"why don't we?" - back stage recording

Introducing a new series: Graymatter Back Stage Recordings. Here is our first in the series. It's Dave's song "Why Don't We?" with tasty ragtime guitar pickin' by Dave, 2nd acoustic guitar by Barry, electric guitar riffin' by Brad and brush drum by Bev, with Brad and Bev joining in on the vocals. Enjoy!







And speaking of "Why Don't We?"... Why don't we get together this Friday night at Turntable in Jamestown for a night of originals?

There's more where "Why Don't We?" came from. Come on out to hear us live with a couple dozen more like this, including original songs by Barry, Brad and Dave! This will include the jazzy "Cloud 9" cowritten by Barry and Brad and "Everybody Knows" cowritten by Brad and Dave way back when hair was long and full, and some of us were still teenagers!

Details and directions here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/283074765167491/

lookin' back

Bev, Barry and Brad grew up playing and singing together, often around the table after dinner was finished. Guitars and other instruments came out and the harmonies began. Dad sat at the end of the table, strumming his guitar and leading the way through Kingston Trio, Peter Paul & Mary, Brothers Four, Elizabeth Cotton, and so much more. Pop, rock, folk, blues, show tunes, Americana, carols - we did them all. One day we'll have to dig through mom's photo albums to get photos of us playing together as little kids. Dave came for dinner one evening when he was 16 years old and he's been singing along with the Grays ever since.

There were many different configurations for performance but at home, it was a big family musical gathering. Above is Dave, Barry and Brad - aka The Passaic River Ramblers - late 1980's.

Dave and Bev performed together all through high school and college and twice were finalists in the Mountaineer Talent Search at ASU. It was a grueling process involving months of performances, but performing at the final in front of 5000 people in a huge booming auditorium was pretty awesome and it did result in private performance at Broyhill Mansion for that famous family.

In the '80's, Dave, Bev and Barry created Gude Studios, creating music for poets and would-be lyricists, producing recordings, some of which ended up being marriage proposals.(and clients reported back: she said yes!)  It didn't pay too well but we created songs for people throughout the US and Canada. It did, however, make enough money for us to purchase our first mics, stands, chords and other gear.

Above, the Passaic River Ramblers perform at one of their spots at the ASU Fall Festival in the early 80's. More "lookin' back" to come as more photos are uncovered!

two brushes with musical history

This summer, Graymatter was twice given the opportunity to share the stage with amazing southern blues musicians who are currently a part of the Music Maker Relief program. It was an honor and most definitely they were memorable evenings.

What is Music Maker Relief?  

The Music Maker Relief Foundation’s mission is to “preserve the musical traditions of the South by directly supporting the musicians who make it, ensuring their voices will not be silenced by poverty and time.” 

In the late ‘80’s, Tim Duffy was an NC college student who set out on a discovery project to find and document elderly blues musicians. He found a hotbed in nearby Winston-Salem but realized quickly that these people were living in the throes of extreme poverty and that their music, along with the musical tradition, was on the verge of being lost. When asked how he could help them they did not ask for money. They asked instead, for a gig. Timothy and his wife gathered together some fellow music lovers and the MMRF was born, based in Hillsborough, NC. Through their efforts they’ve been able to arrange bookings, produce recordings and provide physical and financial support for these important, yet aging, national treasures. They provide help with monthly medical bills, food and emergency needs as well as assistance to develop their material and earn income from performances and royalties.

MMRF works to support the most vulnerable folks, elderly musicians with incomes under $18,000 a year, though the sad reality is that many of the folks they work to support had annual incomes of $7000 to $10,000 before MMRF took them on. The organization focuses on documenting and sustaining artists with traditions in blues, gospel, string band and Native American music.

The first MMRF musician that Graymatter spent an evening with was Ironing Board Sam. Sam was born in Rock Hill, SC in 1939 and began performing when he was 14 years old. He got his nickname while living in Miami in the 50’s because he lacked a stand for his keyboard so at gigs he mounted it on an old ironing board. In the 60’s he jammed and gigged with a very young Jimmy Hendrix in Nashville. Sam created his unique musical instrument by combining two keyboards, threading guitar strings through a wah-wah pedal then into an amp and connecting 60 upholstery tacks to the electronic sensors, all to create a range of sounds for which he was known. Sadly, he took his creation to an electronics technician for an upgrade, only to find that the man found his instrument to be so outrageous that he just threw it out. Sam moved to New Orleans but was chased out by Hurricane Katrina and ended up back in Rock Hill. This is where Music Maker Relief found him. He received help with medical care, car repairs, they provided him with a new keyboard, recorded an album for him and got him some gigs.

