Date: Fri 16-Apr-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Treblehook-Spencer-Morgan

Full Text:

A New Hook For Fans Of Intimate Coffeehouse Settings

(with cuts)

BY SHANNON HICKS

The Sandy Hook trio Treblehook will be the featured act on Saturday, April 17,

for the first of what organizers hope will become a regular coffee house event

in Newtown. The band will be performing at the Newtown Congregational Church

House Memorial Room, 41-A Main Street in Newtown.

Treblehook was formed in 1996. Its members are Brian Morgan, who plays lead

guitar and vocals; Andy Spencer, guitar, banjo and vocals; and Alan Morgan,

guitar, vocals and harmonica. The band made up its name from the fact the

three members grew up in Sandy Hook (Brian Morgan now resides in Middlebury).

The band performs an entertaining mix of original songs and a traditional folk

and pop repertoire. Alan and Andy both compose songs, but their styles are

very different: Alan's music is reflective, serious and tender, while Andy's

works are more light-hearted and often have a comic twist.

Brian, the quiet member of the trio, often collaborates with his brother. He

also performs the occasional solo. Currently, Brian is learning 12-string

guitar.

Treblehook formed three years ago during the holiday season. The band's three

members have known each other most of their lives, and an appreciation of

music in each of the three men was bound to turn into something.

"I've known Alan since he was about five years old," Andy Spencer said this

week. "He was my youngest brother's best friend. I can remember him coming to

our house to play with my brother..."

Although he was raised in Newtown for 22 years, Alan moved away from town

shortly after he married his wife, Darlene. (Darlene Spencer is currently

clerk of the Borough of Newtown.) The couple stayed away for 17 years, but

when the Spencers moved back into town, Alan Morgan was one of the first

people to contact Andy. Alan mentioned he had been writing some songs and

wondered if Andy was interested in doing something involving music.

Andy was immediately impressed by what Alan had been doing, so the two started

getting together a few times each week, working on arrangements and more

songs. Alan started talking about his brother Brian, who was also interested

in doing something musically, but, says Andy, "Brian played guitar, I played

guitar, and Alan played guitar...I was not really in favor of having three

guitars."

But Brian showed up one night and "he was the missing piece of the puzzle,"

Andy admits. "Since then things have fallen together pretty nicely for us."

From his own days of playing with bluegrass bands, Andy Spencer has been

around musicians who could play the mandolin. The musician slowly picked up

how to play that instrument as well, and he now performs on mandolin in about

half a dozen of the songs Treblehook performs.

The band is far from a three-man guitar band. While their main credentials

list each Treblehook member as guitarist and vocalist, there is also bass

playing from Alan Morgan, harmonica from both of the Morgan brothers, and what

Andy terms "extremely minor percussion...sand shakers, for instance."

"We're doing a lot in terms of branching out to get away from just the

three-guitar set-up. We do work an awful lot on vocals," said Andy. "It is a

vocal band, which is another reason why I love it.

"Because they're brothers, Alan and Brian sing so perfectly and effortlessly,"

he continued. "It's a joy to listen to, and I just try to slide somewhere in

between, and we usually end up with a nice three-part harmony."

Unfortunately, says Andy, things like day jobs and other commitments keep the

trio from going after the music part of their lives as aggressively as the

band might like to. On the positive side, though, the group is beginning to

receive more opportunities to play. Treblehook has been invited to return to

the C.H. Booth Concerts on the Lawn summer series this year, and the group has

another coffeehouse-type performance next weekend in Woodbury.

Treblehook's first performance was 2« years ago, when they played at The Chat

House. The Newtown coffee house on Church Hill Road, now under new ownership

and called Coffee Delight, provided the stage for about half a dozen

Treblehook shows, in fact. The group has also enjoyed performing in Morris,

where a regular coffeehouse-style forum is presented monthly, as well as the

Booth Library summer series.

The band's performances include their own songs, which are group

collaborations, and some covers of American classics. Treblehook has two songs

it performs that have to do with Newtown. The first, "Before They Were

Nighthawks," refers to memories the three men have as boys while growing up in

Newtown.

"This is [a] vision of how things were and how they are now, and how different

things are," Andy explained. "As with every other song, it was a group

effort." Alan Morgan is the trio's principal songwriter. "He cranks out three

to my every one," laughed Andy.

The second song is, says Andy, a "very silly, funny song," called "Moms in

Minivans." The song is about what the center of town looks like on a typical

Saturday morning.

"It's not meant to offend," he insists. "It's just for fun."

While many people have picked up on the two Newtown songs, the band's full

repertoire does not necessarily have to do with things quite so local. There

are others that do have a local feel to them, however.

Alan once wrote a song called "The Man Under the Bridge." This was around the

time Alan and Andy were both working at Danbury Printing & Litho, about ten

years ago. There was a homeless man who lived under one of the bridges on

Kenosia Avenue, in the Mill Plain section of Danbury, and the men would see

him almost every day as they drove to work.

"Al was just so moved by the situation that he wrote this song," Andy said.

"It has to do with how you don't know how much you have, or how lucky you are,

until you see something like this."

"I think it's one of the best works he's ever done."

A message left on one of the band members' answering machine recently put the

band's hopes into focus. It was a call from the talent coordinator for the

Woodbury coffeehouse Treblehook will be playing at next weekend.

"We recently sent a demo tape to Woodbury, to the man who runs the St Paul's

coffeehouse. He left a message on [the machine] congratulating us on our sound

and our harmonies. He said, `This really sounds fabulous and we can't wait to

have you here.'"

"Every once in a while," said Andy, "you get an `Atta boy,' and it kind of

makes it all worthwhile."

The Coffeehouse

Admission to the coffeehouse is free. Home-baked goodies and coffee will be

available for a small purchase price.

The first hour of the evening will be reserved for open mic. Anyone with a

song to sing or perform is invited to attend and set up during this time.

Treblehook will take over at 8:30 pm, performing for the duration of the

evening, which is expected to run until about 10:30 pm.

Tina Mahoney, the aunt of Alan and Brian Morgan and a member of Newtown

Congregational Church, is helping organize the coffee house. Currently, the

Treblehook show is the only performance solidly planned, but Tina and others

are hoping to plan more shows in the future. There is already talk of a

performance by Kim Weber for July, and Treblehook plans to perform additional

coffeehouse events as the house band.

"We really don't have a permanent place for [the coffee house]," Ms Mahoney

explained. "We're trying to see how this show goes, because we're going to try

to find a place that we can do this regularly.

"We'd love to do it at the church house, but the church couldn't promise us

that we could use the building every month -- other people need to use the

building also." The Congregational Church House was a perfect starting point

for the coffee house, Tina explained, because she is a member of Newtown

Congregational Church, as are Andy Spencer and his wife.

"At this point," Tina said, "it's going to be a month-by-month venture. We

have some ideas for future performances."

"We're really at the initial planning stages, but it's something that I've

seen done successfully in other towns. We're hoping to get a good response in

Newtown so that we can present this kind of thing to the community on a

regular basis."

Anyone interested in helping in future events, whether with publicity or other

organizational duties, is invited to contact Tina Mahoney at 426-7192.

Performers are also encouraged to contact Tina, she said, so that future

events can be planned.