Saturday, December 22, 2012

New Year's Eve at TAV CAFE



Celebrate New Year’s Eve 
with the Muddy Basin Ramblers 
TAV CAFE at Taipei Artist Village

In the old days, life was in black and white. Since we’re an old time band, the Muddy Basin Ramblers are kicking it old school this New Year’s Eve. We’re pulling out the stops, donning tuxes and tails, top hats and bowlers, spats and wing tips. It’s going to be a stylish affair, a Black and White Ball, with all the panache we can muster for the party of the year.  Admission is NT$800 per person, and that includes two drinks.

TAV CAFE at the Taipei Artist Village will swing to the sounds of the 1920s and 30s, as David Chen leads the Ramblers in a celebration of the music we love to play -- swing jazz, delta blues, jug band -- a mix of classic covers and originals. Tap your toes, wave your hips, and break a sweat on the dance floor. The music will be hot and fast, slow and smooth, tight and loose, but always with that unique spirit that sets the Ramblers apart.

The Muddy Basin Ramblers formed in 2003, so this show will mark the beginning of our tenth year of playing together. We hope you can join us at the Taipei Artist Village for what promises to be a night to remember (or just a hazy recollection, if you stay real late).

The Muddy Basin Ramblers are

David ‘Chillicothe’ Chen is front and center, calling the tunes, singing lead, and playing one of his vintage guitars or the banjo.

Conor ‘Ginger’ Prunty, our virtuoso harp player, is a shadow of the great Will Shade, and he does double duty on the washtub bass.

Will ‘Slim’ Thelin, the dashing cad on the end, tap dances, blows the jug and trombone, and sings up a storm (although it’s always “a beautiful day” when he’s at the mic).

Sandy ‘Sandman’ Murray, our dapper gent, wails for all he’s worth on the saxophone and strums like there’s no tomorrow on the ukulele.

Tim ‘Thumper’ Hogan puts his tourette’s hand to good use, scratching the Basin beat on the washboard and brushing the blues away on the snare drum and cymbals.

TC ‘Tuff Cat’ Lin plucks the cord of the washtub bass, made from the finest Taiwan PVC, and blows his trumpet like he never did on a Florida high school marching band.

Joining us for this show, and perhaps others if we’re lucky, is Serena ‘Bean’ Engel, cello prodigy, fiddle wrangler, and dulcet-voiced firecracker.

The Ramblers released our self-titled CD in 2007, and it's available at all of our shows, so if you feel like taking the Ramblers home with you after our last set, that can be arranged.