Jamie O’Reilly Trio
with Jamie, Michael Smith (guitar), Bob Weber (cello),
Peter Swenson (guitar) and John Floeter (bass)

Red is the Rose

Come over the hill
My bonnie Irish lad
Come over the hill to your darling
You choose the road, love
And I’ll make my vow
And I’ll be your true love forever

Red is the Rose
that in yonder garden grows
Fair is the lily of the valley
Clear are the waters that flow in yonder stream
but my love [...]]]> Happy Valentine’s Day, Friends

Listen to one of the greatest love songs ever written
Red is the Rose, Jamie O’Reilly Trio

Jamie O’Reilly Trio
with Jamie, Michael Smith (guitar), Bob Weber (cello),
Peter Swenson (guitar) and John Floeter (bass)

Red is the Rose

Come over the hill
My bonnie Irish lad
Come over the hill to your darling
You choose the road, love
And I’ll make my vow
And I’ll be your true love forever

Red is the Rose
that in yonder garden grows
Fair is the lily of the valley
Clear are the waters that flow in yonder stream
but my love is fairer than ever

Down by the sea on a cold winter’s eve
with the moon rising over the heather
The moon it shown fair
all on his golden hair
as he swore that he’d love me forever

It’s not for the parting of my sister Kate
It’s not for the love of my mother
It’s all for the parting of my bonnie Irish lad
That I’m leaving my homeland for ever

Red is the Rose
that in yonder garden grows
Fair is the lily of the valley
Clear are the waters that flow in yonder stream
but my love is fairer than ever

***

Save-the-dates
Jamie O’Reilly & The Rogues second-reunion concert
Sunday March 18, “THE MIXER: One Nite Sensation”
at Prop Theater, with Crooked Mouth Band, &  Midnight Moxie.
More here.

Michael Smith and Jamie O’Reilly
Songs of a Catholic Childhood Showcase
in April.  Stay tuned. Hear the new demo.

Roots n’ shoots. Elders and progeny. Then and now. The Crooked Mouth, Midnight Moxie, Jamie O’Reilly & the Rogues: Family-bands O’Reilly showcase their smokin’ bag-of-tricks in a great mash-up of talent. One-time only concert dedicated to Winifred, our own “Mother of Invention,” who started it all.
Sunday March 18  @ 5 PM at Prop Thr, 3502 N Elston, Chicago, IL. Tickets on sale soon.

mix-er; noun – Somebody who combines various sound recordings to create the final soundtrack.
An informal party held as a way of allowing a group of people to get [...]]]> SAVE-THE-DATE for a family-band O’Reilly showcase

Roots n’ shoots. Elders and progeny. Then and now. The Crooked Mouth, Midnight Moxie, Jamie O’Reilly & the Rogues: Family-bands O’Reilly showcase their smokin’ bag-of-tricks in a great mash-up of talent. One-time only concert dedicated to Winifred, our own “Mother of Invention,” who started it all.
Sunday March 18  @ 5 PM at Prop Thr, 3502 N Elston, Chicago, IL. Tickets on sale soon.

mix-er; noun – Somebody who combines various sound recordings to create the final soundtrack.
An informal party held as a way of allowing a group of people to get to know each other.

The Crooked Mouth

A band for the times, both good and bad. Purveyors of original music with roots in vaudeville, The Crooked Mouth gives songwriters their due, pretends to the folksy but leans on the Brechtsy, and harmonizes on themes of loss and forbearance.

