Friends of the First
A Musical Benefit for the ACLU
Admission is free, and we'll provide a QR code for a secure webpage where you can make a tax-deductible donation to the ACLU in any amount.
Beer, wine, and snacks are available for purchase at the Grand Hall concession stand.
So…IF you want to get together with like-minded folks who share your support for the Constitution, AND if you enjoy a good party with great music in a beautiful room, THEN join with other "Friends of the First" on Sunday, April 12, 2 – 5 p.m. in the Grand Hall at Workshop13 in Ware.
Participating musicians include: Jim Perry, Bill MacGillivray, Mike Ladd, Brendan Keenan, Paul Provost, David Smith, Tim Bowles, Anthony Houston, Bob Sarkala, Myra MacLeod, and the Petersham Jam House Band (Aaron Kessman, Bill Zinni, Lynne Feldman, Tory Kilcoyne, Doug MacLeod, Annie Huppert, Dave St.Germain) -- and special guest, Mass Poet Laureate Regie Gibson.
Children in Crossfire
with speaker and founder Richard Moore
Let's take care of each other
Friends – I want to announce to you that going forward I will be accepting donations of non-perishable foods and lightly worn clothing at all of my public performances. Donations will go to the St. John’s Food For The Poor program in Worcester. I have been volunteering at St. John’s for more than a decade and I know the good works its provides to our increasingly vulnerable communities, and I see the need for its services only multiplying. If you know you may be stopping in to catch me at one of our great local venues, or at an Irish Seisiún at Fiddlers’ Green or Boland’s, please grab a can of soup, a box of pasta, or a jacket you’ve grown out of, on your way out and drop it with me. If you have more forethought, warm socks, kids’ clothes, gloves, handwarmers, female hygiene products, are all needed. Our city shelters are limited and we do have rough sleepers who will be out in the cold. Let’s work together to take care of each other.
https://www.stjohnsfoodforthepoor.org/
Happy Valentine's Day
Mike Ladd (demo)
Written by Mike Ladd
Ladd & Keenan - Fiddlers' Green Pub, Nov. 8, 2024
Without A Net Raises Money for UMASS Cancer Center
A successful and inspiring benefit concert for all involved
Pam and Arny Spielberg's recurring thank you to the cancer care specialists at the University of Massachusetts Cancer Center is Without A Net; a semi-annual event that is never the same but for the overarching premise: that no one rehearses for cancer, each experience is different and relies on the expertise, improvisational skills, and ability to listen from the health care team, and the love and trust of the clients and their loved ones. Distributing a plan of songs to some of the best local musician in Worcester County, October 8 at Halligan's Bar in Auburn, MA was the execution of the plan and whatever the outcome, it happens live, without a net. For me, it is a highlight of the year, seeing and playing with, and even just meeting musicians I admire sharing an experience that tests us, and raises money and support for an important cause. The 2023 Without A Net Benefit Concert:
Featured performers: Brett Brumby, Walter Crockett, Mud Rocheleau-Demers, Lydia Fortune, Jodee Frawley, Mike Gianfriddo, Charles Ketter, Mike Ladd, Yvette Rhault and Arny Spielberg.
Backing musicians: Justin Beauregard, Joe Carcia, Erik Cohen, Rob Coltun, Steve Leclaire, Sten Gustavson, Warren Olsen, Ron Ouimette, and Bob Sarkala.
Featured work
On August 24 2019, 23 year old Elijah McClain was walking home from a store in Aurora, Colorado when he was confronted by three police officers, then paramedics - he was removed from life support several days later. Yet another instance of racial profiling, poor training and hiring practices, and egregious abuse of authority rampant in policing around our country, aimed overwhelmingly at black males. After attempted cover ups by the Aurora police department, and through powerful community pressure, a judge has recently ruled that there is sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against the officers and paramedics. The trials are set to begin in July. I was moved by this incident to write "Elijah" and document in music, an overarching passion this musician and by all accounts gentle, empathetic soul embraced, the outrage of yet another murder by a privileged and protected authority. Of course, since then there have been too many more such abuses.
"Singer and guitarist Mike Ladd has been a fixture on Worcester’s stages since the 1980s, playing rock bands, solo acoustic sets, and everything in between. Today, he’s a constant presence at the Irish folk seisiun at Fiddler's Green, where musicians drift in to improvise and encourage each other through long sets of Celtic music. Last Call sat down with Ladd to talk about the seisiuns and Worcester’s rock club history".
Click on the picture and read the rest of the WoMag piece by Meg Trogolo...
