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OUR CALENDAR
September
27
Tuesday
September
28
Wednesday
September
29
Thursday
September
30
Friday
October
1
Saturday
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October
3
Monday
October
5
Wednesday
October
6
Thursday
October
7
Friday
October
8
Saturday
October
8
Saturday
October
9
Sunday
9/25
Smackdown Trivia
18 & Over | 6:30 pm
Jerry Joseph & the Jackmormans
“I told my 5 year old I was worried about his dream of being an astrophysicist and going to Mars. I thought it was a long trip away from me and a dangerous trip and didn't think I wanted him to go. He replied, ‘Oh papa, you'll be in heaven a long time before I get to Mars,’ a sobering thought for my 54-year-old self," Jerry Joseph recalls. “I was on my way to Afghanistan to bring musical equipment and teach kids to play guitar and do a couple shows and I was having a difficult time leaving my own children for a long and sketchy trip.”
In 2014, Jerry Joseph headed to Afghanistan to volunteer as a teacher at an underground co-ed rock school. With thoughts of family on his mind and the backdrop of Kabul, Joseph began to write what would become the songs of By The Time Your Rocket Gets To Mars. “There's a lot of downtime in Kabul hanging around in walled courtyards listening to the daily call to prayers and American Blackhawk helicopters so I started writing. My point was not to write ‘war’ songs. I wanted to write about magic and God and humans being human.”
Joseph has been called the “the Anthony Bourdain of touring musicians” (Marquee Magazine). Like Bourdain, Joseph is drawn to far-flung, under-explored locales, and has spent the past several years touring in destinations like Lebanon, Iceland, Cambodia and Israel. Music and global politics came together for him early, the grandson of Lebanese, Syrian and Irish Catholic immigrants, surfing the beaches, playing in reggae and rock bands and spinning singles by The Clash while growing up in La Jolla, California and Wellington, New Zealand.
Since then, Joseph has stayed busy, touring 150 dates a year and releasing more than 30 records with a catalog of over 250 original songs and counting. For the first time since he was a teenager, Joseph plans to return to New Zealand and Australia as part of the release tour for By the Time Your Rocket Gets to Mars.
Recorded at TRI Studios, produced by Dave Schools (J Mascis and the Fog, Hard Working Americans, Stockholm Syndrome), mixed by Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Wilco) and featuring Joseph’s full band, Steve Drizos on drums, Steven James Wright on bass and Jeff Crosby on guitar, as well as special guests Mookie Siegel on keyboard, Scott Law and Steve Kimock on guitar, Jason Crosby on piano and Michael Lewis (Blue Skies For Black Hearts) on vocals, By The Time Your Rocket Gets To Mars is the second of three full length records resulting from these sessions. The first, Istanbul/Fog of War, released in October 2015 is two songs, 31 minutes of music, recorded in one take. The third in the series is tentatively scheduled to be released in Fall of 2016.
Portland’s Voodoo Doughnut Recordings in collaboration with Joseph’s own Cosmo Sex School Records will release By The Time Your Rocket Gets To Mars on April 15, 2016. The recent Oregon Music Hall of Fame Inductee is excited to work with this local label for the first time on this release.
ABOUT JERRY JOSEPH
Joseph is a prolific and accomplished songwriter, writing hits for Widespread Panic and releasing 30 albums in his 30+ year career; as a solo artist, with the Jackmormons, supergroup Stockholm Syndrome, his burning two-piece The Denmark Veseys, or originally, with his beloved 80s cult band, Little Women.
Joseph is also a relentless live performer, playing over 150 shows a year across the globe. He has toured with Vic Chesnutt, Chris Whitley and Walter Salas-Humara, among others. His recent musical travels include a stint volunteering as a rock school music teacher in Kabul, Afghanistan; touring Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast with the Jackmormons; and solo tours in Ireland, England and France as well as performances in Nicaragua, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Nepal, Lebanon, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Norway, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Brussels, Czech Republic, Iceland, Mexico, and Israel. Over the years, Joseph and his Jackmormons have shown a penchant for picking a spot on a map, taking over a town, and putting on a festival. Last year, Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons released a live concert DVD, Nicaragua, recorded over three nights just outside of Rivas, Nicaragua.
Joseph was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in October 2015. He just returned from a tour of Australia and New Zealand. Check Jerryjoseph.com for Spring and Summer tour dates.
OUR LINKS
Tyler Gregory
Hailing from the rolling hills of Kansas, Tyler Gregory can regularly be found busking on city streets with his deep voice and steam-powered melodies bouncing off the street-side architecture. His sturdy songcraft takes cues from WWII-era blues bellowers like Leadbelly and Son House.
Gregory's mix of blues and roots music howls with a sense of passion and freedom. Singing songs portraying stories of travel, land, and the meaning of simplicity, Gregory goes full force on his guitar/stomp-box live performance arrangements.
OUR LINKS
Skydyed
Colorado-based Skydyed captivates audiences with their progressive blend of live electronic rock. Since their debut in 2014, the electrifying trio has made big waves in the Colorado music scene. The band was honored in 2015 by The Untz.com and featured on their list of the hottest, up and coming, live-electronic bands. With roots in rock, funk, and jazz, Andrew Slattery (bass), Max Doucette (guitar and synth), and Shane Eagen (drums) create a dynamic musical journey that mesmerizes audiences with every performance. Intertwining organic live instrumentation with electronic production, soulful jams and profound break-beats, the band strives to spread positive vibrations through music.
Skydyed’s first full-length album, A Quantum Dream, captures the band’s constant pursuit of cutting edge production blended with live, organic chemistry that can only be achieved through countless hours of performing together. Every Skydyed song comes into fruition differently than the last. Some songs begin as ideas that come up in the middle of improvised jams, while others begin in the studio as electronic compositions.
During the summer of 2015, the band focused their efforts on completing a full-length album of ten songs, which is their biggest studio undertaking to this day. In September 2015, with the tracks finally ready for Shane’s percussion, the band travelled across the country to the musically rich city of Nashville, TN to track drums for the record at Belmont, University. The recording process took only two days, and with a newfound energy that only Nashville could inspire, the band returned to Colorado with all the pieces of the puzzle ready to assemble.
Coming from diverse musical backgrounds, the band has developed a deep appreciation for music’s power to transcend language and move people in mysterious ways, which is precisely what the band accomplishes on A Quantum Dream. Featuring high-energy, head banging tracks such as “Grow” and “Mind’s Eye,” as well as softer, mellow songs like “Endless Space” and “Mushroom,” A Quantum Dream truly takes the listener on a melodic journey through a multitude of emotions and sonic landscapes. With jams perfect for relaxation, partying, and everything else in between, A Quantum Dream is a truly imaginative creation that fulfills Skydyed’s artistic vision and redefines the boundaries of Live-Electronica.
Growing up in central Massachusetts, Andrew Slattery and Max Doucette bonded over their love for music throughout high school. Although both developed a deep passion for creating music, neither of them considered pursuing music as a professional career. The two moved to Colorado to attend Colorado State University. After a year in Fort Collins, Andrew and Max discovered a newfound inspiration: the contagious energy of the thriving Colorado music community.
The childhood friends began working on a new music project. As they refined their sound and performed a few small shows, they realized that to achieve the exhilarating sound they wanted to provide fans they needed to find the right drummer. Shane met Andrew and Max through mutual friends and musicians in the Fort Collins music scene and the three clicked instantly. They debuted their new sound as a threesome in April of 2014, headlining a sold-out show at Hodi’s Half Note in Fort Collins. Their early momentum continued from 2014 into 2015-sharing the stage with RJD2, Nas, Flying Lotus, Infected Mushroom, TAUK, Zoogma, Papadosio, and more. In their first two years as a band, Skydyed performed at some of Colorado’s most heralded venues including Red Rocks Amphitheater, The Boulder Theatre, and a sold out headlining show at Denver’s Bluebird Theatre.
Excited as they were with the new sounds they were laying down, the band is amazed by the vast enthusiasm shared among critics and fans alike for their music. Shortly after the release of their latest EP ‘Peace by Piece,’ The Untz proclaimed, “There aren’t many electronica influenced bands out right now that have quite the sharp, organic sound Max Doucette, Shane Eagen, and Andrew Slattery seem to pull off effortlessly
OUR LINKS
DJN8
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
9/29
Midnight Marauders
18 & Over | 8 pm
Blackalicious
"We're older, we're wiser, we're more mature," MC Gift of Gab (nee Timothy Parker) says of Imani, Vol. 1, Blackalicious' first new album in a decade. "It's better now, because we've grown as people and artists."
"Each one of these records is a chapter in our lives, and we put our complete heart and soul into it," agrees Gab's longtime musical partner, CJ/producer Chief Xcel (aka Xavier Mosley). "We live these records."
Imani, Vol. 1 lives up to the beloved California-bred duo's hard-won reputation as one of hip-hop's most progressive, forward-thinking creative forces. Acclaimed for the sublime combination of Gab's verbal dexterity and lyrical eloquence, and X's bracing beats and distinctive soundscapes, Blackalicious has earned widespread respect, both inside and outside of the hip-hop community, for the wildly inventive, personally charged innovations of its first three albums, 1999's Nia, 2002's Blazing Arrow and 2005's The Craft.
Three years in the making, Imani, Vol. 1—the first of a projected trilogy to be released over the course of two years—is perhaps Blackalicious' most ambitious and accomplished effort to date, maintaining the spirituality, introspection and positivity that are the twosome's trademarks, while making it clear that their musical vision and creative drive remain as strong as ever.
Although Imani, Vol. 1 is driven by Gift of Gab's uplifting verbal sophistication and Chief Xcel's expansive sonic sensibility, which are as distinctive as ever on such riveting tracks as "On Fire Tonight," "Escape," The Sun," "We Did It Again" and the epic "Alpha and Omega."
The pair is joined by such guest performers as Afro-pop diva Zap Mama, who's featured on the title track; Amde Hamilton of legendary '60s rap progenitors the Watts Prophets on the album-opener "Faith," eclectic singer-songwriter Imani Coppola on "The Sun," underground hip-hop duo LifeSavas on "That Night," neo-blues auteur Fantastic Negrito on "Love's Gonna Save the Day," Myron of retro-soulsters Myron & E on "On Fire Tonight," and the all-star hip-hop combo of Lateef, Lyrics Born, Monophonics and DJ D Sharp on "Alpha and Omega."
Imani—whose title is the Swahili word for "faith"—is a particularly personal project for Blackalicious, with its title reflecting the personal trials that helped to inspire the words and music.
"Faith has been a big word in both of our lives in the last couple of years," Gift of Gab affirms. "We both dealt with some personal situations that really required faith and forced us to think about a lot of things. Most of our albums are about where we are at that point in our lives, and that's definitely true on this one."
Imani, Vol. 1's birth cycle coincided with Gab's ongoing fight for his health after suffering kidney failure.
"My kidneys failed at the top of 2012, when we were gearing up to do this record," Gift of Gab notes. "I got put on dialysis, so now when I travel or go on tour, I do dialysis wherever I go. When I got the news, there was a moment where it was a little dark, where I was questioning if I'm still gonna be able to do this. But then I had the realization that no one can ever take my creativity away. I realized that this is a circumstance that I'm temporarily gonna be dealing with, and that I have to make some adjustments for it, but that it doesn't stop me from being a creative person. Once I
realized that, I started to feel inspired and just threw myself into writing, and that became a big part of the fuel for this record."
