2014-05-06 - Roland Ramos' Folk Music Extravaganza at the 479 Space - AKA, "Close to Home"
So, while attending the Chili Festival in Jersey City referenced in my last post, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting another passionate music lover from my very own Jersey City... Mr. Roland Ramos. I was buying some tickets for Sangrias and beer - as one does at a chili festival - and Roland happened to be the one selling those tickets. He immediately commented on the camera I was carrying, as most DSLR's can have a fairly imposing presence. He asked if I was a photographer; long story short, by the end of a very short conversation, the guy had invited me to his house for a get together that he was happening with a bunch of musicians. Having been raised in Atlantic City, now living in Jersey City, and inherently suspicious of men that invite me to their house after 3 minutes of meeting them, I was fairly certain that this invitation was a plot to rob me of my goods and leave me tied up in Roland's basement, only to serve as either dinner or a strange sex toy before I started to really smell. Not that there was anything off about Roland at all; in fact he was one of the nicest guys I had met. One could understand the suspicion, however. Well soon after telling a few people that the man selling beer tickets at this chili festival had invited me to his house, they peeked around my shoulder to see who it was and immediately replied, "Who, Roland? Oh, yah, Roland is the man. He has get togethers at his apartment every Tuesday." Well okay, then.
So I found myself at Roland's place that Tuesday night after the Chili Festival, fresh from a cut at the very excellent Virile Barber Shop and after an amazing meal at my JC favorite, Thirty Acres... I was already having a very Jersey City night, so I figured I might as well stop by a local legendary get together that had somehow managed to escape my very inquisitive and social knowledge of the town that I have been living in for the past five and a half years. Well I'm very happy I stopped by. What I found was a candle lit room (homemade candles, mind you), a bunch of fun people that I have never met before, and PA system set and ready for a performance. The event was a great time... many like-minded and open artistic types filled Roland's apartment, along with a ton of good music played by local New Jersey musicians, and I couldn't have been happier to find something like this going on a short walk from my own apartment. I definitely plan on coming back for another Tuesday night at the 479 Space, if Roland happens to throw another shindig soon. Shout outs to the musicians playing:
Steven Donahue / Young Legs
Steve from Young Legs kicked the performances off, and immediately set the tone for the talent that would be following for the night. I honestly was really impressed with Steve's singing voice, playing, and song arrangements. A banjo even found its way into the performance for his second set. I couldn't help but think of Paul Simon when I was listening to Steve's performances, though I'm sure more folk oriented music fans will draw better comparisons. Wherever Steve draws his inspiration from, I thoroughly enjoyed his tunes, and you can judge for yourself at the links below, where he has much of his music posted up under the moniker, Young Legs. Definitely good for putting on a pair of headphones, sitting a chair and just kind of drifting into the tunes:
http://younglegs.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/younglegs
Also an interesting story; Steve schooled me on the fact that cassette tapes are apparently making a big come back in the acoustic folk music community, lol. Certainly an interesting medium to distribute music in 2014, but I was actually into the suggestion. People essentially rip music directly to MP3 when you give it to them in a digital format, then toss the physical manifestation of your music directly into the trash or lose it somewhere, whereas, tape forces you to hold on to that object. Just like a vinyl. But smaller. And in the shape of a cassette.
Formed in June of 2011, Michael Browne and Steve Nurge were in the house to represent the Dead Bums, an Indie Folk Band out of Jersey City. When I saw what looked like a wah pedal come out of Steve's bag, I will admit I had definitely assumed that some acoustic metal was about to make its presence felt in this small apartment party... Then Steve pulled out this beautiful lap guitar, and then I realized the "wah" was a volume pedal, and that I was in for some folkie awesomeness. Definitely a very unique and eclectic sound with some awesome melodies; a sort of folk-waltz, if you will, like the singer/guitarist Mike had described during their performance. I highly recommend checking them out, and their single "Loveless" that they have posted up on their ReverbNation account. I hope to catch these guys out in town again soon..
https://www.facebook.com/thedeadbums
https://twitter.com/theDeadBums
The Dead Bums on ReverbNation
Dave was apparently making his first foray in the wonderful world of live music at Roland's 479 Space. I can't think of a better environment for him to have jumped head first into live performance than this venue; Just a really supportive scene for somebody who sounded great, regardless of the fact that he hadn't played out live before. Dave doesn't have any official recordings or public band material that I can link to, so unfortunately I don't have anything official of his to share on this post. I do, however, have videos of all the performances that I will be posting here soon. So, sit tight, sir Dave. I will give your time on May 6th of 2014 its due when I get around to posting my videos of the night.
I can't forget the host of the night, Mr. Roland Ramos. I've already typed enough about Roland at the start of this article, but he's actually an accomplished musician on top of also being a very gregarious fellow. He also had a pretty bitching guitar that he had just acquired, as you can see in the last two pics of my set here. He also has a very active SoundCloud where you can check out his tunes:
https://soundcloud.com/thetempestjamsession
Roland, thanks for the fun night. You're the man.
So, ladies and gentlemen, the moral of the story is - absolutely drink and speak to random people at neighborhood block parties, and accept invites to their homes only a few short minutes after meeting them. You may just find yourself in a really amazing music themed party making new friends. Or, you could end up dead. But you could also end up finding yourself in a really amazing music themed party making new friends.
