Daddy’s Blog

Well, I can tell you what I’m doing - I will be heading over to Whippersnappers in Londonderry, NH to see one of my best friend’s, Lisa Guyer, perform with her band Mama Kicks.  Not so unusual right?  Well, tomorrow night’s going to a bit special as Presidential candidate / former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee will be sitting in for a bit with Mama Kicks!  Governor Huckabee, as some of you may know, is also a bass player!  Cool!  So if you’re in the area - come on out!  You didn’t hear it from me, but a little birdie told me that there may be some other special guest tomorrow night! shhhh……  Anyway - see you tomorrow night!

I can’t believe that we are already into the fall season - this year is flying by!  Seriously, so many clinics and events happening and that have happened, I can’t figure out where the time went.  We have some cool stuff coming up in October and some exciting things on the fire that I am hoping will come through for November.  So let’s get right to it.

First up is a Roland V-Drum Clinic featuing Rolad product specialist Mike Snyder on Wednesday, October 10th at Daddy’s Boston.  Mike has been with us a few times and if ever you had any questions with regard to electronic drums - he is your man!

 

All you Shadows Fall fans better get ready because Daddy’s Portsmouth, NH is hosting an in-store meet & greet on Saturday, October 13th @ 2pm with the entire band prior to their performance that evening at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom!  There’s a catch though - you have to WIN TO GET IN!  Click here for details

 

October 15th bring another “6 O’Clock Hang” at Daddy’s Boston and this time brings guitar Joe Stump and his band!  As always, the “Hang” is FREE and so is the Dunkin Donuts Coffee!

Also, don’t forget to stop by any Daddy’s Junky Music and register to win an amazing recording package!  Check it out!

I am having a difficult time putting into words how special last night’s Brad Delp Foundation check presentation was at Daddy’s Boston.  For Daddy’s be a part of anything related to the future of Brad Delp’s legacy is just something that we were so honored to do.

The winner of the eBay auction, John Delgobbo, I have to say could not have been the more perfect person to receive this one of a kind piece of history.  If I could sketch out in my head the ideal person to own this - someone who is a HUGE, true Boston fan, someone who realizes how special this guitar is and will cherish it for life, someone who is humbled and appreciative to own it and of course someone who is a great Daddy’s customer - John would be it.

Fran Sheehan, Barry Goudreau and the Delgobbo Family

Around 5pm people started showing up at the store, Fran Sheehan, fans, the Delgobbo family, Barry and Connie Goudreau, Suzanne Hashian (Sib’s wife and one of the BDF Directors), Pamela Sullivan (Brad’s Fiancee), Bill Faulkner (one of Brad’s closest friends and BDF Director), and of course, my father - Fred “Daddy” Bramante.  We all had a great time getting to meet and hang out with the fans & John Delgobbo and his family prior to the presentation.  Lot’s of Brad stories, showing of pictures from the tribute show that photographer Kamal Asar from Action Images Photography took (you should see the photo book he put together - its GORGEOUS!), lots of reminiscing - it was fun.  Plus, Connie and Suzanne got to live out a life long fantasy (sort of) by finally being able to hang with Elvis!

Suzanne Hashian, Elvis, and Connie Goudreau

6:30pm rolled around and it was time to get started.  We gathered around a table that was displaying the guitar and also a beautiful photo of Brad that Micki Delp had sent down for John to take with him as well. 

I proceeded to read a letter to John that Micki wrote on behalf of the Delp family.  While I will keep the contents of the letter private here on this blog, I will tell you that it was beautiful and heartfelt and frankly made me choke up as I read it.  I was getting goose bumps reading it as I think that was the very moment for me that it became clear that not only was Brad gone, but (and I know I have said it before), how incredibly lucky and honored that I/we were to be a part of this. 

