Friends, mark your calendars for our first Opening of 2012!

On January 13th at 7pm, the Gallery will host an Opening featuring the work of Slippery Rock University art students. Under the guidance of SRU Assistant Professor Barbara Westman, 23 students will have their art on display (with some for sale) in our Gallery for two weeks.  Some really cool fiber art including altered books– we are very excited!  Check out samples of their work on these pages:
http://www.sru.edu/academics/colleges/chfpa/art/Pages/photo_fibers.aspx
http://www.sru.edu/academics/colleges/chfpa/art/Pages/photo_print.aspx
http://rockpride.sru.edu/2011/RP120911/photogallery2.php

As usual, we’ll have plenty to eat and drink, and music…  you can check out what’s new in the rest of the Gallery while you’re here.  Looking forward to seeing you on the 13th.  Until then, have a safe and happy holiday.

Friends, come join us in Harmony on New Year’s Eve at the Bottlebrush for the German celebration of New Year’s, known as Silvester.  Festivities begin at 3pm and finish up with the dropping of the ball at 6pm, which is midnight in  Germany.  Bottlebrush will be hosting an open mic all afternoon, so bring your instrument, your voice and holiday good cheer. Wishing you all a prosperous 2012!

For more information on the annual Silvester celebration in Harmony:

http://harmonymuseum.org/news-recent.html#silvester2011

Harmony invites families to enjoy an afternoon of Silvester activities on Dec. 31: 2-5 p.m., Harmony Museum: Tours ($1); children’s games and crafts (free); the short comedy film “Dinner for One,” in English, a popular part of Silvester in Germany (free); Bleigiessen, the German tradition of examining the shape of a bit of melted lead to guess what the New Year may bring ($1); and, beginning at 3:30, a pork and sauerkraut dinner in Stewart Hall ($12). 3 & 3:45 p.m.: The 5th annual Butler Health System 5-K Run/Walk starts at 3 o’clock in the Main and Mercer Streets diamond at the center of the National Historic Landmark District, followed 45 minutes later by a new-this-year 1-Mile Fun Run. Post-race awards are presented at Grace Church Youth Center, Main Street. Entry forms are available from the Harmony Borough office, 217 Mercer Street (724-452-6780); registration is open until race time (5-K $25, 1-Mile $10).

For the last Harmony in the House Concert of 2011…

Responding to your request, Bottlebrush Gallery is proud to host The Allegheny Drifters!

One of the strongest vocal bands on the bluegrass scene today, their pure harmonies, accomplished instrumental work and deep knowledge of the roots and branches of the music gives them a unique spot in the current world of bluegrass. As seasoned entertainers, they breathe new life and excitement into the music on stages everywhere.

www.alleghenydrifters.com

Friday, December 2, 2011  7:00pm
Bottlebrush: A Gallery for the Arts
539 Main Street “On the Square”
Harmony, PA 16037
$10 Admission- BYOB

Limited Seating – RSVP
Call (724) 452-0539 or email hith@zoominternet.net

Big doings in Harmony this weekend!

The annual German Christmas Market is Saturday (11-6) and Sunday (12-4). Music, traditional food, artists, vendors, horse and buggy rides, and all the shops will be open, decked out in their holiday finery! Between 3,000-5,000 people are expected. Parking with be tight of course, but shuttles will be running from remote lots. For more information, please visit the Harmony Museum’s page here: http://www.harmonymuseum.org/germanchristmasmarket.html

Friday night, Nov 11, at 7:00PM, Bottlebrush is hosting another of our popular House Concerts featuring Jeff and Vida (New Orleans and Nashville) entertaining us with their country-bluegrass sounds. $10 at the door, BYOB. ZTown is catering, so we will have some good food! 🙂  We anticipate either soup or chili, and we will be providing bread from the new Stohr-Haus bakery across the square from Bottlebrush in Harmony.

If you plan to attend, please call the Shop at 724-452-0539 and reserve a place. Last weekend’s Roy Book Binder show was standing room only, a great turnout and what a show, but we were short on seats. If you have a folding chair, please bring it with you.

Friday 11^th November, 2011, 7:00 PM
Bottlebrush: A Gallery for the Arts
539 Main Street “On the Square”
Harmony, PA 16037
$10 Admission
Limited Seating – RSVP
Call (724) 452-0539 or email hith@zoominternet.net
With Special Guests: The Lonesome No More Band

We’re getting a nice response, but please note this weekend, 11/12-13, is the German Christmas Market festival in Harmony and our back lot will not be available for parking.  There are 2 municipal lots nearby and on-street parking. There is handicapped parking by the stop sign in front of the shop and, if you have special needs, stop out front and we will help accommodate you. Please do not park in the Grace Church lot until after 7pm.

This show should be a blast. If you haven’t heard of Jeff and Vida, check them out on YouTube. I know we are excited to be opening for them. During their 9 years of performing and songwriting, they have delved into many different genres of music; country, honky-tonk, rockabilly, even a little rock and roll.  But throughout their career– which has included four critically-acclaimed albums, literally thousands of live shows in the U.S. and Europe, and a move from New Orleans to Nashville– bluegrass has remained a key influence in their style and sound.  Nowhere is this more evident than on their new CD, Selma Chalk.  For more on Jeff & Vida, go to their website: http://www.jeffandvida.com/JeffVida/Welcome.html.

