As the winter storm has worked its way towards St. Louis, I've talked to a lot of friends - teachers, students, and parents who don't feel like braving the weather to get the kids to school tomorrow - who are hoping/wishing/praying/doing ritualistic dances in their yards in hopes of summoning a snow day.

I can't say I blame them. My daughter's almost five, and she's convinced that her quality of life decreases with each day that passes without the opportunity to whip a snowball at me. While I can't say that I like being hit with snowballs - she fights dirty and packs them with ice - I'd love nothing more than to ignore the alarm tomorrow, sleep in, get my butt kicked around the backyard by my little snow monster, then curl up by the fireplace with hot cocoa. That's what snow days are all about, right?

Not for everyone. For plenty of parents and children, a snow day means uncertainty and fear. Working parents who rely on school for child care are left to scramble for a sitter. All too often, there's no money to pay for snow day childcare, which means lost income and job insecurity.

For a lot of kids, a snow day might mean a day of hunger. Of the 29 million kids who eat from the federally-funded school lunch program, 17.4 million of them are in free or reduced-price lunch programs. That number's increased by over half a million in the last year. Of the kids eating free or reduced-price lunches, 44% of them also rely on their schools for reduced-price or free breakfast. (Thanks to Share Our Strength for the numbers.)

So, what happens to these kids on snow days? How many of them can count on having those two extra meals at home? What kind of financial burden does this put on their families?

How can you help? By supporting the St. Louis area food banks that work to keep pantries stocked. What's a fun, easy way to support St. Louis area food banks? By going to LiveFeed-sponsored shows. Here's what's up for this snowy, uncertain week:

The Andrew Miramonti Trio plays a live show Tuesday at 9 at The Gramophone (4243 Manchester in The Grove). Brave the cold for some cool jazz.

Wednesday, the show goes on at The Gramophone with the weekly Blue Ribbon Open Mic Night with Tommy Halloran. Doors open at 8. Get there early to get on the performers list and take advantage of the $1.50 PBR drafts.

Thursday's Innerman Productions' weekly Mic of Knowledge featuring Koffee-N-T, The Queen's Army, and Lenny Mink at Queen of Sheba (6665 Olive at the corner of Kingsland in University City) . The musical and literary experience starts at 7. Cover is $5.

Friday night, come to The Gramophone for the jammy prog & funk of Springfield, Illinois' The Station, with openers The Werks from Dayton, Ohio. Cover's $5 and the show starts at 10.

On Saturday, Leslie Sanazaro will perform with her band at Brandt's Cafe (6525 Delmar, University City Loop) at 8. No cover!

Make sure to pay us a visit at the LiveFeed table at any of these shows. Pick up a copy of our SoundBites CD for $5. Drop some cash in the bucket. Every little bit helps hungry kids get through these cold days.

Sorry for the late notice, but if you can RSVP before 6 PM tonight, there are two free beers in it for you (if you're a musician)!

Direct from Tom Robinson, LiveFeed's Founding Director:

LiveFeed invites St. Louis musicians to come out, meet, mingle, have a couple drinks and listen to some great music, tonight at Cicero's. Doors at 7. Nato Caliph, Black Vista Highway Patrol, Logos and Last Night's Vice will perform.

$5 helps feed kids in need in St. Louis. There is still time for musicians to RSVP by emailing rsvp@livefeed.org. RSVP by 6 and we'll have 2 free beers for you!

Come out, be appreciated, and learn about LiveFeed's mission and our SoundBites CD project.

Special thanks to Laura and Cicero's.

P.S. We just got an offer from the top Music Video producer in St. Louis to produce videos for 1/2 price for LiveFeed bands. Email tom@LiveFeed.org for more information.

LiveFeed is a grassroots non-profit working to bring about the end to local, childhood hunger. We engage the live entertainment industry to raise awareness, food and funds for the fight against hunger. To learn more and to sign your band up for a LiveFeed band page, go to www.livefeed.org.

© 2007, 2008 LiveFeed. All Rights Reserved.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the inauguration got the ball rolling this week. Let's keep it going with LiveFeed's shows! At any of these shows, stop by LiveFeed's table. Buy a CD, a t-shirt, drop some cash in the coffer, or pick up info on joining our efforts.

It's Wednesday, so that means it's Blue Ribbon Open Mic Night at The Gramophone with Tom Halloran. Doors open at 8 PM. Get there early and sign up to perform and take part in the $1.50 PBR drafts. The Gramophone's located at 4243 Manchester Ave. in The Grove.

Thursday night, bring $5 to Queen of Sheba (plus extra for yummy Ethiopian food) for Innerman Productions Mic of Knowledge with Koffee-N-T, Lenny Mink, and The Queen's Army. Show starts at 7:30 PM.

The Gramophone plays host to The Contiuohm at 10 PM. Check out the neo-soul/jazz quartet's LiveFeed performance of "These Are the Reasons", recorded live at Lucas School House.

If you're more in the mood to shake your booty, hit The Gramophone on Friday for some New Orleans-style jazz with Funky Butt Brass Band. What better time to get a jumpstart on Carnival season than this week? Show starts at 10 PM. Cover's $5. Rump-shaking's free.

