Dews. . .

. . . Tom, that is. . .

(based upon http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tomdews and http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tomdews2)
Georgia-born singer/songwriter/bluesman TOM DEWS puts guitar/simultaneous harmonica and vocals together to create a satisfying blend of original acoustic folk and blues. Growing up in South Georgia and Central Florida he soaked up roots rhythms and fished the Flint, Ocmulgee, Chatahoochee and Oklawaha rivers. After recent sojourns in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, Dews makes his home now in Washington, DC.

Tom released his first recording, EPIPHANIES & EPITAPHS, after a successful tour in Ireland several years ago. The CD features original songs and instrumentals, some collected from years of playing coffeehouses and bars from Savannah to Minneapolis, and some stuff inspired by the time in Ireland. Reflecting on his musical adventures Dews says, " A novelist creates a fictive dream, and when done well there are revelations for the reader. My interest is in creating a mood, at once mirthful and melancholy - a sort of re-creation of the old 'hearth' experience. Created by artist and audience together, this mood-edifice can generate spontaneous improvisations that are nourishing for everybody - a sort of musical epiphany can strike its seal into the world."

Tom surrounds gritty vocals with deft acoustic guitar and haunting harmonica to provide a satisfying foray down the back roads of literate folk/blues. Collected on his third CD (DRIVING DREAMS), are songs of loss and regret, blues to soothe, and anthems of hope. He counts among his influences Mose Allison, Lyle Lovett, J.J. Walker, Delbert McClinton, Pierce Pettis, Keb Mo and Tom Kimmel. You’ll hear him in his familiar mode here doing the simultaneous guitar/harp thing in an inimitable way, but there are also two piano solo pieces and several National Resophonic instrumentals.

Hear the songs.

What do you think?
Tell me at
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My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
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Don't Smoke. . .

. . . in Bed. . .

Peggy Lee was a successful songwriter, with songs from the Disney movie Lady and the Tramp, for which she also supplied the singing and speaking voices of four characters. Her collaborators included Laurindo Almeida, Harold Arlen, Sonny Burke, Cy Coleman, Duke Ellington, Dave Grusin, Quincy Jones, Francis Lai, Jack Marshall, Johnny Mandel, Marian McPartland, Willard Robison, Lalo Schifrin and Victor Young.

She wrote the lyrics for:
    "I Don't Know Enough About You"
    "It's A Good Day", composed by Dave Barbour
    "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'", composed with Duke Ellington
    "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter"
    "Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)"
    "Bless You (For The Good That's In You)", composed with Mel Tormé
    "What More Can a Woman Do?"
    "Don't Be Mean to Baby"
    "New York City Ghost", composed with Victor Young
    "You Was Right, Baby"
    "Just an Old Love of Mine"
    "Everything's Movin' Too Fast"
    "The Shining Sea"
     "He's A Tramp"
    "The Siamese Cat Song"
    "There Will Be Another Spring"
    "Johnny Guitar", composed with Victor Young
    "Sans Souci", composed with Sonny Burke
    "So What's New?"
    "Don't Smoke in Bed"
    "I Love Being Here With You"
    "Happy With the Blues" with Harold Arlen
    "Where Can I Go Without You?", composed with Victor Young
    "Things Are Swingin'"
    "Then Was Then" with Cy Coleman

Her first published song was in 1941, "Little Fool". "What More Can a Woman Do?" was recorded by Sarah Vaughan with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. "Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)" was no.1 for 9 weeks on the Billboard singles chart in 1948, from the week of March 13 to May 8.

Lee was a mainstay of Capitol Records when rock and roll came onto the American music scene. She was among the first of the "old guard" to recognize this new genre, as seen by her recording music from The Beatles, Randy Newman, Carole King, James Taylor and other up-and-coming songwriters. From 1957 until her final disc for the company in 1972, she produced a steady stream of two or three albums per year which usually included standards (often arranged quite different from the original), her own compositions, and material from young artists.