YOU’RE INVITED!

Hard to believe the Bottlebrush will be 3 years old already on October 21! We’re having a music and art get-together to celebrate at the Gallery on Friday evening starting at 6pm. Joe Conti of New Castle will be our featured Third Friday artist, showing his photography. We’ll have some music and snacks. The new Vintage Christmas Shop should be open, fingers crossed for a good weekend to work on it. Come on out and celebrate with us! Bring your friends and a smile. We’re looking forward to seeing you.

NEW HOURS.

More news… we’ve changed our operating hours. Bottlebrush is now open 7 days a week, Monday through Friday, from 11am – 4pm, with extended hours on music and opening event nights and for the holidays. The shop will be open more to accommodate your shopping needs.

YOGA.

Sadly, we will no longer be offering Yoga classes at the Gallery, at least not until spring. We want to do some renovations on the upstairs of our building, so we won’t be keeping that portion of the building heated this winter. 🙁 Cathy and Diana have been awesome instructors for the Bottlebrush Yoga classes, and we appreciate them greatly, as do their students.

NOVEMBER MUSIC EVENTS. MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Bottlebrush will be hosting two Harmony in the House Concert events in November. Blues guitar legend Roy Book Binder www.roybookbinder.com will be playing one show only at the Gallery on November 4, 7pm. Admission is $15. BYOB. Please note, RSVP is required– call the shop and reserve your space! Snacks and light refreshments provided. Don’t miss the chance to hear some Piedmont-style guitar picking from the Master Storyteller!

The second House Concert will be Jeff and Vida from Nashville (formerly New Orleans) www.jeffandvida.com/JeffVida/Welcome.html. Jeff and Vida’s nine years of performing and songwriting, have seen them delve into many different genres of music; country, honky-tonk, rockabilly, even a little rock and roll, but bluegrass has remained a key influence in their style and sound. Concert date is November 11, 7pm. Admission is $10 at the door. RSVP required, please email us or call. BYOB. Snacks and light refreshments provided. “Jeff and Vida make music that is real and true. Their’s are the songs you long to hear late at night on the interstate, in pool halls and smoky whiskey bars.” –New York Times Magazine

Many thanks to Linda McRae and Jennie Kay Snyder for bringing their fine talents to HITH for our September House Concert! Thanks also to Full Pint Brewing for the beer samples… they were much enjoyed by the guests. We have a quick turn around with another very good show coming your way– Tommy Womack from Nashville, with Tom Panei, opening. See details below!

Reminder, these events are BYOB for adults; we’ll have sodas and water and snacks, too. We are improving the seating, but you are still welcome to bring your own comfy chair. We do have some space limitations so be considerate. Join us to have some fun with this great line-up. We hope to see you there.

Because you asked… finding beer from Full Pint Brewing! The closest they sell cases are at distributors in Evans City, with beer on tap at Fishers Bar and the Harmony Inn. The brewery is located in North Versailles on route 30. http://www.fullpintbrewing.com/

Friday, 7th October 2011
7:00 PM
Bottlebrush Gallery & Shop
539 Main Street
Harmony, Pa. 16037
(724) 452-0539
HITH@zoominternet.net

About Tommy Womack:

TOMMY WOMACK is a published author and successful singer-songwriter with songs recorded by Jimmy Buffett, Todd Snider, Jason Ringenberg, Dan Baird, Scott Kempner and others as well as several solo releases with a new full length album due out in early 2012. If that’s not enough he’s also continuing his other band collaboration with AMA instrumentalist of the year Will Kimbrough and always writing towards his next book. “Womack leavens searing EMOTIONAL HONESTY with OBSERVATIONAL WIT and WRY WISE-GUY CHARM as he moves among rock, country and blues.” ~ The Philadelphia Inquirer, Daniel Seymour will be playing bass with Tommy.

Tommy says, “My name is Tommy Glynn Womack. Skot Willis once said I was the craziest person he’d ever met who had his life together. Todd Snider says I’m the only person he’s ever met in Nashville who’s crazier than he is. So I must be crazy, I guess. I can’t tell. Crazy for most folks must just be what normal feels like for me. From 1985 through 1992 I played in a band called Government Cheese. From 1992 through 1994 I played in a band calledthe bis-quits. In 1995, my book Cheese Chronicles: The True Story of a Rock and Roll Band You’ve Never Heard Of was published.”

http://www.reverbnation.com/tommywomack
http://www.tommywomack.com

About Tom Panei:

If you’ve been anywhere in Butler you’ve seen Tom’s art… visible to the public on the welcome sign as you drive into Butler and on the side of Natili’s South. His art is for sale regionally and nationally. For the past 20+ years, Tom has been writing and playing music. He was co-founder of the regionally successful band Mind’s I, has 4 studio releases, and has traveled extensively over the Northeastern US from 1999- 2008. Since then, Tom has logged countless miles and hundreds of shows as a solo acoustic act. Playing material from Johnny Cash, to Nine Inch Nails, to his well written originals, Tom Panei is sure to please anyone that comes out to a show. His high energy performances have been enjoyed by everyone from Pennsylvania to Illinois, and as far south as Key West, Florida. Honing his skills as a musician and entertainer over the years, Tom’s performance is a show you don’t want to miss.

