If you’re out and about in Charleston, W.Va. tonigh this Saturday, Dec. 8, come hear what The BrotherSisters are about. We play a free show 7 to 9 p.m. at Bluegrass Kitchen in their cool Tap Room bar beside the restaurant at 1600 Washington St.

Come on out to the Tap Room, the cool little bar/performance space off the main dining room of The Bluegrass Kitchen, 1600 Washington Street East, Charleston, W.Va., as The Brother Sisters return there for a show from 7 to 9 p.m. this Saturday, Dec. 8. We hope to have a few new songs and covers ready for listeners by then, and we are moving — striding, we hope — forcefully toward the release of the band’s first CD. Stay tuned, drop by. You can also see us every Thursday at Third Eye Cabaret, from 7 to 10 p.m. at The Cellar, where we’re the house band of this lively music, spoken word and ‘video joint.’ For more the cabaret, check out and ‘like’ this page: http://facebook.com/thirdeyecabaret/

Above is some footage for the CabaretCam and a segment of song by The BrotherSisters, Albert Perrone’s wonderful song, “This Man Won’t Stand Down.”

WHAT: Benefit fundraiser for the W.Va. Institute for Spirituality featuring The BrotherSisters.
WHEN: 7 to 8:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 30.
WHERE: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1600 Kanawha Blvd., Charleston, W.Va. (Next door to the Institute, right off Kanawha Blvd.)
COST: $5 suggested donation at the door. Additional donations for the good work of the center welcome.

I forget how I first came to know Sister Mary Pellicane, a resident nun at the W.Va. Institute for Spirituality in Charleston, W.Va. But once you know her, you cannot forget her. She recently turned 90 years old and is as spritely, feisty, opinionated and chatty as ever. Thank goodness. She represents all that is good about a happy spiritual life, grounded in the world. So, it was that I brought my guitar over one day to play her some music. We got around to talking about how the W.Va. Institute of Spirituality, where she lives, is like many a spiritual institution — always in need of additional operating funds. I idly suggested the idea of a fundraising concert. She wouldn’t let me forget. That was maybe two years ago. She didn’t let me forget. I finally stood good on my offer. And so our folk trio, The BrotherSisters, will do a benefit for the center 7 p.m. this Friday at the church next door (where there is more room for a show). The Institute’s homepage describes its mission this way:

The West Virginia Institute For Spirituality is dedicated to providing space and opportunities for deepening mindfulness, prayer practice, interior peace, and for integrating moral and ethical values.

I have several friends whose lives have been enriched, strengthened and reinvigorated by the work of the center. The concert is a small token of appreciation for what my Buddhist meditation teacher describes as the utmost significance of having such “spiritual friends” in one’s life.

It might be an understatement to say Sister Mary Pellicane is a force of nature. Nature might take some tips from her. On the occasion of her 90th birthday, my Charleston Gazette colleague Sandy Wells profiled her. Here’s a bit of that profile, done in Sandy’s “Inner Views” style of an introduction followed by quotes culled from an in-depth interview.

Sister Mary Pellicane | Chris Dorst photo for Charleston Gazette

Spiritual icon ready to ring in 90th year

By Sandy Wells | Charleston Gazette | Dec. 11, 2012

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — On Jan. 11, a spiritual icon in Charleston turns 90.

A nun representing Our Lady of the Cenacle, Sister Mary Pellicane arrived here 33 years ago to establish the Cenacle Retreat House, an ecumenical center for reflection and religious renewal, a kind of clinic for the soul.

She directed the retreat until it closed in 1998. Today, her ministry continues at the West Virginia Institute of Spirituality.

A keen mind harbors special recollections. As a child, she watched Charles Lindbergh waving on the back of a convertible in a ticker-tape parade. At the 1939 World’s Fair, she marveled at such unheard promises as television and highway cloverleafs.

Yes, there was a life before nunhood. She grew up in Queens, a tomboy playing ball in the streets with her brothers. She dated, danced the jitterbug and Lindy Hop and found a wartime office job that didn’t require typing or shorthand.

Then, she encountered the quiet, semi-cloistered world of the Cenacle sisters. And she knew she was home.

Known for her warmth and humor, she glows with wisdom and inner peace, the gifts of age. But there’s nothing namby-pamby about her. Outspoken and opinionated, she keeps her soapbox handy.

