I love Rock Star Rodeo Boutique in Saugerities. I stopped by there for the first time on my birthday last month, and I forgot to blog about it. I had a Twilight Zone experience there. A total stranger carrying two shot glasses and beer walked into the store, and started singing Happy Birthday. I thought there was no way my husband would have planned this, and besides I don't drink beer! Anyway, the guy was serenading Billy Yosh, the store owner who shares my October birthday. We all had a good laugh about that. Billy told me that I had the strangest look on my face.
Anyway, it is a very cool boutique with loads of funny gag type gifts too. Jimmy Fallon, an old buddy of his gave him a shout out on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show, and showed off the belt he bought at Rock Star Rodeo. Check out Rock Star Rodeo's website for Jimmy Fallon clip. Rock Star Rodeo, 110 Partition Street, Saugerties, NY.
The Wild Hive Farm Store is a very cheery organic cafe in Clinton Corners, the only place to eat in this little town. I could tell by the fancy organic take-home food that the menu was going to be farm to table healthy. They serve breakfast all day, but I was in the mood for lunch so I ordered a grass-fed burger with local cheddar cheese and a side salad. My husband had the veggie burger. We started with the soup. The vegan broccolie rabe and cheddar for me. He had the potato bacon. Both were served piping hot and yummy! For dessert I couldn't resist Erika's Chocolate Oatmeal Bar. It was very good, and not overly sugary, which leads me to believe it was probably healthy (gasp!)
A staff member there tells me that celebrities come to Wild Hive Farm often, especially during the spring and summer months. (Naomi Watts has visited before). While I was there I saw two tall blonde women sporting sunglasses who certainly looked and acted like celebrities, but I could not recognize them. Anyway, with its understated vibe, I can see how it would be a fun place to relax and people watch. They also do catering. I enjoyed eavesdropping on a catering meeting going on at the table next to me. Wild Hive Farm, 2411 Salt Point Turnpike, Clinton Corners, NY. (845) 266-5863.
I spotted Howard Stern jogging near one of my favorite Southampton beaches on Saturday. He was with a beautiful blonde woman. (I believe it was his wife). He looked very happy and said "hi" to another runner who passed him. When I worked as waitress at a Southampton restaurant in the late 1980s, I served Billy Joel, Matthew Broderick (and Jennifer Grey when they were dating), Robert Doyle, Alan Alda, and Vera Wang. I was so starstruck when I waited on Billy Joel that I saved the crushed Marlboro packet of cigarettes he left behind at the counter. (Yes, these were the days when one could smoke at a restaurant counter).
Last year, I saw Chevy Chase in Sag Harbor. And, I think I saw Deepak Chopra that same night, but I can't be sure. A few months ago, I spotted one of the Real Housewives of New York shopping at Walbaum's in Southampton. Just like on the show, she looked very stressed.
I remember having breakfast with my parents at 75 Main in Southampton the week it opened and watching Billy Joel walk in and shake the owners hand to wish him good luck. I love Billy Joel for his musical talent, but he also always seems so down to earth, and not full of himself at all. Who have you seen in the Hamptons? I love watching Plum TV when I'm out there too. Love this clip of Billy Joel talking about his other passion, motorcycles!
Le Petit Bistro is a very cozy and intimate French restaurant in Rhinebeck, that I had never been too until last week. A friend of mine who grew up in Rhinebeck recommended it as the best French restaurant around. Since I just returned from a 10 day vacation in France recently, I had high expectations. I also know that even the best French restaurant here can't compare to a home cooked meal at my cousin's house in France. The delicious dinner I had at Le Petit Bistro came very close though. The service was outstanding. (Don't be intimidated by the knowledgeable staff there! They are eager to answer any questions you have about any dish on the menu.
We had the pate and the escargots to start. Both appetizers were delicious. The bread wasn't French bread, but it was yummy. I had the duck, which was perfectly cooked. My husband ordered the skirt steak which was a special. Though I really enjoyed the duck, if I go there again, I will order the lamb as it comes with mashed potato, and the woman seated next to me, raved about them. I don't know why they served plain old white rice with such a magnificent duck.
Dessert was totally over-the-top! I got the eggnog creme brule. (I'm sure there was a bit of alcohol in there!) My husband had the apple crisp. I would definitely recommend Le Petit Bistro as a perfect place to splurge a little on date night. Be sure to make a reservation, especially on a weekend. For more information, go to Le Petit Bistro, 8 East Market Street, Rhinebeck, NY.
