Vermont's Best Classic Rock!
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News August, 2008 Wow! Barre Homecoming has come and gone again-where does the time go? It seems like only yesterday that It was April and we were looking forward to some time to write music. (Which we’ve done!) May’s busy schedules brought Native Tongue's practice time to a screeching halt, although we did find time to perform at the first annual “Battle of the Bands” at the Barre Auditorium, taking first place! There was some stiff competition, particularly from one of TJ’s other bands “Tim Brick and the Gypsy Highway”. Bands were expected to perform mostly original music (although the promoters were a little lax in communicating what is was exactly that the judges were scoring on). The Tongue performed well and enjoyed ourselves immensely even though we only finished in first place. Our old friend Ezra from MSR Sound was in charge of the mix and he did a great job for everyone involved, as he always does. We debuted three new original songs for this performance, “Big Poppa”, a straight forward blues/rock song, “She kicks my Ass” which is a hard driving rock song about how a woman can just blow you away and “Show me how you feel” a pretty, melodic love song in which the singer implores his lover to let her feelings out. Combined with the originals we already have in “the vault” we’re pretty close to having enough material to record an album. Who knew writing lyrics and creating music could be so difficult? It seems so easy when we’re performing other peoples music! ---------- June was another quiet month, but July brought Bob’s 25th High School Reunion at the Black Door in Montpelier and Barre’s Homecoming Street Dance at which the Tongue performed for the 8th straight year. (and 4 out of the last 5 have been in rain!) The High School Reunion was a lot of fun for Bob, getting to see people that he hasn’t seen in many years- his classmates have all aged well, in fact Bob looks older than the majority of his classmates! The Class of ’83 danced all night, and the band was almost as hot as the stage and room-look at the photo’s and you’ll see us all dripping sweat! This was a different gig for the Tongue as we used the sound system at the Black Door instead of our own and really didn’t have a whole lot plugged into the main speakers. The room was small and we wanted to do our best not to overpower the crowd, which we accomplished. Rob used two number 10 pencils on a couple songs, poor guy! I think we were lucky no one passed out, it’s a good thing Rob, Todd and TJ spent lot’s of time at the bar “hydrating” before the gig! ---------- Barre’s Homecoming was again well attended even with the inclement weather! It looked like we might not be able to perform at first. High winds, thunder and lightning and rain all were threatening, but the wind and lightning move around us and while it rained through our first 5 songs, it cleared up quite nicely after that and everything went smoothly until an unscheduled power outage shut us down right before the fireworks. With no power to be found, the Barre City Fire Department and Ambulance came to the rescue, providing us with a generator which Native Tongue good friend Lester Felch got up and running for us. Once the fireworks were over, we hit the stage again, this time with Kelly Cleveland of Barre who performed “Proud Mary”, “Go Your Own Way” and “Landslide “ with the band. Thanks Kelly, you did a great job! Rob debuted his new drum kit, which sounded even better than it looked! Native Tongue played til after 11:00 pm, a Barre Homecoming first! Ezra did sound for all the bands that played during Homecoming Days, and we all spent time groveling at his feet as he’s the best! Ezra and Bill worked really hard just to get us up and running, dodging rain, lightning and bystanders, then made us sound great. All our wives, children and families were in attendance, making Homecoming even more special and truly driving home the point of what the weekend is all about We look forward to performing at Homecoming again next year, and would like to give special thanks to Hollie Friot and Jon Noyes for their part in making Native Tongue a part of Homecoming year after year! ---------- What’s on the horizon? Hmm…… Let’s see; Gusto’s August 15th, Stonecutters Brewhouse on August 16th (acoustic Tongue) then some private affairs and Gusto’s again in October. Watch the site for information on Barre’s First annual Octoberfest Celebration in (you guessed it!) October, in which Native Tongue has been asked to participate! Until next time, stay safe, stay happy and remember that we want to see you where the music’s best-Onstage with Native Tongue! ---------- PS: for those that want even more music, check out one of TJ’s other bands, “Cocktail” or “Tim Brick and the Gypsy Highway”; Todd’s other band “The Burke Mountain Bandits” or see Todd and TJ perform together (At Stoncutters Brewhouse) as “Powers and Wells”. April, 2008 The time has come (actually it’s past time!) to update our postings. So without further ado... New years eve at the Barre Elks Club was once again a smashing success. Good food, good friends and a tremendous amount of great music! The Elks did their usual fantastic job with the food and everyone involved had a good time. Ezra Mulheron of MSR sound did the sound work for this year's gig and did a superb job. Ezra has a keen ear and is very easy to work with and the Tongue appreciates his expertise! The decision was made, however, that it looks like even more fun to be celebrating New Years than to be the entertainment for a celebration, so I think you’ll find next New Years empty on the Native Tongue Calendar! ---------- In January, Native Tongue made their return to Gusto’s in Barre, although truth to be told it felt more like a debut as we hadn’t played there in so long! Tongue fans filled the place (THANK YOU!) and as a result, Native Tongue will be seen at Gusto’s many more times throughout the year! This was also the debut of our new sound system, and based on everything we heard from all of you, the new system was a hit, creating a sound that was crisper and cleaner than ever before! ---------- February had us returning to Gusto’s where Native Tongue filled the house with singing, screaming