Weekend Picks: Arctic Monkeys, Avers, Snarky Puppy, No BS! Brass Band, Full Moon Fever, Fear of Music, Shangri-Lords, King Solomon's Marbles

No BS! Brass Band kick off the weekend at Balliceaux on Friday night. Show starts at 10 and it's $5 to get in. If you have a high schooler who plays a brass instrument, you can sign up for a 5 day summer camp with No BS Brass Band and Collegiate School. For more info, click HERE. Here's NO BS! doing a hit you may remember from the 80's:



Saturday's a big day and it starts with the Hardywood Park Craft Brewery's Sidamo Release. It don't cost nothin' to get in. Sidamo is a 10.3% ABV Imperial Coffee Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels. The tasting room will open at 2 for bottles and draft of the new libation. The food trucks will be there with burgers from Station 2, banh mi from the Hungry Turtle, Mexican from Cielito Lindo, s'mores from Super Fresh Carts, and one of my favorites, Goatacado, with healthy, yummy, organic food. At 4:30, the fun really begins with music from Talking Heads tribute band, Fear of Music. At 6:15, the all-male 60's girl group band, the Shangri-Lords hit the stage. Then at  7, Tom Petty tribute band, Full Moon Fever, will rock your world. I may be hitting this one up early with the boys. S'mores for them and one, just one, Sidamo for Daddy. Here's a great show from Tom Petty that was on the BBC in 1980:



At 7:30 PM Saturday at the Modlin Center, jazz/funk/world music band Snarky Puppy will do their thang. Tix range from $9 - 18. Their collaboration with Lalah Hathaway just earned them a Grammy for Best R&B Performance. Here they are performing at Bass Bash 2014:

Over at Strange Matter Saturday, the new psychedelic indie rock band Richmond is buzzing about, Avers, will play. Avers is made up of Alexandra Spalding and Adrian Olsen of Hypercolor, Tyler Williams of The Head and the Heart, JL Hodges of Farm Vegas, James Mason of Mason Brothers, and Charlie Glenn of The Trillions. Doors open at 9, music starts at 10 and it's $8 to get in. White Laces & Sleepwalkers open.

Grateful Dead tribute band, King Solomon's Marbles, will be at Cary St. Cafe Saturday. Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead said in a recent interview on the Rolling Stone site that he hopes band members can "bury the hatchet" and do something for the band's 50th anniversary next year. KSM doesn't have to bury nothing except the deep grooves Saturday. The show starts at 10 PM and it's FREE to get in. I recently purchased the Grateful Dead's "Sunshine Daydream" CD/DVD package and it's great. The 8/27/72 show was always one of my favorites, and may be one of the best GD shows ever, and to have a clean audio version plus the long-delayed movie of the show made it well worth the money. I don't buy much Dead anymore since I have so much but this was a must have show. One of the best "China Cat Sunflower>I Know You Rider" jams, a 19 minute "Playing in the Band" and a phenomenal 31 minute "Dark Star". Here's "Jack Straw" from that show, which is the first song I liked from the Dead and, perhaps not coincedentally, the first song they played at my first Dead concert.



On Tuesday night, Arctic Monkeys are doing a sold-out show at The National with The Orwells. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8, tix are $27.50 in advance, $32.50 day of show. Here's Arctic Monkeys doing "Do I Wanna Know" on Letterman the other night.


And here is their very trippy (literally) video for "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?":



Have a great weekend! I'll see you at Hardywood.

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: ZZ Ward

Blues/rock singer ZZ Ward will be on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson tonight at 12:35 AM on CBS. Watching Craig Ferguson the other night, I realized that Geoff is my second favorite late-night sidekick after Andy Richter. ZZ will perform her song "365 Days" tonight. She'll also be opening up for Eric Clapton in Memphis on April 30 in Memphis, if you're in the area. Here she is doing "Move Like You Stole It" acoustic:

Late Night Pick: Against Me!

