Past Events

Monday, December 30th: Waffle House Fight Club

Waffle House Fight Club returned for a Holiday Edition 

Waffle House Fight Club is: Drew Lance, Mark Hochberg and Brian Kasmarzik

https://www.wafflehousefightclub.com/ 

Brian, Mark and Drew draw from a deep well of musical experience to create a show that is never the same twice. They take audience requests and masterfully perform songs in a wide range of musical styles, in many cases performing the songs for their first time ever. 

And, the Waffle Bar was delicious fun. 

Attendance at this show was about 65 people and the band received $910 in donations.


Friday, December 6th: Boxcar

From their webpage: 

"Boxcar is singer/songwriter Jorge Valcárcel and the songs that he carries around with him as he vagabonds from town to town. Freight trains and hurricanes; girls that you can't forget and the sleepless nights; Boxcar's songs distill these experiences into a plaintive wail that only a coyote and the human heart knows. The new St. Louis band is the best line-up yet. One thing remains the same: the songs are acoustic pop gems that will have you singing-a-long and dancing to the beat in no time! ¡Viva Boxcar! "

Some videos: Wild Heart, Arms Around Me, You're My Only One

Friday, November 8th: The Pernikoff Brothers

The Pernikoff Brothers are a modern folk rock trio from St. Louis, MO, consisting of songwriting brothers Tom and Rick with Kevin Bowers on percussion. They have toured with Willie Nelson, played the Austin City Limits Music Festival, and are fresh off a slew of shows in Paris, and a recording session in the famed Abbey Road Studios.  


Some videos: Done With Love, I'm Keeping You

The Pernikoff Brothers trio played such beautiful music that at least a couple people in the audience were in tears. They also interacted with the audience before during and after the show and made everyone feel appreciated for attending. Tom and Rick's (the two brothers) harmonies and strong guitar playing was accentuated by Kevin's ingenious drumming. 

Many of their songs had a slow and steady build. They started with gentle harmonies and guitar melodies then progressed carefully to an energetic crescendo . The effect of this was that the gentle reflective mental state at the beginning became mixed with a driven excitement. Then, they did it again. 

At one point in the show, Kevin grabbed a hand drum, Tom and Rick got acoustic guitars and they came off the stage. Tom took a seat on an empty chair next to someone in the audience and they played the next two songs in the middle of the room. It was a beautiful effect and the room was absolutely still while they played. 

Then, a few songs later, Tom wailed on an electric guitar held behind his head. 

So, like many of the songs, the show moved from calm and melodic to frenetic and back. 

Oh, and Kevin only had three drums but used every part of them (top, sides, bottom, the edges) as well as hitting the mic stand with his drum sticks and clapping his hands in different ways to create an effect like he had an entire drum kit. It was pretty amazing and very entertaining to watch. 

Saturday, October 19th, 2024: Ruth Wyand

Ruth Wyand's Website

"Demonstrating guitar virtuosity with powerful fingerpicking, bottleneck slide, and a warm alto voice Ruth presents a mix of originals with poignant lyrics as well as well-crafted  instrumental arrangements of classics ranging from Doc Watson, Etta Baker, Miles Davis, Leo Kottke to Thelonious Monk.  "

Ruth has several videos on YouTube. Here are a few: Feeling good, There's No Turning Around, I'm Better Off Alone


Friday, September 27th, 2024: Waffle House Fight Club

Waffle House Fight Club is: Drew Lance, Mark Hochberg and Brian Kasmarzik

Brian, Mark and Drew pulled from a deep well of musical experience to create a show that will never be repeated. They took audience requests and masterfully performed songs in a wide range of musical styles, in many cases performing the songs for their first time ever. Several people told me this was the most entertaining show we've had yet and suggested that we have them back again soon since every show would be different. 

And, the Waffle Bar was delicious fun. 



Some links for the performers: 

Monday, May 20th, 2024: Drew Lance and Adam Gaffney

This show was a fantastic finale to the first music season!

Adam Gaffney

Drew Lance

Drew Lance and Adam Gaffney

For this show,  Drew  Lance teamed up with Adam Gaffney to deliver a "heaping helping of Americana" that included original songs as well as some selected covers. 

Links: 

Drew Lance: 

Drew's facebook page

Hunter Peebles and the Moonlighters

Adam Gaffney


April 19, 2024: West End Junction

West End Junction (Cara and Dan Ristau)

Today is Wednesday (this is the latest song from West End Junction)

You can find more videos and information at their website: https://westendjunction.com/ 

Links to additional information and content: linktr.ee/westendjunction


West End Junction playing on April 29, 2024

February 27th, 2024: Jessica Smucker

Jessica Smucker

More information on the musician: Artist's website: Jessica SmuckerLink to example songs: Dinosaurs, Overthrown

Jessica Smucker's performance was beautiful, emotional and intellectual. Her voice was clear and the emotion it carried kept me focused in the moment. 

Her songs were poetry and the stories she offered before each song enhanced the performances by guiding me to think about what the words meant and how Jessica felt when she wrote them.  She had songs about being a mother, a lover, and a disgruntled traveler. She sang about losing faith, finding hope and feeling o.k. about what you have. 

She sang songs that she has just recently written as well as songs composed during the pandemic and songs written years ago. 

It was also beautiful to hear her songs performed live and without accompaniment and then to compare that performance to the recordings on Spotify. In some cases, I prefer the simplified version and in other cases I like the studio version.

We had about 35 people attend the performance and the audience donated generously. Jessica received enough money to make this trip financially worthwhile for her. She also expressed her gratitude for the generosity of the audience and for the interest and kind comments that were made during and after the show. 

With this kind of response from our audience, it should be possible to continue to find high quality performers to come and perform in this intimate setting.

January 30th, 2024: Hunter Peebles and the Moonlighters

More information on the band: 

Band Website: Hunter Peebles and the MoonlightersOpen a playlist on SpotifyMore Links: Linktree

This was the first JohnnyLingo Music event and it was fantastic.  The performers were extremely skilled and played with passion. The band did two sets, the first was all original music and the second was a selection of covers. Between sets, the band mingled with the audience and answered questions. Then, at the beginning of the second set, they told how the band formed and explained how one of the instruments worked (a pedal steel guitar).  I've heard from so many people that attended that they absolutely loved the performance. 

I counted 55 people in the audience. 

The food was wonderful as well! There was a great variety including vegetables,  a crock-pot full of a delicious stuffed acorn squash casserole, pizza, impossible burgers from White Castle, and many more things. There was also more ice cream than people could possibly eat, even with help from the band. 

I was really happy to see so many of my neighbors attending the event. I learned that one of my neighbors has professional experience with stage lighting  - so expect the lighting to get even better in the future. 

I am especially grateful to Sara Traube, one of my neighbors, that was super supportive of this event and made a parking lot on her property available. With that spot available, there was plenty of room to park, even though it required a bit of walking to get from there to my barn.