Then in August Graymatter shared the stage with Big Ron Hunter. Ron is one of the happiest people we’ve ever met. With an amazing voice and simple style, yet full of warmth and depth, you can’t help but be mesmerized by Ron when he performs. Born in Winston Salem, the son of a sharecropper who taught him how to sing and play guitar when he was quite small.  MMRF schedules gigs for Ron throughout North Carolina, all over the US and he’s even performed in Belgium. MMRF helped him get a passport, has donated guitars to him and recorded his CD.

A documentary was made of Tim Duffy’s amazing project, funded by a grant from Martin Scorsese, Paul Allen and The Blues Music Foundation. It’s an hour-long film but in it you’ll be introduced to characters he met on his journey, including “Guitar Gabriel, a 'homeless magic potion selling' blues genius; Willa Mae Buckner, a snake charming elderly woman taunting delightfully raunchy blues; Beverly 'Guitar' Watkins, a grandmother who continues to tear up the stage and play a killer electric guitar behind her head; Bishop Dready Manning and family churning out homebrewed rockabilly-gospel; Boo Hanks, an 80 year-old bluesman recording an album for the very first time; and blind guitarist, Cootie Stark, mesmerizing crowds world-wide while never failing to find his way home by himself.” It was because of his interactions and partnership with these musicians that Duffy was inspired to create the Music Maker Relief Foundation, so that their stories and their music would not be lost.

You can watch the entire film here.  

Lowville Cream Cheese Festival...NY Roadtrip!

We were so fortunate to be invited to perform at the

9th Annual Downtown Lowville Cream Cheese Festival. Here's our photo diary:

 (several different photographers are represented - many thanks to all!)

Hitting the road! "Quiet car" leading the way and the "Party Van" following behind...



Morgan & Tamala settle in for the 14 hour drive...



Brad had a little trouble curbing his excitement...

Lowville is farther North than Toronto, Canada. Fall has arrived...

Yep, we were in the North Country...

The winds were blowing strong off Lake Ontario. We're chilly but so happy to be here...

Beautiful setting at Ridgeview Lodge...

Barns dotted the landscape everywhere you look...

Downtown Lowville is filled with gorgeous old buildings and homes...

Note the sign in the upper floor window...

Chef Duff Goldman from Food Network's Ace of Cakes, helped create the Guiness World Record Cheesecake. At 6900 pounds he needed a mighty large slicer!

Congrats Lowville on holding the new world record...

And now, the stage! You can tell it was pretty windy. Something was blowing in...

Graymatter getting set up...

We hear that 20,000 people were in attendance. They came from all over

to enjoy and celebrate...

Vendors galore and so many yummy food options...

But it started to rain, then we were faced with a tremendous downpour. The sound equipment and stage filled with water, making it too dangerous, if not impossible, to play the main stage. Graymatter huddles, deciding what to do...

So combining some of our equipment with another band's small PA system, we moved to the firehouse, along with 1000 of our newest friends...

And we sang our hearts out. It was a joy to look out and see so many people enjoying our set, most of them singing along with us...

Friends, both old and new, enjoying a cold one at the firehouse. We love our NY friends...



Was the rain going to put a halt to the festival? No way! The fun continued on...

Yep, this is a cream cheese dude, looking a little worse for wear following a good drenching,

but still in character...

Let the after-party begin!...

Dave, Barry, Brad and Bev, all natives of Chatham, NJ

reconnect with dear childhood friends Charlie Merrick and Skip Zimmerman...

 

Charlie and wife Kathleen join Graymatter for Bad Moon Rising and Here Comes the Sun...



special guest Eb rocking with us on The Chain...

special guest Rick belts out Dead Flowers...

We worked up a really pretty version of You Can Close Your Eyes just for Skip and urged him to come sing with us...which he did! It was a special moment...

The weekend had come to an end and it was time to pack up and head back to NC...

We just had to make a stop for photos of the Maple Ridge Wind Farm on Tug Hill.

Covering 12,000 acres over a 12x3 mile area, 195 wind turbines stand 260 feet tall and have blades that are 130 feet long. Taking advantage of the winds off Lake Ontario, the power generated from these towers placed on family farms add to the commodities produced in this area,

along with milk and maple syrup.

This is the largest wind farm east of the Mississippi. The sight of these silent giants was just awesome...

A look at the buildings below gives a perspective as to

 just how large these wind turbines are...



So we continued on our journey home. Only 14 hours to go...

The ride was just gorgeous through mountainous New York State,

Pennsylvania and northern Maryland.

Then over this bridge spanning the Susquehanna River and into DC

and down the highway that led us home.

Yes, this is what it looked like after 14 hours on the "Party Van." 

We had an amazing time, renewed friendships and found brand new friends.

We're so glad to have been a part of the Lowville Cream Cheese Festival

 and meet the fine people there.