News

The Plymouth Boys & Girls Clubs Charity

The March 18th event for The Plymouth Boys & Girls Clubs is going so well with the prizes and all, the BBC management and I want to put a twist to it... We want to have the sale of the raffle tickets start the night of March 18th at the Cedarville BBC, we will include several free raffles that night of stuff (t-shirts from Cheers & Margaritaville, gift certificates from Cheers, BBC, a Buffett book, etc.)... Then we'll have the grand prize announced on April 22nd when we return to play the BBC in Cedarville...

Tickets will be available on both nights until midnight, in fact, tickets will be available at Jon Frattasio Band performances at all BBC locations from March 18th and up to April 22nd at Cedarville...

The South Shore has an inside connection to Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band, and that means Buffett's two shows next weekend at Fenway Park will be preceded by a very special local appearance by Peter Mayer, the Coral Reefer Band's lead guitarist since 1988, and an accomplished singer-songwriter in his own right.

He will be performing Tuesday night at The Bistro at Cataldi's restaurant on Route 27 in Hanson.

Opening for Mayer will be Hanover songsmith Jon Frattasio, also one of Mayer's closest musical pals.

‘‘I met Jon at a Boston gig eight years ago,'' said Mayer. ‘‘He came up and introduced himself after my show, and I could immediately sense an intensity about him. He was very earnest and very eager to help me get a gig in his area. Lots of people give you stories like that, but I could see he was for real, and he delivered.

‘‘He got us booked at Joe's American Bar and Grille in Hanover, and we had hundreds of people turn out. Since then, I've come to know Jon as his own fine musician, and really been able to see him grow into an imposing artist himself.''

‘‘It was a show at Johnny D's in Somerville,'' Frattasio recalled. ‘‘We had some mutual friends, and I was familiar with Peter's music. I was already playing Peter Mayer tunes on my own gigs. Peter has encouraged me and also been instrumental in getting me into Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffett's club in Key West, where I now headline three or four weeks every year. It really means a lot get the respect of people like Peter, and obviously, playing Key West is one of my favorite gigs.''

Frattasio has been a full time troubadour for 14 years, performing all over New England and doing his own tunes as well as some of the best Buffett covers around. Ironically he came to Buffett-love late in his career. ‘‘I didn't really know that much about Jimmy Buffett up until 10 years ago,'' he said, ‘‘but people kept requesting his songs.

‘‘I investigated Buffett, liked what I heard, and from that, also got into Peter Mayer. I think Peter's music is like a wonderful blend of James Taylor, Sting, Paul Simon and even the Dave Matthews Band.''

Mayer's own career predates his association with Buffett. Born in India to missionary parents from Missouri, Mayer first became a noted jazz guitarist, even teaching jazz guitar at Webster University in St. Louis. Eventually he gravitated to rock, and his Peter Mayer Group's debut album ‘‘PM'' spawned a No. 8 Billboard hit in the 1988 song ‘‘Piece of Paradise.''

At about that time, Buffett had secured a new producer for his ‘‘Off to See the Lizard'' album, who suggested he listen to Mayer's band. Buffett ended up using the whole band on that album, and Mayer has been with him ever since.

Mayer's sixth solo album, ‘‘Musicbox,'' was released in May, and he'll be doing much of that material Tuesday, when he'll perform with his brother Jim Mayer as a duo.

With Mayer's varied past and his all-encompassing tastes, the new album is a potpourri of styles.

‘‘There are lots of eclectic sounds on this one,'' Mayer said. ‘‘I love the Beatles, Jimmy Buffett, and I taught jazz, so we didn't try and aim for one style. We let the music be whatever it could be. We were going to cut down from 14 tracks, but ended up leaving them all in. It's just like a big family; each tune has something different to represent.''