The other night, May 6th to be exact – and almost exactly 6 years to the day after our junior prom, incidentally – we were honored with a prestigious ARTY award from the Plymouth Cultural Council. We really can’t express how truly honored we are to receive such recognition for the work we’ve done in our hometown. Thank you to everyone, especially our good friend and co-founder Harry Quinn, all the friends and family members who’ve helped us over the years, all the amazing musicians we’ve worked with, and another ARTY award-winner last Friday, Donna Curtin of the Plymouth Antiquarian Society. Also a big thank you to local artist Carly Tefft for performing at the event (she’ll be playing 8/5 at the Hedge House too!).
But just because we got a really cool award doesn’t mean we’re stopping! Get ready for a crazy summer of free concerts, for one thing, and check out a short film we just helped shoot, “Clean Pop”, directed by Jon Dorn, starring members of the Eagle Hill Band and Nick A (production photos up soon).
Saucy Seth & the Clams of Death before our performance at prom May 7, 2004. From left: Jon Dorn, Seth McFadyen, Andrew Thompson, James Grinsell, Phil Hulse.
Sure, this is kind of a self-happy-birthday wishing, but that’s okay, I love my band and I figured I’d write something quick about them/us.
It’s been exactly 6 years since the band originally known as Saucy Seth & the Clams of Death took the stage Friday, May 7, 2004 at Lombardo’s in Randolph as the band for the Class of 2005 Plymouth South High School junior prom. We officially changed our name to The Eagle Hill Band in July 2008, and played our last show as the Clams of Death on December 30, 2007, but the band hasn’t changed a whole lot except for the name and a little thinning out of membership. What is now a 3-piece of Seth McFadyen, Phil Hulse, and myself (James just practiced with us yesterday, so we may be +1 this summer), was once us three, plus James Grinsell on the rhythm guitar, and the ridiculously talented Andrew Thompson on piano.
I think one of the big reasons we changed our name is that we don’t really consider ourselves Saucy Seth & the Clams of Death without the full 5-piece. It may sound weird, but to us, ‘Saucy Seth’ is a sacred name. It’s the first band I was ever in, and we achieved a pretty good amount of popularity at South HS – we had the honor of being in the long line of bands like the Skakopaths, the Leftovers, Leftout, Drive It Like You Stole It, Underage, and [our immediate predecessor] Comboguy. It’s not a lot in terms of the world of music, but it’s a pretty big deal to be the popular band in a high school for a short period of time. The big difference between us and those other bands was that we played classic rock. We all came from pop-punk and ska backgrounds, except Thompson, but we took that and decided to start a classic rock band. And it was damn fun.
And it still is damn fun. We’ve played a bunch of shows as a band over the past 6 years, sometimes with 5, 4 or 3 people, sometimes with our friend Nick Amendolare, and once as a 3-piece we called Nantucket Sleigh Ride. We’re still going strong as the EHB with Seth, Phil, and me holding down the fort all these years. We’re probably one of the more casual bands around, and I’d say that’s our best quality. We play when we want to – when we have time and when we can find a show. We’ve never once gotten too serious, or taken ourselves too seriously. We’re not a band “trying to make it” – we’ve already made it as far as I’m concerned – we’re a group of friends who can get together whenever they can and play music with incredible chemistry, and people seem to have fun watching us play.
So if I have a message to all you young musicians out there it would be: Make a band with your friends, don’t try to make friends from a band. If you’re only goal as a band is to get a record deal, chances are you’re not going to have much fun with it. If you’re looking to have fun, you’re much better off getting a group of your own friends together to play. With Brewster Productions, I’ve seen a lot of different young band scenarios, and my anecdotal evidence suggests that the laid-back attitude of my beloved EHB is the one that lasts 6 years (and counting).
Have fun with music – if you’re not having fun, what’s the point?
(R to L) Jake Hill, Jim Calandrella, and Brian Hitchings rocked Sweetwater Cafe in Boston Thursday, April 29.
The other night was our last show at Sweetwater Cafe in Boston for a little while, but it was something else. Originally, Hitch from 3rd Left was scheduled to play, with support from the Eagle Hill Band acoustic. Then, Jake Hill showed up. And then James Calandrella, “the best sax player in Boston”, according to Hitch (he’s not kidding), showed up and played. It was an incredible show. Here are the photos.
Check out the photos below, and stay tuned for concert series news (and go to the web site). We’ll be seeing you all quite soon, outside on a warm night on the glorious Plymouth waterfront. Until then, keep both feet on the wheel.
Lucas Carpenter returned to Boston April 12 at All Asia in Cambridge, along with Ben Carter and Jared Salvatore.
