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It's Been a Long, Cold, Lonely Winter
by fmarzano, posted 20 Apr 2009 12:54 PM
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Hi, everyone! Can you believe it’s been over two months since the last newsletter? How time flies! Since I don’t have to work on Thursdays this semester (I teach math), I’ve been playing at a different old folks’ home each week, all over Erie and Crawford County. Let me tell you, this has been an experience in itself. It’s incredibly rewarding, and every now and then something genuinely amusing happens: Elderly lady # 1: You didn’t enjoy that at all, did you? Elderly lady # 2 [angrily]: I enjoyed it very much! What makes you think I didn’t? #1: Well… the look on your face… #2: You read me wrong! #1: You made a face like this. [Opens her mouth and rolls her eyes back into her head] #2: I was having trouble breathing! I’m getting some recognition outside of northwest Pennsylvania, too. Last month, I stayed at the Glidden House hotel in Cleveland (which is also where I stay when I play at the Barking Spider Tavern). The concierge commented on the fedora I was wearing, and mentioned that he had one of his own for entertainment purposes (stage and theater). I mentioned that I write songs and play guitar. When I told him my name, he replied, “I’ve heard of you! You’re getting quite a good reputation around Cleveland.” I questioned the truth of this statement, but he added, “I’ve been to your website. You played at the Barking Spider last week, didn’t you?” [This was absolutely true.] If that wasn’t enough of an ego boost, this past weekend I played at the Spring Fever Folk Festival in Cambridge Springs, PA. This is a three-day event featuring music of all styles and genres. My performance went very well (although I was nervous and a couple of the high notes got away from me). As the next act, a reggae band called “I and I” was setting up, I noticed they looked familiar. Turns out I was right; they used to be known as “Rebel Music”. They changed their name because they got tired of rednecks showing up to their gigs expecting Southern Rock covers! I didn’t stick around for their set (it was such a nice day that I strolled around outside for awhile), but I saw them leave dejectedly when their set was finished. I heard one say to the other, “Well… that was a hard act to follow.” That made me feel good! The CD (“But Enough About Me”) has been selling well (some guy in Denmark bought one!), but I’m much happier “making” music than “having made” music. The upshot is that, once school lets out for the summer, I’ll be going back into the studio for more recording! And now (the part you’ve been waiting for)… upcoming gigs! Sat. 5/16 – Teller’s Row Coffee Bar: noon – 2pm Wed. 5/27 – Barking Spider : 10pm – 12:30am Sat. 6/6 – Presque Isle Coffee Shop: 3 – 5pm Sat. 6/13 – Teller’s Row Coffee Bar: noon – 2pm (As usual, check the website for directions, etc.) Thanks to all of you for your continued support. I apologize for the length of this newsletter; I hope you found it worth the effort. Remember, you only get about 80 summers in a lifetime. Make each one count! Rock long and prosper, Frank |
A Romantic Evening with Frank Marzano!
by fmarzano, posted 08 Feb 2009 11:13 AM
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“Romantic evening” and “Frank Marzano” aren’t phrases that one frequently encounters in the same sentence, but this Saturday (Valentine’s Day), I’ll be playing at the Presque Isle Coffeehouse in Erie from 6 – 8 pm. I have a new video up on YouTube: “An American Soldier in Iraq”. I wanted to write a song demonstrating that one could support the war or not, yet still have respect for the young men and women putting their lives on the line for our country. The video is basically a collage of images I collected from the Internet and may be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT-X0K6Z_5k&feature=channel_page I also added some photographs to my website (www.frankmarzano.com) of me playing at Charlie’s Pizza Pub in Edinboro and the Barking Spider Tavern in Cleveland. Yikes! Not only does the camera add ten pounds, it pushes one’s hairline back about three inches! Other gigs I have coming up include: Sat. 3/7 – Barking Spider Tavern (Cleveland) 8:30 – 9:30 Sat. 3/28 – Downtown Music Festival (Meadville) Sat. 4/18 – Spring Fever Folk Festival (Cambridge Springs) 2:30 - 3 Wed. 5/27 – Barking Spider Tavern (Cleveland) 10pm – 12:30am To paraphrase Mae West, “come out and see me sometime”. Well, that’s about it for now. Thank you for your continued support, and hope to see a lot of you at Presque Isle Coffeehouse for Valentine’s Day! Rock long and prosper, Frank |
What a Difference 13 Years Makes!