Beau O’Reilly (lead vocals and good cheer); Jenny Magnus (drums, vocals); Troy Martin
(guitar, ukelele, vocals); Matt Test (banjo, accordion, piano, vocals); Vicki Walden (bass, vocals)
http://thecrookedmouth.org/

***

Midnight Moxie

Midnight Moxie

Sarah Chang (bass, guitar, keys, vocals); Nia O’Reilly Amandes (drums, keys, guitar, vocals)Meg O’Reilly Amandes (guitar, bass, vocals);

This all-girl doo-wop rock trio was formed in the summer of 2009. Sisters Meg and Nia O’Reilly Amandes and close friend Sarah Chang take inspiration from girl groups of the 1960s, with tight, honey-drenched vocal harmonies, and themed-outfits. Their fresh and fine-crafted original material shows their talent for creating pop tunes that stick in your head, and rock your socks-off. http://midnightmoxie.com

***

Jamie O’Reilly & The Rogues:
Irish folk music & antics

“I always thought of it as a kind of Maureen O’Hara meets the Smothers Brothers,” says Jamie O’Reilly, the lone female voice in this eclectic ensemble, reuniting for the second time since the early 90s. The Rogues are Tom Amandes (in from LA), Paul Amandes, John Floeter, Peter Swenson, and Stuart Rosenberg. ” Through it all,” Jamie says, “three things drove the musicians: showmanship, an intelligent approach to musical arrangement, and a sense of good will and camaraderie.” …And the money.

Listen Ballad of the Rogues © Tom Amandes
More songs at CD BABY

COME TO THE MIXER – MARCH 18, PROP THTR – 5:00 PM

Saturday February 25
8 PM
Roots Salon
773.203.7661
or email roots@jamieoreilly.com
Private address call for reservation

“I am at my most joyful on stage, in a band, singin raw or sweet.” Roots Salon presents a full evening of provocative and original music, with Jamie as Salonnaire.  Older bro Beau O’Reilly covers Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and Greg Brown, [...]]]> Roots Salon Presents

Beau O’Reilly and Edward Reardon

Deep Ballads and Odd Blues

With Special Guest Willa Moore

Saturday February 25
8 PM
Roots Salon
773.203.7661
or email roots@jamieoreilly.com
Private address call for reservation

“I am at my most joyful on stage, in a band, singin raw or sweet.” Roots Salon presents a full evening of provocative and original music, with Jamie as Salonnaire.  Older bro Beau O’Reilly covers Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and Greg Brown, and dances through his own dense and magical material, while poet-composer-improvisational artist Ed Reardon accompanies on keyboards. And contributes his own stuff.

Willa Moore opens the evening with a set of original songs: highly theatrical compositions with brainy lyrics and surprising notions that fire-up the senses, and engulf the heart. With Ron Scroggin on guitar.

Beau O’Reilly

Beau O’Reilly is a founding member of the Curious Theater Branch, The Crooked Mouth, and Maestro Subgum and the Whole. He is co-curator of the Rhinoceros Theater Festival, a frequent contributor to This American Life and a professor of playwrighting at the School of the Art Institutes of Chicago. The author of over 75 original plays, he is also a working actor who appeared most recently with Victory Gardens Theater and Stillpoint Theater Collective. Beau was named producer of the year in 2006, and his production of No Danger of the… Spiritual Thing was awarded best ensemble by the Orgie Committee. He has produced, curated and directed work at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Steppenwolf Studio and Links Hall. http://curioustheatrebranch.com/about/
http://www.facebook.com/thecrookedmouth

BEAU and JOHN STARRS appear in The Boho Dance
at the Poetry Foundation on March 10 and 11. Read more.

LISTEN TO BEAU, Dancin Round in Your Bones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b15Wwx4zF4

Beau O’Reilly Illustration by Luke Armitstead

Edward Reardon

Edward Reardon is a composer, arranger, pianist, and keyboardist and versatile improviser. LISTEN TO ED: http://edwardreardon.com/

Willa Moore

Willa sans eyewear and xx years

Willa Moore’s highly theatrical compositions intersperse fast-paced spoken word passages with snatches of sublime melody, and erratic rhythms–conjuring up images of a Brechtian heroine on the edge of a battlefield, or a melancholic waitress in an all-night diner. Accompanying herself on guitar and violin, Willa  music was forged in the startling world of nursing homes.  She’s been called the “Kurt Weil of Macomb, IL”, by the Director of Pest Control and Senior Living. Another “fan” describes her as “Christine Lavin from Hell.”

