Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? has told you before, and is taking this opportunity to tell you again: Solid Sound, Wilco’s music and arts festival at MASS MoCA is one of the best music festivals ever. We’ve attended the first two editions and have no intention of missing V3 this year — on June 21-23 at the museum in North Adams, Mass.
Posted in Art, Blues, Concerts, Contemporary, Country, Folk, Jazz, Music, News, Pop and Rock
Tagged Foxygen, MASS MoCA, Massachusetts, Neko Case, North Adams, Os Mutantes, Solid Sound, White Denim, Wilco, Yo La Tengo
Jamie Block
Nothing about Jamie Block suggests he’s a man of few words — just a man who doesn’t waste words.
For years, it even showed in his performance identity: Block. Not Jamie Block, just Block, thank you very much.
Jamie Block’s new Whitecaps on the Hudson
It seems that he was saving the words for his songs, which on his latest (and long-overdue) album, Whitecaps on the Hudson, are perfectly crafted stories of a man whose life has had some twists and turns.
It’s a memorable work that reminds us why the music world has been much poorer during Block’s overlong absence.
Posted in Concerts, Folk, mp3, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Preview Tracks, Recordings, Review
Tagged anti-folk, Block, Chapel Hill, Claudia Marshall, Hoboken, Jamie Block, Lead Me Not Into Penn Station, Lou Reed, Music From the Hive, Northern Soul, Rockland County, Rockwood Music Hall, The Last Single Guy, Timing Is Everything, WFUV-FM, Whitecaps on the Hudson
Happy New Year. We’ve been meaning to write, but we’ve been busy. But today we have some news we just had to share.
The documentary “Greenwich Village: Music that Defined a Generation” has been quietly making the rounds of film festivals. Some of you probably have heard some word-of-mouth, got a chance to catch it at DOC NYC 2012 or at least have seen the trailer.
Terri Thal, right, with singer Terre Roche at the 2010 Gerdes Folk City Reunion. (Photos © 2010, Steven P. Marsh)
We’ve only seen the trailer. It’s hard to tell from the clips alone how well the feature-length film really tells the fascinating story of the unique cultural, political and geographical elements nurtured so much talent. But the rare footage and new interviews — among the subjects are Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Chapin, Lucy and Carly Simon, Oscar Brand, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ian Tyson, Eric Andersen, Israel Horovitz, Jose Feliciano, Kenny White, Sonny Ochs, Sylvia Tyson, Pete Fornatale, Happy Traum and John Sebastian — alone are surely worth the price of admission to anyone who’s interested in the time and place.
Sylvia Tyson at the 2010 Folk City Reunion.
The film has begun a six-screenings-a-day run through next Thursday, Jan. 24, at IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue at West Third Street in Manhattan. Click here for schedule, ticketing and information about the theater. Tickets are $13.50 for adults, $9.50 for children and senior citizens, and $8.50 for IFC Center members.
But tonight only, at the 7:25 screening, some of the people you’ll see on screen
Happy Traum at the 2010 Folk City Reunion.
will appear in person to participate in a panel discussion. Musicians Traum, Doug Yeager and David Amram and radio personality Brand are scheduled to appear.
Terri Thal — known in Rockland County as a longtime defender and protector of history and the environment as an officer of the West Branch Conservation Association — who played an integral, nonperforming, role in the fertile musical scene.
Posted in Blues, Folk, Movies, Music, News
Tagged Ben Taylor, Buffy Sainte-Marie, David Amran.Terri Thal, Doug Yeager, Eric Andersen, Greenwich Village: Music that Defined a Generation, Happy Traum, Ian Tyson, Israel Horovitz, John Sebastian, Jose Feliciano, Judy Collins, Kenny White, Kris Kristofferson, Lucy and Carly Simon, Oscar Brand, Pete Fornatale, Pete Seeger, Sonny Ochs, Sylvia Tyson, Terri Thal, Tom Chapin, West Branch Conservation Association
Watch starting at 7:30 tonight on Livestream (link after the jump)
Tom Rush (Photo by Michael Wiseman).
It’s hard to believe that singer Tom Rushhas been performing since 1962, but the calendar doesn’t lie.
