Late Night Pick: Ben Howard

Alternative indie folk singer/songwriter, Ben Howard, is on Late Show with David Letterman tonight (CBS, 11:35 PM). You might like Ben if you like Mumford & Sons, Jake Bugg, Laura Marling, or Ed Sheeran. Here's Ben's "Keep Your Head Up":



Here's OK Go performing on last night's Late Late Show:

Late Night Pick: OK Go

Power pop video geniuses OK Go will be on the Late Late Show (CBS, 12:35 AM) which is having guest hosts each week until the permanent new guy, James Corden, takes over. Comedian Whitney Cummings will be guest host tonight. OK Go has a song in the upcoming "Hot Tub Time Machine 2" movie (the first one was really funny, btw) but I don't know if they'll perform it tonight at least without some bleeping. It's called, "You're a F**king Nerd and No One Likes You". Speaking of nerds, the guy who invented the giant Rube Goldberg device in this video was on the "King of the Nerds" tv show last week (on TBS) to judge the nerd teams' Rube Goldberg inventions. Here's "This Too Shall Pass":



Here's Drenge making their network TV debut on Late Show with David Letterman on Tuesday night:

Weekend Picks: Natalie Prass, Ingrid Michaelson, Evan Dando, Dukes of Dixieland, Sleepwalkers, Love Canon, No BS Brass Band

Your weekend starts on Thursday with the band that does '80's music bluegrass style, Love Canon. They'll be at The Broadberry. Doors open at 8 and no opener is listed. It's $10 in advance, $12 day of show. They'll be playing in NYC at Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday night if you happen to be up there. Here they are in Winchester in November doing "Money For Nothing/Break My Stride":



Friday night, Pandora is live streaming the Jack White show from Madison Square Garden starting at 9 PM. Go on Pandora and add the ‪#‎JackWhiteLive station now and hear an exclusive Third Man Records mixtape until show time.

It's Saturday so that means another new beer from Hardywood and another party to bust it out and I say the more the merrier. It's FREE to get in. The barrels are tapped at 2 PM and the music starts at 5:30 with MicroWaves. The guitar driven indie pop of Manatree will be next. Finally, the new classic rock of Sleepwalkers. Sleepwalkers will be opening a bunch of shows for J Roddy Walston & the Business in March. These guys are moving up quick. I believe I caught one of their first shows at The Camel in late winter of last year. Here they are at The Broadberry in November opening for PBR:

Adult alternative indie pop rock singer songwriter Ingrid Michaelson will be at The National Saturday. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener Greg Holden. It's $20 in advance, $25 day of show. She's worldwide as she heads down under to Australia for a tour in March and a chance to cuddle some koalas. Here's her latest single "Afterlife":



'90's alt-rock heartthrob (and I assume he's still pretty good looking) and fine musician, Evan Dando of the Lemonheads is at The Camel on Saturday night. Tix are $15 in advance, $18 at the door. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with openers Sara Johnston and Long Arms. Here's Evan doing "Hannah & Gabi":



It's a special night of dixieland, horns and orchestras at the Carpenter Theatre on Saturday night. New Orleans' Dukes of Dixieland will perform with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra. RVA's own No BS Brass Band will open the show and will also perform with the RSO. I'm kind of hoping No BS will do their kick-ass cover of Rush's "Tom Sawyer" with the orchestra. Show starts at 8. Tix range from $10 to $78. Here's the Dukes doing "Midnight in Moscow" on a steamboat going down the Mississippi in New Orleans. How cool would that be?



