the dotmatrix project

When I saw Molly after her technical practice ended yesterday, she let loose a quote through a grin that’ll ring true for the next six weeks or so:

My days are no longer my own.

Arrgh!

That pirate grunt was mine, for after her eight hour walk-through rehearsal today of Triad Stage’s Bloody Blackbeard, I’d have to agree with her perspective.

Neither she nor I are complaining in the least — Molly’s been looking forward to being a featured musician, singing and playing original music by Laurelyn Dosett in the Preston Lane original since last summer, so I am too — but the reality of her schedule over the next six weeks has definitely hit home.

From June 8th until July 6th, she’ll be performing seven shows per week at the quaint theater down on S. Elm (you can purchase tickets online), so she’ll be on a hiatus from performing with her band on weekends until mid-summer or so.

She’s also taking a break from playing her recurring Tuesday night set at M’Coul’s Pub, which has turned out to be quite the community draw with Todd “Mystkdog” Verts and Jennifer “Guitar By Fire” Dalton practically transforming into full-fledged musicians before our very eyes.

A bit of good news for fans — in preparation for the play, Molly headed back into the studio to record a few new songs to add to her best selling debut, Girl With Slingshot. And as she hit the studio, I hit the drawing board to come up with a new album design for the professional run we’re about to invest in with Discmakers.

Here’s what I sent off last week:

It’s a bit different vibe from the original cover, but thanks to the photographic genius of Michael Dunn, we’re both really happy with the results. Molly will be selling the CD’s at the play and will have them with her once she returns to gigging.

With the craziness of scheduling studio time and cat herding musicians into collaborating, Molly wasn’t able to get the three new tracks finished in time to be available in the lobby of Blackbeard so this short-run will consist of the previous ten tracks. We’ll include a sticker on the cover of the abbreviated copy with directions for downloading the additional tracks next month when they’re available, and then print a larger run that includes the full 13 tracks sometime in the fall.

This is going to be a nutso summer, but a memorable one.

Molly McGinn & The Buster Dillys
M’Coul’s Public House, St. Patrick’s Day Festival
Greensboro, North Carolina
2008

Lars Lilholt Band
Klippet fra storskærmen, Langelandsfestivalen
2007

The Dubliners
Live at Vicar Street
Dublin, Ireland
2006

Metallica
New York, New York
1998

Thin Lizzy
1973

As I was a goin’ over the far famed Kerry mountains
I met with captain Farrell and his money he was counting
I first produced my pistol and I then produced my rapier
Saying “Stand and deliver” for he were a bold deceiver

Chorus:
musha ring dumma do damma da
whack for the daddy ‘ol
whack for the daddy ‘ol
there’s whiskey in the jar

I counted out his money and it made a pretty penny
I put it in me pocket and I took it home to Jenny
She sighed and she swore that she never would deceive me
But the devil take the women for they never can be easy

(Chorus)

I went up to my chamber, all for to take a slumber
I dreamt of gold and jewels and for sure ‘t was no wonder
But Jenny drew me charges and she filled them up with water
Then sent for captain Farrell to be ready for the slaughter

(Chorus)

‘t was early in the morning, just before I rose to travel
Up comes a band of footmen and likewise captain Farrell
I first produced me pistol for she stole away me rapier
I couldn’t shoot the water, so a prisoner I was taken

(Chorus)

Now there’s some take delight in the carriages a rolling
and others take delight in the hurling and the bowling
but I take delight in the juice of the barley
and courting pretty fair maids in the morning bright and early

(Chorus)

If anyone can aid me ‘t is my brother in the army
If I can find his station in Cork or in Killarney
And if he’ll go with me, we’ll go rovin’ through Killkenny
And I’m sure he’ll treat me better than my own a-sporting Jenny

(Chorus)

(shot by Mikey aka DaSkinnyBlackMan)

(shot by CharlesMedia™)

(shot by Mikey aka DaSkinnyBlackMan)

They absolutely killed their set last night. By the way, that’s Molly’s father, Dan McGinn, in the last shot.

Pictures of the evening will be trickling in at both Mike and Stephen’s spots.

Video coming soon…

That’s Molly McGinn, with Chris Micca on guitar and Toaster manning the drums at last year’s 5th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival at M’Coul’s Public House in Greensboro, NC.

Tonight at 8:30pm, Molly will be introducing a new set of Buster Dilly players to the St. Patty’s Day crowd:

• Dave McCracken on keys
• Chris Lord on guitar
• Andrew Lazare on bass
• Jonathan McMillan on drums
• Bennett Sullivan on banjo
• Josh Lovings on trumpet
• Hank Widmer on trombone

I was behind the camera for that shot above, as I had just started working on a media promotion strategy with my latest client, Simonne McClinton, owner of M’Coul’s Public House and The Green Burro.

Man, what a difference a year makes.

dotmatrix, llc is now headquartered down the hall from Simonne’s office, a window spot overlooking The Green Bean. 12 months later, I now consider Simonne, Matt, Mikey and the rest of the crew as extended family. Hamburger Square is no longer an obscure reference to a time long ago; it’s the foundational core of my understanding of community here in Greensboro.

