Shawn Mercer and the Boondock Blues Band: Boondock Blog

It's been good to get back in the swing of things as far as gigging goes. I'd taken several months off... from early Dec. until early April.

Live performances are my favorite aspect of the music deal. Sharing the songs I've written and getting a direct response from the people listening is instant gratification. Meeting all the great people out there is a lot of fun. If I could make a living at it, and not have to travel too far from my family, then I would surely perform my music as a full time job.

The last two shows I've done have been solo performances... first opening for Dave Mallett at the sold out Alamo Theater in Bucksport, then at 64 Main St. on Vinalhaven Island. I've focused a lot on developing a full band sound, but I still really love playing solo shows. It is different and fun.

Check the schedule, and come to a show if I've got one near you. Also, please let me know if there's a venue near you that you think I should look into.

Thanks,
Shawn

Camden THE DOWN EAST ENTERPRISE November 1964

I Remember…

Building the ‘Jennie Flood Kreger’

The five-mated schooner Jennie Flood Kreger, launched in March, 1919, was the last big schooner built in Belfast, Maine at the end of the first World War. She registered 1988 tons and was 243 feet long, with a beam of 42 feet and a depth of hold of 20. I knew her well, for I helped build her.
I first worked on the framing and planking and then on the vessel’s three houses. The afterhouse, being the captian’s quarters, was very fine indeed, finished in oak, mahogany and some teakwood. The midship house contained the dining room, six staterooms and a supply room and the cargo hoist. The forecastle contained the crew’s quarters, the cook’s galley and the hoist.
I also had a hand in making her spars until a spar maker could be found. I also made the bowprit, jib boom and main mast before a Mr. Sampson came and took over. I recall with pride one day Captain Kreger saying to me:
“Young man, when you have finished a part on this ship, never say, ‘it is good enough’; say, ‘it will do,’ “
Actually the vessel slid off the ways ahead of time while the launching party was dining uptown. After the launching I was one of a small crew who went aboard every day for two weeks to five the Jennie Flood Kreger the last final touches before her departure.
As a tribute to a fine ship, I can state from proper authority that on the return trip of her maiden voyage she sailed into New York harbor and to her berth without assistance- a feat no other sailing ship at the time had ever accomplished.
The Jennie Flood Kreger, named for a Fairfield woman, prominent in club work and politics and the wife of the captain, sailed for many years. The vessel was finally broken up at East Boston, Massachusetts, in 1935.

Fred Farrington Washburn
Dover-Foxcroft, Maine

Molly and I are going to Belize for Christmas this year. We haven't been away together since we were married 4 and a half years ago!! This will be our first trip with out kids since then. We are so excited to have the time to reconnect in an amazing tropical setting.

We'll be near San Ignacio for a few days exploring the Mayan Ruins, and then we'll be staying on Tobacco Kaye for a few days. We'll be fishing, kayaking, snorkeling, and just laying on the beach doing nothing. I can't wait!!! I'll let you know all about it when we get back.

Have a great holiday season!!!

I think I just had the best gig of my life. Mitch and I opened for Shemekia Copeland in front of a sold out audience at the Grand Auditorium in Ellsworth. Those folks were ready to have some fun, and we were more then happy to give 'em some. Man it was a real thrill to play for a crowd like that, and to be so well recieved.

I also got to meet and chat with Shemekia back stage. She was very friendly and nice. A bit more personal then James McMurtry...

Well, it's been a while since I've written... life gets busy, you know?

Yesterday we had a great day! I was invited out the Vinalhaven Island to play at the Windfall Festival. I brought Michael along, and we played as a duo.

We got on the Ferry in Rockland at about 8:30 in the morning. Molly and I brought our three youngest kids with us, and Michael brought his friend Mattie as well.

The storm that hit Sat. had passed, but the winds were still quite strong. The seas were a bit rough, so the Ferry ride was rockin'. The skies were clear, though, and it was a really beautiful morning to be out on the ocean.

Once we made it to the island, Alison from Five Elements Gallery (www.fiveelementsgallery.com) met us at the Ferry Terminal. She and a friend drove us to the festival sight.

