(Back again, with a full 13 items — in honor of the recent Friday the 13th — under the Notes From The Beat heading that are new and updated.)

The new Stone Tap is open and having their grand opening from Aug. 8-14, with truly special and rare beers that are among their dozens and dozens available and served every day this week starting at 5 p.m.
It’s got to be 5 O’Clock somewhere, and why not here, at Hudson’s newest establishment that is much different, renovated and tidied up from its predecessor, the former Dibbo’s.
While there are limited supplies of the numerous specialty brews during the grand opening, there will always be new ones to try — on a ongoing and rotating, daily basis.
Aaron Kearns and two other self-described “local boys,” Ed Bremer and Anthony DaBruzzi, are the three owners.
In their renovation process, the new owners strived to keep as much of the Turn Of The Century stone — which laid beneath walls that were put up later — as possible. In fact, some of the stone goes back to 1875 and it is virtually everywhere along the high walls leading up to a tall ceiling.
“We had hoped for some stone to be saved, but we actually got a lot more,” Kearns said. “It was better than our dreams and plans.”
That is what gives the new Stone Tap its name. “The two (items) were married together,” Kearns said, adding that the name wasn’t finalized until two weeks prior to when work on the place was finished.
“We have the biggest tap beer selection in Hudson, and one of the largest in Wisconsin,” Kearns said, and there are 24 offerings in rotation every day to keep the choices fresh and differing, with beer specials on novel brands provided every weekend.
There also are 50 bottled beers from which to choose, and patrons will be offered drink and food specials every day, as the new establishment that extends with long rooms and halls westward toward the St. Croix River has both a bar and tables on one side of an archway, and more tables and booths on the other. Both rooms have spacious gathering areas for mingling.
There will even be some unannounced surprises during the grand opening week, Kearns said.
With that said, this is what you can expect from Stone Tap in their grand opening:
— Sunday, free Bloody Mary bar or Mimosa from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and food specials all day.
— Monday, enjoy special beers from Oskar Blues in Longmont, CO.
— Tuesday, meet the brewer from Dave’s BrewFarm of Wilson with his original-style, wind-brewed recipe, and possibly be entertained by a surprise from him.
— Wednesday, check out another brewer meet and greet, that featuring the principals behind the Lift Bridge Brewery in Stillwater.
— Thursday, revel in person with the maker of a Firkin from Rush River Brewing Company in River Falls, not to mention with the live music provided from 5-8 p.m.
— Friday, sip on specialty beers from Lagunitas Brewing Company from Petaluma, CA.
— Saturday, special Lips of Faith taps from New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, CO.
All this will make Stone Tap and the downtown as a whole even more of a destination place for Twin Citians, especially since Stone Tap has about seven Wisconsin beers you won’t find on the other side of the St. Croix River.
A lot of the old Dibbo’s clientele who 10 to 12 years ago had taken in bands there, has come back to frequent Stone Tap, and a core group of other regulars has emerged. They and other patrons will enjoy happy hour from 2-6 p.m. with halfprice taps.
Stone Tap, at 517 Second St., is open daily from 11 a.m. to close in historic downtown Hudson. They can be found on Facebook and if you select that you LIKE them, get a complete event schedule and list of specials.
You can also reach them on Twitter, as well as at (715) 808-8343 and at www.stonetaphudson.com.
Patrons can text STONETAP to 36000 to join their text club and receive special text only offers, as well.

