A New Fireplace for The Basement

First of all, allow me to apologize for the long time between posts; it has been a busy year with no shortage of distractions both at home and at work. For now, let me begin anew by recapping some of the progress I have been making down in our basement.

As you may recall, I have already enclosed the area under the stairs for a wine/beer cellar, almost finished a bar-height counter/island, built in some storage closets and enclosed my electrical panel. Across one side of the main room I have constructed a fireplace with two cabinets on either side, which are used not only for storage, but to hide two very large, vintage Pioneer speakers that are part of the music system.

The fireplace. The mantel is extra deep, as the wife likes to decorate it  during the holidays. While the paneling above is nice, it will be covered by a larger, mounted TV in due time.

I had some of the paneled bi-fold doors left over from my island project, and used some of these in the structure above the fireplace mantel; I used two more on the side, which are hinged to open for some extra storage space. The fireplace structure is all framed with 2" x 4" lumber and plywood, as are the cabinets built on either side. For the doors, I simply framed them with 1" x 4" pine and covered the open spaces with an off-white burlap, which allows the sound from the speakers to go right through.

One issue that had to be addressed was access to my water meter and main shut-off, which is located at the bottom of the wall directly behind the fireplace. Our city uses an electronic remote-read device, so we don't have a reader coming into the house anymore, but if they ever replace the system, or I need to shut off the water supply to the house from the inside, I still need to get back there. Since the fireplace is electric (a rustic-looking Duraflame unit that heats and looks rather convincing, if I do say) this was not an insurmountable problem.

The firebox and its decorative frame are separate from the rest of the fireplace surround and can be rolled out to access the water meter and shutoff valve.

What I did was build the firebox as a separate unit that rolls in-and-out on hidden casters, fit into the fireplace opening with a decorative frame attached to it. When in place, it looks permanently attached, though it only take a second to pull the whole thing out and access the meter behind. I covered the inside of the firebox with some leftover floor tile I had from another project, and finished up the fireplace surround with some corbels and a length of decorative exterior molding I had on hand. All in all, my carpentry skills are just passable, but I am happy with the result; it is certainly up to snuff for a basement entertainment space.

One happy footnote to the project was the effect it had on my sound system. My two large speakers date from the mid-1970s; they are 6-way designs, with huge 15" woofers. They weigh a ton, and while they are very, very efficient, they sacrifice some true bottom end as a trade-off in this respect. However, I found that inserting them into an even larger cabinet significantly extended the bass response, to where the sound is more reminiscent of the old Altec-Lansing Voice-of-the-Theater speakers that are so legendary. Combined with the smaller rear speakers I use in the back of the room, the result works for everything from sporting events on the TV to a symphony...or a disco dance party.

New Album Sets Shakespeare's Sonnets to Music

Musician Robert Hollingworth, best known for his directorial work with the brilliant ensemble I Fagiolini, has decided to set some of the most famous love poems ever written to contemporary music. Howevere, there is a twist: All the works will be performed on instruments popular at the time of Elizabeth I and her successor, King James.

Singers on the album will include folk star Eliza Carthy, and they are all backed by musicians playing replica instruments such as lutes, a type of 16-string cello called a lirone and a massive stringed instrument called a theorbo. Among the musicians involved in the project is drummer Geoff Dugmore, who dropped his rock and roll roots (having played with Rod Stewart and Tina Turner) to play renaissance drums on an album which has taken six months to record.

The arrangements on the album, which were developed by Hollingworth, have not changed any of Shakespeare's words but have repeated some lines and moved others. The sonnets include 154 poems, and were first published in 1609, just a few years before Shakespeare's death.

The album, called The Sonnets, set to be released on April 23 -- Shakespeare's birthday. Mr Hollingworth says he thinks the venture would have a certain "curiosity value" but expect it to be liked by everyone from pop music fans to poetry-lovers.

Sounds Made for The Season: New York Polyphony

Come each November, I seem to undergo a slow transformation; the island music which lilts across my backyard pool and the bottles of ice-cold Corona quickly give way to ancient music and dark ales as the holiday season begins to take hold. During the winter months, an idle night will often find me seated in the dining room, listening to old madrigals or ancient drinking songs of one sort or another, trying various ales out in an effort to decide what to serve at Christmas.

PHOTO CREDIT: www.newyorkpolyphony.com.

I've recently come across a new (to me) ensemble, New York Polyphony, which clearly has staked a claim to accompany those efforts this season. The group came together in 2006, and their debut CD, I Sing the Birth, was released on Avie Records in 2007. That disk gained universal praise, and for good reason - the group's clear, rich and engaging a capella sound is well-suited to the works they have chosen to perform. Indeed, the ensemble, which includes Tenor Geoffrey Silver, countertenor Geoffrey Williams, baritone Scott Dispensa and bass-baritone Craig Phillips takes on a wide range of music, from medieval chant to 21st-century liturgical compositions.

The group recently finished a number of Midwest and Rocky Mountain region dates in September, and is next set to appear at the First Presbyterian Church in Atlanta on November 22 and in New York City on December 12th. New York Polyphony is also set to release a CD of Elizabethan-inspired music recorded at Manhattan's Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in spring 2010.

To hear some of this great music, visit the group's website or listen on line at Lala.

Taylor Swift an Elizabethan Lady at Madison Square Garden

Okay, so I am not a big Taylor Swift fan -- she's a nice kid, but that kind of pop music's just not my thing. That said, TLG couldn't help but notice the nice outfits she's wearing during her 52-date Fearless tour — which launched in April and wraps in October. Rolling Stone has a full review and some nice photos, including this one of Taylor decked out in some sharp Elizabethan finery.

PHOTO CREDIT: Rolling Stone Online.

As Rolling Stone reports - "for the third act, which kicks off with “Love Story,” dancers dressed in Elizabethan costumes glide across the stage while Swift, wearing a red-and-gold cloak, sings the modern-day Romeo-and-Juliet tale." Seems appropriate. The full story is HERE.

This Tudor Rocks: Allman Brother's "Big House" to Open as a Museum

Many people might think that a Tudor house museum would be a quiet place, filled with tapestries and the echoes of madrigals in the air. Well, this is one Tudor Revival house that's seen some rock and roll...the place where the Allman Brothers Band founded their "Southern Rock" sound, the place where the song "Ramblin' Man" was penned and the last place Duane Allman visited before dying in a motorcycle crash in 1971.

PHOTO CREDIT: wrensnestonline.com.

The Big House in Macon, Georgia - home of the band lived when its fame took off back in the early 1970s, has been a spot where music lovers flocked during pilgrimages over the last few decades. Now, the three-story Tudor Revival house where the band got its start is set to become a museum with the help of many dedicated fans who have spent years collecting memorabilia and renovating the building.

The 6,000-square-foot house, which was built in the early 1900s, became the band's home in 1970 after bassist Berry Oakley and his wife, Linda, rented it for the musicians and their families. They called it the "Big House" because it was far larger than any other place they had ever lived before.

The museum is scheduled to open in December with a fanfare that is expected to draw thousands of rock fans from across the globe to Macon to honor the band. "It was never meant to be just a house with a number of things hanging on the walls but to be active in promoting music in the community," said Kirsten West, the managing director of the Big House Foundation. "For now, renovations are going, but a big sign in the front yard declares what it will be: "Allman Brothers Band Museum." To read more, go HERE.