Although it's been a decade since the last Blackalicious release, the pair has remained busy with a variety of musical endeavors. Gift of Gab released three solo albums, 2004's 4th Dimension Rocketships Going Up, 2009's Escape 2 Mars and 2012's The Next Logical Progression. Chief Xcel worked with acclaimed soul singer Ledisi, and formed Burning House with R.V. Salters of General Eletriks, releasing the 2013 album Walking Into A Burning House.
"Blackalicious never stopped," asserts Gift of Gab. "We just wanted to explore other things as individuals, and in 2012 we realized that it was time to return to the mothership. I was a little nervous at first, and thought that it might take some time to rebuild. But when we started doing shows, we were selling out everywhere, and people were telling us that they grew up on our music. It was encouraging to find out that, even after all these years, we're actually important to people.
"It's like traveling," Gab continues. "It's always good to travel and see the world. But then when you come back home, you appreciate it that much more. We stepped right back into it, and it was like 'Oh yeah, I remember this. This is home.'"
"Once we got into the studio," Chief Xcel recalls, "everything flowed very naturally. We just got in there and kind of let the album make itself. When we were in the studio together, it was pretty effortless, because we know each other so well creatively. We wrote about 60 songs for this record, and went with the ones that we felt strongest about. And about 90 per cent of it is live tracks; it's probably the fewest samples I've ever used on a record."
"X gave me the beats, and I just went in and wrote every day," Gift of Gab states. "There was not a lot of thought or planning this time, it was more about action. It was just, as soon as it moves you, you write something. There was not a whole lot of thought put into it. It was more like 'OK, let's create.'"
"We're like two kids who've been playing basketball together since the second grade, and now they're in the NBA so they really know each other and can anticipate each other's next move," Chief Xcel says of his and Gab's enduring partnership. "It's totally instinctive, and we kind of communicate without talking. I know just from his physical reaction, when he hears a beat or a song, if there's a spark or if he feels inspired. And vice versa; he can tell by my immediate reaction if we've hit the mark or not. That just comes from time."
With Imani, Vol. 1 demonstrating that Blackalicious is as potent a creative entity as ever, Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel are embracing their return to the spotlight, and looking forward to reconnecting with their loyal, demographically diverse fan base.
"I think that this album is coming from a very honest place, and I really think that this is the most creative and prolific point of our careers, so we're really excited about it," Chief Xcel says, adding, "The next year or two, it's gonna be a nonstop balance of touring and being in the studio working on Volumes 2 and 3. We're definitely looking forward to seeing how things evolve and change."
"In my opinion, this is one of our best records," Gift of Gab agrees. "It's been a long time, we worked hard on it, and I hope that people enjoy it. People will come up to us and say 'Yo, that record changed my life' or 'That record helped me to get sober' or 'That record started me on a spiritual journey.' People say personal stuff like that, and we take it seriously."
"Our audience seems to be people who see music and art as essential parts of life, and not just disposable accessories," Chief Xcel concludes. "That's who we make music for—people who need music in their life. I'm one of those people. Imani is Swahili for faith, and that's really where we're at at this juncture. We're so rooted in our purpose that we don't have to second-guess, we just know. There's no fear of the unknown, there's just the fire to move forward and get to wherever the journey takes us."
OUR LINKS
LUSHLIFE
“Peace to Roky Erickson / Peace to Bo Derek / So lost in the television / Walk with the elephants / To die by their relatives / Lushlife holy ghost / Float through the tenements / Back to irrelevance”
From the moment you hear the bristling boom-bap chorus on album-opener “Totally Mutual Feeling,” it becomes apparent that Lushlife’s third full-length finds the Philadelphia rapper-producer at his most introspective. Themes of isolation and mortality permeate Ritualize, a cinematic hour-long odyssey co-produced by enigmatic production trio, CSLSX (pronounced “Casual Sex“) and featuring contributions from Ariel Pink, Killer Mike, Freeway, Marissa Nadler, RJD2, and more. With CSLSX at the boards, an entire universe opens up for Lush, where the pulsating Juno synths of ’80s LA night music sit side-by-side with gorgeously propulsive indie-leaning jams, and low-fi soul burners too. The resulting LP is a post-blog-era joint that seems to exhale the whole of the 20th century in a single, fascinating breath.
“After toiling over two self-produced LPs in the last half-decade, I felt compelled to bring on an outside production team for Ritualize,“ Lushlife (born Raj Haldar) explains. “Not only did I want to broaden the musical palette, but I felt like the group production effort would give me a depth of focus on lyrical content and emotion that I hadn’t previously been afforded.“ After a chance encounter with CSLSX, who had been quietly self-releasing low-fi dance gems to remarkable organic blog buzz, the newly-formed team set out on a three-year journey that would eventually yield their new joint album. By the time work began on Ritualize, Lush had already been riding a small wave of critical acclaim for his 2012 full-length, Plateau Vision, an album that made several year-end lists and was described by the Sunday New York Times as a melding of “captivating rhymes with audacious, gorgeous production.“ Still, with Ritualize, Lushlife and CSLSX seem to have gone one deeper.
From album cut, “The Waking World,” which finds Lushlife spitting thorough sixteens from the vantage of Mark David Chapman lying in wait for John Lennon, to “Incantation,“ a song that’s as much inspired by Allen Ginsberg’s Howl as the general, street-level anxieties of urban life, Ritualizeis nothing short of a step forward. For proof, look no further than “Toynbee Suite,“ a 10-minute, 4-movement rap epic that explores the strange Toynbee Tile meta-art conspiracy that has captivated Philadelphians for decades. As the centerpiece of the album, “Toynbee Suite“ was the subject of a 2013 documentary, and itself represents the combined work of 20+ musicians, including RJD2, Nightlands, Yikes the Zero, and a full chamber orchestra. On the other hand, the CSLSX-produced, “Hong Kong (Lady of Love),“ a collaboration with weird music godhead, Ariel Pink, is a sparse yet powerful four-on-the-floor ode to LA, inspired by the film soundtrack work of Giorgio Moroder, Vangelis, and others.
“My Los Angeles / My Philadelphiatic / Coke flow Vangelis / Synth rap evangelist“
And once you start looking for it, the fingerprint of Los Angeles is everywhere on Ritualize. In fact, much of the album was written and recorded as Lushlife made monthly back-and-forth trips between Philadelphia and the west coast. “At some point in early 2014, while dealing with a tumultuous, failing relationship and bouts of depression, I started to suffer from writer’s block, too,“ the rapper recounts. “After awhile, I realized that I was getting my best writing done at 30,000 feet, where distractions were minimal and I felt alone but not lonely.“ So, while Lushlife’s 2009 debut album,Cassette City, might be his take on east coast hip-hop classicism, and Plateau Vision is some kind of pilgrim’s progress to find a hidden America, Ritualize completes the triptych, arriving in LA with a sense of manifest destiny.
And CSLSX expertly crafts the backdrop for his imminent arrival. Whether it’s the peyote psych-rock of “Burt Reynolds (Desert Visions)“ or the reimagination of William Basinski’s ambient masterwork as an “Integration Loop,“ the musical bed of Ritualize seems to ebb and flow in a way that’s rare in hip-hop. This musical depth turns out to be a perfect bedfellow for Lush, allowing him to conjure a wide array of references with surprising ease; creating a world where ’90s rap romanticism, western esotericism, and personal anguish rub shoulders easily. In the end, we’re left with a stunningly singular rap album that’s as avant-garde as it is accessible.
OUR LINKS
10/1
Melting Point of Bronze
Hyperbor
Hot and Ugly
18 & Over | 8 pm
Melting Point of Bronze
Brutal/Heavy/Old School Metal
Forged in the back of a North Lawrence welding shop.
OUR LINKS
Hyperbor
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Hot and Ugly
Black Grind, Punk Core, Metal
from Lawrence, KS
OUR LINKS
10/3
Open Mic
18 & Over | 8 pm
Open Mic
Every* Monday, Nicholas St. James and The Bottleneck host Open Mic! Sign-up at 9:00, music at 9:30.
TWO stages - Main stage and the Bluegrass stage
FULL band (any genre)
Singer-songwriter
Acoustic
Electric
Comedian
JAMS - just show-up with an instrument!
FREE entry
$1.50 pints
45 minute slots available
Amongst the best sound systems in town
Try-out for playing Bottleneck shows
Big venue experience
Pool tables
Contact us with any questions at:
bottleneckopenmic@gmail.com
Instruments must be provided by the musician at this time.
*no open mic will be held if there is a show scheduled.
You MAY NOT sign up any sooner than 2 weeks of the date you wish to play. You may not sign up for two consecutive weeks.
OUR LINKS
10/5
Max Allen Band
The Good Ole Fashion
18 & Over | 8 pm
Max Allen Band
Max Allen is a singer / songwriter / guitarist who has been performing professionally since the age of 16. He has over 1,000 performances to his credit at various venues, colleges, festivals and private events in nealy half the states in the country.
Known for his intricate guitar work, catchy lyrics, contagious melodies and energetic live performances, Allen is in the upper echelon of rising artists on the circuit today. The Max Allen Band has been described as a “stunningly full-sounding trio” whose music is a high energy combination of jazz, blues, funk and rock.
Over the past several years he and his bands have had the privilege of performing on stage with and/or opening for a number of great musicians and bands including The Clarks, Jim Ryser, Larry Crane, Chris Duarte, Dishwalla, Carrie Newcomer, Otiel Burbridge, Dickie Betts, The Spin Doctors, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Ekoostik Hookah, Dark Star Orchestra, Umphrey’s McGee and The Marshall Tucker Band.
With six CDs, (the latest “Ending Sun” released 2009) MAB is nearly ready to return to the studio for yet another CD . MAB is under the Big Walnut Records label.
Shaan France was born in Columbus, OH and moved to Ashland, KY at the age of three. He started playing drums at the age of 10 in his middle school band. After he graduated from high school, he went to Morehead State University (KY) to become a Music Education Major with a Percussion emphasis.
Shaan learned all aspects of percussion from symphonic, marching, funk, jazz, world and contemporary. In college, he marched and taught in the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps. Shaan was also part of a two time winning international marching percussion drum line.
After college, Shaan moved to Indiana where he teaches private lessons and does fill in work for other bands. His biggest influences are Stewart Copeland, Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Vinnie Colatiuta, John Fishman and Billy Martin.
Davison “Dace” Robie was born on 30 November 1986 in Jamestown, New York. As a boy he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana with his family. At 12 he sang in his elementary school choir, and later began to play baritone and alto saxophones and bass clarinet. By 15 he had begun to play double bass and bass guitar, which remain his two great loves to this day. In 2010, Dace graduated from Butler University, where he studied composition, double bass, and jazz improvisation.
Dace joined the Max Allen Band full time in the summer of 2009. When not busy with MAB, Dace is a founding member of the fusion group Melancholy Elephants (Indianapolis) and a member of Everywhere Theatre Group (NYC).
