To celebrate a step into the next phase of her life and career, Wahlers — who became Cara Jean Marcy both personally and professionally when she got married in March —  had one last singer-songwriter show. (Tim Grimm, Marcy, Bill Price and special guest Evan Slusher played a songwriter night for the last time on the stage at Locals Only on March 30).

“I organized probably a half dozen of these performances in the last year with local and regional artists, because it’s pretty fun to play with people whose work you admire,” she said. “I’ve had the hope of bridging the gap between Bloomington, Louisville and Indianapolis, bringing new talent to town and allowing Indianapolis musicians to make connections with other regional musicians.

“The three of us, Tim, Bill and I, joined each other on stage for a traditional writers’ round. It’s a lot of fun to share a stage with a few of your friends, telling stories and laughing in between songs,” she said.

The run of shows were a hit for a number of reasons. The music was good, the audience seemed to enjoy the atmosphere of candlelit tables, and there was a no-smoking policy.

“Because of this choice, I was contacted by the national office for the Center for Disease Control and interviewed about being an ex-smoker and a performer who supports non-smoking music venues,” said Marcy.

After the final show, Marcy started to get busy on her next album.

“I just confirmed that I’m recording a live album. and Danny Flanigan (Hopscotch Army, The Rain Chorus) is going to play lead guitar, while Ryan Williams (Playboy Psychonauts, Warner Gear) is going to play bass. I’m pretty excited about it,” Marcy said. “I played with Ryan Williams in a band called The Warner Gear years ago. It was a great experience, a great band and I was immediately taken by Ryan’s elegant bass lines. We’ve talked a bit about it. He played bass with me for the NUVO Best of party at Sun King last summer and we work really well together.”

After the critical success of her most recent album, the choice to make a new record with a similar sound is something that Marcy has considered.

“I originally thought that thematically I wanted to go a completely different direction than Goodnight Charlotte, but then realized that I was trying too hard to change my voice,” Marcy said. “I’m looking at a few songs that I considered for Goodnight Charlotte that I didn’t include, as well as some new songs I’ve just started performing.

“One thing I know for certain about the studio album is that it won’t be limited to guitar and cello,” she said. “That’s what made Goodnight Charlotte different. But if I do another album with that arrangement, I think it becomes less special. So, I’m looking at filling the arrangements out a little more.”

Of her name change, she said, “It was a difficult decision to make that took a lot of consideration.”

In the end, she had a couple good reasons for the change.

“I didn’t want to draw the line between who I am personally and who I am professionally,”she said. “And Marcy is easier to spell than Wahlers.”

Here’s what I’m saying: Indianapolis’ John Byrne – never flashy, always finding his musical pocket on stage – has earned a reputation as a guy who can make a band better.

He has added pedal steel playing to his guitar repertoire, and seems to lend a hand, whether for many years (Flanigan) or fleeting (Chevy Downs) to groups that are really good – because he is in them, right? Now he’s started a new band, in addition to other projects. So I wanted to get with John, and find out out what the scoop was.

ROB: What music and bands are keeping you busy?
JOHN BYRNE: I’m playing in a variety of projects these days. Last weekend’s gig was with a pretty nails 6-piece outfit featuring Jes and Vicky Richmond. Our set list is a semi-eclectic mix of great 70s and 80s singer/songwriter rock like Little Feat, Bonnie Raitt, Lyle Lovett, and John Hiatt with a fair amount of blues, hippie rock (like) Traffic and Allman Brothers, and smarter-than-the-average-bear tuneage like Steely Dan. We also do a handful of Jes and Vic’s originals.

ROB: Jes has been around a long time, and when I have seen him, he is very good at what he does.
JB: He’s a genuine journeyman folk/rock singer who has been quietly bringing down the house for over 30 years in Indiana, as well as some stints in Japan and LA. Believe it or not, he had Jackson Browne’s band backing him up on club and private gigs. He really is one of Indiana’s best kept secrets. In addition to our rock band, he is one third of the frontmen in the so-good-I-can’t-believe-they-play-for-free-every-Monday-night Soul Bus (a band that also features Gordon Bonham and Tad Robinson).

