May 25, 2012
More Beasties and now also some Davy Jones memorial material from The Viper, this one from 2008 when I was testing out Audacity sound editing software for the first time.
As I wrote when I posted this the first time,
It’s the Monkees meets The Music Man meets “Revolution #9″ meets Licensed to Ill. Which, all told, just may be the Viper’s Rosetta Stone.
May 24, 2012
The Viper and His Famous Orchestra performing The Beastie Boys’ “Rhymin’ and Stealin’” in the upstairs of the Channing-Murray Foundation in Urbana, Illinois in the Year 2000. I think this took place in July, shortly before I moved from Champaign to Turkey (we do a song in Turkish elsewhere in the set), and I think we were playing as part of a benefit.
The instrumentation was sparse — no ukulele (I played the egg shaker — and eggs come from a chicken, not a bunny, dummy!). Just bass, trombone, and suitcase, and mostly just in the breaks. This was, I think, so we could roam as we spit. Most of the Adam Yauch lines seem to handled by Riley Broach, vocalizing with appropriate gruffness.
The show was recorded on a handheld analog tape recorder — I believe just through the built in mic — by Brad Allen. You can hear a little device-on-lap noise at the beginning. In digitizing it, I did a little bit of equalizing to cut out volume spikes but I didn’t otherwise alter the original recording.
Shortlink: http://wp.me/p30LK-h9
September 21, 2011
Great day in the morning! The Viper AND His Famous Orchestra will be tearing up large swaths of the Illinois cosmopolis and hinterland over the next few months.
Here’s what we know about so far:
PRF Auktoberfyst 2011
Saturday, October 1, 4:00 p.m.
Klas’ Restaurant, Cicero, IL
http://www.prfbbq.com/prf-auktoberfyst-2011-schedule-1625
…or say you’ll be there on Facebook.
The Viper and His Famous Orchestra are the first band of an all-day program on the last day of a three-day festival. My friend Faiz (who helped set up the show, and will be rocking there as well) says that Klas’ is a very cool place to play — an old Czech restaurant that he describes as like “playing inside a cuckoo clock.” Let’s polka!
Third Annual Champaign-Urbana Folk & Roots Festival
Saturday, November 5, 11:30 p.m.
The Iron Post, Urbana, IL
http://folkandroots.org
The Viper and His Famous Orchestra stay up LATE for this one (I’d forgotten there was an 11:30 in the p.m., too) to bring you all the music that’s fit to folk. I’ll also be doing a songwriting workshop earlier in the day, called “How to Steal a Song,” about which I’ll have more to announce as the time draws near.
Prairie Breezes Mini-Concerts for Kids
Friday, December 16, 4:15 p.m.
The Urbana Free Library, Urbana, IL
http://www.urbanafreelibrary.org/about/news/#bre
Burdened with four strings and the truth, The Viper brings his ukulele and his Famous Orchestra to the Urbana Free Library for an interactive show of kid-tested, grown-up-approved music and mayhem. Learn to play The Viper way on washtubs, suitcases, and other repurposed household materials, and sing along as the 4-piece Orchestra performs a unique blend of street-corner jazz, meeting-hall folk, and front-porch country.
April 2, 2011
Just finished recording this plug for all and sundry to vote on April 5, 2011 for Don Gerard, running for mayor of Champaign, Illinois. Better late than never!
Don Gerard for Mayor
click here to download the mp3
This was recorded at home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on a perfectly clear day. The thunder comes from the open course Community Audio project of the Internet Archive, and is made available for free use and free modification for any purpose under a Creative Commons attribution license (the author is given as Gaia), at http://www.archive.org/details/Sounds_of_Nature_Collection.
January 4, 2011
New video footage, courtesy of my sister Kristin Jerving-Bernard, who filmed me leading the audience through a round of “Feliz Meriton” at my performance during a Christmas luncheon of the American Association of Retired Persons, Sheboygan (Chapter 338), on December 21, 2010.
“Feliz Meriton” is an orginal composition by my daughter, Irene (as you can read about here), who will be turning 7 in a week. Many, many meritons to her.
Full set list below. “Feliz Meriton,” “The Yodeler’s Christmas,” and “Make a World Brand New” were all new songs premiered at this show, much to the delight and/or dismay of the AARP:
Nino’s Steak & Seafood, December 21, 2010