Listen to Willa

“There is something quite astonishing here a mystical blend of Bertolt Brecht, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, and something completely and remarkably different. Willa’s lyrical and musical gifts have coalesced around a group of songs that convey a  deeply poetic spirit, sometimes bleak, sometimes joyful, sometimes both simultaneously.” (Stuart Rosenberg, SPACE)

Willa’s next recording Griffith Park is being recorded and produced by Stuart Rosenberg. LISTEN HERE: Hippodrome © Willa Moore

Ron Scroggin

Guitarist Ron is heard on Willa’s newest recording, and will join her on some tunes at the Winter Roots Salon.  Ron played, recorded or jammed with Bo Diddley, Al Kooper, Berry Oakley, Steve Goodman, John Prine and Bonnie Koloc. He is the only performer in the world who opened for Blue Cheer and W H Auden.

Reserve a spot for Febuary 25, Roots Salon
with Beau & Ed & Willa!! email us roots@jamieoreilly.com

Note from Jamie
There are no dry spells when it comes to the creative ventures my family of origin makes happen – the shear talent that fuels our clan is awe-inspiring. There are Club dates. Concerts. Festivals. Plays. Solo Performances. Radio shows. Works of fiction. CDs. Zines. Blogs. Poetry. Photographs. Podcasts. Primers.

“My plane geometry teacher at Passaic Valley, the unforgettable Mr. Werner, used to say that there’s no way to describe a spiral verbally, you always wind up having to whirl your finger around. “ (On Songwriting, Feb. Blog post, michaelsmithmusic.com)

Michael interview in Pioneer Press, in print.

Though he enjoys his forays into theater, Smith’s first love is still his music. ‘In truth, it is only in the last 10, 15 years that I have come to understand how precious it is, the chance to create. One is lucky to [...]]]>

“My plane geometry teacher at Passaic Valley, the unforgettable Mr. Werner, used to say that there’s no way to describe a spiral verbally, you always wind up having to whirl your finger around. “ (On Songwriting, Feb. Blog post, michaelsmithmusic.com)

***

Michael interview in Pioneer Press, in print.

Though he enjoys his forays into theater, Smith’s first love is still his music. ‘In truth, it is only in the last 10, 15 years that I have come to understand how precious it is, the chance to create. One is lucky to get to write songs and luckier still to make a living this way’.
(Lake Forester Sun Times)

***

FEBRUARY

Illinois

Wednesday, February 29
Oak Park Library Folk Series
7:00 PM
Main Library -  Veterans Room
834 Lake Street
Oak Park, IL 60301
PH 708.452.3440 General info: 708.383.8200
The concert is free. Sponsored by Friends of the Library.
Web: http://oppl.org

***

EAST COAST

New Jersey
Saturday, March 3
8 PM
Michael Featured Perfomer
The Sanctuary Concerts
At the Presbyterian Church
240 Southern Boulevard
Chatham, NJ
$15.
PH 973.376.4946
boxoffice@sanctuaryconcerts.org
http://www.sanctuaryconcerts.org

New Jersey
Sunday, March 4
7 PM
Rosie’s Cafe Concerts
316 Euclid Ave
Loch Arbor, NJ
Email: rosies-cafe@comcast.net
https://www.facebook.com/events/305005776203461/

Vermont
Wed/Thurs March 7 and 8
Good Times Cafe
Route 116, Hinesburg, VT 05461
PH: 802.482.4444
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Good-Times-Cafe/141214062654645

New York State
Friday, March 9
7:30 PM
House Concert
Hosts: The Perrins
Scotia, New York
E: folkiedan@msn.com

http://sites.google.com/site/folkiedan/

Vermont
Saturday, March 10
7:30 PM
Hosted by Todd Tyson
Tunbridge Town Hall
Tunbridge, VT
PH 802.431.3433

http://www.mtnfolk.org/shows/

Vermont
Sunday, March 11
4:00 PM
House Concert
Host Tom Kennedy
Winooski, VT 05404
RSVP PH 802.735.5359

