The Memorial Day weekend that is just a little over one week away and will mark the beginning of my favorite season of SUMMER! The Summer brings with it many opportunities to get outside under the sweet sunshine and soak up life a little bit.
The Summer ahead of us will abide in this “getting outside” effort kicking off in late May and early June. We have a rather busy schedule of gigs (see the SHOWS PAGE for a FULL LISTING). To highlight a few of these read below.
Here’s to SUMMER’S ARRIVAL – Hopeful to see you soon!
Vinegar Creek Constituency (photo by Bryan Thomas)
As a musician, it’s very easy to go to a show and feel completely inspired and encouraged by a musical performance. What’s not as easy is to be on the other side of the ball providing that inspiration.
That said, my hat’s off – my gratitude – my applause – my utmost thanks and respect to the ENTIRE cast, crew and crowd who were a part of last Saturday’s show at The Candy Factory (Queen St. in downtown Lancaster) featuring the music of Corty Byron, The Pig Merchants and Vinegar Creek Constituency. The show absolutely moved me and left me inspired!!!
The Launch Music Conference and Festival was an enjoyable event filled with TONS of great music and many a new friendly face! As I have stated in past posts, it’s such a joy to be able to gather together with other musicians in a positive atmosphere. Additionally, it’s great to actually have the time to catch the shows of so many other local musicians and get to “catch up” with these same local musicians whom I call my friends.
This past Sunday, myself and the guys in the Dreadnought Brigade had the unique experience of performing as a part of a VERY UNIQUE approach to church (or at least one that I was not familiar with prior to performing there).
We performed at Action Church in York, PA which is held in the local movie theater at Frank’s Theaters. Action Church takes what I’d call a chill approach to introducing folks to “church” to those interested in/curious about learning more. Each and every person that we worked with last Sunday morning were a delight. Special thanks to Don, Josiah and Rafael for their kindness while we visited.
This past Saturday night we drove to the Southern part of York County to perform at my good friend Becky Waganer’s house. Becky has been listening to my music for a good while now and is actually the one responsible for introducing me to my wife! (She brought “the wife”, as I like to call her, to a show of mine. Music DOES bring folks together!)
Becky has always wanted to host a house concert. In light of the fact that she is soon putting her house up for sale, she thought it was the perfect time to do so. So,with the help of Wood Stove House (run by none other than my band mate and friend Jason Mundok) and their expertise in this line of shows, Becky was able to host a great night of music in the coziness and comfort of her own home. This show was made FURTHER COMPLETE with a beautiful sunset overlooking Becky’s front yard, followed by an equally awesome star filled night sky. IT WAS AWESOME and it made me realize how I need to stop to breath it all in MORE! » Continue reading “4.13.13 Waganer House Concert REVIEW!”
Later this month (April 25-28th), Lancaster will welcome 175 + performers/musicians to 15 stages dotted throughout the downtown area all as a part of the Launch Music Conference and Festival!! There are all kinds of bands and artists of all types of genres. Being a local musician living here in Lancaster, it’s fun to watch the transformation take place as downtown comes alive and overrun with both musicians and concert goers.
Last week’s string of shows (XPN Wilminton, DE on Thursday + Hersheypark & The Cellar on Friday) made for a great combo to end the week! When Monday of this week rolled around, I was very wishful that all week’s would be the same and leave me feeling so “high” in the wake of gigs! (Makes me rather jealous of the bands/artists out there on TOUR!) A HUGE thank you to each and every venue who hosted us. ALL were great and treated us so very, very well! And thank you to each and everyone of you who came out to support these shows! Great times…
I am hopeful that you might take a few moments to watch the above video. It’s a clip of myself and The Dreadnought Brigade performing “Into The Mystic” by Van Morrison (one of my favorites). It was shot on Friday night at The Cellar (Lancaster) at our house concert. (BIG THANKS TO JOSH ALBRIGHT for opening up the night).
The Cellar is one of a good handful of such intimate venues that are popping up in our neck of the woods. Hosted by the insanely kind, warm and generous Gibble Family, it’s a great example of how amazingly intimate these types of shows can be. Check out one of these shows soon before you are regretful you did not listen to my advice sooner!
We have more of these house concerts coming up on the gig calendar, IN PARTICULAR next Saturday April 13th at the Waganer Household in Shrewsbury, PA. Email mark@markderosemusic.com for more details OR to make a reservation for next week’s show!
Friends… I cannot express how excited we are to be a part of the great music series at The Cellar this Friday. I suppose the best things I can do are the following:
Friends of MarkDeRoseMusic.com blog posts!!! It’s Monday… not always the easiest day of the week, but hopefully one that finds us tugging on the ol’ heart strings for some encouragement to go after what we seek in life. We are working towards something, right? Whether it’s raising a family, running a business OR simply getting to the end of another week so we can enjoy THE WEEKEND… we all need a little push here and there to get to where we want to be. » Continue reading “A Monday Morning Lullaby?”
A song’s production often involves breaking a tune down into it’s most basic elements of melody, lyric and rhythm… ESSENTIALLY, the song’s bare bones. In the attached video, Steven (Courtney) and I give you a tiny little snapshot into this process of recording a new tune . Although much is considered before cutting a take like the one you will see in this video, much more is considered afterwards through subsequent listens. » Continue reading “What a song’s bare bones look like!”
