PHIL OCHS PLAYS GERDE'S 50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK

50 YEARS AGO this week, PHIL OCHS plays his first paying gig in New York's Greenwich Village for my grandfather, Mike Porco. Mike and Phil would have a special friendship throughout the rest of Phil's years. Musicians would report back to Mike that Phil boasted about his first gig at Gerde's Folk City as part of his stage banter. He was paid $90 for 5 days of work and within a week of his first booking, he was signed to begin recording for Elektra. Fellow Gerde's first-timer, John Hammond Jr told me that they were both signed to record contracts as a direct result of their Folk City gigs. Hammond signed with Vanguard Records.

In the 1970s, when many club owners in the Village banned Phil because of his erratic behavior, Mike Porco continued to treat him like family. Phil and Mike shared a drink at Gerde's 2 days before his untimely death.

My father, Bob Sr, was at Folk City for one of Phil's last appearances. An angry patron was unimpressed with Phil's stage presence and demanded his money back from Mike Porco saying, "I came to see Phil Ochs!" My grandfather retorted with, "You wanna see-a Phil Ochs? Look on the stage. He's right there." No refund given, you can bet.

In an interview given to radio personality Dan Behrman in 1979, Mike's emotional voice is heard saying, "I wish Phil lived 150 years."

BLUES RETURNS TO THE OLD GASLIGHT ON MACDOUGAL ST

Once again, 116 MacDougal St, the site of the original Gaslight Café in NYC, plays host to the FRIENDS OF MIKE PORCO series.

JONATHAN KALB has played his Blues for more than forty years as leader of the Jonathan Kalb Band and as a Solo performer in the US and throughout Europe. From Gospel churches to major festivals and clubs, he has played a lifetime of gigs. Along the way he's also backed such world renown bluesmen as Lightnin' Hopkins, Otis Rush, Johnny Copeland, Honeyboy Edwards, Sunnyland Slim, Steve Miller, Bo Diddley, Solomon Burke, Gary US Bonds and even The Fugs. Jimi Hendrix has been quoted saying that he got the idea for using fuzztone while watching Jonathan play one of his performances with the Fugs.

Later on, Kalb was leader of the band with Evelyn Champagne King, opening for the O'Jays and the Eisley Brothers on national TV. He has shared the same stage with Luther Allison, BB King and Dr. John to name a few. His music is Blues based, but he has a personal style that has elements of Country, Funk, Soul, and Jazz mixed together in a soulful potpouri of sound. Traditionally based in the Blues, he has a command of all the country and city based Blues styles and mixes them with an authentic ease.

Press Reviews of his live shows say it all: "It was clear from the beginning that the guy is the real deal."


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PAUL GEREMIA recorded his first album in 1968, having been significantly influenced by both the rural Blues tradition and the Folk Music revival of the 1960s. Geremia has never recorded with an electric guitar hewing steadfastly to a traditional ethic with his acoustic playing.

For over forty years, Paul Geremia has survived solely by the fruit of his musical labors. In the 60s, he left college and hit the road permanently. He found paying gigs (like Gerde's!) and played in "basket houses" (like the Gaslight Café!) in cities around the country. Having abandoned all other means of support in 1966, he's traveled far and wide throughout the US, Canada and Europe.

During these years, Geremia crossed paths with people whose influences were beneficial to his development and understanding of the tradition. He worked as an opening act for some of the early Blues "legends" gaining an immeasurable depth of knowledge from people like Babe Stovall, Yank Rachel, Son House, Skip James, Howlin' Wolf, and many others, most notably, Pink Anderson.

Geremia has built a reputation as a first rate bluesman, songwriter, a "scholar" of early Jazz and Blues, and is "one of the best country blues fingerpickers ever." Paul has recorded ten solo albums throughout his career and keeps traditional Blues fresh and alive with his performances.

Join us for a great night of authentic Blues performed by serious Bluesmen!

Buy tickets in advance here


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FRIENDS OF MIKE PORCO AT THE GASLIGHT

Voices of The People return to MacDougal St!


A true folk singer at heart, ROD MacDONALD's place in the Folk hall of fame is assured by his hymn-styled 'A Sailor's Prayer,' a tune mistaken for a traditional song. His one of a kind sound has hints of rock, pop, country, light jazz, and blues.

Honorably discharged from the service as a conscientious objector in August 1972, his calling to be a professional musician rang louder than a path practicing law…to our benefit!!

Rod is also a co-founder of the Greenwich Village Music Festival and an original member of the Fast Folk Co-op.

He's made 35 tours in Europe since 1985, nearly all of them with NYC bassist Mark Dann, an accompanist and engineer with hundreds of recording credits to his name.

MacDonald tours South Florida with the Bob Dylan cover band, Big Brass Bed, but his original classics can fill the night with song.

Veteran singer/songwriters BEV GRANT and INA MAY WOOL recently joined forces as WOOL&GRANT, a rousing new duo that celebrates both intimate and political themes with rocking, funny, poignant songs, featuring beautifully constructed, heartfelt lyrics. They love singing together and it shows.

Bev lead her band The Human Condition to national prominence in the early 1970s.She was one of the radical upstarts in Greenwich Village coffeehouses when the Village still felt bohemian and revolution was in the air.

Strains of rock, Latin music, R&B, pop and more easily fused with the essence of smoky folk clubs.Grant was on the bill of Ochs' 1973 festival, "An Evening With Salvador Allende" at NYC's Madison Square Garden.

New England native INA MAY WOOL has also spent years on the road with bands as well as in studios doing session work. She serves up an eclectic mix of the jazz, blues and country influences with a wry, unmistakably urban sensibility.

Since joining forces, WOOL&GRANT have earned an ever growing group of fans for their unique mix of two very distinct voices.