***

CALIFORNIA TOUR

Wed, Mar 21
7:00 PM
Tales from the Tavern
Host Ron Colone
The Maverick Saloon
3687 Sagunto Street
Santa Ynez, CA
PH 805.688.1375

http://www.talesfromthetavern.com

Sat Mar 24
8:00 PM
St. Matt’s After Dark Series
Venue:  St Matthew’s Church
1111 Town & Country Rd.
Orange, CA
PH 714.792.3964
http://www.saint-matthew.org/hap/afterdark.php

Sunday, Mar 25
7:30 PM
Dark Thirty House Concerts
Host Jimmy Duke
11132 Pinehurst DR
Lakeside, CA 92040
PH 619.443.9622
http://www.darkthirty.com/

Saturday, March 31
8:00 PM
CalTech Folk Society
Beckman Institute Auditorium (building 74 on the map).
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91125
Tickets obtained from the Caltech Ticket Office
PH 626.395.4652
http://folkmusic.caltech.edu

Illinois 3 night run
Michael Smith and Jamie O’Reilly
Songs of a Catholic Childhood Spring Showcase
Thursday April 19, 7 pm
Sunday April 22 – 2 shows, 4 pm & 7 pm
Thursday April 26, 7 pm
3471 N. Elston Chicago, Il
Cover charge  $20
Special dinner and dessert packages
Reservations required.
PH: 773.583.3066
www.chiefoneillspub.com

***

Plan ahead. See more of Michael.

Michael is now on Reverb Nation http://www.reverbnation.com/#!/michaelpsmith

Michael will be appearing in Lookingglass Theater’s production
of Eastland, by Andy White, in June and July, 2012.

Save the Date:
September 14 and 15 he will appear in “And the Poet Sang,” a
new program – curated by Beau O’Reilly for the Poetry Foundation in Chicago.

Michael is pleased to announce he will join John McDermott in a significant number of concerts this fall and winter in Canada and the U.S.  Michael toured with John a number of years ago and collaborated on the recording Just Plain Folk.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o’ lang syne!

Chorus:
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pu’d the gowans fine,
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot
Sin’ auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl’t in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin’ auld lang syne.

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere,
Happy New Year

Jean Redpath singing Auld Lang Syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o’ lang syne!

Chorus:
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pu’d the gowans fine,
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot
Sin’ auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl’t in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin’ auld lang syne.

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere,
And gie’s a hand o’ thine,
And we’ll tak a right guid willie-waught
For auld lang syne!

And surely ye’ll be your pint’ stoup,
And surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne!

O. Henry’s Beloved Story, with Music and Lyrics by Michael P. Smith, performed live and on CD.

Listen here: We Three Kings, Michael
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
(new) Magi_-_Coney_Island_Chorus_Girl
(sample) A Wanderer Am I
(theme) The Magi, Michael Smith

Gift of the Magi CD

It’s the late nineties. I’m carpooling my two daughters to their Montessori grade school on Chicago’s Northside.  A radio commercial airs almost daily during the commute. It’s an ad for a method of tutoring for your fidgety kid. A Learning Center where you can take them after school.  The A.D.D. – attention deficit– diagnosis phenomena has begun, and panic is taking hold.  It is before cell phones, cyber-bullying and Smart phones. Nintendo is still king.

“I’m talking to you Debbie”, a 40-something Mom pleads [...]]]> “Joy is not in things, It is in us.”
(-Richard Wagner)

It’s the late nineties. I’m carpooling my two daughters to their Montessori grade school on Chicago’s Northside.  A radio commercial airs almost daily during the commute. It’s an ad for a method of tutoring for your fidgety kid. A Learning Center where you can take them after school.  The A.D.D. – attention deficit– diagnosis phenomena has begun, and panic is taking hold.  It is before cell phones, cyber-bullying and Smart phones. Nintendo is still king.

“I’m talking to you Debbie”, a 40-something Mom pleads with a shadowy silhouette in the t.v. ad. But in this ad during drive-time radio – Debbie is not heard from. A voice-over assures us there is hope for Debbie and others like her. “You don’t have to go it alone”.  There are proven, innovative ways of “reaching” your child, and you really need to sign-up.

