Date: May 15th 2012

www.moonlightonthemtn.com
http://www.facebook.com/groups/127372400624860/

Friends of The Moonlight--

As we mentioned in last week's mailing, the Moonlight schedule for the remainder of May resembles a touch-and-go exercise in basic flight training--- we have just three more public events this month, and a one-show weekend to start off in June. That gives everybody room to noodle around with other distractions, tend to a few season-ending obligations, and stick a few dozen hours of slack-time on the books, before we all reassign ourselves to the scheduled pursuit of fun 'n frolic that summertime stands for....

If you have learned to look for the Moonlight missive in your mailbox every Wednesday, take note that we'll forego delivery next week--- just let this one do the work of both, since the cargo manifest is so abbreviated, and we needn't bother you twice to impart such scant pertinent details. But please--- don't let the show that's ten days distant slip your mind... if you're on the Facebook Group list, we'll pop you a last-minute reminder just in case. Go now, have fun, and get 'er done--- we'll be back at ya soon enough!

THREE YOU SHOULD PLAN TO SEE--->

Friday the 18th-- THE PAYBACKS, 8pm, $10

Fact of the matter is, it was more than just a coupla decades ago that popular music began to rock--- which means that many of its current practitioners may appear to have, uh.... matured into a style they never quite imagined when first plugging in a 1960's Christmas-morning Fender. Of course, with experience comes skill (which might explain why you find so many octogenarian scratch golfers at Florida retirement communities)... so the years these fellers have stacked up as working players will buy you the guarantee that they easily have the chops to do the job.

Pretty much every member of this band can remember being part of several successful Alabama-based combos, most of whom you undoubtedly have heard first-hand, if you subjected yourself to live music hereabouts any time in the past thirty years or so. Though they currently perform most often as an AOR cover band, The Paybacks welcome this Moonlight opportunity to showcase some of their own material for once, and to take an acoustic approach to the tunes they've come to know as your favorites.

www.myspace.com/thepaybacksbham

Monday the 21st-- OPEN MIC NIGHT, w/Special Guest Judge Roxi Copland, 7:30pm, $5

There are only three more chances for weekly winners to get into the running for the Open Mic Grand Playoff set for July 9--- and this week is particularly cool, what with the return of a performer who helped us choose a semi-finalist last year, and graced us with a sampling of her clever & spicy piano tunes.... Roxi will do a very brief set at the start of the night, then settle in at the Judges' Table to evaluate those who'll step up with their own stuff to strut. Even without a traveling professional on the bill, Open Mic is always worth the five bucks-- somebody tonight joins the lineup of winners who'll make up the Playoff show!

http://www.moonlightonthemtn.com/MOTM/openmikeRoxi.html

Friday the 25th-- THE MEMPHIS DAWLS, WILDER ADKINS, JUSTIN CROSS, 7:30pm, $12

Utterly unlike anything else you've heard recently, this all-girl trio has compounded the intriguing elements of voice, guitar, cello, and violin into a supremely-engaging form of "chamber folk"-- and captivated the live-music audience in their own hometown, one of the most music-savvy cities in the world. Why, Jack White himself was bedazzled by their opening set when he followed them at his Memphis show, and promptly invited the Dawls to come along for the rest of his own Southern tour. Have a peek at some of their YouTube clips, and then see them live and up close before they catch fire--

http://www.facebook.com/TheMemphisDawls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs7egxUXaoE&feature=related

Representing Birmingham's own post-college songwriter scene are two gentlemen who have impressed us each time we've invited them to take the stage--- Wilder Adkins left his Georgia home to travel many lands, and found no place more comfortable than right here across the state line... his courtly-but-witty lyrics evoke a Deep South Shelley or Yeats, riding a joyful guitar dexterity. Justin Cross renders his own perceptions of growing up in Dixie, steeped in the flavors of contemporary Americana heroes---you can expect a confident and solid reading of his many-numbered catalog of original roots-folk tunes.

http://wilderadkins.bandcamp.com
http://justincross.bandcamp.com

Our first weekend in June is still slight, with just the one show on the Friday--- but after that, we start clickin' hard again, with more comin' at ya than you might expect... for a shakedown of the plan, go now to the Calendar page and start scrolling---

http://www.moonlightonthemtn.com/MOTM/Calendar.html

***Also, a heads-up for one heckuva of a house concert scheduled for Thursday, May 31--- our friends at Small Stages invite you to enjoy a living room show with the premier folk-harmony duo Storyhill, as they make a rare visit to Alabama. Details are at:

www.smallstages.com

When submerged for a period of inactivity like this one, Moonlight is able to hold its breath only because of generous folks who want us to still be here when the garden blooms once more--- their thoughtful contributions allow us to meet our constant overhead, even when our audience is temporarily engrossed in more pressing activities. Please give a thought to helping us clear our monthly hurdles, with a donation of any size, as detailed at the following link---

www.moonlightmusicalliance.org

We are inexpressibly grateful for your patronage-- in whatever form you may offer it!