What do you think?
Tell me at  
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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The Views . . .

. . . expressed here are not necessarily those of the management . . .

. . . they are, nevertheless, amusing. . .


(an email from UNSIGNED RADIO- http://www.unsignedradio.biz/submit.html)
"REJOICE !

Oh Happy Day !

Hallelujah !

What wonderful news - the most evil woman in the world is roasting in hell tonight !!

My heart was filled with joy at hearing of the demise of the witch who did more to damage the British people and destroy our Industry than Hitler.

So let's all celebrate that we no longer have to share the air we breathe with Satan's sister.

SEND US YOUR ANTI-THATCHER SONGS !!

Calling all songwriters who have ever penned a song condemning the old cow and the wickedness she imposed - send it to me to play in jubilation that the earth is now a happier place .

Send them in soon and get the bubbly out as it looks like we will soon have a grave to dance on !!

Use the drop box at

http://www.unsignedradio.biz/submit.html"

What do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html


My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)



Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Mr. Deacey. . .

 . . . speaks . . .

At Brewer’s Alley Songwriters’ Showcase this Monday, August 20, we are pleased to bring back as the featured singer-songwriter T. EDWIN DOSS! T helped out Jeff Talmadge last week on a couple of songs, but this week he gets to sing a bunch of his own country-tinged Americana creations, including a couple of new ones that will knock your socks off! T often plays with a hot trio, but I prefer to hear him solo – just his warm, lived-in voice, excellent guitar and terrific songs! Of course, he does play the guitar the wrong way round, so it’s hard to tell which chords he’s playing – but he sounds great anyway…

For the prelude this week, ROCKIN’ RAY JOZWIAK is back with his gonzo piano, boldly taking us to places no-one has gone before, not even him! As usual, come early to find good seats for the evening and to catch the entire prelude. You can come upstairs at 7:15 pm (maybe 5 minutes or so earlier than that if Rob is ready; performers can come up when they arrive).

For three-song cameo performers this week, we have a slightly extended line-up –TOM McBRIDE, a Boston native who now lives in DC, MARY GORDON HALL, who recently moved to Hyattsville from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, MARY SUE TWOHY, best known recently for her radio program and her job as program director for Sirius XM Radio, and Todd’s Pick – MIKE HOLLAND (Todd says we’ll love him!). As time permits, we will be also hearing from the usual crew; poet JOHN HOLLY reciting his poems between other performers, and TODD C. WALKER himself, who also takes photos, helps emcee and helps run sound. TOMY WRIGHT is away this week.

MISTER RON GOAD will be flying solo on percussive things this week, fresh from backing the wonderful Dulcie Taylor at the Kennedy Center today… Incidentally, we are losing Dulcie shortly, as she is going back to California in September… We hope she will sneak into Brewer’s for a three-song set before she leaves the area. I'll continue the Goad Chronicles next week, so you can learn what our hero has been up to...

What do YOU think?
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very own copy of Ray Jozwiak's
newest release:
AMBIENCE & WINE

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At Brewer’s Alley . . .

. . .  Songwriters’ Showcase this Monday, March 5, Mr. Rod Deacy tells us. . .

 ". . . we welcome back one of my personal favorites, a dynamic performer and terrific songwriter well-known in the DC area -- JUSTIN TRAWICK! Mr. Trawick is a bundle of energy, with great chops and a bunch of literate and interesting songs, which adds up to a riveting show!
    
Justin always brings fans with him, too, which will be a shot in the arm – Brewer’s Alley has been a little less full than we like these last few weeks… I know it’s hard to get motivated to leave the warm and comfortable home cocoon on a winter evening – but we need you at Brewer’s Alley! Please come out and support FREE LIVE ACOUSTIC MUSIC on a Monday evening – you don’t have to stay up late, as we finish around 10:30 pm, but we need a full room, not only because it enables us to keep putting on the Showcase, but because it makes for a better experience for our performers – who play for free… Frederick is a culture-rich town that only stays that way with strong support!
  