Lucas Carpenter stopped by the All Asia in Cambridge during his tour (he’s playing in CT tonight), and put on an incredible show, just like the last time he played with us August 7th at the concert series. Joining him onstage wasJared Salvatore‘s band, an incredible 4-piece from boston (you can expect to see them this summer), and our old friend Ben Carter. All three acts put on amazing shows, despite the tight time constraints, and Lucas had the whole crowd singing along to a bunch of his own songs, which must be an incredible feeling for a musician.
Make sure you come check out the Ben Carter this Thursday night at Sweetwater Cafe – it’s 21+, but it’s free! We also have show there for the next couple Thursdays, so check out our rad schedule (which is pretty packed after these few years of working really hard to eventually have a consistent schedule…that’s a self pat on the back right there).
Summer is inching ever-closer, so make sure you check out the SCHOOL’S OUT SUMMER CONCERT SERIES for the best indie music right in Plymouth, Mass. It’s going to be an incredible summer.
Lucas Carpenter performs at the School's Out Summer Concert Series August 7, 2009.
Last summer, Lucas Carpenter conquered the Plymouth Waterfront main stage with his infectious songs and awe-inspiring showmanship. Now, in just a couple weeks the Philly-based Berkelee grad is back in the area for what will surely be an amazing show. Lucas will be playing at ALL ASIA in Cambridge April 12th . Our good friend and local crowd-pleaser Ben Carter will open the show, which starts at 8pm.
On the other-Boston-shows front, starting April 8th we will be producing Singer-Songwriter Thursdays at Sweetwater Cafe (3 Boylston Place, by the Common). Also, we’re currently in the process of booking all the School’s Out Summer Concert Series shows, so if you want to play, or know someone who does, give us a shout (booking@brewsterproductions.com)!! Same goes for the Sweetwater shows.
Sean P. Rogan is joined onstage at Sweetwater Cafe 3/27/10 by Dan Stoppelman of Big D and the Kids Table.
It was a wacky weekend at Sweetwater Cafe in Boston, where everything from a band full of mummies to a pair of musicians from Big D and the Kids Table rocked the house.
Friday night, Electric Mummy unwrapped their punk-metal sound, then on Saturday Sean P. Rogan packed the house and at some points required some bouncer backup from upstairs. At an acoustic show. It got a little rowdy and it was a great time – he was also joined for a few songs on stage by Big D trumpet player Dan Stoppelman who lent his trumpet and melodica talents. Shaun Dever opened up the night with a great crowd pleasing set of his own.
Starting next week we’ll be hosting Singer-Songwriter Night at Sweetwater every thursday night. We’ll have a show announcement for you very soon about APRIL 8th, which will be our first show.
We helped writer Ryan Wood put on the Boston launch party for his blog, Tranzmission, at Sweetwater Cafe in Boston this past Saturday, with the help of Jake Hill and Greg Loftus. It was a great, bluesy, folky show, and Jake Hill rocked the place with a 3-piece acoustic band. You can expect to see both of these amazing guys this summer at the concert series. Check out the photos below!
Next weekend: Electric Mummy on Friday, then SEAN P. ROGAN (of Big D and the Kids Table ) on Saturday. Check SHOWS for all the info.
Shaun Dever is joined on stage by Ben Carter at Sweetwater 3/19/10.
What a show we had last night. Wow. From right before the show when Seth McFadyen and Ben Carter went outside of Sweetwater into the street and played “Semi Charmed Life” and “Island In the Sun”, to Ben unplugging his guitar and singing Jewel on a chair in the middle of the crowd, to Shaun Dever leading a group amorphous jam of “What I Got”, this show was something else.
Hero Ben Carter.
Last night at Sweetwater Cafe in Boston, Shaun Dever, Ben Carter, and Seth McFadyen rocked the crowd for an incredible night of wild acoustic jams and packed-room sing-alongs. At one point, Ben even called a girl from the crowd, sat her in a chair in front of him and played a song for her – she apparently was from Switzerland, which led Ben to thank her by saying, “Welcome to America.” Seth put on a great last-minute opening set, and Shaun rounded off the night with his rad tunes and some more great sing-along jams.
Last night we were giving out little flyers for a FREE DOWNLOAD of the Brewster Sessions, Volume 1 sneak peek album. More on the actual album later. But for now, go download the 6-song album for free here: brewsterproductions.bandcamp.com.
Now, here are a multitude of photos from last night. Thanks to Shaun Dever for some of them, and for the nice settings he put in the camera for the ones of him. We’ll add some video soon.
See you all tonight!!
- Jon
Photo: The Okay Win at the Acoustic Nights Free Concert Series, 2011.