Punk rockers Against Me! is currently basking in the critical success of their latest album, "Transgender Dysphoria Blues", and that's not just a clever title. Lead singer Laura Jane Grace used to be known as Tom Gabel. Tom went public with his transgender dysphoria in a Rolling Stone article in May 2012 and announced that he would begin his transition to life as a woman. Against Me! will be on Late Show with David Letterman tonight on CBS at 11:35 PM. Here's Laura Jane solo acoustic doing "Black Me Out" (language NSFW):

Late Night Pick: Bastille

For the second night in a row, we've got a band that will playing a sold-out show at The National as our late night pick. Bastille will be at The National on May 21 and they'll be on Late Show with David Letterman on CBS tonight at 11:35 PM. Bastille has been nominated for four Brit Awards (being from London) for "Best British Album", "Best British Group", "Best British Single" and "British Breakthrough Artist". Here's the band doing "Bad Blood":

Late Night Pick: Arctic Monkeys

Indie rock band Arctic Monkeys will be on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight on CBS at 11:35 PM. As an added bonus, the great Louis CK will be on the show too. Arctic Monkeys will be swinging into town on Tuesday, February 4 for a sold out show at The National. As if that wasn't exciting enough for Arctic Monkeys, they've also been nominated for Best British Group and Best Album of the Year ("AM") at the 2014 Brit Awards. From that album, here's "Do I Wanna Know":

Weekly Picks: Waxahatchee, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Pixies, No BS! Brass Band, Fear of Music

Get your weekend off to a funky start with No BS! Brass Band at The Camel. No BS is just back from representing the RVA at NYC's Winter Jazz Fest and the Indianapolis Museum of Art so I'm sure they'll tales of music, art, and real winter weather, not this three inches of snow, let's shut down the city for a week stuff. They also recently made the Wall Street Journal blog's list of 10 Best Concerts of 2013 alongside Paul McCartney, John Cale, and Neutral Milk Hotel. It's $10 to get in, doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with opener Bandrew. Here's No BS! performing for NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts this past year:

On Saturday, Waxahatchee, the solo project of alternative, low-fi, singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield, will be at Strange Matter. It's $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Doors open at 9. All Dogs, Cayetana, and Little Master open the show. I think I'm going to this one so if you want to meet up there, hit me up. Since we are doing NPR Tiny Desk concerts, here's one from Waxahatchee in December. She's solo here but she'll have a band with her on Saturday night:



The wonderful South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo will be at Carpenter Theatre on Sunday night. Doors open at 6, show starts at 7. Tix range from$35 to $65. Their CD, "Live: Singing for Peace Around the World" is nominated for a Grammy award for Best World Music album. They had dedicated the CD to Nelson Mandela and until Grammy Award night, which coincidentally is Sunday night, if you buy the CD on their web site, they'll donate all proceeds to The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund. They may find out that they won the Grammy while they are on stage on Sunday night and that would be a cool moment to share with them. Here's the band on BBC Northern Ireland early last year:

Talking Heads tribute band Fear of Music will be at Cary St. Cafe Tuesday night at 10. Don't cost nothin' to get in. They've worked up a few new songs for their set and they'll bust 'em out that night. I'm hoping for "Memories Can't Wait". Here's that song mixed with visuals from the movie "Altered States". And the show is at Cary St. Cafe so your night could end up much like William Hurt's.



Wednesday night Pixies and Fidlar will be playing a sold out show at The National. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. If you can get tix, they'll be $45. I would have much more excited for this show if it was 1989 and/or if Kim Deal was still in the band. But it should still be a fine show. Here's my fav Pixies song, "Monkey Gone to Heaven". I listened to "Doolittle" a lot the summer of '89.



And here's an excellent song from Fidar. Watch out though. This one has naughty language in it.


Have a great weekend! See you at Waxahatchee.

