Michael Cleary Band: Blog

 On August 15th, Mike teamed up with singer, songwriter, musician, Jen Lowe for an acoustic duo at Lucky Lou's in Old Wethersfield, Ct.  Well, partly acoustic, Mike did back Jen on a bunch of her songs playing electric guitar.

The format of their show was such, Jen sang and Mike usually backed her with electric, and when Mike sang he played acoustic.
   For those of you who are unfamiliar with Jen, Jen is a very talented songwriter, guitarist and performer, who writes, what I feel, are sensible, likeable, heartfelt songs. Jen and Mike have performed together before, with their bands sharing a double billing at Black-Eyed Sally's last year. Former MCB members Chip Fenney is a current member of Jen's band and Johnny Corvo fills in on drums for her occasionly.
   Jen delivers her songs in a sentimental heartfelt manner and Mike's intricate lead fills on electric interwove beautifully with Jen's vocal phrasings.  The [...]

As they say, it's all about the location. It certainly was about the location last Wednesday evening at the beautiful Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown, Ct. What a gorgeous place to hold a musical event or any event for that matter. Though I had heard previous testimony as to the size of the crowds at the Summer Music Series, held here annually in the month of July for the last several years, I was still thoroughly overwhelmed with the hundreds of people that showed up. With many MCB fans in attendance, whom I saw and spoke with,
they helped make for the largest crowd at any music event held there, this Summer, according to members of the Board of Directors.
   With the weather in our favor this time, it was a glorious night, the band received a very nice introduction from, the Head of the Board of Directors at the Wadsworth Mansion, the charming Ann Cassidy.
 

 
                  
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It's always a pleasure for MCB to play Black-Eyed Sally's Blues Club whenever given the opportunity.
This last Saturday, due to a cancellation by a band previously scheduled to perform there, we were given the call by the owner, James Verano, to fill that date. With that night open on our calender we gladly accepted.
 
 
     For those of you who don't know Black-Eyed Sally's, let me briefly state, it is the best live music club in Hartford that features a great Cajun themed menu with plenty of dining space, a spacious stage for the band and a very adequate dance floor. Upon arriving to set up our gear the dining tables were filled with eager diners and fans most of whom stayed for the evening.
     To get the party started the band kicked it off with a nice slow groove, "Fell in Love With A Girl", by the White Stripes via Joss Stone, now re-grooved by MCB with drummer Edmund Peart taking the lead [...]

 Over the years MCB has played at many outdoor Summer music series in towns all over Connecticut. What I have witnessed over the years at these events is that they are never supported enough in attendance by local townspeople. Sunday at Heritage Park in Stafford Springs was quite the contrary. A very good crowd of enthusiastic people of all ages were in attendance. It was very nice to see a town supporting their local arts scene. Especially when we were the band that was performing that day ! According to people that I spoke with there it was the largest crowd this Summer for a musical event held there. Not that there were thousands, but Thank you people of Stafford Springs for the good turn out. With a nice crowd in attendance on the green, a beautiful day turning into a pleasant evening and a spacious Gazebo as the stage, the band was ready to play.

 Starting out the set with Sting's "Love is the Seventh Wave" the band then went into one of their new originals. Mike usually [...]

Time for the Weekend Update
 
   With all the members of MCB sharing a passion for the sport of baseball, which I will digress upon in the future, MCB played the musical equivalent of a doubleheader. Two gigs in one day.
 Unlike baseball, our doubleheader is played in different venues, which requires setting up and breaking the gear down twice.
 
   
     First up was the Vets Benefit at Bishop's Field in Guilford. This gig was much easier for the band in terms of dealing with gear. Thanks to Edwin Bartlett , the promoter, who provided all the bands who performed there with a "backline". For those who don't know what a "backline" is, in the music biz, a "backline" is all the gear that is required for each performer, such as a drum kit, amplifiers, speaker cabinets for the bass and guitars, already in place excluding the musicians own personal instruments. In this case our backline consisted of [...]