, which scored pretty high on the No Way! scale. Robert was amazingly sweet and remarkably tolerant of my excitement and giggling.

Not that I really expected anything less from them, but The Apples certainly knew how to put on a great show and have fun doing it, and the audience seemed to be made up of other diehard fans like me who just couldn’t get enough of their power pop genius. They played all my favorites from their newest record, “New Magnetic Wonder," and made my wildest dreams come true when they closed their set with ‘Ruby,’ my favorite song from their entire catalogue. I’m told that I was singing along so loudly at the end that people around me had trouble actually hearing the band. (Apologies.)

I would have been a very happy camper if the night had ended there, but I stuck around for a little bit after the show to chat with a few other giddy fans and got the chance to flag down bassist Eric Allen and guitarist John Hill and thank them for a great night (and snap a few pictures!).

Me and John Hill!!!

Eric Allen = super nice

Jeremy Fisher's LES Jaunt

Uncommonly talented and enigmatic troubadour Jeremy Fisher played a compelling solo set last night at Piano's in a stealth show for friends, some journalists and execs from his new US label Wind-up. For some in the audience it was shades of Desire-era Dylan and classic Paul Simon in tone and in wordplay, though Fisher's songs have a modern piquancy of their own. His album 'Goodbye Blue Monday' is out in September but it's already making waves in Canada and on YouTube, where his homemade stop-time claymation video for his song Cigarette is grabbing millions of views.

Below, that's Wind-up's Steve Karas, Shore Fire's Rebecca Shapiro and Jeremy Fisher.

Here's Rolling Stone's Evan Schlansky, and Karas and Shapiro (again).

Here's Cigarette

Nicks n' Nicks

Had the pleasure of attending a photo shoot and concert with the gracious Nick Lowe last week.

We traveled (gasp!) across the GW Bridge to Bennett Studios in Englewood, NJ, a train depot turned gorgeous recording studio. Nick, always funny and quite a gentleman, did three setups as part of a major photo shoot, including the above set up in a park nearby. When asked to sing for the camera, Nick went through incredible versions acoustic versions of several of his songs as well as classics like Arthur Alexander's "You Better Move On." At one point, the photographer, trying to get Lowe's attention, said, "Nick?!" We both said, "yes," and at the exact same time.

After an audience arrived for a taping of WFUV's City Folk Live, Darren DeVivo introduced Lowe. He really blew me away with the incredible control over his vocal intonation and his precise lyrics. With a set heavy on songs from 2001's 'The Convincer' and the new 'At My Age,' both on Yep Roc. Perhaps my favorite song was "Lately I've Let Things Slide." The crowd erupted when it heard the opening lyrics to "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love And Understanding?" Nick remarked that he'd recently heard the Holmes Brothers version of his classic song and had enjoyed it. Dae Bennett and the staff at the Studios made everything sound incredible.

In attendance were Lowe's manager Jake Guralnick, Yep Roc staffer Glenn Dicker, Ken Tucker, Ashley Kahn (who graciously presented Nick with one of his books), Frank Digiacomo, Shore Fire's Matt Hanks (who looked to be in total bliss once Nick started playing) and WFUV's Tara Anderson, among others.

Ari Hest Plays Hometown NYC Show

Last Thursday, May 31st I had the opportunity to see our client Ari Hest play his hometown show at The Gramercy Theater/Blender Bar. It was apparent that he was just as happy to be back in New York as many of his loyal friends and family were to see him play. Ari performed many songs from his new album 'The Break-In' opening with my personal fav "When and If" and inciting a sing-along to the lovely lullaby-like "Bird Never Flies" chorus. He performed with a full band and their killer cover of Peter Gabriel's "Mercy Street" was a real showstopper. Ari closed solo with the final track on the new record "I've Got You." Written as a duet for both a male and female vocalist, Ari puts a new spin on the song by singing both parts himself. Showcasing his extremely versatile vocal range and leaving every female fan wishing she was the other half of the intimate duet...sigh.

In The Ring With The National

Anyone who has spent enough time with me has heard me gush about one band or another proclaiming “this is my favorite band!” And although I might sound like a broken record sometimes I should make it clear that there are many different types of musicians/bands that I classify as my favorites. For example, The Grateful Dead is my favorite jam-band, Steely Dan is my favorite 70’s soft rock band, Josh Ritter is my favorite singer/songwriter and the National is my all-time favorite rock band. I say that with confidence and conviction after catching 2 of their sold out nights at the Bowery last week.

I'm aware that my claim may seem a bit over-the-top but having listened to every National album time and time again I have yet to hear a song that does not move me and their newest offering Boxer has been in constant rotation on my ipod since last Tuesday. See below for the Youtube clip of Matt Beringer singing in the crowd on 5/31 - look for me at around 1:08. It was quite overwhelming being the only lady in a sea of drunken screaming men with the lead singer of my favorite band pouring his heart out less then a foot away.

It's Nora's Party and You're all Invited....

If you've ever called Shore Fire, chances are you've spoken to the poised, professional and energetic Nora Lyons. Today we celebrated her birthday sans cake but with bagels and a fruit platter (at Nora's request).