Godfrey Daniels

fungusyoung

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This must be one of the oldest member supported folk music listening rooms in the country, located in Bethlehem, PA... a couple blocks off the edge of Lehigh University's campus. Think it opened in the mid 70's.

First of all, I love going to see shows there. Very small, minimalistic stage set-up, but absolutely stellar sound and a tiny capacity... when they've got folks crammed in there like they did for Bill Kirchen late last year, maybe 75 people could fit in at the most. It's BYOB and they serve coffee and stuff in the storefront area.

I'll be honest- I was terrified when I first played there in late March. One thing I didn't know was how dark the crowd is when you're onstage. Not that the lights are overly bright up there, but they let folks see you and blacken the rest of the room. So, that was kind of bizarre not seeing faces or not knowing if I was connecting with anyone or not... seriously, I could only really make out shadows of those that were sitting 5 feet from the stage... everything else was a blur or black.

So, I played their open mic for the third time tonight, and it was my best slot there so far. Nothing stupendous, but my two strongest originals went well, and then I played a cover of the Bottle Rockets' "Indianapolis" to close... even though I don't even know it all that well yet... I even skipped the middle verse to bring it home faster. Anyways, very supportive crowd... and an eclectic group of players can always be expected. The turnout can run the gamut... first time I only got 2 songs because it was so packed, but the last couple times were the standard 3 tunes.

As a side note, I brought the newly acquired DV6, and it sounded fantastic. Really great guitar that I look forward to bonding with even more over time. Might play out with her a couple more times in NY this week.

They host open mics the first and third Sunday of each month. Sign up is a lottery and that is at 7 PM, then things get started promptly thereafter and normally wrap up by 10:30 or 11 PM. One thing is for sure, you'll never sound much better than you do on the stage at Godfrey Daniels.

http://godfreydaniels.org/
 

Scratch

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fungusyoung said:
This must be one of the oldest member supported folk music listening rooms in the country, located in Bethlehem, PA... a couple blocks off the edge of Lehigh University's campus. Think it opened in the mid 70's.

First of all, I love going to see shows there. Very small, minimalistic stage set-up, but absolutely stellar sound and a tiny capacity... when they've got folks crammed in there like they did for Bill Kirchen late last year, maybe 75 people could fit in at the most. It's BYOB and they serve coffee and stuff in the storefront area.

I'll be honest- I was terrified when I first played there in late March. One thing I didn't know was how dark the crowd is when you're onstage. Not that the lights are overly bright up there, but they let folks see you and blacken the rest of the room. So, that was kind of bizarre not seeing faces or not knowing if I was connecting with anyone or not... seriously, I could only really make out shadows of those that were sitting 5 feet from the stage... everything else was a blur or black.

So, I played their open mic for the third time tonight, and it was my best slot there so far. Nothing stupendous, but my two strongest originals went well, and then I played a cover of the Bottle Rockets' "Indianapolis" to close... even though I don't even know it all that well yet... I even skipped the middle verse to bring it home faster. Anyways, very supportive crowd... and an eclectic group of players can always be expected. The turnout can run the gamut... first time I only got 2 songs because it was so packed, but the last couple times were the standard 3 tunes.

As a side note, I brought the newly acquired DV6, and it sounded fantastic. Really great guitar that I look forward to bonding with even more over time. Might play out with her a couple more times in NY this week.

They host open mics the first and third Sunday of each month. Sign up is a lottery and that is at 7 PM, then things get started promptly thereafter and normally wrap up by 10:30 or 11 PM. One thing is for sure, you'll never sound much better than you do on the stage at Godfrey Daniels.

http://godfreydaniels.org/

Fungusman, Did you take any pics? Video maybe?
 

fungusyoung

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No photos, but maybe one day somebody will snap a few.

Clark, nice spotting on the Guild. First time I played at Godfrey Daniels back in late March I felt very alone with my D17... it was Martins galore in there that night, but... alas, this is Martin Country.... see what I mean:

http://namm.harmony-central.com/WNAMM02/Content/Martin/PR/000-16RGD.html

Ironically, Dave Fry confused the history of Guild that first night I played there by indicating Guild was originally tied to Gibson in the beginning , but I'd never correct anyone in a spot like that. Plus, I was way too nervous anyways, and I'm not as sharp on the history of Guilds as I will be after some overdue reading.
 

