In Soviet CT, Boston Comes to You!

Boston rock band The Few are comin' to town! (We totally know their manager - shoutout Bryan Donoghue!) They're playing 2 shows, Friday at the Hessian Lion in Avon, and Saturday at the Mapletree Cafe in Simsbury. The band has a little something for everyone... they are described as classic rock, blues, funk, soul... y'know, all the funnest genres. The lead singer, Jaime MacKenzie, is not only a hottie, but classically trained and hella talented. Her husband, Kevin MacKenzie, sings, plays amazing guitar solos, and reminds us that functional relationships can exist! Bassist Ryan Martin is a luthier who crafts custom instruments for the band. (How impressive is that??). We don't know much about drummer Shaemus Shepard, but the imternets tell us that he kicks ass. The live show promises both visual AND aural excitement, as they do something involving a projector, and tend to bust out bizarre instruments like the mandolin or the washboard. They are upbeat and fun and dancey and this should be a wonderful time. This is also a great opportunity to check the Hessian Lion which we hear has all of our favorite things - couches, $4 Guinness, and sexy bartenders! See you there.

Proud Flesh and Pizza

Friday, November 5: The Proud Flesh @ Bohemian Pizza, Litchfield

Proud flesh and pizza? Hmmm... that actually sounds pretty disgusting, if we were really referring to that overgrowth of granular tissue that can be an undesirable consequence of wound healing. But we're not. The Proud Flesh is a CT band that plays a tasty brand of roots/Americana, very much in the vein of some of the other area bands we've been mentioning lately, like Elison Jackson and Sidewalk Dave. And yes, it turns out these guys are all personally (or personnel-ly) connected.

The opening track of The Proud Flesh's Tiny Picture Frames, "Lord don't let me," gives a full-on hoedown first impression, but the next several tracks are much more stripped down, melancholic and haunting (just the way we like it), bringing to mind national acts we enjoy, like Murder by Death and Bright Eyes, or The Snake The Cross The Crown, who most of you have never heard of, but should have. Check out Tiny Picture Frames at bandcamp... and if you don't dig the busy first song, skip ahead to the glorious gloom and doom of "Gold Leaf and Bone" or "Three Sheets," because wallowing in it is more your thing (it's totally our thing).

This Friday - date night? - you have an opportunity to check out this great band AND eat some of the fanciest, most delicious pizza (and salads, and beers, etc.) in all of CT at Litchfield's Bohemian Pizza, which we've blogged about previously. Revisit our memorable meal, complete with food porn pictures.

CoffeeQuest: Winsted

We've mentioned before what a thrill it is to find a place to buy a decent cup of coffee. In the quest to stay awake at jobs/school, in the absence of alternatives, I've had to compromise my integrity one too many times with Dunkin Donuts swill. So I'm pleased to find a new indie coffee shop, Karen's Cafe in Winsted that serves excellent coffee. Karen's Cafe is a bittersweet discovery for me. The shop is located at 64 Main St., previously the site of my favorite Winsted coffee/restaurant/social destination, Cafe 64, which served the most amazing coffee shakes, flatbread sandwiches, and was staffed with attractive young people and frequented by the hipsterest clientele Northwest CT could muster.

But enough nostalgia! Karen's has only been open a few months, so I hope Winsted wants good coffee as badly as I do. They also serve your expected spectrum of espresso drinks and tea and have baked goods and wraps that I have not tried yet, but look forward to exploring. A sandwich menu is in the works.