Michael J. Epstein in the Boston Herald on Ukuleles (cameo by Sophia Cacciola)

An article in the Boston Herald about the ukulele revival:
http://bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view.bg?articleid=1341805&position=0

Plus a video of me playing a few songs at the Herald! The video also contains a brief appearance from Sophia Cacciola.  Rumor has it that the full performances of 3 songs (2 with Sophia) will be released soon as well...

Download Space Balloons debut EP - Welcome to Balloononia - FREE for a limited time! Join us tonight at the Worried All the Time Premiere!!!

We explain a bit about the origin of Space Balloons here.  The characters were created for Rob Potylo's children's show, Worried All the Time.

While napping after a particularly hearty meal of grapes, Balloononians Sophia (Sophia Cacciola) and Michael (Michael J. Epstein) drifted a bit too far off course in their balloon spaceship. Now they wander the galaxy in search of their home planet Balloononia while spreading the customs and culinary interests of their society in song.

Space Balloons' debut EP, _Welcome to Balloononia_ featuring 3 tales of Balloononian life, culture, and cuisine are available for free download for a limited time!  Come celebrate its release with us at the Worried All the Time premiere party tonight (5/28)!!! This will be the first time that Space Balloons have touched down on this planet you call Earth.  We will be joined by our trusty navigator J-Krafty, famous for his ode to crafting "Crafty" - he will share his observations on space travel and cryptozoology.

Some links about Space Balloons / Worried All the Time:
Weekly Dig
Jim Sullivan Ink
Stuff Boston
Boston Band Crush
Boston Metro
Space Balloons Publicity Materials

The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library covers "The Weeping Song" (download and more)

It's always fun to throw a cover onto your record. In the past, I've been involved in covering "First We Take Manhattan," "Love Will Tear Us Apart," and "Doomsday Devices."  For The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library's _Volume One_, I really wanted something with a little darkness in it to counterbalance what might have otherwise been perceived as a light-hearted album upon cursory listen/examination.



This neat video of "The Weeping Song" featuring the photographs of Michael Massaia popped up recently.


Cover Me had some kind words to say: "With handclaps and gothic orchestration, it’s a must-listen for the next time you too want to dive into the darkness."


Stereo Subversion also very kindly suggested "The Weeping Song" in the context of the media coverage of the Rapture: "Let’s hope that life goes on as usual on Sunday the 22nd but just in case, here’s another song for your 'End of the World' soundtrack."

From the Green Light Go page:
“I was very concerned that people might listen to the album as a whole and kind of categorize it as innocuous folk without really giving a good listen to some of the lyrics and ideas in the songs,” says Michael J Epstein. “So, I wanted to select a cover of a song that had a little darkness in it.” The song features Epstein and Tanya K. Palit singing their own harmonies in this conversation between father and son. Epstein says of his stylistic choices on the track, “I chose to have Tanya play the father and I played the son, which also toys a little with gender. I also wanted to build up the contrast between her vocals and mine. I wanted the ‘wise’ father to have a beautiful, harmonized voice in contrast to the disconcerting octaved voice of the son. So, we each sang our own two parts to achieve this.” The result, while recognizable, is a nuanced version that will linger in the listener’s ears. “Weeping Song” is available for download now (via GLG).


“This is my favorite duet, and it is performed by two of my favorite singers, Nick Cave and Blixa Bargeld. It is also one of the only male-male duets that I can think of. The best part was deciding how to transform this dark father-son conversation into something suitable for the acoustic, and mostly female, Library." Says Epstein of the cover. "I decided to take on the role of the son and add a sonic element indicating that the son was the sinister harbinger of gloom. In order to achieve this, I had Tanya Palit sing a nice harmony with herself for the father's parts while I sang a disconcerting octave harmony for the son."


We've also got a couple of posts with the song on Youtube: 1 and 2.

