the Dogfish Bar & Grille: Open Mic news

I don't know if it just me but life is spinning insane circles as of late and I can hardley keep up..... I feel like I have seen my kids and enjoyed them enough lately it just been a shuffleing off to school and other such affairs and the crazy moments in between..... Open Mic is still my saving grace a bit of calm amist the chaos........October has moved in leaving sept a quick blurr in my memory banks... But the one thing that can be said is that the music has been awsome and the audence stellar...
This month we are in for an onslaught of local talant starting with Jason Lambert on OCT 3rd
Jason is a great lyrisist and has a cool style reminiscent of early punk days in New yorks lower east side.. Sort of a throwback to Lou Reeds era but don't be fooled this teacher of Maine is comfortable in his own shoes and ready to inpress....
ON OCT 10th Doug Kolmar takes the stage to bring his incredible stories to life.. Well crafted songs that take one on a journey through life and love and beaches.......So come sit back and enjoy the journey with this New England peace activist, he even promises to bring cds....
On Oct 17th Local soul girl Meghan Jo Wilson brings her sound to the open mic and I here that she may be bringing along the ever funky, always soulful Kenya Hall in for a bit of alcapella ... Oh the place is sure to be sdtaming after that... Meghan put out on of my favorite local cds of 2006/7 Seeds, Stars and Galaxies... Her live show is always a treat so come catch a bit of glide to your stride on a wed evening and see what the Dogfish Bar and grille have cooking up...
The young and Talanted Aaron Vigue will be playing with the incrdible Erica on violin....they haven't been around in a while but their sound was always mezmorizing and it has stuck with me all thes months......The music is haunting and leaves you always wanting more so come check out the arrangments and get lost in the vibe.......
OCTOBER 31 HALLOWEEN at the dogfish with Dear Claudia ,, need I say more... Yes we will still have open micers but I am encouraging you to get dressed up be ready to let lose cause anything and everything is possible....DearClaudia just put out their first cd and it is redemption time , I mean it's awsome. The band brings lead singer Leah Finklesteins music to life... So make some noise and be ready for a hauntingly good time..
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Of course Open Mic always starts around 7pm and sign up begins at 6:45.. Craig Springer will be mixing the sound while I talk to much and laugh to loud but what the hell at least in the madness of it all I can still laugh.... Oh if you want to know about other music listings check out the web page at www.thedogfishbarandgrille.com Peace to all.... michele

Summer has rolled into Portland and the decks at the dogfish are open....The drinks are getting more creative everyday and the music has been excellant.... The open Mic recordings are coming along and we hope to have a cd put together by the end of August......but I could be just doing a bit of wishful late night talking too...who knows..........I do know that the Open mics have been a blast and the feature artist continue to blow away the regular crowd.....And August is sure to deliver ....
our August lineup is
8/1 Jen Murdza
8/8 Joshua Madore
8/15 Ryan Schmidt's
8/29 Brad Strauss
I'm going to bed now but I Hope to see you out at the open Mic sometime soon...plus we have very cool new tee shirts...michele

March was a great month for free street acoustic open mic. We saw many of our reg crowd but continued to see new folks each week....... The Feature artists have been mezmerizing and I have to say we are lucky to get such great talant here.....Keith Dover kicked the month of march off on the 7th with his unique style and great delivery...Patti De Rosa was next on 3/14 and played with local Cornell Welch and she even got Jesse Frayne on the harmonica for a few numbers and you would have thought they practiced it sounded so polished. Jesse Dee walked in on March 21st and I felt like I was seeing a young Van Morrison or Marvin Gaye with a bit of grit to his voice.... He was amazing and I can't wait till his cd finally comes out... Michelle Lewis also took the trip down from Boston this month and again another steller performer... Her songs were full of life and she simply delivered them....I look forward to April 4tt when Frank Hopkins lends his voice to stage...
And of course I look foward to reg Brad Strauss, Jesse Frayne, Dan Snowdeal, Dan Knudsen, Joel Therrio, Wes Engle, Andul,Cornell,Jed Bresette,Alex, and so many more folks that keeping coming in and makeing this truley a great evening of old and new friends.....
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Sign up is around 6:30pm and we like to getthings started at 7pm.
Mark Lembo is CoHost and sound man extrodinair so if you have any questions before you play talk to Mark, he doesn't bite that hard........ We also have a house guitar now, thanks to the good people over at guitar grave, so there should be no excuses as to getting up and playing.......If you are coming to watch, come early the food here at the Dogfish is great and Adam mixes a mean Martini.........See you soon michele

