Frank Lattorre a Big Hit at East Enders!

Jaybone and Chin after their trip to Rockabilly Barbers

Thanks to everyone who came down to see the show at Eastenders Coffee House, I have to say it was one of our best shows yet. As an added bonus we had Frank Lattorre from The King Bees sitting in with us, filling in for Jerry the Dish. He treated the audience (and the band ) to his great harmonica playing. Next we'll get him to sing a few songs.

Frank plays with his band at Patty's Luncheonette in Eastport every Friday night. Please check them out.

The Vendettas have just finished mixing our new seven song demo. We will be posting some of the songs on this website soon. You will be able to hear the Vendettas no matter where you are. Which is scary.

We will be returning to the coffee house on Friday June 13th (also scary) at 8:00.

As always, if there is a venue you think we should play, including your own living room, let us know here at the blog!

Vendettas in the Studio, Brian Setzer, Next Show

This Saturday We will be back where we started at East Enders Coffee House on Main St. in Riverhead, NY. Showtime will be 8:00 PM. We will also have a special guest for the evening, the most talented harmonica player I have ever had the good fortune to play with: Frank Latorre of the King Bees. He wll be sitting in for Jerry the Dish who has an out of state court appearance. Please join us on the 19th for an evening of rockabilly and rock and roll as it can only be played when fueled espresso and cake. http://eastenderscoffeehouse.com/

The Vendettas are now working on a new recording. We have recorded the basic tracks, the old school way live, with no tricky stuff. We will be adding the finishing touches and mixing in the next few weeks. We found a great studio http://www.suffolkrecordingstudios.com/ and had excellent experience with Allen and Dan there. They understood what we were going for and helped us get the authentic vibe we were looking for.

A few weeks ago I was in Minneapolis for a professional conference and happened to eat dinner at a Jazz club called Rossi's. To my surprise Leon Redbone was appearing there that night. Needless to say I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see him. So as my colleagues left for the evening (they had no idea who he was) I headed toward the performance area to take my seat. I made a quick stop in the men's room and while washing my hands I turned my head to see standing there, freaking Brian Setzer!

Now I don't have to explain as a guitar player in a rockabilly band how important this guy is to me. When I was in the 8th grade the Stray Cats played in my middle school gym on Long Island. This was right before they went to England. It was a pretty influential moment in my life, it is one of the reasons I picked up the guitar in the first place.

It can be sort of terrifying when you get to meet your heros, there are many ways they might not live up to your expectations, not the least of which is they may turn out to be jerks. That happened to me once. It was a real disappointment. I knew I had to chance it though and say something (even though I was kind of star struck) so I eked out something along the lines of "I love your work". There were about a million things I wanted to say but I didn't want to seem like a freak. I have to say Brian was very friendly and gracious. He took some time to talk with me and even stayed to see Leon Redbone on my suggestion. We had another brief exchange on the way out. It was a very cool experience.

Last Show of our Valentine's Day Tour!

We had a great turn out for last Friday's show and we want to thank everyone who came down to hear us. There was a big contingent from The Westhampton Free Library:Matt, Jen, Barbara, Leslie, Laureen, and probably some others I'm forgetting. It was also our biggest turn out at the Westhampton Bowl to date, so thank you! As I predicted, the potential for room is great and our audience got larger with each appearance.

In the house was Dave K. of Blush and my former band mate in The Next. Another former band mate "Dangerous Dave" Stadnicki from the Hackensack Men, sat in with us on two tunes, "Marie Marie"from The Blasters, and Wilson Pickett's "634-5789". He sounded great!

We are not scheduled to appear at the Westhampton Bowl again until the summer, but check this website for our public dates. We will be coming to play Rockabilly to your town soon. Hell, we'll play in your freakin' house! Remember that the difference between a party and a really good party is The Vendettas.

Jaybone

Return of "The Dish"!

After "being away" for almost two months Jerry "The Dish" Silverstein will make his triumphant return to the stage at our last schedualed appearance at Westhampton Bowl, this Friday February 15th at 9:00 PM. Our attorneys have advised us to say as little as possible regarding the Dish's whereabouts for the last two months so let's just call it a "vacation" and leave it at that.

Our last show at "the Bowl" as we like to call it was a great success and we would like to thank all who came down including two members of the great band "Collarbone": singer Alex Mckenna and drummer Dave Elliot. If Lorin were there we could have had a full reunion. Also in attendence were staff members of the Westhampton Free Library and some people who were bowling and just wandered in to see what all the noise was about. We thank all who came.

I recently saw a group called the Church Boys at the Vail Levitt Music Hall in Riverhead New York. Chris the bass player in an original memeber of The Vendettas and has joined us on stage several times in the last year. His new band is a lot of fun, playing mostly originals plus some great garage rock classics. Check them out if you can and check out the music hall which will be showcasing bands every third Thursday. We need places like this that are opened to bands and support original music. Try to support it by visiting when you get the opportunity.

Please join us Friday for an evening of rockabilly and rock and roll. We try to make the shows different so we will be adding in some songs we have never played and the bowling alley before.

Happy New Year, From The Vendettas

The start of the new year marks the third anniversary for The Vendettas. Our first show with Lenny, Chin and Jaybone and Jerry "the Dish" in lineup was a Christmas party at a friend's house. We played every song we knew plus some rock and roll Christmas classics. We were nervous, but we had fun. So much so that we kept on going.

Last month we revisited the holiday rock, busted out the Santa hats and turned up the Fender amps. We even got our newest member to don the headgear and add his voice the "harmonies" Elvis's "Santa Claus is Back in Town". Of course we want to thank the people who came down to see our Christmas Extravaganza and the Westhampton Beach Library, and the library for taking a chance on having a Rock and Roll band, which I think was a first for them.

We also want to thank all the folks who have supported us this last year including Lindsey from East Ender's Coffee house, the first place to actually hire us, The Birchwood in Southampton and Westhampton Bowling, who have invited us back for two more dates.

In 2008 we will explore new venues, meet more people who dig rockabilly and rock and roll, and maybe we will all chip in and get a body for Chin's upright bass.

Jaybone

Vendettas Rock Westhampton Library !

Saturday Dec. 8th The Vendettas will appear at The Westhampton Free Library for a free Holiday Rock and Roll Show at 7:00pm. The Library is on Library Avenue in Westhampton Beach, the phone number is 288-3335. We are led to believe there will be snacks, and we don't have to play quietly.

The band has also secured two more dates at the Westhampton Lanes bowling alley. Our last show there was a success and our stay has been extended. Thanks to Matt for posting on that show and to Andrew from The De'villes for coming down to hear us. Check out The De'villes, if you get a chance they're a great band.

See You Tonight!
Jaybone

Our Next Show

Our next live appearance will be at Westhampton Bowl on Nov. 23, the Friday after Thanksgiving. We will hit at 8:00 pm.

We are all pretty psyched to play there, it is a new venue for us and the management seem open to trying something new for them. I think the bowling alley suits us, it has a cool retro vibe (it has been there a long time) it's got a bar and a dance floor, food, and of course bowling. We are trying to cultivate a venue, albeit a non traditional one, and Westhampton Bowling could be ideal. If we can get in on a regular basis and grow a little following in town, it would be good for all involved. It could be good for other bands too.

Our set will include rockabilly and rock and roll songs that we always play, some new stuff and we will be breaking out some Rock and Roll Christmas favorites.

Westhampton Lanes are located at 87 Sunset Ave.