And... we're back.

                             Above: Adam the sax player, Lenny and Jaybone playing with The Purple Gang. 

The Vendettas had a great time at the Elvis Tribute Show at Matty T's. We got to see and play with some of the best Rockabilly players on the Island. The show was great and they were able to raise a bunch of money for the homeless. If you missed the show or want to re-live it over and over again you can check it out on Youtube. Lenny and I perform "My Baby Left Me" in Part 2.

I would also encourage people to check out the scene at Matty T's on the last Saturday of every month for Roy Wilson's Rockabilly night. Roy is in a great band called The Buzzards, you should check them out if you get the opportunity. Watch for The Vendettas to be making an appearance at Rockabilly Night in the months to come.

It looks like the very first place to hire us and our home away from home is not shutting it's doors after all. Eastender's Coffee House, will in fact be moving to a new location in Riverhead. They will be continuing to host live music and I am assured we will be back. 

In the meantime we have a few shows coming up. We will be appearing at the Connetquot Public Library in Bohemia, NY on Sunday March 1st at 2:30 PM. On May 2oth we will perform at the Choices show at St Joseph's College in Patchouge, NY.  Also look for The Vendettas' Rock and Roll Dance Party at Roger's Beach in Westhampton, NY date TBA.

Elvis Tribute Show!

Lenny and I are very excited to be representing The Vendettas at the 14th annual Elvis Tribute Show at Matty T's in Deer Park on January 24th.  I have heard about, and had friends that participated in past shows and am proud to be taking part in this year's show. As you can see there are lots of talented people playing, singing and otherwise donating their time. All the proceeds are going to charity, we also encourage everybody to bring a few canned goods if possible .  You can find more information at www.rockcanroll.org

In the meantime The Vendettas are taking some time to work on a new show, we will still be playing your Rockabilly and Rock and Roll favorites, that is our charter. We are adding new songs to our live catalog. 

We will also be heading back into the studio soon and will have a full length product available this year.  Maybe we will call it "Chinese Democracy".

Also look for us in some new venues in '09'. We will keep you updated on all the changes. If you have any suggestions or want The Vendettas to come to your town, let us know through the blog here, or leave us a message on the "hit List" on our main page. As always the Living Room Concert is always in effect.  Move that "whatnot shelf" out of the way, stick us in the corner, and watch us go! 

Happy New Year!

Jaybone

Bells Will Be Ringing...The Vendettas' Christmas Show!

Take a break from shopping and join us for warm drinks and Rock and Roll Christmas songs on December 20th at Eastender's Coffee House 40 E. Main St in Riverhead, showtime about 8:30.

Sadly, rumor has it that Eastender's may be closing sometime in January. You can blame the economy, or a town board with no vision that can't get out of it's own way, or the greed of a landlord who owns most of the stores on Main Street and whose goal seems to keep those stores empty. Whatever the reason, it is a sad situation. Lindsey and Dianne were the first people to ever hire us, on faith alone. We have played Eastender's more than any other venue. For those reasons we have always considered the coffee shop our home. If in fact they do close thier doors we will miss them, and Riverhead will miss them. Ther is no other gathering place like it around anywhere.

On a happier note: Lenny and Jay will be performing at the Elvis Tribute Show, along with the Hornets, The Purple Gang, The Lone Sharks, The Blaggards and probably a mess of other people. That will be on January 24th at Matty T's. We are excited to be a part of it. More information to come.
Thanks to Dianne Woodcheke for the photo.

Our Next Show
Saturday, November 22nd
The Artful Dodger, Westhampton Beach NY

Blame it on the economy, or political angst or just the fact that we may be impossible to get along with, but for whichever reason, Joe has decided to take his leave of us. Joe played with The Vendettas for over a year. He is a good guy, a good drummer and we wish him all the best. I think he left because we always stood in front of him when we got our picture taken. I could see how, over time, that might get on one's nerves.

We have continued on, following in the footsteps of some of our heros:The Stray Cats, Reverend Horton Heat, The Paladins, and all the other rock and roll trios. I left out Johnny Burnett because there were technically a quartet. Lenny is back at his old post as our drummer, but he will break out a guitar now and then.



We had a great show at Eastender's Coffee House in Riverhead. We had a special guest sit in with us. My old bandmate from the Hackensack Men, "Teenage" John Englehardt. We haven't played together since... well my wedding in September, but before that it was years. Really.

We are putting together our third semi-annual Christmas Rock and Roll Show. Eastender's in Riverhead will be hosting the show this year. Look forward to all your Christmassy rock and roll favorites. When I say "all" I of course mean some. Plus we'll do secular crap that you love.

Vendettas say "No" to topical analgisics

We Have New Dates!

On October 11th we return to the place where we started, East Ender's Coffee House on Main Street in Riverhead. Come for the great coffee and desserts and great Rockabilly.

Our friends at the Artful Dodger in Westhampton Beach have decided to continue with music into the Fall. You can support live music in our area by going to check out the bands there. Mostly though, you should come to see us. Our next shows there will be October 18th, and November 22.

I like to call the piece you see above "The Essence of Lenny". Photo by Dianne Woodcheke

Blues Fest- Jerry The Dish- Vendettas Get Rooked!

Where do I begin, it has been a while.

Vendettas at the Artful Dodger-photo by Diane Woodcheke

Our Next Show: Aug 31 The Artful Dodger, Westhampton Beach

Firstly and most importantly those of you who come to see us on a regular basis will no doubt have notice the absence of "Teen Dream" Jerry "The Dish" Silverstein. Jerry has taken a well deserved sabbatical to do what he does best, scrimshaw. Jerry will be continuing to work in his songwriters workshop and look for him to make the occasional surprise appearance with the band. Once a Vendetta...

We made our second appearance at the Riverhead Blues Festival, we had a great time and would like to thank everyone who came to see us and who helped us get booked. It is great to be a part of it.

Now then, last year we got wind of some complaints that "some of the bands" were not playing blues at the blues festival. While it is true that our music is sort of the bridge between Blues, Country, and Rock and Roll, we played a bunch of blues too to show respect for the theme of the festival. So imagine my surprise when as we were loading in, the band on the main stage was playing Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes". No t that it is not a great song, not that the band playing g it didn't do a great job playing it (it was Jim Moran, I think) but is it Blues? Not frigging remotely. We got flack about playing Bo Diddly at a blues festival (not from anyone affiliated organization) and somehow the Genesis guy gets in there and that is OK?

Vendettas rock Megan Dascoli's wedding. photo by some dude

Lastly and to me, regrettably we will no longer be playing the Manorville venue. In the words of Spinal Tap's David St Hubbins, "we shant work together again". It is really too bad, I thought that we had found a home, the crowd was really receptive and it was exciting to play for a group who knew the music. Unfortunately there was a problem with the management, money not payed, terms of agreements left vague. It is one of the few places in the area that feature live music every week, so I guess they can make the rules. Musicians beware.

Our show this weekend features original recipe drummer Charles Woodcheke. Like I said, once a Vendetta... This is Charles during his pirate phase.

The Vendettas at The Blues Fest - New Shows Just Added

The Vendettas will make their second appearance at The Riverhead Blues Festival, Saturday at 2:30 in Club 91.

Thanks to "The Core" who came down to our new room, The Artful Dodger, which is in the back of Magic's Pub on Main St. in Westhampton Beach. Things went so well there we have been asked back. Our next show will be Saturday July 26th at 10:00. Look for special guest and former full time member Charles Woodcheke on Drums, filling in for Joe. Charles will be back with us at the Dodger Sunday August 31st. You can see Charles at his regular gig with his excellent band Highway 49.

The Maples is another new venue for us. Frank Lattore of The King Bee's sat in with us for our first show, he is always a pleasure to play with. He added great blues harp and slide guitar to our Rockabilly sound. It was great to meet an new and very receptive crowd, we had a great time. The Vendettas will be back (and hopefully joined by Frank) at The Maples Saturday July 19th after our second appearance at The Riverhead Blues Festival. We are booked at The Maples over the next several months.

We will be at the Longwood Public Library on August 1st. It may seem strange but actually it is the third library we have played. Come and see if we can vibrate the books off the shelves.

Jaybone