CCE Concerts in Stone Ridge

Hi Everybody,

Booking shows is a funny thing. I go for long periods of time reaching out to agents and getting no bites, even worse. On the brink of despair I stare into my soul and contemplate major questions. (Fill in your own major questions here.) Next thing I know things turn around and I have agents contacting me. Pretty melodramatic, huh? Hey what do you expect, I teach High School. (Not for long!)
I just got calls from Johnathan Edwards’, Carrie Rodriguez’ and Michelle Shocked's agents.

We have compiled a really diverse and talented lineup for this year. All I need now is for you all to support what we are doing in Stone Ridge by coming out to shows and by spreading the word to friends, family and any other cool folk you can think of. Some of the performers you will have heard of, others not, but believe me, they are all excellent. We only do one show per month, so each one will be memorable. Oh, and don't forget the great company, complimentary snacks and the joke at each show. Those alone are worth the price of admission.

So our first show of the 2010 season is Robbie Fulks. Robbie is clever, talented, funny and a unique talent. As the New York Times put it.

"Mr. Fulks is more than a songwriter. He's a gifted guitarist, a soulful singer with an expressive honky-tonk tenor, and  a natural performer… But what really sets him apart is his songwriting, which is one part artful country, one part artful send-up of country and one part a little of everything else...sort of like country meets David Lynch."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2YpGKJpU8M&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laFfx6hPes0&feature=fvw 

This show will be on Saturday, March 20 at 8 PM. We are being audited for a grant that night, so if we can show community support it should improve our chances, thus making it a bit easier to entice more well know performers. Tickets are $20 and what's better, it's in Stone Ridge (soon to have its very own sidewalks).

Following Robbie will be Cliff Eberhardt.

Cliff can tell a story.  His lyrics tell the stories many of us are living.  Together with an acoustic guitar Mr. Eberhardt packs quite a punch.  According to one review, Mr. Eberhardt is the “the missing link between Paul McCartney and Cole Porter”.  This show is a must see for anyone who loves a good story & a good tune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZg_HrbTZRs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRdatzStppY&feature=related

As you can see, these are very talented artists and I consider ourselves are lucky to have them coming to Stone Ridge. Keep the music coming by coming out and by becoming a member. This year promises to be the best yet. Let's start it off with a bang at the Robbie Fulks show!

Contact me for tickets and information at 845-687-4143 or by email and check out our website cceconcerts.com, which has music dates, pictures, music clips and much much more.

Oh and Mazel Tov Robby Ascher!

Cliff


























A Jewish congregation in suburban Boston honors its Rabbi for 25 years of service by sending him to Hawaii for a week, all expenses paid.
When he walks into his hotel room, he finds a beautiful nude woman lying on the bed. She greets the Rabbi with, "Hi, Rabbi, I'm a little
something extra that the President of the Temple arranged for you."

The Rabbi is incensed. He picks up the phone, calls the President of the Temple and shouts, "Greenblatt, what were you thinking? Where
is your respect? I am the moral leader of our religious community! I am very angry with you and you have not heard the end of this."

Hearing this, the naked woman gets up and starts to get dressed.

The Rabbi turns to her and asks, "Where are you going? I'm not angry with you."

January 26, 2010

Howdeee!

It's been a while since I've sent out a message. Lots going on here. I have been contacting agents, working on grants and searching for talent among other things. Oh yeah, also put in my retirement letter. After 33 years, I am hanging up the chalk at the end of June. ¡Caramba! What to do for an encore!

I have great news on the music scene too. I found a great performer that will be coming to MaMA in Stone Ridge on March 20. His name is Robbie Fulks. CCE will be visited by a NYSCA auditor for the show and if all goes well they could give us a grant to bring more music and to keep prices low. They came for the Carrie Rodriguez show and loved it. It would be great to fill the place with smiling, friendly, intelligent faces so please come (but leave dumb looking, grumpy friends at home, or send them to the movies or something. Massachusetts sounds good about now.) I know that seems harsh but business is business. I'll let my friend Mark tell you a bit about Robbie Fulks.