“I can’t shut up,” she said.

—

“My parents were immigrants from Sicily. They came as children. They married and got a coldwater flat in Brooklyn. We were there four years.

“They were very keen on not being immigrants, so we upgraded to Queens County, an English speaking neighborhood.

“When I was there, I saw one of the most outstanding things. After Charles Lindbergh flew the Atlantic, they had a spectacular procession. He was in a convertible, and he was sitting on top, and it was almost like a papal visitation … | READ ON

WHAT: The ‘soft launch’ of Third Eye Cabaret, a Video Joint. The live performance venue of TheWebTheater.com
WHEN: 7 to 11 p.m. each THURSDAY, starting Oct. 25, 2012, in West Virginia’s capital city.
WHERE: The CELLAR, 8 Capitol St., Charleston, W.Va.
WHY: A performance cabaret featuring performing songwriters, spoken word, original video, live interviews and whatever we think up next.
WHO: Featuring a rotating cast of performers and hosts. Performers for Oct. 25 include Casey Litz, The BrotherSisters, Talented, Pinkie Promise and … well, we’re still growing the guest list. You may even be on it.
HOW MUCH: Free (for now)
AND: Video cameras will be rolling and excerpts from the evening flung onto the web and into the social media vortex.

+ + + + +
AND ALSO: Plus, we’ll be getting around to doing live video interviews and studio audience taping of episodes and programs by TheWebTheater.com. Coming soon to a screen near you.
BUT FIRST: We need to get a decent video screen mocked up. It might be a nice sheet.
FINALLY: Suggestions? Contact us.

The BrotherSisters (from left, Douglas Imbrogno, Marylin McKeown and Albert Perrone) bring their signature, high-powered, triple-harmonic, nuevo folk and folk-rock sounds to Taylor Books, 226 Capitol St., Charleston, W.Va., in a free show from 7 to 9 p.m., FRIDAY, SEPT. 28, 20012. With special guest sisters and brothers to be announced.

Blugrass Kitchen, Charleston, W.Va. | July 2012

I have wanted to perform in this space every since I saw Marium Bria tear it up one night some months ago, before she exited South to wrestle alligators or something and was heard from nary again. (Facebook whispers that she’s back in town — huzzah). This is the small stage in the window of the Bluegrass Kitchen bar, in a narrow room beside the main restaurant. The BrotherSisters did their thing this past Saturday. We stripped down and just bought a single amp, to pump up Cody — Cody is Albert’s hepped-up classical guitar. He’s really cool, Cody. (Albert’s cool, too).

Note to Self & Other Musicians: I would bring a small sound system were we to play this small room again, . When it was full of 35 or so people, you had to get in touch your Inner Opera Singer and bounce your voice off the back wall. It was actually a good workout. But afterward –  over meatball pasta for Al and a veggie burger on a Frutcake brioche for me (Marylin had exited for a further night on the town), we agreed that two hours of belting is a whole lot of belting. They seemed to like us, those who showed up. The BrotherSisters are in the stadium … | douglas

Albert Perrone | On stage at Huntington's Keith-Albee Theater winter 2012 | thebrothersisters.com

THIS MAN WON’T STAND DOWN
by Albert Perrone | music & lyrics copyright 2012 Albert Perrone and The BrotherSisters ©

This man won’t stand down.
This man won’t stand down.

I can feel the crosshairs aimed straight at your chest.
And I might take the hit for you if I think that’s best.

Now don’t get me wrong I’m not tryin’ to raise myself above the rest.
The chances I take come from faith rest assured I have proof.
Cause if it’s a matter of my freedom you better prepare for the truth.

(BREAK)
I stand here naked alone with my baggage in my hand.
Cause it’s got to be better than living a lie or hiding my head in the sand.

Freedom comes hard
and always at a very high price.

If I could go back and change the past don’t you know
I wouldn’t think twice.

We all have regrets and sins but you know how that goes.
So don’t buy into revenge every soul pays what it owes.

(BREAK)
I stand here naked alone with my baggage in my hand.
Cause it’s got to be better than living a lie or hiding my head in the sand.

I stand here naked alone…
Cause it’s got to be better…

This man won’t stand down.
This man won’t stand down.

This man won’t stand down.
This man won’t stand down.