A patron at Green Mill was wise enough to call many of the following instances “random.”
But when it comes to what’s on the jukebox, or radio, or both, there can be a repetition of songs that’s straight out of the Twilight Zone. When you get to the depths of the tens of thousands of titles available, and they come up at the same time, maybe there indeed is something cosmic.
Around the time of a recent area show, Motley Crue’s Girls, Girls, Girls was played at the same time on both KQRS and 93X, with the trademark refrain being in sync between the two stations right down to the word.
A bit off the subject, but still worthy of “note.” When the first note to Man in the Box by Alice In Chains was played by Jeff Loven in his nightly “name that tune” contest, a friend noted he thought for a long time the title was really Magnavox. That guess, of course, did not win him the Matchbox car that’s given away, but he said in his defense that they both do come in a box. Less understandable is his initial belief that Metallica’s Master of Puppets was actually Puppetmaster. But maybe he got it from his mom, who once asked him about the early pop group Mister Mister, “what’s that song by Man, Man?”
The jukebox at Dick’s Bar and Grill has pumped out several consecutive songs, and maybe even an entire album side, by the likes of, one at a time now, Iron Maiden, the late Ronnie James Dio and even Slayer. But perhaps the most unusual was the two-in-a-row of the tune Mother by Danzig — the studio song immediately followed by the live version. Then that was followed by Danzig’s lost marvel Twist of Cain.
At that same venue, a patron was having difficulty with the jukebox getting an obscure version of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway” to “come up.” Meanwhile, a guy loudly suggested Strangehold by Ted Nugent, and it did indeed pop up on the jukebox. To which another patron danced in place and hooted as a possible song title correction, that it was actually Dancing Fool by Frank Zappa? Who’s the fool now?
But why the Stranglehold reference? Later, a new band out of Detroit dubbed “the Devils” had their first hit followed by another screamer by, who else, the Motor City Madman himself.
Going back a ways, the band Kickstart played Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust as I left Dibbo’s, and it was redone minutes later as the first song on the jukebox at my arrival at the Village Inn in North Hudson.
Then, in of all things my dream — or would you say nightmare? — the song Bark at the Moon by Ozzy was played and stuck in my head most of the day. Guess what was the first song on the jukebox that night?
Other songs that I’ve heard back to back, first on the jukebox then right away on the radio when leaving Guv’s Place in Houlton, include Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Great White — this happening ironically on two different occasions — and Kashmir by Led Zeppelin, which lasted me all the way back to North Hudson.
There are obscure cover songs to be heard, as well, such as Johnny Cash doing Soundgarden’s Rusty Cage, and Kid Rock’s version of Feel Like Makin’s Love, originally done by Bad Company. That actually puts him in good company, as does a rendition of a similarly-styled song by Molly Hatchet.
Not a repetition of what was played, but a song title I found humorous because of its “overkill,” was Motorhead’s Killed by Death. As far as obscurity, this song was second only to another played at Guv’s, that being the live version of The Crunge by — do we see a trend here? — Led Zeppelin.
To end this post, we must go back to Loven. He put together a diddy with Stairway to Heaven’s instrumental and Gilligan’s Island’s lyrics, but not to be outdone, there was a rap song played at Guv’s — with again, just a few minute gap in-between — that did the same thing by incorporating the words to the Beverly Hillbilly’s theme song.

A heckuva lot has been happening in the Hudson area, whether with holidays or other events hosted. See new Picks of the Week and Notes from the Beat, which are other categories on this blog.