For the piano prelude this week, we welcome Rhianon! As usual, come early to find good seats for the evening and to catch the entire 30 minutes of the prelude. You can come upstairs from 7:15 pm on (sometimes earlier if Sarah is ready; performers can come up when they arrive).

For three-song cameo performers this week, we have Canadian-born now Maryland resident Eugene Benjamin, and the splendid duo of Kate Maguire  and Claudia SanSoucie known as Beggar’s Ride; Kate and Claudia are featuring in August. Todd’s Pick is Scott Barrett, a regular performer in local venues… We will also be hearing from the usual crew; poet John Holly reciting his poems in between other performers, Tomy Wright, playing percussion, then guitar and singing at the end of the evening, plus Todd C. Walker who also takes photos, helps emcee and helps run sound. We plan on Tomy, Todd and I all playing after the feature this week, as we haven’t had much microphone time recently…

Tomy One M Wright will be joined again by Ron Goad this week – together they form the Semi-Grateful Percussion Section…  (I figured Semi-Grateful was better than Almost Dead…) I promise that no other Showcase in the USA has percussion like us! And watch out this week, as Mister Goad says his “thoughts are turning to Spring,” whatever that means… Is he going to vacuum out his car again? Polish his djembe? Hammer out the dents in his hi-hat? Only he knows… I’m pretty sure it’s too soon for him to start wearing shorts again, but stranger things have happened…"

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Tonight's headliner. . .

. . . at Brewer’s Alley Songwriters’ Showcase. . . 

Tony Denikos, (pronounced "Deh-nigh-kiss"), writes, records and performs some of the most refreshingly down-home Americana music in the country.  A native of Laurel, MD, Tony's wide range of influences include artists such as John Fogerty, John Prine, Lowell George, Graham Parker & Bruce Spingsteen

Tony recently released his third CD Already Gone (2009). It immediately charted at #2 on the Euro Americana Charts and at #7 on the Freeform American Roots Chart.  Already Gone is a collection of 11 distinctive tunes that explore the entire spectrum of Americana music. This CD is full of cutting lyrical wit, breathtakingly personal storytelling and foot stomping backbeats. There are stories here that everyone can relate to about love, working class attitudes, hope, regret, forgotten patriots and unwitting heroes.  Fans of roots guitar and fine musicianship will appreciate the world class cast of players, including:  drummer Timm Beiry (Nils Lofgren, Danny Gatton); bassists Dave Roe (Johnny Cash, Dwight Yoakam) and Dave Jacques (John Prine, Emmylou Harris); keyboardist Phil Madeira (Emmylou Harris); and, guitarists Gantt Kushner and Warner E. Hodges (Jason and the Scorchers). 

You can catch Tony performing his songs at venues and festivals from New York to the Carolinas � including venues such as Rams Head on Stage ,the Maryland Seafood Festival, Columbia Festival of the Arts, the Vintage Virginia Wine Festival and many others.  He performs solo or with a band - always presenting to the listening world a writing style and performance uniquely his own.  His songs will stay with you long after the lights fade to black....  

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Varietals are NOT. . .

. . . the songs played by your local MIX radio station!!

from Wikipedia. . .
""Varietal" describes wines made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.[1][2] Examples of grape varieties commonly used in varietal wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot. Wines that display the name of two or more varieties on their label, such as a Chardonnay-Viognier, are blends and not varietal wines. The term is frequently misused in place of vine variety; the term variety refers to the vine or grape while varietal refers to the wine produced by a variety.

Similarly, the term varietal can be used to describe cider made from a single variety of apple, tea made from a single variety and preparation, or to describe particular subspecies of coffee.

As vintners and consumers have become aware of the characteristics of individual varieties of wine grapes, wines have also come to be identified by varietal names.

