* MVLiveMusic has changed (slightly)!
The "Musicians" and "Shows" pages now
open in a new window or tab when you
click on the navigation bar (which has
been moved to the top of this column).
You may have to allow pop-ups from this
site in your browser - don't worry,
you'll never get annoying ads from MVLiveMusic.com.
* Audio greetings from Phil Keaggy and
Steve Acker have been added to the YRRH
Rockfest article below.
Keep checking back for more updates.
* You can now view the background
picture by scrolling to the bottom of
this page. How many musicians do you
recognize?
Youngstown Rock and Roll History ROCKFEST
YOUNGSTOWN ROCK AND ROLL HISTORY is a collection
of Yahoo! Music groups dedicated to the Youngstown-area bands of the
1960's and 70's. Moderator Jac Riblet created the first group in 2004,
and has since added three more to accommodate extra volumes of files.
The YRRH members list includes many, many musicians from bands of the
era, most of who are still performing locally or in their current
locations elsewhere across the country, and fans who still fondly
remember those bands and musicians and the venues where they “hung out”.
The original group currently boasts 198 members, and is where all
message activity occurs. YRRH holds an amazing collection of music
recordings and photos from the era, and other fascinating information
such as a database of bands and musicians and links to other
memorabilia. You can view the YRRH action by clicking on the following
links:
A Yahoo! ID and an approved YRRH membership
request are required before you can participate in the groups.
YOUNGSTOWN ROCK AND ROLL HISTORY held its first
Rockfest August 9th and 10th. YRRH members arrived
from all over the Mahoning Valley and the rest of Ohio, and as far away
as Florida and the West Coast, some of them camping overnight at the
invitation-only event. The two days were filled with great music - a
24-hour jam fest. Jim Gustafson of Poobah capped off the event Sunday
afternoon playing his own material, backed by LJ Fortier on second
guitar, Chris Frederick on drums, and Chris’ brother Greg on bass. The
four musicians laid down such tight licks that many in the audience
didn't realize this was the first time they ever played together
(including the Frederick brothers!) You can
enjoy sample video and audio clips of the jam here:
LJ Fortier played in Freeman Sound in the 70’s,
and currently performs his solo act at many local venues (check the
Shows page for LJ’s gigs). You can hear a sample clip of his song “Lost
Ways” in the MVLiveMusic player.
Greg Frederick played in area bands before
relocating to Oregon, where he currently lays down perfect bass lines in
the band
Rogue Suspects, who have appeared on tour with James Brown, Bo Diddley, Robert Cray, and many, many others.
Jim Gustafson IS Poobah, “the world’s most
collectible psych rock band”, whose original albums have sold among
collectors for as much as $900. Poobah holds the record for the most
shows at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where Jim was recently
interviewed for Goldmine magazine’s National Record Show program. Jim
started playing in high school in Daze Endz before forming Biggy Rat
with bandmates Scott Hunter and Gary DiPasquale (who were also at the
Rockfest), and then Poobah in 1972. Jim currently tours with Mike Fortino on drums and George
DiGiovanni on bass. Poobah will be
playing a free show along with Eddie Money at the Parkersburg (WV)
Homecoming Festival this Friday, August 15th. Poobah’s most
recent CD “Underground” was a three-year recording project, and can be
found on Poobah’s
website and
MySpace page, along with other music clips, upcoming shows, and
Poobah merchandise.
Additional YRRH member/performers at this year’s Rockfest: Jerry Centifanti
(Next of Kin), Lee Stone (Merry Christmas), Mike Smith, Gary DiPasquale
(Biggy Rat), Scott Hunter (Biggy Rat), John Bates, Mick Malone, Steve Lawrence
(L.A.W., Coconut), Dick Scullin.
Phil Keaggy (Squires, New Hudson Exit, Volume IV, and of course, Glass Harp) and Steve Acker (L.A.W.) couldn't make it to this first
Rockfest, so they sent greetings, which you can listen to here:
Jac plans to make the Rockfest an annual event,
and promises to bring additional, very special, musician guests next
year. Don't miss out - join YRRH and be invited to Rockfest 2009. (8/13/08)
Who was who at the Who's Hoo?
Who? How 'bout an assortment of
outstanding local musicians, capped
off with a fine performance by
popular Columbus performer Mike
Perkins.
