Belle Monroe & Her Brewglass Boys (wrap up)

By Greg Pool

Host, TreeHouseConcerts.org

Direct download (MP3)

Here's a wrap-up of the visit by Belle Monroe & Her Brewglass Boys to Tree House Concerts (pictures and after-show interview/encore):

* The band was Belle Monroe (vocals, guitar), Ted Silverman (mandolin, vocals), Jordan Klein (banjos, vocals), Diana Greenberg (fiddle, vocals), Tom Drohan (bass) and Will Fourt (dobro).

* I don't know about you, but when Belle and the Boys started up, in that wonderful heat and view of Carmel Valley ... I got a little choked up. Bluegrass in the backyard has never sounded better!

* Belle and the Boys came down from San Francisco, where the post-modern explosion of roots music has come and ... well, not gone but definitely hanging out on your front porch asking for a beer.

* When Belle sang "Fire On The Mountain" in full view of the remnants of the old Robles del Rio lodge across the valley, which just burned down last May, I got goosebumps. Here's the view before and after from our deck.

* Belle (aka Pam Brandon) and the Boys are a fixture at the Strawberry Music Festival, and are lucky to be able to perform with almost anybody at any camp, including some well-known Main Stage acts.

* Although I had known of her for years, I first met Pam in 2006 at the Chickwagon's All Girl Revue, a Sunday afternoon tradition at Strawberry at Camp Cowlick. Here's what I wrote in 2006.

* I saw Tom (bass), Jordan (banjo) and Ted (mandolin) back in 2008 in Utah at the (old) Founder's Folk & Bluegrass Festival at Snowbird, performing in the kids band, Toodala.

* As usual, real musicians have day jobs, and Pam's is structural engineer. She helped build the new California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Wow!

* Look for Pam in her other band, Lost Weekend. It's western swing and they play mostly in the Bay Area but sometimes get down to Santa Cruz.

* Look for Will Fourt in Lady A and The Heeldraggers. And Diana Greenberg in Female Trouble.

* Belle and the Boys are playing next at the Hobb's Grove Bluegrass Festival in Sanger, near Fresno CA, from September 24-26. Also look for then at Amnesia, 853 Valencia in the Mission.

* As they revealed in the after-show interview, this was their first house concert performance but they have plenty of experience with acoustic shows (e.g. Parkfield Cafe last May).

* For the first time, we used reusable plates and utensils for the potluck. We picked them up at Eco in Carmel, and they're made by Preserve.

Greg Tannen

By Greg Pool

Host, TreeHouseConcerts.org

Direct download (MP3)

Greg Tannen, who last performed in 2005 at our old location in Pacific Grove, dropped by our new house in Carmel Valley for an interview and performance. More photos from his visit.

* Greg was actually on vacation and didn't even have a guitar to perform with, so we pulled out my old Gibson, sat him down in our living room, and recorded a short interview for you.

* We started to record our interviews after a show only a month after Greg played our house (sorry man!), starting with Dana & Sue Robinson (when I only had a vocal mic!).

* Greg has two brothers in the LA area (a screenwriter and songwriter), so he makes it out a bunch anyways to perform and work, but not always to be a tourist.

* He is now off to finish up production of his next album, due out November 1, so this was a much-needed vacation.

* Greg mention having opened for Roseanne Cash and John Hammond. Lucky duck.

* He's going to open for his brother and sister-in-law's band, The Weepies, this November. We had previously discovered The Weepies through Greg and love that band!

* The Weepies new album comes out end of August. Our daughter, Sonoma, liked the new video for Be My Thrill.

* The Weepies play with another Tree House Concert's artist, Beth Amsel, in Atlanta come November.

* That time Greg was on TV? That was an ending shot from the ABC show Dirty Sexy Money, when he performed with The Weepies playing mandolin.

* Catch Greg on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gregtannen

* And yes, that's Greg Tannen in the header of this blog, in a photograph shot by Steve Zmak at that 2005 concert.

Joe Craven (wrap up)

By Greg Pool

Host, TreeHouseConcerts.org

Here's a wrap-up of the visit by Joe Craven to Tree House Concerts (pictures and after-show interview/encore):

* We first learned of Joe Craven by attending the Strawberry Music Festival for many years, where he always seemed to be playing with somebody on the main stage.

* Joe called his assortment of percussive equipment in front of him his "yard sale."

* His two main instruments he played were a mandolin and violin, but beyond that it was anybody's guess.

* He played some bongo drums, an angel food cake pan, a hub cap or serving dish, a garbage can, the jawbone of a donkey, a banjo made from a hominy can, a mandolin made from a bedpan, and a tamborine.

* After the interview/encore, Joe also pulled out his children's cell phone toy to play as well.

* At his feet were an assortment of pedals and boxes, including a green box that allowed him to record and then loop all the "found sounds" in his yard sale. This created a dense layer of percussive goodness that allowed Joe to play against with his mandolin or violin.

* Another artist whom I like that loops like that is KT Tunstall, available in "that great repository of folk" Joe calls YouTube.

* Joe also did a couple of amazing spoken word performances, the second while balancing on the ledge of the stage.

* Joe waxed on about world music and mentioned a documentary film called Throw Down Your Heart, where Bela Fleck returns to Africa to learn about the origins of the banjo.