Friday and Saturday, Lumiere Casino presents Leslie Sanazaro Santi at Aqua. Come out at 8 PM for cocktails and the grand piano.

A bit to the south on Saturday, Off Broadway presents a night of indie/folk with St. Louis' Cassie Morgan and Iowa-based Pieta Brown. Check out Pieta, recorded live in St. Cloud last summer. Catch both great artists for $10 at 9 PM.

Feeling nostalgic? Hit The Gramophone on Saturday for Pepperland, for a night of Beatles covers. $5 gets you in the door at 10 PM.

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we're asked to make it "a day on, not a day off" for National Day of Service. While LiveFeed doesn't have any shows on today's schedule, there are still lots of opportunities to help St. Louis' hungry citizens.

University of Missouri - St. Louis hosts their first annual MLK Day Challenge, with volunteer opportunities on 13 service projects.

You can help the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry sort donations at their 10950 Schuetz Rd. facility. Call Kelly Mueller at 314-812-9386 if you want to help.

Gateway Homeless Services also needs help cleaning and organizing their food distribution warehouse at 3965 Park Ave.

The Caronddlet Community Betterment Federation is hosting a food drive, prayer service and march from 9:30 A.M. - 12:30 P.M. Make donations at CSJ Motherhouse, 6400 Minnesota Ave.

The Missouri Public Interest Research Group Student Chapter of Meramec Community College is holding a food and toiletries drive to stock local shelters with essentials. They're collecting items at the student union, starting at noon.

Communication Workers of America Local 6300 will collect food at all St. Louis-area AT&T locations for distribution to local food banks.

Don't forget that you can help directly at the source any day of the year. Check out Operation Food Search's wish list or sign up to volunteer with Food Outreach.

Tuesday night, come celebrate the inauguration with LiveFeed at The Gramophone (4243 Manchester Ave.). DJ Crucial spins the tunes starting at 8:00 P.M. No cover charge.

This week? Frigid. But do you know where it gets nice and toasty? Inside a club, of course!

With the dire cold in the forecast, it's more important than ever for us to take care of each other. Last month, Heat-Up St. Louis reported that Laclede Gas shut-offs for bill non-payments have increased by 18% this year. In the Metro East, Ameren IE reports a 12% increase in shut-offs.

In other words, more people are going without the necessities right now than ever before. That includes food, too. Last month the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported a 15% increase in first-time food pantry patrons.

Cold and hunger go hand-in-hand. Brave the former this week to battle the latter by checking out some of LiveFeed's shows this week.

Tuesday, warm up with Utter Chaos' monthly gig at The Gramaphone (4243 Manchester Avenue in The Grove). Nothing like some '50s - inspired jazz from these graduates of SIUE's jazz department to beat the chill. If you like the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, don't miss Utter Chaos at 9 PM tonight. The show's free, and the bar will have $5 glasses of wine.

Wednesday, bundle up and head to Peppertini's Piano Bar and Grill for some $5 soup du jour and Leslie Sanazaro on piano from 7-10 PM. Pepprtini's is located at 79 Forum Shopping Center in Chesterfield - slightly north of Olive and west of 141. Hot and Cold, indeed.

If you'd rather warm your cockles under the spotlight, come to The Gramophone's (4243 Manchester Avenue in The Grove) weekly open mic night, hosted by Tommy Halloran of The Bottom's Up Blues Gang and sponsored by PBR (drafts are only $1.50!). Doors open at 8 and music starts at 9, but get there early to secure your spot. Three songs or fifteen minutes on stage should take off the chill.

Thursday night means Innerman Productions Presents Mic of Knowledge at Queen of Sheba (6665 Olive Blvd., University City). Sister TARJI hosts an evening of poets, musicians, drummers, and dancers at the Ethiopian eatery. Performances start at 7:30, and the cover's $5.

If you missed Leslie Sarazaro on Wednesday, catch her and her friends at The Venice Cafe (1903 Pestalozzi in South City) on Thursday at 9 PM for $3.

The Gramophone will host Jason Vargas and Jon Coriell of Rev. Whiskey Richard at 10 PM. Cover's $5. There's scant info about what Jason and Jon will be doing, but I hope it's something like this.

Leslie Sanazaro will make her third LiveFeed appearence of the week on Friday at Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Avenue, Maplewood). Her free performance starts at 8:30.

If you'd rather kick start your weekend with some guitar rock, Japanese Bat Bomb (formerly Cat, Jump!) will be at The Gramophone Friday at 10. Cover's $5.

Finally, Saturday night brings Turn it Up! Part 4 featuring DJs Needles, Reminise and Enoch is Real to The Gramophone. $5 gets you in the door at 10 PM for hip hop grooves. If that doesn't thaw you out, you have a hypothermia problem.