fans (THANK YOU AGAIN!!) Newt Dawg and her posse were in attendance for her birthday, and while she didn’t wear any lampshades that night, she certainly wore just about every piece of headwear in the place! We look forward to being there again soon! ---------- February also brought about the greatest upset in Superbowl history, as The New York Giants beat the Patriots in an extremely entertaining game making Bob very happy and Mike, TJ and Rob very sad! ---------- March 16th brought about one of Native Tongues favorite yearly gigs, the St. Patrick’s Day Celebration in Montpelier. This was our 6th consecutive year playing here and it once again was an unbelievable event. The Dave Keller Band played right before us and put on a phenomenal show. If you are not familiar with The Dave Keller Blues Band, you are missing out! Dave is a very talented guitar player and the guys he plays with are super tight and super hot! Ezra Mulheron of MSR Sound ran the soundstage this night and did a great job! As you are aware from previous postings, we LOVE having Ezra run sound for our performances! This night was one of those magical nights where everything seemed to fall into place. We played for about 2 ½ hours and at the end all looked at each other with “that’s it?” expressions on our faces. We wanted to keep playing! We debuted a bunch of new songs all of which went over well. The crowd sang along with almost every song! Definitely one of our favorite nights! I don’t think TJ even broke any strings, which is amazing as he was WAILING on them! Rob debuted his new drum set up and double pedal both of which were big hits all around! (For more info got to Rob’s bio!) ---------- Jeremy and Sonia Boisvert invited the Tongue to help them celebrate their 10th anniversary and vow renewal at the Canadian Club in Barre on March 22nd. The Boisverts really know how to throw a party! Everyone was asked to attend in Luau attire, there were games and fun galore for all ages, and of course, Native Tongue! A lot of old friends were in attendance and it was great to catch up with all of them! We wish Jeremy and Sonia the very best and hope to be invited to their 20th, 25th and 50th anniversary parties as well! This night also marked Mike’s first performance with his new Taylor Acoustic Guitar. (For more info go to Mike's bio) I have two things to say about his new Taylor, “WOW!” And “WOW!” ---------- The next couple of months Native Tongue will be working on original material with the hopes of FINALLY recording an album. We have tried two or three times in recent years to make this happen, but the creative drive is strong in us right now and we hope we can make it happen. Watch this site for breaking news! Until next time, stay safe, happy and healthy, we’ll see you where the music’s best; Onstage with Native Tongue! 12/18/2007 New Years eve 2007 Native Tongue will help
the Barre Elks Club usher in the new year. A few tickets are still available -
call the Barre Elks! This is our 4th year doing this event and it just keeps
getting better and better! Fall, 2007 Past time again to
post, so here it goes! Early September
found us in Northfield again for the Graves wedding. It was a beautiful day
again turning a little cool, but the partiers turned out and had a good time.
The day was capped off by a "split" competition between a couple of the male
wedding attendees that had all of us in the band saying "OWWW" but the gentlemen
involved seemed to be handling it just fine and put on a good show. We think
alcohol might have been involved.... Summer 2007 July found the
Tongue in Northfield to play music for the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew
Atwood. It was a beautiful day and the wedding was on a hillside covered
in flowers and shrubs. Very Nice! The hill made it interesting to dance,
particularly as the night wore on! The band wishes the Atwoods the very best
that life can bring them. 6/22/07 It’s been almost two months, so it’s past time for us to post again! Unfortunately, we had to cancel the Postmasters gig in Fairlee at the last minute as Bob was in the hospital. TJ and Todd took some equipment and played music for them and it sounds like a pretty good time was had by all. Rockin’ the Road was a blast but was it COLD! We performed under a tent, the sun was out but it felt like it was about 35 degrees! Everyone had fun, including the group of ladies celebrating a birthday by coming to see Native Tongue! Thanks to Thunder Road and FRANK FM for inviting us to be part of the kickoff to the race season! June 16th found us at a graduation party in Washington, which was a lot of fun; great food, great people and a bonfire to boot! We tried out our new Native Tongue trailer, which worked perfectly and had some great musical moments to boot. Congratulations to all graduates! June 23rd we were at the Canadian Club in Barre to usher in the 20th Class Reunion for our friends from Union 32. Some of our favorite people were there, including Les and Lisa Felch who are Native Tongue’s regulars. TJ, Todd and Mike all graduated from U-32, so they had lots to discuss with the reuniting class, except for Todd, who graduated so long ago that the building was made of twigs and bark. It was fun watching everyone interact, some after not seeing each other for more than ten years, and even more fun when we played songs that “took them back” and made them get out on the dance floor! July is shortly upon us and The Tongue will finally have a public performance again at Barre’s Homecoming Days (July 28th, 7:30-11:00 fireworks at 9:30) Come to Barre any time during the weekend for great music, food, culture and fun culminating with our performance in the park! We will have tons of new music (and some old) and at least two special guests joining us, so don’t miss it- and remember that this is a family friendly event, so bring the kids and some lawn chairs and enjoy the music and fun! Go to www.barrecity.org for more info! I’m told it will have updated information after July 1st! July 14th Native Tongue provides entertainment at the wedding of Christie Cooke and Andrew Atwood. Please join Native Tongue in wishing Christie and Andrew a very long, happy life together! T.T.F.N. We’ll see you where the music’s at its best, onstage with Native Tongue.
