September 7, 2010
Things have quieted down for us as we have been planning to go into the studio soon (this month) but there has been NO shortage of great bands for us to go see and hear. We've enjoyed seeing Moondog Medicine Show (at Crazyhorse Steakhouse & Saloon), Billy Thompson (at Benny's) and just this weekend a whole passel of great blues musicians at the Baltimore Blues Society's Annual Memorial Picnic. Diunna Greenleaf, Bryan Lee, James Armstrong and Doug Macleod were all on fire this past weekend and each put on very memorable sets - the great weather was the icing on the cake.
We'd love to see you at our next full gig on Friday, October 8th at Crazyhorse Steakhouse & Saloon (we will play from 9 PM - 12 AM). We also host at the Zodiac Bar & Grill on Friday, October 1st.
August 17, 2010
We've been asked back to Crazy Horse Steakhouse & Saloon in Hagerstown! We will play there on Friday, October 8th from 9P - 12A. Come on out and party with us - good food & beer selection and a cool, laid back environment (you can throw your peanut shells on the floor) make this one of our favorite rooms to play. The venue is owned by a real blues lover and we'd love to help him pack the place. Check the venue out at www.crazyhorsehagerstown.com.
August 11, 2010
More fun continues to be had. We had a blast (as usual) playing Cactus Flats on July 31st - thanks to all who came out and to Donna for having us.
The fun continued this past weekend as Liz & Carl attended the DC Blues Society Jam at Delta Blues Juke Joint & Diner in Waldorf, MD (www.deltabluesjukejoint.com). The jam was hosted by Lady Rose and her band and great players were in attendance as well (Andy Poxon, Stacy Brooks, Wolf Crescenze & Waverly Milor (just to name a few). Great food was consumed, and fun tunes heard by all. We suggest you visit this place - the owner is really supportive of the blues (we just wish we didn't live so far or we'd be there more often).
We play a private/corporate party this weekend so we are gearing up for that.
There will be no Zodiac jam on Friday, Sept. 3rd due to the holiday weekend.
We then go into the studio to put together our demo cd (finally!) and we are working on future dates......please stay tuned!
July 19, 2010
Boy did we have a music filled weekend this week.
It was an honor to play the DC Blues Society’s Annual Fish Fry & Bike Contest…there were some great bands there that we also got to check out – Moonshine Society, Lady Rose, Steve Remy and Voodoo Alley and ESPECIALLY Bush League (out of Richmond, VA …boy where they phenomenal)….lots of dancers and an all around good time with people who truly, truly appreciate the blues.
We were also blessed to be able to give back and donate our time to a fundraiser for a young man by the name of Kyle Plaza in the Thurmont area on Sunday. Again, we were in excellent company with bands like The Shades, Steel Rose and No Shame…all talented and great performers….it was hot out but a great time and to see how far Kyle has come since his accident was just miraculous. Thanks, Wynn, for including us in this special event.
Now it is on to getting a rehearsal in before our next Cactus Flats gig on Saturday, July 31st….we hope to see you there….we ALWAYS have a blast at the Flats…..
July 11, 2010
We had an amazing time at Crazyhorse Steakhouse & Saloon this Friday. We played to a full bar and had a great time. The owner was happy, and we hope to have future gigs at this great place, so stay tuned.
This was also Kenny Stewart's last gig with us due to creative differences, but we enjoyed the musicial contribution he made to the band in the time that he was with us. Good luck Kenny - with your talent, we are sure you will be leading your own project very soon!
June 21, 2010
Carl and Liz visited a new jam in Ellicott City, The Friendly Inn, and were pleased to find that it lived up to it's name (special thanks to the host, Vic Mosca!). The folks & musicians were super welcoming and the jam offered quality musicianship. We will definitely go back there. What a great crowd and cool little venue.
We also met a great up and coming artist from NYC, Mark Evans, at the jam and he did a set as our guest at Longshots Billiards this weekend. Check him out at www.markevansmusic.com.
June 7, 2010
What can I say other than it was a terrific weekend for the blues?
We hosted at Zodiac in Hagerstown on Friday night and had a great time with some of our regular crowd AND were treated to a huge treat when Hamilton Loomis, a young guitarist out of Texas and former protégé of Bo Diddley’s, walked in after playing earlier that day at Blues Fest 2010. He and his sax player Stratton Doyle, played a couple of tunes with the band that happened to be on stage: Carl Jasper, Spencer Leckliter, Mark Deton, Liz Springer, Kenny Stewart (Hamilton’s drummer also came with but didn’t play…please forgive me if I’m forgetting anyone). Not only did Hamilton blow the roof off the sucker, but he is such a nice, gracious and humble young man. What a class act. Check him out where you can (www.hamiltonloomis.com). Carl caught his show at Blues Fest early in the evening on Friday and said he was terrific!
