From: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org (believers-digest) To: believers-digest@smoe.org Subject: believers-digest V7 #155 Reply-To: believers@smoe.org Sender: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk believers-digest Wednesday, September 17 2003 Volume 07 : Number 155 In Today's believer's digest: ----------------- Remember Susan supporting Howard Jones? [Ronaathome@aol.com] RE: so you dont eat the food... ["Tim Dunleavy" ] Sunday night at The Point ["Tim Dunleavy" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 05:44:39 EDT From: Ronaathome@aol.com Subject: Remember Susan supporting Howard Jones? Hi all, I came to hear Susan's songs through a friend, Howard Jones' manager, David Stopps.He gave me the LOTGSG for a listen and told me that this fantastic artiste had supported Howard on tour many moons back in US ( not sure what year that was, maybe you know?).. Since listening to that great CD in 1998 I have been a firm fan of Susan's talents. With Howard Jones 20th Anniversary gig coming up in London this Saturday night 20th September, and many American fans winging their way across the Atlantic for that concert, I just wondered how many on the list were present at any of the Howard Jones concerts when Susan was the support act and if they have any memories to share of those gigs? Best to all, Rona in England HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs http://worldcafecds.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 20:42:45 -0400 From: "Tim Dunleavy" Subject: RE: so you dont eat the food... Here's an article from today's New York Times about the fate of The Bottom Line. It says a lot about the state of live music today. - -Tim September 16, 2003 For Younger Music Fans, a Club Is, Well, History By MICHAEL SLACKMAN There was a time when a guy named Ringo Starr played the drums with a band called the Beatles, who had their music pressed onto round, black discs of vinyl and stuffed into jackets known as album covers. That might sound so obvious as to be silly, until you meet Brian Lee. He is a 19-year-old student studying music technology at New York University. He plays the trombone, has his own band and dresses like a 19-year-old musician might, with lots of black and piercing. He's never heard of Ringo Starr. "I haven't heard about a lot of groups," Mr. Lee said. "I'm mostly into my own band." This is not to make fun of Mr. Lee, who is a serious young musician, but to point out the problem facing the Bottom Line, a legendary music club in Greenwich Village that has showcased many of the biggest names in music over the last 30 years. Indeed, Mr. Starr himself recently played on its stage. The Bottom Line owes its landlord, New York University, $185,000 in rent going back to 2000, and may be forced to shut down. The club has been a presence on West Fourth Street in the Village for nearly three decades, and its possible demise has alarmed many of its faithful, from longtime customers to music industry legends. They say the club must be saved to help preserve a historic site, one that also offers a unique atmosphere to established musicians as well as up-and-coming artists. "The sense of history alone that exists within those walls is something that the city, let alone the music community and music fans, should value and treasure," said Vin Scelsa, the longtime disc jockey who is best known for the radio show "Idiot's Delight." But if its doors close, the death of the Bottom Line may well be more the result of changing musical tastes than a dispute in which the landlord has filed court papers seeking to take possession of the club, while the club's owners want to work out a payoff schedule. There was a time when the Bottom Line was a must stop for up-and-coming artists, established musicians and everyone in between. Its legacy is so strong that when Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel recently announced plans to reunite and tour, they did so from the stage at the Bottom Line. Why, then, hasn't Melanie Golder ever stepped foot inside the Bottom Line? She is 42 years old and has lived in the neighborhood for the last eight years. Or how about Julie Denison, 33, who has lived there for six years? Both women say that they are interested in music but that the Bottom Line just hasn't been on their list of places to see. "I've walked by it a million times," said Ms. Denison. "I can't even think of anyone who has been there." To begin to understand the Bottom Line's troubles is no more difficult than to cross the street. From there, the club's blue awning can be seen by hundreds of students milling around Tisch Hall at N.Y.U., but its legendary reputation eludes them. "You mean the comedy club across the street?" Chase Berger, 20, a finance and marketing major from Florida, responded when asked if he had ever heard of the club. "I think the taste for live music has gone down. People are more into D.J.'s, hip-hop and electronic music." Or here is 19-year-old Shawna Dobbins's perspective on the club. "I always felt like it was an older crowd, and it was kind of expensive. I love music, but I've never been there," she said. If there is a sigh going out over the Bottom Line's troubles, it is probably being heard in Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey. The Bottom Line was once a place that attracted young people from around the region. Those audiences poured in to hear musicians like Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed and Miles Davis. But those audiences have grown older, and though still interested in music, they are less likely to venture downtown for a night at a club. "I think the audience of the Bottom Line is a loyal one that was built over the years. It is the 30-plus audience," said Rita Houston, music director of WFUV, a radio station that promotes two performance series at the club aimed at younger audiences. "I would say the majority of the audience