I sure was feeling good wednesday night and no it wasn't just because I was chilling out before a Brett Dennon( an amazing singer songwriteer from San Fran who stands for peace by all means) concert having a glass of wine... It was because the vibe was alive and the Dogfish was buzzing...The Open Mic list was filled and the music was great.....Mark Lembo as always started the Musical journey with a rip roaring opening number and then we snuck in a song by phil before Jesse came up for a set of songs always unique and filled with Style...My pal Leah Finklestein came in and Borrowed the house guitar ( which was donated by the great folk at Guitar Grave) and boy can she sing....It was funny to see her without her piano but it is obvious that she can handle it all....Dan Knudsen was so on his game tonight that Brett Dennon and his group bought 2 cds ...Who knows maybe Dan will be playing on the bill with Brett and John Mayer soon..........By the time Simons and Goodwin came to play the housee was preaty packed...which was great because it kept us all warm....Any how Simons and Goodwin provided lots of fun music that you could sing along too ...The harmonies were on target and musicianship perfected...next to the mic we slipped in new open micer Terry Sweat from North Bridgton and he was feeling that blues thing... He was awsome and we all hope he comes back real soon....... the second half was packed with new and old alike and Ella kicked it into high gear with some origionals and then it was great to see Oliver play a tune befor I snuck out to go see Brett Dennon who ( yes I am saying it again ) is a great singer songwriter from the Bay are..........But even over at the space I heard from some folks who attended the open mic that they thought the music was on tonight....and that the woman who went on after Oliver was amazing, she had pipes and wasn't afraid to use them.......so I will see you all next week when Mark Lembo takes us through a powerful valantines feature set.....Bring a lover or a good friend come and have a great meal ( cause the food is all that and a bag of words)....peace
Michele

Yes it was cold wednesday night but not that bad.not that bad.....Heck it's Winter in Maine, what do you expect..........Anyway A few friends came down to the Free Street acoustic open mic this week and a good time was had by all....The scene was calm with a dash of the bizarre, my kind of night......................................The sign up list was filled and the music grooved....I even stumbled up for a little poetic moment with Cornell...........It was great to see former Co Host Bob Mckillop take the stage , relaxed and give an exxcelent set of Bobmckillop music.....I love the tree song ..."hitting tree's" that's the name.....Let's see the night began of Course with sound man extrodinair and Co host Mark Lembo whose songs are like these incredible snip its of a life that seems to cool for most of us ......bottom line I like his style................I abosolutly was excited when I saw Brad Strauss return with Sam for another set of bluesy origionals........O course the night continnues with great regulars Dan Knudsen, Jesse fryane, chuck Muldren you cracked me up tonight and it was good to hear you play......
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So if you didn't know Mark Nelson before tonight I hope he stays on you musical radar because he is so talanted and has a great straight foward style with great songs....a powerhouse...it's nice to see an artist that delivers the whole package......what wowed me was the fact that he has put out 21 cds....that is wild....so do your self a favor and pick one up there is a lot to choose from...........++++++++++++++++++++++++
I was so glad to here my favorite Eric Bettencourt song tonight and then was even lucker that Kieran mcManus walked in with the ledgendary Boo together they were amazing, a forse to be reconed with... so quite yet powerful with great harmonies......
Cornel started the night drumming but ended the night with a great guitar song...He is one multitalanted cat and alwayse good to have around...... so thanks everyone for another good night.......I will see you next week when Rachel Griffin will be our feature..........cheers michele

