Kad Barma's blog contained a review of the CD release party at Mickey's in Lowell on March 30, 2009, and also some cool comments about the Lowell music scene in general.
apparently, when you arrange to book a show at mickey's on a monday night, when they're not usually open, then the big screen projection tv does NOT have to be on while the music is playing. yeah! and play it did.
arte kenyon brought his crew to the stage to run through the songs from his brand new cd "be a man", and it was good. very good. carl johnson pulled out the resonator to back arte's "red moon in the morning", and the train kept a rollin' right on from there. wayne morgan's harp was sharp. steve esposito's keys were key. rick burgess' fiddle was my-t-fine. jen kearney took a turn at the mic backing up arte for the chorus of "no more crying". and arte's stand-up bass was stand-up and sweet all throughout.
it's great to see musicians playing for themselves as much as for anybody. "why i always end up alone" prompted a post-show discussion about how a simple piece of music can sound like anything you please, from the stones "dead flowers" (as was suggested arte first introduced it to the band) to how it hit the stage last night somewhere between eric clapton channeling danny flowers ("living on tulsa time") and even the only-the-best parts of billy ray cyrus ("achy breaky heart").
the other thing that struck me, apropos of "she's got a thing for me", (arte's self-confessed one happy song, though i think he's winking when he says it), that everybody in this extended family of lowell musicians honestly and earnestly has a thing for each other in a way that few other musical families can match. (right, mssr's fleetwood and mac?) it's a treat to be able to just sit somewhere out in the audience and lean back in the chair and enjoy.