A Mad, Mad World

This Sunday, July 6th 11 AM, yours madly, Mad Mags aka Squeezin’ Diva (Mad Maggies) will be joining Renee de la Prade, Squeezebox Goddess (Culann’s Hounds) and Amber Lee Baker, Accordionista (the Anomalies) to represent the Cotati Accordion Festival in the Penngrove 4th of July parade. 

We will be playing and waving to the crowd from the back seat of CAF organizer Scott Goree’s convertible. 

The parade is an annual event organized by the Rancho-Adobe Fireman’s Station.

Viva l’accordion!

This sleepy town at the edge of northern Sonoma County was home to a group of followers of the French thinker and utopianist, Etienne Cabet. These “Icarians“ set up  their commune just south of what is now Cloverdale in 1881.  

There’s a marker indicating where their schoolhouse was. I’ll be looking for it on the way up tonight to our gig in the Cloverdale Plaza.

> More about Icarians

Inspiration

I was inspired to write the tunes for our upcoming CD by a young friend and fan who told me emphatically that the Mad Maggies play “pirate” music. He had given our music some serious attention by making his parents listen to “Magdalena’s Revenge” over and over again on a long car trip. (His parents survived this audio assault)

I thought he had a point and frankly, I simply liked the idea. I began to spin up songs of renegade mariners and the high seas. 

I love the ocean. I’ve lived on boats including a Chinese junk and a couple of schooners.  I did some sailing a long time ago. My great, great, great grandfather was a mariner from the Isle of Man. I like swashbuckling tales. 

Reality Check

Affinity for the subject is good for inspiration but facts are even better so I dug into some non-fiction to learn more about those who plied the waves for profit. I can recommend these two books which do not “Disneyfy” the reality of sea-going workers. 

“Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Merchant Seamen, Pirates and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750 by Marcus Rediker

The Sea Rover’s Practice, Pirate, Tactics and Techniques, 1630-1730 by Benerson Little. 

Our Kind of People

Seafarers valued musical skills. Work aboard a ship was accompanied by rhythmic song. A good singer was a definite asset. Leisure time involved story-telling, singing and dancing.  Musicians were often treated better, up there with the surgeons and coopers.

Pirate crews were motley. Seafarers of many different nationalities and languages worked side by side.  There had to be plenty of cross-cultural musical influences.

Yep, our kind of people. 

I’ve got more to say about all this which I shall post soon.

Meanwhile come to one of our shows and you’ll hear some of these new nautically inspired numbers

This coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday our squeeze rockin’ friends will be playing Turner Hall, Monroe and Polish Fest, Milwaukee. Spread the word.

For more info visit the official TDA website.

I’ll be playing the tuba and reading a piece by J.C. Brunner of the Brothers Twain next Saturday night, June 14 at 8:00.  The performance is at 1512 62nd St. (at Hollis) in Emmeryville.  The suggested donation is $10. More information (and pictures) here

I had kids in my early 20s so most of my playing during that period of my life took place at the homestead:

Yep, that’s me (GDub) at the ripe old age of 24. There’s nothing like playing tunes on the porch on a warm summer day. In fact, holding a regular seisiún on my big porch (wherever that may be) is one of my desires/goals in this life.…

Here I am in my 1979 persona of Johny Maroon.  I’m showing how many chords the band knew.

My first “real” band was an all-girl quintet called “The Anti…” We fashioned ourselves after the “Them” with a touch of the “Who” and, of course, the Stones. We did a version of “Gloria” only we sang it as “G_E_O_R_G_E”. 

In 1966 H. Liebes, a department store in downtown SF put on a battle of the bands. We made it through the initial auditions. The San Francisco Chronicle called and asked if we’d come by the newspaper for a shoot. This is the photo they chose to plug the “dress rehearsal”at Lincoln High School for the 30 bands selected .

Yep, that’s me with the Sears Silvertone hollow body electric — yet another one of those valuable collectibles that I did not hold onto.

The H. Liebes “Band- Bash ‘66″ happened a week or so later on April 4th and 5th at the Cow Palace. Admission was $1. The Cow Palace (I just had to repeat that name) is a cavernous structure built in 1941 that to this day hosts the national rodeo. 

Each group that played was hustled on stage, had time to play a very short set and then was hustled off again. Though “The Anti…” didn’t make it to the finals the experience was exhilarating. I was utterly stage frightened but I got the chance to play music for lots of people in a very, very large venue.  

Here’s the band photo from the Band Bash program.

top left: Yours Madly. top rIght: our drummer whose name I cannot remember. left: Janet -organ, right: Michelle - bass, center front: Simona -singer

I especially like a good film score. 

GDub and I just watched “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” directed by Andrew Dominik. The score is by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis and it “fit real good.”  Fiddle, piano, guitar. Lonely and moody like the midwestern scenery.

It is always a pleasure when the the underscoring compliments the time period, the costuming is painstakingly accurate and the sets are scrupulously detailed. Toss in some great acting and ya got a winner.

Oh to be able to ramble somewhere else on this great superhighway. As I am the bar/serving wench/ cook in the story of the third cd I would like to know if I can have a swashbuckling hero, please? I can sail off into the sunset and make little pirates!

Will Lawrence ever be able to play the solo in Luna Marie? Tune in next week when you will hear JB say…..