Local Benefit Shows Help the Cause
by Rich Hughes
Eagle Barrett Syndrome, or Prunebelly Syndrome, as it is more commonly known, isn't a disease that most people are familiar with. It's a fairly rare birth defect, affecting about one in 40,000 babies, mostly males. For those who are born with it, and their families, however, it's a life-defining event. It causes a lack of abdominal muscles and defects of the kidney, bladder and other internal organs. Approximately 50 percent of children born with the condition die before their second birthday. Most of those who survive have to endure a series of painful operations.
Happily, one of those who did survive is Long Island musician Frank Walker. And so, every year around this time, dating back to 2001, Walker has thrown a series of live concerts to benefit the Prunebelly Syndrome Network (PBSN), a website that works to support and educate the families of Prunebelly victims. This May, Walker is celebrating his 40th birthday with a series of four such benefit shows.
The first takes place on Friday, May 18, at the Irish Oak in Wantagh. Artists performing include Terrence Escalara, Jeff Beitler, Kevin Mahoney, Too Hip For The Room, Kris Von Bartheld and the Low Riders. The following night, at the Vintage Café in Levittown, the second concert will present Sal Lazzarino and Steve Matasavich, SpoonWalk, various members of Wondrous Stories and Maddawg and the Pack.
There was a change of venue for the show scheduled for Sunday, May 20, and at press time the new venue hadn't been named. Scheduled performers, however, include Ed Wernersbach, Dave Kotliar, Valerie Griggs, Colleen Dixon, Racquel and Scott Tirrell, Spring Palser, Robin Eve, Kevin McLeod, Farrell and White, the YaYas, Debra Lynne and Chris Tursi, Mike Crowley, Hank Stone, Sue Martin, Gina Di Renta and Frank Walker.
The series will conclude the following Sunday afternoon at Jessi's Lip Smackin' Roadhouse in Merrick with a show featuring the talents of Melissa, Joe and Ben Mankowski, Laura Graf and Chris Millan, Dana Kayaian, Nick Vermitsky, Patti Morrone and Laurie Roland, Marco Conelli, Toby Tobias, Forever Falling, Frank Walker, Jim Treutlein and Friends, Joe Rock and Friends, and Joe Vicino and the Smoke Daddys. The website for PBSN is www.prunebelly.org.
On another note, for the younger set, if you're looking for something different to do on Mother's Day weekend, local synthesist/thereminist Chris Peters will be performing his special Animal Communications with Humans show at the Long Island Children's Museum on Saturday, May 12, and Sunday, May 13. The show is about the methods animals use to communicate their needs and feelings with each other. During the show, audience members will help play animal sounds as musical instrument sounds along with more traditional musical instrument sounds in hopes of creating some really unusual performances.
This is a time of the year when I catch up on local CDs. In some cases, they're brand new CDs, in others, they're CDs that might have slipped through the cracks for me when they first came out.
One CD that I've been enjoying lately is last year's self-titled debut by Soundside. There's no great secret to their music—they simply write and play superior pop rock songs, complete with hooks, harmonies, etc. I'm sorry I missed this one when it first came out.
Another CD that has made its way belatedly to my player is Back Roads by Steve Robinson. I've been hearing good things about this CD since it was first released in 2005, and in this case, the word of mouth was spot-on. This is an excellent CD for anyone who likes folk, Americana and Nawlins-style folk jazz, all played clean and smooth.
Finally, I have to thank local promoter Vinny DiMarco for turning me on to BulletProof Messenger. This is a very fine band that mixes rock and electropop elements. At times they remind me of Bad Religion. Their new CD, The Crucial Line, is one of the best I've heard this year.
Here are a few live shows to check out in May. On Saturday, May 5, hard rockers Chiba Ken will be joined by the Spines and All Out Riot at Da Funky Phish in Bay Shore. The following Friday, May 11, the legendary Stanton Anderson Band will perform a special show at Bay Shore's Boulton Center. On Friday, May 18, Talking to Walls and the Doug Gordon Band will be appearing at the Vintage Lounge in Levittown. The following weekend, BHive, Greener, Sick As Monday and Dank Effect will play the Vintage Lounge on Friday, May 25, while Tauk will appear at the Dory on Shelter Island.
Send information about Long Island's original music scene to longislandvibes@hotmail.com.
