Concerts coming up

Dave Rowe June 18 and 19 Dave Rowe is back for his first solo gig at Crow Town Gallery on June 18 and a house concert on Father's Day, June 19. Many, perhaps most, of you know Dave, if not his solo work, than with Troy Bennett as the Squid Jiggers, or from his renowned dad, the late Tom Rowe, who, with Steve and Chuck Romanoff, were known as Schooner Fare. Long term fans of SF still hear Tom when Steve and Chuck perform, and we hear him in Dave's music as well. Dave started young with his dad, and has developed his own presence, based on the incredibly strong foundation of music with which he grew up. Given that it is Father's Day weekend, I'm sure we will be remembering Tom and I for one feel very grateful to have Dave with us this coming weekend. You don't need reservations for Saturday's performance at the Gallery, but definitely I need to know who's coming on Sunday, so make your reservations soon. photo - Stacey Guth

Swing Caravan - July 2 You won't want to miss "Swing Caravan" on July 2 at the Gallery. I missed them when they visited Lubec and performed a bit at the Water Street Tavern, but fortunately Bonnie Beard caught the act and booked them for the Gallery. She says bassist Julia Kay is the best she's heard, and I'm totally blown away with Matthew Shippee's guitar that I've seen on video. To add icing to the cake, Matthew also plays oud, As it happens, "oud" is Arabic for wood, and the words rhyme. Matthew says he'll bring the instrument with him and I'm hoping we'll get a taste of Persian, Arabic, Greek, Turkish, Jewish, Byzantine, Azerbaijani, Armenian, North African, Somali or Middle Eastern scales, within which the oud is very much at home. This is going to be an exciting concert!   Julia Kay and Matthew Shippee photo - Swing Caravan

The Northern Tides - an invitation to local musicians

As mentioned in the stories about Mark Lindsay and "Love is Strange," the latter is available at the gift shop or online at northerntides.com. Deb Lindsay has graciously invited our local musicians who have CDs to sell them at the Gift Shop. This is a great way for you to introduce yourselves to a broader audience. I still remember a visit to the Campobello gift shop and taking home the "Crossing Borders" CD, which became a favorite and helped draw me back here. Little did I know that I would end up living here and become friends with the musicians on the recording. That's how things work sometimes. Tell Deb I sent you.

Guitar Needed -

Anyone have a playable guitar they would be willing to put on long-term loan to the Lubec Brewing Company? I have one of mine at Annabell's and it gets good use by people dropping by. The LBC has a similar homey atmosphere and not all of us remember to bring instruments with us when we drop in.

A "house guitar" would be a welcome addition to the LBC's "living room" and I know I'd be happy to play a few tunes now and then now that my hand is working again. Yes, I have a few more but they're all of a "specialized" nature and indispensable at the moment, so hope someone can help with a loan or donation.

Stockford Park

In our last episode, in the April issue of "CB Music Notes," I was planning to do a presentation for the "Making Headway In Your Community" grant program, not only hoping for the cash grant, but more important, to gain support for enhancing the park. As you may have read in the Quoddy Tides or elsewhere, the effort succeeded beyond expectations. Instead of one project being awarded the grant, two other projects combined with mine and with matching donations, we started off that evening with $3100 to work on Water Street, the Park, and for cleanup of the horrendous plastic waste which washes up on our shores.

My part of the project - the stage, to start with - has been repaired and enhanced thanks to Wally Small, who has donated his considerable labor. Once the town government is satisfied with the structure for insurance purposes etc., Sherry Ashby Cunningham will begin work on a mural for the inside walls of the stage. I am hoping that this will spark more ideas for the outside walls of the stage and other public art in the immediate area. I have already received offers of additional donations and am beginning to think in terms of ongoing outdoor art and music activities, perhaps in affiliation with one of our existing non-profit organizations. CB Music doesn't qualify just because it doesn't make a profit!

Meanwhile, the Water Street project also includes improvements to the Park, including a horseshoe pit and much needed signs showing where the Park is. As I mentioned before, the Sculpture is a major attraction, listed on the Maine Sculpture Symposium Trail, yet when one arrives in Lubec to see it, there is no indication of where it, and Stockford Park might be.

