Calendar

Aug
6
Tue
The Blue Ribbons
Aug 6 @ 10:00 pm

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.

Image result for the blue ribbons music

Aug
7
Wed
Fandango
Aug 7 @ 7:30 pm

FANDANGO is as much a spiritual renewal as it is a reinterpretation of some of the best soul, blues, gospel, and Americana music ever written. With a loyal flock of followers (the flock that rock) to their weekly Wednesday night residency at TOAD in Cambridge, FANDANGO fuels frontman Fred Griffeth to lead this congregation into soul and R&B righteousness! For he is like a refiner of fire and he shall purify!

“Ask not for whom the Fandan goes. It goes for thee. On Wednesday donchaknow.” –

The Gravel Project
Aug 7 @ 10:00 pm
Aug
8
Thu
Melvern Taylor & His Fabulous Meltones
Aug 8 @ 7:30 pm
Melvern Taylor & His Fabulous Meltones

“happy songs for miserable people” – Melvern

check out a fan fave “Sleepy Eyes” – recorded right here at TOAD

Press:

“Your music makes me want to pee. In a good way….”

Melvern Taylor is the Sam Shepard of the Ukulele!

Your music isn’t bad….i’m more into rap and hip hop.
Baker Thomas Band
Aug 8 @ 10:00 pm

“You guys put on a hell of a show, a lot of fun!” – Steve Morse, long time Boston Globe music critic and freelance writier on the Baker Thomas Band . . .

Image result for baker thomas band

Aug
9
Fri
Grant Bloom
Aug 9 @ 10:00 pm

Grant Bloom was brought up learning classical piano; wedged between Dallas and Ft. Worth Texas. Much like a kid eating broccoli, he pushed it away, not realizing how beneficial the music was. Some years later, he was baptized into the world of jazz and from this, music began to tug at Grant’s sleeve. After being taught basic guitar chords from his father, and becoming comfortable in his vocal prowess, Grant began to craft songs.

Aug
10
Sat
Chuck Melchin of The Bean Pickers Union
Aug 10 @ 7:30 pm
Chuck Melchin of The Bean Pickers Union

Fronted by singer/songwriter Chuck Melchin, The Bean Pickers Union is a loose collective of musicians from around Cambridge / Somerville Massachusetts.

Give a listen HERE

Sugar Blood Jinx
Aug 10 @ 10:00 pm
Sugar Blood Jinx

SUGAR BLOOD JINX

is Eric Waxwood who uses finger-picking and a slide on a National Steel Guitar and sings lead vocals;

Matt Murphy who plays an upright bass and sings background vocals; and

Scott Pittman who plays an old 1920‘s ‘traps’ drum kit and sings background vocals.

Aug
11
Sun
Sunday Spins
Aug 11 @ 3:00 pm
Sunday Spins

Bring your vinyl as we get to take turns playing our faves…

sorta like open mic – sign up to play two songs from your vinyl – we set up a turn table center stage – . . . – once you play your songs you can sign up again –

bring new – old – anything!

 

Amber Casares
Aug 11 @ 9:00 pm
Amber Casares

A favorite here at TOAD – give a listen here, then mark your calendar to come here her live!

Aug
12
Mon
The White Owls
Aug 12 @ 8:00 pm

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 White Owls

David Johnston & Friends
Aug 12 @ 10:30 pm

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 –

Image result for david johnston music

Aug
13
Tue
BB Bowness
Aug 13 @ 7:30 pm
Honey Talk
Aug 13 @ 10:00 pm

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

 

Aug
14
Wed
Fandango
Aug 14 @ 7:00 pm

“I still believe the lessons I learned when I was raised in a Roman Catholic household. Like, it’s harder for a rich man to get into heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.” – Michael Moore –

Celebrate Hump Day with Fandango

 

Aug
15
Thu
Frank Manzi
Aug 15 @ 7:30 pm
Baker Thomas Band
Aug 15 @ 10:00 pm

“You guys put on a hell of a show, a lot of fun!” – Steve Morse, long time Boston Globe music critic and freelance writier on the Baker Thomas Band . . .

Image result for baker thomas band

Aug
16
Fri
Red Tail Hawk
Aug 16 @ 10:00 pm
Red Tail Hawk

Red Tail Hawk has opened for National acts such as G-Love, The Brew and Chris Duarte, to name a few. They’ve played major music festival in the region and sold-out shows at The Stone Church in Newmarket, NH and The Press Room in Portsmouth, NH.

 

Aug
17
Sat
Sado-Domestics
Aug 17 @ 7:30 pm
Sado-Domestics

Sado-Domestics is the singing-songwriting partnership of Lucy Martinez (Lucy and the Dreamers) and Chris Gleason (Los Goutos).

Perhaps get a feel by checking out their list of influences:

Neko Case, Wilco, Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings, The Stray Birds, Winterpills, Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris, Carolina Chocolate Drops, The Jayhawks, The Pretenders, Tom Waits, The Replacements, The White Stripes, The Band, The Gourds, Jenny Lewis, Bikini Kill, The Fundies, Old Crow Medicine Show, David Lindley, Mavis Staples, Son Volt, The Pixies, The Breeders, New Multitudes…

Los Goutos
Aug 17 @ 10:00 pm

LOS GOUTOS

“A veritable Grand Ole Opry with a modern sense of humor….”   (Music Connection Magazine)

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Featuring:

Bruce Bartone
(acoustic and electric guitars; bass guitar, keyboards; backing vocals);

Mike Eigen
(lead and backing vocals, percussion, acoustic guitar, clarinet, ukulele, songwriting);

Shamus Feeney
(bass guitar, acoustic, electric, and resophonic guitars; percussion; lead and backing vocals);

Chris Gleason
(lead and backing vocals, mandolin, tenor banjo, acoustic guitar, percussion, songwriting);

Paul Stewart
(lead and backing vocals, accordion, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, harmonica, songwriting)

…and whenever possible:

Jakub Trasak
(fiddle)

 

Aug
18
Sun
Sunday Spins
Aug 18 @ 3:00 pm
Sunday Spins

Bring your vinyl as we get to take turns playing our faves…

sorta like open mic – sign up to play two songs from your vinyl – we set up a turn table center stage – . . . – once you play your songs you can sign up again –

bring new – old – anything!