Saturday night, we caught Lana Spence for the first time with her band, Thique at the Creekside Inn and were treated to another great performance. Wow…another very talented yet humble and warm individual…..this weekend definitely did its part to restore my faith in humanity ;)
Be well,
Liz Springer
June 3, 2010
We are sorry to say that Doug Thiel, our keyboard player and friend, will be leaving us for a work opportunity in FL (we are glad for his work opportunity, not so glad he has to leave us!). Doug's last gig with us is this Friday, June 4 at the Zodiac Bar & Grill Blues jam (we are hosting), so please come on out if you are able.
Kenny Stewart, who has been sitting in with us on Saxophone, will be joining the band full time. Some of you don't know this, but Kenny is an excellent keyboard player as well as horn blower and will also add some vocals to the mix. Please help us welcome Kenny to our family. His first gig with us on keys will be June 19th when we play Longshots Billiards.
May 19, 2010
We've added some new gigs to our schedule so please check that page....especially the charity gig on Sunday, July 18th from 12-6 w/multiple bands to benefit the family of a young man who sustained severe head trauma in a car accident on 270. Other bands (Steel Rose, The Shades and No Shame) will also contribute their time to this special outdoor fundraiser for the family. Bring a picnic or buy food on site. There will be Karaoke and a DJ between bands and all ages are welcome. Please come out to support this great cause.
May 6, 2010
Thanks to everyone who came out to Cactus Flats on Saturday - we always have fun there and this time we were auditioning too! We will be playing a private party at the end of this month as a result of our show. Thanks to Ken Barfield who ran sound and sat in for a couple of tunes on guitar, Spencer Hardy who sat in on Bass for some tunes and Kenny Stewart for sitting in throughout the night on Sax. Thanks to Nick and Joni Madary and Ellen and Tom and Kathy Harple and everyone else who came out to enjoy the night with us...we love you guys!
April 19, 2010
THANK YOU to everyone who came out to the Braddock Inn yesterday for the benefit concert w/Built 4 Comfort, Saraceeta and The Jug Band. A huge crowd/dancing, good food and great music made for a great afternoon/evening (and we raised approx $1,000.00!). Special thanks go out to Doug Thiel (event organizer), Greg (owner of the venue for making his venue available), the other bands who gave their time and last but not least to Bryan "Spanky" Lyburn for sitting in with us & doing that monster thing he does on harp.
April 7, 2010
We had a good time hosting the Blues Jam at the Zodiac Grill on April 2nd and are keeping busy with practices, planning a demo CD and just life.
We are also looking forward to performing at the Charity Gig scheduled for Sunday, April 18th at The Braddock Inn in Frederick (located at 4830 Schley Avenue) along with a couple of other bands. Come on out and join us....the schedule is:
2:00 PM Doors open
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM The Jugband
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Saraceeta
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Built 4 Comfort
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Open mic jam
(drums, PA and bass amp provided)
There will be a $10.00 cover which will go to the charity (The Youth of Unity Education Fund).
Venue Phone #: (301)371-0411
March 23, 2010
We had a great gig at Cactus Flats on Friday (3/19) with some talented guests (Ken Stewart on Sax and Bryan "Spanky" Lyburn on harp.....boy did they fire it up!). Thanks to everyone for coming out especially to all the dancers who kept going all night long!
March 16, 2010
We know it is short notice, but we were just asked to play Cactus Flats in Frederick this Friday, March 19 (another band cancelled and we are always ready to play!). It is Liz's brithday weekend and we'd love to have your support at this great venue that offers good food & drinks that are reasonably priced, dancing, and good times. We'd love to have your support. We go on at 8:30 PM and play until 12:30 AM. We hope to see you there...thanks!
March 13, 2010
We had another great jam at Zodiac Bar & Grill last night (despite the weather). We had some real all-star local players turn out. See the new pics on our photo page. Thanks to everyone for coming out to support live music!
Thursday, March 11 - NEW GIG ALERT
We will be playing Longshots Billiards (www.longshotsbilliards.com) in Charles Town, WV on Saturday, June 19th. This is our first time at this venue and we would LOVE to have your support. We will get some friends up to sit in, there is a great dance floor below/in front of the stage and great food, drink and NICE pool tables at this great family run establishment. Come on out and have a great time with us!
Friday, March 5
We've been asked back to the Zodiac Bar & Grill to host another blues jam night on Friday, March 12. We will open up the jam at 8:30 with a set by Built 4 Comfort and then open it up to other musicians (there will be a sign up sheet). We'd love to see you there, so come on out, enjoy the terrific food, drink and tunes.