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Sarah Jarosz (again)

We'll go back to bluegrass/Americana artist Sarah Jarosz tonight. One, because she's really good. And two, because we'll watch her on the hilarious Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:35 AM on CBS. Craig doesn't have musical guests on very often, but he's always fun to watch. Here's a little all-star session with Sarah, Amos Lee & Alison Krauss:

Late Night Pick: Danny Brown

Underground Detroit rapper Danny Brown will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight on ABC at 11:35 PM. Danny's album "Old" ranked #17 on Rolling Stone's Best Albums of 2013 list. Here's a song Danny did with House Shoes. He's definitely not your average rapper, as this weird, trippy, animated video will show. Language in this is definitely NSFW.

Late Night Pick: Sarah Jarosz

Bluegrass/Americana artist Sarah Jarosz will be on Conan tonight on TBS at 11 PM. Sarah's latest album, "Build Me Up From Bones" made a ton of year-end best of lists including NPR/Folk Alley Top 10 Folk & Americana albums and Sirius XM's The Village best of the year. Here's Sarah performing "Ring Them Bells":

Weekly Picks: Black Girls, Jackass Flats, Bio Ritmo, Trongone Band

Had a great time at the Blackberry Smoke / Delta Saints show Wednesday night at The National. If you like old-school Southern Rock, you'll definitely want to check out Blackberry Smoke. Their brand of Southern Rock tends toward the country-er side of things and you'll hear elements of Dickie Betts, Allman Brothers (they threw in a snippet of "Midnight Rider" much to the crowd's delight), Outlaws, Tom Petty, Black Crowes and The Band (they closed with funky cover of "Don't Do It"). The Delta Saints out of Nashville really won over a skeptical crowd with their brand of blues rock. They converted the whole crowd, who was hootin' and hollerin' by the end of their set. Hope they come back to Richmond on their own after they finish this 4 month tour with Blackberry Smoke.

Not a very busy week musically. Friday is the hopping night. We'll start with salsa band Bio Ritmo at The Camel with James Brown tribute, The Big Payback, opening. Get your dancin' shoes on for this show. Doors open at 9, Big Payback comes on at 10, Bio Ritmo at 11:30. Bio Ritmo will have some new music for you at the show. Here they are doing "Carnaval" with footage from when they toured the Republic of Georgia.



At the Capital Ale House Friday, classic rock cover band, Trongone Band, plays with CBDB opening. Show gets underway at 10 PM and it's FREE. Trongone Band will hit the stage around 11.

At Balliceaux, glam/pop/soul band Black Girls perform. It's $5 to get in and the show starts at 10 with Borrowed Beams of Light. Black Girls will be shooting a video in town this weekend and are looking for extras.The shoot will be Saturday morning from 11 AM until 1 PM. If you are interested in joining them, message them on their Facebook page.

Saturday night, get your bluegrass on with Jackass Flats. They'll be at The Camel with Tarrant opening. Doors open at 8 and the show starts at 9. $7 cover charge.

That's it for this week. Here's 33 Fascinating Songwriting Stories from one of my favorite sites, Mental Floss. Have a great weekend!


Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Rosanne Cash

Rosanne Cash, who is getting the best reviews of her career for her new album, "The River & The Thread", will be on Late Show with David Letterman tonight on CBS at 11:35 PM. Rosanne was recently on NPR's Morning Edition where she discussed the new album. You can listen to the 7 minute interview HERE. And here's Rosanne talking about her dad and performing his song, "Tennessee Flat Top Box" at the 2003 Tribute to Johnny Cash:

Late Night Pick: Tame Impala

Check out psychedelic band Tame Impala on a new Last Call with Carson Daly tonight on NBC at 1:35 AM. Tame Impala have been nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Album for "Lonerism". Here's "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards". Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Late Night Pick: Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen is the only guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight at 12:35 AM on NBC. He'll be interviewed and play a few songs from his new album, "High Hopes". The album is getting weaker reviews then Springsteen's albums usually get, due to it's being a collection of odds and ends from the last decade as compared to the usual Springsteen attempt to make a cohesively themed album. But regardless of the reviews, the songs will come to life in a live setting so be sure to check out the show tonight. Maybe Bruce and "Neil Young" will do another classic cover together:

Late Night Pick: London Grammar

Indie rock trio London Grammar who, appropriately enough, hail from London, will be on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight on NBC at 12:35 AM. Jimmy will also be teaming up with his co-star Queen Latifah from one of the greatest movies of all time (do I even have to tell you), Taxi. OK, the movie is actually pretty lame.

