Sat Aug 31st Sounds Of Summer Concert Series at Murietta's Well Winery. 5:30-8pm, with Songwriter Michael McNevin. $50 includes Music, Dinner, & an Estate Grown Glass of Wine. 5:30 Meet & Eat,. 6:30-8pm Music. 3005 Mines Rd Livermore, CA 94550. 925-456-2395. ADV TIX Here: https://murrietaswell.com/events/sounds-of-summer-michael-mcnevin
Fri Sept 6th at The Freight and Salvage in Berkeley. The annual songwriter extravaganza for the West Coast Songwriters Grand Finals for "Song Of The Year". I'll be playing "Young Santos" as my offering, along with so many other wonderful songs by friends and peers of WCS. It'll be a great variety of music and community, thanks to the org that helped me get my wheels rolling back in 1991! www.westcoastsongwriters.org
Sept 7th, 11am-9pm "Love Livermore Live" Fest at Darcie Kent Vineyards. McNevin set is at 7pm on the Acoustic Stage. Rotating Lineup on the Barn, Truck, and Acoustic Stages: Crawdad Republic, Meredith McHenry, Bacchus Brothers, The Midnites, Michael McNevin, Big Sticky Mess, Anna Steiger, The Mundaze, Lucas Sanchez, Wolf Hamlin, Night Harvest, The Gitanos, Loren Olk, The Late AM, Rock Workshop. 7000 Tesla Road, Livermore, CA. (925) 243-9040. $45.00 for all day pass. Benefits Musical Instruments for Livermore Youth. www.lovelivermorelive.com
Sept 13-14-15. The Annual WCS Music Conference at Fort Mason in SF. Worth the gander for a day or two or three if you're a songwriter wanting to connect and learn about the music biz, get your songs into movies, film, TV, or cut by other artists. www.westcoastsongwriters.org
Sept 19-22, Flying High Music Camp up in Napa. Friends, beginners, old pros, casual listeners, got a new music and camping and cabin thang outside Napa. My old pal Jim Funk (of The Dawdlers and Sun Kings fame) got me looped in. Happens at Enchanted Hills Camp. I do casual guitar and songwriting workshops Fri afternoon and Sat afternoon. Meals and pool and cabins with beds and linens and bath, and tent cabins, and Car or RV or Tent. Camp fires, horseshoes, hiking trails, outdoor bowling! haha. It's all included. Do all 3 days and nights ($290), or a day and a night ($150), or just be a daytripper ($75). BYO wine/beer. Musicians and Non-musicians welcome to play, write, learn, listen in. Hit the eventbrite link below for schedule, location, more details. Check in with Marco the organizer too: mvtorresi@gmail.com or by cell at (415) 384-1395.
EventBrite Tix Link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/flying-high-music-camp-and-retreat-tickets-55813308107
Sept 25th-Oct 2nd, in Nashville TN. Two shows, and some writing & recording, hanging with old friends.
Sept 26th is at Douglas Corner sitting in with Antsy McClain and The Trailer Park Troubadours (late show, 9pm).
Sat Sept 28th house concert outside of Nashville. You can attend the house concert if you just ping me and ask for the info :). Still digging around for a Fri 9/27 or Sun 9/29 show or a Writers In The Round somewhere, if you know of one, or want to host something please let me know. :).
Sunday Sept 22nd, 4-7pm Mudpuddle Showcase & Song Swap + the annual daytime Niles Canyon Roll & Stroll! Musicians include Rob Shaw, McNevin, and other special guests rotating in the pilgrim chair. This is the same day as the annual Niles Canyon "Roll & Stroll" an all day outdoor thang in the Canyon - the road is closed to cars, so come ride your bike or walk through it, or ride the Niles Canyon Railway Steam Trains rolling through it all day ($12 bucks a train ride, do the morning or mid day, then come to the 4pm showcase after). Bring a picnic on train or the walk. I'll be getting back from Napa that morning, and there is a remote chance I busk in the canyon, like 1-3pm? Anyone else up for that? I think Rob and his TX friend are? That would be a trip right? The 4-7pm Mudpuddle hang is open to all pickers and listeners, with an early emphasis on the showcasers. It gets looser later for the swapping and jamming, bring your axe or borrow one. Play till the cows go home. Pizza dinner for all is also an option. 37433 Niles Blvd Fremont CA. RSVP to info@michaelmcnevin.com, or just pop in and grab a seat anytime after 4pm.
