Calendar
“When Mike Hastings isn’t playing at local venues such as Toad, he can often be found busking around Davis and Harvard Square. Next time you’re out, keep an ear out for the sound of guitar and a tambourine, and if you see Mike, stop and listen for a while. You just might leave a little warmer.” – Sound of Boston
Give a listen HERE
David Johnston – if you don’t know him, you have to stop by TOAD for Blue Monday – take a listen HERE where David talks about his influences and plays a bit of music –
Just look at the band; Dennis Brennan on harmonica, guitar and vocals. Tim Gearan on guitar and vocals. Steve Sadler on lap steel. Jim Haggerty on bass and Andy Plaisted on drums.
Check out a clip from one of their shows HERE – After making it thru Monday, YOU deserve a night out!
Ship of the Sun celebrates the music of the Grateful Dead with a fun, free-wheeling, danceable show that pays tribute to the sounds of rock & roll’s most unique band.
Ship of the Sun came together in 2015 around each member’s love of the songs, spirit, and improvisation adventurousness of the Dead.
Tonight on the day before the anniversary of Jerry Garcia‘s passing (sight) and featuring beer by Magic Hat –
The MoonRaiders are a Western Swing band that combine elements of Jazz, Rock n’ Roll, Country, and Truck Driving music.
Award winning guitarist Chris Hersch (formerly of Girls Guns & Glory) leads this quartet of accomplished musicians, improvising and singing their way through an eclectic set that will please both the dancer and music aficionado.
Drawing on a unique repertoire often overlooked in the American Songbook, The MoonRaiders pivot between Bob Wills, Chuck Berry, Dave Dudley, Commander Cody, and original music, all in one show.
This band’s style is Honky Tonk Trucker Jazz and Rock n’ Roll!!!!
Fred Griffeth fronts Fandango – Their celebrated selection of Americana music draws a loyal band of pious sisters and reform school brothers! – Truth . . .
Honey Talk is a fresh, innovative, and comfortable quartet that performs classic hits and inviting originals making you feel sweeter than honey.
Honey talk is:
Cody Nilsen – Guitar/Vocals
Steve Bunce- Bass/Vocals
Ben Blanchard – Keys/Vocals
Pat “Daddy” Dalton – Drums/Vocals
check out one of their songs HERE
BAKER THOMAS BAND “…kind of a musical Robin Hood, robbing freely from the classic roots of American music and bringing it back to the common folks.” – Billy Beard, Talent buyer/Boston Session drummer.
Over the course of his career, Big Ben Hillman has shared the stage with a host of diverse and well known musicians including hip hop stars Method Man and Ghostface Killa from the Wu Tang Clan, De La Soul, Biz Markie, Digable Planets and Mix Master Mike of The Beasty Boys. He has also been seen performing
Big Ben Hillman is quite the smooth retro funkster…. The production is excellent on all levels, keeping the listener in a comfortable, easy-flowing harmonic place. Ben never falters – his compositions and production show signs of a master at work enjoying his craft. I’m just going to think of Big Ben Hillman as the new Barry White on the opposite end of the vocal spectrum. – T Max, The Noise
After some twenty-five years of marriage, long time local, touring, and studio musician Jimmy Ryan teamed up to form The Nocturnal Adoration Society with his wife, Donna Sartanowicz to write songs and play music. This new collaboration seamlessly blends a variety of musical perspectives and with only bass guitar and mandolin/mandocello this pairing is like nothing else out there. Straight-foward, honest songs delivered with heartfelt harmonies and intricate mandolin work.
Jimmy Ryan has been living, working, and playing in and around Boston for some 30 years. The founding member of The Blood Oranges in the late 1980’s, Jimmy has gone on to front a number of bands including Hayride, The Clockburners, Wooden Leg, and The Architects of Reason. An experienced studio musician he can be found on records by Mophine, Warren Zevon, and The Paddy Saul Band.
Donna Sartanowicz is a high school art teacher who moonlights as a musician, singer, and songwriter. Creative work is creative work whether it is painting or playing music. A member of the all-girl punk pop band Fertile Virgin back in the late 80’s early 90’s – Donna and two of the other women in the band reunited in Summer of 2016 to form a new band now called The Very.
