Live Music Double Header!

This weekend is a double header for music at Stumpjack...both Friday and Saturday nights. Friday Feb 29th at 7:00pm: Kelly Underwood comes back for her second gig with us...she packed the house the last time and it was a blast.

Saturday March 1st at 7:00pm: 6 Degrees - Becky Markvart & Bill Martell - these two have a great sound together...beautiful vocals and great acoustic guitar work.

No cover charge other than the usual...a coffee, beer or glass of wine.

I Dream of Jeannie...Mayotte

Kim and I and the girls drove up to Green Bay today after work, to hit Barnes & Noble and get some sushi...it was a nice afternoon for a drive and I needed to get outta Dodge for a few hours anyway. I grabbed a couple CDs off my shelf as we left the Stump, including Jeannie Mayotte's 6 song EP she gave me Friday night. This thing is sweeet! We played it on the way up to GB and on the way back home and I have it in the laptop right now as I type this post. I wanna do the cover art for one of Jeannie's CDs, that's how much I love this disc. Soon as she gets some more pressed and into our grubby hands to sell for her we'll let you know.

Reidl & Mayotte awesome!

JoAnn Riedl

It was around 6:30 Saturday night and I was starting to get a little worried that JoAnn and Jeannie weren't going to make it on time (or at all) for their 7:00 gig. I pictured them driving somewhere north or south of Two Rivers in the dark, "Where the hell is this place!?" "I told you to take that exit 10 miles back!"

Jeannie Mayotte

But in they walked with thirty minutes to spare, each carrying nothing but a single guitar case. We all said howdy and I asked "Can I help you unload?" "Nope," replied JoAnn, "we're good." Then I felt another little tick of doubt...what, no amps? We're so used to unloading and setting up amps and gear and doing sound checks that I think I felt a little naked without all that stuff (and I wasn't the one performing!). But as soon as JoAnn hit the first chord and sang the first line we all just went "whoa...cool..."

JoAnn and Jeannie, hereafter referred to as "the gals," confessed a bit of nervousness themselves, performing without so much as a microphone to hide behind. While they may have felt a bit exposed everyone else was totally entranced. Those gals got some serious chops. JoAnn would do four or five tunes before giving up her place under our makeshift purple spotlight for Jeannie to do her thing. And so it went throughout the evening with the two taking turns and performing a really powerful mix of songs that alternated between full throttle, full lung wailers and stuff so delicate that it made you lean in and tilt your head to make sure you caught it all. That kind of audience response was also one of the things that we couldn't help but notice: people were quiet and focused when either JoAnn or Jeannie were playing, listening intently and clearly appreciating what they were a part of. It was a small crowd last night, but the applause after each song was loud and immediate.

I don't want to get too much into actual musical or performance reviews in these follow-up posts (though maybe I should...would it be of any interest, I don't know), because up to now my main purpose has really just been to post the images from the event for people to enjoy, and to not say much more than that we had a great time (which we always do...it is honestly always just a heckuva lot of fun when we have live music). But I have to say that this night was one of the best of the best, and that had as much to do with the intimacy and immediacy of the performance as it did with the musical skill and talent the gals possess. JoAnn and Jeannie had a lot of fun too and so we're having them back, sometime in the next several weeks. When we nail down the date(s) we'll let you know on here and on the StumpjackCoffee myspace calendar. You will not want to miss them.

After the gig we all went over to Element Bistro for a drink and smart-talk. Bought a pound of some outstanding cave aged cheese from Kevin (Voysey) in his Abotzo wine and cheese shop there. Jason (Prigge), who is the chef and runs Element, stopped by the table to say hi and said he's going to book JoAnn and Jeannie to play there sometime very soon too, which is awesome. It is extremely cool to have Element and Abotzo in this city, it's a fantastic place (for those who don't know, both businesses share the space). Saturday nights Element has live music as well, and so it's a great opportunity for people to bounce around between Stumpjack and Element (and the Waverly Inn also often has live music on those nights) for some great food, drink and entertainment.

Click here to go to the Flickr images from last night...or on the right side column to see them and any others anytime you feel like it. Remember to click the "view as slideshow" link in the upper right corner above the set when you get to the Flickr page, if you want to view as a slideshow.

Two Rivers Roasting on TV: watch the clip

Channel 5 WFRV-TV did a great little spotlight on our own Two Rivers Roasting Company yesterday. You can watch the clip by clicking here or on the image above. Hit the play button on the video with Russ's face to start 'er up...very nice 3-minute piece (the only thing that would have improved it would be if the news guy was drinking out of a Stumpjack Coffee mug instead of that plain black one).