Jimmy Fallon surprised the audience (and Robbie Dupree too I suspect) at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock tonight. Shortly after the show's intermission Robbie Dupree said he had a surprise guest tonight who he sang with on his TV show. Just as "Steal Away" started playing, Jimmy Fallon came out with his father and joined the back-up singers in the song. Dressed in relaxed weekend gear, faded jeans, jean jacket and fall sweater, he yelled at the audience, "I love Woodstock! It's so good to be home!" After the song, Fallon joined Dupree in an impromptu singing of a doo-wop song. I was so excited witness this all that I forgot the song they sang! What a night to forget my digital camera though. I did the best I could with my camera phone. Thank you Jimmy Fallon and Robbie Dupree for a great show!
I love being in Woodstock the week of the Woodstock Film Festival. It is my favorite week of the year. As a movie lover, I love discovering independent films that I know I might never get to see anywhere else. My favorite part is listening to the Q & A afterwards. The movies are screened in small cinemas, town halls, community centers, which gives it an intimate environment to watch a movie. Filmmakers are also more relaxed in the country setting, and happy to go off on tangents about their films.
Here's a tangent of my own--I've been having all kinds of epiphanies this week. A couple of my younger friends have been buzzing about the new MTV show "World of Jenks" on Facebook lately. And, all this time the name has sounded familiar, but I haven't had time to catch up on my MTV. Well, I finally figured out why the name Jenks rang my bell. I got to meet Andrew Jenks very briefly when he presented his documentary "Andrew Jenks Room 335" at the Woodstock Film Festival in 2006. The movie stuck with me so much that I wrote him an email telling him how much it had moved me, and that I would try to promote the film to different magazines. (I didn't have any luck, but he didn't need my help anyway). We exchanged a couple nice emails, but then I never followed up. Now four years later, he's an MTV Star! If you go to the Woodstock Film Festival, and see a movie, don't miss the Q & A's with the filmmakers. You could meet a future Andrew Jenks! I can't promise they will all be as handsome (though I do prefer the shorter hair he sported in 2006), but they are certainly brilliant! For more information on the Woodstock Film Festival visit the festival's website.
Like many Hudson Valley residents, I was very excited to hear that Chelsea Clinton chose the beautiful town of Rhinebeck as her wedding location. Last month, I visited Chamonix Bridal Boutique in Rhinebeck. It's a small boutique, but they have a great selection of wedding dresses, prom dresses, mother of the bride, destination wedding dresses, or special event dresses for weddings. (Angelique, Joli, Bari Jay are the main designers). Sweet sixteen party girls can also find cute dresses here.
Co-owner Heather Graham says that she is not sure if any of Chelsea Clinton's guests have shopped at her store yet as certain customers are more secretive than others. Graham says that there has definitely been more traffic in her store since the news of Chelsea Clinton's wedding broke, and the "buzz" in Rhinebeck is definitely noticeable. If you have been invited to the big event, and have yet to make your wardrobe selection, it's not too late to visit Chamonix. Check out their website or visit them at Chamonix Bridal, 32 E. Market Street, Rhinebeck, NY. 845-876-6999.
Singer Robbie Dupree, who wrote the grammy-nominated hit "Steal Away" in 1980, was our first neighbor when my husband and I were weekend renters 8 years ago. Our landlord described him to us as a "Woodstock treasure." Robbie Dupree welcomed us to the neighborhood and was one of the first of many very cool people we would meet here in the Hudson Valley. Last month he appeared on Jimmy Fallon's show to perform his hit "Steal Away" and his new song from his new album "Time & Tide" called Lucky.
I caught up with him last week and interviewed him for Hudson Valley Good Stuff.
HVGS: How did the Jimmy Fallon gig come up? He’s a Saugerties native. Had you met him before?
Robbie Dupree: Last November, I started receiving letters from fans asking me “have you seen Rolling Stone magazine?” There was an interview with Jimmy and guys from The Roots, and he was saying how cool it is to have mash-ups with different groups who play with the Roots, and they asked him “Who is an artist that you’d like to have, but you haven’t had on the show?” and he mentioned me as the artist. It was very flattering and very nice. I don’t know him or anything. I didn’t ever think I’d get mentioned in that way. Then I was put in touch with my film agent Susan Millary who told me that she had a friend named Tracy Miller who is a publicist who booked the show, but it was initiated by Jimmy.
HVGS: You had never crossed paths before?
We had never crossed paths before. I’m sure he was probably a child when “Steal Away”came out, but yet he was a big fan of it, he really loves the songs. He loves the late 70s and early 80s music that they call Yacht Rock, which is fun. It’s the whole interpretation of the way everyone was back then--open shirt, the Don Johnson Miami Vice look that we all had. So he’s a big fan of the whole thing. He’s had Christopher Cross and Michael McDonald on. It’s an annual thing called the Yacht Rock. He was very sweet with me. He wound up asking me if he could sing in the background vocal section, and stood between my two female vocalists and knew all the lines.It was kind of like a reverence for this sort of music.
HVGS: Where did you record the new album"Time and Tide"?
