This was the best Live from Matt’s House that we’ve ever put on! We had 8 fantastic musicians come and jam with us. The best part about the evening was getting old friends and new friends together. I haven’t seen Steve Canty in at least a year and I haven’t hung out with Jon McCormack since college. Both are amazing musicians and have been playing around the Seacoast for years. Jon McCormack was in a band called Fly Spinach Fly when we were in college. Click on the link and you can see them win the 1995 Seacoast Music Award for Best Alternative Artist! Jon’s most recent work has been with Order of Thieves; Camarojuana; Shango; and he’s currently working on a solo “Jon McCormack” album. Jon was also in the documentary In Danger of Being Discovered, which is about the music scene on the Seacoast in the 90’s. He is also a collector of classic cars and below is a photo of him in his ’67 Ford Mustang Fastback.
At the top of this post is our 11 minute version of You Can’t Always Get What You Want by the Rolling Stones! There were great solos by Mike Lewis, Bill Benoit and Jon McCormack – all on lead guitar, and two solos from Mike White on the trumpet!
The musicians who joined us were Bill Benoit, Mike Lewis, Mark Coder, Terry Elesmore, Steve Canty, Jon McCormack, Mike White, and myself, Matt Becker.
Here is a partial list of the songs that we played:
Rolling Stones
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
Sympathy for the Devil
Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’
Grateful Dead
Franklin’s Tower
The Who
Squeeze Box
Tom Petty
Running Down A Dream
Classics IV
Spooky
Lynard Skynard
Call Me The Breeze
Allman Brothers
Southbound
Bill Benoit
Bill sang 4 original songs at the end of the evening, including “A Kiss”, all with a 1958 Gibson acoustic
From left to right:
Terry Elesmore, Mark Coder, Jon McCormack, Bill Benoit and Steve White!
Me on the 12 String…
Jon McCormack on Bass and Bill Benoit on Guitar!
Mike White on the Trumpet!
It wouldn’t be a Live from Matt’s House without food. There was plenty of it. We had lasagna for the main course and lot’s of appetizers to go around, including smoked salmon on cucumber with cream cheese, homemade salsa (thanks to Raphael’s garden) and a ton of chips and dip (thanks to Mark Coder). Thanks also goes out to Kim McStowe, who managed to swipe a Potato Puff Casserole from a Baby Shower!
Terry Elesmore on guitar and singing Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones. Terry was in a band called Bad Habit in the 80’s who toured the country and once opened for Nazareth.
Live from Matt’s House
Matthew Becker
Portsmouth, NH
