For the second year in a row, I was fortunate enough to have some of Brooklyn's finest old time musicians come play my annual 4th of July Backyard BBQ, including Alex Battles, Charlie Shaw, the Calamity Janes (Kari Denis, Cassandra Jenkins, Betsy Plum and Jared Engel) Melody Berger, and at least three or four others I didn't have the chance to meet. Suffice to say: there's nothing quite like the sight of Alex holding a can of Bud in one hand, an exploding bottle rocket in the other. Thanks, y'all. See you next year. (More pics below.)