Monday, March 1
We had our BEST gig ever this Saturday night at Cactus Flats in Frederick....we packed the place to the point that there was nowhere left to park (yikes!). We had a full dance floor most of the evening (and great tambourine players I might add) not to mention a couple of stellar sit in guests, Ken Stewart on Saxophone and Philly Mike on Harp. We'd like to give a huge thank you to Donna, the owner, for giving us our start and keeping us around, AND a big thank you to our friends and family who continue to come out and show their support.....we love you guys! :) :)
Thursday, February 25
We are looking forward to seeing everyone at our gig this Saturday at Cactus Flats in Frederick, MD. Show starts at 8:30 PM....we will have a special guest musician sitting in for some songs and it should be a good time...please try to make it out. Thanks for your support.
Monday, February 22
We had a great time on Friday hosting a blues jam at Zodiac Bar & Grill and had quite a crowd. Thanks to Kenny Leiby, Steve Chambers, Pete Cage, Al Cavaliere, Ted Jenkins, Ken Stewart, Nick Caras, Jimmy Long, Beth Nickerson, Frank Emma, Laurel Khan, Eric Ziegler, Rich Carter, Tom & Kathy Harple and everyone else for coming out!! You made our night!
**** JAM WITH US THIS FRIDAY 2/19!! ****
Built 4 Comfort is hosting the Friday night blues jam at the Zodiac Bar & Grill in Hagerstown this Friday, February 19 starting at 8:30 PM. We will kick things off with a 30-40 min set and then get others up (there will be a sign in sheet). Come on out and play, sing, dance, eat, drink, be merry & shake off these winter snowbluz.
VENUE INFO:
Zodiac Bar & Grill
Located in the Hagerstown Hotel & Convention Center
1910 Dual Highway
Hagerstown, MD, 21740
Ph#: (301) 790-3010
www.zodiacbargrill.com
January 8, 2010: New Gig Dates
We have new gig dates on the calendar:
Saturday, February 27th at Cactus Flats in Frederick, MD (8:30 PM)
Saturday, May 1st at Cactus Flats in Frederick, MD (8:30 PM)
We are going to have special guests at some of our upcoming shows...we hope you can join us for what will be a great time.
Thanks for your support!
End of December
We didn't have any other gigs in December, but Liz and Carl kept busy attending jams at Blondie's in Rouzerville, PA (thanks Tom EB!), the Old Bowie Town Grille in Bowie, MD (thanks Chip Clemmer!) and The Willow Tree Inn (thanks Tom Blood!) in Gaithersburg, MD. Usually fruitful musically speaking and always interesting, local jams are a great way to meet musicians, get song ideas and hang with like-minded, talented individuals. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to organize and lead local jams in the area!!
Saturday, December 12
We had a GREAT gig last night at Cactus Flats. We packed the place and had dancers from just about the beginning of the night! Thanks to Donna, the owner of Cactus Flats, for the opportunity. We also want to give a VERY, VERY special thanks to our friends and family for coming out and supporting us...we had a blast!
Friday, November 20
Liz and Carl headed to Cafe 611 in Frederick last night for a jazz jam with Ted and Connie Jenkins. It was so great to witness the level of play by so many fine jazz musicians (there were so many horns we lost count - a trombone, several saxes and trumpets too!). We felt a little intimidated being out of our element, but Connie and Ted made us feel right at home. Connie was in her usual fine form treating us to some jazz standards and even encouraged guests to get up to do their thing. By the end of the night, Liz and Carl were cajoled into getting up on stage and did 2 blues numbers - the musicians fell right into a blues groove, and WOW It was cool to sing and play with an entire horn section! The real heroes of the evening are the owners of this fine establishment, Randy & Karen Jones, who are doing their part to keep jazz and blues alive in Frederick. You have to check this place out....it is located at 611 N. Market Street, Frederick, MD 21701 (www.cafe611.com). Tell them Liz and Carl sent you. And also be sure to check out Ted and Connie Guy at www.connieguy.com.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Built 4 Comfort has been asked back to the Flats! We are going to play Cactus Flats again on Friday, December 11th from 8:30 PM - 12:30 AM and we'd love to have you join us (there should be a couple of surprises in store too!). Hope to see you there!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Liz and Carl got to see Susan Tedeschi at Rams Head in Annapolis. What a treat, what a talent and what a band....they know the true meaning of dynamics and put on a great show. Susan had the audience in the palm of her hand all night, and also had the legendary and home-grown sax player Ron Holloway with her on many of the tunes. Susan did one encore set and signed CDs and took pics with fans afterwards.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Liz and Carl attended the D.C. Blues Society's Monthly Jam at the American Legion Post 41 in Silver Spring, MD. This jam is run on the first Sunday of every month and always proves to be a good time. We got to do four songs AND were treated to great sets by Chet "Dr. S.O. Feelgood" Hines and Mac MacDonald and his band Blues You Can Use. The talent is great, the people are nice, parking is free, there is no cover to enter, members and non-members are welcome, and drinks are economically priced...what more could you ask for? Oh, yeah...anyone who expresses an interest to play can usually be accommodated. Please support local music by attending the jam one month - dancers are welcome and encouraged (there were some great couples dancing and some fun looking line dances going on!)...or show your support by joining the DC Blues Society (visit www.dcblues.org for more info). Thanks Sam'i for all you do to run this jam. Liz Springer is proud to be a member of The D.C. Blues Society!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
WOW....we had a BLAST at our debut gig at Cactus Flats last night. Thanks to the owner, Donna, for booking us (we couldn't imagine debuting any where else, sweetheart!). It was a cold and rainy night but we packed the place. Top it off with great food and drink and the dancers, and a great time was definitely had! Thanks to all our family and friends for their support and to everyone who came out and STAYED FOR THE DURATION....we love you guys!
