 Tuesday night, January 24th, join us for a night of great music, poetry, comedy and meet some great people as we host the weekly Open Mic Night at the Hearing Room in Lowell Massachusetts. Performances start at 7:00p.m. BYOBeverages, Free Popcorn and Plenty of Free Parking. A $5. Donation is suggested. Come sing,play, recite, dance, read, perform, or just come to relax and enjoy some amazing performances. The Hearing Room is quickly becoming one of the most popular music venues in the greater Lowell area since it opened in June of 2016. Located at 119 Chelmsford St, close to the Gallagher terminal, the unique space formally housed the 119 Art Gallery. The Hearing Room has become a popular destination for many songwriter's, musicians, and performers from across the New England region. Visit their web page or follow them on Facebook at TheHearingRoom. And now, This evening's Blog Well we survived another Monday. It's ironic how the weekends always fly by but Mondays always feel so long, especially when the weather is rainy, snowy, overcast and damp. Luckily we only are looking a couple of more months before we can say good bye to another New England winter, which also means we are only about a month away before the equipment truck leaves Yawkey Way and heads to Florida as pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. Sports Fanatics in New England are different than fans in any other part of the country. For one thing, any one us over the age of say, 40, grew up knowing all too well the feeling of going season after season without a Championship. But in recent years all that has changed. The Sox finally broke the curse, and have since become the most successful MLB Franchise of the new century. The Bruins and the Celtics also put up a couple of banners in recent years. But then there are the New England Patriots. Incredibly, when the Patriots take the field in two weeks down in Houston, they will set yet another record. They will have made more Super Bowl appearances than any other team in the NFL, including Dallas, Denver and Pittsburg. And hopefully, they will bring home Lombardi Trophy #5. I think it might be time Mr.Roger Goodell and the NFL Owners consider adding a name to that trophy......The Belichick/Lombardi SuperBowl Trophy. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Safe travels, Hugh
0 Comments
 Is there anything better than leftover pizza and a huge cup of hot coffee on a lazy Saturday morning? How about being able to enjoy that first cup of life sustaining java sitting outside on the deck with the sun on your face and temperatures feeling more like late April? I am trying to find the motivation to finish unloading the Nitro Tour Bus and get the studio set up for the next rehearsal but the weather today is just so nice I think I am developing a mild case of Spring Fever. I'm sure it will pass quickly. After all, this is New England, and the weather changes so quickly around these parts I find myself having to dress in layers about eight months a year. I stepped out onto the deck this morning expecting a blast of cold air and instead I am pleasantly surprised by a glimpse of the Spring. If this is somehow a result of global warming, then I shamefully admit I am perfectly willing to sacrifice a few polar bears. Just saying....
I want to send out a huge THANK YOU to every one that came out to Angela's last night for our performance. I am truly grateful for all the support and the friendship you have shown us as we continue to get the HughMcQueenMusicProject up and running. Our Special thanks goes out to all of old friends and regulars.You know who you are, and your continued support means the world to us. Also, I want to thank the many new friends we have made from the Lowell Public Schools that have come out to our recent shows. Having had the opportunity to see first hand, the work you do every day, I can say in all candor that you are some of the most dedicated and hard working people I've ever known. So Thank you for coming out to see us. We hope you really enjoyed the sets. Thank you to Christina Sideri and her awesome staff at Angela's for taking such great care of us. We look forward to seeing you all again on St.Patrick's Day. And lastly, to my good friend that made the trek to Tyngsborough all the way from the seacoast, it truly made my night catching up after so many years and so many miles. You my friend, are truly a man of your word. You are a poet, a writer, an Iron Man, and your words and deeds have served as inspiration to more people than you realize. Keep on fighting the good fight my friend. "The fighter still remains" . Safe travels, Hugh Hello and good afternoon people, Tomorrow night we're taking the stage at Angela's Coal Fired Pizza in Tyngsboro. This will be our third show at Angela's CFP, and we are excited to back with several new tunes added to the playlists. Our first set begins at six and we will be playing until they throw us out, so come on down and start your weekend off right with some classic tunes, a couple of your favorite beverages and the best thin crust pizza this side of the North End. Tomorrow will mark the 53rd Anniversary of THE BEATLES first U.S release of the Album, "Meet the Beatles". It was actually the second album released by the lads from Liverpool in the states, but their 1st on the Capitol Records Label. VeeJay Records released an album called "Introducing the Beatles" on