X-Session, Unfiltered

We return to Napper Tandy’s, 15 E. Main Street, Smithtown, for a Happy Hour on Friday, November 2. Start time is 7 PM(ish). And we will do likewise the following Friday, November 9, but at Napper Tandy’s, 275 RT 25A, Miller Place instead.

Then on Saturday, November 10, we’ll be playing a special gig at Nags Head Ale House, 396 New York Ave, Huntington.We’ll be playing as part of an effort to raise money for a very good friend, Eric Curylo. Eric sustained serious brain injuries in a motorcycle accident on July 4th, and we’re hoping to defray some of the cost of his care. Admission is 15 dollars and includes a free buffet. Drinks will be at Happy Hour-type prices and there will be raffles giving away numerous gift certificates donated by local merchants. We’ll play from 1 until 5.  If you can’t attend and would care to contribute by mail, you may do so by sending a donation to: Donations for Eric, c/o Bliven, 7 Waverly Street, Huntington Station, NY 11746.  We’ve also accepted donations at our other gigs and will continue to do so. Please join us in this effort — Eric’s a good man.

The 17th of November finds us back at one of our favorite haunts, Matty T’s Roadhouse in Deer Park, at 10 PM. I know it’s still a few weeks away but some of you have asked when we were going to be back there……

Please have a great week. Talk to you soon.

Pat

As my old friend Alfred Hitchcock used to say when he opened his TV show, “Good Evening”. I’d like to start this week by thanking all who came down to Five Towns College on Saturday the 20th for the Lennon Birthday concert. I wrote a brief synopsis of the evening and posted it to the website, you can read it here.

And as the leaves begin to change and the temperatures drop, even if it’s only slightly, can the words Napper Tandy’s be far behind? Indeed, we open the Fall/Winter season at Nappers by playing a Happy Hour (of course) on Friday, November 2, at Napper’s Smithtown, 15 E. Main Street. We start as close as possible to 7 PM, traffic on the LIE permitting, and end at 10.

Then on Friday, November 9, we’re at Napper Tandy’s, 275 RT 25A, Miller Place. Same as Smithtown – start at 7, end at 10. Miller Place always has a band after us, so you can get a free double feature if you care to stay longer.

And no e-mail will be complete without mentioning the cause for which we’re playing on Saturday, November 10. Our good friend Eric Curylo was hospitalized at Stony Brook University Medical Center for months following a serious motorcycle accident on July 4th and we’re extremely fortunate that he’s still with us. However, his life has changed in numerous ways with regard to his living situation, job, etc., as you could imagine. He’s faced with a continued rehabilitative recovery and is staring at a mountain of medical expenses.

With this in mind we will be performing at Nags Head Ale House, 396 New York Ave., Huntington on the aforementioned 10th of November from 1 until 5. Admission is 15 dollars. There will be a buffet donated by the bar and drink specials. Needless to say, all tips to the bartenders and the band will also go the cause and, thanks to the tireless work of Diane Dougal, there will be quite a few gifts from numerous local merchants raffled off. 

If any of you would like to mail in a donation, you may do so by sending it to “Donations for Eric, c/o Bliven, 7 Waverly St., Huntington Station, NY, 11746″ You can also donate at any of our gigs — just tell us it’s for Eric otherwise Jim is liable to give you a lap dance! Seriously, I’ve come to know Eric in the years he’s been coming to see the band and there’s not a finer cause for your charity dollar out there.

And with that I’ll bid you adieu. Have a great week.

Pat

This is my first attempt at a blog entry as opposed to the “Weekly Updates” that I usually send out.  If this ends up in everyone’s e-mail inbox than I’ve done something terribly wrong and I apologize.

My reason for writing is to mention that we had a great time this past Saturday night at the John Lennon Birthday concert.  The crowd was a near sellout and there was a lot of energy in the building.  We performed second-to-last, playing Lennon’s “Oh Yoko.” Jim stood up front with Ed and I - he sang lead – and played what we call his “cocktail kit,” a stand-up set-up with a snare drum, cymbal, and a rubber pad at his feet that acts as a bass drum — so called because we commonly use it when we play cocktail hours and other low volume gigs.  Ed played electric bass and I used my old number 1 - the Takamine acoustic that I played for ten years almost exclusively until switching to a Taylor T5 this past summer.

Also, thanks to (Wonderous Stories’) Kenny Forgione’s organizational skills, a finale was planned with most of the performers taking part.  We decided to do “Instant Karma” – ironically a song X-Session had considered doing instead of “Oh Yoko.”  Jim sat behind the house drum kit, Eddie played bass, Frank Walker played piano and sang, Kenny Forgione and I played guitars and sang, and Ed Ryan, Tom Sanfillipo, Steve Lee, and Bob Koenig sang also.  All in all it made for a wonderful evening and we thank those of you in the audience for making it thus.