“It would be too easy to describe Robbie Fulks as the country singer who wrote "Fuck This Town" as his paean to Nashville. But that would unfairly pigeonhole one of today's smartest, most creative singer- songwriters. Since 1996, Fulks has released seven studio albums, one live album and, his latest, a 50 song download collection.” Fulks brings a sense of music history and a rock'n'roll heart to everything  he does.  A clever lyricist, a stellar guitarist, and a wonderful storyteller, Fulks brings it all with him to the place he is most comfortable--the stage.”
Here are some of the things that have been written about Robbie Fulks:
"If country music has an Elvis Costello, it's Robbie Fulks, who marries Ivy League cleverness to an appreciation of hillbilly music that actual hillbillies could only envy" - Entertainment Weekly

"Chicago's most fertile musical mind...so good, he's scary" - Chicago Tribune

"Mr. Fulks is more than a songwriter. He's a gifted guitarist, a soulful singer with an expressive honky-tonk tenor, and  a natural performer. It rings true when he says he's only truly comfortable when he's onstage or when he's totally alone. But what really sets him apart is his songwriting, which is one part artful country, one part artful send-up of country and one part a little of everything else...sort of like country meets David Lynch." New York Times

"Fulks is a true find amid the legions of too-serious/too-hip for their own good alt-country artists...he performs in a warm, wry and witty style, with startlingly fast and fluid guitar solos that recall prime Chet Atkins." - Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Here are some clips to check out for Robby

Cigarette State (from "Corporate County Sucks"):    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laFfx6hPes0&feature=fvw

Let's Kill Saturday Night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2YpGKJpU8M&feature=related

The Buck Starts Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMFZVlQQ88Y&feature=related

I'm so Countrified
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dgvloq4mGIs&feature=related


Okay, it's me again. So you can see that this guy is pretty damn good. He is one of the only artists that I know that makes his own gig arrangements. How refreshing. This should be another awesome show. Come out and support a great organization.

The show is at 8 pm on Saturday March 20 at MaMA, 3588 Route 209 in Stone Ridge. Tickets are $20. Email me at cliffnotes9@aol.com or call 845-687-4143 for tickets, information or just to say hi.

Upcoming Events
I have Cliff Eberhardt slated for April 17 and an excellent singer songwriter from Austin in the Townes Van Zandt tradition, Danny Schmidt coming on Friday, May 21. Mik and Gilles will be doing their thing on May 15 and Rafael Garritano will be doing a Songwriters in the Round show on June 5. Check out our website for details at cceconcerts.com

Since many of you, have attended performances at Marbletown Multi-Arts over the past years, let me know if you would like to be added to the MaMA newsletter. We promise not to flood your inbox with irrelevant junk, just details about events for “nourishing body and soul in the heart of Stone Ridge”.
To get MaMA's updates follow this simple procedure: go to our website www.ComeToMama.org and sign up!  It's that easy.

Finally, it is my final year as advisor of the High School Ski Club. If anybody wants to ski on a Saturday, let me know. I can get you and friends and family a great deal.

Well, I hope you made it this far. If you did, I wish you peace, love and happiness. Even if you didn't make to the end, what the heck, peace,love and happiness to you too!

Happy trails,
Cliff



























A woman meets a man in at a carnival.
They talk; they connect and spend the evening on rides laughing. They end up leaving the carnival together.

They get back to his place, and as he shows her around his
apartment she notices that one wall of his bedroom is completely filled with soft, sweet, cuddly teddy bears.

There are three shelves in the bedroom, with hundreds and hundreds of cute, cuddly teddy bears carefully placed in rows, covering the entire wall!

It was obvious that he had taken quite some time to lovingly arrange them and she was immediately touched by the amount of thought he had put into organizing the display.

There were small bears all along the bottom shelf, medium-sized bears covering the length of the middle shelf, and huge, enormous bears running all the way across the top shelf.

She found it strange for an obviously masculine guy to have such a large collection of Teddy Bears,

She is quite impressed by his sensitive side but doesn't mention this to him. They share a bottle of wine and continue talking and, after awhile, she finds herself thinking, 'Oh my God! Maybe, this guy could be the one! Maybe he could be the future father of my children?' She turns to him and kisses him lightly on the lips

He responds warmly. They continue to kiss, the passion builds, and he romantically lifts her in his arms and carries her into his bedroom where they rip off each other's clothes and make hot, steamy love. She is so overwhelmed that she responds with more passion, more creativity, more heat than she has ever known.
After an intense, explosive night of raw passion with this sensitive guy, they are lying there together in the afterglow.

The woman rolls over, gently strokes his chest and asks coyly,
'Well, how was it?'
The guy gently smiles at her, strokes her cheek, looks deeply into her eyes, and says:


“Help yourself to any prize from the middle shelf”

October 10, 2009

Happy Fall,

We are into our third year with CCE's One World Concert series.    
Twenty concerts so far. Each one has been pretty unique. I have included our list of concerts toward the bottom of this note.

