By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
The Color Fred
Here are some bands that might be on your playlists.
Taking Back Sunday is an American rock band from Long Island, New York. They released their eighth and most recent studio album, “152,” in 2023.
Breaking Pangaea was an American emo pop band from Philadelphia. The band released their debut EP and full-length album on Florida’s Undecided Records and released a follow-up EP on Equal Vision Records.
Say Anything is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. The band was formed in 2000 by Max Bemis and his friends, and within two years, they had self-released two EPs and a full-length album.
The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily, and Jesse Peretz.
Brody, which existed from 1992 to 1999, released a 7-inch EP on Creep Records entitled “Against Forgetting” and a full-length CD entitled “Worth Dying For” on Harvest records.
The Color Fred is a band from the Delaware Valley that has released two studio albums — “Bend to Break” (2007) and “A Year and Change” (2022) – and one EP – “The Intervention EP” (2009).
Terrible Things is an alternative rock band from the Philly area that has released one album — Terrible Things” (2010) and one EP – “Pre-Transmission EP” (2012).
These bands – diverse as they are – all have one thing in common with regard to personnel.
Forget “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” This is a case of “One Degree of Fred Mascherino.”
Mascherino, a highly respected guitarist and songwriter, has been an influential member of all these bands. And you can add Stickman (1989-1992) and Initials (2009-2010) to the list.
Mascherino’s main, current and longest-running project is The Color Fred. With TCF, he performs solo acoustic and with a full band.
On July 17, Mascherino will perform a solo acoustic show at the Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com).
“Last fall, I did a “Fred Mascherino Acoustic Tour’,” said Mascherino, during a phone interview Tuesday night from Ocean City, New Jersey.
“I did 40 shows in eight weeks. I got in the van, drove across the country with my acoustic guitar and a box of merch.”
Mascherino is also currently working full time with Say Anything.
“They asked me to join Say Anything,” said Mascherino, a native of Coatesville. “I started playing with them a year ago. I just finished playing a cross-country tour with them.
“I’m playing more acoustic shows when I have time on my own. I didn’t have any The Color Fred shows lined up right now.”
On April 18, 2009, an acoustic CD titled, The Color Fred “The Intervention EP” was released to commemorate Record Store Day. The CD had acoustic versions and demos of songs from “Bend to Break” as well as unreleased songs.
On April 1, 2022, having reunited with a new lineup three years prior, The Color Fred released its sophomore album, “A Year and Change,” on indie label Heading East Records, which was founded by Mascherino earlier in the year.
“I’ve been touring the last five years with the band,” said Mascherino. “In 2022, I released a full band album and played a lot of shows with the Color Fred. Then, I started the acoustic shows last fall.
“In my acoustic show, I do three songs from my other bands – Taking Back Sunday’s ‘Set Phaser to Stun,’ Breaking Pangea’s ‘Worst Part,’ and Brody’s ‘Against Forgetting.’ I do a lot of The Color Fred and some stuff from Say Anything and Terrible Things.
“The idea was to re-imagine songs from these bands. Taking Back Sunday is still going without me. Breaking Pangea and Brody are not around. But there will be a Breaking Pangea reunion August 23 at Underground Arts.”
Obviously, Mascherino loves to stay busy. He found a way to do it even through COVID.
Mascherino began performing online, generating interactive projects with his fans and teaching classes virtually.
“One of the things I was doing during the quarantine was teaching lessons via Skype,” said Mascherino.
“I’ve been teaching guitar lessons. I’ve also been teaching lessons on other music topics such as songwriting, recording techniques and music theory.
“I had been talking to fans online and they’d wind up asking me a lot of questions. I told them that I’m teaching lessons. They were all sitting around bored too. So, they said – we’ll take classes too.”
Mascherino has written a lot of songs, produced a lot of records and played in quite a few bands. His musical CV is impressive.
The Color Fred’s debut full-length album, “Bend to Break,” was released in October 2007 via Equal Vision Records. The album peaked at #8 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. TCF toured the U.S., Canada and the U.K. several times.
The Color Fred released “The Intervention EP” in April 2009. The EP featured new and old songs performed acoustic, plus two home demos.
Mascherino seems to always have several irons in the fire.
There are a number of Coatesville natives who have achieved international stardom and repeatedly expressed pride in their hometown.
One of the first was Calvin “Silky Smooth” Grove, who was a world champion boxer. Then, there was basketball star Rip Hamilton, who was one of the premier players in the NBA. Mascherino’s name also belongs on that list.
Mascherino, who lived in Coatesville when he was young, has always had respect for his roots and pride in his hometown and it showed up in two tracks by Terrible Things.
