Dave’s Photo Blog

Samantha Farrell is a local – she grew up in central Massachusetts. She’s just returned from a number of years in LA. While she was there, she met LeRoi Moore of the Dave Matthews Band. Moore recognized the potential in Samantha’s music immediately and signed on to produce her album. Sadly, Moore passed away before the album was released. But the Dave Matthews Band chipped in to help, most notably by promoting Samantha through an email announcement just prior to the show at the Burren. The back room at the Burren was packed that night with young, local fans who wanted to see a breakout local performer.

Those who know me and follow the blog probably know that I’m a big fan of Nicole Berke. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing her perform five times over the last two years. But most of those performances were either short sets with only a few songs or in coffeehouses. When Nicole lets loose in a place like Toad, it’s a very different show indeed.

He performs a lot, whether it’s at the Lizard Lounge Open Mic Challenge or at the string of gigs he’s had this summer. He projects a lot of confidence on stage and is a very consistent performer. This is not a guy who trips up performing a song. But he does take some risks – occasionally he’ll sing a new song, often a cover, and invite you along for the ride.

Thursday night in Cambridge was crazy. I was hopping between the Lizard Lounge and Toad. I’ve wanted to see the Baker Thomas band for some time now, and on Thursday I made it happen. I’ve been looking forward to seeing them because of the line-up, which includes Tom Bianchi (seen here on the left playing [...]

I had not heard of Mia Dyson before I saw this show and it was a real treat. She is certainly far better known in her native country than in the United States even though she has won awards that span geographies. But in Australia, she’s opened for Eric Clapton and Bonnie Raitt, among others.

When I returned for the performance, however, it had been transformed. The front of the cafe had been cleared and a performance space had been created complete with a live sound board.