"Most guys I know host charity golf tournaments ... well, I don't golf, so this is my version of that. It's the best way I know to bring together my two greatest passions, baseball and rock music, while raising money for a great cause." - Peter Gammons -

For those of you who stumbled upon this site by mistake as a result of a Google search gone awry, we apologize in advance for the lack herein of anything that has to do with wood stoves or Icelandic fishing melodies.

For those of you who intentionally directed yourself to this site, we say: STOP SCREWING AROUND ON THE BOSS'S DIME! All right, that doesn't account for everyone ... but nevertheless, thanks for dropping by.

The fact that this whole thing has evolved into a concert series, web site, DVD and CD is actually pretty amazing, seeing that it started out as a hastily-arranged, one-shot deal. How did all of this come about? Well, the idea first began to germinate about 10 years ago, when Peter Gammons and I began discussing the notion of throwing together a party involving some of our favorite musicians, media types and friends involved in sports. During one blurry, World Series post-game party, I believe we came close to settling on some sort of event on Nantucket at a restaurant/club owned by Peter's friends. Due to baseball labor disputes, free-agency filings, trade talks, Winter Meetings and the occasional vacation, however, we never finalized anything.

Then, one October night in 2000, as my friend, Casey Riddles, and I made our way into a Superdrag show at the Paradise, on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, we noticed a name on one of the posters on the wall for an upcoming show. One of the opening acts was a band named "Thurman Munson." Casey joked that the band had a hell of a nerve trying to play a Boston gig with that name, seeing that this was diehard Carlton Fisk territory. I explained that I actually knew of a band named "Carlton Fisk", which was led by Stephen Sykes, who was a good friend of our buddy, Mark Quigley.

The proverbial light bulb suddenly illuminated above us. Wouldn't it be great, we thought, to get the two bands on the same bill with other baseball-themed acts? And to make it a benefit for a local charity? We knew of a Boston band with a cult following named Slide, which had released a debut CD titled "Forgiving Buckner" a few years earlier. It turned out that Quigley was also friends with Shawn "Wolf" Wortis, Slide's singer and guitarist.

As if on cue, Casey's friend, Paradise manager Scott Whitcomb, stopped by to say hello. We relayed our idea and to our surprise, Scott loved it ... with conditions. He said we might be able to get the Paradise if we could arrange a suitable headline act. Casey and I immediately threw out the name of Kay Hanley. Not only was she one of our closest friends, she was a baseball nut and she was just putting together her own band following the break-up of Letters To Cleo. If she had the new band ready, we knew she'd take part.

I phoned Peter the next day to see what he thought and he loved the idea. He also suggested a silent auction of sports and rock-and-roll memorabilia that would run in conjunction with the concert. Peter said he would take the lead on that part of the evening if we handled the band lineup and the club. We also decided that there was a natural charity that the event could benefit: the Jimmy Fund. Not only was it the official charity of the Red Sox, a good friend of all of us, Debbi Wrobleski, was on the Jimmy Fund Council and could facilitate the arrangement.

Whitcomb arranged a meeting with Mindy d'Arbeloff, VP of The Lyons Group (which owned the club), and she graciously donated use of the Paradise on a Monday night in December. With just three weeks remaining before the show, however, we had to hustle. We enlisted the help of another friend, band manager Michael Creamer, who knows just about everyone involved in the local music industry. Creamer, yet another baseball fanatic, set aside other projects and made sure we didn't embarrass ourselves. Not only did he offer invaluable advice, he helped line up a second headliner (The Push Stars, managed by Ralph Jaccodine) and served as a liaison between us, the bands and the sound and lighting people at the club (including the enthusiastic Billy Budd). Quigley came up with the name: Hot Stove Cool Music.

Somehow and some way, we pulled together and pulled it off. Kay played an enormous role, volunteering to do countless newspaper, TV and radio interviews, while Peter managed to round up an amazing collection of invaluable auction items. Much to our relief, the public responded. We packed the place! Peter's fans got to meet and chat with the baseball guru while the bands put on an amazing show. With nearly 100-percent of the proceeds going to the Jimmy Fund, we more than exceeded our initial goals.

Seemingly within hours after the final song, we began to discuss a follow-up. Kay was the first to re-up and Sykes volunteered his Carlton Fisk outfit once again. The event hit close to home for Sykes, whose mother was diagnosed with cancer shortly after the first show and ended up being successfully treated at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, home of the Jimmy Fund.

