Ryan Adams (6/25/25)

Ryan Adams performing at the Goodyear Theater in Akron.  Not sure I need to see him again.

Aaron Lee Tasjan (5/16/25)

I've been appreciating Aaron Lee Tasjan's direct and sometimes irreverent songwriting for some time and was thrilled that he was going to be at the Beachland Tavern! Definitely had some favorite songs I was looking for, and was happy to hear!

Shakey Graves (5/10/25)

A new music venue has come to Cleveland!  This was a new AEG / AXS Venue so it was still corporate, but I was excited that we had a reliable local veteran doing booking!  Shakey Graves was a great first show to see there.  Overall the venue was well laid out, sounded great, good sight lines, and expectedly high drink prices.  I’d easily choose this venue over HOB anytime.  :-P 

Bendigo Fletcher (5/8/25)

I was able to catch Bendigo Fletcher open for Rayland Baxter back in 2018, but was happy to catch a headlining performance at the Beachland Ballroom!

High Water Festival (2025)

When I saw this High Water Festival lineup, I immediately started dreaming up a road trip to get me there - and accomplished it!  After a brief camping and hiking stop in North Carolina, I made it to Charleston, SC for this High Water Music Festival!  I couldn’t have asked for better experience, and Charleston was charming!

A few quick standouts… I”m SO GLAD to have been introduced to Evan Honer.  I was lucky to catch the Julien Baker & TORRES perform before they canceled their tour. Waxahatchee cementer her status as a FAVORITE.  Counting Crows were meh.  Arcade Fire was every bit as dramatic as I was hoping they’d be!

Here’s the list of bands I saw, most of them appear in the above video.

Evan Honer
Medium Build
Joy Oladokun
Julien Baker & TORRES
Mt. Joy
The Backstreet Lovers
Goldie Boutilier
Ethan Tasch
Wild Rivers
Trampled By Turtles
Waxahatchee
Counting Crows
Flipturn
Arcade Fire

Basia Bułat (4/4/25)

I was traveling to Minneapolis for a work conference and was ELATED to see Basia Bulat would be performing at The Cedar Cultural Center, supporting her newest album!  I’ve been anxiously awaiting new music and a tour, and she hit all the notes.  Such a personable and authentic performer - and a great venue too!  I would have taken more photos, but I was too busy taking video!  Now I just hope for a second leg of the tour where she comes to Cleveland!

Maia Friedman opened.

Martha Wainwright (3/22/25)

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Ann Arbor, and probably even longer since I’ve seen a show at The Ark.  I’ve always appreciated their business model, and I was even more excited to see Martha Wainwright was doing a 20th anniversary tour of her self-titled release!   I saw her ON that tour back in 2005 at the Beachland Tavern - one of my all time favorite shows.   Performance this night at The Ark completely lived up to it.  I had a great seat for the show, but that also meant that it wasn’t really appropriate to capture any video of the show - so photos will have to do.

The Mynabirds (11/1/24)

Having not seen The Mynabirds in concert since 2012, I was thrilled to see they were doing a house concert tour - with a stop in Shaker Heights!  What a great space and a great show.  The intimacy of it all makes taking photos and video a little uncomfortable, hence the poor quality.  But the show was anything but.

Joan Osborne (9/7/24)

I've been able to see Joan Osborne several times over the years (2000, 2018), but was really excited to bring my friend Tim along with me to this show at Kent Stage in Kent, Ohio.  She’s had such a venerable career and is a consummate performer. One of my favs.

Iron & Wine (8/20/23)

Iron & Wine is one of those artists that I’ve casually been collecting their music through the years, but have never saw in concert.  It was a treat to get to see him at the Agora, and I thoroughly enjoyed the very unique visual performance that accompanied the music.

I was able to see Sunny War at Nelsonville Music Festival, but was really excited to see them in this space.  

Video Day #tzachill

The Lumineers presents some intriguing slices of life - and love! - in their new video for Brightside.  TZA House Concert alums, Oliver Hazard just released their new single and video for Use Me Up.  Maya de Vitry released this personal and touching video for her single Dogs Run On.

Bonus:  Danz CM (former Computer Magic) slowed things down for this gorgeous video, that I would LOVE to know where it was filmed...