The term's concept was nurtured in the US by Maynard Amerine at the University of California, Davis after Prohibition seeking to encourage growers to choose optimal vine varieties, and later promoted by Frank Schoonmaker in the 1950s and 1960s, ultimately becoming widespread during the California wine boom of the 1970s.[2] Varietal wines are commonly associated with New World wines in general, but there is also a long-standing tradition of varietal labelling in Germany and other German-influenced wine regions including Austria, Alsace, and the Czech Republic. . . "




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Top Stories

I'd like to say. . .

. . . that for me, the process of writing songs is an easy, breezy, joy of an experience where wonderfully clever lyrics flow effortless out from my brain accompanied by lilting, melodic symphonies both pleasing to the ear and timeless in their universal appeal.

I'd LIKE to say that. The truth is that, for me, songwriting is usually (or should I say- unusually) hard work. Very rarely does a song simply occur to me, fully formed and (in my opinion) wonderful. As a matter of fact, a simple 'hook' fully formed itself occurs periodically at best. I usually have to have either a melody, a concept, a rhythm, or even a 'groove' from another song in my mind before I can even start beginning to start to commence constructing a song at all. The best place for me to begin is with a concept (a lost love, a social injustice, or a stupid human foible, for examples) AND a rhythm or style (three/four jazz, slow rocker, New Orleans funk, for examples) to really get the ball rolling.

But when it's all over, and I like what I've produced, and it tells a story or makes a point, that's one of the most exhilarating sensations in existence. And sometimes, even when the song is okay, not 'Billboard top five with a bullet' wonderful yet not really quite bad, I still feel a certain satisfaction resulting from my efforts, I've flexed my creative 'muscle' and I have practiced my craft to the extent that I am ready to move along and create more. That's how I know that this is what I should be doing. Billy Joel once said, when asked which of his original songs he thought was best, that all of the songs that he created are his children. He doesn't really love one more than another because they're ALL his very own.



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Some blatant, shameless. . .

. . . promotion - STRICTLY COMMERCIAL

My friend Doug Alan Wilcox will be performing songs from his new CD WHAT I MEANT TO SAY at the CD Release Party, Saturday June 11 at the Frederick Coffee Company. I am particularly looking forward to it because I will be accompanying Doug on keyboard. Hope you can join us if you're in the area. If you're NOT, hyperlinks to Doug's and my websites are further down on this page. Hope you'll visit our sites and maybe even purchase some music. Thanks.

Visit Doug Alan Wilcox's Website
Doug Alan Wilcox with Ray Jozwiak, Frederick Coffee Company, June 11 @ 8PM

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That polarizing musical instrument. . .

. . . the accordion.

I did become exposed to a gamut of music during my accordion education playing Polish folk music (but of course), American folk and pop music, tin pan alley standards, classical, English drinking songs and even rock and roll- envision that on the accordion. When you began accordion lessons at the Maryland Accordion Institute, you were issued a twelve bass piano accordion. What that is, is a small accordion with a 25-key piano keyboard on the right (from the performer's perspective) and twelve buttons on the left. The piano accordion is designed to be a complete musical ensemble. The right hand plays melody while the left plays bass notes and complete major chords on the first and second row of buttons respectively. Of course the bellows are between the two halves

After completing the basic course, I don't recall if that was measured in weeks or an instruction book, you were encouraged to purchase a full-size accordion which was casually called a "hundred and twenty bass" accordion, appropriately named for the one hundred and twenty buttons on the left side. The buttons are arranged in diagonal rows consisting of, in order from left to right, a 'counter bass' note (the third of the root bass note which is next to the right, major chord, minor chord, seventh chord and last, diminished chord. The keyboard on the right being larger, of course, has 41 keys.

So you see it is a complex instrument, mastery of which equips one very well with a fair amount of music theory knowledge. And you can see how the 120 bass instrument provides the player much more versatility and range in what can be played.





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