Lucky Souls – Technical Difficulties

School of Rock

Due to tech difficulties, it’s been a few weeks since I’ve been able to post a blog.  I’ll try to not be too long winded here though.I believe when I last I wrote, I was gearing up for The 3^rd Annual Soupstock Music & Arts Fest. Unfortunately, my vidcam decided to go on the blink 5 mins before the School of Rock house band kicked things off on the main stage, so I have limited footage of the day. There were other videographers floating around throughout the day though, so there is footage of all the great acts that performed that day.

I was very impressed with the kids from School of Rock (http://shelton.schoolofrock.com/). They really did a great job & I did get a couple of their songs on video, though I have yet to get them uploaded. I have to say, in general the lineups on both stages were phenomenal, if I did a review of every band then I‘d be here for a couple of days, but stand outs for me were the ska band, Across the Aisle(http://atamusic.com/) & of course, one of my faves anyway, The Folkadelics(http://thefolkadelics.com/). I didn’t have a chance to catch everyone that performed on the Soup Stage, but that lineup was equally as impressive, with the likes of Suzanne Vick(http://www.suzannevick.com/), Shawn Taylor (http://shawntaylortunes.com/), Dave Hogan(http://davehoganmusic.com/), Ben Mikula (http://www.myspace.com/bennymikula#!)& Like Violet(https://www.facebook.com/likevioletmusic?ref=ts) gracing that stage. The organizers really did a great job this year, not just with music, but with everything from beginning to end. And kudos to all that volunteered for the day & helped to keep everything running smoothly.

Only having my ‘backup’ vidcam to work with hasn’t been easy for me, as it’s not the best in low light situations. It hasn’t stopped me from heading out for good music though. The Wednesday after Soupstock, I hit up my favorite open mic at The Outer Space(http://theouterspace.net/). If you live in the area & haven’t made your way to this open mic on a Wednesday, then you should. Always so many talented people taking the stage & the featured musicians that get booked for these nights never disappoint.

I also caught the always fun to see, Washboard Slim & the Bluelights(http://www.washboardslim.com/) at The Outer Space on June 16^th, along with Amalgamated Muck(https://sites.google.com/site/amalgamatedmuck/home). It was my first time seeing Amalgamated Muck & they were fantabulous!

Last Thursday, I was lucky enough to see The Mighty Kind(https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyKind) for the second time in about a month, as they filled in for Greg Sherrod at GILT(http://www.giltnewhaven.com/). The hot, hot temps weren’t easy to deal with for the rooftop show, but well worth it. If you haven’t seen Lee-Ann, Phil & Jim yet, here’s a vid I shot of them in May at Brooklyn Café in Waterbury…

This past Friday & Saturday, Lucky Souls hosted shows at two new venues in New Haven. Friday we were at Green Well Organic Tea & Coffee(http://greenwellnewhaven.com/) on Crown St with 2 of the Hubinger St boys, Matt Miklus(http://www.myspace.com/mattmiklus) & Sammy Blanchette(http://www.samblanchette.org/) providing the tunes. This is a great little place to go, have a healthy meal or drink & relax with some live acoustic music, which they have every Friday throughout the summer & Fridays & Saturdays in the fall from 6 – 9 p.m.

On Saturday, we enjoyed some lunchtime music from Scott Guberman(http://www.myspace.com/scottguberman) at Pure Health Lounge(https://www.facebook.com/#!/purehealthloungenewhaven) on Audubon St. I had never seen or met Scott before, but was quite impressed with his keyboard playing & the vast selection of tunes he covered. And Pure Health is a wonderful lunch spot, if you happen to live or work in the area, stop & visit them.

We have two more shows coming up this week at both of these venues. We’ll be back at Pure Health on Thursday afternoon, from noon to 2 with Kyle Flynn(http://www.reverbnation.com/kyleflynn) providing us with some solo acoustic music. And Friday we’ll be entertained by Dave Hogan at Green Well from 6 – 9. Hope some of you can join us for lunch or dinner on one of these days!

On Saturday, I also had the pleasure of seeing a bit of the Carolina Chocolate drops on the New Haven Green as they performed a free concert for the Arts & Ideas Fest. Amazing!

A few other music happenings for this weekend in CT:

Friday, June 29^th

Casey Gorman, 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. at Dunn’s Pub, 2345 Whitney Ave, Hamden

Sammy Blanchette, 8 p.m. at Hunington Street Café, 90 Huntington St, Shelton

Frank Viele & Sarah Blacker, 9:30 p.m. at The Outer Space, 295 Treadwell St, Hamden, $10 cover

The Juicy Grapes, 10 p.m. at Two Boots, 281 Fairfield Ave, Bridgeport, $5 cover

Saturday, June 30^th

Cinnamon Sky, 9:30 p.m. at One Eyed Pig, 71 South Main St, Newtown

Pimpinella, 10 p.m. at Hot Tamale, 39 New Haven Rd, Seymour

Aim D’Amaro – Lucky Souls Productions

By the time she was 12, Amy D’Amaro knew that she wanted a career that would keep her surrounded by music. At 16, she became an intern at WPLR radio in New Haven, CT where she would stay for 5 yrs learning all aspects of music programming at a commercial radio station. In the time that she was at WPLR, she also became friends with many musicians on the local scene & spent much of her time taking in music at venues all over New Haven County.

In 1993, Amy left the radio station to raise her son, but her love of music & the local scene never faded. In 2003 she began what would become a very successful dog walking & pet sitting service, but still spent much of her time checking out the local music scene in both New Haven & Fairfield Counties. In 2009 she began Lucky Souls Productions to help out the local musicians she knew by promoting their music through live video footage. In 2011, Lucky Souls grew & began booking musicians in some of the local venues. When not busy walking dogs or editing videos, Amy still spends much of her time out with friends, supporting the local music scene & venues & attending music festivals.

Website: http://luckysoulsproductions.com/

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/luckysoulsproductions

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/LuckySoulsProduction