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About the Band
- Friends Classic Rock
- www.FriendsClassicRock.com
Hi everyone!
ReplyDeleteI had a great newsletter written and things got crazy. So here’s the abridged edition…
Thanks to everyone who came out to La Campagnola for New Year’s and Valentines’ Day. We’re talking to Tony about some more dates. With the late restaurant seatings, we got a chance to dust off some of our “dinner set” material that we normally only play at weddings and such. We hope you all enjoyed it.
Thanks to everyone who came out to Racks on January 9th – packed house. We’re back there on Friday March 6th.. Alisha is hoping to have the new place open this Spring.
January 10th was our debut at Flying-W Airport’s Avion Lounge. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate…snow and ice kept the crowd a bit light. We’re looking forward to our next performance there on Friday, February 27. I’m excited because a group of my high school bandmates (and my drumline!) are hoping to attend…I haven’t seen them since high school.
We wrapped up January at the newly-renovated Just Sports in Burlington. Due to a scheduling conflict, we won’t be back there until March 28th..
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Work continues on our debut originals CD, “One Man’s Dream…”. Lib and Joe have put down the guitar tracks and guide vocals for 8 of the planned 12 songs, with me at the engineering controls. Soon, Lou will add bass tracks, and Lib will add some keyboards. I’ll do the percussion, then we’ll add the vocals, and finally the brass. We’re still hoping for a late summer release. For you techies, we’re recording digitally on a TASCAM Portastudio 2488 (the original model) in 24-bit. We’ll probably be transferring the wave files to a computer-based system for mastering, although our currently posted MP3s were mastered on the TASCAM system.
>>> CD progress info is now being posted at our blog – FriendsClassicRock.BlogSpot.com. The blog is also linked from our website FriendsClassicRock.com
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Upcoming dates
* Fri February 27th – Avion Pub at the Flying-W Airport, Fostertown Road, Medford NJ. Try the Avion Restaurant for dinner before the show (call 609-267-8787 for restaurant info). Show time is 9:30pm.
* Sat February 28th – (Private Party) –If you are interested in auditioning us for a wedding or private affair in a banquet setting, please contact me and I’ll be happy to arrange it.
* Fri March 6 – Racks Bar & Grille, Atco NJ (10pm)
* Sat March 14 – We’re close to locking this in - TBA
* Fri March 20 – Flying-W, Medford NJ (although part of the airport is in Lumberton, it’s a Medford address) (9:30pm)
* Sat March 21 – Broad Street Pub, Palmyra NJ (9pm)
* Sat March 28 – Just Sports, Burlington (9pm)
* Sat April 4th – We’re not playing, but Lib, Mrs Coop and I are going to see Walter Trout at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood. Opening for Walter is the B.B.Jackson Band featuring Walter’s former bandmate, and my good friend, Jack Jeckot. BBJ has reunited for this event and some old BBJ members from the early days will be joining. I’ll be playing roadie before and after the show. www.WalterTrout.com. Tickets available through TicketMaster.
* Fri April 24th – Flying-W (9:30pm)
* Sat April 25th – Just Sports (9pm)
* May 3rd – Private Party
We’re hoping to get a regular schedule at Flying-W, so be sure to come out and support us there.
Full details, including venue information can be found on our calendar at www.FriendsClassicRock.com
Summer Concert Dates – so far we have confirmed a few of our Summer Tour dates, and a few others are just waiting on paperwork
* Thu July 9th – Summer in LOVE Concert Series at Philadelphia’s LOVE Park – EVENING SHOW 5-7pm – FREE ADMISSION
* Sun July 26th – a midday show at the Shore TO BE ANNOUNCED when the paperwork is done
* Mon Aug 3rd – Summer in LOVE Concert Series at Philadelphia’s LOVE Park – MIDDAY SHOW Noon-2pm – FREE ADMISSION
* Thu Aug 6th – Concert-by-the-Bay Concert Series, Ship Bottom NJ (LBI)- EVENING SHOW 7-9pm – FREE ADMISSION
* Fri Aug 7th – an evening show in Burlington County TO BE ANNOUNCED when the paperwork is done
Other dates are still too tentative to announce. I’m playing phone tag with the events coordinator on Staten Island…I’m trying very hard to get us up there for a concert this summer…Lou, Lib and I still have friends back in the Island (and a few who fled to North/Central Jersey and might consider popping over the Outerbridge to see us).
FOR LATEST SCHEDULE INFORMATION, GOTO www.FriendsClassicRock.com
Plugs for a few other bands –
Whiskey Train – Lib’s son plays keyboards/congas/harmonica and sings for the region’s hottest new band. We’ve been watching and working with these guys since they first got together 2 years ago. Featured on local FM-radio giant WMMR, the boys have been kickin’ butt everywhere they play. Their second CD is due out soon. www.WhiskeyTrain.com
Wanted – A few years back (maybe 8-9 years ago?), Lib played with a very talented group of individuals that appeared under the names “The Rock-A-Fellas” and “Ethel and The Rock-A-Fellas” before finally settling on “Ethel and the Boys”. Over the two years they were together they played locally and recorded an unreleased CD entitled “Dirty World”. The CD is AWESOME. Well, the drummer from Ethel, Roger Frantzman, is playing drums for local country/rock/blues band “Wanted”. They’ll be appearing at 38 West in Hainesport NJ this Saturday Feb 21…gee – Friends is now off that night – sounds like a few of us will be at 38 West this Saturday. http://wantedband.com/
TREE-O – Greg and April have dropped in on us a few times at the Broad Street Pub and some incredible jam sessions have resulted. Along with Steve on the Telecaster, TREE-O has a distinctive sound and will knock your socks off. Greg and April do some duet work, and Greg also does some solo work. They play regularly at the Madison Pub and Café Madison in Riverside NJ in one format or another. The TREE-O trio will be at Café Madison on February 28th. Since we’re otherwise occupied that night, I urge you to check them out. If we get a quick load-out from our job down the street, a few of us may stop in at Madison.
In the Big Apple, check out my former bandmate from “the early years”, Tom Uttaro (myspace.com/tomuttaro), and his band My Bird. If you find yourself anywhere near Nashville TN, check out Reeves Gabrels (www.myspace.com/reeves13). Reeves and I went to grade school together. In the Boston MA area, look for Bob Familiar (www.BobFamilar.com), who played in high school band (drumline!) with me and played with Reeves in the 80s before Reeves teamed up with David Bowie.
If you like the coffee-house scene, a co-worker of mine, Dan Makanoff, plays bass with a folk/blues trio appearing under the name “Brian Baker” at the Coffee Works in Voorhees NJ. After seeing Dan, Brian and Stuart last week, I’m now tempted to grab my guitar and do an open-mic night down there. Dan’s group doesn’t have a website, but you can keep an eye on the venue schedule at www.Coffee-Works.com
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I think that’s (more than) enough for now.
Check out our website: FriendsClassicRock.com. Check out our blog FriendsClassicRock.BlogSpot.com. We’re also on MySpace (“FriendsBandNJ”) and facebook (it’s easier to look for me “Bryan Cooper” in the South Jersey network, and find the page on my “info” tab – THEN BECOME A FAN OF THE PAGE!).
Be well, take care, and support live music, especially Friends-Classic Rock.
Bryan
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