RD: I have a small home writing studio. What I do is I work on the albums on the tracking at the clubhouse which is a studio in Rhinebeck, and I do my vocals separately with Julie Last in a studio called Cold Brook productions. That’s the studios that I work at in general.
HVGS: Is there a particular song on the new album that is your favorite?
RD: Well, it’s an album that I really enjoy top to bottom. It was a very good project, and it was different in a lot of ways to do it the way I did it. Just the band live in the studio, and it wasn’t drawn out over a long period of time. It was kind of a cogent recording process.
The song “Lucky” even though it’s a short lyric is sort of a capsulizing of my history of doing this job. It starts out explaining the original band I had called New World Rising. A verse about my success, and a verse about contemporary time. I don’t like to hammer people over the head with obvious things, but that song is probably the most autobiographical song I’ve done, then there is Judgment Day kind of inspired by the passing of my father. "Mystery World" is a song that means a lot to me, a statement about the state of affairs. "Blue Monday" isn’t based about my life, but about observations. Many of my songs are written mainly as an observer, and often don’t relate to me, but what I see.
It’s less about craft and more about the imagery I’ve seen. Lots of the songs were songs for the sake of being song. Like “Steal Away” was a song. I never expected it to be a hit. To this day, I still get letters saying “oh, this is the song they played at my wedding” etc. “Street Corner Hero” is about growing up in Brooklyn. I’m older now and I’m freer about sharing my own stuff. It wasn’t even intended that way. Once you start writing, a path is created. I don’t have an idea when I sit down. It just wanders to where it wanders.
HVGS: What do you like about the HudsonValley? Do you miss it when you are out on tour?
RD: I miss the area a lot when I’m not here. I appreciate it a lot. It’s changed for me.
I came here in 1972 for the first time, and I’ve been here and moved away and lived in California. I’ve been here single, I’ve been here married, I’ve been here broke, and successful. My parents moved here in the late 70s so even though I’m not a native, I’m a person who has had their family transported to Woodstock. I like it because it’s safe, beautiful, it’s got proximity and a relationship with culture in New York city. I really wasn’t looking to live in the woods. Often times when I’m away I miss the quietude and the solace of being here. I wouldn’t want to live in NY or LA. It’s nice to visit and work in those places, but as for living full time there, I’m done with that. I do live in Rome for a few months out of the year. That is perfect for me.
There is one thing I could say. I’ve said before. People always ask me, “What’s different now than then about Woodstock?” Besides the people who have moved away or passed away, as life goes, when I came here, the town was full of people who were dreamers, who were here to write their book, or make a movie, or make a record, or have their band become successful.So pardon the word “energy”, but if you want to use that word, there was a sort of "excited energy" that existed on the street, there was a great interplay between musicians, the kind of things that happened locally were quite fun. Now it’s a place where you have to already have realized your dream to come here because you can’t afford to come here anymore like I did with $100 in my pocket. That changes the profile of the citizen. There were working farms here when I came. It was just a different place. It’s more streamlined with families with young children who want to bust out of the city. And everybody’s house cost at least $300,000. So a lot of the dreamers had to move on.
HVGS: Where did the dreamers go? Where are they now?
RD: I wonder. I hear there are pockets of places they have found. I hear Brooklyn is a popular place now for people to pioneer the neighborhoods that are now coming back with.lots of clubs, wherever there’s clubs, there’s reasons to be there. Williamsburg, Long IslandCity, BrooklynHeights. I know these places are not cheap, but it’s where young people are congregating to kind of make things happen. Woodstock was unique because of where it was located. So if you start a scene in Ithaca…It’s not the same. It’s a completely different vibe.
HVGS: When we first moved out here, you used to tell me about all the good places to go. Where do you go now?
RD: Socially we’re down to very limited things here. There isn’t the club scene that existed. Even the club scene that existed 10-12 years ago was more than it was now. Now I think the lifestyle here has more to do with going out to restaurants. I go see music at the Bearsville Theater or wherever good music is playing. There are restaurants that I go to often. Then I have friends here that I visit. Every day I walk 3 miles in the morning. I love to mountain bike. Up until a few years ago, I had a boat on the Hudson River. When I bought the boat for 4 years ago I ran out of time to put into it. I had no idea how time consuming a boat could be, but it was one of the best discoveries that I made around here.
For more information on Robbie Dupree or to order his new album visit his website RobbieDupree.com. Unfortunately, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon has removed the video of his live performance on the show. I will try to see if I can hunt it down and get permission to include it in this blog post.
Yo Gabba Gabba is coming to the Hudson Valley this Summer! They will be performing at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel on August 27th. Tickets go on sale this Saturday. You can click here for more information, and to buy tickets for the 2 shows that day. And, remember,"Don't bite your friends!"
