Wednesday, February 25, 2009

FEBRUARY 2009 Schedule

2/28/09 Ryan's Tavern 6:00 pm - 9:00pm

* $2 cover charge listed on Ryan's website*

241 High Street, Hamilton 45011
513 737-2200


Saturday, February 21, 2009

Lagniappe Returns to Ryan's Tavern for Fat Tuesday/Mardi-Gras Night

Ryan's is having a special Cajun menu all day, so check out the food, too.

Take a nap, have a cup of coffee, hire a sitter, and head out to Ryan's. Wear your dancing shoes, some traditional Mardi Gras colors*, purple, green and gold; and enjoy a music Martini, New Orleans style.

241 High Street
Hamilton, Ohio 45011
737-2200

*Purple stands for justice, green for faith, and gold for power.

Friday, February 20, 2009


Mardi -Gras Masquerade Ball

mardigras-ball.jpg Join us on Saturday, February 21st, for the Rabbit Hash Masquerade Ball to celebrate Mardi Gras! Since we'll need plenty of room to shuffle our feet, we're having it in the barn. Live entertainment will be provided by Lagniappe, Cincinnati's ONLY authentic Zydeco. There's going to be great music, Jambalaya, crawfish pie, filet gumbo, good company,,, Who knows? We might even get a surprise visit from the newly elected Mayor of Rabbit Hash. (I hear she really goes for crawfish pie.)



(the above from Rabbit Hash news article online http://www.rabbithash.com/ )

Sunday, February 08, 2009

Lagniappe's Debut at Ryan's Tavern




(click on the photographs to see full-sized)
Well my friends and I had a fabulous time at Ryan's! And the band loved the place, too. Spacious and plenty of room to stroll and get around. Did not take many good photos, darn it, to capture the real mood of the evening, but, the band will be returning to Ryan's Tavern! See the schedule on this page, and keep your eye on it. Information coming in like morse code as I type. .... ..Soon as I decipher the info, updates will be posted.

It was fun seeing Jessie's parents play with the band. I did get a nice photo of mother and daughter. Good to see the Mayor of Hamilton smiling during the evening as he recovers from surgery and health challenges. Lagniappe will return for Fat Tuesday, Mardi-Gras Feb. 24th at 10pm until 1 am. (they have an earlier gig in Cincinnati) So take your naps, folks, and hire a sitter for the kiddies! Come have a music martini, and enjoy a real gumbo of songs.

Stay tuned for further updates as the Mardi-gras season of gigs is picking up.

~~Sophia is doing the Snoopy happy dance. (Need to get that dog some Mardi-gras beads.)

Friday, February 06, 2009

Lagniappe Returns to Hamilton for new gig at Ryan's Tavern

Lagniappe is playing at a new venue in Hamilton, Ohio. Saturday, Feb. 7th, from 6pm-9pm they will be at Ryan's Tavern. They will be playing above the restaurant in the second floor bar. There is a huge, gorgeous cherry wood flight of stairs to take you to the second floor. But if you need one, they have a small elevator available, I am told.
When we were there, I noticed a small Miller draft was $3.00 and a Killians draft $4.25. Nice pub and it's huge. Lagniappe is famous for strolling and getting up close and personal to the listeners. Good thing as from the opposite end of the bar, near giant tv and a small cozy fireplace, hard to see the band.

The city of Hamilton is facing very hard times but still has great people there (I grew up there and have a mother/friends there) and some fabulous architecture. Not exactly sight-seeing weather, but I hope the Lagniappe fans from Cincinnati will venture north to see the band and at least get some drinks and appetizers. If you walk two blocks west, you will see the Soldier's, Sailors and Pioneers Monument building, with "Billy Yank" on top, next to a cabin (see pic below) Built in 1906 it's a gorgeous limestone building. Oh, and just one block west is the old Butler County Courthouse, another great building if you appreciate architecture.

Lagniappe has an early gig and one could be home by 10pm or sooner. Ryan's also had good coffee and potato skins when we were there. Appetizers are served in the bar area but the dinner menu downstairs. So tell your family, tell your friends, and heck, tell that boss you don't like. The music should help their mood.

