Brown Sabbath, El Presidente, Papadosio, Keller Williams, The Machine, People's Blues of Richmond

Hope you got all the stuff you wanted for Christmas. Now onto the New Year with a few shows to take you there.

Thursday night, it's the hard rockin' blues of People's Blues of Richmond at The Camel. It's $5 to get in, show starts at 10 with openers, The District. This will be drummer Raphael Katchinoff's last show with PBR after 4 years. Nekoro Williams will be taking his place starting in 2013. PBR has over an hour of new material and they'll soon be releasing an EP and an album. So head to the show and say farewell to Raphael and check out some new tunes from the band. Here they are doing Robert Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues" at the Jewish Mother in Norfolk in September:



Lots going on Friday night, including blues rock at The Canal Club with Skip Castro Band and The Nighthawks. Doors open at 7, tix are $20 in advance, $23 at the door. Here's Skip Castro Band in another one from the Jewish Mother in July of this year:



Over at Strange Matter on Friday night it's a triple bill with Black Sabbath cover band, Brown Sabbath (midnight) , El Presidente (11 PM) and Iggy Plop and the Spooges (Iggy & The Stooges cover band, 10 PM). Doors open at 9 and it's $5 to get in. It's bassist E.T.'s birthday and he'll be playing with both Brown Sabbath and El Presidente so be sure to wish him a happy one and buy him some libations.

Grateful Dead cover band, King Solomon's Marbles, will be at Cary St. Cafe on Friday night. Show starts at 10 and it's $7 to get in. If you'd like to hear and/or download KSM's full show from 12/4/12, go HERE.

Saturday night at The National, smoke 'em if you got 'em for The Machine: Pink Floyd Experience. They'll be doing two sets and doors open at 7 with the show starting around 8. Tix are $15 in advance, $18 at the door for General Admission and $20 in advance, $23 day of show for Reserved. You can head to The National's Facebook page and get your request in for the all request 1st set. Here they are performing "Welcome to the Machine" in Amsterdam in 2008:



Sunday night at The National, local boy Keller Williams returns to play two sets, one solo and one with More Than a Little. That 1 Guy will open the show. Tix are $18 in advance, $21 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. More Than a Little is Keller's new six piece funk band.

New Year's Eve at The National, jamtronica band Papadosio will help you trip into 2013. Tix are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with openers Dopapod and Futexture. Here's Papadosio doing  "All I Knew" with Mike Rempel from Lotus:

Over at Cary St. Cafe on New Year's Eve, it's funk band Modern Groove Syndicate. Show starts at 9:30, cover is $10 and that includes champagne toast at midnight and party favors.

Here's Paste Magazine's second best video from 2012, the lovably quirky tUnE-YaRdS with "My Country":


Have a Happy New Year and I'll see ya in 2013!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Cee-Lo Green

Cee-Lo Green will do something from his new Christmas album (hopefully the song with The Muppets) tonight on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC at 12:35 AM. Cee-Lo has apparently made a New Year's Resolution to lose weight. It helps that he has a sponsorship deal with eDiets.com.

The Late Night Pick will be taking a break until 1/2/13. We will check in with a blog on what's going on the week of Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Late Night Pick: Aimee Mann

The lovely and talented Aimee Mann will be on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight on ABC at midnight. Upon reading the Wikipedia article on Ms. Mann, I found out that she grew up in Bon Air and graduated from Midlothian High School so she's totally Richmond. The video she did for "Labrador" was picked as one of Paste Magazine's Top 25 Videos of the Year and starts director Tom Scharpling who bears an uncanny resemblence to actor Jon Hamm.

Jamey Johnson, The Babies, Southern Belles, Carbon Leaf, Bush League

You all have nothing to do at work this week anyway, so go out and have some beer and listen to a band before you head off on your holiday journeys.

Wednesday night, funky jam band Southern Belles will be at Cary St. Cafe. It's free to get in and the show starts at 10.

Susan Greenbaum will do a solo show Wednesday night at Ashland Coffee & Tea. Show starts at 7 and it's $5 to get in. Here's a little ditty for the holidays from Susan:



New outlaw country hero, Jamey Johnson, comes to The National on Thursday night. Tix are $25 in advance, $28 at the door. Doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7:30 with opener Chris Hennessee. AllMusic called Jamey's latest album, "Living For a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran", "a modern honky tonk classic" and named it to their best albums of 2012 list. Here's Jamey with Alison Krauss doing a number from that album, "Make the World Go Away":



Noise pop band from Brooklyn (hipster alert!), The Babies, will be at Strange Matter on Thursday night. The Babies are fronted by Cassie Ramone of the Vivian Girls and Kevin Morby of Woods. Tix are $8 in advance, $10 day of show. Doors open at 8 and openers will be Invisible Hand, Positive No, and Ar-Kaics.