Your comments and support are vital to moving ahead with this. Money is one thing, but without people it really doesn't matter. You are both the reason for doing it and the means to get it done. An email from you would really go a long way in making this project go a long way. I say "email" but really I mean "in writing." While personal, verbal encouragement lifts my spirits, I cannot reproduce your compliments and present them as evidence that the project is working and worthy of support. Please - if you are pleased - take a few moments and share your thoughts with me, the Quoddy Tides, on Facebook or anywhere else that your support might influence others. I really would appreciate it but more, you can influence the future of the Park and in turn, our town.

 Water [Street] Music

Back home on Memorial Day, reflecting still on music and war and lost friends, I returned to a request I had received some time ago.

A person had asked if anyone had pictures of her dad. She had never seen him - he was killed in Viet Nam. She said he had played guitar in the "Swerve Combo" - so named after the U.S.S. Swerve, MSO 495, a mine sweeper. As it happened, I did, and sent them to her - I had been temporarily assigned to the Swerve and played a little with the group. I hadn't heard back and wondered if she had received the photos and so inquired to make sure. I received a heart warming reply and knew that once again, the link of music was instrumental in filling the voids in our lives.

Musician of the Month - Mark Lindsay

Since Mark Lindsay was about to depart for the nearly summer-long tour known as "Happy Together" which I'll describe later, I grabbed the opportunity for a phone interview with him briefly for June's "Musician of the Month" feature. Besides, like Kurt Andreson, who was featured last month, Mark is one of our most recent musical arrivals. Mark and his wife Deb, who you may know as the new owner of the Northern Tides gift shop, joined us just last year, arriving in time to see the remnants of our record-breaking snow accumulation.

We started off discussing "Love is Strange" (see the review) and how the name and songs were chosen. Although Susan Cowsill (of "the Cowsills") first met Mark back in 1968, it was years later when Deb called his attention to her voice that Susan became one of his favorite female vocalists. Later, when they both performed on a  "Happy Together" tour, he  asked her to record a song with him, which led to finding other songs they both liked, which led to "Love is Strange."

Mark also has a new solo album, titled "Summer of Love" which hadn't yet been released when we talked but will be any day now. You can pre-order autographed copies on the Northern Tides web site - http://www.northerntides.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

From new CDs we hopped to everyone's favorite questions to new residents of Lubec - "how did you find us?" and "what made you decide to stay?" Mark says that in their 30-some years of marriage, he and Deb had lived in many places, including Nashville, Memphis, Idaho, Oregon, California, Arizona, Seattle, Mauii Hawaii, upstate New York, and Florida. In this last place, he says they "...started to get itchy again - I guess we have a little Gypsy in our souls..." So they "...got out a map and looked at it and said 'so where can we go?' we've been almost everywhere..." So they decided to get an RV and travel around for 6 months or a year, which evolved into something like five or six years. Finally they encountered Acadia and loved it. Being adventurous, Mark and Deb became members of the select few and boldly broke through the invisible barrier across Route 1 in Ellsworth and started exploring Downeast. They came to Lubec, "...a charming little town...at the end of the road and we've always been kinda end of the roaders..." and liked it.

Back in Florida, Deb found a little farm in the real estate section and bought it, sight unseen. On their next trip up, Mark and Deb discovered that the farm needed a lot of work and they plunged into that. Soon after, she managed to connect with Deb Ayala to talk about Northern Tides, which Deb Lindsay had discovered on previous visits. They came to an agreement and Deb Lindsay became the new owner. Mark and Deb live in the Northern Tides while they work on the farm, although Mark is touring most of the summer. As he commented, he's away during the prettiest time of year, but agrees that September and October are great too. Mark loves the tides and says "...there's a lot of great energy..." referring both to tides and people. He and Deb are glad they're here and he's looking forward to spending more time here. People have made them feel welcome and "...it's just a fun little place."

The tour to which we refer is called the "Happy Together" tour, and Mark left a couple of days after this interview. Many of you may recognize the name and associate it with the Turtles hit song from 1967. Mark says the concept was born in the 80's, the brainstorm of Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (AKA Flo and Eddie). After a long hiatus, it was revived and Mark says last year every show but two were sellouts and those were close. This year's tour is starring The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie, Chuck Negron (formerly of Three Dog Night), Mark, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, The Cowsills and The Spencer Davis Group.

