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Archive of News Items and Other Such Stuff
2008 Sonoma Bluegrass Festival
Here's a quote from the CBA's Bluegrass Breakdown and another
picture from Mike Melnyk. You can see
more pictures from Mike.
After dinner, the Mighty Crows took the stage and we
were back in business. The Mighty Crows showed why their popularity
just keeps growing in California. Their harmonies are tight,
their stage manner friendly and witty and their song selection
is superb. Two things jump out at you: their strong, confident
trio harmony singing and the visual aspect as they work their
vintage single mic onstage. Chris Smith’s lead vocals
are strong, and his pitch and phrasing are right on the money.
Onstage, they are engaging and witty, as evidenced by mandolinist
Ken Torke’s request for the activation of the mirrored
disco ball (his request was granted directly).
[Note: they did not honor the request for fog.] |
 Redwood
Bluegrass Associates
 The
Redwood Bluegrass
Association's winter bluegrass concert series has been running
for years. They've brought dozens of national and regional bands
out to play for the good Bay Area folks. Last year they let
us have an opening band position and this year it looks like
the Mighty Crows headlined the RBA's April 2008 season finale!
There was be jamming and a BBQ before hand (Ken provided the
beans!). Jack Tuttle's self prduced prodigy product, the Tuttle
Kids opened the show and forced us to work extra hard. Bruce
says that there were 245 paid attendees, a lot of kids, volunteers
and other fine folks. A full house and a mighty fine show.
One more important note about the RBA...
Sometimes the thankless get thanked! Peter Thompson does a
lot of the heavy lifting for RBA, runs a weekly radio show
on KALW
and many other things to promote bluegrass in the Bay Area
and beyond and he's sure been a friend to the Crows. Chuck
Poling did a nice profile of Peter in the March issue of the
California
Bluegrass Association's "Bluegrass Breakdown."
You can view the pdf right here
if you like. Thanks Peter.
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|  2008
starts with a nod from the judges
Chuck Polling of Jeanie
and Chuck's Country Round-up has nominated, voted
and annointed the Crows for a first annual Chuckie.
Best Dressed - Band with Hats Subcategory: The Mighty
Crows – serious chops and trad tops. |
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| Freight Night
 Wow!
The Crows got to play the Freight
and Salvage in 2007 and we play again in 2008. As a local
band I don't think there is anything cooler than to get to
play the Bay Area's acoustic Mecca. We were totally psyched
to walk in and see a big crowd that we weren't expecting.
We knew that a few of our very good friends ;> (that's
a crow wink) and family would be there but we didn't expect
people all the way to the back. I think that having a few
local/regional bands get to play a place like that brings
out all their friends for the big event. Throw in some venue
regulars and all the sudden you have a big, enthusiastic crowd.
We felt very comfortable there right away. First, we had a
lot in common. We like coffee and, much like the Freight,
we are also a non-profit. Most of all, they had a grand piano
for a coffee table which is pretty classy.
 The
Bluegrass
Revolution went first. They played a lot of fast instrumentals
and rock-and-rollie numbers. Next in line was Belle
Monroe and her Brewglass Boys played and they played a
fine set of crowd pleasing tunes. Then...the Crows came out
and played a lot of really sad songs. We had a great time
and the audience was great. Jeff's mom came all the way from
Minnesota and gave it two thumbs up. She said Jeff was her
favorite part. She also said that I should never make fun
of the accordion or polka bands and that she would still love
Jeffrey even if he did decide to pick up the bag pipes. Shelby
Ash put on the show and asked us to play again there for
the SF
Bluegrass and Old Time Festival in February.
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 Kings
River
2007 8th Annual King
River Bluegrass Festival
Located in Hobbs Grove Park, Sanger, California. This was the
surprise festival last year and was even better this year with
more folks and two well received sets at 8 pm Friday and Saturday
nights. Paul Knight ran the sound and played the bass. We did
get a little rain but just enough to knock the dust down and
keep it pleasantly cool during the days. We should have some
photos and video to post before long. |
Plymouth
The Crows had one heck of a time at the 2007, 5th Annual Plymouth
Bluegrass Music Festival. The festival is held at the
Amador County Fairgrounds. It was a beautiful weekend. The
Crows won the emerging artist competition last year so this
year we got to play two sets. Best of all, we got to hang
out with all our good buddies and played music night and day.
Another highlight was watching our friends, the Barefoot
Nellies, compete in the emerging artist competition. They
didn't come home triumphant but they put on a great show and
made some new fans. This is a great festival run by some folks
who really know how to throw a party. Thanks for supporting
local and regional bands!
Science Marches On
Crows
Display Incredible Common Sense (pdf
version) - as a follow up to last years article explaining
that the mamby
pamby robin is responsible for West Nile virus (pdf) -
we now see that Crows are pretty darn smart. Of course they
didn't test us but I'm sure we would have faired well as long
as it was multiple choice. We don't do well on the essay portions. |
How the Mighty Crows Got Their Name
Dave Lange is doing an article on band names and asked how
we got our name. Here's what I told him...