Also on Thursday, yacht rock cover band Three Sheets to the Wind will be at Republic. Show starts at 9:30 and there is no cover. Maybe they'll play this one, Hall & Oates style!



Friday night, homeboys Carbon Leaf, return to town for a show sure to be full of friends, family, and Christmas cheer. They'll be at The National and tix are $18 in advance, $21 at the door. Doors open at 7 and show starts at 8 with American Aquarium. Carbon Leaf will have a new album out in February. It's called "Lord of the Rings of a Tree" which may also be the title of the second Hobbit movie. Here they are performing "What About Everything" a few days ago:

On Friday, you can get your Latino Navidad on with Bio Ritmo at Balliceaux. Show starts at 10:30 and it's $8 to get in. BTW, is that Ikea Monkey in that poster above? Here's the band peforming at The Jewish Mother in VA Beach earlier this year.



Saturday night, check out Bush League at Capital Ale House Downtown. The show will start around 9 and it's $5 to get in. The band will be celebrating the release of their CD, "Can of Gas & a Match". The band was a semi-finalist in the 2012 International Blues Challenge.

Have a very Merry Christmas, everyone!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Brandi Carlile

Critically acclaimed rockin' singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile will be on Last Call with Carson Daly tonight on NBC at 1:35 AM. If you want more than the one or two songs she'll play on Last Call, check out her five song performance from KEXP, the fabulous Seattle radio station.

Late Night Pick: Desaparecidos, Common

Tonight, you get a two-fer on Last Call with Carson Daly. Once and current Conor Oberst punk band, Desaparecidos, is on the show. They'll be touring the US in February but the closest they come to Richmond is the 9:30 Club in DC on 2/16. Alternative rapper (which means he raps about other things besides himself and how much $ he has) Common will continue to address bigger issues in his work and he's on the show too. Last Call is on NBC at 1:35 AM.

Late Night Pick: Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit

Some nights the late night pick is easy to make and this is one of those nights. Not only do you get the former guitarist/singer from one of my favorite bands, Drive-By Truckers, as the musical guest. That would be Mr. Jason Isbell and his new band, the 400 Unit. You'll also get Samuel L. Jackson. And Carrie Brownstein & Fred Armisen will be on the show talking about the new season of Portlandia, which starts in January. Where is all this? Why it's tonight on Late Show with David Letterman on CBS at 11:35 PM.

Late Night Pick: Dan Deacon

Tonight, check out electronica artist Dan Deacon on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Dan is supporting his much acclaimed album, America. Jimmy is on at midnight on ABC. Tonight, Dan will perform "True Thrush". Dan will also provide the members of the audience with a phone app that will make each person's phone part of the light show. This will be TV history as it will be the first time an interactive, artist-created app is used with a live audience on network TV.

Wanda Jackson, Sandy Benefit Concert, No BS! Brass Band, Band of Horses

Taking the opportunity of a sick day to crank out the weekend band update. Not achy anymore, but still stuffed up. At least my nose is running now and not just compacted in my sinuses. But enough talk about snot, let's discuss what's going on this week.

Rockabilly legend Wanda Jackson is at the Capital Ale House tonight. Tix are $25. Jonny Fritz opens the show around 8, doors open at 7. Wanda has a great new album out ("Unfinished Business") which is produced by Justin Townes Earle and her last album was produced by Jack White, so she still runs in some pretty good company. Here's Wanda with Justin doing "Am I Even a Memory?":



If you are at home tonight or want to set your DVR before heading out, the big 12.12.12 concert to benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy is tonight starting at 7:30 on about 30 different TV channels. The lineup is not too shabby with The Rolling Stones, The Who, Roger Waters (Eddie Vedder will perform with him), Eric Clapton, Dave Grohl, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Kanye West and Paul McCartney. You can also stream the show at the link up there.

