The Mystery Of The Pink Candy

June 23, 2011 By Madelyn Leave a Comment

It’s not a secret that we here at Shore Fire like to eat. You can almost always find a snack on our kitchen table that’s up for the taking, whether it’s from someone’s exotic vacation or just a random baking kick.

But it’s never been like this.

Every day this week there has been a bowl of different PINK candies in the SFM kitchen.

Monday it was jelly beans.

Tuesday it was m&m’s.

We made quick work of these...

Wednesday it was mini malted milk balls.

These were so addicting...

Today it was more mini malted milk balls.

mmmmmmmm

What will it be tomorrow?

And where is all this pink candy coming from??? Not that I’m complaining…..

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: candy, malted milk balls, pink

The All-Singing Meryl Streep Birthday Tribute

June 22, 2011 By Caleb Shively Leave a Comment

Happy 62nd Birthday Meryl Streep!

I know she is an obvious choice for a favorite actress, but she is also the correct choice for a favorite actress. “Graciously Amazing” is how I would describe her. She is so talented of an actress, that it kind of is a footnote of how great a singer she is. Very soft, lulling, and lovely voice that can grow powerful unexpectedly. So in honor of Meryl Streep’s birthday, here’s your guide to Meryl Streep singing in the movies:

-”Mama Mia”: She actually reached the Portuguese pop charts at #8 and received a Grammy nomination for her work in the Abba-musical

-”Postcards from The Edge”: She also gets points in this movie for covering Ray Charles “You Don’t Know Me” while rocking a denim jacket

-”A Praire Home Companion” – Starting around the 2:20 mark of this video– watch out.

-”Silkwood” -  Just a link here because her singing happens at the very end of the movie, so SPOILER! (This is one of her Oscar nominated movies, so best just to go watch the whole thing).

Upon writing this post, I learned she is a classically trained vocalist (makes sense), she had extensive stage work, which included musicals, before her film career (makes even more sense), and that there is a song in ‘Fame’ titled “Think of Meryl Streep”. And since I’m talking about Meryl Streep and music, I should mention “Music of the Heart” which I have never seen but know it exists through Meryl and through Nsync (probably why I don’t want to see it).

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: birthday, Mama Mia, Meryl Streep, Postcards from The Edge, Silkwood

I want to ride my bicycle

June 21, 2011 By Josh Leave a Comment

To anyone reading this, please know that I am already aware of how strange and bizarre this is, but I am 25 years old and up until last weekend I was 100% unable to ride a bicycle.

I know…I know…it’s a staple of childhood. It’s something that EVERYONE under the age 10 seems to be able to do. It’s pretty much the defining characteristic of adolescent summers. And alas, I spent the first 25 years of my life unable and unwilling to learn. I vaguely remember attempting the cursed vehicle when I was a young tot and crashing into a tree and vowing to never try again.

But a trip to Prospect Park and some egging on by my peers got me up on that bike, and a miracle took place. After dramatically falling off and scoring some wicked battle scars, I finally was able to keep my balance and ride my childhood arch nemesis. Check out my moment of glory (featuring some not so graceful attempts at braking with my legs at the end):

To further continue my self-promoting parade of personal accomplishment, here are a few songs about the beauty of bike-riding:

Queen – “Bicycle Race”

Pink Floyd – “Bike”

Flobots – “Handlebars”

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Bike, Bike Music, Bike Riding, Bike Songs, Learning to Ride a Bike

Carole King says goodbye to Vieira, hello to Fallon

June 14, 2011 By Matt Hanks Leave a Comment

Carole King was the surprise guest on the Today Show last week, bidding adieu to Meredith Vieira after her five year tenure on the show with a heartfelt version of “You’ve Got a Friend,” which you can watch here.
Just before going on Carole met Jimmy Fallon in the Today Show green room. Fallon was on-hand for this massive NBC lip dub tribute to Vieira. Tears and hugs were in abundance.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Carole King, jimmy fallon, Meredith Viera, today show

Brooklyn Honey Bees do not care, Brooklyn Honey Bees do not give a…

June 14, 2011 By bgilmartin Leave a Comment

After weeks of wondering what the unexplained boxes on the rooftop across from our downtown Brooklyn offices were, I finally confirmed my suspicions – BEES!

Check out this beekeeper tending to the hive, a full 15 stories up in the air!

I guess the Bees here in Brooklyn haven’t read the reports of their species’ inexplicable die-off.  And what is this experiment anyway?  Some sort of locavore honey-making scheme? Check out their view too, it’s a long way to Prospect Park or Staten Island for pollen…

I’ll keep my eye on this work-in-progress and keep my window shut in the meantime.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: bees, brooklyn, local honey, roof

Big Rock Jammy Mountain

June 7, 2011 By Chris Taillie Leave a Comment

The weather couldn’t have been more perfect on Friday as I headed up to the Catskills and Hunter, NY to take in my 2nd annual Mountain Jam. The weekend fest is curated by Warren Haynes and WDST, and takes place at the foot of Hunter Mountain the first weekend in June, now in its 7th year.