JoAnn Riedl coming up from Milwaukee

TONIGHT (Friday, the 22nd) Stumpjack Coffee will be the place to be if you're in the mood for some high energy tunage. JoAnn Riedl, along with Jeannie Mayotte, is traveling from Milwaukee to perform here at 7:00pm.

Here's the brief press release we sent out, and thanks again to the Herald Times Reporter for printing this and all the other announcements of great stuff going on in the area. (And did you catch the fine article on our boy Kerry Michaels in today's Weekend Edition?)

JoAnn Riedl's deep, sultry vocals and percussive, rock-guitar style hails from Milwaukee, WI. JoAnn is a singer-songwriterwho combines folk, punk and rock into her at times gentle yet aggresive performances. Playing since 1998, Riedl performs solo a nd at times with backing bands, Kicked Out Scout and The Relief. She is also a front woman for The Barrettes, a four-piece girl band. JoAnn has performed several times in Canada, Ireland, and throughout the U.S. and has shared stages with many talented musicians along the way.

"She wages love and war on her guitar and explores issues that are as heavy as steel-toed boots, including the environment, sexism and revolution." -- Molly Snyder Edler, www.onmilwaukee.com

More thrills & spills on the horizon!

One of the things we (Kim and I) talked about doing better this year is blogging. It was apparent to me that most of my posts are purely informational. They inform about upcoming events and then they often offer a quick synopsis of the event, with pictures, after it takes place. Given that, it also figures that a great many posts are about musical gigs that go on at the Stump. Now then, that's all well and good and we definitely want to continue doing that (looking through the images is always fun), but I also realized that I had gotten away from a good chunk of why we wanted to blog in the first place, that being so that we could talk about coffee, good beer, good food, good experiences and enhance, via the blog, the sense of community we all share at Stumpjack Coffee. I had allowed some of the other responsibilities of running the place to distract me from what I believe is a very important activity and responsibility (and a lot of fun too).

Blogging is, when it's done well, about sharing and connecting with you (our friends) and is definitely a two-way conversation that hopefully offers something of value to each of us. With that in mind, expect some growth and mutation with this blog in the coming weeks. We intend to not only post more often, but to expand our topics, get you more involved, do more fun stuff like contests and give-aways, and even change the look and format of the thing. I'm educating myself on Wordpress right now and plan to use that program in place of Blogger in the next couple of weeks. Wordpress appears to offer more options and flexibility than Blogger, although it's little more difficult to get the hang of for dimmer bulbs such as meself (yep, meself).

We'd also ask that you guys use the feedback or comments function more often. We get a lot of feedback and comments on the blog, but the overwhelming majority of it comes via people emailing us with comments or chatting about it when they come into the shop. Getting feedback on the actual bog site is important though, because it helps get other people involved in the conversation and helps flesh out some subjects even more substantively. I love talking about things in the shop that we blog about, but please post your comments onto the actual blog itself too. And please, please, please...if you have anything you want to see us talk about, offer or do at the coffee shop, or any ideas about anything at all that might be of benefit, please share them. We do indeed seriously listen to and consider things that come from you guys.

Ringo...he loves coffee...for the caffeine

Ok, got some studying to do before sleepy-time. Don't forget to mark your calendar for this Friday night's gig...JoAnn Riedl and Jeannie Mayotte are coming up from Milwaukee to rock the house (check out JoAnn's stuff on her myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/joannriedl).

Lloyd Rohr's Saturday night gig

After slipping and sliding our way into downtown Two Rivers this morning I decided to close shop. It is ugly out...34 degrees, freezing rain, big pools of sloppy slush everywhere. Treacherous walking and driving, and if it freezes later today like they predict I imagine a lot of businesses will be closed tomorrow as well.

BUT, last night was a different story...the weather was good, Lloyd Rohr was great, and everyone had a fun time. I just added the photos from last night to the Flickr sets in the right-hand column - Lloyd's at the top of the list. Click on it and then click "view as slideshow" in the upper right if you want to view them all that way.

Pictures a'comin'...

I've got a whole bunch of pictures in folders from the past few weeks of music and events and I'm going to do my best to put them all on here (via Flickr sets) today...so check back later. In the meantime here's one from yesterday's snow storm that I took standing in the street, with our gal Lynne braving the elements for a minute to pose on that cold-on-your-butt bench out front (click it to enlarge).

Ok, I've been able to add a few Flickr sets of photos today. They're listed on the right side column under "Flickr photo sets." I have several more sets yet to add to the list and a whole bunch of photo labeling to do, but at least I've got it started. Click on any link and it'll take you to the Flickr set and then you can view it as a slide show by clicking on that link in the upper right-hand corner of the image set. More to come...

