Tribute Turns Out A Crowd

The Troubadours had a great time at the Nick Lowe tribute. Seemed like old home week with the cast of thousands that turned out to play and watch. The Troubadours did Soulful Wind from the Impossible Bird recording with guests, Bill Kirchen on guitar and trombone, Louise Kirchen singing back up, and Jon Carroll on piano. Just to add to the mix up- Jake Flack played the drums and Jack O'Dell played guitar on this one with Mark Noone holding down the bass line as usual.




Their other Nick Lowe song, Play That Fast Thing One More Time, had everybody back to their places, with Jon Carroll still on piano. The night ended with a humongous finale- too many musicians to name, but plenty enough to change a lightbulb.

There are TWO gigs (count 'em TWO) coming up- one for the older set at Chick Hall's Surf Club-January 25 and a kid's show at The Avalon Theater- Feb 2. Both are great venues, and you know these appearances are scarce now so mark your calenders.
Thanks to Linda Parker for these great shots- you can check out more pix of The Troubadours and the Nick Lowe tribute at her site.

Troubadours Withdrawl? Get Help Here

Get your Troubadours fix where and whenever you can. In December you can catch that cool cat, Jack O' Dell playing the big holiday show with the venerable Bill Kirchen at Jammin' Java
(And special guest on sax-- you've seen him play with The Troubadors, too-Derek Huston.)

And don't miss this show- including the legend in his own time- Mark Noone when The Slickee Boys take the stage at the soon to be gone Chick Hall's Surf Club on December 28th, along with their pals The Beatnik Flies and Prabir and The Substitutes.



Plus one more chance!
The Slickee Boys will also appear in Baltimore on December 29th with The Howling Mad,
Chelsea Graveyard and The Screams at Midnight, and Jukebox Zero at The Otto Bar

Hopefully Jake Flack will show up at one of these shows so we can at least say hey to him, too.

Troubadours- Get 'Em Where You can Find 'em

Troubadours fans are mostly music fans, and a surprising amount of music can be found in this town. The Troubadours do have a gig coming up in November, but in the meantime look here for updates/links on where band players may be found ...in public anyway. Jack O' Dell can be seen with Bill Kirchen, but you never know when he'll cross over to the Hula or Grandson side of town. Mark Noone is a staple of the Hula Monsters, but he also plays with other bands including, of course, The Slickee Boys. And Jake Flack has something up his sleeve. So watch this space- it won't always be empty!

Practice Makes Perfect

Steady ...steady ....


AND


taaaaaaah-
Dahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

No Animals Were Harmed...

Jake's Party

Only Jake seems to know what is in store as the other guys in the band seem pretty calm at Jake's birthday party last Saturday night. Below Jake shows the secret ingredients in Mark Noone's cocktail. Stay tuned for what happened next.

Chill, baby

It's on the Red Line, but all our worries are over. They blew up that little brown box so we can all come out and live in peace and harmony and see THe Troubadours TONIGHT at The Quarry House in Silver Spring- an extremely limited engagement. The band starts around nine and go go goes until midnight or so. Seven bucks will get you in and a few more will get you tater tots, and depending on your own low or high standards, you can get a beer to suit any mood or pocketbook.

Plus it's Jake's birthday so you KNOW the band will set the place on fire.

Troubadours Quarry House Birthday Combo

There's always something happening around here. This month it's Jake Flack's Birthday Extravaganza (a.k.a. The Troubadours gig) at The Quarry House Tavern tomorrow night, August 9, in not so sylvan but the real deal, downtown Silver Spring.
This is the only such gig lined up for August so far. (Too many private things without public access)
So crawl into your cave tonight and rest up, because Thursday is the night to go out. (Leave the weekends to the amateurs)

Three Guys, Six Ears

What The guys in the band are listening to these long dog days:

I'm digging a band from England called the Magic Numbers. Also a comedian named Patton Oswalt has a new live CD out on Sub Pop. There are some great DC references to Minor Threat, the Bayou, and Arch Campbell. There's a new Fats Domino (best of) coming out that is absolutely great. Steve Earle's new record is really good too.
JAke

Last night I listened to Parthenon Huxley’s new CDs. He has two, but I think one is out takes. Still great! This guy is a Troubadour fan must see. Speaking of must sees, I think Prabir will be at the Galaxy Hut on Sept 21.

Noone

I'm listening to Arcade Fire's new CD "Neon Bible", Conway Twitty (best
of) and NRBQ live bootlegs from the '80's.

