barebonesare.us

Bill DePaulo is the magic maker behind the Casasanta Series, which he hosts in his rather extraordinary living space on the top floor of a former Masonic Temple in Lewisburg, West Virginia.  That’s where Bare Bones is performing this Saturday night, starting at 9 p.m.

Bill started the Casasanta Foundation a little over a year ago, inviting regional and upcoming artists to perform in this great, intimate setting.  The sound system is excellent, and he is equipped with all the hard-to-transport musical instruments, including a grand piano. (I hear that a video of the hoisting of the grand piano up to the fourth floor and through a window is on YouTube.)

The 9 p.m. showtime gives you, dear reader, the opportunity to get to Lewisburg, have dinner in one of the town’s notable eateries–and there are several–then get to the concert.  We’ll go until 11:30 or so, and you can be tucked into a nice Lewisburg inn by midnight, if you’re coming from out of town.  (Alas, the General Lewis is totally booked up on Saturday night, but there are others. Check the Lewisburg Convention & Visitors Bureau.  And you can still have breakfast at the lovely, quaint General Lewis.)

Susanna Robinson, one of my favorite singers, who possesses a sultry, evocative voice that she uses to great effect on old jazz and pop songs, is going to do a few songs with me as a bonus to the Bare Bones concert.  We’re working up Jim Jackson’s “Nice Like That,” and Richard “Rabbit” Brown’s “James Alley Blues,” two songs I have appropriated from Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard’s 1975 self-titled album.  Susanna’s choices are “The Sweetest Gift, A Mother’s Smile,” which Hazel and Alice also brought back to the contemporary music scene, and “Time After Time,” the Cyndi Lauper hit from the 1980s.  Susanna will give Bill’s grand piano a bit of a workout.

As for Bare Bones, we’ve got a few new ones we’ve been polishing up, including “Build Yourself a Levy,” written and originally performed by Natalie Merchant, and the early ’60s pop hit, “Mama Said,” written by Shirley Alston, whose name was the basis for the Shirelles.  Anybody remember Marv Johnson?  His energetic, straight-ahead love songs heated up lots of transister radios in their day. We’ve been messing around with “I Love the Way You Love,” and “You Got What It Takes For Me.” Don’t know if they’ll be ready for show time on Saturday night….but maybe….

Thanks so much to Monica Orosz of the Charleston Daily Mail for her story about me and Bare Bones that came out in today’s paper–  http://dailymail.com/Entertainment/201110054199

This Saturday’s show, 7:30 p.m. October 8,  is technically in the Walker Theater of the Clay Center, and everyone will enter through the Walker, but the show will actually be on the stage of the Maier Auditorium, which offers a lot more seating space.  Cost of tickets–$18, or $15 for seniors and students.  Y’all come!

I’m soooooo happy to announce that on Saturday, October 22, my lovely friend and highly esteemed songstress Susanna Robinson, formerly of Ghost Town Swing and now of Crow Moon Band, is going to do at least a couple of songs with me.  Oh joy!  We’re looking at some Hazel & Alice songs, and maybe a couple of Leiber & Stoller ditties.  Whatever happens, it’s sure to be fun.   There may be some other musicians there, as well, so get yourself down to Lewisburg, West Virginia on Saturday, October 22.

Details:  We’re performing as part of Bill DePaulo’s Casasanta Series, Saturday, Oct 22, 9 PM to 11:15 PM, $10 at door, admission restricted to persons over 21.  

The Casasanta Series is presented by the Casasanta Foundation, whose mission is to bring great regional music to a town that is already rich in music, theatre and fun.  So, here’s to more of it!

CASASANTA’s address is 122 N Court Street, Loft on Top, Lewisburg, WV 24901.  casasantafoundation@gmail.com for more information.

We’re opening for the Irish duo Karan Casey and John Doyle who were both members of the popular band, Solas.  Karan is a Grammy-award winning singer who has also twice been named Irish Female Vocalist of the Year.  Guitar virtuoso John Doyle will accompany her.  But before they come on, none other than Bare Bones will fill the Clay Center Main Stage with our three-part a cappella harmonies.  The show starts at 7:30 p.m., and we’re told that tickets are going fast.  Mark, Bill and I hope to see you there!   For tickets, go to www.theclaycenter.org.  Adults, $18; students and seniors, $15.

Saturday, October 22, We’re Doing a Full Concert in Lewisburg, WV

It’s hard to imagine a more beautiful time to be in Lewisburg, West Virginia than late October.  Bare Bones is doing a full concert as part of Bill DePaulo’s Casasanta Series, an intimate venue on the top floor of the former Masonic Temple.  More details soon!

Yay!  The Wesley United Methodist Church has invited Bare Bones to come do two FREE public performances in Morgantown, West Virginia on Saturday and Sunday, September 17 and 18.

On Saturday, at 5:30 p.m. at the Hazel Ruby McQuain Park, we’ll perform a full concert of all kinds of American songs, from old African-American spirituals to pop radio favorites from the ’50s, and who knows what else.  Some people might call it folk music, and that it is–music that all kinds of folks like.  You won’t have to listen very closely to figure out where rock and roll came from.

The next day, Sunday morning at 10 a.m., we’ll present a mostly-music worship service at the Wesley United Methodist Church on Willey Street.  Snacks and visiting right after the service.  Hey, thanks, all you Morgantown Methodists!  We’ve been assured that all our heathen friends are invited, too, and Baptists and Presbyterians, and Unitarians, Jews, Hindus and Muslims, if you’re interested in hearing a variety of a cappella songs from the American Judao-Christian repertoire.  Some of our favorites come from the antebellum South, but we throw in some rousing old Appalachian Pentecostal songs, and a couple of 20th century vintage, too.  It will be church, but not exactly the usual.

In October, we’ll do an opening set for Irish musicians Karen Casey and John Doyle at the Clay Center in our home town, Charleston, West Virginia.  The  concert is a joint presentation of the Woody Hawley Series and the Friends of Old Time Music and Dance–or FOOTMAD. That show starts at 7:30 p.m.

Thanks for your patience while I figure out how to do a website. The great thing about WordPress is that now you can talk to us!

One of these days, we’ll all laugh about how goofy my website was when I first started.  For now, please bear with me while I school myself in widgetry, etc.  Soon I hope to have a proper calendar up.

If you’re wondering about the picture, that’s us–Bill Kimmons, Becky Kimmons, and Mark Davis, way over on the right.  We’re doing the grand finale on WV Public Radio’s Mountain Stage way back in–hmmmm, when was it?  2009? along with the Carolina Chocolate Drops (on the left), a very hot bluegrass family band, Cherryholmes, and the Claire Lynch Band. That was big fun.