Keep on Turnin'
Deborah Berg | Posted on Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 5:57PM Greetings friends!
Like Tina Turner sings in "Proud Mary," those big wheels keep on turning, and just like that, the days get shorter, the nights get cooler and autumn rolls on in.
Here in NYC the weather may change, but the music stays playing, and Monica Passin’s Field of Stars this Sunday night is upon us! This event happens every last Sunday of the month at The Treehouse at 2A, a cozy upstairs music club with a small but stocked cocktail bar and a great soundman - the one and only Tom Clark!
This Sunday, October 29th, I am first up at 8:30pm with a 40 minute set! That is a lot of time! Which is good because I have four new songs to play for you! Plus a few other new-ish songs that some of you may recognize from past gigs.
Next up will be the fabulous and lovely Sherryl Marshall and then, to finish out the evening of women songwriters, our hostess with the mostest, Monica Passin!
Please come and enjoy a night of groovy goodliness. Adding musical tastes, flavors and backing vocals are stellar guests, Charlie Giordano, Stephanie Seymour, and Chris Tedesco.
Sunday, October 29
8:30-11:00pm
The Treehouse at 2A - upstairs
25 Avenue A at 2nd Street
Cover - Pass the Bucket!
The Singing Seniors and I started our classes again on October 12th, accompanied by the illustrious Clare Cooper. On the song docket this season so far are: "Can’t Get Used to Losing You" (Doc Pomus), "Islands in the Stream" (Bee Gees), "Fields of Gold" (Sting), "On The Street Where You Live" (Lerner & Loewe from “My Fair Lady”), "I Won't Back Down" (Tom Petty), and "Jambalaya" (Hank Williams).
We are gearing up for a December 15th recital at the Lenox Hill Senior Center at 54th and Lexington on the lower level of St Peter’s Church. 1:00pm. Come on down! Take the 6 Train to 51st Street, easy as pie!
Going back in time a bit now…
JUNE
In June, we celebrated Mike’s 70th birthday on the beach. The photo to the right was snapped just after the more formal photo. Ebet baked a lovely checkerboard cake and then the kids decorated it. It was delicious!
AUGUST
Being part of the teaching staff at Puget Sound Guitar Workshop this summer was a true honor. I taught songwriting and stagecraft and lucked out with wonderful students who inspired me with their creativity, enthusiasm, and dedication to their craft. Two stagecraft students -- strangers before the week of camp -- even played a gig together in their shared hometown the week after!
With Phylis and DarrelNot for nothing, the directors of PSGW, Janet Peterson and Peter Langston received the 2017 Folk Alliance Region -- Best of the West Award for outstanding leadership and coordination! Visiting my dear dad and his lovely wife, Phylis, is always the very best way to round out my time in the beautiful PNW.
SEPTEMBER
It’s a good thing I went to Dusty Strings in Seattle after camp, with Jeff and Teresa Nelson and found a wonderful Goodall guitar there! I played about a dozen guitars there but kept sitting down with the one I finally purchased. I went back the next day and they wrapped it up and shipped it to me. It has a wonderful tone and plays like a dream.
My New Goodall
My wonderful 1993 Perry Bechtel Martin OM-28 guitar needed a bit of TLC, so I took it to the Martin guitar factory for some serious bodywork. I would highly recommend taking a drive out to Nazareth, PA, and taking the tour of the factory. I'll bet you know what Band song I was singing in the car…
It's my loyal work horse guitar and I will still travel with it when I fly anywhere. It too has a beautiful sound and will soon play smoothly again. I love talking about guitars. Can you tell?
After a summer sojourn, Gospel Choir is back! Middle Collegiate Church at 7th Street and Avenue A. Last week, I sang the solo on a wonderful song by Margaret Douroux called “One More Day.” Sometimes the simpler the message, the better.
I am proud to report, in honor of the 16th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, my song “Fly Now” aired on Women of Substance Radio.
For the first time, I visited the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in mid-September when my Berg family was in town. Some of you may know that back in 2001, I became the “flower lady” at the Ladder 3 firehouse on East 13th Street. I took care of the flowers at the front of the firehouse that were left by friends and neighbors for the days, weeks, and months after the attack. I was so moved to see Ladder 3’s fire truck in the museum. I have saved newspaper articles and photos from that Flower Lady time with the intention to make a photo book of that indescribable year of service at Ladder 3.
NEVER FORGET
OCTOBER
Mike and I took a wonderful road trip up to Rhode Island and Maine. Visiting Keenan in Newport is always fun. Portland is an awesome city and Acadia National Park outside Bar Harbor is spectacular! Imagine hiking along the craggy cliffs of the Maine coast with its rugged treeline, breathing clean, crisp air. Ahhh, Nature! We must have eaten our weight in lobster, along with some lobster laksa -- a Malaysian curry base noodle soup, done up Maine style. So delicious!
I was absolutely heartbroken to hear the news of Tom Petty’s sudden death. I resonated with his music so much that I felt as if we were close personal friends. Looking back through the years, so many memories seem to have a Tom Petty song as their soundtrack. The first Tom Petty song I covered was in 1977 in San Francisco, where I sang “Refugee” with Random Walk, a cover band I was in briefly between Contact dance rehearsals.
On October 15th, I joined a group of musicians at the 12th Street Bar & Grill in Park Slope, Brooklyn, at the Radigan Roundup, headed by Terry Radigan, for an evening dedicated to the music of Tom Petty. A dozen or so musicians performed their favorite Tom Petty songs (I sang “I Won’t Back Down”) and took heart in the legacy he has left us. It was so moving, I did not want the evening to end.
xxx R.I.P. T.P. xxx
That’s it for now, Thanks so much for reading all this and giving a rat’s ass!
Take care, be well and may peace be with you!
Love,
xxx,
Deborah