Mike Jewell and I met in August, 1970. I was sitting alone, dejected after my parents uprooted me from an idyllic life in New Jersey and moved me to what seemed like a rural wasteland in Loudoun County. With no friends, I was feeling really sorry for myself, sitting alone tossing rocks into the water under the bridge on Catoctin Creek in Waterford when I heard, “Hey kid, who are you?” Mike and a couple other kids had been spying on me for a while before deciding to check me out.

After typical 8 year-old testing, taunting, and eventual diplomacy, Mike and the guys came over to my house and destroyed my entire G.I. Joe collection that very afternoon. We became fast friends from that day forward. Within a few months we started a band. We had to wait until the next Christmas to get real instruments.

We played old broken guitars and cardboard boxes until that fateful morning, then, equipped with the finest instruments the Sears Catalog could offer, we set sail on a musical career that, after many years, twists and turns, finds us back together playing music with the Bitter Liberals that gives us goose bumps and feels better and more meaningful than the entire past combined.

In all the years since 1971 we have never done a duo gig, just Mike and I. We sang in the children’s church choir, played in three bands together, developed an unspoken kinetic music communication, but aside from a song at a funeral or two, we have never done a duo gig.

We learned that Curtis McMurtry, son of our friend James (also a youth castaway in Waterford for a time) needed a gig as he was passing through to Austin. Barns of Rose Hill jumped at the chance to have this talented young man and his band play their venue. Mike and I thought this must be the Universe with a phone call for us. We both had the same thought…let’s offer to open for Curtis and play that duo gig we’ve never done.

This Friday, March 15th we will do it at Barns of Rose Hill. We’re very excited to do this and look forward to seeing Curtis do his magic again. Please come out and see what happens.

Allen Kitselman

The Angostura Liberals include the motley and dangerous Bitter Liberals Allen Kitselman on guitar and vocals and Mike Jewell on conga and sweet sweet harmony. They are sure to play a variety of Bitter Liberals tunes and some Genghis Angus favorites to boot.

WHO: The Angostura Liberals (a particular kind of bitters) and Curtis McMurtry
MUSICIANS: Allen Kitselman (guitar), Mike Jewell (percussion)
WHEN: Friday March 15, 2012, doors open at 7:30pm, music starts at 8:00pm.
WHERE: Barns of Rose Hill, 95 Chalmers Court, Berryville, VA
TICKETS: Tickets $10