Summer is for Rocking, so Rock!06/29/08Visit our Myspace to see our entire summer concert series and show flyer!
Lemonjello's Myspace!
Matt's 2007 album top 10!12/19/07This year there were a lot of what I think are okay records that came out. Very little surprised me or enthralled me, but here's some of what I enjoyed:
1. peter, bjorn, & john- "writer's block"
2. the arcade fire- "neon bible"
3. eisley- "combinations"
4. stars- "in our bedroom after the war"
5. the good, the bad, & the queen (self-titled)
6. the shins- "wincing the night away"
7. the polyphonic spree- "fragile army"
8. jimmy eat world- "chase this light"
9. spoon- "ga ga ga ga ga"
10. band of horses- "cease to begin"
Also, some "new to me" artists i found this year and suggest:
-the national- "boxer"
-horse in the sea- "i ordered the sun to shine on everyone"
-sea wolf- "leaves in the river"
-chase pagan- "oh musica!"
Lemonjello's 5th Birthday Bash12/14/07
Keep on Rockin' in the Free World08/20/07Live Music. Venues always struggle with longevity. Many open only for a few years while they are the trendy thing. Others are "cool" for a few years and then linger for years with mediocre music and small audiences. Any way you look at it, it's hard to just do live music. I toured in a band for a couple of years and we played a lot of small coffeehouses. Most of them had bad products or undertrained employees. That meant their financial sustenance was based on the concerts. For us as a band, that meant we often were not paid what we were promised. Eventually that forced us to stop touring. At Lemonjello's, we've successfully put on concerts and have seen the demand for that grow in the last 4.5 years. Part of the reason is that I decided from the beginning that we were a coffee shop first and a venue second. We have a way to make enough money to keep the shop open (drink sales) and that has allowed me to be here long enough to build a small music scene. We did shows free for the first 2 years and then started a $2 cover. That cover has always gone to the bands. We don't keep any of it because we want the artists who play here to feel taken care of in a way that's a step above how they're treated at other places. This fall, due to gas costs rising and bands asking for more money for their costs, we will be raising the cover to $3. We have 3 artists every friday, so you're paying $1 per band playing. They're, then, each getting $1 for each person who comes, which is incentive for them to help us promote the show. I think that's pretty fair. So I'd love to stop hearing complaining about the cover. I mean, would you perform well at your job if you weren't paid? It's the same with musicians who perform here. And we don't keep your money. We just want you to support local and regional music, since we work hard to bring the best of it here. And if that goes well, we can keep bringing in occassioal big artists like we have been doing (Cool Hand Luke, Anathallo, Saxon Shore, Denison Witmer, Sufjan Stevens, Linford from Over the Rhine, Viva Voce, Annie Quick, Tyler James, and others). Come to our shows, oh, come to our shows and rock/folk/pop it up with us!
We're Folkin' Awesome!07/13/07Local-ish folk, americana, & acoustic music you should hear!
Friday, August 17 & Saturday, August 18.
6-11pm. FREE ADMISSION!
Come out for TWO great evenings of music.
FRIDAY
6pm- faces and crowds
6:40pm- robin meadowcroft
7:20pm- son moon
8pm- nick visser
8:40pm- josh mogck
9:20pm- lizz dielman
10 pm- breathe owl breathe
SATURDAY
6pm- the imposters
6:40pm- dan fisher
7:20pm- debra romer
8pm- annagail
8:40pm- malcolm rollick (guest artist from new york)
9:20pm- color track
10 pm- happy hour
Well, it's sunny...03/11/07It may be sunny, but it's been a rough season of decision making here at Lemonjello's that started with closing Pocket in December and most recently has meant that we're discontinuing some food products due to our main fridge dying on us.
But we're excited about having a little extra prep time on our hands to become even better at what we do best... making the greatest drinks on Earth!
This season will bring back fresh-squeezed lemonade, more iced tea options, a new Jet Tea flavor, and a slushie-style bubble tea. On top of that, we still make the best Espresso, Oreo, and Chai shakes in town. So when you don't want a hot cup of coffee, don't forget we're here. We have some great cold options.
