On 5/15/02 I attended a concert by ellee ven, whom I gave a fair amount of airplay to the prior fall. The concert was at The C-Note, a hole-in-the-wall bar and live music venue on lonely Avenue C, eastward into the East Village.
That evening I met Kathy Zimmer and Meg Braun, who co-hosted a weekly open mic each Wednesday. I would eventually a first or last Monday showcase there, up until the month of the venue’s folding in 2005.
The first show I hosted, October 7, 2002, was of 2 NJ bands, Black Diamond and Vital Point.
The November 18, 2002 showcase lineup: Erik Sootes, Tina Vero, Anandi, Keith Porteous. December 16, 2002: Jeremy Mix, Dough, Bourbon Princess.
I enjoyed the experience of working here and being immersed into the NYC music scene. I began to receive numerous requests for airplay, and began to seek out artists myself there and at other venues.
I became the door guy for a number of weekends. I had to check IDs, inform about the one-drink-policy, pay the bands, etc. One weekend I was a barback there, where I had to retrieve glassware, and also set up new six-packs and restock once business was done.
One cool moment was seeing an artist there that I had read about months earlier in the indie newspaper New York Press: Kieran McGee, whom years later would be under the auspices of Iggy Pop’s own manager, Art Collins. Kieran was with Jeremiah Lockwood for that show.
C-Note fit 75 people, and after 2004, you couldn’t dance in there. A few times I saw the joint swell to capacity.
Playlist-wise? Let’s see…
I had links on the site to these other places
IUMA (the original Internet-based music site)
mp3.com where I had my own list of artists
800.com for electronics
The Indie Music Bible
MusiciansFriend.com
Bravenet (decent help for aspiring Webmasters,and Webcasters)
livexradio.com Alternative music, with music spun by a gent named Charles
I began a now-dormant series called Gems…my choice picks of the best artists whose music came across my virtual desk.
There would be occasional server and line trouble from the Live365 server..it would require me to stop and restart, losing the available audience I had to that point.
With the focus on Gems and Gems of the Week, I would talk about the artist, air 3 songs from their latest, and play some sound-alikes afterward.
I was recording the shows onto MIniDisc back then, but as I also would use your basic Maxell Type I cassette as backup as well.
Couple of quotes:
Les Souci had released an album around this time. Can’t find him anywhere on the Web these days but he did say this, per the mighty Wayback Machine: “This is a great and amazing site. This radio station will outdo the majority of indie stations (including my own). Great work for an indie supporter. I have to recommend it to all.”
And this from current songwriter Emiko, around 2002: “It’s so wonderful knowing you are out there promoting independent artists ALONGSIDE major artists….It really gives a nice, integrated perspective on music as a whole!”
I had landed an interview with Larry Kirwan, frontman of Black 47. My favorite Q/A of this interview: ‘
I’ve been to a few of your shows through the years, the first at Summerstage (Central Park, NYC) and the last at your former stomping grounds,
Paddy Reilly’s. I notice, though, you’ve taken residence at Connolly’s. Why the change of venue?
“I can’t remember when we left Reilly’s but it must be about 4 or 5 years ago. We left because, though it was small and cramped, they changed the decor and went more for a theme style Irish bar – which would have very little do with Black 47. They also took out the stage and PA so there was really no option. We also had a lot of problems with volume there. At Connolly’s, there is a stage and PA and no problems with sound. It was just a natural progression. I remember that day in Central Park. I’m told that we broke the record for attendance then. It was a blistering hot day. I had two amps onstage which both blew out because of the heat. In the end, I was playing through one of those little practice amps. Jesus. What a scene.”
Pre C-Note days (May 2002), here are some who I featured:
With the influence of The C-Note, and receiving more albums, seeing more artists perform live, and such, the experience of attending shows regularly did transform how the show sounded.
A list of artists I featured in those post C Note days:
Blue Haiku (chamber-folk)
…and a song from blue-haiku, “Desert Rain”
Philip Bimstein is still active musically and now more so as an educator.
Jon played C-Note once, with the late Rob Morsberger on keys. Rob was getting into his solo material at the time. I was also featuring Jon’s album “Like So”, and might have given this song airplay at the time.
Erene Mastrangeli
Erene: “Is There A Way”
Alpha Cat, with a newly mastered version of “Pearl Harbor”, title track of their full album released this year..
Los Hermanos Rodriguez, from DC!
and something new:
and music from Kelly:
With the focus on Gems and Gems of the Week, I would talk about the artist, air 3 songs from their latest, and play some sound-alikes afterward.
I was recording the shows onto MiniDisc back then, but as I also would use your basic Maxell Type I cassette as backup as well.
radiocrystalblue 