The fame being gained by Clouds continues to rise. The song, written by 18-year-old Zach Sobiech of Lakeland as he was dying from a rare form of bone cancer, osteosarcoma, has now gotten a number of hits on You Tube that’s above eight million, about double what it had the last time I wrote about it on this web site.
The song and video, which has been described as very touching, features Zach’s whispy voice and light guitar, and continues to get strong radio play on Twin Cities stations that specialize in pop music.
Zach’s mom, Laura Sobiech of Lakeland, said she doesn’t recall Zach specifically describing the genre in which he writes, but others have termed it as folk, and there are common themes that pervade his composing. Musical influences that he had named included The Lumineers, one of the prominent groups that did a cover video of Clouds, along with American Idol winner Phillip Phillips and Jason Mraz. People magazine said this might be “the most moving celebrity shoutout of all time.”
Other influences named are Ed Sheeran, Bon Iver who hails from just down the interstate in Eau Claire, and Of Monsters and Men.
Are most people aware that Zach not only wrote songs, but also sang them and played instruments? “Yes. Anyone who has Googled Zach’s name knows that he played guitar and sang, and both were strengths,” Laura said.
What was the process in which Zach and songwriting partner Sammy Brown did their composing? “They would just start writing. Sammy would write a line and then Zach would. It was very much like a conversation played out between them,” Laura said. While Clouds is getting most of the attention, other noteworthy collaborations are Fix Me Up, Blueberries and Star Hopping.
The Sobiechs have been members at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Stillwater for 20 years, where the funeral was held, and Clouds could be seen as an ode to going to heaven. “People from our church and community have reached out to us by preparing meals and offering to help us in any way we need. We’ve received hundreds of cards over the past several weeks from people in our community, but also from around the globe,” Laura said.
Does Zach have any other songs that deal with religion, or spirituality, among those he and Brown, another local teenager, have penned? “None, including Clouds, specifically deal with religion, but most deal with their spiritual journey,” Laura said.
Laura said that faith kept the family going during Zach’s illness, and that she can relate to the trials gone through by Mother Mary, who also lost a son, Jesus, to death. Others have cited Zach’s unwavering faith in God as one of his backings.
“Our faith kept us from despair and kept our eyes focused on what is truly important – eternity. We came to a much clearer understanding that this life is not what it’s all about – that the struggles in this life are really about preparing the soul for eternity,” Laura said.
This is not the first time locally that faith and popular music have intersected. The hard rock cover band Decibel, which played Dibbo’s many times, specialized in numbers by singers such as Ronnie James Dio and appreciated offering listeners something spiritual to consider, said its guitarist, named Paul. In fact, lead singer Lance, who once was recruited by a member of Metallica who stopped by Dibbo’s to check out his vocals, said he cut his teeth musically in a Christian metal band.
At the front bar, spirituality and religion often would find their way into conversations, spurred by the lyrics of national acts such as Blue Oyster Cult (Don’t Fear the Reaper) that performed in the back hall, then stayed after their show to talk about music with the patrons until well after bar time.
Also of note is the music of Geno, of Saving Starz, who says he is a Christian and tries to incorporate that into songs. Geno told me that he truly was appreciative that I mentioned that fact in a profile of the band, rather than skirt it under the rug as some would do.

(For more on the Pudge’s patio jazz profiled below, as well as coverage of The Fourth, Father’s Day and the NCAA tournament, see Pick’s of the Week and Notes from the beat).

It’s all they do and they play it well. Melissa Stoudt and Ann Marie McIntire, the duo who perform as JazzSpring, quit their day jobs to focus only on playing jazz as a full-time occupation, using a wide variety of instruments to share each individual moment with the audience — who it seems never go home singing the blues.

They will be playing on Pudge’s patio, and capturing listeners with melodies that flow out into the streetscape, Thursday and Friday nights for the rest of the summer.
Jazz standards by a variety of composers are their favorite songs. “Ellington, Monk, Jobim, Gillespie, Carmichael. No one artist constitutes a majority of our repertoire,” they say, but the songs are usually familiar to folks, either having been performed by Big Bands, or vocalists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra. “Our music gives it a new sound.”
There is little if any guitar in their performances at this time, but virtually any other jazz instrument that you’d want to hear. “We love guitar, but currently use flute, alto sax, piano, and if space allows, upright bass,” they say, adding that other rhythm instruments are incorporated at times. “Flute and piano has a nice clean sound. Jazz flute is rarely heard, and it captivates the audience, visually and audibly. They may not know why, but people think, hmmm, that’s different. When we use flute with string bass, the sound is on the opposite ends of the spectrum… featuring the highest instrument and the lowest instrument in an orchestra….with nothing in between. Cool sound.”
The two musicians met years ago during a gig, then reconnected when both joined the Moonlight Serenaders Big Band several years back. They quit full-time day jobs, to concentrate on music full-time.
Do they have a particular solo they like best? “We are always changing it up. I think what makes a solo great is one’s ability to enter into the music emotionally,” they agree. “If you can get inside the feeling of the song you are playing, you can capture the audience. At that point we and our listeners share a moment in time that ties all of us to the emotion of the song. When the song is over, we move on. We can’t turn around and grab that same experience again.”
“Sometimes I wish I could, but I don’t strive to replicate the same emotion I had yesterday,” McIntire adds. “That’s jazz.”
Every day is filled with opportunities to touch someone with music, the performers say. “We can’t predict what music or situation will arise, but we are prepared to play music where needed.” McIntire gave an example: “Today, I was driving by a memory care housing unit where several white haired residents were sitting on balconies watching cars zip by. The balconies faced a busy street and an empty sidewalk. I parked, pulled out my flute and marched down the sidewalk playing ‘Dixie’. This was pretty off the wall, especially for an introvert, but the seniors got out of their rocking chairs, laughing and clapping. McIntire said music is a Divine interface between people. Last month, JazzSpring played for a funeral. “The music in that beautiful vaulted countryside church felt like it was interlaced with angels,” she said. “It is always astounding to connect to others through music and every performance invites that connection.”
The duo also plays weddings and funerals, at restaurants and private parties, and for other celebrations in the Twin Cities. They have have a demo CD that they hand out, with snippets of about 10 tunes, and you can get that from them when they play at Pudge’s, which will be every Thursday and Friday through the end of August. Occasionally, they will have subs, when there are previously contracted gigs, such as at the Wabasha Street Caves the first Thursday of every month. The subs are Connie Dussl, vocalist, and Herb Reinke, on guitar. The complete calendar is on jazzspring.com.

