Nights on the Neck

From June to October, celebrate Nights on the Neck on the first Thursday of every month from 5 to 9 pm. Many galleries host receptions with refreshments, and musicians, dancers, other entertainers, and art and maritime historians give performances and lectures. See photos of past events.

2009 Schedule

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Three Sheets to the Wind
The Schooner Adventure organization spawned Three Sheets to the Wind, a group of local musicians and Adventure crew members who are preserving the history of maritime work songs (chanteys) and forebitter songs.

JoeAnn Hart
JoeAnn Hart is the author of Addled, a social satire. Her short stories, essays, and articles have appeared in numerous journals and magazines. She will read from her novel-in-progress, “Float.”

Steven Lee Beeber
Steven Lee Beeber will read from his novel-in-progress, “About the Author," concerning a PhD student in English who is writing about an author who never made it because he refused to send his work to the appropriate outlets, instead sending it to everything from porn magazines to the Mass Council for the Arts. The author, who had lived in the narrator’s apartment and left a cache of his papers in the attic, is Steven Lee Beeber.

Margi Green
Margi Green performs Moving Lights, a short movement piece using electric lights.

YouTube: Margi Green Light Dancing at Nights on the Neck

Thursday, September 3

Three Sheets to the Wind
The Schooner Adventure organization spawned Three Sheets to the Wind, a group of local musicians and Adventure crew members who are preserving the history of maritime work songs (chanteys) and forebitter songs.

Rick Drost
Rick Drost began singing with a Kingston Trio-style group in high school, continued in a small folk group in college, then a glee club and an opera chorus. He started writing and singing around coffeehouses in DC and New England in the ‘70s, finally settling in Cambridge MA where he started playing with the folk-rock group Parts and Labor.  He performs at least once a week, wherever he goes, and has enjoyed stints with great instructors and students at Song School in Colorado, SAMW and other workshops.

Rick Berlin
Rick Berlin sings honest narrative (sometimes funny) songs from the torn pocket of the heart; his style has been compared to Waits, Weil, and Newman. Rick’s impressive past credits in the Boston music scene include Orchestra Luna/Luna, Berlin Airlift, Rick Berlin–The Movie, Rome is Burning, Rick Berlin–The Awful Truth, and The Shelley Winters Project. He was a regular at Jacques in Boston’s Bay Village for nine years, and now appears frequently at the Lizard Lounge, among many other places.

Chris Brokaw & Geoff Farina
Chris Brokaw & Geoff Farina, both well known in the indie rock scene, will play pre-World War II country blues songs on acoustic guitars and vocals, including such favorites as Stagger Lee and Trouble in Mind.

Boston Derby Dames
A small group of Boston Derby Dames, Boston’s first and only all-female, DIY, skater-owned and -operated flat track roller derby league, will make a swift but no-doubt high impact appearance on Rocky Neck Avenue.

Thursday, August 8th 2009

• Three Sheets to the Wind - The Schooner Adventure organization spawned Three Sheets to the Wind, a group of local musicians and Adventure crew members who are preserving the history of maritime work songs (chanteys) and forebitter songs.
  
• Todd Brunel - an innovative, critically acclaimed clarinetist and educator who leads a dual life as a cross-over classical and jazz musician. The Boston Globe said he had “tremendous virtuosity and heart.” Brunel has made guest appearances at Carnegie Hall, the International Woodwind Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the SEAMUS Festival, the National Black Arts Festival, and Preservation Jazz Hall in New Orleans
  
  
  Click to see Todd Brunel rock on the clarinet
• Leigh Calabrese - With her singing saw in tow, over the years Leigh has been humbled to perform with artists including What Time Is It Mr. Fox?, The Sob Sisters, Sukey Tawdry,  Beat Circus, The Burlesque Revival Association, and (of course) as part of the soundtrack to countless haunted houses. And yes, it does cut wood.
  
