Music from "August: Osage County" (at the Phoenix thru Mar. 11)

http://soundcloud.com/tim-brickley/music-from-august-osage-county

   Here's a medley of themes and cues written for (and currently in-use) for the Phoenix Theatre production of the Tracy Letts play, "August: Osage County". It was an honor to be inspired by the talented and committed cast and crew (headed by director Bryan Fonseca), and by this dark majesty of a play.        
   Composition/production touchstones included: Bryan's initial concept of desiring music along the lines of Ry Cooder's soundtrack to "Paris, Texas" (which led me to my first slide guitar playing in ages - with apologies to said Mr. Cooder), the stage note at the beginning of the play which indicates a Wurlitzer electric piano in the Weston family living room (the most darkly-atmospheric of all electric piano sounds, don't you think?) and my friend Pete Gable's haunting, single-stop accordion playing, which reminded us both of a wheezy pump organ in an abandoned Oklahoma church......

Me, The Hurricane, Chateau Thomas. The Phoenix Theatre, The Chatterbox and YOU!

   Wild weekend ahead, folks. Last weekend was NOTHING! Tonight, solo acoustic at the Hurricane Grill and Wings in Brownsburg, 7PM start. (See posts below for details.) Saturday night, it's also solo acoustic at the annual Valentine's Day "Incurable Romantic" dinner in the Vineyard Room at Chateau Thomas Winery in Plainfield (7PM-9PM) and then off to the hallowed ancestral jazz grounds of the Chatterbox for the 10:30PM return of the Tim Brickley Quintet (Steven Weakley: guitar, Charles Bennett: trumpet, Richard Torres: sax, Robin Reuter: drums, TB: bass and vocals).
   If that's isn't enough, I'm also in the midst of writing music and creating sound design for the next production at the Phoenix, the Indiana premiere of savagely funny "August: Osage Country" by Tracy Letts, which won the Pulitzer and Tony for Best Play of 2008. It's an amazing cast (chock full of the best actors who have chosen to live and work here) and one of those emotionally to-the-bone type of plays that you will never forget. Go to the Phoenix site and get your tickets now...

It's now going to be every THURSDAY in February at the Hurricane Grill!

Long Live Rock...

At my gig last night at The Hurricane, about 5 or 6 girls got up, from all over the restaurant, and started dancing. Even though it's just me, solo acoustic, man - they were all really rocking it. Then suddenly, one of the girls threw up a little bit on one of the other girls, which somewhat dampened the overall party vibe. Best part? They were all between three and seven years old...

Solo acoustic Wednesdays in February at the Hurricane Grill!

 
   Hey folks, first off - a heartfelt "thank-you" to everyone who voted for us in the "Big, Goofy Rolling Stone Super Bowl Bar-B-Q" or whatever that was. We received a respectable damn-near 400 votes and it was a great exercise in outreach and teamwork and I had a blast. Thanks again - and if you voted, make sure I have your address (e-mail me at tebrickley@aol.com) and you'll get a special "I Voted" CD of Bleeding Hearts/Brickley-Rheins rarities and favorites!
   And now the real news of the day: starting tonight, I'm playing solo acoustic every Wednesday in February at the new Hurricane Grill and Wings in Brownsburg. A franchise that began at a single location in Fort Pierce, Florida in 1995, the Brownsburg location (251. W, Northfield Drive, 46112, by the way) is the first Indiana "Hurricane" and it's a great, fun, Florida/"island"-themed concept - with fab seafood and wings and over 35 different signature sauces. Family-friendly - which is a blast, I'm loving playing for kids these days - and with a cool little bar area.
   Our Hurricane is owned by fellow NCHS-alum Richard Sutton - who's a complete music nut like me, and he's really interested in bringing quality live music to his growing customer base. There's a great young Brownsburg singer-songwriter named Wendell Ray who's playing on Thursdays, and there are plans in the works for expanding music into some later night hours on the weekends.
   So come on out! I'll be playing originals and covers off the 200-song "The List" and music starts at 7PM....