JON SHAIN with ROBIN O’HERIN, JP, 1/19

NOTLOB PARLOR CONCERTS AT THE LORING-GREENOUGH HOUSE PRESENTS

JON SHAIN with ROBIN O’HERIN and a VERY SPECIAL SURPRISE GUEST.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

$12.50 at the door + $1 preservation fee, $2.50 discount for members of the JP Tuesday Club, seniors, students and the general public making a reservation before 12/21 midnight. Payment by cash at the door.

Doors 7:00pm. Concert 7:30pm.

The Notlob Parlor Concerts presents the best local and touring roots, Americana, newgrass, traditional and contemporary folk and blues artists at the historic Loring-Greenough House, 12 South Street, Jamaica Plain, MA. 02130. Built in 1760, the venue listed in the National Register of Historic Places and has been a historic house museum since 1926. Its beautiful period decor and intimate size make it an ideal setting for acoustic music. Past artists include Bob Franke, The Rowan Brothers, Geoff Bartley, Christine Thompson, Dennis Brennan, Aoife O’Donovan (Crooked Still), Kristin Andraessen (Uncle Earl), Mike and Ruthy Ungar Merenda (the Mammals), Pat Wictor, Jud Caswell, Sharon Lewis, Brian Webb and many others. Visit the series’ website at http://notlobmusic.googlepages.com

JON SHAIN

http://www.jonshain.com/

http://www.myspace.com/jonshain

Jon Shain is a veteran singer-songwriter who's been turning heads for years with his words, his fiery acoustic guitar work, and his evolved musical style - combining improvised piedmont blues with bluegrass, swing, and ragtime. Shain's latest CD, Army Jacket Winter (produced by Jon along with Jackson Hall and Scottsburg Jonze, released in May 2007) is quickly garnering the best reviews of his career. Shain's musical partners include FJ Ventre on upright bass and vocals, and John Currie on dobro and guitar, and Bill Newton on harmonica.

Attending Duke University in the late 80s, Shain was a student of American history with a dedicated interested in southern musical traditions. This led him to a gig with piedmont blues legend Richard "Big Boy" Henry. After a short apprenticeship in the blues world, Shain cut his touring teeth from 1989-1998 founding the Chapel Hill, NC folk-rock group, Flyin' Mice and their spin-off group, WAKE. While sharing stages with luminaries such as David Grisman, Tony Rice Unit, Hot Tuna, Leon Russell, Dave Matthews Band, and the Dixie Dregs, the band released four CDs and played clubs, schools, and festivals up and down the East Coast, building a legion of fans.

After his band's breakup, Shain went solo, returning to his roots in the folk and blues circuit. He released Brand New Lifetime in 1999 to positive reviews and solid airplay in the US and abroad. Spring 2001 brought the release of Fools and Fine Ladies, which garnered reviews from papers such as the Washington Post to national magazines like Relix and No Depression. 2003 saw the release of Shain's acclaimed album, No Tag, No Tail Light. The CD was produced in Boston, MA by Dave Mattacks and Tom Dube, and marked a watershed in production values, performance, and writing, eventually winning great reviews in Sing Out!, No Depression, Relix, The Boston Phoenix, and meriting a full page article in Dirty Linen. The critically acclaimed follow-up, Home Before Long, was also produced by Mattacks and Dube and released in spring of 2005.

In addition to festival slots and headlining club dates, Shain has performed shows recently with Little Feat, John Hammond, Keb' Mo', NRBQ, N. Mississippi All-Stars, Ian Anderson, and many other greats.

When Shain is not recording or performing, he stays busy giving private instruction in Piedmont blues fingerstyle guitar, and teaching group workshops in songwriting, blues guitar, and "jamming". Whether in the one-on-one atmosphere of the teaching studio or onstage sharing a song with a roomful of strangers, Jon Shain is a natural communicator, keeping students and fans coming back for more.