So lets start off by saying that if you were cold on wed night january 24th then you obviously weren't at the Free street acoustic open mic because inside the Dogfish Bar and Grille the heat was on......Mark Lembo was on his A game with the sound and quickly set the tone with an awsome opening number.....Usual suspect Dan Knudse, still on a high from Danapalooza graced us with the Shark song and my personal favorite Rain Falling.....New comber Brad Strauss and his seeing eye dog Sam came on next and laid some serious blues uon us.....I loved his song about his dog especially.... Jason Lambert took the stage next and controlled it like a master. He did an awsome Rolling stones cover that had us all paying attention and he played it ultra slow in that cool Jason Lambert style......OpenMic regular Bub came on next and I have to tell we are lucky that he consistantly comes cause his tunes arre great and he has a nice tone to them...This guy just keeps getting better and better..................... So What can i say next about Feature Oscar Del Sebastion who is so multi talanted that it blows your mind.....Well I can say that he and Strange for Stranger bandmate John quietly heated up the room with an awsome set of music.....It seems that whenever you think you have got Oscar's music down and know where he is going to take you he throws you a curve ball, leading you in another incredible music direction..... I love when he goes into that funky Latin vibe he does like only Oscar Del Sebastion can....To hear his music is to fall in love............ That being said it was time for the second half of the night and during the intermission up steps Mike Duffy and Cornell for a bit of Rock-N-Roll and dam it was alive and kicking....Juiced us all up for Eric Bettencourt who has more energy then the energizer bunny......He has such a powerful delivery and an awsome voice tone to boot.....Who else could wow us with origionals and then bring out the (led)......can't wait till he gets that solo album out..........Dan Eden came up next on his first solo endevour and played this amazing instrumental that his uncle wrote.......he ended his set with an ubeat reggaesk style song that he wrote and I for one hopes he continues his solo journey........The last time Bernie Sutherland came down to the Openmic was August 16th so it was really good to see him and have him play a few tunes......Bernie was super tired from work since he wakes up at 4am but held tight and played a great set...he splashed a little john Prine our way and an origional that he wrote about his 3 year old son Fox..........Bob Walker was next and played a bunch of songs acompinied by the harmonica...He played all our favorites and could have gone all night........But Mike Duffy and Cornell had the final slot and laid a little more of the Maine rock-n-roll on us.....Mike shared an amazing song he wrote too and Cornell, well pure genious on the drums pure genious......So that's it another fun night was had I went to bed super late but as always I had a blast...thank you all for coming out and we will see you next week When feature Mark Nelson brings his message to town..... cheers Michele

If you missed last nights open mic, I am truly sorry, because their were moments of pure genious..Keith Dover wowed me... with an intense cover of Paul Simon's "The Vampire song" and newcommer Delilah Poupore silenced the room with a voice as sweet as pie....Of course Bub was man enough to start things off playing a solid set of tunes that quietly grabs your attention every time.... An excited Dan Knudsen took the second slot reminding us all that Danapalooza was on for fri the 19th at Goats head on Danforth and regular Jesse Frayne rounded the first half of the night with his well crafted tunes... Stephanie Hayward put those fingers to work as she took charge of the keyboard and controlled the room with a 45 minute set of awsome emotional tunes....She is slowly becomeing a force to be reconed with.. Benny Burgess and Alex Pastuhov who will be playing thursday the 25th at 9:30 played individually powerfull fuel impacted set and Brian Webber closed the show with a humorous set of great songs...Mark Lembo was stellar working the board and a huge thank you to Guitar Grave for the House Guitar and new monitor........Thanks to everyone who supports this Open Mic.. wheather you are a performer or a listner it is the combinatiion of the two that makes this the best Open Mic....thanks again ans see you next week at 7pm.......
..............Michele Arcand...........

Another great Open mic was had last night with sets by Reuben Torrey, Kevin Roper chuck mulder, Dan Knudsen, monique and her freinds laid it down with a harmonious rendition of jeff buckleys cover of hallelujah(sp) , jessi Frayne, the great Mark lembo, jason lambert, The Slim Pickings, Kaye and of course white house on trial filling us up with a 45 minute set of looping style funky jams...... so come out next wednesday when our feature artist will be rachel Griffin......