Tom Rush onstage in 1962. (Photo by Jim Eng)
Tonight he’s marking the milestone with an intimate gathering at a little place in Boston – not far from his old stomping grounds at Club 47 in Cambridge – called Symphony Hall.
It’s a venue where Tom has held forth with his friends many times over the years. It can hold upwards of 2,600 people. Not bad for an old folkie to sell out a joint like that.
Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? is planning to make the trek to Boston for this incredibly special show.
Posted in Blues, Concerts, Country, Folk, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Recordings
Tagged Boston, Buskin & Batteau, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Club 47, David Buskin, Dean Adrien, Dom Flemons, Eric Lilljequist, Joe Mennonna, Jonathan Edwards, Marshal Rosenberg, Nanci Griffith, Paul Guzzone, Robin Batteau, Symphony Hall, Tom Rush, Trevor Veitch
El Vez: This is not what we had in mind for the Yule Log!
Talk about short notice!
Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? just realized this morning that Mex-Mas is upon us. December chill is in the air, and the scent of corn tortillas baking on the stone is everywhere, along with bags of oranges in red plastic stockings.
And you know what else Mex-Mas brings:
A visit from the one, the only El Vez (aka The Mexican Elvis).
That visit for New Yorkers is tonight (Wednesday, Dec. 5) at Littlefield, 622 DeGraw St., Brooklyn. Tickets are $20 and available by clicking this link.
Doors are at 8 p.m. Comedian Jessica Delfino opens, followed by Corn Mo. And then, at 9:45, Mex-Mas will arrive!
Sorry for the late notice, but El Vez didn’t keep us posted on his tour dates this year. El Vez has done an annual Merry Mex-Mas tour for a long time. (El Vez 4 Prez is is other specialty, but that’s really only every four years.) Continue reading
Posted in Blues, Concerts, Country, Folk, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Punk
Tagged Christmas, El Vez, Littlefield, Mex-Mas, Mexican Elvis, Robert Lopez, The Zeros
A view of the Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA.
We felt a void this year. After staging the Solid Sound Festival for two years in a row on the campus of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, Mass., Wilco decided to skip 2012.
It was disappointing. But that makes today’s news all the more delicious.
I suppose it’s no surprise. The fantastic three-day event requires an enormous amount of planning and commitment from every member of the band and it support staff. And while I’m sure the band didn’t lose money on the festival, it’s unlikely that it was a huge moneymaker, either.
Wilco perfoms on the main stage in Joe’s Field at MASS MoCA.
Wilco promised to return to the beautiful Berkshires in 2013, and the band is keeping that promise. “Early Worm” tickets for next year’s festival — running from June 21-23 — are available right now.
Those tickets are just $99, and well worth it. Click here to get tickets now.
Once they’re sold out, a limited number of “Early Bird” tickets will be available for $124 — still a relative bargain.
If you wait too long, you’ll have to settle for the $149 regular three-day passes.
Solid Sound is a family friendly event, with three-day passes for children ages 7-10 priced at a mere $50, while kids 6 and under are free.
If you can’t go all three days, or think you won’t want to (bad idea, in our opinion), there will be a limited number of one-day passes.
The festival promises two headlining Wilco sets on a fabulous field next to the factory complex that houses MASS MoCA. Wilco side projects and bands and comedians curated by Wilco members also will perform. You can also count on art installations, probably some films, and definitely a lot of great food and drink. Plus, in the past there have been pop-up stores, a coffee shop imported from Chicago, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy in a charity dunk tank and falconry demonstration.
Oh, and we shouldn’t forget about access to the amazing exhibitions in the museum itself. The people who run the museum are fully invested in this festival — they’re not just renting the space out to the band.
The first two editions featured acts such as Mavis Staples, Levon Helm (RIP), Mountain Man, Thurston Moore, The Books, Syl Johnson, The Handsome Family, The Baseball Project, Here We Go Magic, Autumn Defense and many more.
While the 2013 lineup won’t be finalized for quite awhile, we guarantee this will be a great festival for anybody who likes Wilco.
You don’t need to be a super-fan to enjoy this festival. Jeff Tweedy and the other members of Wilco have diverse tastes in music and art, and all of those tastes have been on display in previous editions of the festival.