State of Terror: Directed, Recorded, Edited and Scored by Davison Robie and Nick Hartgrove:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ek9pG3OE8I
Everywhere Theatre Group: http://everywheretheatre.org/
OUR LINKS
The Good Ole Fashion
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
New Kingston
NEW KINGSTON formed in 2006 in the basement of their Brooklyn home, when brothers Tahir (keys), Courtney Jr. (drums) & Stephen (guitar) began covering music by the likes of Bob Marley, Earth Wind & Fire, Dennis Brown, Michael Jackson, The Whispers and many more. The three brothers, under the watchful eye of their father (and bassist) Courtney Panton Sr., called themselves New Kingston to appropriately reflect a combination of their Jamaican heritage and their present lives in progressive New York City. The musical styles of both places informed their sound and songwriting.
“We used to come home from school and we’d be marched right down to the music room by our dad,” said Stephen.
They began performing in other basements and small backyard parties around town, all the while developing their skills and beginning to write their own original music. Talent rises to the top, and soon enough New Kingston started a heavy touring cycle supporting reggae stars such as Rebelution, The Green, SOJA, Matisyahu, Beres Hammond and Collie Buddz, while also securing spots on notable festivals such as the California Roots Festival, Reggae On The River, Summer Jam (Germany), and Uppsala Reggae Festival (Sweden), to name a few. For a while, they joined Collie Buddz to tour as his backing band, which exposed them to international audiences, while continuing their education on what it takes to make a great live show. It also helped them realize they had tons of their own original material and they quickly moved from that role to being a headliner on their own.
The band’s background and upbringing are reflected in their approach to the industry, as well: they are truly a U.S. reggae band, part of the movement that has revitalized and evolved the genre domestically, with a focus on digital marketing, heavy national touring, and never sticking to a stale formula for what reggae should sound like. As second generation Jamaican-Americans, they are able to just as easily hold their own with the traditional reggae scene.
New Kingston self-released two full-length albums: In The Streets (2010) and Kingston University (2013). The band recently announced the signing to New York-based reggae label Easy Star Records and will release their third studio album Kingston City on January 27, 2015. The record features collaborations with Tribal Seeds, Kimie Miner, France’s Dub Inc., Sister Carol, The Wailing Souls, and the late, great father of dancehall, Sugar Minott. If that guest list doesn’t give you a snapshot of the combination of the old world and new horizons that New Kingston is all about, nothing will.
OUR LINKS
Sensemotion
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
New Common Ground
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Cornmeal
Cornmeal has never been a band to shy away from reinvention and after over 15 years, they are proving just that as the band sets out with a reformed lineup, fresh energetic sound and a long awaited first studio album in over 9 years. A nationally recognized live music institution, Cornmeal is heavily influenced by American roots and folk music and seamlessly blends lightning fast tempos and impeccable harmonies into an unrivaled live performance that continues to expand upon the five-piece acoustic-electric groups’ vast musical repertoire. While steeped in the tradition of the past, Cornmeal continues to forge a path all their own, pushing the boundaries of bluegrass, Americana and folk for a whole new generation of music lovers. With a growing fan base and ever-evolving sound, Cornmeal challenges the recipe of bluegrass and live performance.
After many false starts the long awaited studio album, Slow Street, was released May 29th, 2015. The new record features 10 original tracks and a host of guests musicians including Anders Beck of Greensky Bluegrass on dobro. Recorded in Chicago the album clocks in at over 60 minutes of acoustic/electric landscapes and improvised jams. Balancing the energy and feel of a their one of a kind live shows with the articulation and precision of studio production, Slow Street is an album that was well worth waiting for.
With songs like Rise Above and All Things Must Change, the album pays homage to the last few years of change with a complex maturity well beyond anything we have seen from the band since their last studio release, Feet First, back in 2006. WIth masterful musicianship, a deep understanding of melody and time, and a more focused sound, Slow Street runs the gamut of the Americana sound with everything from light and delicate to gritty, deep and psychedelic.
With the release of their debut album "In The Kitchen" (2001 Livin' Live records), Cornmeal secured its place as one of the top bands in its genre. 2003’s “Tales from Magic Stone Mountain” (Livin’ Live records) garnered much critical attention and became a staple on College and AAA top 10 lists throughout the country. In May of 2006, Cornmeal released their third album, “Feet First”, which became proof positive that Cornmeal’s tenure on the road brought on an honest and mature sound. Produced by former guitarist Kris Nowak and bassist Chris Gangi, "Feet First" features a strong confidence in songwriting, musicianship and the ability of this band to stylistically ride the fence and bring it back home without missing a step.
In the beginning of 2010, Cornmeal released their first live album, “Live in Chicago, IL Vol. I” (2010 Livin’ Live Records), an album that pays tribute to the fans. Towards the end of 2011, Cornmeal released the follow up, “Live in Chicago, IL Vol. II” (2011 Livin’ Live Records). During this time the band went into the studio set to record their first album in over 5 years. Self produced by bassist Chris Gangi and tracked in Chicago at the prestigious Rax Trax recording studios, the process was cut short due to lineup changes and the album was shelved. After almost a year of auditions, rehearsals and wood shedding new material the band is poised to return to the same recording space to finish the album polishing the old material and setting forward with a new sound, new songs and a fresh perspective on the future.
While playing a blend of high profile venues, jam-band and bluegrass festivals to thousands nationally, Cornmeal has been a main stage act at some of the most renowned festivals in the country. These festivals include Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Magnolia Fest, Wakarusa Music Festival, and Summer Camp Music Festival as well as having performed on multiple stages at Bonnaroo, All Good Music Festival, High Sierra Music Festival, 10K Lakes, and many others. They pride themselves on the energy they put forth each night creating an unrivalled live performance that continues to shape itself into an energetic one of a kind experience. “Live in Chicago, IL Vol. I & II” prove that Cornmeal continues to be a band to watch out for. Every show they play is a unique experience that leaves fans begging for more.
OUR LINKS
Rolling Foliage
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Matt Wertz
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Cappa
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Aaron Krause
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
10/9
Smackdown Trivia
18 & Over | 6:30 pm
Peelander-Z
PEELANDER-Z, the Japanese Action Comic Punk Band based in NYC, was originally formed in 1998 by Peelander-Yellow, Peelander-Red, and Peelander-Blue, after meeting in New York City (although they'll tell you they're all from the Z area on the planet Peelander). Peelander-Green was welcomed in July 2008 after Blue left the band.
Peelander-Z has appeared at major music festivals including Bonnaroo, CMJ and SXSW, and played with artists such as Buckethead, Electric SIx, Particles, The Vibrators, and Guitar Wolf. Peelander-Z has also been featured on TV programs like VH1's Best Week Ever, Comedy Central's Upright Citizens Brigade, Spike TV's MXC: Most Extreme Challenge, and Anime Network. They also often perform at Anime conventions and festivals all over the US, as well as at Kaiju Big Battel.
At their live show, you'll see the band in colorful costumes reminiscent of Japanese Animation, though they describe their outfit as their skin. Their shows guarantee intense audience participation and chance to exercise with the band. "Do human bowling with us. Do limbo dancing with us. Do karaoke competition with us. Hit our cowbell with us," says Yellow. " Don't be shy, give us your smile! We can beat your stress! See you at our show!"
One experience would capture you. Just pay attention to their coming activities.
OUR LINKS
Sharks in the Deep End
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
The Peoples Punk Band
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
10/13
Midnight Marauders
18 & Over | 8 pm
Lettuce
For more than two decades, Lettuce have brought a new vitality to classic funk, matching their smooth and soulful grooves with a hip-hop-inspired urgency and mastery of beat. Now, on their fourth studio album Crush, drummer Adam Deitch, guitarists Adam Smirnoff and Eric Krasno, bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes, keyboardist Neal Evans, saxophonist Ryan Zoidis, and trumpet players Eric Bloom and Rashawn Ross deepen that sound by channeling the sonic freedom and infectious energy of their incendiary live show. Produced by Lettuce and recorded/mixed by Joel Hamilton at Brooklyn’s Studio G, Crush first came to life on the road, with the band developing new material and testing it out live as they toured. “We’ve all noticed that our music goes into a lot of different directions onstage, and we wanted to capture that in a way that we never really have before,” says Coomes, who names classic psychedelia and ‘90s hip-hop among Lettuce’s key inspirations on Crush. “It’s definitely more wide-open in terms style, but it still stays true to the funk.” As they pushed into new sonic territory throughout the making of Crush, Lettuce drew on a natural musicality that each member has sharpened through an impressive string of outside projects: Deitch also drums and produces for artists like Pretty Lights and Talib Kweli, Krasno’s played with the Allman Brothers Band and on Grammy Award-winning albums from the Tedeschi Trucks Band and Derek Trucks Band, Ross is a full-time member of the Dave Matthews Band, and the most recent of Coomes’s bass credits include Dr. Dre’s Compton. “We’re all doing such eclectic things, and we all absorb those new experiences and feed them back into our own music,” notes Krasno. “Our palette just keeps growing and growing.” The follow-up to 2012’s Fly, Crush finds Lettuce brilliantly infusing their psychedelic and hip-hop sensibilities into bass-heavy funk. With its spidery guitar work and hypnotic beats, “Phyllis” is a delicately sprawling epic that embodies what Deitch refers to as “a chill-hop vibe that’s kind of the flip-side of all that powerful uptempo funk that people might expect from us.” On “Get Greasy,” Lettuce give a nod to the groove-fueled EDM subgenre known as future funk, building off its highly danceable rhythm with a blissfully loose and horn-laced arrangement. And on “He Made a Woman Out of Me,” guest vocalist Alecia Chakour lends her bluesy growl to a scorching take on Bobbie Gentry’s 1970 country-soul classic. Whether paying homage to Led Zeppelin on the fiery and guitar-driven “Silverdome” or delivering a deeply riveting and richly textured hip-hop medley with “Oresteia,” Lettuce maneuver through Crush’s kaleidoscopic sound with sophisticated ease and powerful synergy. “More so than any of the records we’ve done before, this album is very much about the improvised grooves and improvised solos,” says Krasno. “Instead of going at it like, ‘Here’s a melody, now here’s a guitar solo, here’s another melody, here’s a sax solo,’ everyone’s leaning on each other in a way that’s completely unspoken. It’s all of us moving as one unit and creating this new sound together.”
According to Lettuce, that sense of unity and togetherness has much to do with a camaraderie that’s only intensified over the lifespan of the band. Formed in 1992, when several band members attended a summer program at Boston’s Berklee College of Music as teenagers, Lettuce was founded on a shared love of legendary funk artists like Earth, Wind & Fire and Tower of Power. After returning to Berklee as undergrads in 1994, Lettuce started playing in local clubs and steadily built up a following that soon extended to cities across the country and then throughout the world. Releasing their studio debut Outta Here in 2002 and its follow-up album Rage! in 2009, the band dedicated the coming years to balancing their frequent touring with involvement in a host of other musical endeavors (including Evans and Krasno’s role as founding members of acclaimed soul/jazz trio Soulive). In recent years, Lettuce have watched their fanbase expand as they’ve hit bigger and bigger stages and earned their name as a can’t-miss festival act. And in making Crush, the band had no trouble harnessing the spirit of their explosive live show. “Some of these shows we’ve played over the past couple years have been so amazing, it’s like you go home a different person,” says Coomes. “I’m sure remembering those moments in our minds and our hearts helped bring out something special when we were recording these new songs.” So while Crush offers everything from all-out party jams to headphone-ready journeys into space funk, each track was born from an unabashed joy and love of live performance. “That energy we get when it’s prime time and we’re about to go onstage and we’re just excited beyond belief—that all came out on this new album,” says Deitch. “There’s a feeling that the band is rising, and it’s a really beautiful thing.”