Acoustic Music this Saturday night/Closing early Thursday night

1) Tomorrow night, Feb.14th we will be closing a bit early in the evening, at 6:30pm, in order to conduct our first Valentine's Day special tasting event. The event had a limited seating allowance and that got filled up right away, and it's a private party kind of event, so we'll be locking the doors at 6:30 when those folks who signed up get here. Again, we'll be doing tastings like this pretty much every month from now on, and will let you know via email and the blog.

2) This Saturday night at 7:00 Lloyd Rohr will be bringing his acoustic and vocal talent to the Stump. Lloyd's got a great, mellow acoustic sound and this is his first gig at Stumpjack, so come on down if you're able and spend some relaxing and mellow time with us. We saw Lloyd perform a few months ago and really enjoyed the cool vibe he put out...this is going to be a very fine Saturday night.

And the winner is...

We have a winner in our first online contest, "8 Things About Stumpjack," and she goes by the name of Kim Geiser! Kim and one other person (Maria) had the most correct answers (they each got all 8 correct) and so I wrote their names on separate pieces of paper and had Kim (my wife, Kim...not the winner Kim...they are two different Kims...although sometimes I do think they share the same brain) close her eyes and pull one out, and Kim G. it was.

Kim gets one fat pound of beautiful pure Guatemalan roasted to a tasty full city roast by Two Rivers Roasting Co. Yummy!

I don't have a picture of Kim except for that goofy one I took of her when she was talking with her mouth full of cookies (it was scary I tell you). So, I drew a quick one of her with the mouse and the laptop's paint program...with my left hand yet, just to make it interesting! (and no, I'm not left handed to start with) Here she is accepting her prize:
Here are the contest questions and answers below. We got a great response to this and it was fun so check back because we'll be doing this again, just about every month.

1) Radio programming has described the Stumpjack critter as a shy, highly intelligent animal who has a keen nose and is attracted to the aroma of fine brewed coffee. TRUE...you can hear the ad on Doug and Bobbi's "Out n' About" show on WOMT 1240AM Friday mornings at 11:30.

2) The Stumpjack Coffee Company building was first built in the late 1800s and operated as a bordello for sailors and merchant seamen of the Great Lakes. FALSE...it is indeed a late 1800s building but didn't operate as a bordello as far as I know...although that is what I tell people now who ask "What did this used to be?" just because I'm so sick of answering that question.

3) Stumpjack Coffee Company has as its inspiration a small cafe in southern Italy that opened in the years immediately following World War II and was operated by two former GI's who loved the country and decided to stay after the war. FALSE...I do like the image that that conjures though.

4) The Stumpjack Coffee Co. neon sign that adorns our front window was created over the course of several weeks by a neon artist who now resides in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. TRUE...it is the creative handiwork of one Marty Suettinger. We'll be doing an exhibition of Marty's work sometime in the future.

5) The murals on the walls behind the counter in Stumpjack Coffee Co. were uncovered during renovation of the space and have as yet been unidentified as to their creator. TRUE...under several layers of wallpaper. One of these days I'll get up there and start restoring them.

6) Stumpjack Coffee Co. uses several different roasters for its coffee, some located as far away as Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. FALSE...Two Rivers Roasting is the only roaster we use; our exclusive supplier of the best dang coffee here, there or anywhere!

7) Numerous musicians have performed at Stumpjack Coffee, including local artists Becky Markvart and Kerry Michaels, Pat DiNizio of the Smithereens, blues guitarist John Will Balsley, and Chicago jazz guitarist Miles Milborn. FALSE...I've been wanting to get Pat DiNizio here but haven't accomplished it yet, and Miles Milborn is a fictitious name (but it does sound like the name of a jazz guitarist doesn't it).

8) According to company archives the original documentation and partial domestication of an actual Stumpjack, whom our logo represents, is credited to one Lester V. Smith. TRUE...Lester was the man, and quite a man was he...

Now check out the post below and come on out tomorrow night to see Joe and Mike perform...it's gonna be great!

Joe & Mike here this Saturday

This Saturday the 9th at 7:00pm: The music of Joe LaForce & Mike Retzinger.

We've been trying for probably more than a year to schedule a date with Joe and Mike to play here at Stumpjack Coffee. Either their or our schedules never seemed to mesh until now. So we are very happy to announce Joe and Mike's first-ever gig at Stumpjack this coming Saturday.

Come out in force people (no pun intended there, Joe, honestly) this Saturday for what promises to be a very good time of music, conversation and caffeine (or beer or wine?).

Flickr pics from Derek's Saturday night gig.

Derek Pritzl and Scott Cowling rocked the Stump for three hours (yeah, three hours!) tonight. We have to start cleaning up so the short report is that the house was full, everyone loved Derek, Scott plays some mighty tasty guitar, and we might have a video or two to put on here when Derek hooks us up with a disc from tonight.

Go here for the Flickr set.