Calendar
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.
Sunday Spins! – Vinyl Lovers Unite! 3-8pm every Sunday!
Sign up on the list and play two songs each turn.
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.
David Johnston is a regular fixture in Harvard Square. You can find him on just about any sunny afternoon with his old Gibson guitar, his signature black jeans, and black hat – Busy during the day? Lucky you – David Johnston brings his blues to TOAD every Monday before The White Owls!
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!
take a listen HERE – Liz Morrison always brings some of the community’s best musicians to accompany her – can’t wait to see who’s up on that little stage this night . . .
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.
Fred Griffeth fronts Fandango – Their celebrated selection of Americana music draws a loyal band of pious sisters and reform school brothers! – Truth . . .
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.
With a repertoire of New Orleans standards, spirituals, contemporary music, and swing tunes, the Soggy Po’ Boys offer a lively blend of fun and insanity.
Peter Wolf (formerly of the J Geils Band), whose brilliant Midnight Souvenirs—released in 2010—included David Johnston’s “I Don’t Wanna Know.” This song went on to become the second single from that album, and was performed on the David Letterman Show in June of 2010.
Sunday Spins! – Vinyl Lovers Unite! 3-8pm every Sunday!
Sign up on the list and play two songs each turn.
“Like Neil Young and Alejandro Escovedo, Yoder glides between guitar-driven rock and folk-tinged acoustic balladry.”
Check out the facebook event for this show HERE
Peter Wolf (formerly of the J Geils Band), whose brilliant Midnight Souvenirs—released in 2010—included David Johnston’s “I Don’t Wanna Know.” This song went on to become the second single from that album, and was performed on the David Letterman Show in June of 2010.
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!
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
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.
Fred Griffeth fronts Fandango – Their celebrated selection of Americana music draws a loyal band of pious sisters and reform school brothers! – Truth . . .
Bees Deluxe is a full-tilt,
Their unique repertoire includes originals and re-interpreted 60s, 70s, and 80s covers from Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Joe Zawinul, Charles Mingus, B.B. King, Kenny Burrell, Freddie King, Herbie Hancock, Albert King, Etta James, Muddy Waters, The Meters, Little Feat, Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix, Roy Buchanan, Curtis Mayfield, The Butterfield Blues Band, Derek Trucks, Donny Hathaway, Amy Winehouse, Steely Dan, Etta James, ZZ Top, Robben Ford, Bonnie Raitt, Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland, SoulLive, Derek and the Dominoes, Robert Cray, Edgar Winter, among many others. Taking the road less traveled, they discover and share off-the-beaten songs and instrumentals and fuse them into their own original works. They dare to be risk-takers on stage, digging deep into the vaults of blues/jazz antiquity. The result is an effortless take-no-prisoners-approach that wittingly captures the audience’s hearts.
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.
“Infectious, foot-stomping Americana tunes. Similar to the White Stripes in duo power. Muddy Ruckus delivers a full bodied sound, with nothing but guitar and suitcase drums.” – The Sound
Colbis The Creature – check out their influences:
Kings of Leon, Pixies, Radiohead, Young the Giant, Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire, Steve Jordan!!!
Joe and Matt have been playing and writing music together for a long time. As The Library Band, they combine stellar harmonies and multi-instrumental magic to ensure a pleasant reading experience.
“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!
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.
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!
Brothers McCann creates dynamic palettes of sound, weaving sweeping three-part harmonies over rustic reinventions of folk-rock. Mike, Pat and Erik nurture the heart of their New England musical upbringing with three unique songwriting styles on rotating display. The raw simplicity of acoustic guitars, keyboard and vocals welcomes the eager, patient listener to invest in their melodies and experience an honest, live performance.
Check out a video they made Here!
Tim Mann‘s first public appearance was in 1985 at a high school talent show, playing cover songs by Neil Young and the Grateful Dead. After high school Tim spent several years studying the origins of rock though blues artists like B.B King, Robert Johnson, Freddie King, and Albert King. Combining all these influences Tim wrote his first song at the age of twenty and formed his band a blues trio at the age of twenty one.
