Acoustic Apple

The first weekend in August is always reserved for the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.  Gary headed to Hillsdale, NY on Wednesday, 8/1 to set up a campsite on Dodd's Farm.  Gary joined friends at "Pirate Camp" (one of several loosely organized encampments at the festival) and set up a canopy for protection from the torrential rains and blazing sun that follow the usual weather pattern in the summer in the Berkshires.  Sure enough, within 10 minutes of setting up my canopy the skies opened up and the heavy rains came down, turning roadways into mudways. Several more rainstorms would occur between Wednesday and Friday, but the timing of the rain was favorable and none of the scheduled performances were cancelled.  Performers included Adam Ezra Group, Dan Navarro, Dar Williams, The End of America, Greg Greenway, The Jason Spooner Band, John Gorka, The Kennedys, Kim and Reggie Harris, Ryanhood, The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Sloan Wainwright, Tom Paxton & the Don Juans, Tracy Grammer and Vance Gilbert... all folk favorites.  I got a chance to participate in a few song circles, but mainly just enjoyed all the great performances.

Acoustic Apple scored a rare treat at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington on May 18, 2018 when world-class Bass guitar player Freebo (Bonnie Raitt, CSN, Maria Muldaur, John Mayall, Ringo Starr, Dr. John, Neil Young, and more) accompanied us on stage.

After 4 days of non-stop jamming at the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival in Framingham, MA we returned to LI exhausted, but happy.  We are looking forward to our "tour of the Beans" gigs this weekend.  Join us a the Bellmore Bean on Friday night and the Babylon Bean on Saturday night.

In mid-December, 2017 Acoustic Apple had the opportunity to open for Robinson Treacher and Alice Howe at the Starlight Concert Series in Northport.  Icy road conditions made the trip to Northport (normally about 45 minutes) a 2-hour white-knuckle driving experience.  Alice Howe's trip from Boston took 8 hours, but we all made it to the gig.  A brave audience welcomed us and we performed our 5-song set rather well.  We may get another opportunity at the Starlight some time in the future.  Our last few gigs of 2017 at the Bellmore Bean, Babylon Bean and Starving Artist Café all went well and we begin 2018 at the end of January with two gigs during the last weekend of the month.

Acoustic Apple attended the NorthEast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) music conference in Stamford, CT November 9-12.  This conference (aka "party") featured 700+ Musicians, Folk DJs, Venue managers, Agents, Promoters, and others involved in the business of Folk Music.  We got a chance to see, hear and meet many outstanding performers, and we spent a good deal of time jamming and shmoozing.  Acoustic Apple participated in a Tom Petty Tribute showcase, at which we performed "I Won't Back Down".  Gary joined jam sessions lasting until 4 AM each day of the conference, while Steve caught some zzz's.  With our batteries charged we look forward to our last few gigs of 2017 and a great 2018.  Happy Thanksgiving to all !

Summer ends on Friday, September 22.  While this summer has been very good for Acoustic Apple (gigs, festivals, street busking at Jones Beach, East Meadow Farm, Merrick Street Fair and NYC's Washington Square Park), it has not been kind to a lot of people in Houston, Florida, Caribbean Islands, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and other places around the world.  Between Mother Nature's fury and the rising tensions over the North Korea missile tests, it seems the world might actually come to an end.  With that in mind Acoustic Apple has a show at a new venue on Friday night; The Meadowlands Restaurant and Bar in East Meadow.  Our last gig of the summer. 

Falcon Ridge was a mixed bag of good and bad for Acoustic Apple this year.  Gary's first grand child was born on the day he planned to travel to the festival.  Everything went well at the hospital.  Mother and baby are fine, so Gary headed to Hillsdale on Thursday, August 3.  The Acoustic Apple canopy was established in Pirate Camp while the weather was good, and Steve made it to camp late Thursday afternoon, in time for the Lounge Stage performances. On Friday things turned bad.  Thunderstorms and a tire blow-out forced Gary to miss part of the emerging artist showcase.  By Friday night everything was calm and Acoustic Apple was able to join a number of good jam sessions at Pirate Camp.  Gary stayed up late to join the Front Porch song circle and the balance of the weekend was great.  Steve headed home Sunday afternoon, while Gary remained at camp until Monday morning. Next up... gig at Starving Artist on 8/18, LI Bluegrass Festival on August 19, Morgan Park Folk Festival on 8/20, gig at Bellmore Bean 8/25, gig at Northport Farmers Market 8/26, and Borderline Picnic/Jam on 8/27.

Steve and Gary will head to the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in early August for our annual mega-dose of friends, folk music and fun.  Several days of jamming and enjoying multiple stage of music with thousands of like-minded friends in the beautiful Berkshires.  Gary has been  attending this festival for 16 years, while Steve will be back for his second year.  As a warm-up we will be at the Huntington Folk Festival on Saturday, July 29.

Steve and Gary attended the Harry Chapin Tribute at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow on Monday, July 17 and participated in the Grand Finale "All My Life's a Circle" in front of a large crowd at the band shell.  Maybe we will work out a duet performance of one of Harry's songs for next year's tribute.  Steve and Gary will be heading to the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in a couple of weeks.  Lots of good music and lots of friends that we have not seen since last year at the same festival.

On Wednesday, June 21 Steve and Gary carried our guitars on the LIRR and headed to The Brooklyn Academy of Music for our first corporate gig.  Acoustic Apple was selected by Starbucks as one of the performers at their big Partners meeting for Starbucks employees.  Starbucks supplied all the sound reinforcement equipment, plus an audio engineer to help us sound great.   On Friday, June 30 we return to the Babylon Bean and on Saturday, July 1 we perform again at the Bellmore Bean.  Great fun!