ROB: Anything new musically for you?
JB: I’ve started a group in the last year which is an unapologetic Q-95, Freedom Rock-type outfit, called the 8-Track All-Stars. Our lineup includes former Johnny Socko and current Leisure Kings frontman Mike Wiltrout on vocals, Troye Kinnett on keys (when he’s not touring with Mellencamp), Adam White on drums and Matt Wilson on bass. We pride ourselves in pretty dead-on treatments of the more tuneful parts of ’70s and ’80s rock, with emphasis on Faces, Paul McCartney and Wings, The Who, Stones, Petty and Beatles. We even throw in some epic, if semi-ironic, Foreigner and Journey, to boot. But no Styx, dammit. That was a precondition of my joining the band.
8 Track All-Stars website

ROB: And you still play with Danny Flanigan?
JB: Danny Flanigan and our mainly original band The Rain Chorus celebrate our 20th year together this year, and Danny is releasing a new album in a month or so. My guess is that we’ll be back playing some full-band shows here in Indy before too long.
Danny Flanigan website

ROB: Anyone else we need to hear about, since you seem to know them all?
JB: Another complete gem of the Indy music scene – our own Nick Lowe, really – is Randy King. He fronted a New Wave outfit called The Positions throughout most of the ’80s and ’90s, but he still gets out to play the odd Radio Radio show now and again. Man, does he ever write great tunes that are a blast to play. Rumor has it we’ll be doing some kind of engagement over the next few months.

John Byrne is  playing at Daddy Jack’s tonight (4/7) with the Wade Parish Band (featuring Jes Richmond on vocals). 9pm-12:30am.

The Musicians Emergency Resource Foundation Presents

Shakin’ and Bakin’ for Steve Ferguson

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Phoenix Hill Tavern
Saloon and Roof Garden

6 p.m. – Midnight

$10 Day of Show

Scheduled to Perform
Rufus Huff featuring Greg Martin (Kentucky Headhunters)
Tim Krekel
Lamont Gillispie and 100 Proof Blues
Stray Cats Blues Band Reunion
Spanky Lee Reunion
Another Mule
danny flanigan
Most Wanted
Bluestown
Mad Tea Party
and more

ABOUT THE SHOW
Iconic Louisville guitarist and band leader Steve Ferguson has been diagnosed with a very serious illness and is in need of support for his medical expenses. The Musicians Emergency Resource Foundation (MERF), a 501(c) 3 organization, is devoting its Community Show, normally held in November, to Steve, in honor and recognition of his longtime contributions to both the Louisville music scene and to MERF.

All proceeds from this event will go directly to Steve for his medical and personal expenses at this time of great need. All of the performers appearing on this show are donating their time and normal fees as well.

The show will feature ten bands or more on two stages, beginning at 6 p.m. The final hour will feature Rufus Huff plus however many of the other players wind up on the stage. At last year’s Community Show at Jim Porter’s, the ‘final’ hour ran well into the very early morning and generated a great deal of buzz after the show. These are performances not to be missed.

For over twenty years *MERF* has granted financial and resource assistance to Kentuckiana music industry professionals in times of need and emergency crisis. The heart and soul of a caring music community, *MERF* receives applications for aid and then allocates assistance based upon a juried process by the board of directors and advisory board. By participating in our events and benefits, you join us in extending a humanitarian hand to those that create the cultural soundtrack of our lives.

More information about MERF can be found at _www.merfbenefit.org. Donations will be accepted at the show and on the website via PayPal.

