The History of the Chesapeake Music Guide
Part 1: Birth of The Annapolis Music Scene
by Larry Freed
HELLO ANNAPOLIS!!!
“WOW!!! Is this town ready for a music newsletter or what? The
response to this whole idea has been INCREDIBLE - thank you,
everyone! It’s great to know that there are so many people in the area
who are truly interested in helping to solidify the local music commu-
nity. With everyone’s support, we’ll be able to hear a lot more about
the area’s performers and clubs, and encourage more music in town.”
Dedicated to “Keeping the Music Alive” in the Annapolis Area
With those words, written back in February, 1989, The Annapolis Music
Scene (AMS) was born. At the time, I had witnessed a steady decline in the
number of people attending local music performances, and, subsequently, a
significant decrease in the amount of live music being offered by the local
venues. I strongly believed that if the people who lived in the area realized the
outstanding caliber of music that was being performed each night in their own
town they would surely come out to support it.
Based on that belief, my friend, Kathy Teater, and I
began going from bar to bar every night gathering music
information and calendars, recruiting musicians’ support,
and getting everyone in the audience to sign up on our
mailing list. Within weeks, the town was abuzz about
Annapolis’ new music magazine, and hundreds of local
music lovers were receiving our free monthy publication.
Following our debut, several highly talented people
came forward to help us out, and within a short time the
original AMS team was built. Kathy Teater (“General
Manager”) ran the business end. Chip Tait (“Stage Man-
ager”) ran the editorial department. Janet Ducar (“Set
Design”) ran photography and publication design. Susan
Marble (“Choreographer”) ran the legal department while
writing and editing articles. Greg Allen (“Recording
Director”) wrote his highly acclaimed “Turn It Up” record
reviews. And Christopher “Pip” Pippig (“Promoter”)
wrote the wildly-popular “Pogo’s World” column, recount-
ing Pogo’s musical adventures with his lady-friend Bertha.
I was the “Conductor” of the crew, and together with the
musicians, music lovers and venues of the area, we put the
Annapolis Music Scene on the map.
After publishing 18 issues as the Annapolis Music
Scene, we felt ready to expand our horizons to the rest of
the region’s music venues and listeners, so in September, 1990, we dropped
“Annapolis” from our name and became “The Music Scene Magazine.” Over-
night, we expanded our editorial coverge and distribution area to include every
music venue in Annapolis, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia,
Frederick, the entire Eastern Shore, and, in the summer, all of Ocean City and
the Delaware Beaches. The calendar listings went from 40 venues each month
to over 600 (believe me, that’s a
LOT of calendar calls)! Of
course, the size of the team grew
accordingly, and by 1991, there
were more than a dozen people
working in every available room
in our house.
By now, the business had
also expanded its scope, and in
addition to publishing the maga-
zine, we also ran the AMS Local
Music Outlets (retail sales), AMS
Musicians’ Referral Service
(music agency), and AMS
Graphics & Design. We main-
tained several AMS Information
Centers throughout the region
which spotlighted our events and
activities, and each summer we fielded the AMS Softball Team in Annapolis’
Bar Wars League.
In the midst of all this, I met a wonderful music lover named Diana
Gonzalez. Over the course of a few months, Diana’s name rose from the bottom
of the publication’s masthead all the way to the top, finally coming to rest as
“Diana Freed - Co-Publisher.” To culminate her meteoric rise to the top, we
decided to invite EVERYONE to our wedding. We published an open invitation
in the magazine (10,000 copies at the time), and I truly believe that EVERYONE
showed up! That was a day of music and celebration like none other!!!
SHOWCASES WORK!
“Many of you have mentioned that you weren’t familiar with the performers
listed on the monthly calendar, and, in response, we’ve put together a musical
afternoon to spotlight some of the fine talent in the area.” - AMS, April, 1989
With that, just one month after initial publication of the magazine, the AMS
Command Performance Showcases were off and running. Over the next three
years, we put together roughly 35 AMS Command Performance Showcases
(“Five Bands for Five Bucks”), more than 50 AMS Singer-Songwriter Nights,
three AMS Music Cruises (with LSP Studios and Master Musicians), and
organized the musical line-ups for countless local and regional events. If there
was any live music happening in the area - AMS was a part of it.
H.E.L.P. Has Arrived
Following the tragic beating of Francis “Bones” Denvir (then manager and
co-owner of Armadillo’s) in 1990, the music community pulled together for our
first “benefit-type” fundraiser. Nothing had ever been done like this before in
Annapolis, and yet in a single day of music, auctions,
raffles and donations, over $10,000.00 was raised for
Bones’ medical expenses.
