As a young father of two, Mark Sheehan fondly recalls bringing his boys up to Northampton, expanding his trusty stroller and proudly pushing them around the bustling downtown.
"It was just such a safe environment, and the area was just so calm and full of friendly faces," he reminisces. "I always wanted to live there."
At the time, however, Sheehan had made a home for himself in Springfield. And while the sights, sounds and tastes of the so-called Paradise City and all its eclectic offerings seemed to be whispering in his ear incessantly, Sheehan adds that he was able to drown out the subconscious seductions from time to time, courtesy of his forays into the local music scene there. When he wasn't playing bass for the band Genocide, Sheehan was spending his nights spinning obscure tunes at the Mardi Gras, foregoing the tried and true catalogue of Mötley Crüe and Poison exotic dancer fare in favor of old Jamaican dub, Pavement and even local bands like The Howards. It was the latter profession, he concludes, that eventually led him to what he at first deemed to be a harsh reality.
"I realized I had an ear for finding new bands and music," he says. "I thought it was a useless talent and wished I could play an instrument better or write about music better. But that's what I could do."
In 2005, he decided the next thing he should do was move to his beloved Northampton and make one last go at pursuing a career in the music field. A part-time gig at Pearl Street loading and unloading concert gear literally got his feet in the back door. Soon after, he recalls, he could also be found picking up additional security/bouncing work at The Iron Horse Entertainment Group's sister venues. From this unique, all-access perspective, he says that he was also starting to notice some trends.
"I'd work these open mics and meet these great new bands that would hand me CDs, but they couldn't get any gigs," he says. "It seemed like the same bands were getting booked over and over."
As a means of remedying the injustice, Sheehan sought—and received—permission to book some Basement shows and eventually a battle of the bands series there.
In the months that followed, PA's Lounge in Somerville has retained his services to help launch a series aimed at packaging Boston bands with Valley acts and the Sierra Grill has entrusted him with "Re-animating The Baystate," a Thursday night tribute to the Strong Avenue venue's former life.
In fact, Sheehan's lineup for this Thursday, Jan. 24 at Sierra features two Baystate alums, The Caroline Know and Tal Vez, as well as the area debut of newbie's Social X-Ray.
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In a similar vein, singer Jimmy Mazz looks back at his early days with the now defunct wedding band Breezin' as bittersweet at best. An ex-rocker, Mazz says he was more accustomed to "ponytails and screaming girls" than brides' fathers "yelling at me to turn it down" at the time.
Today he credits the tenure with giving him both the showmanship and industry experience necessary to launch his solo career as "Jimmy Mazz, Crooning Vegas Style" and his new association with Ray Guillemette, Jr. and Patrick Tobin known as The Vegas 3. Catch both acts plus a set from Tommy Sands this Sunday, Jan. 27 at The Exit 7 Theater in Ludlow in a live video shoot show that has the added allure of having a special connection to Mazz's permanent academic record.
"The theater used to be my old junior high school back in the day," he explains. "And I was expelled from 7th grade for kissing a girl in the auditorium."
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Lastly, into this veritable field of realized dreams comes a nightmarish prospect with ties to Hartford's Webster Theater. As of press time, Ben Wu, who has booked bands there for more than a decade, had been declared missing in the British Virgin Islands, where he was vacationing for several days. Anyone with any information on his whereabouts should contact the local police there at (284) 494-2945.
Send correspondence to Nightcrawler, P.O. Box 427, Somers, CT 06071; fax to (860) 698-9373 or e-mail Garycarra@aol.com.