is a suburban audience that lives outside of town and is probably married with kids at this point and still goes to the shows." Steve Fenster, 47, a mortgage broker from Briarcliff Manor in Westchester, is that audience. He has been going to the Bottom Line since he was a teenager growing up on Long Island. He has memories of shows at the club and still gets out to see live music often. But he hasn't been to the Bottom Line in 10 months and notes that there are many other clubs open now. "Maybe the kind of musicians somebody my age likes aren't playing there much anymore," he said. That may be part of the problem. But it is more complex, reaching into the changing economy of the city and the changing nature of the music industry, with name acts concentrating more on making CD's than trying to draw audiences through concerts. Allan Pepper, one of the owners and founders of the Bottom Line, is struggling to keep it open. He insists that the club remains relevant and modern. He notes, for example, that the club recently had four up-and-coming artists, aimed at attracting younger audiences, on the same day that Ringo Starr played on stage. That, however, didn't mean anything to Mr. Lee, the 19-year-old musician, who said he had never heard of the four other musicians, either. "Can I tell you the name of my own band?" Mr. Lee said as he walked away carrying his trombone case. "Insult to Tradition." Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs http://worldcafecds.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 21:23:26 -0400 From: "Tim Dunleavy" Subject: Sunday night at The Point Susan did a grand show (my 37th SW show) Sunday night at The Point in Bryn Mawr - her first time playing there, as she pointed out (not counting that benefit a few years ago with her and about 40 other artists performing on one night!). She did say that it felt weird looking around the audience and recognizing every other face. (Among them was her friend Diane, sitting three seats to my left. Susan sang "Late For the Dance" for her, since Diane had written a line in that song - Susna thinks it was the one about "Lipstick-printed plastic cups.") Since the crowd completely surrounds the stage, this place is more intimate than most. She did apologize to my side of the stage for putting her back to us when she played piano. (Fine with me - I had a great view of her keyboard technique.) At one point during the first half she mentioned that she had once written a song called "Out on a Steam Grate in Bryn Mawr," and she proceeded to sing (a capella) as much of it as she could remember. (Judging from the lyrics on Sherlyn's site, the only thing she left out was the last verse.) In the first (guitar) half of the show, she did three songs which I had seen her perform on March 28, in Sellersville, when they were brand new. One was the St. Christopher song (don't know the full title - it's the one with lyrics taken from the back of a laminated Catholic prayer card - quite beautiful). The second was the bluesy "Red Dress" song - lots of fun, and lots of slide guitar. The third was a song that I remember her playing back in March, although I seem to have left it out of my review - "I Saw A Stranger's Face Today," I think it's called, although Peggy referred to it once as "I Am Your Country Gone To War." (It was much commented on a few months ago.) I don't want to spoil too much about it, except that this time Susan introduced it by saying that it was written this past March, and that the time it was written is important. Oh, and she also sang "Small Planes," a new (to me) song about the dangers of flying in said vehicles. The bridge to this song has two of the sickest jokes Susan's ever written, and I LOVED them! The laughter from the audience stopped the song dead (so to speak). Be sure to request it at her next show. :-) After an intermission came the piano portion of the show. This time she included "Don't I Know You From Someplace," another tune that was brand new in March; just gorgeous. A few songs into the piano set she declared that portions of the piano set would be played on guitar, and she picked up a guitar that was right behind her and played a few of her piano songs in Travis-picking guitar arrangements, while seated. Those songs included "Let's Regret This In Advance and "I'm Not Sure" - two songs I'd heard about but had never actually heard before. She switched back to piano, then closed the set with "So Nice" - a song that never fails to make me smile, in a completely new arrangement. She started the song on guitar, and at the solo she put the guitar down and played a piano solo, sang the last verse on piano, then played the coda on guitar. Never missed a beat, either. Wow. For her encore, she sat at the piano again and mentioned that one friend who was there had told her that "Science is destiny, but timing is everything." She said she liked that, and that she's been very happy lately, which is a hard thing to be for a songwriter! But to close her show she would do three songs about timing, two regular length and one short. "The first is by that famous cabaret songwriter... from the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson." She then sang "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" (from Pet Sounds) - a lovely version. Next came "May I Suggest." Then, to close the evening, a third, short, song about timing: An a capella version of "I'm Looking Over A Four-Leaf Clover." Once again, no musical stone unturned.... - -Tim HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs http://worldcafecds.com ------------------------------ End of believers-digest V7 #155 ******************************* ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------- This has been a posting from the Susan Werner believers-digest To unsubscribe send mail to Majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe believers-digest" in the body of the message