Friday August 19th, 6pm

The pottery of local ceramic artist Karen McKee is showcased in this event.

Karen McKee fell in love with clay a long time ago, then life got in the way. A little more than a decade ago Karen found herself some time and started playing with clay again. The results are beautiful, you can really feel the joy she puts into her work.

If you were with us for Todd Burge, Phil Lee, Tom Mason or Jeff Wiley, you know that Harmony in the House Concert Series at Bottlebrush Gallery is the real deal for small-venue music in the North Pittsburgh area.

Many of you asked how you can make sure your friends know about these fine concerts. We encourage you to forward this Web site address or our emails and have them contact us directly. We love making new friends!

The House Concert tradition at Bottlebrush continues with a show you won’t want to miss:

Tony Denikos
Americana-Folk-Roots Acoustic
Steve Cohagan, opening act and releasing his new CD, “Picture Show”
Friday, August 12, 2011, 7:00 PM
Bottlebrush Gallery, 539 Main Street, Harmony, PA
Admission: $10 cash or credit card
Limited seating
RSVP to (724) 453.1222 or hith@zoominternet.net

Starting at 6 PM and throughout the show, the good folks at The Enchanted Olive of Harmony will be here offering samples of their delicious, flavored dipping oils. You can read more about them at http://enchantedolive.com/ . We can assure you they offer a wonderful taste treat, and you will want to take a bottle or 2 of their dipping oils home with you.

Small venue, intimate, live performances for all ages, featuring acoustic, folk, and singer/songwriters. Harmony in the House is booking traveling acts, many from the Nashville area, as they pass through our region, providing low-cost entertainment by performers ordinarily seen only in large venues and cities. With the support of the regional music-loving community, we will bring you a consistently high-caliber, diverse group of performers monthly at a reasonable cost.

The house concerts begin at 7:00 PM and end before 10:00 PM, at the Bottlebrush Gallery in Harmony, PA. Stay as long as you’d like! We can all be home by bedtime, or go to the Harmony Inn for a late supper after the show.

This event is BYOB for adults… we’ll have sodas, water and snacks, too!

The only chairs we have are some folding chairs and you are welcome to use them, or, within reason, bring your own chair from home. We have some space limitations so daybeds and chaise lounges are out… otherwise, come comfy and ready to have some fun with this great line-up.

About Tony Denikos

Tony Denikos, (pronounced “Deh-nigh-kiss”), writes, records and performs some of the most refreshingly down-home Americana music in the country. A native of Laurel, MD, Tony’s wide range of influences include artists such as John Fogerty, John Prine, Lowell George, Graham Parker & Bruce Springsteen. Tony is a storyteller and songsmith in the tradition of John Prine & Lyle Lovett.

Tony recently released his third CD Already Gone (2009), music of cutting lyrical wit, breathtakingly personal storytelling, and foot stomping backbeats. It immediately charted at #2 on the Euro Americana Charts and at #7 on the Freeform American Roots Chart. There are stories here that everyone can relate to about love, working class attitudes, hope, regret, forgotten patriots and unwitting heroes.

You can catch Tony performing his songs at venues and festivals from New York to the Carolinas– including venues such as Rams Head on Stage ,the Maryland Seafood Festival, Columbia Festival of the Arts, the Vintage Virginia Wine Festival and many others. He performs solo or with a band – always presenting to the listening world a writing style and performance uniquely his own. His songs will stay with you long after the lights fade to black.  http://tonydenikos.com/

About Steve Cohagan

Steve Cohagan is a well regarded singer/songwriter, well known in the Pittsburgh area. Close your eyes and you can hear him calling Tom Waits to the table. His songs tell fascinating stories and whether on guitar and harp, or pulling off an old Taj Mahal tune on the banjo I know you will enjoy him. Come, celebrate the release of his new CD. His songwriting teeters, gracefully balanced in the harmonious mix. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always…. always hopeful.always…. always hopeful.

3^rd Friday Event: July 15^th, 6-9pm

North Hills Art Center

On Display at the Bottlebrush!

Featuring 22 local Artists:

KIM FREITHALER, NADYA LOPETS, JOAN SCHEURING, DIANE PONTORIERO, DOROTHY THOMAS, DIANE UNKOVIC, VICKIE SCHILLING, RUTHANN FARINACCI, JULIE UBER, JUNE KIELTY, ALICE BEVINGTON, MARIAN SALLADE, GLADYS TOBIN, MARY C. BITTNER, CARMELLA ZIELINSKI, MARTHA H BALKEY, ELAINE BERGSTROM, THOMAS RILEY, BOB MUELLER

Come out and meet them! Show runs through August 14th.