January 10th, 1964, just ten days prior to Capitol's release of "Meet the Beatles", but the album did not fair nearly as well as their release on Capitol which held the #1 spot on the Album Charts for eleven weeks. "Meet the Beatles "also just happened to be one of the first vinyl albums I ever bought, so don't be surprised if you hear a couple of extra songs from their early years mixed into the playlist throughout the evening. Hope to see you there. And now for todays' Blog: Phone Glitches, Aggravation, and those Bouncy Things For the last twenty-four hours my phone has been ringing off the hook. Normally I would not mind, but unfortunately the people calling were not looking for the Hugh McQueen Music Project. It seems one of our local businesses that specializes in Trampolines and Inflatables for kids parties entered the wrong phone number for their web site's call forwarding feature. Unfortunately their receptionist's phone number that handles all of their incoming calls during off hours is exactly the same as ours except for the last digit. When they were closing up the office yesterday afternoon , in haste, they entered OUR NUMBER instead of hers for all their call forwarding So since about 3;00 yesterday afternoon I have had more than 75 phone calls asking for hourly rates, confirmations on scheduled parties, orders for extra pizza, inquiries on safety, additional guests and on and on and on..........One woman actually called me back five times yesterday after the first call when I explained she had the wrong number!!!!! She called back two more times today!!!!! Makes me wonder, just a kittle, WHAT"S WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE????!!!!!!!!! Fortunately , right before my head was going to explode, and after spending the better part of a lunch break on the phone with a very helpful young lady from Verizon we identified what had happened. Unfortunately, the fact that the Verizon lady wrote up a service slip and started calling me darling and honey after the first half hour we were on the phone did absolutely nothing to stop the calls. Between one o'clock and two o'clock today I received an additional thirteen mis-directed calls from frustrated parents trying to confirm their child's bouncy parties for this upcoming weekend. Finally ,about an hour ago I received a return call from Kevin, a seemingly nice enough guy that happened to be the proprietor of the aforementioned bouncy house world ( Not the real name but you get the idea). Kevin fell on the sword, took responsibility for their faux pas and apologized profusely. He seemed sincere so I did not really light into him like I had originally intended to do after about call sixty today. I guess when it comes to technology, you cannot deny that sometimes shit just happens. I even offered to drop off the list of phone numbers from the last twenty-four hours, but he assured me that it would not be necessary . It seems they receive a daily email identifying all of the phone numbers from their incoming calls, even the ones that were forwarded to my phone. So I just "Let it Be". Keeping my fingers crossed, but it look like the calls have finally stopped. Good news is that if Elise and I ever end up with Grand Kids I can pretty much guarantee that at least a couple of visits to the Bouncy House will be on the House. Thanks Kevin. Safe travels, Hugh   Good evening everyone,
It's Tuesday evening, and normally right now I would be hanging out at the Hearing Room in Lowell with Rick Cande and company for the Weekly Open Mic Night. Rick is hosting tonight and there is always a great group of performers. I unfortunately will not be in attendance due to a scheduling conflict, but if you are in the Lowell area tonight I encourage you to stop into the Hearing Room and check it out. Suggested Donations are just $5, so it's a cheap night and you will be helping to support live local music. This coming Friday the 20th most people I know will be either either commiserating about or celebrating the Inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 45th President of the United States of America. D.C will certainly be buzzing, and I am truly thankful that I will be nowhere near Washington D.C on Friday. Instead, I will in Tynsborough Massachusetts at the incredible Angela's Coal Fired Pizza from Six P.M until 10:00 . We have been working really hard responding to your requests and have added many new songs to our sets. In addition to your usual favorites this Friday at Angela's you'll hear new covers of the Kinks, John Mellencamp, Bob Seger, and a couple more surprises. Also , since January 20th marks the 53rd Anniversary of the U.S release of my very first Beatle's album, "Meet The Beatles" ,we'll be working in a few extra songs by the Lads from Liverpool throughout the course of the evening. Safe Travels, Hugh  Good afternoon from the rehearsal studio,