ROBIN O’HERIN

http://www.robinoherin.com/

http://www.myspace.com/robinoherin

Robin O'Herin is a Berkshires -based, acoustic blues and gospel musician with a hint of Appalachian mountain music. She plays bottleneck and fingerstyle guitar and mountain dulcimer.

Robin specializes in historically rich, often interactive concerts that include original and traditional American music, for schools, libraries and small listening rooms. Her concerts are warm, affirming experiences she shares with the audience.

Robin was a finalist in the 2006 Memphis Blues Challenge. She played in the Tropea Blues Festival in Trope Italy in September '06. She was the headlining act in the Resophonic Blues Festival in Pilzen, CZ. in '05. She opened for the Doobie Brothers in Pittsfield, MA. and for Vance Gilbert and Michael Powers in Sept 04. Her arrangement of "Old Country Rock" and her original "Everhopeful" were used in the soundtrack for the PBS "2005 Roadtrip Nations" Series (episode 4).

She has served as song leader in several churches and led a traditional gospel choir.
Robin has performed Appalachian gospel, blues and original music throughout New England in churches, coffee houses and festivals. She has been a song leader in several churches and formed a gospel choir which performed traditional gospel music. Growing up in the Sixties, she was probably the only kid in her neighborhood listening to such legendary blues artists as Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Bessie Smith, Blind Willie Johnson and Lightning Hopkins, among others. Her father still has boxes of his old 78s stored in his garage (someday they will be hers). Her mother liked folk music, especially Joan Baez and Pete Seeger, but she liked them all--blues, folk and gospel.

She says, "I wore out my mother's Odetta records. My choices in music covered a wide spectrum. Leo Kottke and John Renbourne were my heroes. I found myself listening to and learning from a diversified group of musicians: everything from Phil Okes to the Staple Singers, Emmy Lou Harris to Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt and Rory Block to Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell. I learned to sing by making up harmonies and singing along with the albums. I especially loved the raw power and emotion of bottleneck blues. In August of 2001, I fulfilled a dream and spent a week at Blues Guitar Camp in California (International Guitar Seminars), with guitar greats Bob Brozman, Woody Mann and John Renbourne, to name just a few of the awesome guitarists who were there. We studied all day and jammed all night. It’s never too late to go to camp."

The first CD, Red, White and Blues is filled with original music, gospel and country blues. It was recorded at SubStation, a subsidiary of SoulTube Music in Housatonic, MA, owned and run by musician, Robby Baier. It is available online and locally in the Berkshires.

The 2nd CD, The Road Home, is filled with traditional and Appalachian gospel music as well as holy blues. It is a CD filled with roots music. It was recorded at The Rotary Records in East Longmeadow, MA.

Plans for twomore CDs are currently under way.

There was a time growing up when my parents actually paid me not to sing, not that my singing wasn’t great, but it was just that I would never stop. I still have not stopped singing and in the words of the great gospel song, His Eye Is On The Sparrow: “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free.”

"I closed my eyes and thought I was in the Mississippi Delta"—fan at recent concert

MUSICAL RESUME: Professional acoustic blues and gospel singer since 2002. 2002 released "Red, White and Blues" CD, country blues, gospel and originals 2003 released "The Road Home" CD, holy blues 2003-2006 Taught songwriting at RockOn Band Camp, Pittsfield, MA 2003 and 2005 Boston Blues Challenge Finalist 2004 Opened for the Doobie Brothers, Pittsfield, MA 2005 Headline act for the World Resophonic Association’s “Resophonic Blues Festival” in the Czech Republic 2005 Licensed two songs to PBS for the soundtrack of the 2005 Roadtrip Nation DVD series (episodes 4 & 5) 2006 Memphis Blues Challenge finalist 2006 Tropea Blues Festival in Tropea, Italy 2006 Opened for Roy Bookbinder, Little Rock, AR 2007 Opened for Davis Coen, Bridgeport, CT 2007 Opened for Paul Geremia 2007 Black Potatoe Festival, NJ 2007 Plymouth Blues and Folk Festival 2007 Taunton River Folk Festival.

