Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Rav Shmuel

I came across a live recording of Rav Shmuel and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. He's a fantastic story teller, one-man show in the Carlebachian show - though it's not Carlebach music. Give it a listen; let me know what you think. It's a great show, I'd probably check him out if he came to town.

If you've never heard of Rav Shmuel he started an organization called Gefilte Fish, where he went on Phish tour setting up shop in an RV in the parking lots prior to shabbos and invited kids over. My friend Zev recalls one Erev Shabbat where he met Rav Shmuel and proceeded to go to the show, only turning around at the door handing his ticket to some unsuspecting fan and made shabbos in the parking lot.

I've met Rav Shmuel a few times (at Phish shows, go figure) and he always seemed like a great guy. Another friend Leib , who introduced me to Rav Shmuel, mentioned that (if I remember correctly) that he taught at YU - the website says he taught at various Universities, but no way to confirm this info.


Anyway, since it's on the LiveMusicArchive you can download it, burn it, give it to your friends legally and for free. The LaMA allows bands who agree to the service to upload live recordings - there are hundreds and thousands of them (Grateful Dead, Matisyahu, etc.). Here's the full band list.

I must apologize for the lack in posting recently, I've been rather busy. Hopefully, I'll be able to post some more shortly.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I also just came across his music, on myspace, and enjoyed more that I thought I would. It's not a breakthrough, but he has a good sound and good lyrics.

Natan said...

Yeah, he's nothing major but enjoyable and funny.