“Steel Town” was inspired by the series of fires in Coatesville a few years ago. Another TT song – “Up at Night” – dealt with that period when they told residents to keep lights on at night. The lyrics talk about being able to see Coatesville from space that night.
“I grew up in Coatesville,” said Mascherino, who has a degree from Temple University in jazz performance/guitar.
“I have a history of referring to Coatesville in my songs. I’m proud of being from there. Some people don’t have a good impression of Coatesville, but I think it was a good place to grow up and is still a good place to live.”
Now, Mascherino has developed an attachment to West Chester.
“My wife Elena opened up a vegan restaurant in West Chester,” said Mascherino, who was top-flight swimmer at Bishop Shanahan in the 1990s.
His wife’s restaurant is called Love Again Local (18 South Church Street, West Chester, www.loveagainlocal.com). It features a wide variety of vegan sandwiches, salads, daily specials and desserts.
“We’ve been vegans for 20 years,” said Mascherino. “Elena’s restaurant has been open since 2017.
“It started when she had success making vegan cookies and evolved into a restaurant in downtown West Chester. We make a lot of the meats and cheeses ourselves.”
Mascherino is also a family guy. In addition to assisting his wife in her restaurant venture, he has been helping his daughter with her music career.
“Lily has her own band called Lilito” said Mascherino, referring to his daughter who graduated from CPFA (Center for Performing and Fine Arts: PA Leadership Charter School) in West Chester and attended Berklee College of Music. “Her brother Scott is the drummer.”
Brother and sister phenomenon Lilito was formed in a basement in Chester County in 2018 when lead vocalist Lily Mascherino started bringing her piano-based rock songs to band practice with her brother, Scout, who would handle the drums.
Lily, also known as Lilito, has since co-produced and recorded 10 tracks for the concept album, “Happy Horse Lamp.”
“Lily played the Sellersville Theater back in January,” said Mascherino. “She opened for Juliana Hatfield.”
Ironically, despite all the bands and all the years, Fred Mascherino has never played at the Sellersville Theater.
“This will be a first,” said Mascherino. “It’s a great place to play. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Video link for Fred Mascherino — https://youtu.be/vlX8L40JRRU.
The show in Sellersville, which has Bren as the opening act, will start at 8 p.m. on July 17
Ticket prices start at $25.
Other upcoming shows at the Sellersville Theater are Gary Hoey on July 12, Ryan Coleman on July 12, Forever Tina on July 13, The Ruta Beggars and Serene Green on July 14 and Patty Griffin on July 15.
Jamey’s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, 215-477-9985, www.jameyshouseofmusic.com) has an impressive lineup of shows for this weekend.
On July 12, Jamey’s will present Slim and the Perkolators sharing the bill with Billy the Kid and the Regulators.
Gabe Stillman
On July 13, Jamey’s will host Gabe Stillman.
Stillman, an accomplished blues guitarist from Williamsport, seems to have found a home-away-from home in Delaware County. This will be his eighth concert at Jamey’s in the last few years.
“I’ve stayed busy all through the last year-and-a-half – playing music for the people,” said Stillman, during a recent phone call from his home in the birthplace of Little League Baseball.
“I’ve probably done at least 100 shows so far this year – in the Midwest and mostly up and down the East Coast
Stillman was busiest during a two-week period in April 2021.
“I went to Austin in April and recorded my first album,” said Stillman. “It was produced by Anson Funderbergh at Wire Recording.”
Funderbergh is top-flight guitarist and the bandleader of Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets since 1978. Their style incorporates both Chicago blues and Texas blues. He is also one of the most respected producers in Texas’ capitol city.
“I met Anson at the International Blues Challenge a couple years ago,” said Stillman. “I’ve been a fan of his since I was a teenager. He’s in my top 10 list of blues players. And I loved his production work with other people.”
Stillman’s album, “Just Say the Word,” was released by the Vizztone Label Group.
“It’s a 15-song album – 13 originals and two covers,” said Stillman. “The covers were Bill Withers’ ‘Friend of Mine’ and Bobby Blue Bland’s ‘I’ll Take Care of You.’
“When the album came out, it debuted at Number 10 on the Billboard Magazine Blues chart. It was also named one of the top blues albums of 2021 by Roots Music Report.
“I brought my rhythm section Bassist Colin Beatty and drummer Ray Hangen – down to Austin. In the studio, we used Taylor Streiff, a piano player from St. Louis, Austin’s Texas Horns and had Sue Foley and Anton playing guitar on one track.”
Stillman’s experience in Austin was so nice he decided to do it twice.
“I do have a new record – details are coming soon,” said Stillman. “It’s called ‘What Happens Next.’
“I recorded it in Austin with Anson producing and Stuart Sullivan doing the engineering.