(See brand spankin’ new items under Blasts from the past, Notes on the beat and Picks of the week.)

A song written by a dying 19-year-old, “Clouds,” has gotten about five million You Tube hits and at one point reached No. 1 on the iTube music charts, and the numbers racked up in memory of the local composer keep growing by the tens of thousands each day.
When asked to start saying his goodbyes, Zach Sobiech, who died late last month right after a Hudson music festival held in his behalf, told his family he isn’t much of a letter writer. Because of that choice, he now is remembered for providing hope to people the world over through his music, many of them facing similar situations, and plenty of them have gotten back to him with words of thanks.
His illness eventually led to release of an entire album of his songs, Fix Me Up, not long before his death, and prompted Clouds to be redone by other musicians and videos of it made. Near the end, Sobiech found the strength to fly to New York to finalize the record deal through Broadcast Music, Inc.
The version of Clouds done by a group of celebrities has even drawn high praise from the likes of People magazine, which called that remake perhaps “the most moving celebrity shoutout of all time.”
Through this, lots of money has been raised for cancer victims. The total amount gained through various fundraising entities totals well over $100,000.
Scores of people have written the teen, saying how much his words have meant to them, even though they will never see him in person. They have including a Gulf War veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder who was so depressed that he had not left his apartment for months — but still found the means to reach out with thanks.
Also reaching out, among others, were a concert pianist from South Korea, Japanese school children and a man who through happenstance heard the song over the radio while stopped at a red light. His car window was open and more than a dozen kids began spontaneously singing the song with him. Scores of messages were left on the teen’s Caring-Bridge web page.
The funeral for Sobiech, who is from a musically gifted family that includes a father who has been a regionally prominent rock band member, was at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Stillwater. Sobiech suffered from a rare bone cancer, osteosarcoma.
The Rev. Mike Miller said at Sobiech’s funeral that he touched with his music “people who were in a very dark place.”
Sobiech and a friend of about the same age who was a co-writer of many songs, Samantha Brown, penned a one with similar themes just a few days before his death. Sobiech died at home in Lakeland, Minn., just two days after an all-day musical benefit and celebration of his life held just across the St. Croix River at the Lakefront Park band shell in Hudson.
Drummer Brandon Clarke for one of the bands that played, locals The New Skinny, said that all involved were hoping that Sobiech would be able to make it through until the event took place. He was in the last stages of his illness, which lasted more than four years. Clark said that on the day of the event, the rainy skies soon gave way to sunshine, and through the benefit, his band for one got a significant mention on at least two Twin Cities radio stations.
This is Sobiech’s journey, told through the words of Clouds:
“Well I fell down, down, down
Into this dark and lonely hole
There was no one their to care about me anymore
And I needed a way to climb and grab ahold of the edge
You were sitting there holding a rope
And we’ll go up, up, up
But I’ll fly a little higher
We’ll go up in the clouds because the view is a little nicer
Up here my dear
It won’t be long now, it won’t be long now.”
Most of the more than a thousand people at his funeral sang as one, at one point, the words “up, up, up.”
These are three You Tube entries that can be viewed online:
— “My Last Days: Meet Zach Sobiech” at youtube.com/watch?v=9NjKgV65fpo.
— The celebrity cover of Clouds at youtube.com/watch?v=7zxXAmmLLc.
— The original Clouds at youtube.com/?v=sDC97j6lfcy.