JerryR

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Folk at the Oak spotlight night again this Thursday - must be a little like that venue, as it has a small stage, and the spotlights are on you so you can't really see the audience. I'm getting to prefer it to the usual sing where you sit arrangement for normal singers nights.
 

fungusyoung

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JerryR said:
Folk at the Oak spotlight night again this Thursday - must be a little like that venue, as it has a small stage, and the spotlights are on you so you can't really see the audience. I'm getting to prefer it to the usual sing where you sit arrangement for normal singers nights.

Let us know how it goes Thursday, Jerry. It's funny to be in a room so small & suddenly get up in front of everyone & not be able to see a soul. I could see that working for some people really well, but I'd almost rather know if everyone's lost or vaguely interested, but that's real tough to gauge except a little bit between songs.

I'd love to play over there sometime at Folk at the Oak. You've done a nice job recounting your experiences there, and it seems pretty cool... I bet it's a really nice vibe. How far outside of London is it located? If I make it one day I could play the part of the tragically comedic American that they're too kind to laugh or boo at, but they're sure glad when he never shows up a second time!
 

JerryR

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fungusyoung said:
JerryR said:
Folk at the Oak spotlight night again this Thursday - must be a little like that venue, as it has a small stage, and the spotlights are on you so you can't really see the audience. I'm getting to prefer it to the usual sing where you sit arrangement for normal singers nights.

Let us know how it goes Thursday, Jerry. It's funny to be in a room so small & suddenly get up in front of everyone & not be able to see a soul. I could see that working for some people really well, but I'd almost rather know if everyone's lost or vaguely interested, but that's real tough to gauge except a little bit between songs.

I'd love to play over there sometime at Folk at the Oak. You've done a nice job recounting your experiences there, and it seems pretty cool... I bet it's a really nice vibe. How far outside of London is it located? If I make it one day I could play the part of the tragically comedic American that they're too kind to laugh or boo at, but they're sure glad when he never shows up a second time!

We often get US and Canadian visitors - an American duo were performing at the last Guest Night (I couldn't attend). It is about 90 miles due West of London, between the Chippenham and Bath exits off the M4 motorway. Best bet is to turn off for Chippenham, navigate down to the A4 road, then head West along the A4 for Bath - this passes through the outskirts of Corsham (Pickwick - Dickens named the Pickwick Papers after it). The Royal Oak is along Corsham high street. Let me know if you're gonna be in the vicinity and I'll give you more details :mrgreen:
 

fungusyoung

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Another Guild sighting last night at Godfrey Daniels. A near locally-based band, Frog Holler, played a sold out 2 set show that was nothing short of phenomenal.

Pretty positive their lead acoustic player was on a DV6. Finish was different from mine, probably hand rubbed. Man, did he ever have tone. These guys had an incredible mix... you could clearly hear every instrument very clearly, which included from stage left to right: drums w/brushes; bass; lead acoustic (Guild); rhythm acoustic (Taylor) & main vocals; custom banjo of some sort; and the guy to the far right alternated between mandolin, lap steel & a Les Paul. Even when the guy on the Guild was playing leads, you could hear them clear as day over the Les Paul. All he was using was a Boss GE-7 pedal for boost on occasion when he was playing a quick lick or solo.

The drummer and both of the guys to the far right also sang backing vox at times.

Great show, great band!

Gotta say... after seeing shows like this or the Bill Kirchen one I saw last year around this time, it makes me even prouder to grace the stage at Godfrey Daniels now & again on open mic night.

http://frogholler.com/
 

fungusyoung

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Replying to a very old thread because this is the first (known) photo of me playing at Godfrey Daniels. It's from a couple weeks ago, and I've played better... but the F112 sounded glorious.

l_f073dfc398064de3a0fc501775b59939.jpg
 

JerryR

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Nice one Fungus :D

Had the dress rehearsal for 12th Night last night (I also appear as a musician and in playing the music I wrote for the song 'come away death' totally fluffed one of the Dm chords - hope that doesn't happen during the actual performances on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) :oops:
 
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