COME JOIN US for some mid-summer fun!!

Advance tickets on sale here



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THE WATER AROUND U.S HAS GROWN

FLOODWATERS ON SEPTEMBER ELEVENTH?

Uncle Bobby lets out
New words
and smoke signals
On his second 9/11
Release

Let's hope that nothing obstructs
September eleventh from coming
right on time this year

Maybe he raises his voice
Maybe not
Maybe he reclaims the date
back from the Masters of War



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LADIES NIGHT AT THE GASLIGHT CAFE

TONIGHT three veteran Greenwich Village Folk artists bring their collective decades of songwriting and life experience to the stage at 116 MacDougal Street, the original Gaslight Cafe.

Their careers reach back into the glory days of the Greenwich Village Folk scene of the '70s. All three have graced the stage at Mike Porco's Center for Folk Music, Gerde's Folk City.

PEGGY ATWOOD's music caught the attention of an Aspen local named Jack Hardy. They both would eventually take their talents to New York and make historical recordings with the Fast Folk Co-op: A collective group bent on recording new songs every month. She keeps the Songwriter Movement alive by spearheading the well known "Northern Country Music" shows near Woodstock.

Recording artist, singer/songwriter, LYDIA ADAMS DAVIS weaves a beautiful voice with her captivating melodies for audiences of all ages. Called a "Splendid performer" by The New York Times, Peter Yarrow has also said “Lydia combines warmth and magic to bring the long history of folk music home to your heart.”

JUDY GORMAN's personality shines through in her bold-as-brass delivery. Yet she can sing in a quieter, more compassionate tone to express her original songs.
Pete Seeger praised Judy's music and spirited message by saying that she "Shoots the arrow straight to the heart; a wonderful singer & musician."

All three of these FRIENDS OF MIKE PORCO cut their musical teeth on the streets of the Village and they're back on MacDougal for this heartfelt evening at 116!


ADVANCE TICKETS ON SALE!!!!

VAGABONDO! NYC premiere at the original Gaslight

VAGABONDO! is the documentary from Todd Kwait and Mark Sebastian about the Singer/Songwriter VINCE MARTIN.

An unlikely film arose depicting two folk music veterans revisiting the places where they lived and made music; Coney Island, Brooklyn and Greenwich Village.
Through their conversations, we see the importance of music and its positive impact on the human spirit.

To wander the streets of New York City with folk musician Vince Martin is to walk back in time to the buzz and holler of Greenwich Village in its beatnik heyday. From an unlikely beginning, Brooklyn-native Martin quickly rose up the charts with the 1957 hit "Cindy, Oh Cindy", backed by the Tarriers. This earned him both popularity and scorn in the strangely competitive world of the Village music scene. But then his songwriting collaborations with Fred Neil, culminating in the influential 1964 album Tear Down The Walls, laid down the sound that became ‘60s folk.The film is a show-biz romp with one of the last genuine New York characters. It gives the viewer a seat at the table as Sebastian explores music, women, morality and mortality with the tough-talking folkie senior. (READ: F-bombs)

With a song on his lips, the singer transmits his intense love affair with life as a vagabondo, his Italian grandfather’s unflattering word for a wandering minstrel.
"Singing, that’s the only way I know to go." To spend an hour with Martin in the film Vagabondo! is to have your own lust for life refreshed.

Join us for this very special evening with the man himself, Vince Martin, as we watch the film and open discussion with the filmmakers, Todd Kwait and Mark Sebastian. LIVE MUSIC to round out the night, as it should!!!!!

Special screening, Q&A and the power of song all for the price of admission. What's not to like??



Advance tickets on sale HERE




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ODE TO THE DREAMERS

ODE TO THE DREAMERS

I came into this family
With no expectations
No Facebook ID
No fears
Just my last name
And that was good enough for all of them

I was welcomed with open arms
And wide eyes
And gaping mouths
Amazed that I existed
And I am still amazed

Telling stories to me
Unheard of
And untold for a dog's age
Held in for just the right pair of ears

And I made eye contact with those
From the street
From the time
From the golden years
And I saw the light
Of the past in their eyes
Searing through me
Searching for a sign from Mike
My stare receiving
One love
For my Grandpa
A man of few possessions
Other than a club
Called home
By all those who made the street shine
Up and down MacDougal and 3rd
And positively 4th and Mercer
And points far flung
Yet rooted in the Village
International troubadours
Neighborhood heroes

Folk City was the home of the dreamers
It was "our living room"
It was "the Mecca"
It was "the crown jewel"
Once

But not now
Just a memory to most
A fortuitous gig for thousands
A forgotten footnote to others
And still unknown to less fortunate generations
But don't worry
I'll take care of that
Because the love pours through
Like a river carved in bedrock
Like a canyon in my veins
It carves through space and time
Into the hours of today

Because it lives in them
And it lives in me
Injected and infused
With the love and power
Of song
Poured out from within
Always in tune
With those who surround the sound
The song is heard in their head
But felt in their hearts

Regardless of sales
Or accolades
Or acceptance or fame
They held on to their vision
No matter the cost
No matter the loss
They stayed honest to themselves
To their art. Their craft. Their heart

And they were grateful
For the opportunity to
Show their wares
And share the stage
Shared by so many other
Dreamers
And crazies
And lovers
And ranters
And ravers
And friends and kindred spirits

Timeless
Endless
Immortal
For the closure of
Gerde's Folk City
Cemented their names
Into a time capsule
Fo' Eva'

It's finite and divine
Definite and no more
No more

They can carry it to their graves
Brag
Swagger and stagger
Into the sunset
As the ones who made history
When history was still being made
And it mattered

And it still matters

TAKE A TRIP WITH ME TO CLEARWATER AND WALK AROUND

clearwater 6-16-12 from bob porco on Vimeo.