OUR LINKS
The Geek x Vrv
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Wookiefoot
Wookiefoot is a band, a non-profit charity organization (BeTheChangeCharities.org) , a circus, a philosophy, and a community of globe trekking bliss junkies and believers that are the fuel to keep this Tribadelic Spaceship going! Their charity organization (with the support of their community) has donated over $400,000 to third world relief efforts. Wookiefoot invites their community home every September… when they host and headline their own Global Conscious Gathering called Shangri~La Festival at Harmony Park in Southern MN.
Wookiefoot’s live sets are an entertaining barrage of sonic and visual stimulation. The fast paced circus like set has been called “Short Attention Span Musical Theater”. These live performances are a one of a kind experience that mixes Reggae, World Beat, Hip Hop, Irish, Funk, Folk, Rock & more with a large band featuring everything from a vintage Hammond Organ to Bag Pipes! Combine that with a mind-blowing stage show that may include anything (such as a light show, projection, costumes, fire, dancers, aerialists, magic, clowns, puppets, etc)
Welcome… and thank you for riding Wookiefoot!
OUR LINKS
Jon Wayne & the Pain
If Lee Scratch Perry and Deadmau5 died, went to heaven, and recorded an album with Bradley Nowell and Jerry Garcia, they’d end up with something like Jon Wayne and The Pain’s new full length album “Surrender”. In addition to the Minneapolis trio’s signature sound of roots infused Reggae Rock, their latest release adds a bold fusion of Jam and EDM into the fold.
The trio’s previous album “Follow Through” for the most part only teases with a few subtle, dark electronic elements but stays true to the roots infused Reggae Rock sound that could be described as an ideal poolside soundtrack. Until the release of “Surrender”, their sometimes sinister combination of organic drums and guitar with electronic bass and synths could only be heard if fans could catch the band’s live act in clubs and festivals around the U.S. or sift through bootleg uploads on Youtube. Their third full length album is full of electronic instrumentals that build from entrasic dub loops (wait for the drop) then explode into high energy party anthems with intense vocals and powerful acoustic drums.
Pushing boundaries further, Jon Wayne and The Pain inject Roots, Jam, and Ska into the mix with sounds that band members Jon, Chuckie, and Teeto have grown to love while playing alongside some of the most influential musicians in the festival scene. Complete with a sanctioned Grateful Dead cover and a festie-fan shout out track “Festival Friends”, JWP pays tribute to the Jam scene in a big way. Keeping in tune with the sound that made fans rush to see Jon Wayne and The Pain since the band’s early days, heartfelt Reggae-Rock tunes are still a staple in the diverse collection of songs that make up “Surrender”
OUR LINKS
Heatbox
The One Man Entertainment System, otherwise known as Heatbox, has been emerging in the Minneapolis music scene (“the 612”) for the better part of a decade. From rocking crowds in his humble beginnings with the Root City Band to selling out shows across the country, Heatbox's unparalleled crossover between Motown, A cappalla, R&B, Hip Hop, Soul and Funk has gained National attention from both fans and the media alike.
Creating beats and building songs from the ground up, Heatbox uses a Boss LoopStation RC-50 and a DigiTech Vocal 300 to create his songs. Recording each part as he goes, Heatbox's music is live and in the moment. Using no tracks, samples, or pre-recorded music, each song and performance is distinctly unique.
Heatbox's discography includes two full-length studio albums, Entertainment (2006) and System (2009). Included on System is a video game, Ninja Strike, designed and programmed entirely by Heatbox. Following the System release in 2009, he co-produced two original music videos, "Pizza Funk" and "Jack & Coke” alongside acclaimed Boston video producer Spookie Daly.
Promoting his latest Album, Heatbox is currently touring the US and Canada. In recent months, he toured with fellow solo act That 1 Guy and supported artists such as Buckethead, Medeski Martin & Wood, Bassnectar, Umphrey's McGee and Chali 2na. Additionally, he played notable music festivals including South by Southwest, 10,000 Lakes, Bella Music Fest, Summer Camp, Harvest Fest, Big Wu Family Reunion and Camp Euphoria.
Showing no signs of slowing down, Heatbox plans on spreading his music and positive message to the rest of the world. Ultimately, his passion is to entertain people, and that's exactly what he does. He truly is a one-man entertainment system!
OUR LINKS
- Heatbox Homepage
- On Facebook
- On Youtube
- On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
- On SoundCloud
- On Twitter
- On MySpace
10/15
Fed Up Fest by Harvesters
Sylvan Esso
Hippo Campus
MarchFourth
Split Lip Rayfield
The Phantastics
Found A Job
Various Blonde
| All Ages | 2 pm
BUY TICKETS!Fed Up Fest by Harvesters
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Sylvan Esso
Sylvan Esso was not meant to be a band. Rather, Amelia Meath had written a song called “Play It Right” and sung it with her trio Mountain Man. She’d met Nick Sanborn, an electronic producer working under the name Made of Oak, in passing on a shared bill in a small club somewhere. She asked him to scramble it, to render her work his way. He did the obligatory remix, but he sensed that there was something more important here than a one-time handoff: Of all the songs Sanborn had ever recast, this was the first time he felt he’d added to the raw material without subtracting from it, as though, across the unseen wires of online file exchange, he’d found his new collaborator without even looking.
Meath felt it, too. Schedules aligned. Moves were made. And as 2012 slipped into 2013, Sanborn and Meath reconvened in the unlikely artistic hub of Durham, N.C., a former manufacturing town with cheap rent and good food. Sylvan Esso became a band. A year later, their self-titled debut—a collection of vivid addictions concerning suffering and love, darkness and deliverance—arrives as a necessary pop balm, an album stuffed with songs that don’t suffer the longstanding complications of that term.
OUR LINKS
- Sylvan Esso Homepage
- On Facebook
- On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
- On SoundCloud
- On Twitter
Hippo Campus
Hippo Campus is four Minnesotan boys making music that is simple, joyful, and thematically soaked with the sense of cynicism accompanying the youthful search of self-meaning.
The band’s debut EP, ‘Bashful Creatures’, is set for release November 18, 2014. Recorded over two days at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, MN, the EP was produced by Low’s Alan Sparhawk.
With the philosophy that there is beauty among thorns, Hippo Campus presents the world of Bashful Creatures...
Kids, Adults, Youth, Age, Tumblr, and Cigarettes. Boots, Younger brothers. Older brothers, Brothers from other mothers, Summer, Friends, alcohol, drugs, and a touch of Boredom. Heterochromia, Heterosexuals, Teachers, English class Ratchet-ness, Lips, and Dancing in Tank tops. Sneaking out for Friends, Sex, Art, but mostly just art school girls. Playing with Guns, American exceptionalism, “Suicide," Shyness, confidence, and Grace.
With love, Beans, Espo, Stitches, Turntan.
OUR LINKS
- Hippo Campus Homepage
- On Facebook
- On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
- On SoundCloud
- On Twitter
MarchFourth
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Split Lip Rayfield
The fire rages on for the powerhouse trio from Kansas, Split Lip Rayfield (SLR), as they celebrate the release of their new record, "I’ll Be Around." The new album showcases the songwriting talents of mandolin player Wayne Gottstine and banjo player Eric Mardis, tied together by the harmony and deep-bass licks of Jeff Eaton. Such songs as "Aces High," "Heart of Darkness," and "The High Price of Necromancy" will take listeners on a journey of love, loss, change, and dark powers, as they discover what lies in the mysterious minds of SLR. The song for which the album is named, "I’ll Be Around," serves as a tribute to the band’s fallen teammate Kirk Rundstrom, whose influence on the band and its path was great. Rundstrom’s legacy continues to live on in the new album and also the band itself as every live show is dedicated to his memory. Split Lip Rayfield has carved out their own genre of music with their unique sound and instrumentation. Often described as a mix of bluegrass and country with an accent of metal, no other band delivers the experience of the homemade gas-tank bass played by Jeff Eaton, sets the mandolin strings on fire like Wayne Gottstine, or makes the banjo sing like Eric Mardis. Together, they burn up speakers and stages alike providing an unforgettable experience.
OUR LINKS
- Split Lip Rayfield Homepage
- On Facebook
- On Youtube
- On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
- On Twitter
The Phantastics
The Phantastics are a eight member musical ensemble that specializes genre-blending hip-hop. Expect to hear rock, rap, dance, funk, jazz and soul in our music. We were formed in December of 2010 and have been trying to save live music ever since.
thePhantom*- Lead Spokesman/Vocals / Bowties
Leigh Gibbs - Vocals/ Soul Sista lovin'
JJ Cantrell- Lead Guitar/ Vocals/ Nipples
Danny Florez- Elictric Bass/ Vocals/Kill Streak
Ashley Thompson- Drums / Twizzlers
DJ Mitchell- Saxophone/ Karate chops
Tim Pistone- Percussion / loaded brownies
ZSonic Bailey- DJ / busted ear drums
Austin Quick-Keyboard / Bee Gee
OUR LINKS
Found A Job
Talking Heads Tribute act. Appealing to a wide range of demographics due to the appeal of the band's music from the 70s and 80s. Currently they play 2 hours of their music, complete with choreography ala the classic concert movie Stop Making Sense.
Formed in 2012, Found a Job started as a one-night only tribute performance and has since become an 8-musician performance troupe. Playing music centered mainly around the band's EXpanded Heads era (Remain in Light, Speak in Tongues, Stop Making Sense), the ensemble also covers songs outside of the era to include radio hits such as Road to Nowhere, And She Was, Take me to The River, once in a Lifetime, and Burning Down the House.
OUR LINKS
Various Blonde
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Wick-It the Instigator
He’s got a reputation for doing some thoughtfully fresh and mindblowingly original remixes that take him from beyond a standard dub step or mash-up artist to a DJ/producer with skills that have turned heads and caught ears all over the Southeast. In a live setting, he sends people off with his mix of humor, ingenious pop culture samples and beats that can’t be touched. While his roots are firmly planted in hip hop, there is no shortage of heavy electronic bass music at a Wick-it show.
OUR LINKS
808 Gnarly
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Ryan Richardson
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Hellbound Glory
Barreling through the gates of country music, HELLBOUND GLORY, is justifying rightful ownership to the band’s declarative namesake. In defining their sound, distilled of equal parts melody and bar-room-thump, this Reno, NV based band is packing the house to a growing legion of fans coast to coast. Front man and songwriter, Leroy Virgil, explains; “We just really dig the challenge of a new audience. We’ll walk into a new room full of folks that haven’t heard our music, play a 4 or 5 hour night, and drive away with more people that consider themselves fans. I’m not a flashy guy but I like showing off.”
