Phosphorescent shines at charity gig

Cannon’s Blackthorn overflowed with music fans on Feb. 6, when the Rockville Centre- and Long Beach-based Tommy Brull Foundation hosted a night of music with Brooklyn-based songwriter Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent.

More than 300 people showed up to hear the folk-drenched indie songster’s solo set, but got even more than they expected. The Dough Rollers, a New York-based blues-rock band recently signed to Jack White’s Third Man Records label and fronted by Harrison Ford’s son Malcolm, opened with a blistering set. Later, Houck brought a couple of friends on stage to play piano and backup guitar, and the trio kept the normally rowdy Blackthorn’s crowd hypnotized.

“I was really happy with the turnout, being that we only had three weeks to promote it,” said Martin Brull, the foundation’s founder. “Everyone was excited for the Phosphorescent show, and it was just a really good way to celebrate my brother’s memory.”

Brull, a longtime volunteer at Camp ANCHOR, established the foundation in 2008, along with his family and Kenny Lucchesi of Point Lookout. The group is dedicated to the memory of Martin’s brother Tommy, who died in a Williamsburg Bridge car accident on Christmas Eve in 1999 at the age of 23. All the money raised goes to support Camp ANCHOR, and will fund the new Tommy Brull Auditorium at the camp.