See Musician Bios below…

Musician Bios

Steve Ferguson

Although he’ll probably forever be known as the guy who changed the name of the New Rhythm and Blues Quintet to the New Rhythm and Blues Quartet when he left NRBQ after two albums, Steve Ferguson has had a healthy solo career in the decades since.
Born in Louisville, KY, Ferguson first hooked up with pianist Terry Adams in high school, where the pair formed a group called the Merseybeats (no relation to the Liverpool group who did “I Stand Accused”). When that group broke up, Ferguson and Adams moved to Miami, where they met the remnants of a band called the Story of Us and formed NRBQ in 1967. Ferguson played on the group’s self-titled debut and its collaboration with Carl Perkins, Boppin’ the Blues. He left the group in 1970, replaced by Big Al Anderson.
Ferguson kept to himself for the next two decades, playing occasional local gigs and sometimes collaborating with his former NRBQ bandmates. In 1991, he had his first high-profile project in over two decades, co-producing and writing much of Johnnie B. Bad, the debut solo album by Chuck Berry’s piano player, Johnnie Johnson. Emboldened by the success of that project, Ferguson released his first solo record, Jack Salmon and Derby Sauce. That New Orleans-flavored album (which, amusingly, features a cover of the Liverpool Merseybeats’ “I Stand Accused”) featured Ferguson backed by his aptly named new group, the Midwest Creole Ensemble: guitarist Pat Lentz, keyboardist Keith Hubbard, bassist Robert Monk Mackey, and drummer Max Maxwell.
After touring behind Jack Salmon and Derby Sauce, Ferguson and the Midwest Creole Ensemble made the even-better Mama-U-Seapa, a good-timey country-voodoo-jazz record with guest appearances by Adams and fellow NRBQers Joey Spampinato and Tom Ardolino. In 1999, Ferguson and the Midwest Creole Ensemble released a smoking live album, Moho Criollo: Live at Air Devils Inn.
Rufus Huff Featuring Greg Martin

Rufus Huff, featuring Grammy Award winning Kentucky HeadHunters lead guitarist Greg Martin, ex-Supafuzz rhythm section Dean Smith & Chris Hardesty and Jarrod England on vocals, is a four piece band, named after two obscure bluesmen, Whistlin’ Rufus and Luther Huff. They play an eclectic mix of rock, funk, blues, boogie and “Dixie” through a stack of Marshall amps. Greg Martin, of course, made his name and fame playing guitar for The Kentucky Headhunters, the band that was at the beginning of the rock ‘n’ country trend in Nashville music with “Dumas Walker” from /Pickin on Nashville./ Martin grew up in Louisville and has played many MERF benefits, including shows that featured extended jams with Steve Ferguson and Tim Krekel. In addition to his taste for rock, he is a fan of gospel music and hosts a radio show on WDNS in Bowling Green, Ky.

Tim Krekel

Louisville native Tim Krekel has had songs recorded by such artists as Rick Nelson, Lonnie Mack, Dr. Feelgood, Shakin Stevens, Canned Heat, Jason & the Scorchers, Vern Gosdin, BJ Thomas, Delbert McClinton Aaron Tippin, Deana Carter and Kim Ritchey. He”s had two number one hits, “Turning Away” in 1984, sung by Crystal Gayle, and “You can Feel Bad,” co-written by Matraca Berg, sung by Patty Loveless in 1997. “Cry On The Shoulder,” also co-written by Berg, was a single for Martina McBride. Kim Richeys version of “Come Around,” a song she co-wrote with Tim, was used in the 1999 Kevin Costner film “For Love of the Game.”
Tim has played with Jimmy Buffett, Billy Swan, Bo Diddley, Delbert McClinton, Skeeter Davis, Steve Forbert, Tracy Nelson, Pam Tillis, Marshall Chapman, Lonnie Mack and Sam Bush. He appeared with Mark Germino on “Late Night with David Letterman. “He has also performed on NPR”s “Mountain Stage” with Matraca Berg. He was named among WFPK Louisville”s Essential Artists A-Z in 2000 and four of his songs were voted among the 2001 greatest songs of all time by WFPK listeners. He toured with Jimmy Buffett throughout the 70″s and 80″s, playing on The Album ” /Son of a Son of a Sailor/” , appearing on Saturday Night Live, and in the 1978 film FM as well.
Lamont Gillispie and 100 Proof Blues
Lamont grew up in Greasy Creek, Kentucky listening to a Nashville radio station, WLAC. Although his family’s roots were in bluegrass, his heart was rooted in blues. After high school, Lamont played around Louisville in a couple of local blues bands. Eventually, he moved to Chicago where he became the harmonica player for Lefty Dizz and the Chicago Blues Hounds. Upon his return to Louisville, he helped form the Stray Cat Band which played together for 9 years. Enter 100 Proof; now the band is regularly gigging in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Louisville Blues & BBQ Fest, J-Town Blues Fest, The Kentucky State Fair, Thunder Over Louisville, Slippery Noodle Inn, and opening for such blues greats as Lurrie Bell, B.B. King, Etta James, Koko Taylor, George Thorogood and more. Lamont and the band have plans to go to the recording studio very soon and release their debut CD.