“Stan Martin is a keeper of the traditional country music flame. He’s a Don Rich/Danny Gatton-schooled Telecaster-loving guitar picker, a virtuoso who is not a showoff. And he’s a skilled writer and musician who is unabashedly, unapologetically country. Martin’s original songs have a moving, sometimes comic, honesty. He retains a romantic toughness, as with some of Waylon Jennings early 1970s tunes written before the outlaw stance became a circus act.” Rick Allen Vintage Guitar
“Vinyl record sales are at a 28 year high” – Fortune April 2016 – See/Hear for yourself at Sunday Spins – every Sunday – bring your records and take turns sharing your faves!
SPOTTED TIGER – A musical bridge from Willie Nelson to Bob Marley where JJ Cale is the toll collector. Featuring original music by songwriters Laurence Scudder & Erik White . . .
David Johnston – if you don’t know him, you have to stop by TOAD for Blue Monday – take a listen HERE where David talks about his influences and plays a bit of music –
Just look at the band; Dennis Brennan on harmonica, guitar and vocals. Tim Gearan on guitar and vocals. Steve Sadler on lap steel. Jim Haggerty on bass and Andy Plaisted on drums.
Check out a clip from one of their shows HERE – After making it thru Monday, YOU deserve a night out!
The Blue Ribbons was formed by singer/songwriter/keyboardist James Rohr.
They have been building a base of devoted fans with their original and soulful music.
Described as
“Ray Charles and Tom Waits on a pirate ship with Sun Ra and Captain Beefheart,” they combine “upbeat disillusionment and celebratory fatalism with musicianship” – Charan Devereux; Boston Globe.
“Frank Drake is one of the most unique musicians around. He is refreshingly free of conventions and covers a wide spectrum of folk-pop-and-more styles . . . ” Steve Morse – Boston Globe
“Straddling the line where folk/roots meets rock/blues, Danielle Miraglia has a voice that can go from a raspy come-hither purr to an Etta James-esque powerhouse belt, although she may be best known for her lead thumb — a heavy, thumping strike on her Gibson that’s backdrop percussion in itself.” – Lauren Daley – Boston Globe
John Cate is a prolific songwriter. He has written more than 1,000 songs and recorded 12 albums since returning to music in 1996, two of which have been released by Blue Rose Records in Germany. Producers include Anthony J. Resta (Elton John, Collective Soul, Duran Duran, Shawn Mullins) for “A Whole New Day”, “X”, “The Wonder Show”, “Livin in the Moment”, David Minehan (The Replacements) for “Wild Way”, “X” and “A Whole New Day”, and Rob Fraboni (Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan for “Two Brothers”.
John’s songs are featured in film, network television and on DVDs, including such projects and programs as “NCIS”, “Justified”, “American Idol”, “Num3ers” and many others.
Baker Thomas Band: “A whole bunch of musicians and a whole bunch of instruments, come together to deliver an electrifying show which promises a whole bunch of fun” -Tracey Delfino, Trespass Music
Tacoma Narrows is a 6 piece folk-rock band rapidly gaining popularity in New York City and across the country.
Here’s part of their story:
We’ve taken all the best parts of folk, bluegrass, Americana, funk and rock, and stirred them up to create a new American sound, and we’re becoming known for our high-energy, dance-infused live shows.
Tacoma Narrows is named after the old bridge in Washington that collapsed in the 1940s, a tragic but beautiful show of physics and the power of mother nature.
“Tacoma Narrows, a NYC based band, taps into traditional folk and old-time country music, infusing the admixture with a pop-rocking dose of big city adrenaline. They’ve been around the block. The music is tight but flexible, wistful but wired. My toes are totally tappin’ to it. This remarkable first offering sets the bar encouragingly high. The making of this album was an odyssey from which emerged a band of truly professional recording artists as well as live performers, Tacoma Narrows with Good Mourning have a runaway hit.
Belen Cusi is a singer from Argentina & Texas…Latin soul music, seeking to change the world through song.
Originally from Argentina, Belén grew up in San Antonio, Texas. She began playing classical piano at age eight, but with no intentions of attending conservatory, she instead chose a liberal arts path at Boston University and, seeking a more urban environment, made the move at age 18. However it wasn’t long before she realized she couldn’t give up playing piano and connected with local piano teacher and music producer Tim Lukas, with whom she began singing and studying song-writing and composition. Shortly after, they began work on Belén’s first album, “Closer”, and what would be the beginning of her singer-songwriter career.
