Treehouse Gig this Thursday

Ah, fall is falling all around us! I've got a Treehouse gig on the Upper West Side at the P&G Bar this Thursday, November 11 at 6, stop by to enjoy some excellent tunes and a bit of a kickback as the dropping temperature chills us all like frosty beverages. And you can get a frosty beverage there too!

It's from 6-7:45pm, with the groop:
Carmen Borgia - Singing, guitar and ukulele
Evan Cassidy - Bass (if he doesn't have to work late)
Tom Wayland - Percussion, drums and harmonica

P&G Bar
380 Columbus Avenue at 78th street
Thursday, November 11th
6-7:45pm
No cover, no food, but you can send out or bring in.
http://pandgbar.com/

www.carmenborgia.com

Treehouse gig Thursday 10/14

It's from 6-7:45pm, with the ever-tightening lineup of knuckleheads.
Carmen Borgia - Singing, guitar and ukulele
Evan Cassidy - Bass (if he doesn't have to work late)
Randy Hudson - Guitar
Tom Wayland - Percussion, drums and harmonica

P&G Bar
380 Columbus Avenue at 78th street
Thursday, October 14th
6-7:45pm
No cover, no food, but you can send out or bring in.
http://pandgbar.com/

Captain Beefheart will not be appearing with us, but I'm including some of his wizdom here to dignify the blog. Captain Beefheart's 10 commandments for guitar players:

1. LISTEN TO THE BIRDS That's where all the music comes from. Birds know everything about how it should sound and where that sound should come from. And watch hummingbirds. They fly really fast, but a lot of times they aren't going anywhere.

2. YOUR GUITAR IS NOT REALLY A GUITAR Your guitar is a divining rod. Use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over. A guitar is also a fishing rod. If you're good, you'll land a big one.

3. PRACTICE IN FRONT OF A BUSH Wait until the moon is out, then go outside, eat a multi-grained bread and play your guitar to a bush. If the bush doesn't shake, eat another piece of bread.

4. WALK WITH THE DEVIL Old delta blues players referred to amplifiers as the "devil box." And they were right. You have to be an equal opportunity employer in terms of who you're bringing over from the other side. Electricity attracts demons and devils. Other instruments attract other spirits. An acoustic guitar attracts Casper. A mandolin attracts Wendy. But an electric guitar attracts Beelzebub.

5. IF YOU'RE GUILTY OF THINKING, YOU'RE OUT If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something that is fur bearing.

6. NEVER POINT YOUR GUITAR AT ANYONE Your instrument has more power than lightning. Just hit a big chord, then run outside to hear it. But make sure you are not standing in an open field.

7. ALWAYS CARRY YOUR CHURCH KEY You must carry your key and use it when called upon. That's your part of the bargain. Like One String Sam. He was a Detroit street musician in the fifties who played a homemade instrument. His song "I Need A Hundred Dollars" is warm pie. Another church key holder is Hubert Sumlin, Howlin' Wolf's guitar player. He just stands there like the Statue of Liberty making you want to look up her dress to see how he's doing it.

8. DON'T WIPE THE SWEAT OFF YOUR INSTRUMENT You need that stink on there. Then you have to get that stink onto your music.

9. KEEP YOUR GUITAR IN A DARK PLACE When you're not playing your guitar, cover it and keep it in a dark place. If you don't play your guitar for more than a day, be sure to put a saucer of water in with it.

10. YOU GOTTA HAVE A HOOD FOR YOUR ENGINE Wear a hat when you play and keep that hat on. A hat is a pressure cooker. If you have a roof on your house the hot air can't escape. Even a lima bean has to have a wet paper towel around it to make it grow.

P&G gig this Thursday, 9/16

It's from 6-7:45pm, with the usual suspects. 
Carmen Borgia - Singing, guitar and ukulele
Evan Cassidy - Bass
Randy Hudson - Guitar
Tom Wayland - Percussion, drums and harmonica

We'll be doing purely amazing covers from the big orange book, songs by cb, and some from South.  Come one, come all!  Tim Werenko's review from the last gig: "Gleeful misery!"  Come get some!

P&G Bar
380 Columbus Avenue at 78th street
Thursday, September 16th
6-7:45pm
No cover, no food, but you can send out or bring in.

Treehouse at the P&G Bar this Thursday

There are gigs and there are gigs. Some gigs are just about showing up and hitting play, not the play button on your ipod but the play button in my mind.  This gig will not be like that.  Forget all of my previous gigs, and all other known gigs, this gig is different.  Yes, it is at a bar, as so many other gigs have historically been, but this gig will be elevated, and not in a subtle manner either.  This gig will be singular, unique.  Yes, I shall be playing songs from the book, as I played at my last P&G gig and numerous gigs previous, but don't worry your pretty little head about that, we've kicked it up a notch.  Maybe two. Let me assure you that this gig will be more than a gig.  It will be an engagement.