Back to London Grammar, tonight's appearance will be their debut on American TV and they should be worth watching as they were recently nominated for British Breakthrough Band at the Brit Awards. Here's their video for "Wasting My Young Years". You might dig them if you like Kate Bush or Florence & The Machine:

Late Night Pick: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings are back! They had postponed the release of their new album, "Give The People What They Want", in June when Sharon was diagnosed with Stage Two pancreatic cancer for which she underwent chemotherapy. But Sharon has recovered, the album has been released and Sharon and the band will head out on tour. But first a stop on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight at 12:35 AM on NBC. Here's the band's 2007 single, "100 Days, 100 Nights":

Weekly Picks: Blackberry Smoke, Delta Saints, Corey Harris, Black Girls, Reverend D-Ray & The Shockers, Southern Belles, Susan Greenbaum, Zoso

Things pick up a bit this weekend as people look to beat those post-holiday blues with some tunes.

Black Girls will be at The Camel Friday night. Doors open at 9, show starts at 10 and it's $5 to get in. Sleepwalkers open. Black Girls will put our their third album, "Claire SinClaire", in March, so I would suspect you'll hear some new tunes Friday night. Here's a little teaser they put together for their new album:



Over at Capital Ale House Friday night, it's bluesman Corey Harris. Doors open at 9:30, show starts at 10, it's $10 in advance, $13 at the door. Mighty Joshua opens. Here's the little press blurb on Corey, "Corey Harris was born in Denver, Colorado to parents from Texas and Kentucky. He is a guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and band leader who has carved out his own niche in blues. A powerful singer and accomplished guitarist, he has appeared at venues throughout the North America, Europe, Brazil, The Caribbean, West Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

He began his career as a New Orleans street singer, travelling throughout the southern U.S. In his early twenties he lived in Cameroon, West Africa for a year, which had a profound effect on his later work. He has recorded many old songs of the blues tradition while also creating an original vision of the blues by adding influences from reggae, soul, rock and West African music."

Here's Corey doing "Honeysuckle":

If you always wanted to see Jimi Hendrix play with Led Zeppelin, well, you're out of luck. But you can get the next closest thing, when Led Zep tribute band, Zoso - The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience, plays at The National with Jimi tribute band, Hendrix Lives, opening up. The show is on Friday night, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 and it's $12.50 to get in. Here's Zoso doing "The Ocean":



Saturday, Susan Greenbaum will do all of Carole King's classic album, "Tapestry", along with some of her own tunes at Ashland Coffee & Tea. Show starts at 8, tix are $17 in advance, $20 day of show. Here's a little preview of the show with Susan doing "It's Too Late":



If you want something a little more intense, but still danceable, go see Western surf-a-billy band, Reverend D-Ray & The Shockers at Bandito's Burrito Lounge on Sunday night. I don't think there is a cover charge. The show starts at 9 with opener Sean K. Preston & The Loaded Pistols. Here's the video for Reverend D-Ray's song, "Zombie Cowboys", which just sounds cool:



Wednesday night I'm gonna rock and hopefully you too. I'm heading out to see up-and-coming Southern rockers, Blackberry Smoke, at The National. My friend, Perl, said these guys kicked ass last time they were in town and I believe him. Tix are $17.50 in advance, $20 day of show. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with openers The Delta Saints. Make sure you get in early to see Delta Saints because they're pretty good too. These two bands must really like each other because they are touring together for the next four months. We're the fourth show on the tour, so everything will still be fun and new and the tour buses won't smell too bad yet. Here's Blackberry Smoke doing "Sleeping Dogs". If you like the Allman Brothers Band, Marshall Tucker Band or The Outlaws, check these guys out:



And here's one from The Delta Saints called "Cigarette":



Thanks to the good state of VA, Generals Lee & Jackson and Martin Luther King Jr. and one day of leave, Wednesday night is the first night of my five day weekend, so I'm heading out to see Southern Belles at Cary St. Cafe after Blackberry Smoke. The Belles come on around 10 and there is no cover. Here they are at The Camel last Friday night doing a new song, "Molly Whopped" sandwiching a cover of Phish's "Gumbo":



Have a great weekend and I'll see you at Blackberry Smoke/Delta Saints and Southern Belles on Wednesday night!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Will Hoge

Roots rocker Will Hoge is on Late Show with David Letterman tonight at 11:35 PM on CBS. You might want to check out Will Hoge if you like Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, or Ray LaMontagne. Here's Will doing "Even If It Breaks Your Heart":

Late Night Pick: John Grant

Alternative singer/songwriter John Grant will be on Late Show with David Letterman tonight at 11:35 PM on CBS. UK newspaper, The Guardian, named John's album, "Pale Green Ghosts", the second best album of 2013. Here's the title track from that album:

Late Night Pick:White Denim

Tonight on Last Call with Carson Daly, it's critical fave and personal favorite, White Denim. I've been listening to their new album, Corsicana Lemonade (which was produced by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy), quite a bit and really hope they'll be coming back to Richmond for a show soon. I don't believe they've been in town since the night I first saw them when they opened for Manchester Orchestra at The National. Here's "Drug" from their last album, "D":

Late Night Pick: Brandy Clark

Americana singer-songwriter Brandy Clark has written songs for The Band Perry, Kacey Musgraves and LeAnn Rimes has recorded an album of her own, "12 Stories", that is getting much acclaim. Brandy will be on Late Show with David Letterman tonight at 11:35 PM on CBS. Brandy was recently nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Song as one of the songwriters of "Mama's Broken Heart", which was recorded by Miranda Lambert. Here's Brandy's song, "Pray to Jesus":

Weekly Picks: Speedy Ortiz, Southern Belles, Former Champions, Big Payback

Looks like everyone is recovering from New Year's Eve, including the bands, as this looks like a slow weekend for everyone but The Camel.

Thursday night at The Camel, it's The Big Payback: A Tribute to James Brown. They're billing this show as the "Champagne Campaign" so if you aren't sick of champagne yet, you'll get a free glass with your admission of $7. The show starts at 8 with The Flavor Project opening. If you need some new dance steps for tonight, who better to teach you than the Godfather of Soul himself:


Friday at The Camel, jam rockers Southern Belles will perform as part of their usual First Friday residency. The Trongone Band will open. The bands will jam together on some Grateful Dead tunes, for sure. Doors open at 9 and it's $7 to get in. Here they are playing "I'm a Wreck" at Fontana's in NYC on 12/18:



On Saturday night at The Camel, jamtronica band Former Champions plays for you. Doors open at 9 and it's $7 to get in. Here they are doing "O.E." at The Camel a couple years ago:


Grungy Indie rockers Speedy Ortiz check into Strange Matter on Monday night. This is an early show with the doors opening at 5 and the show will be done by 9. It's $8 to get in. The show will start at 6 with openers Grass is Green, Sundials and Spit-Take. They were named on Denny's Year End Best of List. Yes, Denny's the restaurant. Oh, and also on year-end best of lists from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, The Boston Globe, Paste Magazine, NME Magazine, Mother Jones, The A.V. Club, Allston Pudding, Clicky Clicky Music Blog, Consequence of Sound, Stereogum, Recommended Listen, Washington Post, and Myspace. Here they are performing "Gary":


Have a great weekend and Happy New Year!

Tony Jordan