The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library Tour Recap Day 6: Daytrotter - Rock Island, IL and Laundromatinee - Indianapolis, IN !!! (w/Golden Bloom)

What do you do when you're a crazy bunch of people traveling in a 15-passenger van across the country? You record two sessions - one for Daytrotter.com and one for Laundromatinee.com - 6 hours driving apart, on the same day.

(DAYTROTTER SESSION AVAILABLE HERE!!!)
(LAUNDROMATINEE SESSION AVAILABLE HERE!!!)

I'll bombard you mostly with photos of our day:

Daytrotter is one of my favorite things in the world! From a previous description that I had written: for anyone that doesn't know about Daytrotter, it is an amazing site that houses unique recording sessions captured at the site's studio, Horseshack in Rock Island, IL (Wikipedia article). The sessions are done direct to 2-track tape with no overdubs, edits, etc. So, you get some real insight into how bands play and interact when you hear these things. I've been a long-time fan/session downloader and I am amazingly proud to have had the opportunity to be part of it.  In addition to recording a bunch of songs, the folks at Daytrotter have an artist draw you.  I love the style of the drawings and am really looking forward to seeing how we come out on paper.

I like a lot of the more obscure sessions, so check out stuff you've never heard of, but some name notables and awesome indies that have visited the Daytrotter folks include: Aimee Mann, Ani DiFranco, Avett Brothers, Bob Mould,  Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Colin Hay, Deer Tick, Frightened Rabbit, Fucked Up, Ian McCulloch (Echo and the Bunnymen), Langhorne Slim, Mates of State, The Meat Puppets, Metric, Okkervil River, The Rentals, Rock Plaza Central, and Tori Amos.

We recorded a Neutral Uke Hotel / Golden Bloom / The Motion Sick session last Summer (released in December) and it was a total blast!



Here's a little quick recap of our visit/session recording.  It starts with us recording our Daytrotter ID.  Then, we're rehearsing a couple of songs in the studio as the space is set up to record us.


On to the photos! They take a Polaroid picture of you to help as a drawing reference.  I guess this photo will be sold or given away to a lucky DT fan!










Reading material in the lounge!



...and Sonic the Hedgehog!

---

After Daytrotter, we drove many an hour to Indianapolis to record a Laundromatinee video session.  Laundromatinee is one of my other favorite things in the world! To do both of these sessions on the same day was nothing short of amazing!

I had previously met Jeff DuPont, who did the recording for Laundromatinee when The Motion Sick recorded a radio session for WEEM in Indianapolis in 2008.  Interestingly, this was also the day that I first met Lisa Battiston, MJEML bassist (though Kelly Davidson was subbing on the current tour) back when she was a member of The Peggy Sues, a band sharing our bill that evening in 2008.

While the Horseshack is a rad place, it has a hard time competing with The Spa at French Pharmacie! This spa/salon was selected for the session and it was pretty much the most awesome place on Earth!  We rocked out in front of salon mirrors and in hair-styling chairs.  We chilled in massage chairs and just had an all-around awesome time!

Thanks to everyone involved with Laundromatinee and French Pharmacie for making the evening an awesome one and for tolerating our terrible lateness in arriving!

The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library Tour Recap Day 5: Gabe's - Iowa City, IA !!! (Neutral Uke Hotel, Golden Bloom)

We headed out to Iowa City on Easter, expecting to play to absolutely no one. To our great surprise, a small, but solid and enthusiastic gang joined us to celebrate Neutral Milk Hotel's _In the Aeroplane Over the Sea_.

Before the show, we found a giant cow and played some songs in front of it...








Now over to the show...

Shawn makes us all sing "Happy Birthday" to his mother...awwww.


We closed the evening with booker Andrew singing "Oh Sister" to help us celebrate!




You can also check out all of the tour posts, Rachel Blumenthal's recap of the whole tour, Kelly Davidson's recap, Matt Girard's recap, and Tanya Palit's interview series.

