One year ago, I wrote to tell all of you about the significance of the day January 26 – day 26 of the Gregorian calendar – and, in this particular case, the day of the “final” show at The Nightlight Lounge. Because I had so much fun writing that letter, I thought I’d make it an annual thing. So this year, I am writing to you about the fortieth day of the Gregorian calendar, and my new favorite, February 9.

Did you know that on February 9, 1775, the British Parliament officially declared the State of Massachusetts in rebellion (about a year after they officially declared “mission accomplished”). This was a profoundly monumental day in the history of the New Republic. Going from good to bad, on this day in 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy launched his anti-red crusade by accusing more than 200 State Department staffers of Communist Party involvement. Two days later, McCarthy wrote to President Truman lowering the number to 57. A few weeks later, the number was 10. Guess how many were left at the end? Another profoundly monumental, albeit ugly, day in the history of the New Republic.

Lets see, on this day in 1964, the Beatles made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, allegedly drawing over 73 million viewers (13 million more than Elvis). On this day in 1971, one injustice was undone when Satchel Paige, one of the greatest pitchers of all time, became the first Negro League player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. A few of the people born on this day include painter Gerhard Richter (1932), dancer/stripper Gypsy Rose Lee (1914), author Alice Walker (1944), and actor Joe Pesci (1943). This was also the day that the world lost, among many, many others, Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1881), gospel great James Cleveland (1991), and for all you surviving members of the free love generation, Max Yasgur (1973)(think farm owner, upstate NY, *$%@-ton of people, MUD, died 4 years after you overran the joint)(hint – Woodstock).

Well, there you have it. Fun and educational. Hope you enjoyed reading it as I enjoyed writing it. Oh yeah, before I forget. The Nightlight Lounge is re-opening tonight. Well, sort of. Call it a really soft re-opening. Actually, tonight’s show is being put on by Clickpop Records, but unfortunately there will not be alcohol served as there is one more “T” to cross before we actually begin liquor service. The silver lining , however is that folks under 21+ will get the chance to see a truly wonderful performer before things go back to normal. Normalcy begins Wednesday with Yogoman and up, up and away we go.

Speaking of tonight’s show, I am honored and privileged to announce that Juana Molina, a truly talented Argentinean singer-songwriter and electronic musician and composer, will grace The Nightlight’s stage tonight. What a special artist! She will be launching her US Tour from our stage and I hope you will come down and celebrate the start of a new chapter. Opening for Ms. Molina will be Jennie Potts. Starting the festivities will be Kristen Allen-Zito accompanied by The Nightlight’s very own and my former band mate/muse, Richard Canut III.

As far as what lies ahead, I will tell you all about it in a few days. I the meantime, I ask for your patience as we stumble and bumble our way through the first week or two. Its going to be a little choppy for the first week or two as we get our feet wet. But I assure you we will have things dialed in quickly and in no time it is my sincere hope that the last 54 weeks are a faded and distant memory.