Tag Archives: Babe the Blue Ox

Scott Miller tribute in New York City on June 29; now with free download info

20130605-154255.jpg
Artists including A.C. Newman of The New Pornographers, Ted Leo, Will Sheff of Okkervil River, Charles Bissell of the Wrens, Kleenex Girl Wonder (with Matt LeMay on drums), Tim Thomas of Babe the Blue Ox will pay tribute with performances and readings to the late Scott Miller on June 29 at Cake Shop in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

Scott Miller

Scott Miller

Miller , who died April 15 at 53, was a San Francisco-area musical mainstay and founder of the influential bands Game Theory (1981-1989) and The Loud Family (1991-2006+)

Tickets, at $30 plus a small service charge, go on sale Monday via Brown Paper Tickets by clicking here.

The proceeds go to The Scott Miller Family Memorial Fund in support of his widow, Kristine, and their two daughters, Julianne Elizabeth and Valerie. the fund already has raised $47,000.

Read about a West Coast tribute and learn how to get free downloads of much of Scott’s music after the jump. Continue reading

Guilty: Babe the Blue OX makes its best album ever

1109981436-1

First release from Brooklyn perennial in 15 years

We didn’t really know Babe the Blue OX in its 1990s heyday, when the band was a regular(-ish) feature on bills around New York City. We heard and appreciated some of its recordings, and were charmed by its Paul Bunyan-esque name and Barbra Streisand-ish album titles.

For whatever reason, we never saw Babe live until a couple of years ago, when the members decided to come out of accidental retirement and start playing on a semi-regular basis again.

(Full disclosure: We met and became friendly with singer-guitarist Tim Thomas through his day job as a fund-raiser for a nonprofit long before we even realized he was in Babe.)

Listen to Guilty and read more after the jump. Continue reading

Rock of ages: Babe the Blue Ox at The Brooklyn Historical Society

Babe the Blue Ox.

Babe the Blue Ox.

Babe the Blue Ox, a Brooklyn rock band that suddenly rejuvenated itself and started playing a lot of shows in the last year — after a long hiatus since its heyday in the 1990s — is kicking off its summer scheduled with an outdoor show at The Brooklyn Historical Society on Sunday.

The band just posted this announcement on facebook:

While we haven’t been around quite long enough to qualify as one of its exhibitions, the Brooklyn Historical Society seems a suitably odd place to play music, outside, without a real sound system to inhibit the “rock” from exploding off the sidewalk.

If you’re in the neighborhood or feel like taking a stroll down the fabulous Brooklyn Heights Promenade, we’ll be happy to do our best to fill your afternoon with mirth, and our formidable (musical) girth. – Tim, Eddie, Hanna and Rose

This will just be a short, free set. But BOX, which has been playing out quite a bit lately, has one more show scheduled. And I’m guessing there are more brewing.  The band is booked to play an Alt Cabaret show at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) on July 18, during the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at the awesome museum housed in a repurposed factory in Western Massachusetts. It’s a good distination for a weekend getaway. And if you’re wondering why the band is playing during a BoaC festival, here’s the answer: one of BOX’s founding members has a day job with the New Music organization!

Babe the Blue Ox performs at 4 p.m. Sunday at The Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street at Clinton Street, Brooklyn. (718) 222-4111 Free.

Also appearing at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 18, at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, 1040 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, Mass.    (413) MoCA1111. Click here for tickets and more information. $14 in advance.