 

Zak Trojano & Friends
Aug 18 @ 9:00 pm
Zak Trojano & Friends

Zak Trojano is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, a finger-style guitar player, a fly-fisherman, and a beer drinker.

 

Aug
19
Mon
The White Owls
Aug 19 @ 8:00 pm

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 White Owls

David Johnston & Friends
Aug 19 @ 10:30 pm
David Johnston & Friends

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 –

 

Aug
20
Tue
The Franc Graham Band
Aug 20 @ 7:30 pm

The Boston Globe on The Franc Graham Band:

“Immensely Underrated… cool and commanding… an unusually rich blend of singer-songwriter rock…”

The Blue Ribbons
Aug 20 @ 10:00 pm

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.

Image result for the blue ribbons music

Aug
21
Wed
Fandango
Aug 21 @ 7:00 pm
Fandango

FANDANGO is as much a spiritual renewal as it is a reinterpretation of some of the best soul, blues, gospel, and Americana music ever written. With a loyal flock of followers (the flock that rock) to their weekly Wednesday night residency at TOAD in Cambridge, FANDANGO fuels frontman Fred Griffeth to lead this congregation into soul and R&B righteousness! For he is like a refiner of fire and he shall purify!

“Ask not for whom the Fandan goes. It goes for thee. On Wednesday donchaknow.” –

Gentle Temper
Aug 21 @ 10:00 pm
Gentle Temper

Gentle Temper is Ryan Meier and Marion Earley, an ocean-folk duo with a blues tide from the bayous of Boston, MA. Marion and Ryan met while attending college in Boston and began writing and playing together in their final year. Their live sound builds on a sturdy foundation of lyrical storytelling & animated harmonies.

“Wistful, harmony-drenched balladeers of the modern condition, these folks may become your new local favorites.” – Aeronaut Allston

Aug
22
Thu
Melvern Taylor & His Fabulous Meltones
Aug 22 @ 7:30 pm
Melvern Taylor & His Fabulous Meltones

“happy songs for miserable people” – Melvern

check out a fan fave “Sleepy Eyes” – recorded right here at TOAD

Press:

“Your music makes me want to pee. In a good way….”

Melvern Taylor is the Sam Shepard of the Ukulele!

Your music isn’t bad….i’m more into rap and hip hop.
Christian McNeill with Tom Arey on Drums & Jeremy Dryden on Bass
Aug 22 @ 10:00 pm
Christian McNeill with Tom Arey on Drums & Jeremy Dryden on Bass

“I see myself as a career songwriter,” says McNeill. “And I’m very passionate about it.” Yup, there’s that word again … passion. It’s the same thing that Van Morrison has — and it’s what McNeill, who grew up in Derry in Northern Ireland, has cultivated ever since seeing Van perform at age 10 in Derry. “Seeing Van showed me that you can really occupy a song. You don’t just perform it. You live it,” adds Christian.

 

 

 

Aug
23
Fri
Elisa Smith & The Tiny Little Lies
Aug 23 @ 10:00 pm
Elisa Smith & The Tiny Little Lies

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Elisa Smith & The Tiny Little Lies are steeped in the Americana roots and vintage country tradition. The inspiration for their outlaw honky-tonk sound is drawn from country greats like Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, and Tanya Tucker mixed with a dash of modern rock country. Their songs elicit feelings of nostalgia, pride, wanderlust, and good ol’ fashioned boot-stompin’ mischief. The diverse backgrounds of the band fuse together to form a truly American sound. Even though they have only been playing together for a short while, each band member’s connection to history, place, and musical tradition has instantly bound them together.

Aug
24
Sat
Telescope
Aug 24 @ 7:30 pm
Telescope

Telescope is one of Andrew Stern‘s projects –  He came up with the name because the band is designed around the Telecaster guitar.

When the question is posed to guitarists, “If you could have just one guitar, what would it be?”, polls show that an overwhelming number of guitarists reply, “a Telecaster”. I rank as one who would answer exactly the same. The telecaster is a versatile tool which can cover a lot of ground, but more importantly, it changes the way I approach and play the instrument. Inspired by my own teles and by some telecaster playing guitar heroes of mine, I’ve designed a band around the guitar itself, appropriately titled “Telescope”. A mix of originals and covers, it’s a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll and more than a little bit undefined.

Oh – and besides, Andrew . . . the other names should also “sound” familiar:

Andrew Stern: guitar
James Rohr: keys
Greg Loughman: bass
Mike Connors: drums

 

Stan Martin Band
Aug 24 @ 10:00 pm

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

 

Aug
25
Sun
Sunday Spins
Aug 25 @ 3:00 pm
Sunday Spins

Bring your vinyl as we get to take turns playing our faves…

sorta like open mic – sign up to play two songs from your vinyl – we set up a turn table center stage – . . . – once you play your songs you can sign up again –

bring new – old – anything!

 

AS SEEN AT TOAD...