Two other good friends of mine have picked up where I left off last year and are documenting this year’s event in ways I could never do myself. Michael Dunn and Stephen Charles, photographers extraordinaire, will hang their shots on the walls of M’Coul’s and post the digital files across the web for people to enjoy and begin anticipating next year’s event.

And oh yes… a few months after that spellbinding performance last year, I tripped and landed in a bushel of Shamrocks where Molly was playing about, busy introducing tunes and words in dance, drinking Ginger Ale, making faces, centering herself and very quickly becoming the most important person in my life.

Kick some ass tonight, milady.

UPDATE: I swiped the set list.

Traditional Tune
Blue-Eyed Boston Boy
Preachers and Thieves
Pall Bearers Handle
Kill Devil Hills
Satirical Cynical Man
Wild Rover

Transition to the full show

Stonecutter’s Lament
Damn Strange Thing
Walking Cane
Tennessee Waltz
Secret Heart
Beautiful Ugly Man
Sunday, Bloody, Sunday
Whiskey in the Jar-O

Horns

Sideshow Harley
Butterflies or Whiskey
Into the Mystic
Deep Ellum Blues

Awesomeness.

Molly McGinn: Fantastic Day (beta) from Sean Coon on Vimeo.

Last night was Molly’s fourth Tuesday evening playing M’Coul’s Pub in downtown Greensboro, solo, and it was by far the most fun for me to experience.

Not only did the attendance jump tremendously over the last three performances — thanks specifically to Ingrid, Todd (he performed on-stage for the first time in 9 years!) Dara, Amani, Kathy, Ashley and Andy for making it out — but Molly beautifully transitioned from one song to the next, weaving stories behind the music effortlessly into the lyrics of the next song.

And then she improvised.

She fired up GarageBand on her MacBook, which was loaded with a handful of songs she’s been sketching over the last few weeks, and dropped Fantastic Day (the above video). It’s my favorite of her new material, as it’s founded with a hip baseline, lyrics modern to this moment in time and a ton of potential. There’s still work to be done on it, but it was so much fun to experience an artist perform and not be afraid of trying completely new material that’s only partially together.

Oh yeah, another buzz from tonight; I was able to set up the PA system in no time flat (there actually was a mixing board, vocal speaker and monitor in play). That’s big progress for a guy who still can’t setup his home stereo system.

I’m already looking forward to Friday’s show.

Molly McGinn: Deep Ellum Blues from Sean Coon on Vimeo.

Bob Lefsetz

[...] Credibility is key to longevity in the twenty first century. If you’re a real musician, don’t throw on a tux or a fancy gown, go down to the juke joint and PLAY! Get the booze flowing, improvise a bit, try to connect with the patrons. Don’t worry so much about selling as DELIVERING! [...]

Molly’s playing M’Coul’s Pub tonight, just like she does every Tuesday night. See you there at 9pm sharp.

Last week, I had a great time hosting the First Annual Burn Sean’s X-Mas Tree / Rock Out On Guitar Hero Dinner Party. It was a blast putting the holiday season to bed with both new friends and old. A big shout of thanks goes out to our good friends from north of the border, Jason and Darcie Brown of Revival Arts Studio, for their impromptu documenting of the evening.

A handful of the memories…

GUITAR HERO ROCKS!

It’s a fact: real guitarists can rock the PS2 — Laurelyn Dossett of Polecat Creek and Molly McGinn of Thacker Dairy Road shred it up.

Jason Brown battles Stephen Brown (with emotionally invested, non-stop coaching from GH master & sis-in-law, Angela Coon)

Darcie Brown not only picked up GH in minutes flat, but she styled like Michael Jordan while rocking the crowd and beating her husband to a pulp (sorry Jason, but she did)

Meredith Newlin tries to school Andy.

John Ford throws up the devil horns as Angela still can’t contain her excitement.

CATERING BY M’COUL’s PUB

Someone has to play host (thanks for the food, Simonne!)

BURNING (THE BEJESUS OUT OF) MY CHRISTMAS TREE

“Who’s ready to burn the Tannenbaum?”

Methinks Darcie is ready.

Angelica Manca likes making fire (next year you can just drop it with your hands, Angelica!)

Molly proved that yes, it is possible for her to get even hotter (I know, that was terrible)

So. Much. Fun. I’m already looking forward to next year!

We’re only six months into our grass roots pimping of Molly’s debut solo album, Girl with Slingshot, and I have to say that we’ve received nothing but wonderful feedback and support from music lovers, both online and off. One tidbit of coolness that I’d like to share is Molly’s album being named the #30 Best Album of the Year at Amie Street.

That happened in only five months since it was made available on Amie Street, so a big thanks goes out to those of you that not only bought her album, but recommended it to others.

You guys are the ones that make indie music possible.

Molly will be performing some cool, jazzy, collaborative sets locally in the new year, so to her Greensboro peeps: Tuesday nights at 9pm in the upstairs bar at M’Coul’s Pub. It’s on.

Thanks again and have a great 2008.