 

Fred “Daddy” Bramante, me, John Delgobbo, Bill Faulkner, Suzanne Hashian, Barry Gourdreau and Fran Sheehan 

I have to tell you, more often than not, a lot of our “celebrity” friends, are people that I/we meet “after the fact” so to speak and their accomplishments are truly secondary to us - we know them as our friends Barry & Connie who we go to dinner with, our friend Fran who cooks us dinner and teaches us about wine, and our friend Brad who we discuss movies and our mutual love of Charlie Farren & the Beatles.  Just our friends.  So it was the moment I was reading the letter that (and I know this sounds goofy) that it hit me like a ton of bricks that this is BOSTON - holy &%$#!  You don’t get much more legendary than that and here we were honoring Brad Delp - to be a part of this was just amazing.

Barry Goudreau, Fred Bramante, Fran Sheehan

Barry, me, Fred and Franny

Anyway, I managed to keep my composure as I read the letter and then my dad took over.  Speaking of how honored he was to be donating to such a worthy charity - music education, music scholarships all in the name of the legendary Brad Delp.  He thanked John for his incredible contribution ($3652 for the guitar) and signed the “BIG CHECK” and handed it to Bill Faulkner and Suzanne Hashian (check total was $4117 - the addition $465 was raised at the Black Brimmer during a concert ticket raffle).

Pamela Sullivan, me, “Daddy”, John Delgobbo, Bill Faulkner, Suzanne Hashian, Barry Goudreau, Fran Sheehan

Barry and Fran then took over, once again, thanking John for his contribution to help honor their best friend/brother/band mate and presented John with his guitar.

Fran Sheehan, John Delgobbo, Barry Goudreau, Bill Faulkner, Suzanne Hashian

We finished out the night with Barry and Fran signing autographs, lots of hugs, tears, laughter and Brad stories and then headed to Tresca (Paul Geary’s restaurant in the North End of Boston ) for some OUTSTANDING Italian Cuisine and a champagne toast to the one and only, Brad Delp.

Barry & Fran meeting fans

A toast to a legend….We Miss You Brad!

To Barry and Connie Goudreau, Micki, Jennifer and John Delp, Fran Sheehan, & Pamela Sullivan - thank you for allowing us to be a part of the “Come Together - A Tribute To The Life Of Brad Delp” concert - it was our honor and priviledge.

To Bill Faulkner and Suzanne Hashian of the Brad Delp Foundation - it has been a pleasure to work with you on this donation and we look forward to a long relationship with the BDF.

To Hirsh Gardner and the Daddy’s Boston staff - thank you for letting us take over for a little while last night!

To my boss, Bobby Baker - thank you for the amazing artwork you did on John Delgobbo’s photo CD - everyone loved it! (are you smiling at your link?) 

To Kamal Asar - thank you for taking photos last night!

And to John Delgobbo - the ULTIMATE thank you for your contribution.  It was wonderful meeting you and your family.  We hope that, just like Brad did, your guitar brings a smile to your face every time you look at it.  Thank you.

hmmmm…..weird, turns out I’m not at a loss for words after all.

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This Thursday, September 13th, 6:30pm at Daddy’s Junky Music, 165 Mass Ave. in Boston, MA as we (me and Fred “Daddy” Bramante - yes, there is a Daddy) present the Brad Delp Foundation Directors Bill Faulkner & Suzanne Hashian, along with Boston band members Barry Goudreau, Fran Sheehan & Sib Hashian and Brad Delp’s fiance, Pamela Sullivan, with a check for $4117 - the amount raised from the autographed guitar ebay auction and a concert ticket raffle recently held at the Black Brimmer in Manchester, NH. 

John Delgobbo, winner of the ebay auction will be coming in from Connecticut and will be presented with his brand new, one of a kind piece of memorabilia by Barry, Fran and Sib. 

We invite everyone to join us in this very special presentation.  Again, it will be from 6:30pm - 7pm - brief, but special….

And to all of you who signed the guitar - I know I have said it to you all privately via emails, in person and phone calls etc, but I’m going to say it again - to John and Jenna Delp, Beatlejuice, Extreme, Godsmack, RTZ, Boston, Joey Kramer & Ernie & The Automatics, Farrenheit - thank you.  We know how much you all love Brad and I am sure he is thankful. 