Tuesday, you can catch singer-songwriter Natalie Prass in two places. She'll be doing a free show at Plan 9 in Carytown at 1 PM. Then, you can catch her with her whole band at The Broadberry that evening. Doors open at 8 and no opener is listed. Tix are $10 in advance, $12 day of show. Natalie's self-titled debut album was produced by Richmond's own Matthew E. White and Trey Pollard and is getting great reviews. Web site Stereogum chose it as their album of the week. She played a sold out show in London last night and will be opening for Ryan Adams on his international tour. So to say she's getting a lot of positive press and buzz might be an understatement. This may be one of those "I saw her before she got big" shows. And Natalie recently moved to Richmond so support a new hometown gal. Here's "Bird of Prey" from the album:



By now, many of you have heard that the remaining four members of the Grateful Dead will play three final shows together on July 3, 4, 5 at Chicago's Soldier Field with Trey Anasatasio on guitar and Bruce Hornsby on keys. If you are wondering how Trey might sound with The Dead, here he is playing with Furthur at the Lockn' Festival in 2013. This is the video from the big screens and soundboard sound. If you are short on time, go to the The Other One and the ensuing jam which was pretty weird and exciting.



Have a great weekend! See you at the Natalie Prass shows and maybe at Hardywood too!

Late Night Pick: Drenge

The brother duo of Rory and Eoin Loveless with the band name that sounds like the gunk you pull out of your sink drain, Drenge, will be on Late Show with David Letterman tonight (CBS, 11;35 PM). After 20 months of touring, Drenge have their second album called "Undertow" coming out on April 6th. You'll probably hear the first single from that album, "We Can Do What We Want" tonight. Here's "Backwaters" from their first album:



Here's The Lone Bellow on last night's Late Night with David Letterman:

Late Night Pick: The Lone Bellow

Americana band The Lone Bellow is on Late Show with David Letterman tonight (11:35 PM, CBS). They will no doubt be performing something from their new album, "Then Came The Morning". They'll be at the Boston Calling Music Festival in May, which looks like a good one with Beck, Pixies, My Morning Jacket, Ben Harper, Tenacious D, Tame Impala, St. Vincent, TV on the Radio, Jason Isbell, Run the Jewels, and more. Here they are back on 2013 peforming "Teach Me to Know" from their self-titled debut album:



The Decemberists debuted their new project on Jimmy Kimmel Live the other night, "The Decemberists Sing YouTube Comments":

Late Night Pick: The Decemberists

Geeky alt rockers The Decemberists are on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight (11:35 PM, ABC). Mayor Charlie Hales of Portland, OR recently declared Decemberists Day in Portland on 1/20/15. That just happened to conincide with the release date of their new album, "What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World". Here they are doing "The Mariner's Revenge Song":



Here's Belle & Sebastian on last night Conan doing "Nobody's Empire":

Weekend Picks: Zap Mama, Antibalas, BRONCHO, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Avers, Bio Ritmo, Trongone Band

Thursday night at the Modlin Center, two-time Grammy winners Spanish Harlem Orchestra will turn up the heat. The show starts at 7:30 PM and tickets range from $10 to $32 depending on your demographic. Here they are a few years ago:

Friday night at The Camel, Trongone Band headlines with opener Dale and the Zdubs. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 and it's $7 to get in. Trongone Band just got back from Key West, where they played a private wedding event, so they will be tanned and ready to go. Here they are at The Camel in December with Ron Holloway on sax doing an Allman Brothers classic:



Indie garage punk alternative noise rock band BRONCHO (out of Norman OK) will be at Strange Matter Friday. Doors open at 9 and it's $10 to get in. Yonatan Gat, The Milkstains and Daddy Issues open. You can download the Dine Alone Records Winter Sampler for FREE which includes BRONCHO, Lucius and others HERE. Here's BRONCHO's video for "Class Historian":

Hardywood Park Craft Brewery has a party on Saturday to celebrate their work with Cigar City Brewing to create The Milkmaid (White Milk Stout) and The Milkman (Chocolate Milk Stout). The tapping begins at 2 PM. Live music starts at 5 PM with The Trillions (shred pop), then
Warren Hixson (Lofi psychedelic surf pop) at 6:15 PM and Avers (hard psychedelic pop) at 7:30. Charlie Glenn will pull double duty playing with both The Trillions and Avers so buy him a beer. The Trillions will most likely be doing some songs from their new album, "Superposition", which comes out 1/31. Here's Avers doing "Hold On" at The Broadberry in October:



Wood Face, The Green Hearts and Jordan Tarrant will be at Sound of Music Recording Studio Saturday starting at 7 PM. It's $5 to get in. Here's The Green Hearts in the dark at Southside Lounge somewhere in America in 2013:

You can get your salsa on at The Broadberry on Saturday with Bio Ritmo. It's $8 in advance, $10 at the door and things get under way at 8 with DJ Felty and DJ Pari. They'll be recording this show live so get there and be on the recording. I'm on three official live recordings: The Kinks - "Live: The Road", Grateful Dead - "Nightfall of Diamonds" and Grateful Dead - "View from the Vault 1". I'm the guy yellling "Wooooooooooooooo!" after each song. Here's Bio Ritmo at The Camel in December:



Wednesday night, African jazz avant garde group Zap Mama is at the Carpenter Theatre with Antibalas. Tix are $30 - $38 and Antibalas opens the show at 7:30 PM. They'll be playing together so this should be a really cool funk jazz show. Here's the press blurbs for the bands:

Known to her fans as Zap Mama, Marie Daulne redefines the term "vocalist." Athletic and powerful on stage, Daulne is a “sonic stylist who alternates between storytelling and creative vocal expression.” She is the sound of urban, afro-scat, and alternative funk. Since bursting on the scene almost 20 years ago, the Belgian-Congolese diva has wowed audiences around the world with her unique sound, which seamlessly blends African, American, and European cultural influences and effortlessly mixes genres such as R&B, hip-hop, and jazz with indigenous and tribal sounds.

Antibalas is Afrobeat’s premier second-wave ensemble and disciples of Fela Kuti, the brilliant big-band leader and Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer. This eleven-member ensemble from Brooklyn deals in the rhythms that define the Afrobeat style, but bring in jazz, funk, dub, improvised music, and traditional drumming from Cuba and West Africa to much acclaim. Through their concerts, tours, and recordings, Antibalas has earned the admiration of a wide array of respected musicians, including everyone from Questlove and David Byrne to members of Fugazi and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. NPR Music’s Bob Boilen writes “If they come to your town, drop what you’re doing and go see them. Wear dancing shoes.”

Here's Zap Mama in Belgium:



As you may have heard, the remaining members of the Grateful Dead will be playing three final shows together in Chicago's Soldier Field on July 3, 4, and 5 to commemorate the band's 50th anniversary. Trey Anastasio from Phish will be on guitar (which I'm excited about, Hitler not so much) and Bruce Hornsby will be on keys. And I know you were probably wondering how Hitler, apparently a big Deadhead, would react. So here you go.



Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Belle & Sebastian

Indie pop band Belle & Sebastian put a new album out yesterday, "Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance" and they'll be on Conan tonight  (11 PM, TBS). This seems eerily similar to yesterday's Late Night Pick blog. From 2003, here's B&S' "I'm a Cuckoo":



Here's Sleater-Kinney on last night's Conan. I'm getting quite a crush on Carrie Brownstein. She's smart, funny, pretty and she rocks!

Late Night Pick: Sleater-Kinney

Sleater-Kinney is getting some of the best reviews of their career for their latest album, "No Cities to Love", which is their first release together in 10 years and came out today. Tonight, they'll be on Conan (TBS, 11 PM) to play a song from that. They've also sold out a large chunk of their tour including the shows closest to us in DC (9:30 Club, 2/24 & 25) though you can still get tickets for their show in Raleigh (The Ritz, 4/22). Here's one from their last album, "The Woods", called "Modern Girl":



Here's Run the Jewels on Thursday night's Conan (language NSFW):

Late Night Pick: Run The Jewels

Alternative rappers, Run The Jewels, whose album "RTJ2" showed up on many a year-end best-of list including a few designating it the #1 album of the year, will be on Conan tonight at 11 PM on TBS. And that success looks like it will continue in 2015 as they open for Jack White at Madison Square Garden on 1/30 and they will play at Coachella. Here's their title track, "Run The Jewels" by Run the Jewels (language NSFW):



Here's Panda Bear on last night Tonight Show: