Thanksgiving Eve Storytellers Show
A very unique concert was held on Wednesday night, November 23rd in downtown Wilkes-Barre. Dual headliners The Badlees and MiZ played a special “storytellers” show in a former church building now run by the Wilkes-Barre Downtown Arts Center. The live performances featured stripped-down acoustic arrangements and the whole night was recorded by Bret Alexander‘s Saturation Acres Recording Studio for possible use for live albums by either or both artists. Each act performed for a little more than an hour, with the Badlees taking the stage first in this all-ages, family friendly event.
“Gwendolyn” kicked things off, a popular song from the Badlees 1995 album River Songs. This was followed by the first “story” of the night by lead singer Pete Palladino, about an unreleased song called “Spark the Blue Moon” slated for the album which would become Up There, Down Here. This led into another song from that album, “Don’t Let Me Hide”. The rest of the Badlees set was filled with interesting stories and interesting song selections, including rarely played gems like “The Last Great Act of Defiance”, “I’m Not Here Anymore”, and Alexander’s banjo-fueled version of the 1992 classic “Diamonds In the Coal”. The band, joined by guitarist Dustin Drevitch, moved on to a couple of Alexander-led songs from their latest album before finishing with their popular hits “Angeline Is Coming Home” and “Fear of Falling”.
This stripped-down arrangement really highlighted some talents which are not always apparent when the Badlees play at full volume. First, the background vocals of bassist Paul Smith are really excellent and spot-on to some of the band’s recorded work. Also, the percussive skills of drummer Ron Simasek are just amazing, as he used many different sticks, skins, and techniques.
The band MiZ then took the stage, lead by Mike Mizwinski and joined by Bret Alexander on guitar and mandolin. The band played several selections from their new album East Hope Avenue, first of which was “My Irene” featuring a some fine piano by keyboardist Freeman White, complementing the acoustic pattern by Mizwinski. “3 am”, one of the better songs from the album, was highlighted by a command performance on upright bass by Bill Stetz. “Wink” featured an extended instrumental section with excellent playing by all members, including drummer A.J. Jump.
Miz told his own stories to accompany the music, including one about a haunting experience he had while living in an old house near Scranton, which he relates in the song “Pen Y Bryn Road”. He also gave a lengthy introduction to “October Skies”, explaining the tie-in between the novel of the same name and his own grandmother. The band has a very likeable quality both in musical performance and songwriting ability, with songs that are pure and honest with no pretensions. There is a unique “complex simplicity” to the arrangements, which make the live performance an interesting listen from beginning to end. There are elements of several Pennsylvania artists present in the sound with Miz’s vocal style similar in ways to folk singer Brad Yoder and the overall sound naturally influenced by Bret Alexander.
Local Wilkes-Barre writer Alan Stout, who just recently ended his decades long column Music On the Menu, was the night’s MC for this special show. He introduced the the evening as a “passing of the torch”, with the Badlees representing the past success story and Miz being the future.
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