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Posts Tagged ‘Parlor Mob’

iTunes Accolades

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, tagged , , on December 10, 2011| 2 Comments »

Bravo to the Parlor Mob! iTunes named their latest record, “Dogs,” Rock Album of the Year. This means that Apple music editors really really loved it, it has nothing to do with sales. Except that remember that single I loved, Hard Enough? Word is it’s sold more than a quarter million copies!

Hopefully this honor will get them noticed. And maybe, just maybe, nominated for other awards; the kind where red carpets are involved.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/news/The-Parlor-Mobs-Dogs-Is-iTunes-Rock-Album-Of-The-Year-23854.aspx

So what is the cost these guys pay for sticking with their beliefs? They leave their families on holidays to tour in support of their music, they lay tile and deliver pizza so they can work at a job that let’s them go at a moment’s notice, they play with and support their musician friends up and down the Jersey Shore. They fight to have a friend produce their album instead of a company hire. I can’t remember a time when I was visiting my son and somebody wasn’t living on their couch. In fact that’s the first time I met the bass player.

They don’t throw TVs out of windows or swing from the steel girders on stage. They look tough but in fact are the kindest, most generous band of brothers. I love each and every one of them. And to my son the Rocker, I want you to know how very proud I am of you. Here he is with the Bride at the rehearsal dinner. He’s kinda cute with a beard!

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Tarty Apples

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, tagged , , , on October 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The news this morning is grim: Mitt is a flip-flopper on Roe vs Wade; the President’s Jobs Bill has a tough road to climb; the NBA is shut down for 2 weeks; the NYPD has to shell out almost 2 million in overtime to patrol the Occupy Wall Streeters…who are being called an “unruly mob” by certain GOPers. Now for some good news – Mobsters of another type are heading to Canada while their second album, “Dogs,” drops into iPods, Phones, Pads and stores near you! And if those revolutionaries on Wall Street want an anthem, how about this one, Hard Times?

Since it’s Tuesday, I’ve got a savory recipe for all those apples you’ve been picking. I was never much of a pastry chef, but when I saw this simply delicious take on a potato gratin, I had to tweek it to my liking. Pull out your madeleine again, and thinly slice one apple (peeled) and and half of a big sweet potato (unpeeled). Next layer them with little pats of butter and spread on a mixture of (1 carton) Greek yogurt and honey with (half a box) goat’s cheese. When done, sprinkle on some corn flake crumbs and more butter. I actually made this in a small casserole, for the two of us. Bake for 35 minutes at 375 covered, then uncover for 15 minutes.

Finis

If you are in the mood for learning how to make sauerkraut, or can fruit, or maybe make a delicious new sauce for your everyday pasta, my Facebook friend, Steffanie, someone I briefly met at a wedding in MS but came to love like family through her blog, has started something new called “Food Porn: for an Audience of Two.” I faithfully followed her adventures on her old blog, “365 Days in Pictures,” and was in a panic as the days wound down. Luckily for all of us, she not only cooks, has a way with words, but is a breathtakingly beautiful photographer. Plus I love the name – http://foodpornfor2.wordpress.com/

Although the two independent music stores in Cville have closed down, I’ll have to stop in at Best Buy and rummage through the CDs today. It’s like the Book vs Kindle – it’s a tarty tactile thing.

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Early Autumn

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, tagged , , on October 4, 2011| 2 Comments »

“When an early autumn walks the land, and chills the breeze…” Oh Ella, you had me on the first note. Deep down, I want to be a torch singer. But for now, I’ll share my six worded memoir of Fall so far:

1) Peaceable      

2) Transitional

3) Redeemable   

4) Inconceivable    

5) Autumnal 

6) Magical   

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Facebook Fever

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, tagged , , on August 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »

A quick good morning to ask a favor. My son, the Rocker’s band needs only 957 more “Likes” to make 10,000 by tomorrow, would you be kind enough to click “Like?” Thanks a bunch.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Parlor-Mob/5962064315

TPM in French Vogue

August 2011 in your local Barnes and Noble now folks!

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Did You Jump?