4/25/07 Hey all - Long time no update! Native Tongue has been busy preparing for two early May performances, May 2nd for the United States Postal Service Postmasters Convention (Vermont and New Hampshire) at the Lake Morey Resort and then, on May 5th, our second annual appearance at the “Rockin the Road” Celebration to open Barre’s famed Thunder Road! The May 5th performance is one that is open to any and all ages! The Tongue will play in the upper parking area right next to the ticket booth from 4:00 until 7:00pm. Downtown Barre gets the day started with the annual car show on Main Street, which is closed off for the morning to allow folks to get up close looks at their favorite racers and their cars. The “Parade of Cars” starts around noon , with the racers driving their race cars up to Thunder Road complete with Police escort! There will games, prizes and all kinds of excitement at Thunder Road, so make sure to join us!
3/26/07 Native Tongue takes the stage at The Canadian Club in Barre to perform for The Canadian Club Ladies Auxiliary scholarship fundraiser on March 31st. The club provides a steak dinner with all the accoutrements including desert, a cash bar and of course, dancing to Native Tongue, all for only $15 per person! This is the band's second year at the fundraiser and we hope that it is as successful as last year! Tickets may be purchased by calling 476-7704 or at the door! Social hour is from 6:00-7:00, dinner from 7:00-8:00 and Native Tongue does what it does best from 8:00-12:00! Hope to see you there! 3/11/06 The stage was tight and so was Native Tongue as we rocked the City of Montpelier for the 6th straight year on March 10th in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. The weather held out, a beautiful day and evening, and the tent was again filled with partiers decked out in their best green finery (see pictures in the gallery section!). We had a great first set and the 2nd and 3rd only got better. We debuted 5 new cover songs, "Over the Hills and Far Away" by Led Zeppelin, "Listen to her Heart" by Tom Petty, "The Dark Side" by John Cafferty and "What I got" by Sublime (featuring Todd Lyford on vocals!). The Tongue also performed Boston's "Peace of Mind", a tribute to the late Brad Delp, who had passed away Friday night from an apparent suicide. Thanks to Ezra Mulholland of MSR Sound for doing an outstanding job mixing the music for us- Ezra is truly a "Pro's Pro" . Also thanks to The City of Montpelier, Diane Scolaro and of course, Dave Nelson of McGillicuddy's Irish Pub. We look forward to next year! 12/11/06 Greetings to all!
Native Tongue will once again be heralding in the New Year at The Barre Elks
Lodge. Tickets are $50 per couple and are available by calling 479-9522 (after
2:00 pm!) or by purchasing them in person at the Lodge. The price includes your
choice of Sirloin Steak or broiled chicken; potato, vegetable, rolls, salad and
a dessert table too! Also included is a midnight Champagne toast and sandwich
buffet. Native Tongue takes the stage at 9:00 pm and will play until they throw
us out! Hope you ALL can make it and help us celebrate the arrival of 2007! 10/14/06 Tonight we played at the American Legion, in Barre, VT. The show was sponsored by the Sons of the American Legion, and was open to the public. The Legion hall is a great little venue, with long central dance floor, plenty of wing seating, and great acoustics. The crowd was small but enthusiastic, and most of the folks on the dance floor had almost as much fun as the band did. Although we all had our momentary brain cramps (I think we managed to re-write a couple classics on the fly) overall it was a great gig and we look forward to playing at the Legion again soon. Check out the photos here! 9/24/06 Our latest show was at the wedding of Pete & Sue in Cabot, VT. It was a beautiful ceremony followed by a delicious meal, held a under a huge white tent decorated with sunflowers and maple trees. The Tongue kept the tent rockin' and the dance floor crowded all evening, with three full sets and two encores. A highlight of the evening was when Native Tongue performed "I Cross My Heart", a song they learned for the bride by special request. We hope to post some pictures - check back soon! 9/16/06 The Tongue played at one it's favorite haunts, Cuzzin's in downtown Barre. We'll be back there on November 4th, so if you missed this show, come on back in a few weeks! This gig turned out to be the last one to feature Steve Quenneville on percussion for a while. Steve filled in fabulously while Rob was recovering from shoulder surgery, and stayed around for several shows but now needs to take some time off to tend to the rest of his life. (As if life doesn't revolve around music...) We hope to have him back on stage when we hit some of the larger venues! |
