The Great Folk Singer John McCutcheon Coming to Nighttown Tavern on Thursday, March 27th

John McCutcheon

I can hardly think of a more wonderful night out--John McCutcheon, the national treasure folksinger, playing his instruments and singing his songs at Brendan Ring's great pub in Cleveland Heights, Nighttown. It's happening tomorrow at 8 pm.

I first met John back in 1978, at Alice Lloyd College in Pippa Passes, Kentucky. John did a little concert then came to a party afterwards. I have seen him in concert a few other times. Once in a church in Kent, Ohio; once at Lakeside (Ohio's Chautauqua) near Marblehead, Ohio. And I think at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights. John comes originally from Wisconsin, but has made his life and career around Virginia. Of course, much of the time he is touring the country and the world. All of his songs are fun, and some of them are very focused on social justice issues. He accompanies himself on guitar, banjo, fiddle, hammer dulcimer--and probably a dozen other instruments.

John has an interesting website: John McCutcheon On his site you can read his bio, sample and purchase his music, and look at his concert schedule.

One of my favorite John McCutcheon songs is "Calling All the Children Home." I didn't find a great version of that on Youtube, but I did find a nice performance, with John playing hammer dulcimer, of "Step by Step":

Happy Bloomsday 2011!

The action in James Joyce's novel Ulysses takes place on a single day in Dublin, Ireland--June 16, 1904. It is said that that day marked James Joyce's first outing with his future wife, Nora Barnacle. In the book, the protagonist is Leopold Bloom (his wife is Molly Bloom). Ulysses may be the great novel written in the English language; it may well be the greatest unread novel in English, along with Moby Dick.

It is a great book even if not the most accessible. The final chapter of Ulysses is a wonderful lyrical love poem, the poem of "Yes." (Read it to find out what I mean.)

There are events celebrating Bloomsday all over the world (and the day has been celebrated beginning in 1954, the 50th anniversary of June 16, 1904). One event going on in Cleveland is a marathon reading of Ulysses at Nighttown, the great pub of Brendan Ring in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Of course Brendan's pub is named after the redlight district of Dublin that James Joyce knew and featured in his novel.

There was a nice article on the Nighttown reading of Ulysses that appeared in the Plain Dealer, the storyt is available at cleveland.com at this link:
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/06/fans_of_irish_writer_james_joy.html

To your memory and artistry, James Joyce. Slainte!

Get Ready for Bloomsday, June 16th!

On June 16th we celebrate "Bloomsday," named after Leopold Bloom, one of the two main characters in James Joyce's novel Ulysses. The novel celebrates a day in the life of Leopold Bloom and his wife Molly, and is set in Dublin, Ireland. A nice discussion of this novel is available on Wikipedia at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_(novel). There is also a discussion of Bloomsday on Wikipedia at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomsday.

I have received an email telling of a Bloomsday event at the Cleveland Heights tavern/nightclub called "Nighttown." Nighttown is run by Irishman Brendan Ring, and is named after the red-light district of Dublin mentioned in Ulysses. Between 4 and 6 PM on Tuesday, June 16th, people will read Episode 10 of Ulysses at the pub (I'd prefer reading the incredible ending of Episode 18!).

Nighttown is one of Cleveland's treasures--and probably one of the great jazz venues in the country (not just jazz, but Irish music and other kinds of music). The pub has its own website: www.nighttowncleveland.com. The pub's address is 12383 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44106. Phone 216-795-0550.