Since our last update, much has happened in Almshouse World. In September 2016 we played a rolicking set at the Jenkintown Festival of the Arts, and the band included Tony Winkler on guitars, Nate Graham on keys, and Tony DeSimone on drums.

 

On October 22, 2016 we released Bitter Thing at a jam-packed, rowdy-crowded show at Puck Live in Doylestown.  Our friend, super-talented and extremely prolific singer-songwriter Matt Sevier was there too, and played an opening solo set.  Almshouse’s set list that night included:

Troy and Irene acoustic:  Secret Christmas & Some Other Life (a Medea song)

Then, full band, with Tony W, Tony D and Nate:

Into the Night

Fretz

Rosebud

Crows

Shooting Stars

Ghost of Yesterday

Blood & Wine

Angel from Montgomery (John Prine cover)

You’re No Good (Linda Ronstadt cover)

Anyhow (Tedeschi Trucks Band cover)

Ships

Bitter Thing

Then Matt graciously joined in for a kickass finale on Neil Young’s When You Dance:

In December, WSTW FM played our tunes “Secret Christmas” &  “Rosebud” on Hometown Heroes, and plugged our next show, which was an inspiring and incredibly successful benefit concert at Mt. Airy’s 7165 (formerly NXNW) on January 14th. Dubbed “Not Going Back,” the show featured Almshouse and 5 other amazing bands, all donating their time and talent: PhillyBloco, Paige K, Trickster Sister, The Revival, and Hank’s Cadillac. We raised $3000 for EarthJustice, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Sierra Club Foundation, and we received additional donations for Planned Parenthood, CeaseFirePA, Southern Poverty Law Center and the ACLU. We were dizzy for days from the  unexpected win-win, and we plan to do it again.

Our set at Not Going Back introduced drummer Tom Dorn, and featured backing vocals from Hank’s Cadillac’s Kim Alexander.

Next up: May 6 at Puck Live in Doylestown. In the meantime, we’re learning some new covers and working on new original material too.

 

all images by Bill DiCecca