It's one of the biggest of the tours out there and fans of Sixties music are among the most loyal, according to Mark. They use one band which has mastered the original sounds. "It's like a circus..." "...maybe a minute break between acts...people get non-stop music for about 2 1/2 hours." Although this time the closest venue to Maine is in New Hampshire, Mark is thinking about talking to the promoter about bringing the show to Bangor - "...it would be nice to come all the way up into the State and say hi to everybody." I know I'll be lining up for a ticket.

Although Mark is best known for his voice, and although he hasn't taken it on tour for a while, he does play sax on occasion, including on the "Summer of Love" album and some of you may remember his crooning alto solo on "Melody For An Unknown Girl" from the "Midnight Ride" album or "Paul Revere and the Raiders Greatest Hits." I have the latter LP, including the insert, which happens to be in excellent condition.

We ended the conversation discussing fantasies of Water Street becoming a mini Bourbon or Beale street. That topic arose when we returned to discussing "Love is Strange" and Mark mentioned that Susan, who lives there, was voted the best girl singer in New Orleans. That is pretty significant in a city of music.

Mark said to say "hi" to everyone and we'll continue the conversation on his next break from "Happy Together."

“Love is Strange”

a new CD by Mark Lindsay and Susan Cowsill

No matter what your age, if you're alive this album should be one big grin from the first groove to the last. Oh – no grooves? Somehow I can't help think grooves while listening, but no, I won't say the album is “groovy.” Ok - I just did.

Although the songs, with one exception, are of that age, the performance and sound quality are as modern as today. If you happen to have “been there” though, it is multiple grins on multiple levels and I look forward to more playings to explore them.

I recall listening to the 1956 hit, Love is Strange” by Mickey "Guitar" Baker and  Sylvia Van der Pool Robinson on a REMCO “transistor radio” which was actually a crystal set with one of the new-fangled transistor thingys which added a bit of amplification. I cleverly added a bit more by putting the headphone in a wastebasket. The sound was not nearly as good as Mark and Susan's cover but it stayed with me, and the new version brings the best of old and new together.

Sonny & Cher's "Baby Don't Go" is a smooth revival and I have to say I like it better than the original. Susan's voice is all Mark says it is - smooth and full. Mark and Susan capture the harmonies of DC5's “Because” and it's sweet and delicious from start to finish. Following that is the albums only non-cover, Mark's “Love Will Make You Smile” and it does that, keeping the grin wide and foot tapping. Of course, the Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brothers references weren't lost on this aviation fan.

Can one listen to “You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling” without having flashbacks to “Top Gun” (or perhaps we're trying to forget that part) or hearing Medley and Hatfield? Probably not, but past reference is quickly put aside as Mark and Susan make it their own.

Covering such classics is not for the faint-hearted. It's “sacred music” embedded in the consciousness of those who came of age in those years. For those of us who were there, it brings back wonderful memories, well summed up in the closing track – Bobby Darin's “Dream Lover” - bad things forgotten and just the memories of romance and sun and beaches and the simplicity of youthful life. For those who missed it, I can't help but think that the melodies and words are timeless, and they will be taken by Mark and Susan's renderings also. I would love to hear impressions from my post-60s readers (I know you're out there!).

Suddenly silence. Why did it stop? I am not ready to return to today. It is all right though. “Always leave them wanting more” holds true. If others react to “Love is Strange” as I did, the foot stomping and cries of “more! more!" will be heard, and Mark and Susan will soon be at work on volume 2. When it arrives, I will be ready to add it to my collection. Yes, I have CDs, LPs, and tapes going back to 1952, but there is always room for more. An ocean of music is a wonderful place in which to drown.

Oh - and let's not forget the visual presentation. It's still possible to have "album art" - it didn't disappear completely with LPs. The cover art - "the Wager" is by David Delamare - http://daviddelamare.com and is beautifully rendered and is reproduced on an insert autographed by Mark and Susan. You can purchase the CD, as well as "the Wager" in several forms online at http://www.northerntides.com/store/c140/Love_Is_Strange_CDs_and_Artwork.html or, if you are lucky enough to be in Lubec, at the Northern Tides shop in person.

"Love is Strange" will make your ears and eyes happy.