We contacted Bill Janovitz, lead singer/guitarist of Buffalo Tom and another baseball nut, and he quickly volunteered to join the cast for HSCM II. Peter recruited Flynn, an amazing Irish rocker with an even more amazing story. Formerly known as Martin Crotty, lead guitarist of Cliffs of Dooneen, he'd taken a horrific fall off a ladder and was paralyzed for a time before miraculously recovering. On top of that, Flynn met his bass player, Scott Padgett, who'd suffered a similar spinal injury, during rehabilitation. Creamer and Quigley got in touch with Raging Teens, a phenomenal rockabilly unit in Boston, and the second bill was rounded out. The music, the auction, the people involved and, most of all, the fans made HSCM II and even bigger success. Surveying the crowd that night, I noticed plenty of prominent rockers on hand as paying guests and I immediately realized that the event was here to stay.

HSCM III was an even bigger success on all fronts. Kay Hanley and Bill Janovitz returned (playing even more prominent organizational roles), while Boston's most energetic rockers, The Gentlemen, joined in, along with local-boys-made-good, American Hi-Fi. DJ Carbo helped fill the void between acts and the show sold-out in advance of the doors opening for the first time. Kay, who'd delivered a baby boy three weeks earlier (a future home run king, Henry Aaron Eisenstein), opened the evening with an acoustic set and Bill followed with his side project, Crown Victoria, but it was the next two acts that caused the national buzz. Gammons, who played in bands back in high school and college (The Fabulous Penetrations), joined up with Janovitz, USA Mike Eisenstein and The Gentlemen, and brought down the house with a couple of Chuck Berry covers.

Then new Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein came on with his band, Trauser, and performed a couple of covers (Pearl Jam and Neil Young) that completely rocked the place. The jaws of Sox players on hand dropped in unison as they realized that their new GM was a rocker ... and played a pretty reputable guitar!

The Gentlemen and American Hi-Fi followed with tremendous sets and then wrapped up with an all-star jam of Cheap Trick's "Surrender", featuring most of the night's performers as well as Red Sox players Johnny Damon, Tim Wakefield, Casey Fossum and Todd Walker on backing vocals.

HSCM III will be tough to beat but we're confident we'll do so with HSCM IV on Sunday, January 11, 2004 at The Paradise. In the meantime, look for the DVD of the last show, as well as the November debut of a Hot Stove Cool Music CD. Thanks to Creamer, producer Mike Denneen (of Q Division) and Mark Kates (owner of Fenway Recordings), we've got a remarkable lineup of artists ranging from HSCM veterans Hanley, Janovitz, Flynn, American Hi-Fi and the Gentlemen, as well as some huge national acts and studio performances by Gammons and Co., and Epstein's Trauser on the CD. Red Sox players, radio voice Joe Castiglione, Dicky Barrett and Anaheim Angels infielder Scott Spiezio even offer backing vocals on one cut, an all-star rendition of Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll, Part II".

Hard to believe. A far-fetched idea of a one-time concert has now evolved into a series of successful shows, a DVD and a CD. More than that, it's become THE event of the winter in Boston. Most important, however, it's helped support The Jimmy Fund's quest to strike out cancer. And we couldn't be happier that Hot Stove Cool Music is helping to make a difference.

Thanks for joining us on the journey.

--JEFF HORRIGAN, September 2003

On behalf of HOT STOVE COOL MUSIC, Peter and Jeff would like to thank:
Michael Creamer, Kay Hanley, Casey Riddles, Bill Janovitz, Mike Denneen, Mark Kates, Mark Quigley, Debbi Wrobleski, The Lyons Group, Mindy d'Arbeloff, Patrick Lyons, Jeff Marshall, Scott Whitcomb, Art Medeiros, Ellen Consalves, Stephanie Fox, Scott Schuster, The Chicken Box, Jamie Arentzen, Stacy Jones, American Hi-Fi, Steve Sykes and Carlton Fisk, Ed Valauskas, Pete Stone, Mike Eisenstein, Pete Caldes, Mike Gent, The Gentlemen, Flynn, Ralph Jaccodine, Theo Epstein, Trauser, the Push Stars, Slide, Billy Budd, Josh Lattanzi, John Horrigan, Katie Jones, Gloria Gammons, Joe Castiglione, Don Orsillo, John W. Henry, Kevin Shea, Kerri Walsh, Glenn Geffner, Dr. Charles Steinberg, Sam Kennedy, the Raging Teens, Janke, Thurman Munson, Kristen Fischer, Brett Hudson, Ken Ferace, Naamua Delaney, Butch Stearns and FOX-25, Rob Butcher, Alyson Footer, Marty Corry, Rich Eisen and Karl Ravech.