More on David Johnston: You’re rushing through the city streets, maybe late for an appointment, distracted by your life’s many obligations, and you blow right past a street musician, hard at work. And you stop. And you listen. And you enter the moment and think, ‘Wow, this guy can really play.’
“Vinyl record sales are at a 28 year high” – Fortune April 2016 – See/Hear for yourself at Sunday Spins – every Sunday – bring your records and take turns sharing your faves!
Geneviève Beaudoin is a singer-songwriter currently based in Portland, Maine. Having performed in Paris, New York, Amsterdam and points between, her raw, vocally-driven work adds an international accent to the traditions of American folk music.
Strange Loops is a New York-based band mixing the spirit of disco with the attitude of classic rock. Combining 80s-inspired vocals, infectious guitar and keyboard hooks, and a frenetic rhythm section, they create music you can move to.
give a listen HERE
David Johnston – if you don’t know him, you have to stop by TOAD for Blue Monday – take a listen HERE where David talks about his influences and plays a bit of music –
Just look at the band; Dennis Brennan on harmonica, guitar and vocals. Tim Gearan on guitar and vocals. Steve Sadler on lap steel. Jim Haggerty on bass and Andy Plaisted on drums.
Check out a clip from one of their shows HERE – After making it thru Monday, YOU deserve a night out!
Inspiration seeped through the windows of apartment 5J on Barrow Street looking out over the Hudson River in NYC’s Greenwich Village, where singer-songwriters Eryn Murman and Jason Hite soaked up the energy and passion of musicians, painters, poets, and writers who created the Village vibe. Together, they paid tribute to those creative spirits and named their band 5j Barrow, writing music and lyrics with an Indie-folk sound, sometimes as a duo, and often picking up other musicians to create unique arrangements.
“5j Barrow is the band that makes you stop what you’re doing and stare…Their music is everything I want music to be. Energetic, evocative, unfiltered, and beautiful. In an age of auto tune and quantization, top 10 charts without any real instruments on them, 5j Barrow is the cure…. With dynamics that range from a whisper to a tsunami, their songs tell stories of love, loss, and longing.” (The Street Noise Project, Brad Geyer)
Country Folk for city folk. Born and raised outside of Boston, MA. Professional Amateur Musician, Multi-instrumentalist, Songwriter. Lover of cats. Grammatical bandit. I get more done in a bathrobe than most do in a suit.
yeah . . . Marc Pinansky had us at cats, too . . .
give a listen HERE
Sonya is part of the new breed of blues and soul musicians, always searching for new ways to revitalize the form. A triple threat, Sonya is a fiery guitar slinger, soulful blues belter and a songwriter of depth and craft beyond her years. She is joined by her husband Ryan Taylor to form a powerful guitar duo. The couple has logged many miles in their young careers, from Boston to Austin then Nashville, where Sonya was signed by BMG Chrysalis. The two have worked with or shared stage with artists ranging from Austin queen of soul, Tameca Jones, Gary Clark Jr, John Popper of Blues Traveler, John Medeski and Derrico Watson of the Victor Wooten Band and have made TV appearances on shows such as the the ABC series “Nashville”. They are two of the finest young guitar players in the scene today and continue to provide audiences with high energy and soulful performances up and down the east coast and beyond.
Corin Ashley is a lifelong musician who formerly led Boston mod-pop heroes The Pills in the 2000’s, as they toured extensively around the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Over a 10-year span, The Pills released three full-length albums, toured and performed with The B-52s, The Libertines, Supergrass, Sloan, Edwin McCain, The Wrens, Juliana Hatfield, The Smithereens, Nada Surf, Jimmy Cliff, and pretty much every one-hit early 2000s alternative radio band with a number in their name. His 2013 album New Lion Terraces was recorded at Q Division and Abbey Road Studios in London and featured contributions from Kay Hanley (Letters To Cleo), Ken Stringfellow (The Posies), drummer Dave Mattacks (Fairport Convention/XTC), Edward Ball (TV Personalities) and Martin Carr. Corin is, always, accompanied on his new album by his ever faithful drummer Matt Burwell who will bitch and complain if he gets left out of the press release.