The bands formation in 2008 was a graduation of sorts for Virgil who originally hails from Aberdeen, WA. Relocating to Reno in 2002, the singer jumped head-long into the nightlife of the Biggest Little City In The World. This ‘nightlife’ had an immediate impact on what would become HELLBOUND GLORY’S material. Virgil explains Reno’s influence, “I grew up in a hick-town by a lot of peoples standards. Reno is just a hick-town with taller buildings and brighter lights. Playing Reno is like playing a 24 hour dive bar. No matter where I play, I’m never too far from home.”
Virgil’s songwriting consistently tests the boundaries of conventional country music’s lyrical playing field. When asked to describe the band’s signature sound, Virgil proclaims, “Country music was a big influence on the rock music I wrote when I was younger and still in Aberdeen. That same rock music echoes a bit in my country western music today. We’re really not afraid to piss off any of either genre’s purists. We’re just out there being ourselves!” In fact, HELLBOUND GLORY songs resound with equal parts wit and humor. An unabbreviated and honest statement of the world we live in today.
Forged through a relentless touring schedule that carries the band cross-country on a regular basis; HELLBOUND GLORY are conquering new stomping ground on the strength of three full length releases; “Scumbag Country (2008),” “Old Highs & New Lows (2010),” and “Damaged Goods (2011).”
HELLBOUND GLORY can count some of music’s most prolific and accomplished artists today among their growing number of supporters. Virgil continues “It’s pretty cool that we can count these folks as fans of our music, but I’ve got to be my own fan first and foremost.”
This is HELLBOUND GLORY, music as honest and reflective in a frantic urban metropolis as it is on a lost and desolate byway.
The band is currently in the studio recording a follow-up to the highly acclaimed “Damaged Goods.”
OUR LINKS
10/21
Vela
Rev Gusto
Trauma Parlor
Lunarheadz
18 & Over | 8 pm
Vela
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Rev Gusto
Jerry Frederick (vocals/lyrics/guitar)
Quinn Hernandez (drums)
Sam Frederick (bass/vocal)
Shaun Crowley (guitar/trumpet)
Peter Beatty (guitar/keyboard/vocals)
KC's Pitch Music Awards Nominee for Best Emerging Act. (2013)
OUR LINKS
Trauma Parlor
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Lunarheadz
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Astronautalis
It may sound like hyperbole, but there is truly no one out else there quite like
Astronautalis. In addition to moonlighting as a travel writer, avid photographer,
Harleyrider,
and most assuredly being the first rapper to perform and have a
piece on display at the world famous Venice Biennale, this nomadic wordsmith
has been perfecting his own unique hybrid of hiphop,
indie rock and punk for
over a decade. C ut The Body Loose is Astronautalis' fifth fulllength
and also the
first album he's released since his Justin Vernon a.ka. Bon Iverfronted,
highprofile
hybrid project Jason Feathers, who released their debut D e Oro last
year. While sonically different from Astronautalis' own music, he insists that in
many ways this album was inspired by the making of De Oro .
"The process of creating D e Oro with Justin Vernon and those other guys was
the most fun I ever had making an album and it really changed the way I thought
about making my own," Astronautalis explains. I n keeping with that new
approach, he decided to record C ut The Body Loose at Justin Vernon’s April
Base home/studio outside of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, with his long time producer,
engineer, and musical collaborator, John Congleton (Modest Mouse, St Vincent,
Earl Sweatshirt).
"I realized early on in the writing process that I was creating my record about the
south that I grew up in, and around, and down the block from,” he explains, “a s
well as my Father's South, my Mother's South, and the South of the past, and the
South of future, and all the magic, and mysticism, and horror, and tragedy, and
weird, sweaty, fucked up beauty that entailed.”
No t only did Astronautalis take influence from the music that was ubiquitous to
his youth like Trick Daddy, Mystikal, Three 6 Mafia and the classic No Limits
Records roster, he drew further inspiration from every corner of the south's
musical past. He cites everything from the New Orleans trad jazz of Allen
Touissant and Professor Longhair, to the hill country blues of Mississippi Fred
McDowell, the night trips of Dr. John, and even the legendary college marching
bands during halftime at the Florida Classic.
And s omehow, Astronautalis manages to tie this "bipolar
southern insanity" t o
the dominant hiphop
hallmarks of today to create his own jagged, puzzlepiece
persona on this record. "Running Away From God" is about him attending a
wedding in New Orleans six months after Hurricane Katrina and admiring the
beauty of watching people s till find love, drink, dance, and celebrate in the
chaos. He had a similar experience when he played a show in Č adca, Slovakia,
a poor mining town where people, despite the bleak situation of a mine gone
bust, and a economy teetering on the edge of collapse, still managed to not only
survive, but to really live. "The overarching theme of this record is seeing people
in adverse conditions take matters into their own hands and still find the energy
to go dancing or fall in love or create art," he explains. "I've started to get really
frustrated with our complacency here in America and those feelings came out a
lot on this album."
Although this may be Astronautalis' most aggressive album, to call it angry, or
pessimistic, would be to miss the point. I t is, in fact, an album about liberation. In
a traditional New Orleans jazz funeral, there is a ritual of grief, that carries from
the wake, to the service, to procession of the pall bearers out of the church.
Each step of the way, the sorrow, and pain, escalates, soundtracked by the
music of suffering. Heavy, gutwrenching,
plodding dirges fill the air, as the
funeral service, and the casket itself, spill out of the church, and into the streets.
The mourners, and a full brass band follow along with the casket, as the pall
bearers, carry the departed to the cemetery gates. The music guides the pace of
the procession, while shaping the suffering of the mourners. And just when it
seems as if the pain is becoming too much to bear, the suffering insurmountable,
the casket reaches the cemetery gates, the band swings into the raucous
celebration of "When the Saints Go Marching In", and the mourners "cut the body
loose" as they leave the body to gravediggers, and they dance on down the
street. The time for sadness left in their dust.
The scene of the album is set early with the gritty, glitchy opener "Kurt Cobain"
which is as much a call to arms as it is an mission statement. C ut The Body
Loose exists in a space between heartache and acceptance, and that duality is
evident in songs like "You Know What It Is," which starts as a downbeat critique
of music and pop culture in general before exploding into a joyful, horndriven
celebration of life. Like life, there's plenty of inherent variety, which is why there's
room for ominous, ethereal bangers like "Kudzu" or the pianodriven,
downbeat
hiphop
ballad "Boiled Peanuts,” an ode to his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida.
"I feel like I really fell in love with hiphop
again on this album," Astronautalis
explains. "That was territory I tackled here that I was really scared to go to
because I'm at the point where I could just write more songs about girls, but I
didn't really want to do that again and wanted to see what would come out if I
wrote from the heart."
As anyone whose seen him live knows, it's difficult to separate Astronautalis'
music from his raucous performances, which are less cerebral than than used to
be and currently favor a freeforall
full of freestyles and beats so infectious that
you can't help it but get lost in the kinetic energy of it all. "For the longest time my
inspiration for live shows were watching bands like Grandaddy or Bill Callahan
and now I'm way ore interested in watching The Knife or gangster rappers getting
totally nuts onstage," he explains. "To me that's way more exciting and it's also a
huge influence on this album in the sense that I want to write songs where I can
make everyone jump up and down and sweat and get whiskey dumped over
themselves to, you know?" In other words when Astronautalis commands the
audience to "turn it up 'til it shakes the rafters" on "Running Away From God," it's
not a metaphor, it's time to tear the fucking room apart.
On the surface, C ut The Body Loose centers around themes of loss,
disappointment, and struggle but in the end, it is really about finding redemption,
triumph and catharsis in the face of all of that sadness.
"The core of this album is the fact that the world is fucked in a lot of ways but
instead of letting that crush you, you can use those circumstances to make a
small change," Astronautalis says. "I'm not talking about recycling, I'm talking
about finding joy in being good and happiness inside the framework of what can
easily be a crushing amount of sadness you see in the world around you," he
continues, "a nd exercise those demons and find an outlet for all of those feelings
through my stories and experiences."
Having played thousands of shows all over the world and seen more than many
of us will ever witness, it’s a perspective that's worth hearing out.
OUR LINKS
Ceschi & Factor Chandelier
New Haven CT’s Ceschi (pronounced chess-key) Ramos makes his own version of progressive hip hop spliced with elements of folk & indie rock. Although he has almost “mathy” technical rap abilities he’s first and foremost a singer-songwriter at heart. Although one Ceschi song may consist of punk influenced machine gun fast raps, the next may be a quiet folk ballad played on acoustic guitar.
Since the release of 2010′s Dj Scientist produced conceptual psych-rock inspired hip hop record “The One Man Band Broke Up” Ceschi spent the last few years collaborating with an innumerable amount of today’s most talented MC’s, producers and artists of multiple genres including Sage Francis, Astronautalis & Radical Face. He’s toured throughout North America, Europe, Asia & Australia with independent hip-hop heroes such as Busdriver & Sole and even created his own successful record label – Fake Four, Inc.- that many of these artists now call home.
FACTOR CHANDELIER
Starting out as a DJ in 1998, Factor Chandelier has evolved into one of Western Canada’s busiest producers. He is continuously working and touring with high caliber Canadian and American artists including: Awol One, Open Mike Eagle, Moka Only, Myka 9, Ceschi, Sole, Aesop Rock, Buck65, Gregory Pepper, Astronautalis, Sunspot Jonz, Evil Ebenezer, Merkules, Xzibit, Kool Keith, Def 3, Kay the Aquanaut and the Side Road Crew. He is known for continuously dropping top-notch product out of Saskatoon since the late ‘90s. He is the founder, owner and operator of Side Road Records (2001), releasing over 30 professional albums between Side Road & Fake Four inc. Factor's music has garnered international distribution and he has received positive critical acclaim by way of magazine and website reviews as well as receiving radio play on college/community radio all over Canada, the US and Japan. His collaborative album "Wildlif3" with Def 3 won the WCMA for best hip hop recording in 2015.
Factor Chandelier's production combines smooth melodic soundscapes and live instruments over immaculate drums put together seemingly effortlessly to create a distinct sound of his own and it's for this reason he's consistently banging out one-of-a-kind beats as one of underground music’s favorite new school producers. Factor is always trying to create original, thought-provoking music that pushes the envelope of traditional hip-hop and has drawn significant attention to this Canadian artist. Hailing from the prairies, this Saskatoon, SK born and raised musician continues to make waves with his innovative sound.
OUR LINKS
Transit
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
10/25
Aqueous
Gekko
18 & Over | 8 pm
Aqueous
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Gekko
Formed in January of 2013 in KCMO, Gekko is a tight group with an unusually strong chemistry. With musical influences ranging from funk and soul to heavy metal and every thing in between, Gekko is a melting pot of different sounds. Dedicated to their craft, they strive for an intense live show.