The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library Tour Recap Day 4: Schubas - Chicago, IL !!! (Neutral Uke Hotel, Golden Bloom)

We made the journey to Chicago and after a little bout of carsickness for some of our more drummerish members, we grabbed some food at Schubas and hung out a bit in the green room with the lowest ceiling in the history of green rooms.  Even our most vertically challenged members were able to touch the ceiling without much effort!







Kelly Davidson got some great video of "King of Carrot Flowers"


Here is some MJEML Performing "Stranger"


...a nice big block of Golden Bloom's awesome set!


Music Defined reviewed the show...as did Stereo Subversion and Hidden Track.

The big finale Neutral Uke Hotel / Golden Bloom / MJEML / The Motion Sick encore!


We also did a fine interview with Josh from Music Defined!


Music Defined also got some performance video of MJEML, Neutral Uke Hotel, and the "30 Lives" encore.

You can also check out all of the tour posts, Rachel Blumenthal's recap of the whole tour, Kelly Davidson's recap, Matt Girard's recap, and Tanya Palit's interview series.

The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library Tour Recap Day 3: The Grog Shop - Cleveland, OH !!! (Neutral Uke Hotel, Golden Bloom)

by Rachel Blumenthal

After a tricky day in NYC with the health inspector, we drove through a little late-April snow in Snow Shoe, PA to make it out to rainy Cleveland and rock a return visit to The Grog Shop (a major player in my previous posts from last year on the bathrooms of the Neutral Uke Hotel tour and genital graffiti in green rooms!). I was excited to see if any new genital drawings had been made in the green room and I must say, I was not disappointed. In addition to the usual male stuff (a new one and some offensive classics: 1, 2), this time, there was a little more sex equality as I experienced the very first female-genital graffito observed on a Neutral Uke Hotel tour. It was a good one too, combining everyone's favorite comic book/cartoon animal martial artists with female genitals! There was also a somewhat less exciting dog with boobs.

by Rachel Blumenthal

I was delighted to grab a bite at my favorite Cleveland eatery, Tommy's, where I've eaten a surprising number of times given what one might assume is how unlikely it is that I would be in Cleveland. I am a big fan of their Tofutti shake, partly because they walk over and do some crazy dance to get it to fall from the metal to the glass without ever spilling.  They then leave you with half a metal container full of shake, which is designed to guarantee that you make an ass of yourself trying to later shake it into the glass. You will most certainly spill it all over yourself every single time.  This time was no exception!

We also paid a visit to Big Fun, the best toy store in the universe and Sophia and I spent about 10 minutes deciding whether or not to buy a foot-tall classic Cylon figure. We went with a 'no' decision and I've regretted it ever since. Although we didn't film or take photos at Big Fun this time, we have a video tour of the store from the DNFMOMD tour last Summer.

We made sure to annoy everyone at the venue by screwing around a whole lot during sound check, switching instruments and making up terrible jams! 

...but we made up for it by making rock faces with ukuleles in the green room...


...and by pretending to poop in the bathroom with the "I'm pooping" sign on it...


The show was a blast and we enjoyed a very responsive and enthusiastic gang with lots of them singing along at the tops of their lungs! We like that!



We played the final encore on the floor amongst the crowd


...and found a stray mustache.

To Eleven reviewed the show and did this interview with Shawn!


We also had the pleasure of being joined by Shivering Timbers!

by Rachel Blumenthal - They are looking for 5 Leepy drivers in Ohio. We don't know what that means.

by Rachel Blumenthal

You can also check out all of the tour posts, Rachel Blumenthal's recap of the whole tour, Kelly Davidson's recap, Matt Girard's recap, and Tanya Palit's interview series. 