The only show booked for tonight will be the Tom Brady Show starting at 8:15 p.m. Elise is whipping up a batch of chili for the game and we'll be home in front of the flatscreen watching every play of what should be a decisive win for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. While we will be dining on chili my guess is that Roger Goodell will be as far away from Gillette Stadium as possible hopefully choking on a healthy portion of humble pie with a side of crow. Anyway, best of luck to the Pats tonight. Just get us one step closer to making that P.O.S hand the Lombardi over to TB12. I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone that made the trip to Chelmsford on Thursday for our show at the 110 Grill. Thanks for a great night, and it looks like with the way the evening went, they will be having us back again fairly soon. There is also a very strong possibility that we will be visiting the 110 Grill in Nashua NH as well. We'll keep you posted as soon as we know more. The HughMcQueenMusicProject would not be possible without you, so thank you all for supporting us and coming out to see the shows. We are continuing to look for suitable venues to perform at throughout the New England region, so just a reminder if anyone can hook us up with a new venue we will make it worth your while. Please email us or send a private message if you have any place in mind. This coming Friday, January 20th, we'll be back at Angela's Coal Fired Pizza on Middlesex Rd in Tyngsborough. Details as well as links to Angela's website are posted on our website and on the event posted on our Facebook Page. If you are planning coming out to party with us on Friday, and we hear a lot of you are, then please,please,please check the event we have posted and let us know if you will be there. Also, if you have any special musical requests, send them over to us in a message, email, or even better, just list them in the comments section of this Blog and we will do our best to add your song selections or favorite artists to our set lists by Friday. Hope you all have an awesome weekend. Go Pats!!! Safe travels, Hugh  Good morning and Happy Thursday,
We are really looking forward to our 1st appearance at the 110 Grill in Chelmsford this evening. Our first set will start about seven and we will be playing until they throw us out for last call. Come on down and enjoy the fun, grab a great meal or some phenomenal apps at a spectacularly cool venue! Playing music, especially performing live for an appreciative audience, is one of my greatest joys. With the possible exception of my children, my family, and my good fortune of sharing my journey with the lovely Elise, there is nothing that brings me more happiness than connecting with people through music. Regardless of the obstacles that we face living one day at a time, music has a way of uplifing my spirits while still keeping me grounded. It has become my most effective avenue of expression, given me purpose, and helped to define my identity. I am truly blessed to be in a situation that allows me to do the thing I love to do. As I sit here on the back deck, January 12th, 2017, with temperatures approaching sixty degrees, I cannot imagine a more perfect day. A fresh cup of coffee, a glimpse of springtime in the middle of January, and a local performance tonight that doesn't require a long road trip. Life doesn't need to get any better than this. Today, I have it all. Safe travels, Hugh Hi everyone,
Well it looks like we've survived another Monday. Spent the early part of the day running errands and working on trying to line up additionl venues, I really hate the business part of the music busines but as Yogi Berra would say, You've got to do what you've got to do.. This afternoon I spent about three hours in the rehearsal studio getting ready for Thursday night's show at The 110 Grill in Chelmsford. I repeat, "CHELMSFORD", not the Nashua Location, Just want to be clear on that since apparently there was a little confusion with some people (okay Joe?) Anyway, today I dove into the archives and resurrected some classic JT so we'll be adding several new James Taylor songs to the set. May try a couple of them out at tomorrows open Mic we are hosting at the Hearing Room in Lowell if I can ever decide on a key. Incidentlly, If any of you have a particular song or a special artist you would like to hear us do, you can message us your request right here on the Blog. You have my promise that we will do what we can to get them added, maybe not by this Thursday ,but definitely for upcoming shows. We've added a couple of John Cougar Mellencamp for next weeks show at Angela's specifically to fill a request we received from a new friend we made the last time we played there. because it's our mission to play for you what you want to hear us play. That's about it for today, nothing too insightful, but at least I had an excuse for a break from rehearsal. STAY WARM OUT THERE. Safe Travels, Hugh Good afternoon everyone,
Coming at you from the rehearsal studio during a quick break before I start working again on some new music. for our second set. Just wanted to remind anyone that's planning to attend either the Open Mic at the Hearing Room on Tuesday or the Show at The 110 Grill this Thursday to please check in on the events posted to Facebook and let us if you can make it. We would love to see all of you come out for a fun evening. Thursday is our first engagement at the 110 Grills and we really would appreciate your support. Well ,my break is up and I'm back to work. I took a couple of days off from playing this week and I am paying the price today. Thank God for Tylenol Extra Strength. The snow and cold never helps either, but brushing off the Nitro Tour Bus and cleaning off the back deck is a lot less painful than what all my compadres in the car business are faced with today. I hope those cheap bastards that you work for at least buy you guys lunch. Hang in there. Spring is only a few months away. Safe travels, Hugh  Hello again everyone,