Another Mule

Another Mule is an iconic Louisville that held sway in the Kentuckiana area in the Eighties and early Nineties and featured many of the performers who will appear at this benefit.

Most Wanted
Most Wanted is a five piece rock band based in the Louisville area. The band has four women playing lead guitar, bass, keyboard and singing lead and one man on drums. The band cover songs by Fleetwood Mac, Heart, Sheryl Crow, Matchbox 20, Free, Jefferson Airplane, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Sublime, Natalie Merchant and others.
Spanky Lee
Spanky Lee is a four-piece glam rock band, led by brothers Mark Maxwell, vocals and guitar, and Max Maxwell, drums. Spanky Lee has been performing in the Louisville area since the 1980s.

Stray Cats Blues Band Reunion
The Stray Cats Blues Band, featuring Lamont Gillispie, played around the Louisville area for nine years before breaking up. They have been playing reunion shows of late.

last saturday evening i attended a great 2 for 1 type music event. WFPK sponsored (technically) back to back shows at the bomhard (partially to celebrate the kentucky center for the arts 25th anniversary), the shows were a part of the stations excellent series; “kentucky homefront” and “roots and boots,” both featuring american roots music.

the first show was “kentucky homefront” which was celebrating and featuring louisville singer songriters (in order of performance); john gage (also the shows founder and host), danny flanigan, teneia sanders, mickey clark, tim krekel, leigh ann yost and johnny berry. the show was in the traditional “in the round” format, with the artists sharing the stage and songs, with each performer doing two original songs.

already being a big fan of tim krekel and teneia sanders and familiar w/leigh ann yost and danny flannigan, i was mostly looking forward to seeing them. and i certainly not disappointed, all were great as i expected. i had no knowedge or reference point with mickey clark or johnny berry but really enjoyed their music and performances and look forward to seeing them again, hopefully in the near future. i got to talk to mickey clark for a while after the show and found him to be open, kind, generous and appreciative man. i look forward to hearing more from him and seeing him perform again.

my favorite thing about the show was just the sheer joy and pleasure that these performers had sharing their gifts with the (very appreciative) audience. it was infectious. it was very loose and improvised set with them jumping in on harmony vocals, joining in on guitar, sort of an acoustic jam and it worked perfectly. tim krekel was by far the highlight providing some outstanding guitar on most every song but all performances were excellent.

we are fortunate here in louisville to have a station like WFPK to give us the opportunity to have this music heard, both on radio and live. we are also fortunate to have this quality of local music in our own back yard. the talent and dedication of this music and these musicians needs and deserves our support.

next up the “roots and boots” segment featuring the LA based, but originally from louisville critics darlings… “the watson twins.”

first, let me say, i enjoyed the show, but in my opinion, it paled in comparison to the first show. the “twins” were good, but far from what i expected based on the raves they are receiving in reviews and national music magazines. it might have helped had i been more familiar with their music, etc but in kind…i heard nothing that made me want to rush down to their merch table and pick up a CD either, which is often the case when i see a band live. they had a nice tight band, but no player that i would consider exceptional. their lyrics/songs were nice, but no song, line or lyric struck me as prolific or outstanding. and Iifound their stage presence and banter to be awkward and a little distracting. to sum it up, in my opinion, they were “good” nothing more, nothing less…just “good.”