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, tagged , on August 1, 2011| 4 Comments »

Today is my son’s birthday. “Did you jump and have cookies?” was my toddler Rocker’s greeting to his Daddy. His little body was sailing jubilantly towards the ceiling, jumping on the bed as his Dad came home from the hospital. Bob would always begin the transition to home by taking off his tie and recounting his day to his young family. The Bride would invariably ask, “Who did you see who hurt demselves Daddy?” But the persistent younger brother would want to know just how much fun exactly did he have that day. Intuitively he knew, if work was fun then it wasn’t work at all. He was born in the middle of a heat wave in the Berkshire Mountains. Gladiolas were in bloom. While I was dreaming of flying on a trapeze at the Big Apple Circus, he began his descent into the Big Top of Life. He was loud and lovely, a delicious baby boy in every way. The kind you want to pretend to eat his arms of corn on the cob. I called him my perpetual motion machine. A baby who never looked back – who would let go of my hand and walk decisively into danger; an open stairwell, pre-school, or the ocean, it didn’t matter. Just as long as he kept moving. His Native American Indian name was, “Boy who ran before he could walk.” He took to the ocean like a knife cuts through butter, another metaphor he used about snowboarding. Rollerblades, ice skates and sticks littered our front hall. Anything to make him go faster. Summer beach birthdays included everyone at the beach, and one year we all wore Groucho masks! Maybe this is why he loves performing? His middle school haiku of note? “I love the summer, The summer is very hot, That’s why I like it.”

  1. First job – Lifeguard
  2. First school award – Writing
  3. First love – the holy Guitar

The guitar that he rarely put down. One August day he was searching for lost treasure on the beach during a birthday treasure hunt, and then the next he’s playing in front of thousands at Lollapalooza when the crowd sings Happy Birthday to him. A loving and generous young man, one who was never afraid to hug me in public, he is always willing to help the next person coming up. “He’s living the Dream,” as Bob likes to say. The Rocker found out the secret to life, how to jump and have his cookies too.

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Parlor Mob

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, tagged , on May 31, 2011| 1 Comment »

Once upon a time when my high schooler, the Rocker, had a metal band in our garage, Bob and I caught a midday movie called House of Rock, at the Monmouth Mall. With a handful of people in the darkened theatre, in walked a family during the previews with 3 little kids. They sat in our row. They laughed at the same jokes. As we were all getting up to leave, I said to the dad who was closest to me, “Just wait ’till you have a heavy metal band in your garage.” He laughed and said, “I know.” That voice under the cap. While walking up the aisle, I looked at the back of his skinny legs in tight jeans and knew it was the Boss.

Bob's blue light cell pix

Last weekend my son’s band was headlining at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. It’s an iconic music venue that was nearly torn down during a 90s urban renewal craze. The beautiful carousel horses on its Boardwalk were split up and auctioned off. Luckily, the Pony, where Springsteen got his start, remains refurbished and ready to welcome the next generation of Rock and Roll. It was well known that Bruce would even occasionally drop by in the wee hours to play with some astonished young musicians. But on this night, nearly a thousand young people were here just to see the Parlor Mob.

The Rocker endured 2 years of violin lessons, through 2nd and 3rd grade, in order to play his coveted guitar. And once that 9 year old little boy got his first Sunburst Fender, it never left his hands. The Rocker was reluctantly launched  for college, leaving his garage band behind after one of his bandmates had already left for NY to study sound engineering. But a band called What About Frank beckoned, and he left TCNJ to play guitar at the local hot spots. He delivered pizza. This was one of the hardest lessons I’ve had to learn as a parent, that my expectations for my children are not theirs. That at some point, you have to let go, and let them follow their passion.

Our Rocker on Right

Now The Parlor Mob has recorded their second album (not counting the first they produced as What About Frank), they have a contract with Roadrunner Records, and are getting really good bar food! They played for nearly 2 hours and I could look into the crowd and see kids singing along with them, some even transported into another world by their music. The industry has changed since Bruce started out, but the story and the music remains. TPM is an amazing live act, incredibly tight and anthemic in their range; everyone a brilliant musician with a singer whose voice is rich and strong. And that’s not just one proud rocker mom talking.  I can’t wait for this next record to be released, and to see them at some point of their European Tour next year?

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