• Kansas City Report: KC Fringe 2007 a Blast

  Kansas City, Shows 31.07.2007 No Comments

  I had a blast, this weekend, at the Kansas City Fringe Festival. Cup & Saucer looked so sad, no longer a restaurant and bar. Now, it’s a shell. It looks much like the way CBGBs was always described in the 70s. I think I may have even seen a stain left by David Johanssen.

  Thank you to all the folks who came out, this weekend. You were great. I know the venue was small and a bit warm, but you were great sports. Thanks to Missouri Valley Folklife Society for inviting me to perform for them at KC Fringe. Thanks to the Fringe Festival.

  I must also thank the burlesque show next door. I believe 90% of the crowd at my Friday and Saturday evening shows were people who were turned away from your hugely sold out, provocative show. These were top shelf people that spilled over into my show, not knowing what to expect. So, your show must have featured taste, style, and class. So, I thank you.

  To all my new friends from Kansas City, I hope to see you at O’Malley’s, next time.

  Cheers!

  Tags: kansas+city kc+fringe festival+fringe live+show burlesque

  

• Kansas City: Irish Music Invades KC Fringe

  Kansas City, Shows 27.07.2007 No Comments

  

  Tonight, and the next two evenings, I’ll be performing at the Kansas City Fringe Festival. My shows, all three evenings, are at The Cup & Saucer, 412 and Delaware St, Kansas City, MO, in the River Market area.

  Cup & Saucer is also right near the epicenter of KC Fringe Festival, with all sorts of acts nearby. Underground theater, above-ground theater, punk, folk, everything-a-billy, art, and music all happen in this little piece of Kansas City, just north of I-70 and downtown.

  If you hadn’t heard, the Kansas City Fringe Festival is one of several Fringe Festivals worldwide, that cleave to the goodness that began, decades ago, on the fringes of Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. The original is actually a collection of festivals coordinated during three weeks in August each year. It all sprang up when, in 1947, eight theater companies took advantage of the large theater loving crowds at the Edinburgh International Festival. They set up along the fringe of the official festival, creating a legacy of private, unsanctioned, but altogether enjoyable creative enterprise.

  So, come check out Kansas City’s answer to this endeavor, this weekend. Entry is a mere $5, and I’ll be showcasing some new songs, and introducing a new crowd to my bangor.

  Cup & Saucer:
  Friday 7/27 7-9 PM
  Saturday 7/28 8:30-9:30 PM
  Sunday 7/29 5:30-6:30 PM

  Tags: kc+fringe+fest music theater dance art kansas+city live+performances kansas+city+scene edinburgh scotland festival+fringe

  

• Bret Michaels: Jonathan Ramsey Not the Only Diabetic Rock Star

  Diabetes 25.07.2007 No Comments

  The August Diabetes Forecast magazine arrived in my mailbox, today. On the front cover was Poison frontman, Bret Michael. Maybe someone at the American Diabetes Association really does reading my blog. In the past few months, I’ve posted several times about the delicate balance you must attain right before you throw a type 1 diabetic onto a hot stage.

  Bret Michaels expands on my legacy of “rockin’ out with your pump out”, especially since the debut of his “looking for love” VH1 reality show, “Rock of Love”. Watch out Scott Baio! Bret has awesome 80s legacy tats, and an endless selection of tattered hats and do-rags. All the younger-than-him reality tv groupies love that, so it seems.

  Bret was diagnosed at age 6, and, in his interview, gave credit to his father’s advice on dealing with life. So, whether you love or hate Spandex, Bret Michaels does nothing half-way, and works hard to control his diabetes.

  So, check out his show. Check out the article in the August 2007 Diabetes Forecast. And, Bret, I’ll see you somewhere between 80 and 120 milligrams per deciliter.

  Tags: diabetes bret+michaels poison rock+and+roll vh1 reality+tv rock+of+love type+1+diabetes

  

• Harry Potter Draws Lines for Parties

  Music 22.07.2007 No Comments

  7 AM, Friday, 20 June, a dozen or so people were already waiting in line to get a ticket to get into the big party at the Sunset Hills, MO Border’s Books. It wasn’t a lot of people, yet, but the excitement to be the first of their friends to finish the final volume of Harry Potter was obvious.

  At least they weren’t queued up to pay $600.

  I feel a song coming on…

  Tags: harry+potter hogwarts party borders+books books children parents line queue

  

• St Louis: Hartford Coffee Sunday Dinner w/ Jonathan

  calendar 20.07.2007 No Comments

  Bring your family, or your date, to Hartford Coffee, and enjoy Sunday coffee and dinner with me. I’ll perform from 5:30-7:30.