Labels: "leslie sanazaro" "DJ Needles" "DJ Reminise" "Enoch is Real" "Rev. Whiskey Richard" "Innerman Productions" "utter chaos" "Japanese Bat Bomb" "LiveFeed"

Last Wednesday Off Broadway hosted Last Bash - one last winter break night of music before returning to school. Lots of folks braved the cold and flurries to have some fun and help LiveFeed raise some cash to feed St. Louis' hungry kids. One dollar of the cover charge went to LiveFeed. We also had a table where you could score the LiveFeed's Sound Bites CD for $5. Raising Kane donated some t-shirts to the cause, and lots of people dropped cash into our coffers. Thanks so much! All of that money will help keep our neighbors fed.



All photos courtesy of Courtney Chesley.

LOGOS opened the night with the guitar-heavy retro rock. Lead singer and guitarist Cullen O'Donnell showed far more charisma and guitar chops than many musicians twice his age. Local blogger Yeags wrote about O'Connell's prowess almost a year ago, and it seems the kid hasn't slowed down. With his wah-wah pedals and double-neck guitar, O'Connell evoked his classic rock and garage influences, but it was his energy and interplay with bassist Zach Czajkowski that made for a tight, entertaining set.



After LOGOS, the audience (including Beatle Bob) took to the floor for the melodic metal of Raising Kane. Perched on the speakers, lit from below, and headbanging away, these guys didn't take themselves too seriously while employing every spooky metal trick in the book. They could have come off as a joke, but fact is, their sharp playing skills and blending of classic metal speed with modern songwriting created a set that even grew on the non-metalheads in the crowd.

(If you'd like to see Raising Kane in action, check them out playing "Jaguar Breath" at Fubar last June. Thanks to Joe Knobbe Productions for the clip!)

The evening ended with a lush, stripped-down set from Walk Sophie. Percussionist/Spanish guitarist/and background vocalist Noah Mitchell missed the show due to school commitments, making Walk Sophie's set heavy with folk influences. Lead singer/guitarist Kevin Grosch, keyboardist/vocalist Dan Warner, and violinist Jackson Ramsey carried on with graceful, beautiful melodies, sweet vocals, and elegant instrumentation. On their recordings, Walk Sophie's creative uses of percussion sometimes dominate, so it was interesting to hear a different take on their lyric-driven songs.

Check in Tuesday for an update on what's happening with LiveFeed this week!

Labels: LiveFeed "Off Broadway" LOGOS "Raising Kane" "Walk Sophie"

Got one last hoorah left in you before returning to the post-holiday grind? Come to Off Broadway at 8:00 tonight for Last Bash, featuring Walk Sophie. These St. Louis boys will bring the melodic, acoustic guitar-driven indie rock. You bring the $7 cover charge ($9 if you're under 21) and help feed St. Louis' hungry while enjoying lush vocals, gorgeous harmonies, warm Spanish guitar, and heart-tugging violin. If you like Iron & Wine, Calexico, Andrew Bird, or The Shins, you're going to love Walk Sophie's original compositions.

If you missed the free download of their single "Help" that they so graciously donated to LiveFeed last week, give them a listen on their MySpace page.

Raising Cain and LOGOS will bring the rock before Walk Sophie. Off Broadway's located at 3509 Lemp Ave in the historic Cherokee Lemp district.

If you'd rather perform, be at The Gramophone's PBR Presents Blue Ribbon Open Mic Night with Tommy Halloran of The Bottoms Up Blues Gang at 9:00. The Gramophone is located at 4243 Manchester in The Grove.

Not that there's much settling down in LiveFeed's future, despite the Last Bash. For $5 on Thursday night, catch Innerman Productions' Mic of Knowledge, featuring Koffee-N-T, Queen's Army, and Lenny Mink at Queen of Sheba, located at 6665 Olive in University City. Go have some awesome Ethiopian wat and injera with the thought-provoking 7:30 PM show.

If "scatterbrained, deconstructionist folk-rock" is more your speed, OHTIS is making the trip from Normal, Illinois to play at The Gramophone at 10:00. Cover's $5, and as with all the shows I've touted, proceeds will help LiveFeed.

Labels: LiveFeed "The Gramophone" "Off Broadway" "Queen of Sheba" "Walk Sophie" "Raising Cain" "LOGOS" "Koffee-N-T" "Queen's Army" "Lenny Mink" "Tommy Halloran" OHTIS

It's time for all thing's new with the new year. I'm Robin Wheeler, and I'll be updating LiveFeed's blog. If you love live music and helping feed St. Louis' kids, hit that RSS feed and subscribe to http://livefeed.org/blog.asp, pronto! I'll have lots of news and events coming to you on a near-daily basis.

If it's Tuesday, it's Open Mic Night and the Beatle Bob Live Music Showcase at The Atomic Cowboy. From 8-10 PM, Caleb Travers welcomes performers of all genres. Afterward, Beatle Bob hosts a variety of local and touring acts. All proceeds benefit LiveFeed.

Atomic Cowboy's located at 4140 Manchester in The Grove. Come early to partake in their yummy menu. January's notoriously brutal for the restaurant biz. Have some dinner (Who doesn't love tortilla soup on a frigid night?), coffee, or cocktails, tip your servers, and support the workers and businesses that support St. Louis!

Labels: LiveFeed Atomic_Cowboy hunger food donations St._Louis