It's good to be back home on this snowy Saturday after a long week. I am looking forward to spending the afternoon in our studio working on some new music for our upcoming shows. This week we have two shows. On Tuesday night the 10th you can join us at the Hearing Room in Lowell Massachusetts starting at seven o'clock, where we will be hosting and performing for our Weekly Open Mic. Then, on Thursday the 12th, we will be appearing for the first time at the 110 Grill in Chelmsford Massachusetts. There was some confusion on 110's web site listing a different performer but we have confirmation that The Hugh McQueen Music Project will indeed be performing at the 110 Grill's Chelmsford location this Thursday. Hopefully the venue will correct the advertisement before Thursday. The 110 Grill is a great spot to enjoy a fantastic meal and a couple of your favorite beverages. Our first set begins at seven so come on and start your weekend off a little early. Some of our HughMcQueenMusicProject Family was out and about scouting some new venues. I want to give a special shout out to Matt and Kerien for the referral. We will let you know how it works out. As you may know, the HughMcQueenMusicProject is self promoting. We do not book though any particular agent or agency. It's not that we have anything against using an agent, but the few we contacted when we were starting back up in July were a little slow on the uptake. So until we get picked up by an Agency that wants to earn their keep, we have decided to pay you instead. If you have a favorite watering hole or venue where you would like to see us perform and you can provide us with a contact that leads to a booking, then we will pay you a 15% referral on the first shows we book there. You can use the money to pay some young person to shovel your walks and driveways and still have plenty left over for a couple of rounds. We hope to see many of you out this week at our shows. Check out our event for the 12th posted on Facebook and let us know if plan on coming. For additional upcoming shows visit our Upcoming Appearances Page on our website at HughMcQueen.com. Have a fantastic weekend Safe Travels, Hugh Hope everyone had a safe evening last night ringing out 2016 and welcoming in 2017. On behalf of everyone involved with the HughMcQueenMusicProject I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. We are excited to be starting off January 2017 with upcoming Shows in Lowell, Chelmsford and Tyngsboro. Check the Upcoming Appearances Page for dates and times. Typically on New Year's Eve, I avoid going out at all costs. I've always considered it "Amatuer Night". This is one of life's lessons I have learned all too well. Back in the day, when we did book New Years Eve gigs, there was always trouble. Regardless of the venue, if it was an establishment that served alcohol, it was inevitable that before the evening ended we would be dealing with more issues than the Boston Police see on a Halloween Night with a Full Moon For starters, there was always at least one overly zealous reveler insistant on joining the band up on stage. It was a fifty fifty shot on whether or not he, or she, would trip over a wire and knock over a speaker or two before being removed by security. Then, there's the very large and extremely jealous boyfriend of the drunk chick. You know the one I'm talking about. Encouraged by his drunken buddies, he is ready to rumble with the entire band, all because his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend, after downing her tenth shot of tequila, announces to Mr.Muscle Beach that she wants to go home with the bass player. Certainly these incidents aren't exclusive to New Year's Eve, but I can tell you with total candor that the odds of them occuring on Amateur Night are guaranteed. Having been around the restaurant and bar/club business for a long time I've developed an genuine affinity and respect for most waitresses,waiters and bartenders. On New Year's Eve I find it bordering on painful to watch the goings on while the overworked, short handed bar,kitchen, and waitstaffs. Justifiably cranky, and their patience worn thin, they spend their evening waiting on a roomful of over demanding, over indulging, unappreciative and under-tipping amatuer party-goers. Many New Year's Eve revelers seem unfamiliar with the subtle nuances of restaurant etiquette, and in many cases, etiquette in general. I only wish that these people coule get a clue, but until they do I wish that they would just stay home. But they don't, so rather than deal with the scene, I take the last night of the year off and spend it with the the people that matter the most. So now Elise and I just keep it real, and instead or going out we stay home and make our own Egg Rolls . I always make some sort of Rice or Noodle Dish and Elise makes her famous marinated chicken, Then we end up trying like hell to just stay awake until midnight. Usually after she falls asleep during the obligatory Holiday Movie she's selected for our viewing pleasure I change the channel and put on the Three Stooges Marathon. I wake her up a couple of minutes before the ball drops, wish her Happy New Year, and we drift off to sleep into our sodium induced Chinese food Comas.. Such is the exciting life of an aging musician without the use of drugs or alcohol. Safe Travels, Hugh  |
RSS Feed