Lucy Dacus (10/14/21)

Both Lucy Dacus and Bartees Strange have been getting a lot of love lately, and for good reason.  It was an exciting night to have these two artists performing on the same bill - at the Beachland Ballroom!  This was a “masks required” show and everyone seemed happy to do their part, as one would expect from a Lucy Dacus show. Check out the show and their performances!

Dar Williams (10/12/21)

Kent Stage has been killing with the female folksingers this Fall!  First Ani DiFranco, and then this Dar Williams show, and I even had to miss the Patty Griffin show!  It’s been a treat, and quite grounding and nostalgic as I’m making way through this pandemic fog.  I almost missed the opener, Crys Matthews, but thankfully caught a clip of her performance!  Dar was delightful as always, and she even covered Cathedrals by Jump, Little Children (who’s guitarist had joined Dar on tour!).  It’s on the video.

Courtney Marie Andrews / The Brother Brothers (9/30/21)

It was really The Brother Brothers who brought me to Courtney Marie Andrews.  Having caught these guys at a previous Nelsonville Music Festival, I was thrilled to see them making their way to Beachland’s Ballroom!  I really enjoyed diving in and spending a bit more time with their new album, and then really enjoying a LOT of what I hear from Courtney Marie Andrews!  Both were superb on this tour, and it was a great bonus to see The Brother Brothers doing double-duty as Courtney’s back up band as well!  Check out when one of them shreds the mandolin with his teeth (?) during one of her performances in the video! Courtney Marie Andrews was just delightful, as you can probably tell from the amount of footage I recorded.  Her most recent album really struck a chord with me.

Ani DiFranco (8/27/21)

Another year, another Ani DiFranco concert.  These never get old.

Opening was Elizabeth Moen, but we only caught a few moments of her performance (and no video).  However, I do remember we talked after the show about a possible TZA house concert appearance.  😏

Austin Stambaugh (5/18/21)

Beachland started getting into the pandemic concert game, with seats with big clear plastic dividers.  It didn’t help the sound, but again - anything it takes.  This was a wonderful night of live, and mostly local (or formerly local) artists.  Both Joe Wunderle and Austin Stambaugh were really enjoyable - and of course both were backed up by the venerable Cory Grinder and the Playboy Scouts!

So Long, Albatross (5/15/21)

Another show from the Grog Shop’s pandemic series of seated and masked concerts was So Long, Albatross, with Tom Evanchuck opening.  Any reader of this blog knows I’m a big fan of Tom, with him performing at my very first house concert!  So tonight was really about him, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more healing in this time than his familiar sound and song.

So Long, Albatross took the stage, and was surprisingly my first time seeing them.  Maybe not surprisingly actually, since they’re a little more rock than I roll usually - but always love supporting the local acts.

Jenna Fournier (5/6/21)

Creaking this door back open a bit.  From the date on this post, you’ll see I’m a bit behind on posting shows… Seeing shows during the pandemic in these early days felt like we were breaking some rules, but at the same time, but I’m always happy to answer the call to support the local live music scene.  Grog Shop had a series of seated, masked concerts this past Spring and Summer that were a lifeline for us avid concert-goers.  It was great seeing Jenna Fournier at the Grog this night.

Video Day #tzachill

YELLE was rocking my iPod in the early aughts, and happy to see their back with the laid back Je t’aime encore video and single. Long time TZA favorite, Teddy Thompson finally released a new album this weekend, along with this video for Brand New. AURORA released a delicately beautiful video for Exist For Love.

BONUS: Sea Wolf is another aughts favorite with a new album out, and this great fan collaboration video created in this time of social distancing.

Chris Pureka (9/19/19)

Chris Pureka doesn’t come to town very often. I would venture to say that this was only her third time in Cleveland since 2006.  My first time I was able to see her at the Barking Spider Tavern. I missed the second opportunity in 2012 because I was in NYC.  So I was quite excited when I saw she was finally coming back again, this time to the Beachland Tavern!  

She has hit the Oberlin Folk Festival a couple times, where I saw her in 2011. I missed her in 2016 because I was in Atlanta.   I guess the point of all this is that I’m a big fan, and it takes hundreds of miles for me to not see her perform.  😋

I’ll admit that I haven’t been keeping up with her latest album releases, but I’ll always be charmed by her quiet stage presence, but piercing songs and slight quiver in her velvet voice.

The Harmaleighs opened, and this show introducing them to me to them.  They were so charming - and talkative!  They had great harmonies and wonderful songwriting.  I guess this was their first performance without their drummer in awhile, but it definitely worked.