Saturday, June 2, 2007

MIKE & RUTH MERENDA, "Music is Effervescence", w/ TOREY ADLER, Saturday, June 9, 2007





Doors 7:00pm,
Concert 7:30pm

VENUE: Loring-Greenough House, 12 South Street, Jamaica Plain, MA. 02130 - http://www.lghouse.org

TICKETS: $12 day of show, ($10 if reserved in advance through Friday, June 8) - email notlobmusic@gmail.com

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Ruth Merenda, who graced Notlob Music Series' first concert last Saturday's as a part of Sometymes Why (with band mates Kristin Andreassen (of Uncle Earl) and Aoife O'Donovan (of Crooked Still)) returns with husband, Mike Merenda. They are touring the US in support of their new CD, QUIVER, in between The Mammals tours which will bring the band all over America as well as Australia and Europe

Mike is a wordsmith, vocalist and guitarist who has long recognized that a good song has the ability to improve the world. On both an intensely personal and universal level Merenda’s work strives to entertain as well as illuminate. His early fascination with the socially conscious writings of Bob Marley and Bob Dylan met head-on with the arrival of young, smart, outspoken artists such as Ani Difranco and Dan Bern, furthering the young writer’s blossoming ideology that politics need not be polarizing and dry, but alive, vibrant and inspiring.

“Ruth Ungar is the daughter of Jay Ungar and Lyn Hardy, two musicians who have kept American folk traditions stoked. Ungar spent her childhood amidst all manner of string instruments and the visitations of members of New York’s Jewgrass gang. She met songwriter Michael Merenda in the late 90’s and, after hearing him perform an original tune, asked him to play it again, whereupon she promptly sang a part in perfect harmony. Thus began a professional and romantic relationship . . . Ungar is a sensational singer . . . Merenda is one of the best songwriters of his generation - literate, political, melodic, alternately angry and satirical and sensual.” - Michael Simmons, High Times

Their travels with the internationally acclaimed string-band The Mammals have made them exceedingly comfortable on stage. Familiar yet enigmatic, Michael and Ruth Merenda are talents to watch in this songwriting renaissance of the 21st century.

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Torey Adler is a guitar-picking wordsmith and a builder of well-crafted, hardwearing songs. He might be young, but he sounds as though he learned to play in the rural South of the '30s, then came of age in the halcyon days of New York City punk. On this icy winter day in Massachusetts farm country, the dash of his pickup truck is cluttered with CDs of Woody Guthrie, Townes Van Zandt, Otis Redding, and Skip James. The Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed is playing, loudly, as he downshifts hard into a turn. He is talking about the term "folk-music". "Everything is folk music that folks can play" he says, grinning. "Rock, Adult Contemporary, (he puts an emphasis on the industry term that suggests disdain) pop, country, it's all folk. But I understand what the audience means when they use the term 'folk' and it's different from what a scholar means. In the clubs, my music is folk because I play an acoustic guitar. In my mind I sing modern literature with traditional sounding chords." Whatever it is, audiences are starting to respond. At tonight's concert they start to sing along with "This Land is Your Land", a song he introduces as "Our real national anthem". A woman in the crowd confides to me later that she has to consider Bruce Springsteen in a new light after hearing "Thunder Road" broken down over sparse ukulele accompaniment. But every request during the show calls for one of Torey's own songs, more remarkable for the fact that most of them are not yet released. His guitar ranges from soft and haunting finger-style airs to driving, punkish romps. His lyrics tell stories, capture stills of urban drama. Torey paints a tableau of the American landscape; highways and depots, cars and trains, of bedeviled loners and innocent girls always moving and always wanting.Rarely does an artist emerge on the scene with a voice so completely his own who so clearly belongs to a deep folklore. There is tradition behind his words, but you’ve never heard it like this before.

"His sound has roots in old blues, folk and early rock, with a real American sound that smacks of urban grit, dusty back roads, adventure and heartbreak." -Sarah Craig, Caffe Lena

"He is a savvy stylist on the six-string, the music coils around his acoustic anthems and swings to countrified rhythms all the while tinged with the hint of a bluesy sorrow or bursting in an outright celebration of grooves."-Thomas Dimopoulos, The Saratogian

"A truly powerful writer / performer, Torey unifies the quiet wisdom of a Zen master and the straight honesty of Johnny Cash with wry lyrics and growling guitar licks torn from the roots of rock and roll"-Bob Warren, Singer / Songwriter
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Wednesday, Jun 20 2007, 7:30P
Sharon Lewis (Pooka) & Rose Polenzani (Voices on the Verge)

Friday, July 20 2007, 7:30P
Danielle Miraglia & Tom Bianchi

Saturday, Aug 4 2007, 7:30P (may change to late September)
Brian Webb w/ Carrie Cheron

Saturday, Aug 11 2007, 7:30P
Dave Carter Tribute
Saturday, Aug 18 2007, 7:30P
Jaded Mandolin w/ Eliza Blue

2 comments:

Jeff Boudreau said...

Scott Alarik gave the concert some "ink" in the 6/9 Boston Globe "Sidekick".

http://www.boston.com/ae/sidekick/insidekick/2007/06/wrestling_johnn.html

Folk Folk music was not born on the concert stage, but in family parlors, pubs, and village greens. Notlob Concerts returns the music to its native habitat, hosting a cozy series in the historic Loring-Greenough House. Tonight, it's Mike and Ruth Ungar Merenda of the rip-roaring string band the Mammals . They're smart, quirky songwriters with a fiery populism and a grand sense of musical mischief. Rootsy songwriter Torey Adler joins them for tonight's 7:30 show; $12. Loring-Greenough House, 12 South St., Jamaica Plain. notlob music.blogspot.com [Scott Alarik]

Jeff Boudreau said...

JP Gazette coverage http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/node/1492

Folk pair to perform at Loring-Greenough House
June 8, 2007

Ruth and Mike Merenda of The Mammals will perform as part of the Notlob House Concert acoustic music series on Sat., June 9 at the Loring-Greenough House, 12 South Street. Doors open at 7 p.m. for the 7:30 performance.

The Merendas, two-fifths of folk supergroup, The Mammals, are touring the US in support of their new CD, “Quiver.” They are in between tours with The Mammals, the next of which will take the band all over America as well as Australia and Europe.

Mike Merenda is a wordsmith, vocalist and guitarist whom has long recognized that a good song has the ability to improve the world. On both an intensely personal and universal level Merenda’s work strives to entertain as well as illuminate. His early fascination with the socially conscious writings of Bob Marley and Bob Dylan met head-on with the arrival of young, smart, outspoken artists such as Ani Difranco and Dan Bern, furthering the young writer’s blossoming belief that politics need not be polarizing and dry, but alive, vibrant and inspiring.

Ruth Ungar Merenda is the daughter of Jay Ungar and Lyn Hardy, two musicians who have kept American folk traditions stoked. She spent her childhood amidst all manner of string instruments and the visitations of members of New York’s Jewgrass gang.

Notlob House Concerts produces unique musical artists in unusual and often unexpected environments.

Refreshments will be available. Tickets are $12 are the door or $10 in advance. Seating is limited for the concerts. For reservations, e-mail notlobmusic@gmail.com. Include name, number of seats and e-mail address. For more information, see www.lghouse.org or www.myspace.com/notlobhouseconcerts.