JON SHAIN

http://www.jonshain.com/

http://www.myspace.com/jonshain

with

ROBIN O’HERIN

http://www.robinoherin.com/

http://www.myspace.com/robinoherin

Date / time: Saturday, January 19, 2008. Doors 7:00pm, concert 7:30pm.

Price: $12.50 at the door, $11 with advanced reservation to notlobmusic@ gmail.com and to members of the JPTC, seniors and students with ID (cash at the door). Seating is limited to 40.

Website & artist information: http://notlobmusic.googlepages.com, http://www.myspace.com/notlobhouseconcerts

Venue & directions: Loring-Greenough House, 12 South Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130, the large yellow house at the intersection of Centre and South Streets, across the street from the Civil War monument. http://www.lghouse.org/information.htm. Handicap accessible; please call 617-524-3158 for more information.

Parking: The Loring-Greenough House lot holds 12 cars, gates are closed when full. Parking is also available on the street and in the public lot located behind Blanchard’s liquors, one block away.

MBTA: Take #39 bus from either Back Bay Station or Forest Hills Station to the Monument stop, directly in front of the Loring-Greenough House, at the intersections of Centre and South Streets.

Dining: There are several fine restaurants on Centre Street within 2-3 blocks, with on street parking and a large public parking lot behind Blanchard’s. At Centre Street Café – http://www.centrestcafe.com/ - (669A Centre Street, 617-524-9217), show proof of your reservation and get 10% off. More information at http://groups.google.com/group/notlobmusic/web/centre-street-cafe-becomes-a-notlob-restaurant-partner

Coffee, tea, water and pastries are available for a donation.

Volunteers: This is a 100% volunteer-run effort. All interested in participating can read the volunteer policy at http://groups.google.com/group/notlobmusic/web/volunteer-policy/

Future concerts:

Date	Doors Concert	Artist	www	$ adv	$ door
02/16/08	7:00pm 7:30pm	Jason Myles Goss & Elana Arian (Contemporary Folk)	http://www.jasonmylesgoss.com/ http://www.elanaarian.com/	$10.00	$12.50
03/01/08	7:00pm 7:30pm	Ryan Fitzsimmons & Greg Klyma (Contemporary Folk)	http://www.ryanfitzsimmons.com http://www.klyma.com/	$10.00	$12.50
03/15/08	7:00pm 7:30pm	Lissa Schneckenburger Band (Celtic)	http://www.yellowcarmusic.com/lissa/	$13.00	$15.00

helpin' a g'Earl out

Kristin made me do this....



I could not turn down one of the artists from the very first Notlob parlor concert back in June.

BOB FRANKE "Dragged Into Christmas" Concert, 12/22

BOB FRANKE

http://www.bobfranke.com

Bob Franke (it rhymes with “Yankee”) is at the peak of his considerable craft; brimming with the wise and spiritually generous songs for which he is best known, along with wrenchingly convincing topical songs and sugared with the hilarious. His are the kind of songs that really do have the power to change the world by being taken into the lives of people. They come to you, these songs.

As Tom Paxton says, "It's his integrity. I always think of Bob as if Emerson and Thoreau had picked up acoustic guitars and gotten into songwriting. There's touches of Mark Twain and Buddy Holly in there, too."

Franke began his career as a singer-songwriter in 1965 while a student at the University of Michigan. He was one of the first people to perform at the now famous Ark Coffeehouse in Ann Arbor. Upon graduation in 1969 with an A.B. in English Literature, he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has since made New England his home.

Bob's songs are considered classics, fueled by his deep faith and the real-life lessons taught him by his 30-odd years of playing everywhere from concert halls to street corners. Bob has appeared in concert at coffeehouses, colleges, festivals, bars, streets, homes and churches in 33 states, four Canadian provinces and England. His concerts have appeared in lists of the top five musical events of the year chosen by critics in the Boston and San Francisco Bay areas. In 1990, he was nominated as an Outstanding Folk Act by the Boston Music Awards.

