The Hall Brothers and People Zoo, Saturday, March 6

Black-Eyed Susan Acoustic Café, Angelica

When Christian artist Courtney Streb performed at Black-Eyed Susan Acoustic Café in January, she invited some friends to play during her break.  One of those friends was Aaron Hall of Bath, NY, whose violin-guitar-vocal duos with Nestor Marquez were an exceedingly pleasant surprise.   

On March 6th, Aaron and his brother Samuel will perform at Black-Eyed Susan as THE HALL BROTHERS, giving us a taste of instrumental experimental music and jazz on violin and upright bass.  In addition, Aaron has invited his friend Brett Longwell to perform with him on guitars-vocals as PEOPLE ZOO.   

In 2005, Aaron Hall and Brett Longwell performed side by side as "Jud" and "Curly" in a school production of OKLAHOMA! Two years later they started playing guitar and singing together for fun. They soon found themselves putting one of Brett's poems -- "God's Garden" -- into song. "God's Garden" was written in remembrance of Kaitlyn "didi" Garside, the sister of a good friend of theirs.  In early August, they recorded "God's Garden" with Jesse Sprinkle and Chris Rathbun at Bluebrick Recording Studio in Avon, NY and PEOPLE ZOO was created. PEOPLE ZOO has also recorded with Evan Sieling in Howard, NY and has performed at the Soul Full Cup in Corning, NY and the Dorman Library in Bath, NY as well as other small cafes and churches.

Don Ash of Black-Eyed Susan Acoustic Café comments, “It has been our pleasure to host all the performers who have played at Black-Eyed Susan since we opened last year. While we value all the musicians, several have made some extraordinary impacts. Aaron Hall is one of the people who produced a special, memorable performance. He showed us a unique variety of styles with just a few pieces. He was an invited guest by another fine performer so he didn’t spend much time on our stage. Aaron demonstrated that a sparse, simple piece of music can be incredibly beautiful and moving. Join us as we welcome Aaron back in two contexts; HALL BROTHERS and PEOPLE ZOO.”

The doors at Black-Eyed Susan open for dinner, specialty coffees and desserts at 4:30 every Saturday. Enjoy the mellow sounds of Jim Schwartz on guitar beginning at 6:00, with Aaron and friends beginning at 7:30 p.m.   

There is no cover charge, but guests are expected to contribute to the musician’s tip jar.  The kitchen remains open on Saturdays until 10:00 p.m. and the café closes at 11:00.  Reservations for dinner -- while never necessary -- are strongly encouraged. 

Also in March: an evening of Afro Celtic rock music with GEORGE HOCHBRUEUCKNER on Mar. 13th; folk and acoustic rock music with JONNY GEEZE on Mar. 20th; and alternative folk and rock duo BETHEL STEELE and SIERRA ROCKS on Mar 27th.  The complete schedule is posted at www.black-eyed-susan.com.

Black-Eyed Susan is located at 22 West Main Street in Angelica’s Park Circle National Historic District.  The café is open for lunch Monday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Guests can dine in with a beautiful view of Park Circle, or have a meal delivered to their home or workplace.  Menus are posted on-line. 

Black-Eyed Susan Acoustic Café seats 70 and is fully handicap-accessible, making it a perfect place for business meetings, showers, private dinners and other events. For more information call 585-466-3399 or visit www.black-eyed-susan.com.