37433 Niles Blvd Fremont CA.
info@michaelmcnevin.com
Wanna host a house concert?
It's easy. You're the host, I show up, we have a concert. Any takers please ping me. And as always, keep an eye on the FB band page and personal pages - good for short notice alerts of new gigs and gatherings coming up at the Mudpuddle and at large.
Fun Fact:
"Murrieta's Well" winery is hauntingly beautiful, and maybe it's haunted .... here's a little tale about the famous bandit, Juaquin Murrieta, how Niles and Livermore both played a part in his Wild West history from 170 years ago, during the California Gold Rush. Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Niles and Livermore, towns about 20 minutes apart by car, are akin to one another, by the railroads, their hills, and their history. They were also both hideouts for the famous 1850s bandit Juaquin Murrietta. Our local Niles "Clampers" chapter are actually named for Juaquin Murrieta, the famous Mexican Gold Rush bandit. The whole history of Murrieta's rough and rowdy life is of course online, all the way down to stories about his missing head, which is rumored to be buried in Niles Canyon. Our local biker bar is The Florence, 3 doors down from the Mudpuddle Shop, and it is the main a locale of choice for the Niles "Clampers". They shoot pool there, drink a bit, and generally do good stuff for humanity, when they're not raising hell on humanity. If you don't know what a Clamper is, google that up too - a sort of Gold Mining union that was formed during the Gold Rush, to help the families of the 49ers; if anything ill-fated happened to their gold-panning brethren, the group helped take care of the wife and children. It's kinda like The Elks Lodge, only different. Anyway, they had a colorful way of initiating new comers, still do. E Clampus Vitas is their sacred motto. You may have seen their good work over the years, as they erect stone and cement historical markers and plaques all over the state of California. Many of the monuments are crooked, but they won't be going anywhere, as they are fortified with Clamper cement, and beer. As to the famous bandit Juaquin Murrieta himself, well any Clamper can tell you, and tell you again, about him. And as the rumors and myths surrounding the bandit get retold and embellished in various ways, one story remains mostly or completely possibly true. A bounty hunter and California Ranger by the name of Love, was after Juaquin, and finally caught up with him and four of the other gang of bandits down by Fresno. They were sure they had killed Juaquin, along with the notorious Three Fingered Jack, who also had a bounty on his head. The rangers cut off the heads of Juaquin and Jack, as proof for the bounty, along with Jack's three fingered hand for extra proof. They then rode for SF, with the heads and hand in jars full of alcohol. Jacks head didn't last, so they buried it on the way. They charged $1 a look though, to folks along the way to see Murrieta's head and Jacks three fingered hand. As for Juaquin's head, his sister got a look at it, and said that was NOT his brother's head. Since they didn't parade the jars up to the Siera Nevada gold country where others would have identified him properly, it was thought the head's authenticity was in question. It was also reported that Juaquin had been spotted still alive, out and about, after Love's so-called bounty killings. Love never quite lived that rumor down, as the whole thing may have been a ruse, using someone else's head. The alternate claim then came up around here in Niles, that the actual head of Juaquin Murrieta remained attached and alive on him, or, it was at some point buried under a cabin in Niles Canyon. Or was that Jack's head? Whereas, or henceforth, if the other head that went to SF was someone else's head, who is to say if Murriet'as real head got put in a jar. As far as Niles and Livermore is concerned, today at least, Murrieta's gang is said to have surely hid out in both places, as he sought revenge and justice, like a Mexican Robin Hood (he also inspired the stories of Zorro). They did hide out in Niles Canyon, and one of the other local Northern CA Hills hideouts is the very location I'll be playing music this Sat Night in Livermore, at the Winery named "Murrieta's Well". I may have to write a song about this guy someday.