20799 Walnut St. Dunnellon, FL 34431

Music on the Porch

In Blog, Music On The Porch
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For 2 or 3 years, I’ve wanted to host a monthly live music event in Dunnellon to show case local and surrounding area singer song-writers and bring community together for a nice evening with music and each other.  Finally in January 2018, we did it. I asked Gena of Sweetie’s Cafe to open 1 night a month for dinner and she agreed to.  Our son, Taylor Dane Myers was our first entertainer, and it was a great beginning.  Since then we’ve hosted Nicholas Parker of Orlando, Kraig Kenning of Chicago (& part of the year Dunnellon), Austin Palmer of Orlando, and Craig Jaworski of Inverness.

We meet the 4th Friday of each month at 6 pm for dinner (by reservation 216-2510) at Sweetie’s  followed by an hour and a half of music on the porch beginning at 7 pm.  I don’t know about everyone else, but I thoroughly enjoy the evening.  I am surrounded by the beauty of the garden, sometimes enjoying a cold beer while holding hands with my husband, tapping my toe to the beat and grinning up a storm.   I love live music and hope to draw others to our little event that enjoy it as much as we do.  My goal is to grow the event right off our little porch so that we will eventually need a bigger venue (like our historic train depot) and have to increase it to a weekly event to accommodate all the talented musicians who want to participate.

Music on the Porch is a donation based event.  We ask that guests come prepared to make a donation to the artist in whatever amount they choose.   Some are retired and perform just for fun but others make their living this way so we would love each per person to toss in between $10 and $30 as if attending a concert of a famous artist.  Some travel 4 hours, all bring their own equipment and some may even have to pay a babysitter while performing.  If  we were attending a big name concert, ticket prices would be upwards of $50 each, we may have to travel 2 or more hours to reach the venue and sit in a balcony seat where binoculars are needed to see the artist’s face.  Here, we think you’ll be comfortable in the quaint setting close to home, have a close-by parking space, enjoy a $3 beer or glass of wine if you like and be sitting within 15 feet of your entertainer.  I for one am thrilled to have quality musicians come to us and want to make sure they have a good experience and want to come back.  I am happy to organize, promote, set up & clean up in order to have this event in Dunnellon. At this time, the budget is tiny, only printing materials and occasionally pay for someone to set up and clean up if I’m out of town.

Our June 22 our entertainment is Jazz Singer Valerie Levy and Pianist Bob Cubbage, local talent described below in their musical biographies.

July 27 Scott Dalziel of Ocala

Aug. 24 Casey Brents of Orlando

Sept. 28 Citrus Swing Band of Citrus County

Oct. 26 Nathan Whitt of Dunnellon

Nov. 23 TBA

Dec. 28 TBA

Valerie Levy’s Music Resume’
I’ve been playing guitar and singing since I was about 13 years old and used to perform in my
Junior High School Follies. I performed in plays at a young age at my local community center but
that stopped when I graduated high school and had to get a job. Fast forward…still kept up
singing and playing my guitar but not so much in public.
In 2000, my husband Dan and I moved from New Jersey to Dunnellon, Florida and I couldn’t
believe he moved me here after we had lived 35 minutes from Manhattan. We used to go in to
New York once a month and stay for 2 days and have a ball. Anyway…I basically could not get
used to the culture here and was quite depressed. But…I got involved with the Chamber of
Commerce and became their President and then also got involved with Jazz Up. In 2003, I
auditioned for a Dixie Land Band Called the Good Company Jazz Band and got the job as vocalist.
I was thrilled and we played Jazz Up 2003. We got various weddings and parties around town
and I stayed with this band for about 2-1/2 years. They all retired so since I was still involved with
Jazz Up, in 2005 I hooked up with Joe Michel’s Jazz Quintet. I sang with that band for about 5
years and then that band disbanded. So here I was without a band. I met the drummer from a
band called Opus 3 and told him I was looking for another band. He sent his piano player to my
house to audition me. I played with them for 2 years and we did many gigs….weddings, company
parties, etc. I met Bob Cubbage in 2011 and we hit it off right away. Our first gig together was
George Gould’s wedding. We’ve been playing together ever since. We’ve done Jazz Up, Victorian
Days and charity events such as the 25th Anniversary of Habitat for Humanity in Ocala. We’re still

playing together and loving every minute of it!

Bob Cubbage’s Musical Resume
  • For some reason, I have never created a resumé of my musical background. I don’t know why; perhaps I was never called upon to
    provide one. Of course, in the competitive world of music in New York (or Nashville, or L.A., et al), the best resumé would take second place to simply auditioning for the job. Moreover, when I landed an apprenticeship at Mark Century Corporation, to learn the art of commercial production, as well as master editing, the fact that I had absolute pitch, as well as a feeling for the rhythms in human speech, carried much more weight than the fact that I was a piano major at Denison University.  Anyway, here is some of my musical background, in a nutshell.
    I began playing at the age of three. My mother used to relate the story of my performing “Pistol Packin’ Mama” with one finger.  I began serious piano lessons at the age of nine. When I was twelve, my piano teacher insisted that I audition for the Preparatory Division of
    Juilliard School of Music. I was there for one year. Later, I was a piano major at Denison.  During the late 60s, I began playing production piano for stock theatre.  Some of the more memorable productions were “The Fantasticks,” “Camelot,” and “Company.” In later years, the work that I spent memorizing these scores, as well as others, would hold me in good stead when I performed at such venues as the Sherry Netherland and One Fifth.
    What is really important about my musical background is the fact that it provided an introduction to the world of audio production. Studio musicians, as a rule, are pretty fussy about who works on their recorded masters. In my case, the fact that I had worked at Mark Century as a master editor and was performing at a major piano lounge, gave me a great deal of credibility. And the more I worked, the better I became until I found myself in demand by numerous artists, record companies and music publishers – all this without any advertising or marketing. In fact, I was probably the only production facility with an unlisted phone number!
    At this time, I am devoting my energies to restoration of all of my analogue master tapes, as well as performing the service music at an
    Episcopalian church on Sunday mornings. I am also a production pianist for several vocalists. This is in addition to helping my wife manage our farm.