Aimee Mann wouldn’t let a little thing like a big storm ruin her visit to NYC. Her Bowery Ballroom show, planned for Monday, has been moved to 7:30 (doors) tonight at the Music Hall is Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Tickets may still be available.
It seems to us that her quirky outlook may be the perfect Sandy tonic tonight.
Posted in Concerts, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Uncategorized
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.
Stew & Heidi Rodewald of The Negro Problem. (Photo © 2012, Steven P. Marsh)
Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone‘s favorite band, The Negro Problem, is playing a gig in Brooklyn this Saturday, July 28. They’re in the hood for the fourth and final installment of the Weeksville Garden Party, a July tradition of free weekly performances at the Weeksville Heritage Center at 1698 Bergen Street between Rochester and Buffalo Avenues in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood.
The Weeksville Heritage Center itself, dedicated to the unique history of the 19th Century village of Weeksville, founded by free blacks, is worth exploring. We’d recommend arriving early — doors are at 4, with The Negro Problem set to perform at 6 — to check the place out.
Remember, it’s free. But if you like the show and the museum, they’ll gladly accept donations. We know WYMMWIG‘s readers are generous. Don’t let us down.
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
Buke and Gass keep their feet busy, too. (Photos © 2010, Steven P. Marsh)
It’s been more than a year since Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? mentioned Buke and Gass. We’re overdue.
Arone Dyer on buke.
Maybe you’ve already noticed that there’s something different about this intense duo — their name. They’re now Buke and Gase, in what appears to be a slightly sad surrender to phonetics.
For those who have been paying close attention, the morphing began late last fall when the band posted this brief, cryptic bulletin on its website:
October 26 – Just played a show in Canada and our name is morphing.
But the reality didn’t sink in until we saw announcements for the band’s May 4 appearance at The National‘s Bryce and Aaron Dessner-curated Crossing Brooklyn Ferry series at BAM. We thought somebody had made a typo. On further investigation, we discovered the band had indeed changed the spelling.
Aron Sanchez on gass.
Although the pronunciation of the band name was easy to remember once you knew what it stood for — baritone ukulele=Buke, while guitar+bass=Gass — it appears the second half of the name was too often the butt of jokes rhyming with ass. So Arone Dyer, who plays the buke, and Aron Sanchez, on gass, gave in and changed the spelling.
But they didn’t change the sound, as you’ll hear on this great preview track from their next album, which they hope to release in September.
If you can’t make it to Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, or you just want more Buke and Gase, check out the lineup they’ve curated (they’re not listed as performing, just curating) through May 15 with Terry Riley‘s son Gyan Riley, at The Stone, John Zorn‘s music venue in Manhattan’s East Village.
Posted in Concerts, Contemporary, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Punk, Recordings
Tagged Aaron Dessner, Aron Sanchez, Arone Dyer, BAM, Bandcamp, baritone ukulele, Brassland, Bryce Dessner, Buke and Gase, Buke and Gass, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, curated, East Village, guitar-bass, Gyan Riley, John Zorn, Manhattan, name change, new song, preview, Terry Riley, The National, The Stone, track, typo
The first night of the two-night Benefit for Lucinda’s Kids was a great night of almost 7 hours of entertainment on Sunday, April 29 at The Bowery Electric, with a great crowd and a fantastic lineup of artists, including Marah, Jesse Malin, Jimmy Gnecco, Willie Nile (who almost missed the show because of a delayed flight from Chicago), Jim Boggia, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Michelle Casillas (Ursa Minor), Mystie and more. As of Sunday night, there were still tickets left for the second night of the benefit to raise money for the trust fund that will benefit the two teenagers left behind when their mom, super music fan Lucinda Gallagher, committed suicide last December.
Here’s the Monday lineup.
Monday, April 30, doors at 7 p.m.
Tommy Stinson (The Replacements)
HR (Bad Brains)
Alan Vega (Suicide)
James Maddock
Aaron Lee Tasjan
Tickets are $20 and available here.
And here’s what you missed on Sunday.
Jesse Malin
Many, many more photos after the jump.