Consider this list: Peter, Paul and Mary; David Wilcox; John McCutcheon; Sally Rogers; Lui Collins; Garnet Rogers; June Tabor. These well-known artists (and many more) all sing and record Bob's music. Seasoned veterans and novices alike are drawn to the complex, warm-hearted spirituality and captivatingly clear-cut melodies of Franke's songs.

When he isn't writing or touring, Bob leads workshops in songwriting at music festivals and music camps, workshops described by the participants as "transcendent." He was the Artistic Director of the Singer-Songwriter Project of 1999's Bethlehem Steel Festival. In August of 1990 Bob wrote a set of songs for a ballet of "The Velveteen Rabbit," commissioned by the ODC Dance Company of San Francisco. He has composed three cantatas and a number of hymns for the Church of St. Andrew in Marblehead, MA. The Songs of Bob Franke, a songbook produced by the the Folk Project, was released in 1992. He wrote a Harvest Cantata for the Marblehead Eco-Farm in 1996. The song "Hard Love" figures prominently in Ellen Wittlinger’s young adult novel of the same name (Simon & Schuster, 1999).

Among his live radio credits are A Prairie Home Companion, A Mountain Stage, Our Front Porch, Sandy Bradley's Potluck, Folk Scene, West Coast Weekend, and Bound for Glory.

In addition, Bob has recorded a number of albums with much well-deserved critical acclaim (see Recordings). Two of his songs appear in the top ten of WERS-FM (Boston) 1988 poll of all-time favorite folk songs. Brief Histories was named one of the ten best albums of 1989 by Boston Globe critic Scott Alarik and was nominated as an Outstanding Folk Album by the 1990 Boston Music Awards. In This Night was named #1 Acoustic Recording of 1991 by WUMB-FM (Boston) and was nominated as Outstanding Folk Album by the 1992 Boston Music Awards. His first Daring release, The Heart of the Flower, was named one of the Boston Globe's top ten folk albums of 1995. His latest , Long Roads, Short Visits was released in September of 1997, becoming one of WUMB-FM Boston’s top ten recordings of that year. The Desert Questions (2001) is Bob's latest.

A Night to Sing the Praises of Bob Franke
by Scott Alarik, The Boston Globe, January 22, 1996

CAMBRIDGE--What makes a song a hit? These days, the only measures seem to be units sold, chart placement, number of recorded versions. In folk music, however, there is another kind of hit: songs that travel from person to person, often without knowledge of authorship; songs that are truly taken into the lives of people. Saturday, an impressive parade of gifted folk artists gathered at Sanders Theater to honor Bob Franke, a local songwriter they clearly feel writes hits like that, on the occasion of his 30th year in folk music.

Each act did one Franke song, one original. Lorraine and Bennett Hammond set the stage wonderfully, explaining that what binds all Franke's songs is that they are all somehow about love, then offering their own reflective "Love Has a Life of Its Own."

As the evening convincingly displayed, the love in Franke's songs moves far beyond the dating-and-mating love in so much of today's pop. Tom Paxton sang Franke's sublime meditation "Thanksgiving Eve:" "What can you do with each moment of your life/But love till you've loved it away?"

More at http://www.bobfranke.com/reviews.htm

Franke's Heavenly Lyrics Strike a Chord with Folk Brethren
by Daniel Gewertz, The Boston Herald, January 17, 1996

Bob Franke came from a time when folk singers didn't make money, they made a difference. "Money and record sales didn't cloud the picture. We tended to honor the best among us," said the man respected as New England's finest philosophical songwriter.

A dozen folk singers will honor Franke on his 30th anniversary in music at Sanders Theater on Saturday. The concert will include two troubadours far more famous than the evening's namesake: Tom Paxton and Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter Paul and Mary).

"It's his integrity," Paxton said of Franke. "I always think of Bob as if Emerson and Thoreau had picked up acoustic guitars and gotten into songwriting. There's touches of Mark Twain and Buddy Holly in there, too."