To continue this momentum, a group of local “movers-
and-shakers” came together to form the Hospitality and
Entertainment Life-support Program (H.E.L.P.), a 501(c)(3)
charitable organization. Several benefit concerts,
Bartender’s Balls, and golf tournaments were held to raise
money, and when I relinquished the presidency in 1992, we
had distributed tens of thousands of dollars to help local
musicians and restaurant employees, and had several
thousand dollars more in the H.E.L.P. Fund. This was now
truly a community coming together and “solidifying,” and
AMS had played a major role in making it happen... just as
we had set out to do from the start.
The End of the Beginning
“Everyone: It’s been a wonderful three years. Thank you
for all the love and support you’ve given us.
We love you all! ? Hoy-Hoy! ? Larry & Diana”
By 1992, the business had grown larger than ever
expected. The magazine was covering not only music but
also theater and most other forms of entertainment in the
region. All our original goals had been far exceeded, and I
now felt like it was time to move on. So, we found another
publishing company to take over the business, and in March, 1992, after the
publication’s name had been changed to “The Scene,” I wrote my final
“Conductor’s Corner.”
In just three short years, we had accomplished more than anyone, especially
myself, could ever have imagined. We helped bring the entire music community
together, and we shined a spotlight onto local musicians like no one had
ever done before. In those three years, we went from an idea to a thriving
business... And then, suddenly, the initial “Golden Era” was over.
The Team
These are the people who helped publish the magazine during the first
three years of its life. If not for them, The Chesapeake Music Guide as we
know it today would not exist. They truly deserve our gratitude...
Listed in chronological order: Larry Freed ? Kathy Teater ? Chris “Pip” Pippig ? Janet
Ducar ? Joseph “Chip” Tait ? Greg Allen ? Susan Marble ? Brian Fitzmaurice ? Liam Rutan ?
P. M. Nathan ? Randy Rockhard ? Michelle Annapolis ? Patrick “Captain Norml” Nowicki ?
Joe Deschamp ? Jim Martin ? Bob Harrison ? Mack Bailey ? Barb Hinkley ? Paul Callens ?
Dave Kneas ? John Bildahl ? Mary Ann Muccio ? Dave Chaump ? B.T. McGraw ? Miriam
Stanley Moynihan ? Robert Kyle ? Alan Feldman ? Shep Tullier ? Romain Bastian ? Diana
Gonzalez / Freed ? Rich King ? Kate Kilkeary ? Kelly Nash ? Lisa Edwards ? Cee Cee
Molineaux ? David Hooper ? Dave “Ody” Odenwald ? Paula Phillips ? Rick Gonzalez ? Karen
Holck ? Bonnie Plummer ? Barbara Hibbard ? Don Freed ? Jerry Hardesty ? Jim Harmon ?
Kate Buck ? Larry Katz ? Bill Kuethe ? Rick Hogue ? Jen Krohn ? Lori McGinness ? Kathy
Yeager ? Julia Moyer ? Darlene Pisani ? John Titsworth ? Nancy Lewis ? Amelia G ? Mike
Reed ? Julie Buckingham ? Douglas Holl ? Maggie McAleer ? Andy Davis ? Andy Davidson ? Kenny
Mullins ? Tim Conder ? Joe Saia ? John Brewer ? Bob Menolillo ? Margo Van Mater ? Rick Alonso ?
Jennifer Yearwood ? Maria Cattropa ? Brian Easter ? Glenn Hannon ? Philip Wachter ? Laura Bilger
? Kirk Intlekofer ? Glen Jones ? Brian Shupe ? Pat Fergeson ? Sista Inora McQueen ? Janice Brewer
? Natalie Hannon ? Robin Fuller ? Nancy Noyes ? Janie Larraine ? Angela Smith ? Marcia Flusen ?
Joyce Gomoljak ? Pat O’Shea White ? David Marx ? Anne Marie Crawford ? Paul Lackey ? Pat
Nettles ? Anne Morris ? Norm Amorose ? Michael Steen ? Mason Holloway ? John Keller ? Dimitri
Fotos ? Marie Westhaver ? Pati Rizzo ? Glenn Gibbs ? Susan Hyde ? Herman Schieke ? Shen
Mahone ? Birdie Court ? Robert & Jennifer Noonan ? Thanks and Hoy-Hoy!!!
The Original AMS Team
From left: Kathy Teater, Greg Allen,
Susan Marble, Larry Freed, Janet
Ducar, Chip Tait, Chris “Pip” Pippig
(Part of) The Music Scene Team
From left: Andy Davis, Maggie McAleer,
Darlene Pisani, Diana Freed, Andy Davidson, Larry
Freed, Mike Reed’s mouth, Greg Allen,
Dave “Ody” Odenwald, Brian Fitzmaurice
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