Colin contends with the loss of our annual Christmas Eve Eve show with a musical year-end wrap-up.
Read MoreColin & The Bowlers Return with Two Safe Shows for a Good Cause!
Colin & The Bowlers playing two benefit shows, September 17th and 18th. #saveourstages
Read MoreLooking For Something to Do This Weekend? Look No Further than Natalie's Coal Fired Pizza.
Just admit it. You have no plans this weekend. And I know you have no plans this weekend. "How's that?" you say? See, I own a coffee shop and over the past two days I have asked around two hundred people, "What's going on this weekend? Anything fun going on?" Usually at least one person is going ice fishing on Hudson Bay or a tequila binge in Cabo. Not this weekend. Except for that one dude going to Lowe's to buy floor tile for his kitchen, the rest of us are BORING.
However, I have good news. Natalie's Coal Fired Pizza has put together one of the finest weekends of Columbus music you are likely to see until Comfest. If you are looking for great food, beer, & music, look no further.
So what's up?
Friday and Saturday night is Helling Yeah! A benefit/memorial show for the late Brett Helling, who was a beloved person, musician & employee at Natalie's. 100% of the proceeds go to benefit the American Federation of Suicide Prevention.
Friday night features: Winter Makes Sailors, Bicentennial Bear and The Kyle Sowashes
Saturday night: Colin Gawel, (yeah, that's me), The Moving Parts, Fisted Mister, The Whiles.
Trust me when I tell you, I am the least talented person on this bill. So if you like what I do, you will love the other acts.
Click here to read a story about the event by Andy Downing for the Columbus Alive.
And here is when it gets crazy....Sunday might be better than Friday and Saturday.
Sunday brunch features the jazz stylings of the ultra-talented/ overall bad ass, Derek DiCenzo and his trio. FREE!
Sunday night features the one and only Tim Easton. One of the best singer-songwriters on the planet.
Derick DiCenzo and Tim Easton on the same day. Sunday no less. Can I get a witness?
Click here to reserve you table and check out the fabulous Natalie's menu.
Steve Forbert Is Better Than The Who (Or At Least Needs Your Support More) And You Should Go See Him At Natalie's - by Ricki C.
Steve Forbert will play this coming Wednesday, July 22nd, at Natalie’s Coal Fired Pizza, 5601 N. High St. in Worthington (436-2625). Advance tickets are $20, and are strongly advised.
Steve Forbert is a singer/songwriter whose first album – Alive On Arrival – was released in 1978 and, in my humble opinion, is one of the twenty best singer/songwriter efforts ever. (And yes, I am counting Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Richard Thompson, Dave Alvin & Steve Earle – among dozens of others – in that tally.) Forbert – who will turn 61 in December – scored a modest hit with “Romeo’s Tune” in 1980, which still turns up on oldies radio from time to time, affording him the opportunity to continue touring, but he’s hardly on the level of – to name one – The Who. He’s a hard-working guy without the benefit of C.S.I. franchise tunes or millions of dollars and English mansions under his belt, like Pete Townshend.
I seriously doubt that Steve Forbert tours have the luxury of legions of guitar techs & lighting designers, catered dinners in the Green Room and merch sales in the thousands every tour stop. (I see a lot of paunchy 60-year old guys & late middle-aged women with brand-spanking new Who and Rolling Stones 2015 Tour t-shirts lately in my rock & roll travels.) Hell, I just hope Forbert can afford a roadie to help with the driving. And I hope they’re stayin’ in Red Roof Inn’s rather than Motel 6’s.
I first heard Alive On Arrival sometime in 1979, whilst nursing a rock & roll broken heart and it was just what the sonic doc ordered. Forbert was actually coined a “New Dylan” by Rolling Stone at the time. It’s kind of unbelievable to me that lame-ass rock critics were still using that tired-ass line as late as 1978. “New Dylan” indeed; my term for those guys (and I never would have included Steve Forbert in their ilk) was “junior league Bruce Springsteens.” I once characterized both Tom Waits and Warren Zevon – who I later came to appreciate & love – as “junior-league Bruce Springsteens.”
So what is my point here? My point is that I have watched the fresh-faced kid crooning out “It Isn’t Gonna Be That Way” in the YouTube video below mature into the nearing-Social-Security-rocker detailed in the second, more recent vintage video. My point is that maybe just a few of the literally tens of thousands of aging rockers who attended The Rolling Stones at Ohio Stadium could make it over to Natalie’s to see Steve Forbert. My point is that maybe some iPhone 6/Facebook/Bonaroo kids who have never seen a guy who has been at it for 40 years captivate a room with just an acoustic guitar, a harmonica rack around his neck and a fistful of great, great rock & roll songs, might want to attend a show in the fine, fine, superfine listening room environs of Natalie's Coal Fired Pizza, rather than a football stadium, or a big-ass open field in Tennessee.
(By the way, it wouldn’t break my heart if a few people went to see – to name just two – Marshall Crenshaw at the Lancaster Festival July 31st or Ian Hunter when he opens for the J. Geils Band at the LC in September (much more on that later). (And I don’t think it would kill ya to go see Willie Phoenix sometime for some homemade rock & roll.)
Steve belts out "The Hit" (for probably the 5000th time or so).
Colin Solo @ Natalie's Coal Fired Pizza - Thursday February 5th - 9 p.m.
Ah yes, February in Ohio is a splendid time. Endless gray skies and frigid mornings can add up to a severe case of wintertime blues. With this in mind, why not fire up those jumper cables, scrape the ice off your windshield and join me at Natalie's Coal Fired Pizza on Thursday February 5th for a solo show starting at 9 pm.
If you haven't been to Natalie's yet you are really missing out. Arguably the best pizza in town, along with a nice selection of craft beer and live music every night. It is a very popular location so advance reservations are highly recommended for this show.
Natalie's Coal Fired Pizza is located at 5601 North High Street, close to St. Michael Church in Worthington. Call 614 436 COAL for details or click here for the full website and menu.