by fmarzano, posted 29 Nov 2008 10:55 AM
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Hi, everybody! Happy Thanksgiving (or, as I like to call it, “Christmas, Part 1”)! What a fall it’s been! In October, I played at Charlie’s Pizza Pub in Edinboro. They have live music every Saturday night, and once a month my friends Sam and Frank host Salmon Frank’s Musical adventure, in which the band Salmon Frank alternates sets with musical guests. In October the guests were myself and Carl Wozniak, another excellent songwriter in northwest Pennsylvania. There were two slots: an earlier one and a later one. Neither one of us wanted the earlier slot because Charlie’s was still showing the Penn State game, at which a boisterous group of fans was noisily cheering. Carl lost the coin toss and had to go on first. There he was, singing a really sad song about a breakup, with people screaming, “Yeah!” and “Alright!” I felt so bad for him! But karma had plans for me, too. At a gig in Meadville a couple of weeks later, my normally reliable Kustom PA shorted out in one speaker. I brought it in to be repaired, but it wasn’t going to be ready in time for my gig in Cleveland next week, so I dug out my old Crate PA from the “Foul Weather Friend” days. The Crate PA only accepts 1/4” inputs, so with my vocal microphone (which has a three-prong plug-in) I have to use an adapter. The Kustom, however, accepts 1/4" or 3-prong inputs, so once I got the Kustom, I put the adapter away. Well, when I got to the gig in Cleveland, guess what I forgot to take with me? I played “straight acoustic” that night (that is, without amplification). My gig the following week in Edinboro was no better. By this time, I had my Kustom PA back, but when I opened it up (after dragging it up two flights of stairs), it was missing the cord that went from the PA to the electrical outlet. Another unamplified performance! By the time I played at the Creative Crust in Meadville I finally had a fully functioning PA again; however I took my life in my hands driving there in a snowstorm that dumped over two feet of snow on the tri-state region. Oh, the joys of being a gigging musician! When I first came to Edinboro (in 1995), I took a day trip to Cleveland one Sunday. My plan was to visit the Cedar Lee Theater (on the corner of Cedar and Lee). One way is to take Interstate 271 (the eastern boundary of the Cleveland area) and then to proceed west on Cedar. However, having missed my exit, I was forced to take Interstate 480 (the southern boundary of the Cleveland area) and then proceed north on Lee. Holy cow. What a rough neighborhood. I rolled every stop sign, and ran every red light. By the time I got to the theater, I was afraid to get out of my car. What a difference 13 years makes! Today, the Cedar/Lee area is bustling with boutiques, restaurants, and coffeeshops. Among the latter is Phoenix Coffee, where I’ll be playing on February 6. Other gigs I have coming up include: Sat. 12/13 – The Market House (Meadville, PA) 12:30 – 1:30 pm Fri. 12/19 – The Creative Crust (Meadville, PA) 6 – 8 pm Sat. 12/20 – The Bank Coffeehouse (Meadville, PA) noon – 2 pm Wed. 1/7 – Barking Spider Tavern (Cleveland, OH) 9 – 11:30 pm Sat. 1/10 – Border’s Café (Erie, PA) 7 – 9 pm Sat. 3/7 – Barking Spider Tavern (Cleveland, OH) 8:30 – 9:30 pm Sat. 3/28 – Downtown Music Festival (Meadville, PA) TBA Wed. 5/27 – Barking Spider Tavern (Cleveland, OH) 10pm – 12:30am Finally, I hope that everyone reading this has an absolutely wonderful Christmas! I know I should probably say something politically correct like “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy Holidays”, but old habits are difficult to break. With this one, I ain’t gonna try too hard. Rock long and prosper, Frank |
Another Review, Another Cover Version
by fmarzano, posted 20 Oct 2008 05:35 PM
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Hi, everybody! A lot has happened since the last newsletter. First of all, I’d like to thank Aaron Kupferberg for his fair and honest review of my CD on his music blog, Powerpopaholic: http://powerpopaholic.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html (Scroll down to September 11.) Canadian artist Jaimie Vernon has put out his third solo album, Nightmare @ 20,000 Watts, an homage to 60’s and 70’s Top 40 radio in the vein of Roger Waters’ Radio KAOS. It has no less than seventy tracks (as MP3’s), with titles like “The World Is Googling” and “RADIO Killed the Radio Star”. I mention Jaimie’s album here because it includes a superb cover of a song I wrote, “Drink Her Goodbye”. You can hear tracks from Jaimie’s excellent new CD at his MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/jaimievernonsmovingtargetz I uploaded another video to Motionbox: “Alone”, a song I wrote in 1997 the day after Princess Diana died: http://www.motionbox.com/videos/a79edfb31c16ed2e With these videos, I’m trying to concentrate on songs that, for one reason or another, didn’t make it onto either of my CD’s. And the gigs keep on coming. I took some time off in August while I had surgery, but since then I’ve been pretty busy: September (4 gigs), October (2 gigs), November (4 gigs), and December (2 gigs). Here’s what I have coming up: Sat. 10/25 – Charlie’s Pizza Pub (Edinboro, PA): 9 pm Wed. 1/7 - The Barking Spider Tavern (Cleveland, OH): 9 - 11:30 pm Sat. 3/7 - The Barking Spider Tavern (Cleveland, OH): 8:30 - 9:30 pm Wed. 5/27 - The Barking Spider Tavern (Cleveland, OH): 10pm - 12:30am Again, thanks for your support. Without you, it would be - well, not impossible – but substantially more difficult. Rock long and prosper, Frank |
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