The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library teams up with BalletRox to present “BalletRox Springs Out of the Box,” a variety dance show including live music accompaniment, designed in conjunction with the Mayor’s office to break down racial and cultural barriers and provide arts to an underserved community

Indie baroque-pop octet The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library teams up with BalletRox to present:

“BalletRox Springs Out of the Box,” a variety dance show including live music accompaniment, designed in conjunction with the Mayor’s office to break down racial and cultural barriers and provide arts to an underserved community

6/18/11
BalletRox Springs Out of the Box
Strand Theater
(543 Columbia Rd. Dorchester, MA 02125)
http://strandboston.com/
Tickets: $20 center / $10 side - http://bit.ly/balletrox2011
7 PM
[Facebook Event] 

Resources: http://michaeljepstein.com/balletrox2011/
Contact: Michael Epstein - MJE@MichaelJEpstein.com



Description: A unique one-night blend of dance and music designed to empower and entice the audience to explore their own identities featuring brilliant dance creations from the BalletRox faculty and guest choreographers, including Tony Williams, Gianni Di Marco, Janelle Gilchrist, Rick Vigo, Lucy Warren-Whitman, Jane Allard, Lorraine Chapman. Featuring the BalletRox YouthRox Dance Company and live accompaniment and performance by indie baroque-pop octet The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library.

On June 18th, BalletRox presents “BalletRox Springs Out of the Box” at the Strand Theater. The show is the result of an ongoing collaboration with the Mayor’s office and the city of Boston to help bring affordable and accessible arts programming to the underserved communities of Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan.

The show includes dances choreographed by both BalletRox faculty and guests. The dances each explore a facet of coming to terms with individuality and identity, sometimes within the context of maturation, other times exploring freedom within and outside of commitment, while focusing on the limitations of the scope and adaptability of societal norms and their imposed demands for conformity.  

The evening concludes with an original piece with music and choreography created by members of indie baroque-pop octet The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library. This unlikely collaboration is the result of BalletRox choreographer, teacher, and performer Jane Allard’s involvement as the band’s melodica and glockenspiel player. This final three-movement work, “Faith in Free,”  featuring original lyrical compositions by the Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library, ties together the thematic explorations of the pieces in the show and culminates in a final examination of the life cycle of freedom from rebellion to hopelessness to ultimate triumph.

The themes seek to empower the audience to accept and even embrace their diversity and to work to overcome hurdles to hone their individualities and recognize their personal worths and contexts within a world pushing for homogeneity and de-emphasizing individual value.

About The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library

The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library is the world's only male-fronted, all-female band and likely the world's only librarian-attired indie folk act. The MJEML is a octet indie-acoustic baroque-pop ensemble featuring intricately constructed, tongue-in-cheek tortuous songs with an emphasis on narrative.

See http://glgpub.com/roster/michael-j-epstein-memorial-library for additional information.

About BalletRox

The mission of BalletRox is to use the power of dance to break down racial barriers and enrich the community's artistic experience through our diverse dance company and school. BalletRox offers scholarships for under served children, regardless of financial ability or career goals. All children at BalletRox receive a solid foundation in ballet, as well as an opportunity to explore other dance styles, such as modern, jazz, tap, and more. BalletRox students and professional dancers have the opportunity to perform in critically acclaimed productions, like Anthony Williams’ Urban Nutcracker and other innovative dances. BalletRox continues to establish its unique position as a multi-racial dance company and school. Because BalletRox focuses on at-risk, urban children, it is able to teach much more. BalletRox is uniquely positioned to provide the proven psychological and developmental benefits of dance. Through dance classes and performance opportunities students learn discipline, teamwork, self-respect, and self-esteem. BalletRox provides critical tools for helping young people manage peer pressures, family crisis, and threats from the streets as well as for success in the adult world.

BalletRox Press Clips: http://www.balletrox.org/urbannutcracker/press_media_archive.html

About the Strand Theater

The mission of the Strand Theatre is to serve as a cultural and educational resource to artists and audiences regardless of race or cultural background, age, ability, gender, economic level, or sexual orientation. Central to the Strand's mission is the development and implementation of youth arts educations programs. The Strand Theatre has a special commitment to the surrounding communities of Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan.