Hi Flip Side Blues at the Moonakis Fans and Friends:

We’re writing to ask your help and advice for a challenge we’re facing. Our band, the Flip Side, has been playing monthly for two years at the Moonakis Cafe in East Falmouth. If you’ve been there, you know that it’s one of the sweetest music scenes around, where folks of all ages and types come to enjoy music together in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Moonakis owner Paul Rifkin has been so generous in opening his doors to the community, and we’ve built up a great following of regulars.

But now, that’s all threatened by ASCAP and BMI, two of the world’s largest music publishing companies, demanding that we pay up a total of $660 for this year alone in order to be allowed to continue performing there.They are systematically tracking down small music venues and have the lawyers to enforce their will. Last year we paid ASCAP out of our own pockets, but now BMI has added their cut as well. As we only pass the hat and collect a nominal amount for the musicians, we thought there was no way we could continue. But so many folks have pleaded with us not to end this wonderful venue, that we are asking for your help.

We would so appreciate if you would consider donating a little more than usual at our next Moonakis gig (Saturday, July 2nd), or if you are so inclined, to send a check in any amount possible, made out to me. This would go directly to the license fee. The band members are willing to forfeit any reimbursement until the fee is paid in full. We would also appreciate any creative ideas or feedback for ways to meet this challenge, so I would welcome your phone calls. We hope that together we can keep this wonderful community resource going, so it won’t disappear like so many small live music scenes across the country because of the same issue.

On behalf of The Flip Side, thanks for all your support and love of live music!

Chris LoCascio
774-392-0467
53 Prospect Street
Falmouth, MA 02540
www.flipsidesongs.com

Charro, our webmaster, reminded us diplomatically about how lame it was to have a blog with no recent posts, suggesting we should take it down if we can’t keep it up like any normal self-respecting band. Faced with the choice, I am taking the plunge and re-committing to being more responsible to you, our faithful fans and readers, all however many of you may exist in the blogosphere, on the dance floor, and in our imaginations.

After last night, I can attest to the joyous fact that there were a heck of a lot of you on the dance floor at the House of Bud’s. The place was packed with folks jumping and jiving and generally shaking all kinds of booty in all directions. What we love most of all at Bud’s is the mix of so many ages and types of people, all brought together by their obvious shared love of music and willingness to move with it. Nothing can be more rewarding to a musician than seeing an audience fully physically engaged, dancing to song after song with joy and abandon.

So thanks to every one of you who came, including all the first-timers and especially our growing cadre of regulars who are fast becoming our friends – your receptive presence inspired us to play our best. I think “Walk on The Wild Side” was the highlight of the night – felt like we cracked that one open to show a new side  (the flip side, if I may!), surprising even ourselves. And that’s what it’s all about – having created arrangements, rehearsed, and performed songs over and over, we can forget all the structure and let it move us as wildly and freely as the dancers on the dance floor.

