Our 20th year passes but we've accomplished much all while having a blast. From the massive crowds at Wadsworth Mansion and Jonathan Edwards Winery, to the groovy festivals like Strangecreek and The Daffodil Fest. The private parties, benefits and tons of clubs; Jakes, The Main Pub, Black Eyed Sallys, Donahues, The Winchester and Theodores, just to name a few.

 Somehow, along the way, we managed to record and release our 5th cd "MCB Five". We consider this our finest album to date and poured our heart and soul into the making of it. The story of this cd is deserving of its own blog so keep an eye out for that. We look forward to seeing you at the cd release party on New Years Eve at The Main Pub.

 All of these happenings could not be possible without the efforts and support of friends and family. We would also like to recognize some of the people behind the scenes, our booking agents; Cubed Squared and Wendy Gnaidy of BGM Artists, as well as our crew and sound engineers, Jon Gates, Noah Peebles, Frank Grande, Sean Kelley, Rhody Triblets, Mike Goodreau of Ace Audio, Jim Mingo, Jaybird, and Chuck Rubano.

 Last but not least, we would like to give a humble thanks to our fans. Without you, there would be no MCB. When we see you enjoying our music, it makes it all worthwhile and for that we are grateful.

 I personally would like to thank the band; Vin, Lee, Edmund, Jedd, and Frank. Your creativity, dedication and commitment keep the wheels rolling on this musical journey and make it extremely fun and satisfying for me. Here's to more success in 2012!

mc

"Strange days indeed, most peculiar mama". Well, nothing peculiar at all if you're an old hippie or a young modern day hipster who enjoys a good outdoor music festival.

After not having seen MCB in several months, I recently wandered into the Strange Creek Festival in Greenfield, Mass on May 28th to check them out.  Not only was I able to see the band but was also able to see  "The Face of Today's Hippie".

After a truck drive and a walk through the woods with the gear, the band hit the stage amongst tent city and came out of the gate strong playing a solid hour long set. Following a very good performance from the band that played before them, Mike started out the set with something familiar to the crowd, a Trey tune, “Alive Again”. Mike's superlative guitar playing drew people in from afar, so I was told from people in attendance, to hear the groovy sounds.

With a crowd gathering and not one afraid to take chances, Mike had the band debut a new Edmund tune, "See You Later". It came off well for the first time and it was easy to hear the musical potential for this song. And when they broke into the smooth R&B song "When U Get Back" the crowd got it, started grooving to it and the band blew it out with that usual fantastic peaking piano solo by Vin.

One great aspect about the face of todays' hippie is that these kids have open ears. Even with the band being unknown to much of the crowd it didn't take long for these kids to "get" the music and appreciate the level of playing that was unfolding before them. The reason I say kids is that, in my opinion, the majority of the crowd had to be from 16 to 23 years old with a few older hippies in the mix.

There they were - dancing in the clothes that I once wore. Maybe I should have told them to strike another match, go start anew, but no, they are the chosen few, the keepers of a flame, that started when Jack envisioned a rucksack nation and here they were - a generation later waving the freak flag high. As Hunter realized; the high water mark may have come and passed, but thankfully this spirit just won't die.

A young girl, perhaps 18 or 19, sat down on the ground in front of me while the band was playing and started reading from a small thin book which I imagined could only be a book of poetry due to it's size. I watched her as she read, stopped, gazed up from the book obviously pondering the poem or line she had just read. I was intrigued and curious as to what book she was reading. After awhile she moved the book in such a manner that I was able to see the cover  and lo and behold it was Jack Kerouac's "Scattered Poems", with a picture of Jack on the front.  

And the band kept playin on... doing fine appreciated versions of their own tunes, Mind Made Up, Second Nature, and What Goes On. To check in on the other band members that afternoon, Lee looked as if he was having the time of his life, Edmund Pert was en fuego and Jed did a monstrous bass solo on Child Inside. After a fabulous fun romp through a Santana medley, which the band does as well as, hmmm, maybe Santana, (you can catch a video clip below) it was over, time to pack up the gear, march it through the throngs of people and trees to head down to complete the double-header at Jake's in Wallingford, CT. that same night. Blowing kisses at beautiful hippie girls, I proceeded with my own exodus.