On Friday night, NO BS! Brass Band does their annual Coat & Food Drive at The Camel. The gig starts at 9:30 with openers Elikeh Afropop. It's $7 to get in and each canned good you bring gets you a $1 off down to $3. A coat donation gets you $3 off the cover charge up to one coat per person. Here they are performing what should become the new Richmond anthem, "RVA All Day":

Also Friday, J Roddy Walston & The Business head a great lineup of bands at Strange Matter with Black Girls and Goldrush opening the show. We last saw J Roddy and company opening up for the Drive-By Truckers at The National in October and they put on quite the soul-inflected, hair-tossin', rockin' show. It's $10 in advance, $12 day of show. Doors open at 8, music starts at 9. Here's J Roddy and band acoustic at WNRN studios a couple months ago:



On Friday night at The National, yacht rock cover band Three Sheets to the Wind hosts the "Company Christmas Party" so get drunk, tell the boss off, hit on that sexy co-worker and start the next day full of regret and shame as you try to remember who you made out with in the coat check room. It's $10 in advance, $15 at the door, and there are VIP packages available. Doors open at 8 and the show will start shortly thereafter. Also, there will be a Tacky Christmas Sweater contest so bust out that one that Aunt Martha gave you a few years ago.

Saturday night, indie rockers Band of Horses will be at The National. Tix are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener Jason Lytle (of Grandaddy). They were recently on the wonderful BBC music show "Later with Jools Holland" and here that is:



Tuesday night, DJ Williams Projekt continue their Tuesday nigh residency at Republic with a show starting at 9:30. I do not believe there is a cover charge. Here's a taste of their show from Cafe Diem in July.



Paste Magazine has chosen The Best 25 Music Videos of 2012 so we'll highlight those over the next few weeks. Here is their choice for #1, from M.I.A., "Bad Girls":


Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Graham Parker & The Rumour

No, you read that title right. It's a blast from the past, Graham Parker reuniting with The Rumour after more than 30 years. They have a new album out, Three Chords Good, which is getting excellent reviews. And they'll be on Conan tonight on TBS at 11 PM and then repeated at 1 AM. Here they are back in the day (1979) with "Local Girls":

Late Night Pick: Jack White

The ubitquitous Jack White will be on Conan tonight on TBS at 11 PM and then repeated at 1 AM. I beleive Conan and Jack are buds, having played together during Conan's post-Tonight Show hiatus. Jack got nominated for three Grammys this year for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album for his latest album, "Blunderbuss" and then Best Rock Song for "Freedom at 21".

Hamaganza, Ghost of Pop, Battle of the Jams, Black Girls, Barstool Heroes, Former Champions

Lots of local bands this week doing charity shows for the season. You gotta appreciate that. These bands don't make a whole lot of $ for themselves but they still find the time to give back to their community.

The annual Hamaganza event is on Friday and Saturday of this weekend. Tonight they'll be at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery and tomorrow at Lulu's in Shockoe Bottom. Both nights kick off at 8:30 and admission is a $10 donation or a ham (thus the name). Tonight's event will be hosted by Gene Cox from channel 8 news. This event is like a talent show on acid. You never know what you'll see: jugglers, whistlers, bands comedians, poetry but you know it'll be weird.

Friday night at The Canal Club, it's the "Camp Barefoot Music & Arts Festival Battle of the Jams" featuring James Brown tribute band The Big Payback, Silo Effect and People's Blues of Richmond. Doors open at 8 and it's $10 to get in. Here's People's Blues doing "Tighten Up" at the Jewish Mother in Norfolk in September:

Tonight at The Camel, Black Girls will perform with Herro Sugar and Motha' Goose and the Funky Ducks opening. Show starts at 10 PM and it's $6 to get in. This'll be Black Girls last show in Richmond for a while so they can work on getting a new album out.

Saturday, if you want some yummy beer, go to the Holdiay Cheer & Beer Classic out at Meadow Event Park in Doswell. It will be indoors (though the weather is supposed to be pretty nice but who knew?), it's free to get in and you can buy tasting tickets for $1 each. There will be live music, shopping and beers from 25 craft breweries including 15 from VA. It'll run from noon until 7 PM.

Saturday at Gallery 5, it's the Ghost of Pop 8 show. It's only $5 to get in and proceeds go to the organization Home Again who provide shelter and services for homeless folks. Performing will be Goldrush, Andrew Leahy & The Homestead, The Trillions, My Old Ways and Herro Sugar. Show starts at 8.