It's a long, and not terribly interesting story. This is
how I remember it. Other band members memories most certainly
would differ. I would guess it took us about 3 or 4 months
to settle on a name. We wrote down every one we could think
of and "civally" discussed it at every practice.
We probably had close to a hundred names on the list. There
was definitely no agreement on any of them. At one point we
were considering Mighty Squirrel (from a line in Molly and
Tenbrooks "you're looking mighty squirrel"). I already
owned the domain nPro's were a domain name, good logo, being
different and the double meaning of crow. Negitives were being
too different and some other things I can't remember.ame and
everything. But on a second session of googling...it ended
up that there was a non-active Colorado "pick-up"
band with Charles Sawtelle that used the name some times so
we dumped it. We did like the "Mighty" and we were
trying to think of bluegrassy things like tractors, stills,
knife fighting, crows, etc. Mighty Crows was suggested and
made the long list with a few proponents and at least one
detractor.
So anyway, key considerations were not too cheesy, a good
nickname, a web domain available, no other bands or things
with the same name, opportunities for good logos, etc. We
used those criteria and personal preference and each came
up with a short list. We compiled those into a single short
list, everyone agreeing that none of the names were something
they couldn't live with, even if they weren't crazy about
them. Then we voted. Afterwords Chris said he couldn't live
with Mighty Crows but it was too late. |
Scott Valley - Etna Report
That is one fine little festival and one beautiful little town.
It's a long drive from the Bay area and on the way up we swore
we would never do that again. On the way home we said we would
do that again. We stayed with some local folks who were kind
as can be (big thanks to Lori and Gary Fleck and to Jaymie and
Matt). We jammed in the streets. We played to an audience of
nice folks. We saw some other great bands. And...Chris made
some new contacts (shout out to Madeline!). We even got a little
review - The band is fairly new, having just formed in 2004,
but many are already fond of the strong vocals and sense of
humor the men bring to stage. - Siskayou
Daily News |
Good Old Fashioned Report July 07
 Hollister
can be a brutally hot spot on any given day in July. This year
the NCBS's Good Old
Fashioned couldn't have been any luckier or better. The
days were in the 80s and the nights were nothing but cool. A
few of our bluegrass pals played on stage like the Barefoot
Nellies and Grizzly
Peak and a whole lot of our bluegrass picking friends set
up camp and stayed up late. Good times! The Crows got tapped
for a perfect time slot this year. We got to play Saturday night
as the sun went down to a big, raucous crowd. It may have been
our most fun ever. Roz played bass and did a mighty fine job.
Chris was almost back in full voice and things went without
a hitch. Well, a little problem with the sound at first but
Paul Knight figured it out and on with the show. We got some
kind words from CBA president Darby Brandli - "I thought
everything you did at GOF was great: the vocals, the musicianship,
the between-song banter, the wardrobe, the pacing. FIRST RATE."
Awwww shucks. |
CBA Father's Day Festival - June
2007
Some of us think the CBA festival was the best ever this year.
The weather was great and a week off from work is always good.
We had a great time at Chief
Crazy Horse in Nevada City on Thursday night. Some of our
best friends (old and new) came out from the festival for a
cold beer and a sad song. Chris has had a little trouble with
his voice and by Saturday wasn't up to a power set. We had to
cancel our appearance at Vern's Place. Vern's is the new beer
and wine pavilion during the dinner hour. We were going to share
a shift with the Barefoot Nellies. But hey, you can't have everything
go your way. It worked out ok though because the Barefoot
Nellies took over and had a fabulous full hour set. We got
to watch and have a cold brew. Could July be better? |
| The Crows Finally Win Something
- September 2006
Photos of the Crows at the Emerging
Artist competition at the Bluegrassin'
in the Foothills festival in 2006. Come out in 2007 and
we get two sets and you can watch the Nellies play their little
hearts out for the Emerging Artist portion of the show.
The Hat
 For
a while Bill wore a Stetson Open Road. The felt one is pricey
and a bit warm during the summer. But, the panama version
is way cool and only $60. The Crows highly recommend QualityHats.com.
Tell Adam Kolojay that we sent you.
 Silly
Stuff
You can order your very own mug from Cafe
Press and the Mighty Crows. Collect them all (well, there
are two sizes). We also have t-shirts, sweat shirts, thongs,
so on and so forth.
West Nile
Still blaming the Mighty Crows for West Nile Virus? Think
again. We're not responsible for avian influenza A (H5N1)
either!
More Science
Crows
Display Incredible Common Sense (pdf
version) - as a follow up to last years article explaining
that the mamby pamby robin is responsible for West Nile virus
- we now see that Crows are pretty darn smart. Of course,
they didn't test us but I'm sure we would have faired well
as long as it was multiple choice. We don't do well on the
essay portions.
404
When you type in a web address wrong you get a 404 error.
Or, perhaps, your techie friends say "you are so 404"
meaning that you aren't ever really on the same page. The
Crows have our own custom 404
page but we hope you'll never have to see it. If you do
please let us know and we'll fix it.
 TV's
New Darlings - 2006
The Crows are on the TV! You can See
clips or See some pics from
the show.
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SFBOT
at the Freight and Salvage