Hope to see you there. Wear your dancing shoes and get ready to "Second Line".
~~Sophia
*Photos top and middle of blog from www.ryanstavern.com website. Check the site for dinner menu (but no prices online) Photographs of the Soldier's Pioneer's Monument and High Street at night, are by Chantel. Click on photo to enlarge it.**

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

The Rest of the band bios

Dick Franz

Dick is a Cincinnati native, living in New Richmond, who began playing accordion when he was a kid. While at University of Cincinnati, Dick played rhythm guitar with The UC Concert Jazz Band. He began his professional musical career in 1971, when he played accordion with The Hilites, staying with them for 10 years. He then took time off to be a daddy and started with the Jack Frost Accordion Band in 1995. Chico called Dick looking for an accordion player and so he’s been with the band since 1998.

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John Mooter

John Mooter (trombone, cornet, slide trumpet, keyboards) is a graduate of the College-Conservatory of Music, and received a Masters in Music degree with honors from VanderCook College of Music in Chicago. He taught music for 35 years, and had his own band, "Blue Tater" for 25 years. He has also performed with the Blue Wisp Big Band, the Johnny Mack Super Big Band, the Queen City Big Band, the Avenues, and artists such as the Drifters, Otis Williams and the Charms, the Vogues, and others. He especially enjoys playing with Lagniappe due to the happy mood and feel of the music from New Orleans, and the wonderful musicians who make up the group.


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Jessie Berne

Jessie is a transplanted New Jerseyan who grew up in Hamilton, Ohio. First starting on the accordion at age 6, with the influences of Clifton Chenier and her mother as fellow accordionist, she has yet to curb her insatiable habit of trying to master all instruments that peak her fancy.


After many years of studying to be a classically trained clarinetist, she hungered for something different and rediscovered her love of roots music by listening to her dad's bluegrass albums. She left undergrad picking on the mandolin, and ended graduate school with a fiddle in her hands! Since then, she is now seen playing electric bass and occasionally will sing a song or two.
Not able to choose consistently a favorite instrument or genre of music, she has struggled to find just the right fit for her eccentric tastes.

Lagniappe has given her the chance to indulge in them all, with a buffet of musical flavors that shocks the senses.


Friday, January 16, 2009

Lagniappe Band Members; Three To Get Ready


James “Chico” Converse grew up in Lake Forest, Illinois, which is about 35 miles north of Chicago. He graduated from Lake Forest College with a B.A. in French. While in college Chico began playing "folk" fiddle. He lived in Louisiana, residing for 10 years in Franklin and Lafayette.

While there he learned to play Cajun music with the band File'. Cajun music is an integral part of the culture of Southwest LA. He now lives in Cincinnati, and teaches at AMIS, which is a magnet Cincinnati Public Schools foreign language academy. He is a founding member of Lagniappe.
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Chris Carmichael, a Cincinnati native, plays trumpet and guitar in a variety of musical styles including jazz and Cajun. Chris and Chico began playing with Lagniappe in 1992. His original songs include “Bobby”, a song about Bob Marley and “Trans Siberian Express.” Chris is a cyclist who rides for transportation and recreation. He graduated from Miami University with a BA in English.
**Guitar picture from World Fair Trade day courtesy of Matt. Trumpet picture from Rabbit Hash General Store is courtesy of Michael Garrity.**
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Yvan Verbesselt was born in Brussels, Belgium and came to the U.S in 1977 to teach French, in Louisiana. He started with percussion instruments around 1978, mainly spoons and refined his spoon skills with a French blues/rock/folk guitarist. Gradually adding, the 'ti fer (cajun triangle), frottoir (zydeco washboard), bongos, congas, ...to his skills.

Between 1982 and 1987, he had the opportunity to sit in with a variety of cajun musicians while in Louisiana: the Clement Brothers (composers of “Diggy Liggy Lo”) accordionists Larry Miller & Donald Fontenot, and drummer Lesa Cormier.

He moved to Cincinnati in 1989 to teach French for the Cincinnati Public Schools, where he ran into Chico, whom he had met in Louisiana. Yvan hired Lagniappe to play for a Mardi-Gras event at his school, and sat in with them. In the fall of 1992, Yvan joined the band as percussionist and drummer.
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**Please note, the other three band members bios, Dick Franz, John Mooter and Jessie Berne will be posted in a few days.