We were pleased to welcome Robert Lighthouse again as the featured act of a house concert here at the “Offshore Lounge” on October 21. Opening acts included Cajun Malheur with Chris Smith and Will May, Americana songwriter/guitarist Alan Partlow, our band French Coast Cafe, and the Stewart Sisters.

Robert followed with a great set of his blues tunes and some of his original pieces including “If I Were the President,” “She’s the One I Love,” and “Planting Season.”

Click on the House Concert link on the upper right of this post to hear us playing three of our favorite tunes: “You Hung the Moon,” a piece written by our guitarist Duane Siler; the Django Reinhardt tune “Nuages,” and our version of Sting’s “Consider Me Gone.”

Our next house concert will be featuring the Stewart Sisters, some time in early 2019.

Robert will be at the Marx Cafe in Mount Pleasant on election night, Tuesday, November 6. 3203 Mt Pleasant St NW, Washington, DC 20010. We’ll be there! Check with the Marx at (202) 518-7600  for show time.

Photo below by Robert’s friend Tom Ryan.

French Coast Cafe provided the soft background sounds of classic and jazzy French tunes, originals by guitarist Duane Siler, and more contemporary French music at the opening reception of the Lake Barcroft Art League Show, “Nature’s Artistry,” which began a month long exhibit at the new Gallery Walk space at Goodwin House, Alexandria.

French Coast Cafe vocalist Carole Bausell entertained the crowd with her unique vocal stylings on tunes in both French and English such as La Mer (“The Sea”), made famous in the states by Bobby Darin, Nuages (Clouds) by Django Reinhart, and Autumn Leaves, originally done in French as “Les Feuilles Mortes,” as well as several beloved numbers by the great Edith Piaf.

Many of the exhibiting artists were on hand at the reception to talk to visitors about their art, including French Coast Cafe bassist Larry Golfer.

French Coast Cafe’s next gig will be at Beans in the Belfry, a unique coffee house in an historic restored church in Brunswick, Maryland. Come out at see us on November 3 at 7pm.

During our recent holiday in  Puerto, Rico, we dined at Carli’s Cafe in Old San Juan. Carli Munoz, the cafe owner, was the keyboardist for the Beachboys from 1970-1980. He’s been a jazz pianist ever since. We had met Carli several years ago and I had photographed him them. See this link: https://www.flickr.com/ph…/larrygol/albums/72157640946553224

Visiting with Carli before he  went on, we told him we had started a musical trio and Carole was the vocalist. After we enjoyed the first set of his wonderful, lush piano playing, during a break, Carole was invited to come up and sing our French-English version of “Autumn Leaves.”  It was a thrill for Carole and the audience loved her.

Here are some photos from that evening:

We had a group of French speaking and Francophile neighbors visit us for an open rehearsal over the holidays where we played a mix of songs — from covers of Edith Piaf to contemporary French pop from France and Canada to one of our favorites, Fats Domino’s “Hello Josephine” with Carole’s French lyrics. We also played several original tunes written by our guitarist, Duane.

We’re available to perform at parties, house concerts, art exhibits, book signings, cafés, French-inspired events and the like.

[Photos courtesy our guests]

We’ve been recording some of our tunes and our rendition of Yannick Noah’s “Mon Dernier Amour” forms the musical basis for this promo video just released. Have a listen at this link: Presenting “French Coast Café.”.

We’ve performed now at two recent events: a musical housewarming party in Bethesda, where we were one of  a number of acts,  and another house party in Savage, Maryland where we were one of three featured bands.

Coming up, we’re looking forward to new gigs and will be going for open mike sessions at local clubs, and hopefully, getting invited  as a featured act at a local club or two.

Stay tuned.