              Peace and Love don't get old,  Battus Philenor

OH, Ya' know....  there's no better place to see MCB than outside, so now that the weather is nice, come on down to the Wadsworth Mansion in Middetown, Ct. on Wednesday, July 20th for one of their best and biggest gigs of the year. Don't miss out on the fun people.   B.P.                                               

http://www.michaelclearyband.com/music.html

Below we've posted some clips for your enjoyment from some of the shows this winter

And we came across this one which does not qualify for winter but it rocks none the less with Vin on the Hammond at Donahues and Gumby on guitar on Halloween

Michael Cleary Band, Halloween 2010 from christopher donahue on Vimeo.

 We made a stop at Jakes in Wallingford on October 23rd to a fantastic crowd who was treated to our mini psychedelic light show. We like to utilize their built in projector and screen which sits behind the band and is perfect for this type of setup. Tony, the friendly gent who books us there, commented that "you guys do it right with your whole show" at the end of the night. Our friend Jim Mingo brought in his PA with his new Presonus board and powered QSC Speakers and had the sound pumping steadily all night. Shout outs go to Dave Brewer, Anne Marie Cannata, Lori Esposito, Dave Alston, Lisa Ramsey Hollenbeck and Mike Lapitino from WPLR. It was great to see all of you guys as well as the whole crowd at Jakes who made it a memorable night.

 On October 30 mcb traveled down to Donahues in Madison for a wild and crazy Halloween party. The band got dressed up in a varied assortment of costumes with "Best" going to Lee as Gumby. He managed to play the whole gig with his costume on much to mc's delight. What a good sport! The crowd was happily dancing in their clever costumes and we handed out an assortment of prizes to the best dressed. Shout outs to Edwin Bartlett, from CT Out and About, Janice Vecchito Thomas and her crew, and Byron, our sound guy for the evening, tastefully dressed as Spock.

On November 6th we played a totally high energy blowout gig at The Main Pub in Manchester. It was Keith, the owners, birthday and the place was jammed. Keith remarked how it was our best gig ever and was thrilled to have us play on his Birthday. The crowd rocked with us the whole night with high points being Lee singing the Derek Trucks song "I know", The Trey Anastasio tune "Cayman Review" which kicked off the first set, "Mind Made Up", "You Got My Love", and an intense Santana medley featuring Oye Como Va, Evil Ways and Soul Sacrifice to close out the first set. Special Guest Chip Fenney sat in on Sax in the second set and helped tear the rest of the roof off the place with a rousing set that featured What is Hip, Musicology, and closed with Child Inside. Thanks Chip! Shout outs go to Uncle Phil Wilson, Leah and Adriano, Lisa Karam and Michele Deluco and their crew, and of course Keith Beaulieu. Happy Birthday Keith, we hope you had as much fun as we did! 

  After cutting our teeth with our first appearance on the show 2 years ago, this second time round went very smooth. The only thing that wasn't smooth was having to be at the studio at 7:30 AM.  A bit earlier than the band is used to performing. Thanks to the help of Dave, Rich, and Darryl, the production crew, we were able to set up our gear, do a sound check, and easily be ready for taping at 9:30. These guys were great to work with. They have a good demeanor and really put the guys at ease joking around with them while maintaining their professionalism.

And that goes a long way cuz let's face it not everyone is used to appearing on TV, and most people, who don't appear regularly or who never have, are usually a bit nervous and anxious. I myself detected not a bit of nervousness with any of the band members. Everybody was hanging loose. Just take a look at percussionist Frank Bauer, in the green room, looking like the fifth Beatle ! Also take a look at the shot of drummer Edmund Peart smiling as he jokes around with the crew. That's relaxed.

 The one thing about TV gigs; there's more production involved than actual "Play time". Plenty of time to go over vocal harmonies on the song the guys performed that morning and plenty of time for Mike to go over his guitar parts 

 It's all about the lights people. That's right. A lot of time is spent into getting the lighting just right on the band.