A dozen or so years later, constant use of electronics and texting over-stimulate the brain, and pharmaceutical companies, with their Ridilin cocktails, corner the market, inducing the ups and downs once reserved for nature: roller-blading at the park, followed by an after school snack and then a nap.

Coming from a family where teasing is de rigueur, I took to impersonating the concerned mother in that radio ad, and started calling my daughters “Debbie”, when I felt ignored and wanted their attention. They’d respond from their rooms on separate floors, by calling back to me, then go-back to whatever they were doing. The “Debbie” morphed into my calling them “Debra #1″, and “Debra #2″, in birthright order, like the Chinese tradition. Their Great Grandmother on the Greek side is also Deborah, “Debbie”. My habit is made even more absurd by the fact that the mothers of two of their best friends were also named “Debbie.”

For the next ten years or so, I added new nick-names to the list of favorites. As a household we added our share of newfangled devices to our possessions – CD Walkmans, boom-boxes, laptops, I-pods, tennis shoes with wheels…The 1993 Volvo eventually petered out completely. The girls started biking, then upgrading their bicycles, and soon Nia had a sweet Italian Bianchi “Milano”, in mint green and cherry red to ride around the Square.

The girls moved away for college, four years apart, both to California schools.
They took most of their favorite things with them. The ephemera remaining in their rooms were mostly keepsakes of childhood: posters, pillows, grade-school folders, photos in funky frames, scrapbooks, small gadgets, (way too many) hair things, empty CD cases, and lots of 90s clothes.

We sorted the kids clothes and toys. Gave some away, and stored the rest in the attic.
I taped a penciled list of what was stored up there – holiday lights, decorations, ornaments – on the wall near the drop-down attic stairs.
“Christ. in the attic,” its subtitle said. “He is?”, someone scribbled, in response.

I was pretty sad with the girls both gone. I emailed them a fair amount. Went for Thanksgiving one year.  Took a trip to Madrid when Nia studied there in ’08. I called them – interpreting their sighs, or long silences on the other end of the phone, as their heartache – or “the Missing.”  I missed them, too.

When at last they came home for Christmas break in early December, we got the tree together, rain or snow.  And every year, it seemed, paying for it was a sacrifice. Swallowing hard as I sang the lyric “And there’s nothing to spare for a Christmas tree”, in The Magi song in our Christmas concert.  But, we got a live tree all the same, usually from a lot down the street, and dragged it home, or strapped it to the roof of the car, singing “Bringing home the Christmas tree.”

Meg steadied the tree-base while Nia judged the angle. They strung the lights, and decorated.  I watched. The tree was up in time for the caroling party, which we hold each year without fail, with school friends reuniting, and cousins and aunts and uncles singing up and down the chilly Chicago streets.

Eventually, Meg came back to Chicago to stay. Nia followed, after her college graduation, a year later.

They got jobs. They started a band. They fell in love – Nia with Casey, Meg with Alex – and they fit right in.

Favorite Things

Last night, Meg and Nia canceled band rehearsal, and came to my house for dinner. I made green “Italian Christmas” lasagna, with the best organic vegetables and herbs from Stanley’s Vegetables on Elston.
We set-up in the living room.

“One of the best things you ever made, Mom”, Meg says.
The boxes come down from the attic, we string cranberries. I watch them decorate the tree, all of us knowing each ornament, and where it came from.  Reviewing the hierarchy as daughters #1 and  #2, they light-heartedly make claim to my favorite things – the emerald ring, the painted chairs, the piano, the Mexican screen, Madonna on the ironing board – and what they will “get” when I die!

We watch “Love Actually”, the 2003 romantic comedy, set at Christmas in England. We laugh and cry.

Meg makes a little pile of the ornaments she will take for the tree she’s put up with Alex, who is now her fiance. She puts a collection of angels on display for her little cousins. Nia sets up the manger set, and as a final touch, tucks loose fir boughs in the banister. Then they load-up with left-overs, put on their mittens and boots, and head out for the four-block walk home – together.  I survey the tree.  It’s old-fashioned, simple and…perfect. I unplug the Christmas lights, a strand at a time.  And then go to sleep.