Outlaw country band Barstool Heroes will be at McCook's Grill in Lakeside on Saturday night at 8. Here's a little taste of the band from a recent show:


Tuesday night at Cary St. Cafe, jam band Former Champions will play. Show starts at 10 and there is no cover. Here's the band playing in Winston-Salem in September:



Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Gaslight Anthem

Pop-punkers Gaslight Anthem will be on Conan tonight at 11 PM on TBS and then repeated at 1 AM. Gaslight Anthem hail from New Brunswick NJ and are FOBs (Friends of Bruce) who has appeared with them at a few of their shows. You'll dig them if like Bruce, Wilson Pickett, Social Distortion (whose Mike Watt played a song with Bruce the other night at Bruce's Anaheim gig), Lucero, The Replacements, The Clash, The Pogues, Tom Petty or Tom Waits.

RIP Dave Brubeck, Late Night Pick: Diana Krall

The great jazz pianist, Dave Brubeck, passed away this morning at the age of 91. HERE is the obit in the Chicago Tribune. Most people know his famous piece, "Take Five" so I stole this video from the Tribune article, ""In Your Own Sweet Way":


Keeping the jazz theme going, jazz/trad pop singer/pianist Diana Krall will be on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight at 11:35 PM on CBS. Comedian Albert Brooks will also be on the show. Diana just won Downbeat Magazine's award for Female Vocalist of the Year. She'll probably do a Christmas song tonight but maybe she'll throw in a musical reference to Brubeck.

Late Night Pick: Led Zeppelin

The remaining members of Led Zeppelin will be on Late Show with David Letterman as Dave broadcasts from DC and the band just happens to be in town to pick up their Kennedy Center Honors. If Dave asks Robert Plant if they will be reuniting for a tour, will Robert punch him? Will Zep play a song or just sit on the couch and shill their new DVD? Tune in to find out. Dave is on CBS at 11:35 PM.

Former Champions, Barstool Heroes, Emme St. James, Christmas Parade, ACL webcasts, Lianne LaHavas: Late Night Pick

If you're looking to chill and enjoy some wine and jazz reminiscient of Peggy Lee, Doris Day or Julie London, check out Emme St. James and Her Jazz Gentlemen tonight at The Wine Loft in Glen Allen. This is the celebration for the release of her new Christmas CD, "I'd Like You For Christmas" so bring your jingle bells. Ths show starts at 8. No mention of a cover charge.

Over at The Camel, jam band Former Champions will be playing tonight. Show starts at 9 and it's $7 to get in. Trongone Band will open. Here's Former Champions doing "Land":


Cary St. Cafe will host Barstool Heroes (outlaw country) and James Ryan West and the Vendors. Whitey Morgan had to cancel their appearance tonight due to unforseen circumstances. You never do foresee those circumstances. Show starts at 9:30 and cover charge will be $5. Not sure who is opening. Here's Barstool Heroes doing the Charlie Daniels tune "Trudy":


If you are at home tonight you can watch the webcast of upcoming blues guitar player Gary Clark Jr. as he films his Austin City Limits show. It's on YouTube and the link is HERE.

Saturday, it's the Dominion Christmas Parade going down Broad Street starting at 10 AM. We'll be hangin' down at 7th St. where the parade ends if you are interested. No rock bands, but lots of marching bands, balloons, Santa, and a little taste of Philly this year with the Mummers group, Ferko String Band. So bring your golden slippers.

Saturday night, it's another webcast of an Austin City Limits taping, this one with Esperanza Spalding. You can check that out HERE.

Tonight's Late Night Pick is a repeat of the Late Show with David Letterman featuring young British singer-songwriter Lianne LaHavas, Robin Williams and a top 10 list from Homer Simpson.

Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Dan Deacon, NO BS! Brass Band, Bettye LaVette: Late Night Pick

Tonight, critically acclaimed indie electronica artist Dan Deacon will be at Gallery 5. This is the show that was rescheduled from October 3. Tix are $13, doors open at 7 and the music should start shortly thereafter with openers Alan Resnick, Chester Endersby Gwaza, and Height With Friends. Dan's been influenced by artists such as Devo, Talking Heads, Animal Collective, John Cage, and The Residents. Here's Dan's "True Thrush" video. It starts with a 13 second scene which was then shown to the next team, which then had an hour to recreate the scene from memory. So it's like a visual version of that old "Telephone" game. Check out the results here:

NO BS! Brass Band is at Balliceaux tonight. Show starts at 10 and it's $3 to get in.