Hope to see you all there….

Candi

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I am VERY happy to announce that Daddy’s Junky Music Portsmouth, NH will be host to a FREE in-store meet  & greet with Atlantic Records recording Artists SHADOWS FALL on Saturday, October 13th from 2pm - 3pm!  More details coming soon…..

Well, after almost 1 week off of work, I am back in the office, recharged and ready for a kick ass fall!  We have lots of fun events and happenings going on this fall.  This fall you will learn, be wowed, be entertained and possibly even be a winner! 

Before I start a laundry list here, we are gearing up to do a check presentation, (you know, with one of those HUGE checks) to the Brad Delp Foundation at Daddy’s Boston hopefully next week, from our recent auction of the autographed guitar.  In fact, we have invited our winner, John DelGobbo to join us in the check presentation as we will be presenting him with his new guitar as well.  I’ll keep you posted as to the exact date and time and exactly WHO will be there (shhhh….its a surprise) presenting the guitar and who will be receiving the check :)  I invite you all to join us as well.  Check back SOON for that info….

I also encourage you to stop by the Black Brimmer this coming Sunday (9/9) night for a benefit for Never In Vegas frontman Stu Sinclair.  Stu’s mom recently passed away from Cancer and the funds raised will help with her medical bills as, unfortunately, she had no insurance.  Great bands, very cool raffles (including Daddy’s Gift Cards!) and a good cause.

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First and foremost, I am going to go out on a limb here and assume that ALL of you like to record your music  :)  Well, have we got a prize package for you!  Come into any Daddy’s location from now through October and register to win a KILLER recording package!  Check it out!

There is no purchase necessary to enter this contest, so get your registrations in!

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September will also bring back a couple of favorites and some new additions to the clinic/event family.

First up, the 6 O’Clock Hang kicks off its fall season at 6pm (duh!) on Monday, September 17th at Daddy’s Junky Music Boston with one of our favorites, Berklee Professor Mr. Ross Ramsay!  (He keeps begging me to join his band because he knows I play a mean triangle!)

The “Hang” is ALWAYS a great time - you get to wind down your day listening to some great music with a FREE cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee

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The next day, Tuesday, September 18th at 6:30pm ,brings back our pal, another Berklee Professor, Mr. Jon Finn!  Jon will be performing in clinic, so come on in - its free, take a seat and get schooled on some serious guitar!

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The day after that, also at Daddy’s Boston, Wednesday, September 19th @ 6:30pm brings a new comer to the Daddy’s clinic family - and also a Berklee Professor, drummer Rick Considine!  For those of you who shop at Daddy’s Boston, Rick was hand picked by our Boston drum guru, Mike Tocker as a “must get” drummer for a clinic.  Mike’s wish was our command and we are thrilled that Rick will be joining us!  Again, this clinic is also free, so get there early!

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And we are not done with you drummers yet - on Friday, September 21 stop by Daddy’s Boston for ZILDJIAN DAY!  MASSIVE savings on TONS of Zildjian Cymbals!  This is a ONE DAY ONLY event!

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That’s it for now - we are cooking up some great stuff for October as well - so keep checking back.

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WOW!  Well, the ebay auction for the autographed guitar with 100% of the proceeds going to the Brad Delp Foundation ended last night and I am happy to report that John DelGobbo of Waterbury, CT is the proud new owner.  Because of John’s love of Brad Delp, he generously put out the winning bid of $3,652 for the guitar!  Add that to the other $465 we raised this past Wednesday night with the help of our friends in Mama Kicks, that brings the total donation to the Brad Delp Foundation to $4,117!

I emailed John last night to congratulate him and to thank him and he was “…thrilled to help promote and help out the Brad Delp Foundation in any way I can”  YOU ROCK JOHN!

Stay tuned so can find out how you can get a glimpse of John’s new guitar in person!

…..more to come!