2 posts tagged “rockwood music hall”

Some time ago, I picked up a mandolin and made my way to the weekly bluegrass jam session run by a fellow named Sherriff Bob over at The Baggot Inn in the West Village. It was my first time there with an instrument, and I knew less than little about what I was supposed to be doing. At some point, an older Irish fellow grabbed the mando and started showing me a thing or two about basic chords.

After some time, a younger guy told him to "let the man play the thing," so I returned to my fumblings. After a while, we struck up a conversation and I found out that he'd previously been in a band called Watercress that'd had some success in Ireland. Now, he was in New York and starting a new project, Sonovagun. That was my introduction to Dan Donnelly.

Since then, I've heard him play only a handful of times, and I was fortunate enough to have grabbed some audio from his most recent set at Rockwood. I've included a Bob Dylan-esque tune called "Diamonds In The Road."

One of the fun things about Dan's playing is that his (mostly) solo shows feature him and about half a dozen guitar loops. He's a master pedaler -- sometimes you can't tell that there's only one person on stage. And then there's his, er, Irish disposition. At one point during the set, he noticed a bottle of beer magically had appeared at his feet and he said that he was glad he'd gotten a refill, because he was quickly running out of personality.

Sonovagun is playing at Ulysses this Saturday, Feb. 23rd at 10pm.

Marc Von Em is a blues/folk guitarist who I first came across one night I randomly stopped by Rockwood Music Hall in the LES. As it happens, that was one of two nights of live performances he later pulled for his CD, Live At Rockwood. If you listen closely, you may be able to hear me whooping in the background.

I'm pleased to say that Marc was one of the musicians we pulled for We Had Voices, and you can hear some of his licks in that podcast. What I have here is one of his newer songs, with lyrics characteristic of blues: minimalistic, repetitive, call/answer, and a wry, soulful wit. The ditty is "Many Lies" and has one of my favorite lines. You took away my ham and eggs, you took away my ham and eggs... what am I supposed to have with my coffee? Sing it, brother.