Thurdsday, September 17, 2009
Liz and Carl visited Unique Bar & Grill for Ronnie Ray's (new) weekly jam and had a blast. On drums was Paul Shultzaberger
(hope I'm spelling that right, Paul!) and on bass was Carl Jasper until Gary Faulkner arrived. Playing a mean harp and sometimes a cigar box guitar was Joe Galicic. Here is a review that Joe G. wrote for HPOOF (Harp Players' Organization of Frederick). Kind of tongue-in-cheek but you'll get the drift ;)
"Folks, this is shaping up to be one of the most dynamic and dangerous jams around. Here's how it all went down last Thursday night...
Yours truly, packing his homemade cigar box guitar, opened the evening, along with Ronnie Ray, by taking a trip down to the Mississippi delta with some raw and original versions of old delta favorites which left the crowd screaming for more. Security had to be called ! We had to promise another set in order to calm the crowd down.
Just as the crowd was calming down the singing duo of Ronnie Ray and Liz Springer along with Dave the spoon man tore into a version of Hip Shake that nearly blew the roof off the place. The energy was incredible ! The Unique Dancers couldn't stop dancing after that. In the moonlight I might add !
If that wasn't enough, Carl Jasper proceeded to add insult to injury by catching the place on fire with a series of smokin hot guitar solos that also left the crowd screaming for more. Luckily we had enough water on hand to put the fire out. The fire department was sent back to the fire house.
Sadly and reluctantly, with patrons shouting for more, and a nervous security guard trying to clear the place out, the jam had to end for safety and liability reasons due to most of the roof missing and smoldering embers everywhere ! Thanks allot Carl & Liz.
Today the bar owners called to assure us that they will have the place back up and running in time for this Thursday's jam. They have also increased their insurance coverage and have rebuilt the place to hurricane proof standards. The fire department has been put on standby as well.
So come on out this Thursday and witness dynamics and danger for yourself...!"
Unique Bar & Grill is just a short 30 minute drive from Frederick MD. The address is:
Unique Bar & Grill
Mail Stop: 7
13314 Monterey Lane
Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214
www.uniquebarandgrill.com
www.myspace.com/uniquebar
You gotta check it out...it is a small juke joint...the food is good and the drink prices are great!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
We had a blast playing a private party in Deale, MD. Although the weather didn't cooperate for the entire day, it was a beautiful place on the water and we enjoyed it thoroughly...we played to the crowd under a pretty tent and beyond that was a beautiful river view. Tons of terrific food, a tiki bar and super, super nice people topped off the day. Congratulations Barb and Mark Czerwinski on your nuptials and thank you to Jo and Ed Czerwinski for being such gracious hosts...you have a BEAUTIFUL home and wonderful friends. It was an honor.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Liz and Carl checked out a new jam at The Crazy Horse Steakhouse in Hagerstown hosted by Shane O'Neil. Always a great time with ample opportunities to get up and do our thing when we visit one of Shane's jams. And what an appreciative and fun crowd...there was even dancing! Thanks, Shane!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Liz and Carl hit the DC Blues Society Monthly Jam (4-8:00 PM) at their new location in Silver Spring, MD (see their site at www.dcblues.org for more info). What a wonderful, welcoming group of people - TALENTED blues players, no attitudes, great volume levels, multiple chances to get up and play....we'll be back there again! Thanks S.O. Feelgood for the great job you did running the jam!
We followed it up with a trip to JV's Restaurant in Falls Church, VA where Liz ran into an old friend from her Montgomery County days running a jam. Oz, your voice and gracious and wonderful nature are an inspiration! Again, a great time with ample opportunities to play and hang out with super nice folks. Check the place out at www.jvsrestaurant.com . It has been around since 1947!