Continue reading
Posted in Benefit, Blues, Concerts, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Punk, Review, World Music
Tagged Aaron Lee Tasjan, Alan Vega, Bad Brains, Benefit for Lucinda's Kids, Christine Smith, Dave Bielanko, Dave Milone, East Village, H.R., Jesse Malin, Jim Boggia, Jimmy Gnecco, Lucinda Gallagher, Marah, Michelle Casillas, Mystie, One Guitar, Philadelphia, suicide, The Bowery Electric, The Replacements, Tommy Stinson, Ursa Minor, Willie Nile
Marah: Dave Bielanko and Christine Smith perform an acoustic number mid-crowd at the Benefit for Lucinda's Kids at The Bowery Electric in Manhattan's East Village on Sunday, April 29. (Photo © 2012, Steven P. Marsh)
How many lives has the rock band Marah had?
It’s hard to say, but it’s one of those bands that has survived surviving changing lineups, internal strife, and wildly fluctuating stylistic directions, all the while being encouraged and praised by celebrities.
Marah with flugelhorn at The Bowery Electric on April 29. (Photo © 2012, Steven P. Marsh)
Started in Philadelphia, Marah quickly became notable for the stage antics of its core duo, brothers Dave and Serge Bielanko from Philadelphia suburb Conshohocken. They had a loose but seemingly perfectly choreographed stage presence together. Their sound, early on, featured rootsy, Americana-flavored rock and roll with a particular treat for anyone who has an affinity for Philadelphia: jangling banjos played in the style of Philadelphia Mummers Parade string bands.
A band version of Marah at Bowery Electric in 2010. (Photo © 2010, Steven P. Marsh)
This is a band that novelist Stephen King in 2005 dubbed “probably the best rock band in America that nobody knows.” They’ve also been the darlings of writers Nick Hornby (who did a tour with the band) and Sarah Vowell.
It’s a band that became pals with Bruce Springsteen and got him to sing and play on one of their albums. And Steve Earle liked them enough to add them to the roster of his now defunct record label.
It’s also a band whose list of former members on Wikipedia at this writing tops out at 20 — a lot for the 19-year-old a band, which generally has performed as a quartet or quintet.
In working there, they’ve discovered something magical, something that has returned the band to its roots in a way, and turned it in a new direction in another way.
Dave and Christine are working with a handful of local musicians in their Pennsylvania hideaway on a project they call Mountain Minstrelsy. (Check it out on Facebook, too.) They’re holed up in an old church that they’re using as a recording studio.
Basically, one of their musical pals in Pennsylvania showed them a book of collected lyrics, “Mountain Minstrelsy (as sung in the Backwoods Settlements, Hunting Cabins and Lumber Camps in the “Black Forest” of Pennsylvania, 1840 – 1923)” by Henry W. Shoemaker. It struck a chord, literally and figuratively, with Dave and Christine, so they set out to build an album around their new music for the found lyrics. They’ve been recording the new-old songs with some of their friends and neighbors for an album they hope to release late this year.
After the jump, read the full interview, plus a video of Dave, Christine and friends in a Mountain Minstrelsy rehearsal.
Posted in Benefit, Blues, Concerts, Country, Exclusive, Folk, Interview, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Recordings
Tagged accordion, banjo, Benefit for Lucinda's Kids, Brooklyn, Christine Smith, Conshohocken, Dave Bielanko, David Bielanko, East Village, exclusive, flugelhorn, guitar, Lucinda Gallagher, Manhattan, Marah, Mummers, New York City, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, rock 'n roll, rock and roll, Serge Bielanko, Shamokin, string band, The Bowery Electric, Tylersville
Daniel Breaker and his crew at Joe's Pub. (Photos 2012, Steven P. Marsh)
The inimitable Daniel Breaker at Joe's Pub.
We’re hoping Daniel Breaker is going to be a regular on the Joe’s Pub stage. His performance there Sunday night, April 22 — his second cabaret show there — showcase the winning singer/actor even better than the first. He seemed more comfortable in his role as a front man, and less like an actor putting on a show.
Jo Lampert kills it at Joe's Pub, with drummer Christian Cassan in the background.
With the help of a dozen or so musical compatriots — including drummer Christian Cassan and music director/guitarist Jon Spurney from his time in the hit musical “Passing Strange” — Breaker put on a great show.
He sang original and classic cabaret numbers, and even dipped into rock with Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” charming the crowd all evening.