To be perfectly honest our music series is not for everybody. I would only recommend it to people that love great music, don't like to drive long distances, prefer an intimate venue that provides snacks and inexpensive beverages, like being a part of an organization that is doing great work with youth in our community and enjoy being around  neighbors and really friendly, interesting people. Most others would not like what the Center for Creative Education is doing in Stone Ridge.

I am talking to lots of agents. Some of the people I am trying to bring to Stone Ridge are Todd Snider, Justin Townes Earl, Rhett Miller, Angus Martin, Keb Mo, Susan Werner, Robbie Fulks, Pieta Brown, Cliff Eberhardt, Josh Ritter, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, James McMurtry, David Lindley and The Iguanas among others. Quite a list, huh? Well it certainly isn't boring.
Lots of ups and downs in the process.  Believe it or not it's not so easy to get great names to come to Stone Ridge. It must be pretty intimidating with all the skyscrapers and gang activity in this area. Perhaps it's all the apples and corn, the abundance of squirrels, chipmunks and wild turkeys in the area or even all that clean air that we have to live with. This can be a pretty scary place.
Thanks to all those that have become members. Your $20 membership helps us to attract artists and to convince them to get over their phobias. We are actually doing a very therapeutic thing here and I am proud to be a part of it. But then again, if all the artists overcome their phobias, what will they have to sing about. We might actually be hurting the whole blues genre here in Stone Ridge. Ay gevalt! Where do we go from here? Glad I asked that question.
Here is what we can do.

MaMA's 11th Birthday Party
Saturday, October 17 at 8 PM
Dance party featuring live music by OmU
Suggested donation: $10

This is a benefit fundraiser for the arts center.
We could really use your support. Having MaMA here in Stone Ridge is such a benefit for the community. It offers so many programs, among them Yoga, Tai Chi, Dance, Art, Music, Plays and much more. Coming soon will be an outdoor amphitheatre and a cafe.

Also we have Mikhail Horowitz and Gilles Malkine coming on Saturday, October 31. If you don't know Mik and Gille, it would be hard to describe them. Terms like kooky, clever, crazy and extremely entertaining come to mind. Add to all that that it is Halloween and hold onto your hats. It is bound to be a great evening. Contact me for tickets.

CCE in Kingston is having an open house. I will send the flyer out in another email.
It is on Wednesday, October 20 from 5 pm to 8 pm at our Center in Kingston.
It is located at 20 Thomas Street, just off Broadway.
There will be performances and tours throughout the afternoon.

Also CCE in Kingston will be doing a silent auction fund raiser for their great programs with Kingston kids. If anybody would like to donate something that could be auctioned, whether it be art, massage, gift certificate, a service, whatever, it would be going to a wonderful cause and organization. Let me know if you would be willing to donate.

Other stuff:
*Did I lend my Todd Snider Live CD to anybody? I miss it.

*Levon Helm will be doing a free concert tomorrow at Gill's Farm on Rte 209 in Hurley.
Show is from 2 to 4. I went last year and it was a lot of fun.

*I hear the brand new walkway over the Hudson is sensational. Can't wait to check it out.

Below I have included a list of all our concerts since the series began in August of 2007

2007
August                      Eliza Gilkyson
September               John Hammond Jr
September               17 Hippies
November                Yozvany Terry
November                Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion
November                Marshall Crenshaw

2008
March                      Terri Hendrix
April                        Guy Davis             
May                         Chris Smither
May                         Eliza Gilkyson
Aug                          Richard Julian
September             Mark Erelli
October                  Mikhail Horowitz and Gilles Malkine
November             Rory Block

2009
March                   Mike and Ruthy
April                     Carrie Rodriguez
May                      Natalia Zukerman
June                     Kelly Joe Phelps              
July                      Stonehoney
September          Red Molly

This has turned into another rambling affair.
I love getting feedback so drop me a line and spread the word to friends and lovers.

I will be sending out a flyer for MaMA's 11th Anniversary Celebration and for CCE's open house in Kingston

Hope to see you soon and thanks for your continuing support.
cliff
cceconcerts.com
























Two ministers were discussing immorality. One of them said, “I have never even tasted liquor. How about you?”  The other minister replied  “Only during a religious ceremony when it was called for, and always just a sip or two.“  The first minister continued, "I never smoked anything in my life. How about you?”  Only once, when I was out west participating in an ancient Indian ceremony. We all smoked from a peace pipe" replied the second minister.
"I didn't sleep with my wife before we were married. How about you?"  The first minister continued.
The second minister replied, "I don't know.  What was her maiden name?"