Jack

See the Troubadours live this Thursday- a rare public appearance for August

Troubadour Book Report/ Part 3

This is it. What we've been waiting for ... Jake Flack's book report. (and don't forget all that summer reading the kids have to do- I hate to say it, but school is actually looming on that August horizon)
Jake is reading baseball legend, Roberto Clemente's biography by David Maraniss. ( I had to look that up because I thought it had something to do with Nixon) I should have known better coming from the guy who wrote "Big Train" and "Earl Weaver. He says it's good.

Summer Reading List

The Troubadours are truly a literate band- which is not surprising really since they are all smart, and all song writers in their own rite.

Jack O' Dell tackles the New York Times Book Review every day, and these days, if he has time left over, he's reading Nick Hornby's latest- A LONG WAY DOWN.

Mark Noone is cursing his way through psychology and biology textbooks. His book club is reading ULYSSES by James Joyce. ( I told you they were kinda smart)

Jake? He's out of town, but check in next week for his list.

( ok it's a slow news cycle)

Summertime

This week The Troubadours are off (or ON, depending on how you look at it) pursuing summer time activities. Jake and family are off to New England to visit his mom. Jack's crew is flying to the Left Coast to attend a family wedding, and Mark Noone, since he doesn't have his own, has adopted several kids and is turning them into a rock band. ( No ONE gets out alive...)

It Was A Hoot

The Quarry House rocked last night, especially when a band of wild women came in to celebrate Jake's wife, Anne's birthday. The Dollar Jar stumped the band with "Dark Side of the Moon, but Neil Diamond somehow made it. (about 75 cents' worth anyway) And of course, The Beatles' Birthday Song.



(This birthday thing seems to be an ongoing theme for these shows-next month it'll be Jake)



Two Beatnik Flies were spotted lurking in the crowd, making that a quorum.



Look for a rare incarnation of The Flies and Mark Noone later this month at the 9:30 Club's D.C. Space reunion. They'll be making local rock history.

(And if you weren't there last night, you heard it hear first.)

Jake's Story

Jake Flack and Mark Noone go way back on the DC scene, and for anyone without the will to get out to Fort Reno tonight to see the new young up and coming rockers- sit back in your computer rocking chair and read on a page from DC's music history by Mr. Jake Flack:

This Wednesday is July 11. It was on July 11, 1985 that my band the Neptunes opened for the Slickee Boys at Fort Reno. At that time the Slickees were the kings of DC. They were on Q107 and MTV. They had the coolest clothes and the wildest, most fun live show. Fort Reno was the epicenter of the DC music scene and it was the only place that underage kids like me could see all the bands that we were listening to on vinyl and hearing on WHFS. I saw everyone there: Danny Gatton, Black Market Baby, the Insect Surfers, Razz, the Night Hawks, Tommy Keene, 4 out of 5 Doctors, The Golden Bats, The Diversions, the Teen Idles, The Beatnik Flies, The Nurses, Tex Rubiniwitz, All Points Bulletin, Evan Johns and the H-Bombs and more. The Slickees' annual Fort Reno appearance was always the far biggest crowd of the year. When our "manager" Sean Mencher, who also booked Fort Reno, told us we had the opening slot, he might as well have told us that we were opening for the Rolling Stones. I'm sure we didn't sound very good, but we put the "s" in showbiz jumping off the bass drum, diving in the piano, and rolling around the stage on our backs. I remember throwing my Tele across the stage after the last song for the big feedback effect. It was a thrilling night for a bunch of 17 year olds. And I sure wouldn't have predicted that I'd be playing "When I Go to the Beach" in a band with Mark Noone 22 years later.

Long Lost Troubadour?

In a bizarre twist of fate, the long lost first guitar player once removed of The Troubadours was found off shore in St Michael's, Maryland this past weekend-commandeering a boat, claiming to have floated all the way from New Orleans. Undisclosed sources do confirm he has been operating a bar there called The Kingpin. He was not sure he remembered Jake or Mark, and may have a whopping case of amnesia.

Guitar therapy seems to be working.

Who's On First?

So it's The Grandsons tonight at The Quarry House with Moe Nelson who also plays with the Hula Monsters of which band Mark Noone of the Rhodes Tavern Troubadours is in, (not to mention Chris Watling of The Grandsons, Moe Nelson, and Jack O' Dell ALL used to play with Bill Kirchen, but that's another story.)

TOMORROW NIGHT it's-JAKE Flack, formerly of A Thousand Dollar Car, JACK O' Dell, who used to play in The Hula Monsters and The Grandsons, too, and MARK Noone who still plays with the Hula Monsters, but will be a Troubadour when THE RHODES TAVERN TROUBADOURS play tomorrow night on the town green in HERNDON, VA.

Just so all that's clear.