The Warren Haynes Band headlined Friday night with two epic sets…Warren and his new band are in top form and kept thousands of fans grooving to their mighty soul on the mountain side with cuts from the new ‘Man In Motion’ and more. Listen to Warren talk about his Stax LP on NPR’s Weekend Edition here. Next stop for WHB: Bonnaroo on Friday (June 10). Gov’t Mule headlined Saturday and My Morning Jacket closed out the fest on Sunday, with performances from Mavis Staples, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Soulive and many more throughout the weekend. I snapped some photos from Friday’s festivities:

Bela Fleck on the main stage as the sun begins to set

The crowd for Warren Haynes Band

Warren Haynes Band from the stage

Trance-y dance-y rockers Lotus close out Friday night. Took this at 2AM, it was time to call it a day.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Bela Fleck, gov't mule, Lotus, Mountain Jam, warren haynes, WDST

Its official: Johnny Nicholas Has The Best Stories

June 3, 2011 By Matt Hanks Leave a Comment

The great blues singer and guitarist Johnny Nicholas was in NYC last week for a rare show at Hill Country, previewing songs from his fortcoming LP ‘Future Blues.’ He totally slayed, abetted by his two former Alseep at the Wheel bandmates Cindy Cashdollar and Tony Garnier.

Here’s a shot of L-R Shore Fire’s Tyler Cannon and Chris Taillie, Johnny, and myself.

Between sets, Johnny shared some amazing stories about hanging with Howlin’ Wolf, and also confirmed that his recording debut was on the great Atlantic live LP ‘The Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival 1972,’ a monster record that has occupied a place of pride in my collection for years. Nicholas was playing in Johnny Shines’ band at the time and you can hear him on Shines’ version of “Dust My Broom.”

I snooped around and couldn’t find that particular cut, but here’s a few others (including Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland and Shore Fire’s own Dr. John!) from the same LP:

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blues, Bobby 'Blue' Bland, Dr. John, Johnny Nicholas, Johnny Shine

You Wanted The Best…Shore Fire Is Alive

June 1, 2011 By Lauretta Leave a Comment

You know we all love music. What you didn’t know is, the majority of our staff plays music regularly either in a band or at home with/to their cat or indoor plants. Some of my favorite memories here include walking into a colleague’s office and them picking up their guitar to play a Chuck Berry riff while we wax best practice, our favorite new bands and music blogs, and, of course, the merits of good bacon (in that order.) It’s important for us to know what we’re talking about; being music publicists, knowing the technical aspects of the craft is very helpful.

Also important: having fun.

In the spirit of fun, we decided to toss a party, a battle of the bands, as it were, during which all of the staffers with current bands showed their swag at Union Hall in Brooklyn. Shore Fire came alive! Here are the highlights:

Anthony D'Amato

First up: Anthony D’Amato. Armed with just a guitar, winning vocals and shining lyrics, Anthony really set the bar very, very high. He’s touring. He has a website. He has an album. You should buy it.

Ghost Bunny (with Chris Taillie, far left, on keyboards)

Second there was our very own Chris Taillie and his out harey outfit Ghost Bunny. I had a great conversation with the drummer about the various reincarnations of the band’s name after Ghost Bunny dies. My favorite was Jesus Hare: 33 years in the making. Ghost Bunny has an intricate, multi-layered sound that will appeal to fans of Muse and Nirvana.

Arvel (with Madelyn Frascella, far right, on bass)

And, I am SOOOO not playing favorites, but Madelyn!!!!! Ladies and Gentleman Madelyn Frascella can handle the bass. She is badass. MOVE OVER Gene Simmons, Flea, and Robert Trujillo. Her band Arvel is totally rocking and they brought serious fun to the stage with their alt-rock indie revival sound.

Firenza (with Chris Brudzinski, left, on guitar/vocals)

Another awesome thing about working with all of these stellar people is that we share iTunes and I’m constantly trolling for new music in my colleague’s iTunes library. Chris Powers has some the best Brit Pop, indie, Shoegaze. I knew I was going to love his band live and Firenza’s power pop delivered.

The Middle Eight (with David McTiernan, far left, on keyboards)

Last but certainly not least: THE MIDDLE EIGHT! The venerable David McTiernan spins his classical background into blissful neo-classical indie rock.

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Tagged With: Anthony D'Amato, Arvel, brooklyn, firenza, Ghost Bunny, shore fire, The Middle Eight, union hall