The Windfall Festival was held at an old farm right on the water. It is an amazingly beautiful site. We were set up in the barn with many of the farm and food displays. The barn was a huge old timber frame. Once upon a time beautiful wooden boats were constructed there. We saw some really great black & white photos of one of the building projects. The workbench, complete with wooden vices that were once used to hold the long planks in place for planing, ran along one side of the building. A swing, complete with a seat made from an old wooden plank, hung from the center rafter. Various interesting items from the coast and the ocean sat on beams, rafters, and hung from the tie beams overhead. I could have spent half the day just looking at the barn and it's contents... but, we had work to do...

Michael and I played for several hours, and the folks were very receptive. We were approached by several people interested in bringing us back to the island for various events... weddings, anniversaries, concerts. It was great to have such positive feedback.

We are honestly very excited for our next chance to head out to Vinalhaven.

Well, I am sad to say that our dear friend and Bass player, 'Boom-boom' Brad O'Brien, is moving on. We have had a great time playing with Brad. He has become a very good friend, that I'm sure we will stay in touch with. We're hopeful that he'll be able to fill in now and then when he's not gigging with his new band Phat Sally. They are going to be keeping Brad very busy, which is what he likes.... yes, he is a 'jam-whore' to the Nth degree.

Brad will be replace for now by the very capable Uncle Yo. Yo will make his début with the Boondock Blues Band on Sept. 15th at the MDI Garlic Festival in SW Harbor.

So long Brad. Good luck, and have fun.

-Shawn & the Boondockers

Sept. 3 rd. we opened for James McMurtry and the Heartless Bastards on the waterfront in Bangor. This was a benefit for the Worker's Center (www.foodandmedicine.org).

We had a great time playing for the big crowd at this event, as well as hanging out with the members of the band Gilpin Railroad Incident. They put on a great show too, and we had the crowd warmed up and ready when James took the stage.

I had seen McMurtry before and enjoyed his shows. I do believe this was better then what I had seen before. His guitar playing seems to have improved, and he had a great crowd to play to.

Thanks go out to Jack McKay and the other folks at Food and Medicine for including us in the best Labor Day party in town.

This week has been a little rough... I ran over as stump with the tractor and broke one of the rear tires. It looks like it is going to be a $1000 to get it fixed!!! Yikes. Molly sure was happy with me!! Well, I'm looking into used tires, repairing the old one, etc. When I do get it up and running, I'll sure be more careful to watch out for stumps and other potential tire-poppers!!

At least with the tractor down I've had to play with my other toys... like the chainsaw. That's good, because I have a lot of wood to cut to be ready for this winter. Sorry, not my most intersting blog... better luck next time.

I have very little experience with the recording process. When I recorded 'Boondock Blues' I had no band. I was doing solo shows or grabbing random musicians join me. So when it came time to finally record the CD, I hired some friends to help.

The process was pretty standard procedure. Start with a click track, lay down the acoustic guitar parts, then the vocals. I did this all on the first day. Next Justin, the drummer, and Steve, who played most everything else, came in and added tracks over what I had done. Finally Ezra did his work with the bass, and Siiri added the backing vocals.

I found this process to be rather frustrating and not a lot of fun. It was great to see my tunes finally coming alive, but I found myself really wanting to play with the guys instead of watching.

Now that I have a steady crew making up the Boondock Blues Band, and now that I'm ready to start the recording of the next CD, I'm trying to decide how best to go about it.

I'm pretty set on trying to do as much as possible in live takes... that is we're playing and being recorded all together at one time.

We spent one day in a local studio working in this way. Michael, Mitch, and Brad where in the main room together, and I was isolated in another room looking through the window. Again, I was frustrated by the process. The stress of the money involved, and the distance created by being in another room made it hard for us to relax and get into it. We did some pretty good work, but we really weren't having a lot of fun doing it.

So, now we are looking into how to change the set up to make it more natural and fun. Does a studio experience have to feel so sterile?

Well, we've got some ideas, and I'm sure we'll work it out. I'll keep you updated. I'm hopefull that we'll be hosting a CD release party by the New Year!!

Oh well, so much for a daily blog. It's been almost a month since I last posted. Summer in Maine is so crazy busy!!! Hurry up and do everthing before the quick season is over!! The weather has been great, the gardens are growing like crazy, and it's really been a fun summer so far.

