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Fri., May 29th—…earlier that day –Kaiserwerth.

admin — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 00:20:24 +0000

Dusseldorf’s a great town, but since our time in Germany was so limited, and we had a few folks with us who’d never been to Germany, I really wished for them to see, you know, something ‘old world’, and most of today’s Dusseldorf was (re)built after the Second War. We’d heard of a village just up the Rhine called “Kaiserswerth”, and it seemed there was a scenic boat ride that’d take us right there that departed from Dusseldorf’s ‘altstadt’. We met Barbara’s exchange family in front of last night’s club (The Tube), and went down to the river to learn that that boat no longer actually docks in Kaiserswerth. Not to be discouraged, Lauri, John, Ron and I walked up the street, cuz a U-Bahn gets you there in a quick 20 minute jaunt. Barbara decided to enjoy an afternoon with her family there in the altstadt. Neptune was hanging close to the hotel and taking it easy for the day.

Sabina and Barbara

Kaiserswerth turned out to be a very charming little town. Our first stop was a little bakery which we promised ourselves would also be our last stop after lunch. We walked to the river, made a new friend from an outgoing lady who said, amongst many other things (to Ron): “You, you’re always so serious, you need to smile more!” [Ron was just standing their politely. That's what you're supposed to do when an elderly lady speaks to you, even when they speak in a language that you don't understand.] She mused about many things, demonstrated a back-wrenching rock n’ roll dance for us, and then ended by sighing, “I used to be young and beautiful, now I’m just beautiful.”

Our new friend from Dusseldorf

We then found a church that had bits first built in the 12th C., then found the ruins of a fort-thing called Kaiserpfalz.

The Rhine

mittagessen

Kickstarter…Trike Shop CD’s and so much more

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 23:18:27 +0000

If you’ve linked over from Kickstarter, here’s a quick list of the Trike Shop CD’s you can choose from:
Regular Trike Shop CD’s:
Teasers from the Whispermaphone (2013)
The Underground Garden (2010)
Pop Songs & Kyries (2005)
A-Sides & B Movies (2001)
Mad Pop Inventions (1997)
—and for the ‘collectors’ choice, the rare early Trike Shop CD appearance:
4 EPs on One CD (1992)
———–if you’re donating to the Kickstarter campaign, just tell us which one(s) ya want!

And remember, depending on your donation amount, there are more fabulous thank you gifts to choose from: t-shirts, tour postcards, and of course, the grandest prize of them all: have the Trike Shop play at your very own event! Go to www.kickstarter.com right now and make a pledge!

Great and Fiery Time at 7th Annual FUSE Fest!

admin — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 00:59:57 +0000

Fall got off to a great start with the 7th annual FUSE Fest. Our set was at Peeve’s Public House on Fresno’s historic downtown Fulton Mall. It was a terrific evening as we shared the stage with Brian Kenney Fresno, The Long Black Veils, Department Store, and Llama Boy. After a few very trying weeks, the month was turned around; the music was uplifting and healing and a blast. Great to hear our new friend Barbara Anderson-Jones and her flute join us for a full-set, and even our zany pals in Dept. Store leaped up to help on “Ross Used to Play Us His Frank Zappa Records”. A splendid time!

(thanks to our friend Jonathon Hogan for this and the next pic!)

and our friends and relations in Department Store:

standing...

...and crouching.

Summer Ends…. IPO Fest in LA and SF

admin — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 04:07:27 +0000

Finally catching up on some posting ’round here! Two fun gigs to end the Summer.
International Pop Overthrow Festival in Los Angeles (@Fais Do Do)
and San Francisco (@Hotel Utah).

Trike Shop at Fais Do Do

enjoyed meeting and then hearing a great set from the Bay Area band: The Bobbleheads

and once again, enjoyed sharing a stage w/ Southern Cal's: Honeychain!

and then on to San Francisco….(the pre-show pix were too fun not to include)

City Lights upstairs poetry room.

Scott , myself,and our new Trike Shop addtion Barbara Anderson Jones (flute and harmony vocals), and of course, the Transamerica Pyramid

the beat-famous Vesuvio Bar in North Beach

checking the sound at Hotel Utah

outside the Vesuvio

Thanks to Kat, Martin, Michael Glendenning, and David Bash for the photos!!

Music for the London Library Project

admin — Thu, 01 May 2014 02:36:31 +0000

As the flyer says: 2 towns. 2 shows. 1 weekend. It’s all to raise money for a dream Robert Isquierda has for a town called “London.” No, not the one in the UK, but the small, isolated community in Central California that’s roughly between Dinuba and Kingsburg. He was raised there, went on to teach elementary school in Southern California, and is now returning with a dream to bring
a fully functional library to the kids of London. We hope that these two shows will do a small part to support this dream and to shine a good light
on the small community of London, California.
Thanks to Merlinda Espinosa, the wonderful local songstress, for lending her talents to these shows.
Thanks to Craig Scharton for opening up his superb venue (Peeve’s Public House) on the Fulton Mall in downtown Fresno for the Saturday show, and to all the London people who work tirelessly to build up their community.
(More music will be added. Please keep your eyes and ears open for more details as these shows come together.)
To hear a bit more about the project and learn something of London, Calif., click here.

I’d like to update the webpage news, but…

admin — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 23:58:29 +0000

My computer died, along with the webpage software that I knew how to use. It may be a couple of weeks before I can get things going, so for now, a simple blog post will have to do.
Upcoming…Saturday, (that’s Jan.25–show starts at 7), we’re playing as part of a bill that Matthew Embry’s put together. Paul Sprawl (from Minnesota via Calif.), Embry, The Chris Janzen Underground and Leralee Whittle are also playing…this is at Mia Cuppa at 620 E. Olive St. in Fresno’s Tower District.
…For now, enjoy a few pictures from last Sunday’s benefit for Food Not Bombs…a great time was had by all. Good music. Good food. Good friends. Thanks to Mike Lidskin for the pictures of Chelsea Jones (eyes open), the Trike Shop and The Cherry Bluestorms, and thanks to Barbara Jones for the photos of Chelsea (eyes closed),Ron “Doc” Morse, and the very tiny triceratops.

Chelsea Jones at the Food Not Bombs show

the rarely seen naughty bits of a triceratops

Deborah and Glen from The Cherry Bluestorms

The Trike Shop

Ron "Doc" Morse with Guy Beard & the Lunch Wagon Romeos

Quick Scribbles into Fall

admin — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 02:24:57 +0000

Chelsea Jones joing us for a blistering “Ball and Chain”

There’s always *something* going on. One is either cooking something up for the near future, or living through the situations one has cooked up in the recent past. Fall brought a small break from the myriad of gigs that kept us zipping around the state at the end of Summer, but that doesn’t mean we were resting on our laurels…(what laurels?). Included below are some pictures from this past weekend’s gig on the campus of UC Santa Cruz, courtesy of my daughter’s organizational skills…great gig with charming songs and presentations of Olivia Rose, the bold and heart-challenging songs of Chelsea Jones, ourselves, the reverb-moody-melodies of Them are Us Too, the hip hop free-high-stylings of Wizzbang Operation, and the striking electronica-cinematic visuals of Shawheen Keyani….(other Fall happenings?….finishing a recording with the now re-named Harp/Theremin/Percussion group…now called, “TriOblique”, having Mike Lidskin from Twirl Radio to a live broadcast from our very own Whispermaphone Studios….and coming up? a Dec. gig up in Sacramento, the next Food Not Bombs fundraiser here in Fresburg in January…and some songs to finish writing and recording…oh, and check out PopGarden’s Christmas Album featuring an exclusive Trike Shop track….Did I say there was always *something* going on???)
[thanks to Martin Hansen for the Chelsea Jones, Olivia Rose, Them Are Us Too, and Wizzbang Operation photos!]

at UC Santa Cruz

Chelsea Jones--organizer and performer

Them Are Us Too

Olivia Rose

Wizzbang Operation

Shawheen Keyzani

some folks are never impressed

inter-connections and commonalities

admin — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 23:35:00 +0000

Though an extremely difficult one for me on a personal level, this summer finds the band and myself doing what we do well: playing on bills/making friends with musicians from all over and all under this network of commonality: this world of indie/pop/rock musicians.

(thanks to Martin Hansen for most of the pictures!)

at Fais Do Do in Los Angeles for the International Pop Overthrow Festival

Several gigs down, and several to come [this Wed. at the Hotel Utah in S.F., this Fri. at Fitzgerald's in Huntington Beach]. Two albums released, one reflecting this affinity we have for diving into musical community: Fresno Covers Fresno, and the other an EP [the Trike Shop's "Teasers from the Whispermaphone"] that both stands on its own, and harkens to some projects that are still being formed.

Highlights have included: finding such parallels in ideas and experiences with a songster who I met for the first time last night, who came all the way to Fresno (ok, he played other places in the U.S. as well) from Perth, Australia (thanks Joe Algeria of JAC), talking about bad vampire and kung fu movies at Canters with friends after playing at the IPO in L.A., hearing the most lyrical guitar playing ever in the over-all-terrific band of Lannie Flowers from Texas, touching bases and remembering how much I enjoy the music and people in so many bands: Sitcom Neighbor, Felsen, the Shamus Twins…

some pix from Twirl Radio presents: Fresno Edition : (once again, thanks to Martin Hansen for the photos!)

Mike Lidskin, host of Twirl Radio, announces Lannie Flowers and friends!

the program

Clatterbox

Felsen --from the Bay Area

[next I'll tackle the ever-growing-font-of-rock n'roll-joy that is Fresno Covers Fresno!]

too much fun at the Fresno Covers Fresno release party. Members of Sparklejet, Poplord, Sunburns, Trike Shop and Pinkeye join together for a tune.

A Veritable Rock n’ Roll Carnival of Music and Performance!

admin — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 21:08:05 +0000

Martin with The Trike Shop

The Felsen Rabbit

Scott with The Trike Shop

It was a night of terrific performances.

Next up was the impossible-to-categorize and wonderful music of Matthew Embry.

Next, it was Felsen, our new friends from the Bay Area (we’re playing w/ them up in S.F. on April 17th). They won over a bevy of new fans with their strong stage performance.

Then came the aerial beauty and skill of NOCO Dance hanging from the rafters.

The Trike Shop came on and closed off a wonderful night.

Thanks to all of our friends who participated and helped raised money for the upcoming Rogue Performance Festival.

October’s String o’ Gigs at Tokyo Garden

admin — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 00:46:25 +0000

with members of The Clarences and Stallone's Holy Rollers . Thanks to Robert of the Clarences for the photo!

thanks to Robert of The Clarences for this photo.

We had a great time playing with some in-town and out-of-town bands
in what amounted to a sort of ‘residency’ at the classic downtown Fresno venue:
Tokyo Garden. Thanks to our out-of-town pals The Condors (Los Angeles), The Kavanaghs (Argentina),
The Clarences (Oakland), Stallone’s Holy Rollers (Bay Area) and our in-town pals: Sparklejet,
Frezmorim, Matthew Embry. (Thanks as always to Toshi & Tommy of Tokyo Garden for their support of local
music!) Here are some fab pix of the good times.

The Kavanaghs--great power popsters from Argentina stopping here in Fresno during their U.S. tour.

members of the Kavanaghs make friends with the theremin

Frezmorim! (a 9-piece klezmer band!) overflowed the stage at Tokyo

Sparklejet. intense. good.

The Condors---smart band, cool people..from Los Angeles.

Robert of the Clarences...creative guy with enthusiasm enough to drive us all! (and it was his birthday!)

Stallone's Holy Rollers--more friends we made in a laundromat in Oakland!

Matthew Embry..local guy back after living in Santa Cruz---amazing voice, amazing songs.