Dave, the Floor Manager, spent a half hour alone getting Frank Bauer's hair lit up right ! Joking aside, Dave is a total pro, you shoulda seen this guy orchestrate the entire show from behind the scenes with ease. You wanna talk about multi-tasking, this guy is on his game. But let's face it none of this woulda happened without Darryl. That's for you, Rich !

  The one key ingredient to this broadcast that was missing, the co-host of Better Connecticut, the ever zany Scott Haney. Scott, you were sorely missed but handsomely replaced by the charming Mark Dixon.

The band was introduced by the lovely co-hostess Kara Sundlin and away they went into an MC original "Mind Made Up". A catchy tune that just grows on ya.  Kinda like a lot of Mike's tunes. Mike looks great in the the lead vocal close ups and the whole band played solid and looked good. Before you know it it was over and not even all the song was fit into the broadcast. Lee played a tasteful solo and poof. Check out the vid at the wfsb website when you get a chance. http://www.wfsb.com/betterct/25475694/detail.html

 Last but not least, Frank Grande, longtime friend of Mike's, myself, and the band showed up to hang with the band, keep everybody loose with that big smile and take pics. One of the funnier moments of the gig was when Frank and I were standing together as Dave, the floor mgr. was instructing the studio audience to not take any pics with a flash and, accidentally, in the middle of his statement I took a photo with the flash and he looks at me and says, "yeah, that". I couldn't have timed it any better if I wanted to.

   We'd like to thank WFSB for having us on again and I think we're ready for that Late-Night gig !

   stay tuned ....Jonny Gates 

 Starting out the set with Sting's "Love is the Seventh Wave" the band then went into one of their new originals. Mike usually sets up this song with his telling of how he wanted to parody lengthy Country and Western song titles by writing a C &W song with the longest title possible. The original title being "I got those late night, all right, Summers almost over but the headlights too bright, better pull it over, cause the wife is gonna kill me if I don't arrive completely sober Blues, again" , with the working title ironically shortened to "Barfly". Though the original title is still the main hook line of the song. When ended this song received a great round of applause. This song is a bit lyrically complicated and for it to be heard correctly the vocals coming out the main speakers must be very audible.This day they were thanks to our soundman, Rhody Triblets.

  For those of you who don't know Rhody, he's been part of our musical family for years mixing the band countless times. Providing us with tech support, gear repair, and an ear for the band that no other soundman has. Rhody is a consumate professional who has been holding down the soundboard at Black-Eyed Sally's Blues Club in Hartford, which the band will be playing this Saturday the 7th of August, since it's opening. To quote Frank Bauer, " Our Sound was sound ! "

 During the show I went among the audience to get names on our mailing list in order to do a drawing to give away a few CD's. It took me a while but I was able to speak briefly with almost everyone in attendance, whew ! I was completely overwhelmed with people's genuine adulation for the band considering that most of these people have never seen the band before. Hey, I shouldn't be surprised, I know how good they are. You do too, but if you don't, you better get out there and find out for yourself ! Check our calender.

  It was a really good day for the band musically with Lee, our rhythm guitarist, doing a nice improv on the ride out of "When All Else Fails" that led the band into a smooth segue for "Funky 16". Lee also shined after Jedd's bass solo in "Child Inside" by starting a different groove taking the band into another far out jam til they found there way back to the ride-out hook. The biggest round of applause of the day came after Mike's solo in Santana's "Maria, Maria" that also showcased Edmund singing lead vocal. Here's a facial chronology of the guitar solo, enjoy !

When the band ended there were a lot of happy people, with faces beaming and much praise for the band. One woman declared that MCB was the best band that had performed there this summer. "For that," I said, "you get a free CD." She left glowing. With an 8 o'clock finish time it was a nice ending for a Sunday as opposed to playing in a club til closing.

 For my one shout out.... that's to Linda from Portland, what are the odds that someone from my hometown, that was in the same year in school as my sister and one of Mike's brothers, and had never seen the band, just happened to be in Stafford Springs that day? ! Seeya at Wadsworth Mansion on the 11th Linda. til the next gig.......... stay tuned, Jonny Gates