The band is having fun too. We've started recording the second CD. Our new drummer, Michael Heatly, is working out great. He's a fun guy to hang out with, and an excellent drummer. We've got some good gigs coming up, so check in on the calendar.

Thanks for stopping in, and have fun with your summer!!!

We are very excited to have Micheal Heatly joining us this week to play the drums. He comes very highly recomended. Micheal also plays with the band Baraka, so we're hoping that he's not too busy to be our regular guy. Come and see how he does at the Maine Blues Festival in Naples this Sat. @ 2:30... we'll be playing at the Big Kahuna Cafe... right on the lake shore!!! Keep you fingers crossed for good weather.

Oh, man... one week of work left before summer vacation. If you didn't know, I'm a teacher at a middle school in Belfast, Maine. I teach the kids that hate school and are headed for droppout. It's a pretty fun job most days. I'm sure making a living playing music would be more fun, but I'll take it for now.

Anyhow, I only have this week left, and then it's summer vacation. I'm probably looking forward to it more then the kids. I can't wait to be home every day working around the house and playing with my kids. We've got some good gigs lined up for the summer, so that will be fun too.

I guess that's it for now. Time to entertain these students.

I've been looking into local studios who might be able to record my second CD. I think I've found what I'm looking for in My Thrill Studio in Frankfort. They sent me a sample CD that sounds really good. We have plenty of material ready to go. I'm hoping we'll start recording in a few weeks. If all goes well, CD II will be ready by this fall. Keep you fingers crossed.

Hey folks. Some of you already know this stuff, but I thought I put a little out there about what my life is like. I know some of it is in the bio section, but that's OK.

I'm a school teacher by day. I teach Alternative Education at the Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast, Maine. This is a class for kids who hate school... the ones who are failing for no good reason, and are probably thinking of dropping out in high school. It's a pretty fun job most days. I do have a high frequency of behavior issues to deal with, but the trade off is having the freedom to teach things that are outside of the traditional education. We cover topics like survival, basic carpentry, and bike maintanence. The schedule also fits well with my family life.

At home I have a beautiful wife and four kids... yes four!!! Molly has two from her first marriage... Jeb is 11 and Ivy is 9. Then we have two girls together... Maizey is 3 1/2 and Ella is 1 1/2. They are fun, they make us lauph every day, but they can also be difficult. Really, the kids are great, and we count ourselves as very lucky.

As if life wasn't busy enough... we are also trying to learn and build our life into a more sustainable patern. We are building more gardens, raising chickens, ducks, and we have three horses. We live on a little over 2 acres within a large family plot owned by my grandfather. We're off the grid solar-powered, and we heat with wood that we harvest ourselves. Our plan is to start heating with solar and to integrate our existing heat sources. Some day we'll cook with wood, and hopefully we'll be able to cut down to zero utilities. Someday...

So, how do I have time for music? I have a very supportive and understanging wife... and my parents help out with childcare a lot.

Really, life is good.

Spring time is always so busy. We've been trying to get the garden planted while fighting off the black flies, clearing land for new horse pastures, and of course chasing our 4 kids around... track, baseball, dirty diapers...

On top of all of that, it's the end of the school/work year for me. Grades, clean-up, packing, and keeping unmotivated early teen boys busy when they won't do any school work. I suppose it's a good thing we haven't had a bunch of gigs over the last few weeks.

Anyhow, those are my excuses for not keeping up with the blog... lame as they may be.

The new news is that we have two potential drummers that we'll be practicing/auditioning with over the next few weeks in preparation for our busy summer gig schedule. Check the calendar if you haven't already.

Yesterday was a good day... my tractor arrived. Thanks so much to my father-in-law, Dave. He got a new tractor, so he gave us his old John Deere. It's a late 70's 2240 with a bucket on the front and a woods winch on the back.

I got the tractor operator’s crash course over the phone from Dave. Then it was time for my trial run. It's really quite easy to run, and a lot of fun too. I took Ivy and Maizey for rides, and then I moved some gravel to fix a bad spot in the road. With horses, chickens, gardens, firewood, and a long dirt road to care for, this machine is really going to come in handy. I am really looking forward to more tractor time over the next few weeks. Thanks Dave!!!