Gekko's first studio album: "A Gecko Named Terrance" (2014), marks humble beginnings for the band and a search for their sound (and name). Funky bridges with intricate melodies, followed by sweeping chorus' makes for an incredible music experience. The transition of sounds between funk, to rock, to jazz, to postmodern, tied together by a fat bass, a soothing guitar, and a high rainfall of pitter-patter drums, give this album a thick airiness. Provoked by confidence edged with self-doubt, and fueled by angst, Gekkos's first " ...record has the ultimate way of convincing you to just relax.".
With a unique music style that is a mashup of many different genres. Their live performances are a combination of structured composition and free formed improvisation. Proficient with their instruments, Gekko introduces new concepts and melodies in their improvs with ease. Drifting in and out of thought-out melodic tunes and face-melting psycidellic improvisation, this band will keep you on your toes. Gekko is constantly bringing new songs into their ever growing grab bag of music, each performance is guaranteed to be one of a kind. Preforming on stages and for events such as the Wakarusa Music Festival, Paola Roots Festival, the Granada Theater, and many more, they are an experienced breed of musicians. Bringing the crowd into their world, there concerts are an experience that is not easily forgotten.
OUR LINKS
The Main Squeeze
Seamlessly blending Funk, Soul, and Rock n’ Roll, The Main Squeeze promises to keep your body moving with their infectious feel-good musical gumbo.
The energetic five-piece found its roots in Bloomington Indiana’s surprisingly vibrant live music scene, and they have been leaving audiences “Freshly Squozen” since 2010.
Their ability to fluidly blend and bend genres is unparalleled, and creates for an unforgettable live experience. Every performance is different from the last, showcasing each member’s virtuosic talent with soulful vocals, intricate jams, tight grooves and powerful solos.
Since their inception, The Main Squeeze has amassed a remarkably loyal and rapidly growing national fan base. They’ve graced the stages at some of the country’s biggest festivals, including: Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, Phases of the Moon and Gathering of The Vibes. In addition, they put their stamp on the Rolling Stone Super Bowl XLVI Pre-Party and dazzled music lovers at the International Battle of the Bands in Macau. Having shared the stage with artists like The Roots, Jane’s Addiction, The Meters, Aloe Blacc and Trombone Shorty, The Main Squeeze continues to catch the ear of industry giants.
Now based in Chicago, The Main Squeeze is working with legendary producer, Randy Jackson, to put the finishing touches on their sophomore album. The band’s self-titled debut was released in 2012, and is available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon.
As their fan base continues to multiply, and their unique sound, contagious energy, and unrivaled talent continue to mesmerize audiences, The Main Squeeze is poised for a meteoric rise in the world of music. Make sure to climb aboard for the ride.
OUR LINKS
Evanoff
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Cherub
“Melding a club-spawn, skull-shaking low end with a wall of guitars and talkbox pyrotechnics, the duo comprising Cherub also sport the silky smooth pipes to spread their appeal to all four corners of the dance floor.” – Nashville Scene
Cherub is a sexy, avante garde, electro-pop duo that is the dance love-child of 80’s funk, and pop-music from the future. The members of Cherub, Jordan Kelley and Jason Huber, share a love for honest original music and vibrant live performance, with a common goal to share a little bit of sex, a little bit of drugs, and a whole lot of love with people across the globe. Cherub’s music is a fresh electrified take on risqué pop music that brings to mind timeless artists like Prince, Zapp and Roger, and more contemporary Justin Timberlake. With a live show that is bouncing with energy, Cherub dances their way into the hearts of audiences from the first falsetto hook, until the very last delay filters out.
After completing studio work for Cherub’s first release, Man of the Hour, singer/songwriter Jordan Kelley joined forces with fellow producer/performer, Jason Huber, to polish Cherub’s live electro act and begin performing throughout the Southeast. Both Jordan and Jason have received recognition as producers and live musicians, previously performing as Schtompa and I.V.Y. League alongside renown acts, such as EOTO, Boombox, Count Bass D, GZA of Wu Tang Clan, Two Fresh, and many more. Since Cherub’s formation in late 2010, the band has shared the stage with highly regarded acts like Pretty Lights, Alex B, Big Gigantic, Bag Raiders, Miami Horror, and many others. The duo is looking forward to a number of high profile live dates throughout the fall of 2011, including dates in Mexico with YACHT and Nortec Collective, and a Halloween show supporting Pretty Lights in the band’s hometown, Nashville, TN.
Since the recording of Man of the Hour, Cherub has returned to the studio as a dynamic electro-pop production duo, to lay down tracks for their second collection of recorded material. This new batch of Cherub songs brings a fresh uptempo electro feel to the familiar pop sensibilities for which fans know and love Cherub. Jordan Kelley’s clever songcraft, slick production, and smooth falsetto, are complimented perfectly by Jason Huber’s on-stage production, tube-driven guitar work, and exciting vocal harmonies.
The Man of the Hour brings a new light to electro-pop music. The catchy hooks, tasteful synthwork, and dance-demanding rhythms work together with honest lyrics delivering a unique twist on accessible pop rock music. The Man of the Hour provides a musical package that keeps listeners bouncing around a club, and singing along the entire ride home. Drawing instant comparisons to contemporary favorites like Chromeo, Bag Raiders, The Dream, and MGMT, Cherub’s Man of the Hour brings new definition to live music and electronic music alike.
Jordan Kelley wants to “focus on making good music that is personally relevant, rather that pay attention to the conventions of any particular genre. That’s what made the Man of the Hour.” Cherub’s live performance of Man of the Hour captivates audiences with swooping vocals, soaring guitars and talkbox, and ethereal harmonies, from the drop of the first beat, until Jordan and Jason dance their way off stage.
The newer unreleased Cherub material brings a funky vintage vibe to a new-school electronic sound, with soulful stacks of falsetto harmonies, and a layered cake of talkbox and vocoders, reminiscent of Prince, or Zapp and Roger. These songs display Cherub’s versatility in songwriting and dance music production, ranging from grooving heartfelt ballads, to risqué club bangers that blur conventional genre barriers. Playful guitar licks and lush synthesizer textures dance around in the mix, as listeners are treated to sing-a-long hook after hook the entire way through the tunes. It’s fun. The Nashville Scene claims Cherub as their “nu favorite nu disco duo.”
“Instead of fearing the changes seen in music performance, with technology being so readily incorporated into everyday life, Cherub looks to embrace everything that is fresh and exciting, and we seek to pioneer a new school of music composition, production, and performance… Cheers to the future!” – Jason Huber
OUR LINKS
Frenship
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Boo Seeka
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
10/27
Midnight Marauders
18 & Over | 10 pm
10/29
Aaron Kamm & the One Drops
Soul Rebel and the Beast
18 & Over | 8 pm
Aaron Kamm & the One Drops
Hailing from St. Louis, MO, Aaron Kamm and the One Drops merge flavors of Roots Reggae, Mississippi River Blues, Improv-laced Jams, and Soulful Vocals. With a High energy performance and a unique sound this band is a must see.
OUR LINKS
Soul Rebel and the Beast
Hailing from Topeka, Kansas, Soul Rebel And The Beast is hardly a Rebel without a cause. Taking reggae, hip-hop, rock, funk, jazz and whatever else you want to call it and fusing it into a sound we consider our own. When asked what Soul Rebel And The Beast means, this is the best way it can be explained...You must live for life. You can't live your life as others see fit. Rather, live in a way that your soul is content. If you seek happiness, then you must find that happiness. Fight against any entity that causes strife, or you will never know peace.
OUR LINKS
EOTO
As electronic influences continue to penetrate the live rock, jazz, and jam ethos, one band consistently rises to the top, bringing together fans from across the musical spectrum. EOTO crisscrosses the country blowing out basement dives, packed theaters, and stages under the stars. Check your festival schedules: this 100% improvised dubstep/breakbeat/house/drum & bass/trip-hop duo is the premier late-night party in the country.
Throbbing bass and thudding beats are the signatures of this project from drummers Michael Travis and Jason Hann. Born out of their shared love of electronic dance music, EOTO’s M.O. is to take the free-wheeling party vibe of a DJ set to the next level by using organic instruments, innovative performance technology, and uncharted musical exploration. Live drums, guitars, and keys, and vocals are mixed, remixed, and sampled on the fly using cutting-edge programs. This is all done without a script, and without a net.
Hann plays a hyper EQ’d drumkit, chock full of multi-touch screens and MIDI controllers, and throws a number of effects on his otherworldly vocal styles. Travis takes on subsonic frequencies, generating the band’s crushing low end with analog, digital, and software synthesizers, occasionally picking up guitar or a bass guitar and showing off his proficiency with instruments of all shapes and sizes.
Hann, has been playing percussion professionally since the age of 12. Years of collaborating, touring, and recording with the likes of Youssou N’Dour, Isaac Hayes, Dr. Dre, Loreena McKinnett, SCI, and a slew of other established artists running the gamut from Latin jazz to R ‘n’ B and soul allows him to move fluidly between styles. Adding to this is his depth in African and Latin drumming traditions, allowing the futuristic EOTO sound to keep itself rooted in the past.
For the last 16 years, Travis has been the drumming octopus in SCI. He morphs roles to melodic multi-instrumentalist in EOTO, providing the raw basslines and harmonic tapestry that fill out the soundscape of the duo. Both Hann and Travis have the chops and stamina for physically demanding, EOTO improvised sets, which have been known to go upwards of 4 straight hours. “When we’re playing live for 3 hours a night, it’s like playing tribal drums in a ceremony,” Hann explains. “I’m looking at one person at a time out there, and thinking ‘what can I do to make you dance?’”
An EOTO set is a nebulous beast. Setlists are only broken up into tracks for the sake of posterity. In reality, changes in mood, energy, and inspiration are reflected—in real-time—by rhythmic and melodic shifts. The duo moves effortlessly from choppy dubstep to whip-smart, four-on-the-floor house to
OUR LINKS
Louis Futon
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Midnight Marauders
DJ G Train- Johnny Quest- Dj Proof
Say no more...
OUR LINKS
Linear Symmetry
Chris Story (Keyboards) and Andy Alback (Drums) combined forces in 2013 to form the live-electronica group Linear Symmetry. The duo from Omaha has been on a direct path since their inception and continue to progress to new heights with every performance. They have quickly become known for their tight, energetic live shows which feature moving audible dynamics in the form of organic dance music. Pair this with their brilliant visual package and it’s no surprise they have become festival favorites and late night staples.
After just one experience with this duo, it is clear there is no lack of symmetry between Chris and Ando. The two work together on stage and in studio with a common goal to send the listener on a sonic journey through their ever expanding catalogue of original dance music. Due to their unrestricted sound and raucous live show, they have the unique capability to perform for both rock and electronic audiences. Linear Symmetry has performed alongside EOTO, Shpongle, Twiddle & The Floozies; while also packing dance floors at festivals such as Dancefestopia, 515 Alive and BloomTown. Their linear path to new heights is not slowing, so be on the ready to get down when Linear Symmetry arrives in your area in 2015 and beyond. #LSduo #YearofLinear
OUR LINKS
10/31
The Sluts
Young Bull
Wides
18 & Over | 8 pm
The Sluts
The Sluts are a two-piece garage rock/punk/grunge act from Lawrence Fucking Kansas.
OUR LINKS
Young Bull
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Wides
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Sturgill Simpson
Sturgill Simpson's authenticity stands out like an island of hope in a sea of tacky.
