Cliffs Riffs - Stuph n Nonsense

  Originally published in Lowell's First Look Cindy wowed the crowd with her Sax-A-Kzoo There is (almost) nothing as fun as a Sax-a-kazoo solo for simplicity and musical fun. No one can pull off a Sax-a-kazoo solo like Cindy Knopf. At the other end of the musical spectrum how about the unbeatable sound and energy of a blistering guitar solo by Ryder Jones or the public debut of a new piano piece by Roger MacNaughton. What do these musical events have in common? The full house crowd at Sound Check got to hear all of these musical treats and a whole lot more last Friday at the Dave Jones Scholarship Fundraiser. Unlike most Sound Check events, tickets for this evening of musical fun were not available for purchase before the event, so organizers had no indication of a potential audience. People of all ages filled the room and were rewarded with an evening of Lowell based musical talent who gathered to honor one of their own, Dave Jones. As many of you know, Dave passed away last Oct...

Originally published in Lowell's First Look.   Ryne Clarke Releases a CD, “Cheers” at Sound Check. Disclaimer #1: Yours truly has been a fan of Ryne Clarke and all of his musical permutations for many years. Lowell faculty member Lindsay Bredin gave me a copy of one of the CDs he recorded with his first band, The Preservers to prime the pump. My musical mind was blown when I first heard them perform on the Riverwalk – three juniors (Clarke-vocals and guitar, Jeremy Kargl-lead guitar, Corinna Wenger-bass) with a freshman (Patrick Kargl) on the drums. Just when I was considering hanging up my jewelry hat and becoming a full time manager of the band to take the world by storm, college broke them up. Ryne Clarke onstage with Jeremy Kargl, bass; Clarke; Cole Smith, drums; Kristine Clarke, Flute; Joe Schimmelmann, keyboards. The Preservers are no longer an item, but Clarke has not slowed down a bit in his pursuit of indie rock star status (inside joke referencing one of his songs). Th...

 In the couple days leading up to a great night of music and stories, Michigan warmed us up and cooled us off with the old Spring in Michigan Sucker Punch. Walking around in a t-shirt one day and digging out your sweaters the next. That being said, it was a Hot Time in Sound Check Saturday night. Once upon a time, Josh Rose was kicked out of the Upper Peninsula for putting too much ketchup on his pasty. That worked out well for Lowell and West Michigan. When he takes a break from making music, you can find Josh teaching chemistry to Lowell school kids. Anyhow, Josh loves to make music and hang out with songwriters and he had the brilliant idea to bring some of his friends to Sound Check for an evening of story swapping and music making. Let me chase a Sound Check rabbit here a bit - if you have never been there, you need to go. Sound Check is a purpose built room just made for musicians and audiences. It seats about 100 people and there is not a bad seat in the house. (Me, I grab a...

Do you enjoy live, local music? Have I got a recommendation for you. I have attended about a half dozen concerts from local and regional bands at Sound Check in Lowell - in fact, I have been the MC for a couple of them as well. What a great little venue.  Listening to music in a bar setting is great, but sometimes it is really nice to hear a solo artist or band without all the back ground noises in a bar. Sometimes it is wonderful to be able to clearly hear each and every note or drum beat. Sound Check was built with a purpose to give audiences and bands at great place to meet. Sound Check did it right - the sound system is not too LOUD or two quiet. Nope, it is just right. In addition to great sound, there is not a bad seat in the house and the chairs are comfortable enough to get you through the night. Sound Check is located in a purpose built room at 621 East Main Street in Lowell. You can check out the venue with a schedule of artists performing there if you click this link: So...

It has taken me a couple weeks to process the death of Jeff High, one of the most brilliant people that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I cannot claim to have been best buds with Jeff, but I can and will claim that he had a profound influence on my jewelry career in many ways. On top of that, he was easy to talk to and an inspiration. In November of 1999, I met Jeff when I attended a 3-4 day training session at the original home of his company, GemVision, when it was located in Davenport, Iowa. Jeff started the company in 1990. I went with two other people from my first job in jewelry to learn all about Computer Aided Design (CAD), back when CAD/CAM jewelry production was something new and exciting. Holy smokes did we learn about jewelry manufacturing from Jeff and his team in Davenport. My instructor was Steve Brethauer, more about Steve in a moment. I earned my GIA Diamonds Graduate papers in 1998, so it was perfect that Jeff and his crew provided the next GIANT step in my g...

This is a rendering of one of the units facing Main Street. It will be raised to allow it to be built in the Flood Plain.  Flat River Outreach Ministries (FROM) is a a steady feature in my Brag About Lowell file. Over 20 years ago the now retired local pastor, Roger LaWarre, had a heck of an idea. His vision was for the local churches to band together and created an organization to help local people - with the co-operation of almost every church in the area. BOOM - Flat River Outreach Ministries was born. FROM tackles real world challenges faced by people every day - food insecurities, housing, transportation, and others - including annual help with tax returns. Once upon a time, I found myself in a financial mess and found help from some agencies that were not the government. I had recently moved to the Lansing area, was working two part time jobs and ends were not meeting. I got help from one organization that filled my fuel oil tank and relied on help from a food bank for a coup...