OK, we have this shed at the end of the blueberry field almost 1/4 mile in past our house. It's actually the shed pictured on the cover of 'Boondock Blues'. So we use this old run-down shack for storage. Our kids' sleds and skis in the summer, and our bikes and lawn chairs during the winter. You get the idea?

This past weekend Molly went to get the bikes from the shed, and they're not there. Someone came by on a four-wheeler, broke into the shed, and drove off with our mountain bikes!!

I don't know why people do that. Well, actually I do. They're hard up for drugs, so they rip off something they can trade for their fix. The sad thing is that it's probably someone who lives nearby... someone we see regularly.

The land has always been open to hunting, hiking, or what ever. Now we're considering posting so folks have to have permission to use the land. That's too bad.

The worst part is that I had a bike just like the one that just got stolen... a GT Avelanche... stolen off our deck when we lived in town!!

I thought we were safe from this crap living way out in the woods. Oh well. I'm sure they'll get their due. Somehow the Univers will get them back for their bad deeds.

Why does it seem to be so hard to find a good drummer who's not crazy busy? I don't know. I've never been able to secure a good drummer as part of the Boondock Blues Band. We've had some great players with us for short times.

Justin, who did the recording on the 'Boondock Blues' CD lives 3 hours away. We were using Eric Sanders for a while, but he's the drummer for Tree By Leaf. So, he is getting way too busy. Alex Mitchell was doing a great job for us for a few weeks, but he works sailing with kids in the Caribbean for the summers, so now he's gone.

Alas, the boondockers are drummerless!!! Anyone out there know a good drummer who's not too busy with other bands? Please let us know if you do.

I'm sure someone will turn up....

I was in the hospital yesterday visiting my Grandfather on my father's side of the family. He had a stroke, so the right side of his body is not functioning right now. It was good to see that he's awake and aware. He was very happy to see our 4 kids there. He's already improved a lot in the past few days, and I'm excited to see how much he regains through his rehab.

I must say that I'm very lucky. I've had many years to spend with all but one of my grandparents... my mother's father died when I was about 3 years old. I would have liked to know him better, as he is the one person in my family the I most closely resemble in appearance.

My other 3 grandparents have had very long and relatively healthy lives. My mother's mother just passes in the spring of '06. She was 93 and extremely healthy until about 2 weeks before her death. I knew her quite well, and have tons of great memories. I wrote a song for her after she died that I plan to include on the next CD.

My father's parents are both in their 80's. I've had a lot of time with them as well. They have a camp on the same lake shore that my parents do, so there's always been a lot of summer fun shared with them. The song 'Grampy Captain' is about this grandfather's grandfather. I hope I have a few more years before I have to memorialize these two in song. Only time will tell.

Well, it's a rainy day in the Boondocks today. We've just finished two busy weekends of gigging, and we had a really great time.

The shows seemed to build in energy and enthusiasm, both on the part of the boondockers and our audiences. U. of Maine Farmington saw only about a dozen folks show up for a show in a 400 seat theater. Those who did come gave us their all. We were delighted with the possitive response and excitement on the part of our attendees.

The next night in Hallowell saw us performing for a nice crowd in the Liberal Cup in Hallowell, Maine. The folks there know and love the live original music. This little town hosts a half dozen or more venues that feature live local music every weekend. We've got some new live recordings from this show on the 'Free Tunes' page.

This past weekend was even better. We started out Friday with a show at the Grand Auditorium in Ellsworth. It is always a thrill to play at the Grand. The sound was top notch, and we had a few hundred folks there for the benefit for the Great Pond Mt. Wildlands. We opened our set with all of us in a canoe on stage. That got us a few chuckles. We went on the rock the house pretty well, I must say. A lot of people were up dancing, and we talked to a bunch of people who really enjoyed our set. We also got to hand out with some other great musicians in Eric Horshack, Julianne Gardner, Willy Kelly, and Tree By Leaf.

Sat. night we played Woodman's Bar & Grille in Orono. This was our last show with drummer Alex Mitchell. He's headed to the Caribbean to sail for the summer. Have fun Alex!!! Anyway, the people in Orono were ready to part, as it was graduation night, and we were ready to join them.

We've got a few weeks off before our next gig... June 16th at the Maine Blues Festival in Naples. Hopefully we'll find a new drummer by then!!

That's all for now. Have fun out there.