Bonafide mountain hillbilly soul, as pure as you are going to find anywhere. All it takes is one listen to FINALLY understand
OUR LINKS
11/5
Iron Guts Kelly
Chess Club
Stiff Middle Fingers
Hipshot Killer
All Ages | 8 pm
Iron Guts Kelly
Lawrence, Kansas’s Iron Guts Kelly was formed in 2002 by Sean Riley (drums) and Shawn Reynolds (bass). Sean and Shawn have known each other since the late 1980s and in the early 2000s they found themselves playing in a pop punk band together. Having played in hardcore bands in the past Sean and Shawn decided they wanted to return to hardcore and create a band that was musically powerful with in your face lyrics… Iron Guts Kelly was born.
Shawn enlisted friend and coworker, Josh Leon on guitar duties. After only a few weeks Josh’s childhood friend Robert “Boj” Stevens was brought in on vocals. Since its inception Iron Guts Kelly has released five CDs and have toured the midwest, northeast and southwest.
In 2007 Iron Guts Kelly signed to H8 Piece Records based in Austin Texas for the release of their fourth album titled “Axe to Grind”. In 2010 Iron Guts Kelly signed with Kansas City based Violent Pacification records for the release of their fifth release titled “Killology”.2012 marks the tenth anniversary of Iron Guts Kelly. Most of 2012 will be spent writing their sixth studio album and a summer tour.
Musically, Iron Guts Kelly draw inspiration and energy from the hardcore, punk, metal, and classic rock bands they grew up listening to. Lyrically, Iron Guts Kelly confronts the plight of working class families and urban decay.
OUR LINKS
Chess Club
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Stiff Middle Fingers
SMF came together in 2010 when Travis Arey (Panda Circus, The Akanes), Cameron Hawk (The Dead Girls, Hidden Pictures), Barry Swenson and JP Redmon (Many Moods of Dad, Podstar) thought it would be fun to put together a short, blistering set of some of their favorite classic punk tunes. Since then, the list of songs has grown exponentially, and the SMF stage show has become nothing short of incendiary. While the band has been known to perform entire sets by certain bands (like the Descendents), they have recently started writing their own songs and plan on showcasing both originals and covers on a regular basis.
Stiff Middle Fingers (SMF) is primarily a classic punk cover band. We play songs by Black Flag, Descendents, Minutemen, The Jesus Lizard, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, Dead Kennedys, Wipers, Misfits, The Damned, Devo, Husker Du, Bad Brains, Mudhoney, The Vapors and many more...including Stiff Little Fingers, of course. We also write our own tunes from time to time, which carry the militant, SST-style DIY aesthetic of the songs we cover.
OUR LINKS
Hipshot Killer
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Earphunk
Hailing from New Orleans, Prog-Funk band Earphunk has emerged as one of the Southeast's premier jam acts. The quintet has been steadily building a rabid fan base across the United States with their unique brand of high-energy funk, inspired improvisation, and dynamic stage production. In an innovative move to get their music in the hands of live music fans, Earphunk have partnered with direct-to-fan publisher platform BitTorrent Bundle to release content-rich collections of live shows and studio albums. Visit the band's website (www.earphunk.com) to stream and download songs from Earphunk's current discography for free.
OUR LINKS
Lucas Parker Band
Rock and roll for jazz people, jazz for rock and roll people.
Hailing from Lawrence, KS, Lucas Parker Band is comprised of some of the area's favorite players taking on the compositions of guitarist, Lucas Parker, a Lawrence native. Comprised of Chris Handley on bass, Sam Goodell on keys, Taylor Babb on drums, and Carl Spaeth on Tenor Sax, the Lucas Parker Band will throw it down every time. So hard.
OUR LINKS
Freddy Todd
Band Interests
Fractals and Intergalactic Slime Travelling. Owls too.
Genre wompalicious beats / lazer-crunkedelic bAsS
OUR LINKS
Elliot Lipp
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
11/15
Sophistafunk
18 & Over | 8 pm
Sophistafunk
Fans across America are talking about Syracuse-based Sophistafunk, the product of three multi-talented musicians — Adam Gold, Jack Brown, & Emanuel Washington — who combine spoken-word artistry, old-school hip hop, & funky rhythms to create a unique live band experience.
The band met in 2007 and rapidly evolved into a national-touring live act. Known for their HUGE sound (created by only three members), the band has won over crowds with a captivating stage presence and tight musicianship. Rooted by old school funk / hip hop, the trio explores electronic dance grooves while infusing each tune with soul and positively charged lyrics. Sophistafunk is a multi-genre tour de force, jam packed with vintage tones and live instruments.
For six years, this road warrior band has been hitting the pavement and blowing minds across the United States. They’ve collaborated live with greats spanning Bernie Worrell (Parliament/Talking Heads) to Nikki Glaspie (Beyonce/Dumpstaphunk) and were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives when Gold’s restaurant and music venue, Funk n’ Waffles, was featured on the show on December 25, 2012. Host, Guy Fieri, dug the band so hard, they’ve since played his birthday party in Santa Rosa, CA and became the first band ever to play the International Home and Housewares Convention in Chicago, IL on March 3, 2013, by Fieri’s personal request.
Sophistafunk has played high-profile venues including The Blue Note Jazz Club (NYC), The Boom Boom Room (San Francisco), The Belly Up (Aspen), Brooklyn Bowl (NYC) and more and supported acts including Soulive, G. Love, Foreigner, Trombone Shorty, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, EOTO, Marco Benevento and more. They’ve also gained attention from publications including New York City’s Village Voice and Beyond Race Magazine.
OUR LINKS
Two Tongues
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Backwards Dancer
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Rebelution
Hailing from Santa Barbara, California, Rebelution has developed into the front runner for grassroots, independent and touring driven music groups representing the Cali-Reggae scene. Originally formed in 2004, members Eric Rachmany (vocals / guitar,) Rory Carey (keyboards,) Wesley Finley (drums,) and Marley D. Williams (bass) met in college, while residing in Isla Vista, a popular beachside community in Santa Barbara. It was there that the seeds to Rebelution’s future would be planted-- and would instill their kick back, “worry free” vibes, catchy refrain, and optimistic, inspiring, and engaging music that would leave their listeners with the sense that they have the power to make this world a better place.
Throughout 2004-05, Rebelution began to build momentum through consistently playing local shows and by independently releasing an EP. Before they knew it, they were one of the biggest drawing bands, not just in the reggae genre, but in the entire area. “It definitely went to the next level when we literally had thousands of people watching us perform in Isla Vista on Friday nights,” shares Rachmany. The band’s upbeat, highly danceable grooves were charting a direct course for bigger and better things.
Rebelution released their first full-length album “Courage to Grow” in June 2007, which would become the breakthrough album for the band. The album was praised for its crafty melodies, socially-conscious lyrics, and savvy musicianship. Rebelution quickly became known for sticking strongly to the roots of vintage reggae sound, all while appealing not only to reggae listeners, but also to music fans of all genres.
“Courage to Grow” went on to garner mass downloads and radio play on monster stations such as San Francisco’s Live 105 where their single “Safe and Sound” was played on heavy rotation, with spins on San Diego’s 91X, and Los Angels’ KROQ. The album hit an all time high when it was selected as iTunes Editor’s Choice for Best Reggae Album of 2007. In addition, “Courage to Grow” has been in the top 10 iTunes Reggae album sales since its release two years ago. It remained in the Billboard Top Reggae Album Chart for 36 weeks, and peaked at 4.
Now, two years since their last album, Rebelution is ready to give their fans their long-awaited, sophomore full-length album “Bright Side of Life” on August 4, 2009. Recorded in their home town of Santa Barbara at Santa Barbara Sound Design, entering the same studio the day after Depeche Mode completed their sessions for Sounds Of The Universe. “Bright Side of Life” features 12 new signature tracks blending the band’s cohesive mix of reggae, rock, and hip-hop influences in a calliope awash of front man Eric Rachmany’s Santana-esque guitar flurries, Marley D. Williams’ solid and attacking bass lines, the psychedelic and tasteful piano, keyboard and Hammond b-3 stylist of Rory Carey, and the jazz rock fusion of Wesley Finley’s finesse drumming and percussion.
Of the new album, Rebelution shares, “After the positive response from fans and critics for ‘Courage to Grow’ and touring in support of it for the last few years, we are glad to finally reveal our new material to the fans who have waited so patiently. We’ve played many of the new songs live, but the recorded versions will have that ‘studio magic’ from all the time we’ve put into them.” The band notes that their second album will show their growth in maturity musically, with a more polished sound with flares of new styles that fans and future fans have yet to hear. “Bright Side of Life” also has an overall theme of encouragement. The band shares, “Though it was important for all of us in the band to be motivated to continue with what we do best, which is making music, we feel people in the world could use some encouragement in this time to stay motivated as well, which is what we drew a lot of inspiration for this album.”
The release of “Bright Side of Life” marks the first release under Rebelution’s newly founded record label 87 Music, in association with Controlled Substance Sound Labs, the California based music collective, which is also home to artists Slightly Stoopid and Pepper, and their respective artist imprints.
OUR LINKS
Hirie
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
11/19
California Guitar Trio
18 & Over | 7 pm
Kevin Devine & the Goddamn Band
Kevin Devine is an independent singer/songwriter from Brooklyn, NY. He plays alone, with his Goddamn Band, and as a member of Bad Books.
OUR LINKS
Pinegrove
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Petal
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
11/25
Mr Mojo Risin A Celebration of the Doors
18 & Over | 8 pm
Mr Mojo Risin A Celebration of the Doors
Mr. Mojo Risin' celebrates the career of the Doors from their first self-titled album, through LA Woman, covering all of the best and amazing music in between. We bring an authentic concert experience representative of the band's best shows.
Our performances are a tribute to the music, and musicians that were the Doors. Whether in Kansas City or beyond, you will feel like you are on the Sunset Strip in 1966.
Break on Through...
OUR LINKS
The Good Life
THE GOOD LIFE
Omaha, NE’s The Good Life returns this summer with their first album in eight years, Everybody’s Coming Down. Call it a soundtrack to Man’s 21st century existential angst, the album poses cosmic queries, contemplates regrets, questions self-worth, and examines the possibility of living in the moment, when memories are all that we truly take with us. And in some ways, that’s the sweet spot front man and lyricist Tim Kasher inhabits: trying to make sense of this world of ours, and how and why we navigate it the way we do.
Everybody’s Coming Down moves in a new direction musically and, in contrast to The Good Life’s earlier releases, is very much a rock record. It is also the first that truly embodies the band as a whole, more so than any previous album. In blending elements of drummer Roger L. Lewis’s love of classic rock, multi-instrumentalist Ryan Fox’s chaotic approach to melody, Stefanie Drootin-Senseney’s propulsive yet tuneful bass parts, and Kasher’s deft, complementary song writing, the band sparked a vibrant evolution in sound. The gentler, folk-driven pop/rock for which the band is beloved remains (sonic sister album bookends “7 In The Morning” and “Midnight Is Upon Us;” “The Troubadour’s Green Room”), but it is now mixed amongst guitars lines that unspool in a blaze across songs that hit harder and more viscerally (“Everybody,” “Holy Shit”), as well as moments of distorted psychedelia and moody ambience (“Flotsam Locked Into A Groove,” “Diving Bell,” “How Small We Are”).