Chicago Blues Meets New Orleans Boogie With The Flip Side’s ‘Other Side Of The Blues’
Falmouth Enterprise InsideOUT, June 7, 2011
By ELISE R. HUGUS
Over the past decade, pianist Christo LoCascio and bassist Melissa Roberts Weidman have been singing and writing songs together, drawing on their extensive musical backgrounds and their love of the blues to create a sound that’s all their own.
The pair struck a balance between Melissa’s songwriting skills and Christo’s arrangement expertise while playing with late-1990s band, Joe Sutton & the Safe Sextet. Later, they formed Is We Ain’t with fellow sextet member Todd Johnson on harmonica and vocals.
Full-time jobs and family obligations made it hard for the band to play regularly, so Christo and Melissa turned to playing as the Flipside duo, hosting open mic sessions at local coffeeshops and concentrating on producing albums, while also playing with the Shirley Lewis Experience and the George Gritzbach Band.
With the addition last winter of Drew Buckley on drums, Jeff Brown on guitar, and Will Harrigan on sax, The Flip Side now features a full complement to its high-energy rock and blues sound—and a new, legally-approved name.
The Flip Side transforms the Moonakis Cafe in Waquoit from a popular breakfast place to a regular roadhouse cafe on the first Saturday of each month, inviting all ages to come on down for a free show over coffee and dessert from 7:30 to 9:30 PM. The group also plays a more traditional gig at the Cape’s only blues club, the House of Bud’s in Hyannis, on the second Saturday of each month.
InsideOUT’s Elise Hugus caught up with the dynamic duo between gigs.
InsideOUT: I hear influences from Muddy Waters to Bonnie Raitt in your music, but your sound is definitely unique. Where does that come from?
Christo: All blues originated with an idea and improvised on it. Even if we’re playing a cover, we don’t stick within the confines of a song. It’s all about expression, emotion, and not playing the same thing twice. I plan on playing music for a long time, so I want to have fun with it.
Melissa: Improv is what the blues is all about. There’s infinite possibility within the 12-bar structure. We really enjoy the spontaneity of what happens in the particular moment, in a particular place, with a particular audience. I think of it as we’re jumping off a cliff together and we’re flying. It’s one of the most enjoyable things about playing music together.
I/O: Why is playing or listening to live music important?
Melissa: My concept of community is one that has variety, not just the generic stuff, no matter where you are in the entire country. What is specific to the people that live here, that consider it home, that gives it its specific character, is what makes this place special? That’s what makes a place have a memorable connection to people’s souls. “American Idol” shows that there’s this natural human interest in hearing music, but we’ve limited the ways in which we access it. When we have venues like Moonakis or Coffee-O, people come out and thank us for playing in such a welcoming, safe environment. No one is making a penny, but we’re doing it because we believe it enhances the community.
Christo: This community can be wonderful for playing music. It’s a family of musicians, and we go out and support each other. The culture that’s on TV, you’d think that’s all there is. I’m afraid people are used to hearing things that are so polished and perfect that they don’t know how to listen to music. It’s not about being rich and famous. Appreciating music is like learning to walk.
I/O: What led you to playing your instruments?
Melissa: I grew up at the height of Motown and soul, and when I looked at any of Aretha’s or The Supremes’ or The Temptations’ records, all the bass lines were by James Jameson of The Funk Brothers, the house band for Motown. A lot of people don’t pay attention to the bass. They don’t realize it’s what inspires them to move.
Christo: The biggest influence for any blues musician has to be Robert Johnson. For songwriting, for me, it’s Bob Dylan and John Lennon. As a pianist, Otis Spann, Pinetop Perkins, Thelonious Monk, Dr. John from New Orleans, and Professor Longhair. These are all great musicians that taught us and we’re passing it down.
I/O: How do you write songs together?
Christo: I’ll get e-mails from Melissa with lyrics, so many of them we probably have five more albums worth. Then we’ll sit down and do the arranging, jamming until it comes out the way we want it. We’ve been huge influences on each other.
Melissa: I ran a community dispute resolution center for five years, so I hold a lot of personal value in the concept of collaborating with people. I’ve also written poetry my entire life, and music is poetry. A lot hits me while I’m driving to work or doing something else. Our song “Disposable Income” came from walking down the street in Chatham and seeing this ridiculous car that obviously cost way too much money. “Bag of Bones” came after I had a minor operation. Sometimes I won’t hear a song for a while and then hear a recording and think, “where did that come from?” It’s like having children in some ways: their life is their life. That’s how I feel about writing songs.
I/O: Why play the blues?
Melissa: Blues is transformational. It takes the everyday crises and expresses them in whatever way, sometimes even funny and joyous. There’s tons of funny, sarcastic blues songs out there. Blues to me celebrates the essence of life, transcending class, race, gender, and time to endure. This is a form that started in the South and keeps changing and morphing

Already January of 2011 – how did that happen? So much water under the bridge this past year, musically. We’ve played steady monthly gigs at our beloved Moonakis Cafe, building up a regular following of wonderful local folks of all ages and types, fast becoming our friends. We treasure having a wonderful local venue where folks come to really listen to our music, in a down home setting run by one of the sweetest guys we’ve ever encountered in the business, Mr. Paul Rifkin. We’ve played a bunch of big parties and special events, and are already booking for this year. And we’ve started playing regularly at the House of Bud’s in Hyannis. Played there New Year’s Day night to a lively little crowd. It’s a real drinking-dancing club, different from the Moonakis in that folks are there to dance, similar in that it’s a regular crowd of locals who love music, and run by super-sweet folks, Tim and Candace.  Jeff Brown, our new guitarist, did us proud by working his tail off learning our whole repertoire and added his own cool style to our sound. Wil was in fine form on his sax – I love turning around when he’s playing and seeing him weaving and bobbing and smiling and blowing, all at the same time! Christo gets so caught up in singing and creating amazing sounds on his keyboard that afterwards he has no idea that folks were dancing and cheering after each song. Todd is always a big center of attention with his wild harp playing. But that night in particular, Drew was on fire on the drums, making the whole scene light up with his rhythms and syncopations. We are really looking forward to being back there on Friday Feb. 4th for more of the same! May this year bless us all with lots of great music and good times making and listening to it! Thanks to all of you for being a part of it!

Hi there Flipside friends! Charro, our wonderful webmaster, has gotten the blog page up and running, so now I hope you will stop back regluarlay to read about our latest gigs and thoughts about music, and respond with your comments. Had a great night at the Moonakis this past Saturday – not a seat left in the house, such a positive and responsive audience! We so love playing there – it’s every musician’s dream. First of all, the owner is the nicest guy we’ve ever worked with – Paul Rifkin, kind, generous and hysterically funny. We are developing quite the regular following of all kinds of down home folks who love music and come out every month to hear us. They hang on every note, giving us their full attention. It brings out the best in us. We had a wild time “trading fours” – each of us taking a turn improvising for 4 measures, then passing it on to the next guy on “Let Your Hair Down”, otherwise known as “The T Bone Shuffle”. Our new guitarist Jeff Brown wowed the crowd with his hot licks. Christo was on fire playing like a crazy man on the organ. Todd blew the roof off the place on his harmonica, and Will played sweet and funky on the sax. Drew was the powerhouse “steady as the Southern sun” as the Enterprise recently said in their review. His wife Meg magically put the whole place back together in no time flat at the end of the night, so the next morning Paul’s crew could turn out the fabulous waffles, omelets and pancakes that make the Moonakis Cafe breakfast heaven! Did I mention how much we love this place??!!