I will wear a nice shirt and a comfortable hat.  I've purchased a new guitar tuner, and I shall be using that to carefully tune my guitar.  I may be playing electric, I may be playing acoustic.  This gig is so profoundly innovative that I am not sure I will even know myself which instrument I will play beforehand.  I can't know even that fundamental piece of information, the kind of thing that basic pre-planning and rehearsal ordinarily demands, this gig is so outside the box.

Randy Hudson.  Evan Cassidy.  Tom Freaking Wayland.  And, of course, me, Carmen Borgia.  We got your guitar, we got your ebow, we got some other guitar, we got your bass and drums.  We got 'em right here.  For you.  Come, attend, be there, be free.  It's free.  No drink minimum, but they do assuredly have drinks, and there is no drink maximum either. You get to decide for yourself; this groundbreaking option of choice is only one of the many refreshing aspects that define this gig.  It's early, catch us after work and get home in plenty of time to chill out with a movie or a plate of artisanal cheese.  You see, this is not like other gigs, those that are so frequently later or drinkier or expensiver. 

This gig will be a game changer. 

P&G Bar, 380 Columbus Avenue at 78th Street

Thursday, July 1st, 6-8pm

No cover

http://pandgbar.com/

How did your gig go?

Pencil sketch by Chris Niosi.

So, you ask, how did the gig go?  This is what I have to say about that.

8 hours of workday work on 55th street. This means arise in the morn at 6:30 or so, rise, roust, get up, get it on and roll out of the sacred allnight bed and get a move on!  Shower, shave and all all the rest and get cookin'! Wake myself, wake the missus and book my sorry ass out of bed, out of the bedroom, off of the weather check and the email check and the internet and the living room and out of the house...out the door, down the hill, up the steps, onto the subway and into town. Now!!!

Do we live for work?  No.  Do we live for  paycheck?  Sort of.  Do we live for coordination of this day's project?  Absolutely not!  We live for music.

Music.

So, do this.  Get through the day.  This is imperative.  Get through, you get through, just like always.  Plow through, stagger through, blaze through, and at the end of it all...I'll be through!  Do it!  Do the thing!  Persevere! Maintain!  Get!  Through!  It!  Now!

The day: Scheduling. Managing. Fretting. Wheeling, dealing. Dealing. A lovely birthday party for Bob with salmon grill by Gloria, dropped into the middle of the day like an parachuted care package.  Better than not bad, very good, excellent! Then back to the work part.

Some hours pass, a blur, a race.  And at 5pm?  Pack it up!  Quick, cymbals in the case, guitar to the car, grab that amp, where is Randy?  Quick, grab a cab!  Get uptown.  It's just a few blocks!

Arrive at P&G Bar, I'm alone, meet with TJ, all is good.  Plug in the amp.  Plug in the guitar.  Strum, signal, yes! Alison shows up. Then Randy and Tom.  Set up guitar 2, set up drums, place mics, yes! CB strums the strings, Randy strums the strings, Tom taps on the skins, monitors, mains, audio!  People arrive, order drinks, they are there, off on the edge, over there but why we're here!

So, the playing, the show! 

I think Chris took this picture as well.

The gig, she was good. Fun and warm, covers up front, cb songs in the middle, a few covers at the tail.  High points: A little bit of Lyle Lovett - Since the  Last Time,  always dig me some Secret Agent Man, Randy and Tom jamming out on Back East, Michael D'Emidio dropped in to Zep out on This Magic Bone, and Eli requested Two Headed Boy from the back of the room. The best part was an unexpected feeling of rejuvenation as the set progressed, feeling more awake as it went along. I do like the singing and the playing, I do like it a lot.

Generally speaking, a happy groove of a night.

P&G Bar gig

Carmen Borgia's Treehouse at the P&G Bar.
It's at 78th and Columbus
Friday, May 7th, 6-8pm
No cover
They don't have food there, but you can send out.

I'll be playing songs from the cover book and some of my own.  I'll be joined by guitar genius Randy Hudson and Tom Wayland will display his fine and varied percussion talents.  Songs by Lyle Lovett, Johnny Rivers, Macy Gray, 10cc, Zappa, Cohen, Neutral Milk Hotel and, of course, Borgia.

Breathing

Sleeping more lately, re-disorganizing, napping...
Winter is waning, we'll see what's next.