Taking Advantage

Some say that "the livin' is easy" in summertime (it was Ira Gershwin, actually), and we hope that's true for you and yours. What's certain is that there's live music coming to a neighborhood near you, and not just from MAMA winning band BirdDogBlues (see schedule below), so take advantage of the opportunities.

(And check back here often for updates!)

The McMusical Calendar

Thursday, July 18

Fun folkers Faux Fawn (the brain child of prolific and singular songwriter Paul Otteson) perform in the spacious and comfortable backyard at the McFarland House Cafe (5923 Exchange St. in McFarland).
6 to 8 pm

Sunday, July 21

Mel Ford & Fairlane serve up a smorgasbord of blues-flavored standards and raucous rarities with acoustic guitar, upright bass, and down-home vocals on the patio at Tofflers Pub & Grill in New Glarus
(200 5th Avenue). 

2:30 to 5 pm

Tis the Season (for outdoor shows)

The "season" is upon us, the post-COVID extended summertime season for outdoor festivities and the music that accompanies them.

The McMuscial Calendar is dominated by BirdDogBlues events (see schedule below), but others of interest occur. I can name two right off the top of my hairy head:

Thursday, June 13

Faux Fawn (alt-neo-folk quintet performing the songs of Paul Otteson) kicks of McFarland's "Bands by the Boardwalk" series in McDaniel Park on the east shore of Lake Waubesa.

6-8pm 

Sunday, July 21

Mel Ford & Fairlane apply guitar and upright bass to a blues-flavored variety pack of tunes (mostly mid-20th century) at Tofflers in New Glarus.

2:30 to 5 pm.

Out and About, Early and Often

Check out the revised BirdDogBlues schedule!

Hey, these guys are all MAMAS boys. Winners of the Madison Area Music Association 2023 awards, that is. 

A couple new dates since last posted, and lots of afternoon and evening shows. (Some outdoor shows may depend on fair weather. Keep watching the skies.)

Check back soon for other McMusical events.

Anti-Social Networking

Welcome! To this highly exclusive online backwater.

Some may have wondered whether we're still breathing over here. Well, as of this post, you can set that minor concern to one side.

Yes. Life does go on! (Despite the efforts of Exxon and all the other like-mindless, greed-driven, world-killing corporate demons.) But the consensus trajectory says that could change, given the amount of shit currently passing through the proverbial fan, and how much more is certain to hit it in the uncomfortably near future.

Social Media tycoons are right up there with the worst of the worst offenders in the but-what-about-my-bottom-line department, and yes, they deserve the business ends of whatever pitchforks and torches we can muster, but even the most mindful of us users and consumers are complicit to some degree. Talkin' 'bout you. Talkin' 'bout me.

Is it possible to live without social media? Of course it is, Silly. We've managed since we were monkeys.

Is it possible to make music and still save the future for our children? Taylor?

Whether or no, Mr. McMusic is going to take a few more shots at it this summer.

The McMusical Calendar

Saturday, May 11
The Gentlemen reunite for an evening of Beatles songs plus a smattering of other hits from the era. The ensemble is anchored by three original members of the band that reigned as Wisconsin's preeminent purveyor of Brit-invasion hits circa '66 to '70. Get your kicks on route Cottage Grove Road at Chief's Bar & Grill (right across from Buck's Pizza). 7 to 10

Plus!

Urgent Statement of Impending Doings

Greetings, y'all!
Fall (see photo) has slipped into the past and the holiday season is now upon us. Daylight begins to lengthen. The calendar flips, and the question on all lips? When (not if) will the shite hit the fan?

Here's hoping not before January 19, 2024. Why?
See below.

The McMuscial Calendar

Friday, January 19
MAMA winners the BirdDogBlues band play Madison Wisconsin's premiere Blues venue, The Red Rooster. 8ish to 11ish. Don't miss this event, come heck or high snowfall. (This is winter and this is Wisconsin.)

Other hip happenings are lining up for the 2024 seasons, so check back often and frequently.

And don't forget to write.

Pre-Thanksgiving Bash!

Mark your calendar! And make it quick!

One week from tonight, Wednesday November 22 (Thanksgiving Eve), The Birddog Blues Band will be bluesing and/or boozing it up at Doundrin's Distillery in Cottage Grove from 6 to 9 pm.

This may be your last chance to come out and dance (or just drink--your call) to the BBB in 2023. The schedule will be light during the darkness of the winter months. Check back for updates to the McMusical Calendar.

And Now for Something

Yes. It's been awhile.

Sometimes doing virtually nothing is a time-consuming task. But here we are, now, so...

The McMusical Calendar

Saturday, November 4
The Birddog Blues Band plays Blues (what else?) at The Fharmacy in Lake Mills from 7 to 10 pm.

Yup. That's all for now.

But wait! Surely there must be some other pearls of wisdom, some tidbits of titillation to offer you.

Okay. How about this?

Year's end approacheth. Soon, November. And then December. And then... Damn! Another year gone by. And, leastways around these parts, that revelation dawns in a cold, gray light. Winter in Wisconsin. Some love it. More don't.

I see it as an opportunity to read some books, be it with the intent to entertain (myself) or to tackle the big, eternal questions, or to wrestle with the current  sorry state of the world.

Take last year round about the turning of the calendar. I was on a quest. Music. This thing that I have bathed and showered in and raced after and swum in and floundered in for, how long? What is music? Why is it? How is it? How is it that I can play and sing some songs, tunes and ditties, but I can't answer the big mysterious musical questions with authoritative certainty?

So I turned to books (bless you, public library system). Three of 'em: 
This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Like Says About You, by Susan Rogers; This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, by Daniel J. Levitin; and How Music Works, by David Byrne.

Susan Rogers wants to explain why your favorite songs are your favorites. She got cred: before she became a very successful record producer, she was longtime sound engineer for Prince. And now she's a professor of cognitive neuroscience. She writes an easy read and offers good reasons to stop apologizing for your musical guilty pleasures, and to back off dissing music you don't like.

Daniel Levitin was a professional musician before he went all egghead PHD on us. He goes a lot deeper into the science of it all than Rogers, but even if some of his reference fly over your head, it's still a fascinating trip.

And, even if The Talking Heads aren't your cup of tea, David Byrne is a brilliant dude with a lot to say about music and his experiences listening to it, writing it, and performing it. Recommended.