  See you there!

  

• Kansas City: KC Fringe Fest – July 27, 28, 29 @ Cup & Saucer

  Kansas City, Music, Shows 19.07.2007 No Comments

  Hey, Kansas City! Want to hear new music? Want to find some fresh, innovative art, theater, and dance? The KC Fringe Festival brings you loads of new and established artists from the area, the region, and from across the country.

  I’ll be there all three evenings at The Cup & Saucer, 4th and Delaware, Kansas City, MO.

  This is a great event, happening all weekend at several venues in Kansas City. So, if you like music, theater, dance, and art, or any combination thereof, check out KC Fringe for more information.

  Again, I’ll be there, as follows:

  Cup & Saucer:
  Friday 7/27 7-9 PM
  Saturday 7/28 8:30-9:30 PM
  Sunday 7/29 5:30-6:30 PM

  Tags: kc+fringe+fest music theater dance art kansas+city live+performances kansas+city+scene

  

• Demand Jonathan Ramsey in Your Burg

  Shows 18.07.2007 No Comments

  I receive emails, MySpace messages. Occasionally, even someone who knows me well enough to have my phone number will call and ask, “When, Jonathan, are you going to play in my city?”

  So, a few months ago, I began pondering the wisdom of exploiting the features of Eventful.com. Eventful.com has been around for some time, but I’ve always thought it would be very disappointing if, after placing their nifty link-slash-banner-slash-my-stats on my website, and none of the people mentioned above clicked on it. In the right side of this page, or on my home page, you’ll see the big, blue stamp, labeled “Wanted”, and “Demand It!” This is Eventful’s cornerstone feature. You click on that, and tell it where you are. It tells me that someone in your town has requested a show.

  So, until I’m forced by embarrassment to remove the widget from my sidebar, the experiment will continue.

  If you’re wondering, hoping, or thinking –if, that, or if- I might perform in your town, click on the little blue stamp and let me know where you are, and that you’d like me to come to your corner of Planet Earth.

  Tags: eventful.com shows live+music interact irish+music

  

• Cool Down St Louis Needs You and Air Conditioners

  Heroes, Saint Louis 18.07.2007 No Comments

  As Midwest temperatures begin their mid-summer climb into sweltering, you can help by donating fans, air conditioners, money, or your time. Cool Down St Louis delivers these units to elderly and disabled residents who might have difficulty in the heat.

  If you have an air conditioner, less than two years old, and in working condition, please consider donating it to help a fellow Saint Louisan, this summer.

  To help Cool Down St. Louis, go to cooldownstlouis.org/Donations, call 241-7668 or send a check to Cool Down St. Louis, c/o UMB Bank, P.O. Box 868, St. Louis, Mo. 63188

  Tags: cool+down+st+louis volunteer local+heroes air+conditioner donation neighbors mayor+slay francis+slay

  

• Free MP3 “Jug of Punch” from Hartford Coffee, 7 July

  mp3, Recordings, Saint Louis 16.07.2007 No Comments

  The coffeehouse rocked with a little musical taste of punch –proof unknown. Enjoy this tasty tidbit of musical history. It’s a traditional song, and, as usual, I’ve released the recording under the Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-Alike license. This allows for sharing the song with friends, making videos, and for use in sampling and rapping over. So, be creative, if you like. I’d love to see or hear anything you come up with.

  Jug of Punch Click the play button to listen

  Tags: free+mp3 jug+of+punch drinking+song st+louis+irish+music saint+louis creative+commons

  

• Free MP3 “Bonny Ship the Diamond” from 7 July 2007

  mp3, Recordings, Saint Louis 15.07.2007 No Comments

  Here’s a track from my show, last weekend, at Hartford Community Coffee. “Bonny Ship the Diamond” is, of course, what else, sung from the perspective of randy Scottish whalers preparing to sail off and find their great fortune in blubber. Of course, this song is a bit ironic for me, in that I wholly believe that this practice has no place in the modern world. Whale populations are in grave danger. I’ll have to put up my song from the whale’s perspective.

  Again, since this is a traditional song, I own no rights to the original words –as it were. This recording is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-alike License. So, feel free to make copies and give to your friends, family, whalers you meet on the street in your town. You can also make derivative works, like music videos, samples, and so on. I’d like to hear about it, because that’s fun, of course. Otherwise, you don’t need to contact me about it, unless it’s for commercial purposes.

  Cheers!

  Bonny Ship the Diamond Click the Play button to listen

  Tags: free+mp3 irish+music scottish+whalers hartford+community+coffee live+music st+louis saint+louis mo live+recording

  

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