Though he's an unknown in wider circles, on the folk circuit Franke songs such as "Hard Love" and "For Real are considered classics. Instead of ending a concert with sing-alongs by Woody Guthrie, some area shows have closed with Franke's anthemic "The Great Storm Is Over" or his prayerful "Thanksgiving Eve."

More at http://www.bobfranke.com/reviews.htm

The 30th Anniversary Concert
Franke's Folks
Friends and Admirers Gather to Pay Tribute to the Songwriter
by Scott Alarik, The Boston Globe, January 19, 1996

Most people have to die before anyone throws a soiree like this for them. Tomorrow at 7:30pm, a group of folk all-stars gathers at Sanders Theater to honor 48-year-old Bob Franke on his 30th anniversary as a folk singer. Fellow songwriters Tom Paxton, Noel Paul Stookey, Jack Hardy, Linda Waterfall, Lui Collins, Mason Daring, Lorraine and Bennett Hammond, and Geoff Bartley will perform some of their own songs and, in the highest honor one songwriter can pay to another, also sing versions of Franke songs, many of which have become standards in the modern folk canon. Franke will perform as well.

Another cause for celebration is the recent release of "The Heart of the Flower," his first release on Daring Records. It is his prettiest record to date, thanks in no small part to Daring's sublimely sensitive production. It shows Franke at the peak of his considerable craft, brimming with the wise and spiritually generous songs for which he is best known, along with wrenchingly convincing topical songs and sugared by a hilarious cyber-blues and the adorably bubble-gum-corny ode to his wife, "Christine '65".

It may seem curious for such a fuss to be made for an artist who has never had a mainstream hit, never won a Grammy, made the cover of Rolling Stone or even sung a duet with Willie Nelson. But success is measured differently in folk music than in commercial pop. His songs have been covered by a myriad folk performers, among them such diverse artists as Tony Rice, June Tabor, Stan and Garnet Rogers, Priscilla Herdman, Gordon Bok and John McCutcheon. But Franke is counted among today's best folk songwriters for deeper reasons that say much about how folk's standards differ from those of the music industry.

More at http://www.bobfranke.com/reviews.htm

Review of "The Heart of the Flower"

from Sing Out!, Vol. 40, No. 4
©1996 Sing Out! Corporation

This represents Franke's most "commercial" release, with full professional production by Mason Daring. Being a folkie at heart, Daring tastefully layers just the right amount of accompaniment. Of course, the contributions of instrumentalists Nina Gerber, Cary Black and Billy Novick further enhance the production.

Franke is one of the very few songwriters who can weave religion into his songs, as he does in "Eye Of The Serpent," without sounding like he's proselytizing or dogmatic. His songs form compact moral dramas equally appropriate to atheists, Christians or Buddhists.

Franke has re-recorded here his well-known "Hard Love", long out of print, although now covered by about a dozen other performers. While his voice has never sounded better, it lacks the edge of pain that once accompanied this song. Still, even amid 10 other fine gems, "Hard Love" alone justifies the cost of the CD.

More at http://www.bobfranke.com/reviews.htm

Review of "The Heart of the Flower"

from Dirty Linen, June/July '96
©1996 Dirty Linen

Bob Franke The Heart of the Flower [Daring CD3016 (1995)] Sing Hallelujah, the great storm is over! A new release finally from Bob Franke, poet and songwriter. Although he is best known as a singer's songwriter, Franke's own versions are quietly beautiful. His songs have great words and nice tunes; many feature Franke's sly humor or a touch of the Divine (if not both). Franke's version of his own "Hard Love" is on this album along with many others, particularly a gorgeous retelling of the story of Jonah, "Waiting for Nineveh to Burn." (WD)

Website: http://notlobmusic.googlepages.com

Artist information: http://www.myspace.com/notlobhouseconcerts

Venue: Loring-Greenough House, 12 South Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130.