Camping and transportation from New York City and Boston is also available.
Posted in Art, Blues, Concerts, Country, Folk, Jazz, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Punk
Tagged Jeff Tweedy, Joe's Field, Levon Helm, Massachusetts, MassMoCA, Mountain Man, North Adams, Solid Sound, Solid Sound Festival, the Berkshires, Wilco
When the doors open at 7 o’clock tonight at The Turning Point, the venerable music club in Piermont, there will be a greater sense of urgency and community than ever inside.
Tom Chapin
A slew of local favorites, including Tom Chapin, a longtime Piermont resident, will rock out starting at 7:30 p.m. to raise money to help get the village back on its feet in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. The Old No. 7 Band, Joe Grunfeld from the Riley Etheridge Band, Becky Deloatch and Billy Procida are also on the schedule. And other guests and favorites are sure to show up and join in.
Tickets are just $25, and available here and at the door. Bring extra cash for a 50/50 raffle, too.
The Turning Point is at 468 Piermont Ave. in the heart of Piermont. Call (845) 359-1089 or click here for more information.
It’ll be a lot of fun and will help a really worthwhile cause.
Posted in Benefit, Classical, Country, Folk, Jazz, Music, News, Pop and Rock
Tagged 50/50, benefit, Piermont, The Turning Point, Tom Chapin
Sharon Van Etten’s Tramp
Sharon Van Etten has announced the release of a deluxe edition of her latest album, Tramp, on Nov. 13.
We find the repackaging of current albums with new tracks to be more than a little annoying — they often seem like desperate marketing ploys by a badly hurting record industry. But when it comes to Sharon, we’ll make an exception. She’s an amazing artist — and we’re completists when it comes to her work.
She’s making “Tell Me (Demo),” one of the bonus tracks on the forthcoming package, available to stream now. It’ll whet your appetite for what sounds like an exceptional repackaging from Jagjaguwar Records. They’re promising to include a self-portrait and liner notes about each song taken from Sharon’s journals. And for those of you, like me, who have little room for CDs, the digital version will feature a new digital booklet including the same, new liner notes and artwork.
September is way early for sugaring season. The sap in sugar maples is at its best for just four to eight weeks in the spring.
But don’t tell that to Beth Orton. The beautiful, stylish folk-pop singer will be back with Sugaring Season, her first album in six years — supported by a U.S. tour — this fall.
Here’s the first video, for a song called “Something More Beautiful”:
During the six years since her last album, Comfort of Strangers in 2006 (the year daughter Nancy was born), the U.K.-born Beth has kept a somewhat low profile.
Sam Amidon and Beth Orton at Rockwood Music Hall in December 2011. (Photo © 2011, Steven P. Marsh)
Sharon Van Etten at the Bowery Ballroom on Feb. 26, 2012.
We’ve been away from this page for too long. But an email landed in our in box this morning that inspired us to sit down and log in.
Sharon Van Etten, who’s on Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone‘s Top 10 Artist lists, announced the dates for her fall tour today.
Van Etten at the Northside Festival, 2010.
It seems like Sharon, a wonderful, low-key Brooklyn singer songwriter has been touring nonstop since releasing her third full-length album, Tramp, on Jagjaguwar early this year. While we’re glad she’s been sharing her extraordinary voice and songwriting with audiences around the world, we have a feeling that she hasn’t spent much time at home in Bushwick, Brooklyn, just a couple of neighborhoods away — and a world apart — from Ditmas Park, the home of other musical luminaries like Sufjan Stevens and most of the members of The National.
Her new tour dates continue the marathon. It takes her to Portugal, Spain, France and the U.K. before bringing her stateside for a good long wander through the eastern half of the U.S. before wrapping up back in New York City.
Sharon’s a hard-working musician. But don’t let the volume fool you. Click through to the jump for more photos of Sharon through the years, along with her full tour schedule.
And take note of the period from Aug. 23 to Sept. 25. I don’t see any shows scheduled, do you? We can only hope that’s when we’ll be seeing her around Brooklyn.
Posted in Concerts, Folk, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Recordings
Tagged Brooklyn, Bushwick, Ditmas Park, Sharon Van Etten, The Bell House, The Bowery Ballroom, The National
Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? 