Steel Guitar (or other cool music) in Boston 7/13 - 7/18?

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Any of y'all playing or know of any shows with steel guitar content in Boston area this week upcoming {July 13-18}. I'm originally from here, and there sure wasn't a lot of live steel-oriented music here in the 60s and early 70s, but hopefully that's changed some.

Of course, always interested in other cool live music too. Staying right by Berklee.

Thanks in advance.

Steve Feldman · From: Central MA USA

Steel is tough in Boston. Do check out Duke Levine at the Atwell Tavern on Mondays. This guy is great.

The blues scene up here is pretty good. I've gotta run, but let me see what I can dig up.
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Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Steve, I assume you're talking about Atwood's Tavern in Cambridge, correct? Neither Duke nor the club list him there on Mondays, but he is doing some Thursdays with Dennis Brennan there, plus Wednesdays at the Lizard Lounge on Mass Ave with the Giant Kings. Probably will get over to the Lizard Wednesday. I'm a big Duke Levine fan. I still say his Telecized version of Bud's Bounce is one of the best I've ever heard.

Haven't seen anything else remotely steel-oriented yet in the paper listings I've seen. Maybe things haven't changed much in 30-40 years. Nobody out there playing this week?

Blues and jazz are cool too. I'm sure I'll scare some things up there.

Caught the last Sox game before the all-star break today. People talk about Nashville going upscale - they oughta try getting Sox tickets these days. I'm a $1/ticket bleachers bum from the 60s. Yikes.

Doug Beaumier · From: Northampton, MA

...don't get me started on the rip off prices of Red Sox tickets nowadays Sad

... In 1970 the prices ranged from $1.00 for bleacher seats to $3.75 for Box seats. Normal inflation should have increased that Box Seat price to about $20 today.... but Box seats today start at $90 and go up to $325. Bleachers seats are $26

That's the face price printed on the ticket. If you buy tickets on eBay you'll pay 4 times as much. One of my students paid over $600 on eBay for two 3rd row box seats for a Red Sox game. Games always sell out... I think they're up to 435 home games in a row sold out (since May 2003). I try to get to one game a year, but it's an 80 mile drive one way, $180 for two good seats... (if I can even get them), $7 for one draft beer in a plastic cup, $30 for parking, etc, etc... Neutral

It costs hundreds of dollars to see a Sox game today.
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John Kingsley · From: Los Angeles, CA

When I lived there I scored cheap tickets by waiting on ebay until about 4:30...there's usually some season ticket holder trying to dump off tickets for "cheap" and if you can get to the financial district, you can usually pick them up before someone leaves work and not have to deal with the eticket thing.

If you're right by berklee, there's always some cool stuff going on there, there may be some steel involved.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Yeah, I'll go down to Berklee tomorrow and see what's word-of-mouth and on the street. At least I can get down to Wally's for the blues thing tomorrow night.

I sure don't see much of any rootsy or country type shows in any of the listings I've looked at yet. I'm doing some online digging, and there are a bunch of alt-country type bands, but gig info is confusing at best.

John Kingsley · From: Los Angeles, CA

Looks like the Poverty Line Old-Time band is gonna be at the plough and stars in Cambridge on Wednesday. They're pretty good if you're into that old-time appalachian thing. Sally O'Brien's have twangy stuff most of the time. Thursday nights are usually reserved for country at this sports bar in West Bridgewater called the Charlie Horse. They do this thing called country idol, which kind of like American Idol (or our own steel idol!), they have contestants go sing karaoke in between sets from whatever band they have that week. I used to play there pretty regularly before I moved, and there were always a ton of people. The foods good, the management there is a little shady but thats a whole other can of worms.

There's this place on the south shore called "Zahn's Bahn," which is at the bar Kilroy's, in Quincy, and they have country music and line dancing fridays and saturdays sometimes. Another fun place to play.

Another thing to do would be to google MCMAA, or massachusetts country music association...they have (sometimes) a list of bands on there and where they're playing. Only a few of the bands have steel though.

Depending on how far you want to drive, too, there's always new hampshire and maine and rhode island, they all have their own scenes. But around boston, the live music tends to be more alternative tinged, especially with all the colleges around. In the year and a half I was activley gigging there (3-4 nights a week), I can't remember a time when I gigged with a full band playing country music in the actual city limits of Boston. The gigs in town tend to be saturated with college bands that aren't getting paid and are given 20 minute sets in allston or something...thats just the way it is I guess. Berklee does have this new coffee shop thing they opened called Cafe 939 (at 939 Boylston, across from Hynes Convention Center) and that may be a good place to start checking things out. It has a real nice room for music.

Hope all that helps...if you have a steel with you someone will always be more than happy to have you sit in up there.[/code]

Steve Feldman · From: Central MA USA

Dave -

Yes - Atwoods Tavern (my mistake). Duke Levine had a long-time Monday night gig with this other guy who played lap steel. Never caught them, but I heard they were really very good.

Best way to get Sox tickets is to go hang out and wait until the 2-3rd inning. You'll get'em cheap if you don't mind the inconvenience of missing the first 2 innings.

Bit of a drive, but Walter Trout is playing at the Narrow Center for the Arts, Fall River on Thurs. (7/17). The guy's phenomenal.

Ronnie Earl is playing there as well on Friday (7/25) - too bad you're gone because, IMO, this one is not to be missed! Beyond phenomenal. One of the all-time great blues guys, IMO.
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"...An admission of interest in protracted commentary is certainly no reason to capitalize on surmised aberations that do not exist." - BH

Steve Feldman · From: Central MA USA

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Thanks, John - that gives me some more names to track down. I would never have thought of the Plough and the Stars for any type of country music. I used to go there in the late 60s or early 70s for Irish stuff - they had a cool Irish jam session on, I believe, Monday nights. I see they have DJs/dance stuff Monday now, which is hard for me to picture, but welcome to the new millenium.

I play sometimes with a band called the Chicken Tractor which is deeply into the Appalachian old-time format, but when I join them on steel, they switch format to honkytonk country. But these guys sound like they're hardcore old-time, which fits with my picture of P&S. May stop in on my way to the Lizard Lounge to see Duke Levine Wed night.

I'm at the Hynes Center, so I'll check out Cafe 939. Zahn's Barn sounds interesting, I'll give 'em a call - can't find an online schedule.

One of the problems is that the market for this kind of music isn't very organized here. I sense there's some stuff going on, but it's hard to get info unless you know where to get it. I've been gone far too long to be plugged into anything here anymore.

Yeah, Steve - Monday with Duke and lap-steel at Atwoods would be cool. They have someone else listed now, and they weren't answering their phone last night. I'll try 'em again today, that's worth double-checking.

There are a few places in Allston/Brighton and Cambridge/Somerville that seem to cater to the alt-country scene. Hard to find hard info, but it's easy enough to just go there. Doesn't anybody answer their phones here? I've called several places, not one answered their phone.

I have my Zum with me, but I never, ever, ask anybody to sit in. Been on the other end too often, I guess.

Thanks again, guys - I probably have more than I can do now. Wish I was here for Ronnie Earl, but I'm outta here by then.

John Kingsley · From: Los Angeles, CA

The lap steel player duke plays with is Kevin Barry...absolutley nuts on that thing.

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