Adam Jacobs has been singing and
playing around this area since
high school except for a few
years out of town, including
time spent in Columbus where he
met Perkins (a few Who's Hoo attendees noted the
similarity of rhythmic style
between Mike and Adam...
coincidence?). Adam has been
playing Thursdays at Uncle
Butter's for several months, and
struck an agreement with the
tavern to hold a music festival
- the Who's Hoo. Well-known
local musician / promoter Trevor
Quillan and bassist Moe Angelo
(the Kellys) were recruited to
broadcast the live festival over
their RuKus internet radio. Adam
also asked several of his
musician friends to join in for
half-hour sets.
Trevor must have had some rain
left over from his recent
Furthermind festival, and he
brought it along to Mahoning Avenue in
Warren that night. The first
storm threw hail at the
electronic equipment on Uncle
Butter's patio, but the sun
peeked out just after the 5
o'clock start time and proceeded
to bake the first few performers,
French Blue (actually "Seven
Saturdays" - see below), yours truly -
the Professor, Tony T., and Joey
B. At that point the wind-driven
rain returned, sending the
visitors to shelter while Adam,
Trevor, Moe, and Tony scrambled
to keep their equipment dry.
Rick Hartley played during the
next semi-dry interval,
accompanied by Larry Nell on
soprano sax and flute and Vince Monti on conga. Another storm
caused the gang to give up on
the portable gazebos and regroup
under the permanent bar roof.
Denny London started the next
set, followed by Trevor, and
then Adam took the stage for a
few numbers. A short break for
Mike Perkins' setup turned into
a half-hour battle with an
intermittent hum accompanied by
an occasional nerve-rattling
screech from the PA. Finally,
after solving the problem by
disconnecting most of his
effects, Mike proceeded to
entertain the crowd, bringing
them out of their seats to dance
on the deck. The party lasted
until 1 AM and the many faithful
visitors gave all the performers
a standing ovation.
French Blue is Jennifer Lamb
(from Warren, via Austintown) on
vocals, and Steve Pownell
(Niles) on acoustic rhythm
guitar. At Who's Hoo they
were accompanied by Jimmy Martin
(Warren) on lead guitar and
harmonies, Sam Petillo (Niles)
on bass guitar, and Robb
Byron (Howland) on drums.
Jennifer explained that she and
Steve are the cover duo French
Blue, and the full band (who's
name, Seven Saturdays, became
official right there at Who's
Hoo) was formed to perform their
original material. French Blue
hung around long enough to
listen to the Professor's set,
then hurried off to their other
gig of the evening. Robb also
had a later gig with his band
SHAKEDOWN. You can check out
French Blue at
www.myspace.com/frenchblueohio.
If you missed the festival and
the live RuKus broadcast you may
be able to catch some of the
performances on
rukusradio.net. (7/28/08)
Mahoning Valley Live Music is a year old!
Conceived, created, and
published to the web (as a Road Runner
personal page) in February 2007, and soon
after moved to current URL - http://mvlivemusic.com.
The Shows page is the most popular, averaging more than 45 views per day.
The
Musicians page has grown to 144 perfomers and their website links.
Over 5000 "hits" to date, averaging over 30 visitors a day, and growing fast!
I'm Steve, "the Professor", and I'm the
creator of this site. I'm an amateur
guitar player who enjoys going out to listen to local musicians and
occasionally playing a few songs at open-mike nights. I felt there
was a need for a place where people like me could find information
on all of the excellent, hard-working bar musicians in the Mahoning
Valley - who's playing where and when, and background info on the
musicians themselves - so I created this site. In fact, I want the
musicians to be the spotlight of this site. If you are in a band
or perform as an individual, and I haven't talked to you yet,
*Click
here* to be included on this site.
If you aren't a musician,
but enjoy listening to live music at local
bars as much as I do, I want this site to
meet your expectations. You will be able
to see who's playing where and when, what
style of music to expect, and how to find
your way to the pub if it's your first
visit - see the
Shows page. You will also be able to
read bios on all local performers or link
to their own web sites in our
Musicians page. Check out visitors'
comments on the local music scene in the
FORUM, and post your own 2¢ worth. Let
me know if there is anything else you want
to see on this site that I didn't think of
yet, and tell all your friends to visit
MVLiveMusic.com!
Who was who
Conceived, created, and
published to the web (as a Road Runner
personal page) in February 2007, and soon
after moved to current URL - http://mvlivemusic.com.