The Good Life have never been afraid to switch up their sound, refusing to be ascribed as one thing or another. 2000’s Novena On A Nocturn – recorded essentially as a solo project by Kasher as an outlet for quieter songs that didn’t quite fit with his long-standing band Cursive – was spacious and stirring, glistening with occasional electronic flourishes. 2002’s Black Out saw The Good Life grow into a full band, telling tales of drunken nights and capricious lovers over an evocative blend of electronic and traditional instrumentation. 2004’s Album Of The Year was the first recorded with the now longtime core band of Kasher, Drootin-Senseney, Fox, and Lewis. Hailed by Pitchfork, Alternative Press, NYLON, SPIN, and Time Out New York, among others, this album left behind any electronic touches as it chronicled 12 months of a doomed relationship – and the attendant complex feelings – through strains of soaring pop. 2007’s Help Wanted Nights, conceived as the soundtrack to a screenplay, was a more musically stripped-down affair and presented a bare look at human emotions through characters in a small-town bar.
Following a tour supporting Help Wanted Nights, and save for a handful of June 2010 shows, the band’s four members quietly moved on to other projects without officially saying goodbye, but with the confident assumption that they’d come back together again. Then life, as it does, took over: Kasher moved around the US, eventually settled in Chicago, and released two Cursive albums as well as two solo albums. Drootin-Senseney relocated to Los Angeles with her husband Chris, where they had a couple of kids and formed the band Big Harp, which released two albums. Fox moved to Portland, OR, worked on solo material, recorded with label-mate Jake Bellows, and started a tape label, Majestic Litter. Lewis stayed put in Omaha – The Good Life gleaned its name from Nebraska’s displaced state slogan – and played with bands Conduits and Oquoa.
Kasher began writing songs for a new album in October 2013, and the quartet – balancing their busy lives and multiple projects – reconvened from July to December 2014 to finish writing what became Everybody’s Coming Down. With the help of Ben Brodin in Omaha’s ARC Studios, The Good Life started recording in January of this year and finished the album in their respective homes. The band then turned to John Congleton (St. Vincent, Baroness, Angel Olsen, Cloud Nothings) to mix the album at his Elmwood Recording in Dallas, TX, looking to his experienced hand and uninhibited style to maintain and further realize the album’s untempered, vital sound.
And vital it is: Everybody’s Coming Down might not crack the ever-elusive code to our universal wonderings, but it’ll make you think, illuminate a new or alternative perspective, perhaps salve a lonely ache of isolation. Because we are, ultimately, all in this together – forever coming down.
OUR LINKS
Field Mouse
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Jake Bellows
MORE INFO COMING SOON!
Split Lip Rayfield
The fire rages on for the powerhouse trio from Kansas, Split Lip Rayfield (SLR), as they celebrate the release of their new record, "I’ll Be Around." The new album showcases the songwriting talents of mandolin player Wayne Gottstine and banjo player Eric Mardis, tied together by the harmony and deep-bass licks of Jeff Eaton. Such songs as "Aces High," "Heart of Darkness," and "The High Price of Necromancy" will take listeners on a journey of love, loss, change, and dark powers, as they discover what lies in the mysterious minds of SLR. The song for which the album is named, "I’ll Be Around," serves as a tribute to the band’s fallen teammate Kirk Rundstrom, whose influence on the band and its path was great. Rundstrom’s legacy continues to live on in the new album and also the band itself as every live show is dedicated to his memory. Split Lip Rayfield has carved out their own genre of music with their unique sound and instrumentation. Often described as a mix of bluegrass and country with an accent of metal, no other band delivers the experience of the homemade gas-tank bass played by Jeff Eaton, sets the mandolin strings on fire like Wayne Gottstine, or makes the banjo sing like Eric Mardis. Together, they burn up speakers and stages alike providing an unforgettable experience.
OUR LINKS
- Split Lip Rayfield Homepage
- On Facebook
- On Youtube
- On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
- On Twitter
Dar Williams
The initial idea came in a flash. Dar Williams was driving on an isolated highway, crossing from New York into Ontario, surrounded by frozen fields, silver trees, and empty sky, when inspiration struck.
“I thought, ‘I want to write a biker song!,’” Williams says with a laugh. “And then my second thought was, ‘I want to write an epic biker song.’ The Greek messenger of the dead is named Hermes, and I want to write about him-the god of travelers and thieves.
“I had this picture of Hermes starting to take a silver-haired woman down to her death, as she’s asked him to do, and instead he seduces her, saying ‘I love people like you who are experienced and worldly.’ And then I thought, why don’t I really freak out my record company and make a whole album about Greek mythology? So I decided to look at each of the gods of the Parthenon and see if their stories sprang to life for me or not.”
And from that moment came “You Will Ride With Me Tonight,” the fifth song on In the Time of Gods, the ninth studio album by the beloved singer-songwriter. Produced by Kevin Killen (who has worked with such giants as U2, Elvis Costello, and Peter Gabriel), and featuring a remarkable set of musicians including Larry Campbell, Charley Drayton, Gerry Leonard, and Rob Hyman, the ten songs that resulted from exploring this theme became some of the richest music and most evocative writing of Williams’s career.
The complex and mysterious world of mythology aligned with several other issues that Williams was grappling with. “I’m interested in power right now,” she says. “I’m in my 40s, and I’m shocked that the café conversations I had in my 20s-’Somebody has to do something!’- are now my responsibility. I see people who are actually doing things that you always dreamed somebody would do, and I can help make that a reality. So the stakes are higher, in a good way, but you also see the shadow, the reckless behavior, where a person can lose it all in a weekend.”
Of course, the ceaseless turmoil in the world today is of great concern to this seasoned artist who’s also a wife, mother and “involved neighbor,” as she puts it, active in her community. “A lot of what’s going on is actually really gross,” she says, “and to see it as epic, instead of doomed, is helpful for me. These stories and characters helped me make sense of it.”
Williams, though, wanted to be sure that she was serving the songs themselves, and was prepared to abandon the mythology theme any time it didn’t naturally fit; “I didn’t want it to be a gimmick or a test,” she says. But she was pleased to find how flexible and expansive these archetypes really are. “The Light and the Sea” began with the notion of the sea god Poseidon, but became a meditation on retaining a moral compass.
“As I get older, my big struggle isn’t being virtuous and moral, it’s more about what I do in chaos,” says Williams. “When I’m stressed out, I say and do terrible things. There’s a light to follow, and you can lose it in chaos.”
Other songs brought ancient themes directly into the Hudson Valley home Williams shares with her husband, their son, and their young, Ethiopian-born daughter. She describes “Write This Number Down” as “an Athena-ish song” written for her younger child. “It’s telling her not to lose faith, because even when the justice system isn’t up to what you want it to be, there will be networks of people who will help you find justice.”
Williams also wanted to write a song for her husband. “When I go on the road, there’s an understanding that it is part of our relationship,” she says. “In the Parthenon, there is one goddess-Vesta, goddess of the hearth-who sits in the middle of the hall stoking the fire. I never thought that I needed a hearth, but that’s my home, and also my marriage, an anchor in my life that just gets better all the time. So ‘I’ve Been Around the World’ does correlate, but I would have written that story no matter what.”
As documented on her last album, the 2010 two-disc retrospective Many Great Companions, Williams’s growth as an individual over her almost two-decade-long career has gone hand-in-hand with her evolution as an artist. Raised in Chappaqua, N.Y., and educated at Wesleyan University, Williams spent 10 years living in the thriving artistic community of Northampton, Mass., where she began to make the rounds on the coffeehouse circuit. Joan Baez, an early fan of her music, took Williams out on the road and recorded several of her songs.
In 1995, two years after self-releasing The Honesty Room, she signed with Razor & Tie Entertainment, beginning a relationship now in its 16th year. Along with her studio albums, she’s also released the onstage document Out There Live (2001) and the DVD Live at Bearsville Theater (2007).
The final song on In the Time of Gods manages to bring all of her concerns-social, creative, and personal-under one roof. “We have a mountain close to our house called Storm King,” says Williams. “When a circle of clouds gathers around the top of it, that means the rain is coming. Pete Seeger lives across the river and can see the mountain, and I wrote a song saying that Pete is the storm king now. He looks down and watches over us, guides and warns us, like the mountain does.
“So my ‘Storm King’ is not a king of Greek mythology,” Williams continues. “He’s a father figure who influences me from two miles up the road, where he composts and chops his own wood, and reminds me of my responsibilities. ‘Storm King’ is my way of saying that we aren’t living in 400 BC Greece, we are evolving in time. And that’s what you’re allowed to do with mythology-to let it evolve and show who your Parthenon is now.”
That’s the great achievement of Dar Williams’s album. With ease and grace, it reminds us that wherever we are, whenever it may be, we are always living In the Time of the Gods.
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Andy McKee
Andy McKee is among the world’s finest acoustic guitarists. His youthful energy and attention to song structure and melodic content elevates him above the rest. He entertains both the eye and the ear as he magically transforms the steel string guitar into a full orchestra via his use of altered tunings, tapping, partial capos, percussive hits and a signature two-handed technique.
McKee’s crossover success has helped him to achieve millions upon millions of YouTube viewers, underscoring his emergence as one of today’s most unique and influential artists. He has been featured as a cover story in both Acoustic Guitar Magazine in the U.S. and Acoustic Magazine in the UK, and is also the figurehead of the unique Guitar Masters tours. McKee’s tour dates have taken him through Europe, Asia, Australia and North America, including tours with legendary acts including Prince and Dream Theater.
Live performances of Andy’s have become a point of fascination with his loyal followers. So, in late 2015, Andy decided it was time to release a live album. Featuring tracks from his entire catalog, Live Book was recorded live in December 2015 at The Melting Point in Athens, GA, the Red Clay Music Foundry in Duluth, GA, and Workplay in Birmingham, AL. McKee went through the recordings from all three shows and selected the finest takes of each set. Reflecting on the song choices, he looks to provide current fans the chance to relive their favorite shows, and hopes that he can showcase the energy he creates for those who haven’t been able to attend a show and new fans alike.
“I’ve always wanted to do a live album; for quite a few years I’ve felt it’s something that has been missing from my collection of releases,” says McKee. “This album will feature some of my YouTube hits like ‘Drifting’ and ‘Rylynn’, some songs from my 2014 EP Mythmaker, and a cover of a Michael Hedges song called ‘Because It’s There’ played on harp guitar that I haven’t released yet.”
McKee is the first artist to be signed CGP Sounds, the record label founded by fellow guitarist Tommy Emmanuel.
“I’m honored to be a part of his label. I heard Tommy 15 years ago at a festival in Kansas and was blown away by his playing and performing, and I still am,” Mckee stated. “To be the first person on his label is surreal, and I’m excited and proud to be a part of it.”
Live Book released worldwide on April 22. The album, McKee’s first live record, was released through CGP Sounds. In support of the new album, McKee is now embarking on “The Next Chapter Tour” throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States.