Breaker’s special guest vocalists once again gave him a run for his money. In Breaker’s last show at Joe’s, guest Condola Rashad threatened to steal the spotlight altogether with her amazing power and charming stage persona.
Breaker clearly didn’t feel threatened. He chose equally intense guests for this show. Jo Lampert, who not long ago was a production assistant at Joe’s Pub and who was involved in the Public Theater’s incarnation of “Passing Strange,” blew the doors off with her rendition of Beyonce‘s “Halo,” and also filled in superbly on backing vocals.
Morgan James, currently in the cast of "Godspell" on Broadway, at Joe's Pub.
Morgan James, who’s in the ensemble with “Godspell” on Broadway, also did a great job.
Kelvin Dinkins Jr. and William Jackson Harper (a must-see in our book after his amazing work “The Total Bent” at the Public Theater) helped out on backing vocals.
Marah: Christine Smith and Dave Bielanko
In recent years, the wild, Philadelphia-born rock band Marah has stripped down. Essentially, it’s now just Dave Bielanko and Christine Smith at the core, performing as a duo at time and recruiting bandmates for bigger shows.
After a stint in Brooklyn, they’ve have moved into an old farmhouse in the wilds of central Pennsylvania, with a phone line for incoming calls only. They’ve been working on a couple of records, about which more in our next post.
But for now, let’s focus on this week. Marah is coming out of wilderness to do a few shows, one of which is this Sunday, April 29, at The Bowery Electric at 327 Bowery in Manhattan.
They’re performing on the first night of two-evening benefit concert for a friend who took her own life last year and left two teenage children behind.
It looks like this benefit will be a real blast, with a lot of other amazing artists.
It’s all to raise money for the children of Lucinda Gallagher, a 37-year-old super music fan from Hoboken who took her life in December.
In an exclusive Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? interview (which we’ll share fully in our next post), Christine spoke about Marah’s connection with Gallagher:
Posted in Benefit, Blues, Concerts, Country, Exclusive, Folk, Interview, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Recordings
Tagged Aaron Lee Tasjan, Alan Vega, Alberta Cross, Bad Brains, benefit, Bob Gruen, Christine Smith, Danny Clinch, Dave Bielanko, Dave Milone, exclusive, Fender, Harry Greenberger, Hoboken, HR, interview, James Maddock, Jesse Malin, Jim Boggia, Jimmy Gnecco, Lucinda Gallagher, Marah, Mary Louise Parker, obituary, Petter Ericson Stakee, suicide, The Bowery Electric, The Madison Square Gardeners, The Morrison Hotel Gallery, Tommy Stinson, Wille Nile
Wild Flag at Webster Hall in New York City on April 1, 2012. From left, Rebecca Cole, Mary Timony, Janet Weiss and Carrie Brownstein. (Photos 2012, Steven P. Marsh)
Wild Flag is an all-female supergroup whose members are drawn from three ’90s bands — Sleater-Kinney, Helium and The Minders. But thanks to her incredible stage presence (and her seeming ubiquity as a result of her cult hit cable TV show “Portlandia”) guitarist Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney), was the one who really owned the stage at Webster Hall in Manhattan on April Fool’s Day.
Carrie Brownstein, with Janet Weiss on drums.
Brownstein shares lead vocals in Wild Flad with Mary Timony (the Lolita-esque former frontwoman of Helium). But only Brownstein behaved like a rock star onstage. She pranced, jumped and stretched like a cat (not much purring, though, as her vocal delivery was aggressive) throughout the band’s tight, well-paced set. Despite being encumbered by her guitar for most of the evening, Brownstein, with her lithe figure, managed to evoke Mick Jagger with her moves.
That’s not to say that the other three were slacking. Timony, keyboard player Rebecca Cole (The Minders) and drummer Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney) each held up their end of the bargain quite well. Continue reading
Posted in Concerts, Music, Pop and Rock, Punk, Recordings, Review
Tagged "Beast of Burden", "Do You Wanna Dance", "Margin Walker", "Portlandia", Beach Boys, Carrie Brownstein, Fugazi, guitarist carrie brownstein, Helium, Hospitality, Janet Weiss, Mary Timony, Mick Jagger, Music, Ramones, Rebecca Cole, rock 'n roll, Sleater-Kinney, The Minders, Webster Hall, Wild Flag
Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? 