Best Music Of The Year 200612/25/06If you come in the store much, you know I'm obsessed with music. I've had a big playlist this year of decent records, but there wasn't much that jumped out and grabbed my heartstrings. The first couple on this list did. The rest did to some extent. But I'm hoping next year brings a couple surprises. Here's my top 10...
1. amy millan- "honey from the tombs" (this record will make your heart melt and float away)
2. the raconteurs- "broken boy soliders"
3. yeah yeah yeahs- "show your bones"
4. camera obscura- "let's get out of this country"
5. the decemberists- "the crane wife"
6. neko case- "fox confessor brings the flood"
7. m. ward- "post-war"
8. the subways- "young for eternity"
9. the hush sound- "like vines"
10. band of horses- "everything all the time"
And here's a couple other great artists worth a bit of your time:
fair (band of matt's favorite artist aaron sprinkle)
denison witmer (he was here in september and it was great)
brandtson (matt's favorite band)
belle & sebastian (indie kings of all hills)
regina spektor (i didn't expect to like this one so much but did)
scissor sisters (good ol' fun)
calexico (great americana)
That should keep you busy for a while. If you're looking for some other great artists, check out www.pitchforkmedia.com and their top 50 of the year list.
Pocket11/26/06Pocket will be closing it's doors on December 15 at 8pm.
You may have heard.
Sometimes a great idea comes at the wrong time.
So I'm cutting my losses and trying to turn this into a great new year at Lemonjello's.
Starting in January, Lemonjello's will be adding an expanded menu of lunch options meant to be healthy and easy access for folks on the go.
I don't know how to gracefully close a business, so it might be awkward. Any time of change has its awkward moments. But hang in there with us and we'll do our best to offer you the best products at the best prices we can afford.
And don't forget that Lemonjello's is about atmosphere most of all. We hope you see yourself somehow reflected in the place and that you can call it home.
Any questions about equipment for sale or the building's lease can be directed to me at Lemonjello's. 616-928-0699 or sirlemonjello@hotmail.com.
quietude11/06/06Losing one's voice is a great lesson in humbleness. For 3 whole days last week I couldn't speak at all, not even a croak. Two days later, I can only talk here and there. And it wasn't even as hard as I thought it would be.
About once a year since opening Lemonjello's I've lost my voice for a day. So I put out a sign and customers bear with it and sometimes make fun of me a little. It's almost a fun break in the norm. But when day 2 hit this time, I was worn down. I exist on less than an average of 6 hours of sleep per day and work close to 100 hours a week. I had 3 employees on or leaving for vacations and was overbooked covering their shifts myself. But I was surprisingly calm all day. I learned how to take things in stride, how to point at my note on the counter when folks would ask questions, how to let other people do things I couldn't. I'm not good at giving up my ground, but I had to.
I also had to do a lot of listening. You see the world entirely differently when you can't comment on things in passing. You think about things differently when you can't express the thoughts to others. You realize how many unnecessary and sometimes stupid things come out of your mouth on a normal day.
There was a lot on my mind. There were several situations I was dealing with that I would call highly stressful. I probably would have cracked over one of them and gone on a verbal rampage if I could talk. But I couldn't. And I dealt with it just fine. And it made me wish I could just shut up more often.
We live in a very "me" focused society. Parts of that aren't going to go away. And we can't always do everything for others, as idealistic as that sounds. But we can throw a little less of our baggage in the paths of others. We can stop and think before we say things we don't mean. Sometimes, I suppose, adding is taking away.
etc.10/21/06This time of year is tiring. The students are at midterm. The leaves need to be raked. Things need to be gotten ready for winter. The holidays are approaching quickly.
So this is me, being tired, being worn out from customers abusing the priveliges of coming here (thanks to the majority of you who are great), and from the sleepiness of fall.
Thanks for coming to see us. If we're crabby, we're sorry. Our staff has been rocked this fall with some major life changes. But we still love coffee and love serving it to you.
Here's to a lovely rest of fall (raise of a glass holding a latte)!?.
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