“I made a couple trips to Austin and recorded it in the spring of 2023. I’ve held off on releasing it because we were still supporting the last album.
“Now, enough time has gone by. I want to get it out there. We’re looking at a fall release. I already have four of five of the new songs scattered throughout the set.”
It was another step forward for Stillman, who has been studying guitar for more than half his life.
“I started taking guitar lessons when I was 11,” said Stillman. “When I started out, I wanted to play heavy rock and heavy metal. Listening to guitarists in those genres, I realized that their playing was very fast and technically complicated. A teacher told me to learn rock by getting into the blues.
“So, I started listening to a lot of blues guitarists like B.B. King, Freddie King, Albert King, Buddy Guy and Elmore James. I was also listening to guitarists such as Duane Allman and Derek Trucks. I realized – hey, I can do this. I got hooked on blues and R&B – and jazz. When I was 13 or 14, I started to perform live.”
A key stage in Stillman’s development came at the Uptown Music Collective in Williamsport.
For 20 years, the Uptown Music Collective has been providing exceptional modern music education grounded in traditional educational principles. Its programs engage students through an emphasis on modern genres including rock, pop, soul, blues, country, R&B, and funk.
“I studied at the Uptown Music Collective when I was younger,” said Stillman. “I also taught there after I got out of college.”
Stillman spent his college years in Boston where he got a degree in “Professional Music” with an emphasis on guitar performance and songwriting.
“I started my band in 2015 after graduating from Berklee,” said Stillman, whose honors include making it to “Final Eight” of the 35th Annual International Blues Challenge in Memphis Tennessee.
“My band has been primarily a trio but at the Blues Challenge, I made it to the finals with the addition of a harmonica player in the group.”
Long touted as a rising star in the field of blues guitarists, Stillman has been branching out.
“The new album has quite a bit of diversity,” said Stillman. “Some tunes are definitely blues. Others fall more into the Americana genre.
“A large number of the new songs are lyrically driven. For this one, I really focused on the songwriting.
“It’s just a shift in what I want to be as an artist. I’ve given up focusing on guitar. I want to be a songwriter first. My top priorities are songwriting and performing.
“Playing at Jamey’s is great. Every single time I play there, it’s sold out or close to it. It’s been great to build a relationship with the fans there.”
Stillman caps off this weekend with a show in Hector, New York. One week later, he heads out on an extensive Midwest tour with stop in Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois – including a show at Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago.
Video link for Gabe Stillman — https://youtu.be/QGIJgb51Kw8.
The show at Jamey’s on July 13 will start at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door.
On July 12, it’s time for a different genre onstage at Jamey’s.
Led by Harmonica Slim Derek Matteson on the misery whistle and expat Brit Tim the Perkolator Perks on guitar, with a changing cast of rhythm players and frequent high-profile guests, the veteran musicians are living the life and loving the blues. They always bring the party.
The show at Jamey’s on July 12 will start at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door.
Every Sunday, Jamey’s presents “SUNDAY BLUES BRUNCH & JAM” featuring the Philly Blues Kings from noon-1 p.m. and an open jam session from1-3 p.m. There is no cover charge.
Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 North High Street, West Chester, www.uptownwestchester.org) will host The Discoteks (Disco/Motown) on July 13, Chrissie Crow (The Pretenders and Sheryl Crow) on July 20, Frontiers Journey (Journey) on July 26, Nimrod (Green Day) on July 27, and Kanin Wren’s Taylor Swift Experience on July 28.
Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org) is hosting Thunderbird Divine, Silver Sonic, and Impolite Society on July 12, Yesterday’s Gone on July 13, Captain Dawg on July 20, and Clapton America on July 27.
The Candlelight Theatre (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware, 302- 475-2313, www.candlelighttheatredelaware.org) will start its run of the hit musical “The Fantastiks” on July 13. The venue’s Candlelight Comedy Club presentation “Married, Single and a Baby” will be held on July 18.
Shows in July at the The American Music Theatre (2425 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster, www.AMTshows.com) are Amos Lee on July 11, Eaglemania on July 12, Terry Fator on July 13, Asia on July 14, The Docksiders on July 19, Tommy James & the Shondells on July 20, Frankie Valli on July 21, and NEEDTOBREATHE on July 25.
The Colonial Theater (227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, thecolonialtheatre.com/events) will host Tab Benoit & Anders Osborne with Special Guest Mike Zito on July 19.
Phantom Power (121 West Frederick Street, Millersville, www.phantompower.net) will present Modern Day Pharaohs on July 12, Brown Sugar on July 13, Yacht Lobsters on July 18, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack on July 20, and Fourth Annual Phantom Deadfest on July 27.
