Pfau’s Play
The Scrawny White Kid Blues.
By Sean JesterPhotos by Mary Kate McKenna
Imagine this: I take you to a blues bar blindfolded. You can smell the bar’s signature aromas, hear the people talking, and eventually a guy starts playing the blues akin to some of the legends, like B.B. King, Eric Clapton and John Lee Hooker. When you take off the blindfold, do you expect to see a scrawny, 23-year-old white kid from Middletown, Maryland, who can’t weigh more than 130 pounds, soaking wet? I don’t think so.
Meet Paul Pfau. He is the aforementioned scrawny, 23-year-old, who—if you close your eyes and listen to his voice—you’d swear was a 60-year-old black man, weighing in at about 250 pounds.
Read MoreThe Art of Listening
The Songwriters Showcase at Brewers Alley
By Rachael Shankle
Photos by Bill Millios
It was a hot, late summer Monday evening when I met with local musician-host-songwriter-music promoter extraordinaire (whew!) Roderick Neil Deacey.
“Rod,” as he prefers to be called, is quite the colorful character, blending, as he does, a Salisbury, England, upbringing with 18 years of Americanization. But if it weren’t for this pond hopper’s passion for music, the Songwriter Showcase that’s been running at Brewer’s Alley for seven years, (where you can hear live, original music from 7:30–10:30 p.m. every Monday night) might not have occurred.
Read MoreModern Vintage with a touch of WOW
An Interview with Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade
By Rachael Shankle | Photography by Garth Phoebus
It was a familiar, cusp of summer, Tuesday evening when I interviewed the lovely Miss Tess—singer-songwriter and band leader of the eclectic Bon Ton Parade—during her stopover to play at Frederick’s Café Nola. I arrived just in time to see Tess and her all-male band swerve into a sweet parking spot right in front of the popular night spot and eatery.
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