Tonight's Late Night Pick is Grammy nominated, classic soul singer Bettye LaVette on Tavis Smiley on PBS. Check your local listings for exact time. On Bettye's latest album, "Thankful N' Thoughtful" she covers tunes by Black Keys, Gnarls Barkley, Savoy Brown, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Sly Stone, Tom Waits and others in her 60's soul style. In Richmond, the show will be on channel 57 at 3 AM Friday morning and on channel 23 at 12:30 AM Saturday morning.

More on the rest of the weekend tonight.

Tony Jordan

Moon Taxi, Southern Belles, Bob Weir webcast, Neil Young: Late Night Pick

Jam-prog-rock band, Moon Taxi,will be at Capital Ale House downtown tonight. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with openers The Shack Band. It's $12 to get in. Moon Taxi got a big buzz going after a killer set at Bonnaroo this year. Here's their new video for "Let's Go Back" from their latest album, "Cabaret":


More jammy goodness tonight at Cary St. Cafe with locals The Southern Belles. Show starts at 9 with an opening set from The Northeners and there is no cover. It's Southern Belles one year anniversary tonight and they'll be performing some stuff from their new album, "Sharp as a Knife" along with their usual mix of covers of the Dead, Phish, The Band, The Beatles and others. And if you want updates and free swag like guest passes and free merch from the Belles, email them at info@thesouthernbellesmusic.com.  Here they are playing "All Night" at The Camel in September:


And if all that wasn't jammy enough for you, one of the godfathers of jam band, Mr. Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead, will be doing a webcast from his TRI Studios at 8:30 PM ET. Go HERE for that. Bob will play some songs and answer some questions, hopefully, more of the former than the latter. Bob often sits in with the bands that do webcasts from TRI. Here he is jamming with Slightly Stoopid on a song called "Ocean":


Tonight on The Daily Show is Neil Young. Probably talking about his new bio. Hopefully doing a tune or two. The Daily Show is on at 11 PM on Comedy Central and then repeated a few times over the next 24 hours.

Late Night Pick: Grimes

Electro-pop artist Grimes, whose album, "Visions", has already been showing up on best albums of 2012 lists, will be on Last Call with Carson Daly tonight at 1:35 AM on NBC.

Late Night Pick:Soundgarden

Back to work and then to the gym to try to work off the pounds put on over Thanksgiving weekend. And back to late night TV which features the reunited Soundgarden tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC at midnight. Soundgarden was probably the closest band I ever saw that could capture what I would imagine the power of Led Zep was live. Truly a thunderous, powerful band. The have a short winter tour lined up playing places that are approximately Landmark Theater size. So get on that Landmark Theater for the second leg. The new album, King Animal, has been getting pretty good reviews.

Southern Belles, Municipal Waste, Title Fight, Conspirator, Of Monsters & Men, Silversun Pickups, Susan Greenbaum

You can start off your Thanksgiving weekend on Wednesday night with the funky jam band blues of Southern Belles at Emilio's in the Fan. The event announcement on Facebook says this starts at 7 PM. That seems a tad early so call Emilio's if you are interested in going (804-359-1224). Here's the Belles at The Republic in July with the "Ophelia" jam:



Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead is going to be on live from his TRI Studios every Wednesday through Dec. 5 at 8:30 PM. He'll be answering questions and playing songs. The one I saw a couple weeks ago could have used more songs and less questions but he was announcing that they will be doing a Sandy benefit webcaste in January with "old lions and young lions" of the jam band scene so that's something to look forward to. So maybe there will be more songs tomorrow night.

Thursday is Thanksgiving night so no one is playing because everyone is full of turkey and booze and falls asleep at 9 PM.

Friday night, a lot of action. Things start early with a 6 PM show at Kingdom featuring alt-pop-punkers Title Fight heading a bill that also includes Tigers Jaw, Pianos Become The Teeth and Single Mothers. Tix are $12 in advance and $14 at the door. Here's Title Fight with "27":

Later that night at Kingdom, if you want to work off your turkey dinner (and turkey leftovers) you can headbang those calories away with the thrash metal lineup of Richmond's own Municipal Waste, Napalm Death, Exhumed & Speedwolf. Doors will open at 10 PM and it's $15 to get in. Here's Municipal Waste with "Sadistic Magician":



Over at The National Friday, it's electronica jam music with Conspirator, Paper Diamond, The Former Champions and Phil Dice. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9, tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Here's Conspirator doing "Velvet Red" in Boulder, CO in February:



Also on Friday night, over at The Camel, it's Richmond homeys NO BS! Brass Band. It'll start around 9:30 and it's $7 to get in.