  
  Click to see Leigh Calabrese play the singing saw
• Boston Hoop Troop - a collective of (hula)hoopers from New England who gather to practice, perform, and teach the graceful art of hoop dance. Be sure to stay ‘til the end for a special treat!

Boston Hoop Troop Fire Twirling

Thursday, July 2, 5-9 pm

• Three Sheets to the Wind
  The Schooner Adventure organization spawned Three Sheets to the Wind, a group of local musicians and Adventure crew members who are preserving the history of maritime work songs (chanteys) and forebitter songs.
  5:30, Sibley Wharf, 17 Rocky Neck Ave
• Tom Hauck
  Local author Thomas A. Hauck’s novel, Pistonhead, tells the story of Charlie Sinclair, guitarist in a rock band. His job is being outsourced. His best friend is a drug addict. His apartment is full of mice. The girl he loves is unattainable and his old girlfriend wants to dig her claws into him again. Pistonhead is the story of one week in Charlie Sinclair's life -- a week that changed him forever.
  6:15, White Bird Gallery, 77 Rocky Neck Ave
• Rick Drost
  Rick Drost began singing with a Kingston Trio-style group in high school, continued in a small folk group in college, then a glee club and an opera chorus. He started writing and singing around coffeehouses in DC and New England in the ‘70s, finally settling in Cambridge MA where he started playing with the folk-rock group Parts and Labor.  He performs at least once a week, wherever he goes, and has enjoyed stints with great instructors and students at Song School in Colorado, SAMW and other workshops.
  7:00, Imagine, 43 Rocky Neck Ave
• Corwin Ericson
  Corwin Ericson lives in western Massachusetts where he works as a writer, editor, and college instructor. He will read from his novel-in-progress, Swell, from which an excerpt was recently published in X: The Erotic Anthology, edited by Susie Bright (Chronicle, 2008).
  7:30, White Bird Gallery, 77 Rocky Neck Ave
• Ev Harlow & Friends
  Ev Harlow is known for his wacky songs and goofball on-stage banter. His style has a country/folk flavor that is not often heard in these parts. He will have some very talented friends sitting in and having way too much fun!
  8:15, Rocky Neck Gallery, 53 Rocky Neck Ave

Thursday, June 4, 5-9 pm

Please join the Rocky Neck Art Colony for the first 2009 Nights on the Neck evenings of gallery receptions and entertainment.

• Three Sheets to the Wind:
  The Schooner Adventure organization spawned Three Sheets to the Wind, a group of local musicians and Adventure crew members who are preserving the history of maritime work songs (chanteys) and forebitter songs.
• Rick Berlin
  Rick Berlin sings honest narrative (sometimes funny) songs from the torn pocket of the heart; his style has been compared to  Waits, Weil, and Newman. Rick’s impressive past credits in the Boston music scene include Orchestra Luna/Luna, Berlin Airlift, Rick Berlin–The Movie, Rome is Burning, and The Shelley Winters Project. He was a regular at Jacques in Boston’s Bay Village for nine years, and now appears frequently at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, among many other places.

Click to see Rick Berlin at NOTN

Click to see Rick sing another song

• Eoin Vincent
  In November of 2007, Eoin Vincent visited and photographed eighteen orphanages, schools, and hospitals near Arusha, Tanzania. His book is a photographic record of the places he visited and the extraordinary people he met. Eoin will give a slide show and a talk about his book (proceeds from the book will benefit the Tanzania Hope Fund, EPIC Change, and other organizations that improve the lives of the people of Tanzania).
• Gordon Baird
  A veteran of North Shore Music Theater and other musical palaces, Gordon Baird will bounce around between show tunes and comedic renditions of familiar classics, tailored to a Glosta sensibility and a Rocky Neck state of mind.

Nights on the Neck is located on Rocky Neck Avenue, East Gloucester.  For specific performance times and locations, please see signage in the Rocky Neck Avenue parking lot on the evening of the event.

2008 Nights on the Neck photos

See Calendar of Events for 2008 Schedule