That’s Jamie in the middle.

My Aunt Dorothy used to read this poem by Fra Giovanni Giocondo at Christmastime.

I salute you!
There is nothing I can give you which you have not;
but there is much, that, while I cannot give, you can take.
No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today.
Take Heaven. No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present instant. Take Peace. The gloom of the world is but a shadow;
behind it, yet, within our reach, is joy. Take Joy.
And so . . . I greet you, with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away.

Dear friends, this holiday season, Take Time with those you love…
They are our favorite things. They are our joy. They are us.

in song and peace,  jamie

Little Falls, NJ  – Winter, 1948

A Note from Michael
It’s occurred to me lately that the Blessings Apparent of Christmas gradually change throughout one’s life. When I was seven it was that the Lionels came out of their boxes.When I was in eighth grade Christmas was the big plaid flannel shirts my godmother Kay O’Reilly, who worked at Bamberger’s, used to give me. This year I’m grateful for my family, and for being allowed to do what I do for a living. However precarious both things are in this chancey world, I’m gratefuI, and I do [...]]]>  

Little Falls, NJ  – Winter, 1948

A Note from Michael
It’s occurred to me lately that the Blessings Apparent of Christmas gradually change throughout one’s life. When I was seven it was that the Lionels came out of their boxes.When I was in eighth grade Christmas was the big plaid flannel shirts my godmother Kay O’Reilly, who worked at Bamberger’s, used to give me. This year I’m grateful for my family, and for being allowed to do what I do for a living. However precarious both things are in this chancey world, I’m gratefuI, and I do hope you have reasons to be grateful too. Season’s Greetings, OK Bye (Bye Lullee Lullay).

When things look grim and tattered
It’s the love she gives him that matters
Truth be told, it love he gives to her
That’s gold and frankincense and myrrh
( Listen to the song,  The Magi, Michael Smith )

December Performances

Just added! Dec 13 at 4 PM (central)  Michael & Jamie O’Reilly perform for WFMT Fine Arts Radio 60th Anniversary, live from the Chicago Cultural Center. Listen.

Michael in Wisconsin
Wednesday, Dec 7  8:00 PM
White Gull Inn
4225 Main Street
Fish Creek, WI
PH: 920.868.3517 or toll free 800-624-1987
Email: (reservations) innkeeper@whitegullinn.com
http://whitegullinn.com/concerts.html
6:00 Special pre-concert dinner

Michael in Wisconsin
With Peter Mulvey, Krista Detor
Friday, Dec 9  8:30 PM
Café Carpe
18 South Water St. West
Ft. Atkinson, WI
PH: 920.563.9391; http://cafecarpe.com

Michael on the Radio
Saturday, Dec 10 8 PM CT
Pasiones: Songs of the Spanish Civil War
Folkstage, LIVE on WFMT 98.7 FM
with Jamie O’Reilly, Katrina O’Reilly
Hear the concert streamed at wfmt.com

Michael Solo, House Concert
Sun. Dec 11 7:00 PM
Kathy Kelly, Host
Chicago, IL
PH: 630.903.0072
Email: kkelly@ccc.edu
(put the words “House Concert” in the subject line!)
6 PM Chili supper

Michael and Jamie O’Reilly Christmas Show
Sunday Dec 18 2 PM
Featuring The Gift of The Magi with Rick Kogan, Narrator
SPACE
1245 Chicago
Evanston, IL
PH 847.492.8860; http://evanstonspace.com

_________________________________________________

Michael will be touring Missouri, Arkansas & N. Texas in February.

Website: michaelsmithmusic.com

Weekly updates Michael P. Smith Songwriter FACEBOOK FAN PAGE
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-P-Smith-Songwriter/183138915078615

For Bookings Contact
Jamie O’Reilly
jamie@jamieoreilly.com;
PH/Text: 773.203.7661
http://www.jamieoreilly.com/about/now-on-our-artist-roster-michael-peter-smith/