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What a Difference 13 Years Makes!
by fmarzano, posted 29 Nov 2008 09:55 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 04:35 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 |
New Recordings and Website Updates
by fmarzano, posted 24 Jul 2008 09:08 AM
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What a summer it's been! I've been playing gigs left and right: May (3 gigs), June (4 gigs), and July (3 gigs). I've mostly been playing in the Cleveland and Meadville areas, though I do have shows coming up in Erie and western New York (more on that later). I've been commissioned to do a musical work! I've been asked to put together a guitar instrumental of the Northern Illinois University fight song, to commemorate the victims of the shooting that took place earlier this year. I attended graduate school at NIU for six years, so this is something near and dear to my heart. You can listen to it at www.frankmarzano.com (under "Music"). I've also put together another collection of 4-track demos, BETA MALE -- 19 songs that I've written over the last two years. Here's the deal: every song I write, I record on my Yamaha 4-track cassette machine. The songs that turn out exceptionally well I then record professionally in a studio. Speaking of songs... I've added quite a few to my live repertoire: 4 originals ("June", "Humble Street", "Mandy Jean", and "An American Soldier in Iraq") and 2 covers ("Kiss Me" and "Someday, Someway"). If you haven't been to frankmarzano.com in a while, check it out. I've revamped the "Links" section to include the videos I've made (including my latest, "I Believe"). I've also added the CD reviews from Venangago and Under the Tangerine Tree to the "Press" section. In the meantime, if you wish to experience the dulcitones of my music in person, here are some gigs I have coming up: Fri., 7/25 -- The Creative Crust (Meadville, PA) 6 -- 8 pm Sat., 8/23 -- Intermezzo Coffeehouse (Fredonia, NY) 12 - 1:30 pm
Fri., 8/29 -- The Creative Crust (Meadville, PA) 6 -- 8 pm Fri., 9/5 -- The Barking Spider (Cleveland, OH) 8 -- 9:30 pm Fri., 9/12 -- Border's Café (Erie, PA) 7 -- 9 pm Remember, you only get about 80 summers in a lifetime. Make each one count. Now go forth and rock! |
Some Upcoming Gigs This Summer
by fmarzano, posted 30 May 2008 09:34 PM
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Hey, everyone,
Just wanted to fill you in on some gigs I have coming up this summer:
Saturday, June 7 - The Bank Coffeehouse (Meadville, PA) 12 - 2 pm Friday, June 13 - The Barking Spider Tavern (Cleveland, OH) 8 - 9:30 pm Saturday, June 21 - Berry Jam'n Jazz Festival (Conneaut Lake, PA) 4 - 4:45 pm
Thursday, July 17 - Dewey's Coffee House (Cleveland, OH) 7 - 9 pm
Let's keep the tri-state region rockin' this summer.
All the best,
Frank
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