Confessions of the Starving Artist - SUPERBLOG 3 - 7/3/08

Washed up on my shore
heart adrift and broken
another soul lost at sea
"Love Me Girl" by Elliott Glick

Many legends have come from the Bronx. Silent movie star Harry Carey, Bobby Darin, Carl Reiner, Anne Bancroft, Felix Cavalieri of the Young Rascals, even the guy who wrote "Walk Away Rene" and many, many others. Well, some of them play the Starving Artist. I always refer to Lou Volpe as a legend and he is, but this time we had another one play the Artist on Friday, June 20. Fish Altieri has been a busy lad in the biz, as they say. The driving force behind the Bronx band The Raw Poets, once managed by Roger Daltrey of The Who, mastermind behind Bombshell (later known as The Shells), and others. Friday night was his night. Just him, his guitar and those wonderful songs. I first heard these songs from The Shells. Three beautiful girls with beautiful voices in glorious three-part harmony. Nice way to present these songs, doncha think? Well Fish went down the list playing 10 or so of the hits from that group - all of which he wrote. You walk away realizing it was always about the songs and what he had to say and how he said it. The songs are strong and stand alone. He stands alone. He may not be a blonde bombshell but he's something else.

Aaron Gilmartin came to play Saturday, June 21. Now, Aaron was here once before as part of a duo so I thought I knew what to expect. Well Aaron's solo act was completely different. The first time he came with a Fender Strat and this time he played a classical guitar. His style was different and his songs were different. Aaron has been doing work with prisoners and they contributed to one of his songs. He was joined on stage by Priscilla Gilman. His songs are unique and his guitar work is impressive. Click his link, and check him out.

Ah, Sunday, June 22, sweet Sunday. Theresa Sareo, the sweetheart of the Starving Artist, came to pour a little sugar on it all. Theresa, as you may know, has a God-given voice. She sings any genre and elevates it to an art form - sings any song and improves upon the original. She's also a very special person, both heroic and sweet. It was a special "birthday happy" celebration for Debbie Martin - who chose Starving Artist and Theresa for her birthday celebration; a guest at her party, Laura Flynn, was also celebrating a birthday. Theresa made a proper party of it all. She also goes to the veterans' hospitals - most notably Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and sings her amazing song, "Through a Soldier's Eyes." She was joined throughout by the now famous Ethan "Hearthrob" Hartshorn playing percussion, guitar and ukulele - and even taking a vocal solo on "When I'm 64." Take a trip around the internet or visit her MySpace. Hear all that she is. And for the love of Pete - whoever the hell he is - reserve seats for her next show at the Artist.

The weekdays seem to fly by. Hannah is out of school for the summer and now I have a bike riding partner. Her social calendar is filling in in a hurry and I'm glad for the time with her.

On my mind these days is perhaps a move to larger quarters and a better venue. No solid deal yet on that front though. I'll fill in more details as they come.

The last Friday of the month is "Take the Stage" Open Mic. Open mic is fast becoming something of a legend. We have every kind of act represented from month to month. There's no telling what will happen at the Artist on opoen mic night. I'll give you an example. On Friday, June 27, we had four or five poets, a comedian or two, and a slew of singer-songwriters; 23 acts in all. Marc Hohenstein got up and sang a comedy song parody called "Afghanistan," sung to the tune of "Summer Wind." It was hilarious. How could a song about a war zone be funny? I dunno, but he did it and it was funny. Another highlight came when three guys with a violin, an electric bass guitar and a Takamine got up to play what they called Japanese gypsy rock. I don't know what it was (I heard tango, Russian, flamenco, and other things in there) but I hired them as soon as they got off the stage. Visit their MySpace and hear what they do. Their show date at the Artist is Friday, September 5, 8 p.m.

Saturday night, June 28. The humidity was a million and a half. Project Mercury got to prove what troopers they are. It's no secret 'round the Artist that I love this band. I've weaseled my way into their inner sanctum a bit. They bring their own equipment (i.e., PA, mics, etc.) and set it up meticulously. The sound they make is great. Two guitars, cello and violin. They put three-part harmony on top of that. Add to this a fine, thoughtfully constructed mix of originals and covers. A solid winner if you ask me. Oh did I mention that they are three good looking gals - Marian Mastrorilli (vocals, acoustic guitar), Charlene Donohue (vocals, violin), Jeanne Fox (cello, bass) - and Craig Fox (acoustic guitar, dobro, vocals). (Don't worry Craig, we love you too!) They turned in a beautiful first set in spite of the fact that they were melting on stage. For the second set they asked me to come up and join Craig and Jeanne on my song, "Like I Do Tonight," which you can see from another evening at my You Tube site. It's a major thrill for me to play with this tight, well-oiled band. Unfortunately their PA went dead periodically throughout that song and the next. But with grace and ease, they played unplugged the rest of the show. This added something to the evening for me. You could hear just how tight they are as a band. No mics, no effects on the instruments, and yet the blend of voices was remarkable. What a great band and what professionals. We all also got to see Charlene's baby Emily again.

Well Sunday rolled around again. We have music in the afternoon on Sundays. Best way to spend Sundays. (Well, the second best.) Thieves and Poets came to visit on Sunday, June 29. Bill Irvine (acoustic and electric guitars), George Kelly (acoustic and electric guitars) and Chris Frawley (percussion) make up this really superb band that marries everything from Miles and Steely Dan to Santana and the Stones. They write great original pieces, too. This is an instrumental band. Both guys can and do play the vamps and the percussionist is amazing. It was interesting that both times these guys played the Artist, it rained. But these musical magicians, sonic sorcerers, waveform wizards played and the sun came out. They took a break and it rained again. I promised the audience they would do it again and they came back from break and played and the sun came out again. I know you know I would never lie to you. In fact, I recorded them Sunday afternoon. This is a new feature to the blog and I'm glad I captured their magic live. So hear that for yourself (link next to their image on the blog found on the Starving Artist home page). This is what you heard or what you missed. I don't lie to you. Make your reservations now for their next show here. By the way, loyal friend of the Artist and poet herself, Ellen Ruth Topol, scored a triple that last June weekend, attending every performance. She even read a poem in tribute to Pete Morton, songwriter from England, who'll play the Starving Artist on Sunday, July 13. She said she thought she should make it a triple-header "because every night's a home run at the Starving Artist."

I wish at this time to share some of the good things that have been happening concerning my CD, "I've Been Told." The songs from that collection sold more than 535 downloads at Verizon V Cast. I am thrilled and wish to thank all who contributed to those sales. Also, my songs on YouTube have received more than 700 views all together for the four clips. "Blue Tomorrow" is the leader in both categories. And my MySpace broke 10,000 plays as June ended. On Neil Young's Living With War Web Site I entered that chart a year ago at number 93, with just about 1,600 songs on that site. One year later on a chart of 2,700 songs I am at numbers 44 and 45! I think I have some bragging rights here. So thank you guys for that too. You can all share in those rights. I also wish to thank Monica, my wife, for her work promoting me and my music.

So click all the links to all the performers. "Click on Glick" at Neil Young's Living With War Web Site and "click on Glick" (#45 - Bitter Tears; #44 - Baby This One's For You) as of Monday, June 30, 2008. Check out the calendar and make reservations. Buy my music. (You can now buy my music on Amazon, Napster, iTunes, CD Baby, Verizon V Cast and about 20 other sites.) Don't forget about my show at the Artist on Saturday, July 26, at 8 p.m. Start reserving now. Continue to support live, independent music. It's important to the industry and the artists. Be good to each other and come in, and live right.

Elliott Glick