With:
Brad Hurley- flute
Audrey Knuth- fiddle
Myra MacLeod- fiddle
Mike Ladd- vocals
The Pooka and The Mermaid were solo guitar instrumentals written in Dublin in 1983. Brad Hurley and I played an early version of The Mermaid in the band Above The Timberline in the 80s.
During a recording session with Ockham's Razor in 1997, Brad and I were blessed with a wonderful thunderstorm (which can be heard prominently on the tune we were tracking), which prompted me to write Stallion and Mare almost on the spot.
This arrangement of the tunes has been kicking around for a couple of decades and I'm glad to finally get it down on tape (so to speak).
The latest single from my friend, Tommy Byrnes has dropped to all your favorite music platforms. This amazing opus is the song "Stallion and Mare" which I was thrilled to provide the vocals on, sandwiched between two musical pieces "The Pooka" and "The Mermaid". I hope you'll add this one to your collection.
-Mike Ladd
Tommy Byrnes- All instruments
Lyrics by Philip Chapman-Bell
Music by Tommy Byrnes
My friend, Tommy Byrnes, has released a new single called "St. Michael's Day", recorded at his Southpaw Recording Studio. This is a fantastic song, and I'm so glad Tommy asked me to sing on it. Please give it a listen, visit Tommy's Bandcamp page, and add this track to your collection.
released July 5, 2022
© 2018 Insurrection Music ASCAP
© ℗ Sovereignty Records
Recorded at Southpaw Recording Studios
Bernardston, MA
Produced by Tommy Byrnes
license
all rights reserved
Arrangement by Mike Ladd, Brendan Keenan, and Myra MacLeod.
"Windbroke" written by Michael McGoldrick.
I was thrilled to contribute the vocals to this new single release from my good friend, Tommy Byrnes - "Storm Is Coming" is a vanguard example of Tommy's brilliant fusion of progressive rock and Celtic trad. Add this track to your collection - there's more to come from Tommy Byrnes.
released March 8, 2022
Written by Tommy Byrnes
© 2019 Insurrection Music ASCAP
© ℗ Insurrection Records
Recorded at Southpaw Recording Studios
Bernardston, MA
Produced by Tommy Byrnes
license
all rights reserved
Tip Jar
Written as the 2020 pandemic began to have nationwide effects, this song is about some of the closeness we're finding we miss, the imminent showdown that's coming to repel darkness and heal the broken, putting down evil, and it's about the "playfulness" of New England weather 😉 It's an invocation to Call the Light, the good and the bad illuminated, and to act appropriately to strive for betterment.
A Year Ago
A year ago, encapsulated in Covid isolation, nine musicians came together over cyberspace to record and video their parts to the song "Doin' the Best I Can". The project and the song the brainchild of Arny Spielberg and his wife Pam, called Without A Net, is a recurring event manifesting in different ways to raise funds for the UMASS Cancer Center in Worcester, MA. Without A Net 2020 coupled the premiere of the song video with an online auction of eleven hand-painted umbrellas by some of Central Mass' most exciting artists. A big thank you to the spirit and energy of Pam and Arny - we hope you will consider giving to the UMASS Cancer Center.
This video is part of the Without A Net – Team Pam fundraiser to benefit the UMass Cancer Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. We’re pleased to share the video for free. And we hope that its positive message will inspire you to make a donation to support the UMass Cancer Center. ABOUT THE SONG Arny Spielberg wrote the lyrics in 2009, when his wife, Pam, was battling esophageal cancer. Thanks to the great care she received at the UMass Cancer Center, she is cancer free today, more than a decade later. Thrilled to finally have this song recorded,. The only instruction provided to the Without A Net musicians was, “Bring the funk!”
Chorus: And if I get a little grit in my gumbo If I get a stone in my shoe If my stars are crossed and I get lost Tell you what I'm gonna do Gonna keep on doing, doing the best I can
Participating musicians: • Soloists -- Duke Levine, guitar; Mike Ladd, guitar; Nicole Sutka, flute; Rob Coltun, guitar • Backing Section – Erik Cohen, bass; Michael Harmon, drums; Mike Ladd, guitar; Brooks Milgate, organ; Fernando Perez, percussion; Arny Spielberg, guitar, vocals • Producer – Michael Harmon, who owns Wachusett Recording Company in Princeton, Mass. served as producer for the recording and video.
ABOUT WITHOUT A NET Without A Net events are based on a metaphor for dealing with cancer. No one ever plans or rehearses having cancer. And even with the best care, whether you get well depends on a balance of preparation, trust, and chance — with no promises for the outcome. Similarly, Without A Net performances are part plan and part improvisation. Participating musicians bring our talent to the moment, we trust each other, and we agree to leave our shared experience wide open to chance. And like life - or dealing with cancer - there are no promises for the outcome. We are all playing without a net. Every day.