Upstate Adventures: Schenectady, NY

In Schenectady,
in less than 24 hours we played a gig at The Moon and River Cafe, did a TV show perfomance on "Schenectady Today with Richard Genest" and played a show for the women of the YWCA (Shelter that aids victims of domestic violence).


"They don't take any crap in Schenectady!"


"The Doggy in The Window"



"Sun-rays through Sun-shine"


"Birthday Cake for sale at Moon and River Cafe..yum"

"Left on Red hits the road in their trusty Peace-Mobile"

CHESS in CT

CHESS IN CT

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. 

Nelson Mandela 

We are in CT with an amazing group of school teachers. They are a non-profit organization called "Communities for Learning" and this week they're involved in an intense conference, learning how to improve their school communities. 

We haven't JUST been hanging out, being heady, and playing chess, though... every morning, Liah gives the teachers a 6AM "Boot Camp" work-out and a 7AM Yoga class. We've performed for the teachers and tonight we'll MC a challenging game of "Name that Tune." 

*Note: The baby in the foreground was not used as a chess piece*

Upstate NY: Planet Love

PLANET LOVE: Printed Clothing with Positive Vision

(www.planetlovedesigns.com)

We met Planet Love at the Corn Hill Festival in Rochester....and we've been wearing Planet Love ever since! These T-Shirts are so cool.

Liah and I chose two of the "guitar" design shirts (in different colors and styles - liah the tank and I the T) but our other favorites included the "plant", "compost", "bike - way to go" and "pickle" designs! 

Tanya - the owner and creator of Planet Love (pictured above with us) is sporting "plant":)

These designs are printed with environmentally friendly water-based ink on 100% cotton!

Upstate NY: Tour Day 1

Yesterday we woke at The Moon and River Cafe. It is a cozy, artsy restaurant and music venue in the Historic Section of Schenectady. I asked Richard, the owner of the cafe, what the name meant and he said “It means skin, neck and titty” and we laughed and then he said, “just kidding, It means, ‘beautiful place on the other side of the pine forests’ in Mohawk”. I had wondered what it meant since we rolled into town yesterday and thought that I could never live in a place that didn’t have a cute name, which was kind of a bummer because it seems pretty quaint and friendly here. Guess that’s how it goes sometimes...

The name of our car is "The Peace-mobile" because it has a big blue peace-sign magnet that we purchased after our show last night at Moon and River.

It was so much fun to play in Schenectady..Great crowd, awesome musical line-up, yummy veg food. Opening the night was local guitarist/songwriter Tom Mercoglan who performed a stirring version of Eddie Vedder's "Society". Tom was accompanied by Leen on the Irish Bodhran. We also enjoyed playing with Anna Dagmar who I (Liah) had met a couple months ago at the ASCAP songwriting EXPO in Los Angeles. She is a wonderful piano player and songwriter and we jammed on a couple tunes with her. Hope to play with her again soon.

Hightlights from Tour Day 1:
-walking around the river in the Historic section of town, doing yoga with Kelly and petting dogs.
-Visiting the YWCA and learning about the challenges facing the women of the community here. We want to organize a show for the shelter. More on that in a future blog.
-rockin out and meeting new friends:)

Can't wait to see what else is in store..next stop: Rochester, NY



Here are some movies that Richard "the owner of moon and river" reccomended we all see:

-Dog Fight (1991) Winner of Sundance Film Festival. Set in 1963, America distilled into two people... A young marine recruit meets a young woman who thinks folk music can change the world.

-Rocket Science (2007) About a kid who stutters and his struggles with life and love.