If you are already in the holiday mood on Saturday, and you survived the Black Friday tramplings, head over to Ashland Coffee & Tea for the Susan Greenbaum Holiday Show. The show will start at 8, tix are $16 in advance, $20 day of show. Here's Susan and friend doing an acoustic set in September:


Monday night, Of Monsters and Men plays at The National. Civil Twilight opens the show at 8, doors open at 7, tix are $25 in advance, $28 at the door. Of Monsters and Men hail from Iceland. They're making it big all over the world playing in the US, UK, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia and Japan over the last and the next few months largely on the strength of this tune, "Little Talks":



Next Tuesday night (11/27), Silversun Pickups and Atlas Genius will be at The National. Doors will open at 7 and the show gets under way around 8. Tix are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. You might dig Silversun Pickups if you like Foo Fighters, U2, REM, Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Pixies, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Flaming Lips or Velvet Underground. Here they are doing "Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)" live:



As an added bonus, The Rolling Stones release yet another greatest hits package, "Grrr!" but they've got two pretty good new songs on it and here is the new video for "Doom and Gloom". They can still rock it.



Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Tegan & Sara

Alternative folk rockers Tegan & Sara will be on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight on CBS at 11:35 PM. They've got a new album called "Heartthrob" coming out so I suppose you'll hear a track from that tonight.

Late Night Pick: Tennis

Check out a repeat of Conan tonight with alt-pop rockers, Tennis. Conan is on TBS at 11 PM and then again at 1 AM. That is all.

Matthew E White, People's Blues of Richmond, Late Night Pick: Miguel

Tonight's the big night for the weekend with two shows to decide from.

At The Camel, Richmonder Matthew E White returns to Richmond after touring nationally and getting a big buzz for his first album, "Big Inner", including rave reviews from Pitchfork, The New York Times and Rolling Stone. Doors will open at 8, show will start at 9 with The Trillions. It's $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Here he is performing "Brazos" at the 2012 Hopscotch Music Festival. Love the way this just builds and builds at the end. I don't think the band will be quite this big at The Camel tonight:


Over at Tobacco Company tonight, People's Blues of Richmond will playing their hard blues for anyone that would care to come. It's FREE and will start around 9:30. Here's the band playing "Nihilist Blues" at the Jewish Mother in VA Beach a couple months ago:


That's about it for the weekend as everyone starting to get ready for Thanksgiving.

The Late Night Pick for tonight is R&B singer Miguel on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC at 12:35 AM. The LA Times said Miguel's latest album, "Kaleidoscope Dreams", “leads a wave of artists aggressively pulling away from the conventional boundaries of R&B by championing edgier, genre-blending productions while maintaining soulful melodies,”.

Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Torche, Marco Benevento, 3 Sheets to the Wind, Late Night Pick: Donald Fagen

Tonight (Thursday) at The Camel, stoner/sludge metal band Torche will head a lineup of three bands including Gritter and Brief Lives. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9. It's $10 to get in. Here's Torche's "Across the Shields":


Over at Capital Ale House tonight, it's jam band veteran keyboardist, Marco Benevento. Tix are $14, show starts at 9 PM with opener, WOLF!  Here's part of(?) Marco's set from 9/27/12 in Louisville:


If you are in more of a yacht rock kind of mood, check out Three Sheets to the Wind at Republic tonight. Show will start around 9:30 and it's FREE. The theme is "Back to the Future" so they may play this one tonight:


Speaking of yacht rock, tonight's Late Night Pick is Steely Dan's Donald Fagen on Late Show with David Letterman on CBS at 11:35 PM. Donald will probably do a song from his new album, "Sunken Condos". To celebrate here is the episode of "Yacht Rock" featuring Steely Dan and their epic feud with The Eagles. BTW, this video is NSFW due to some nasty language. Hey, it was a nasty feud.

Heart, Marc Cohn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Late Night Pick: Divine Fits

It's kind of adult contemporary night in Richmond starting with the Wilson sisters and Heart at the Landmark Theater. I saw a fairly recent show by Heart too long ago on VH1 Classic and their voices still sound great so it should be a fun show. They seem to have moved past their late 80s - early 90s soft rock phase and are back with some stronger material. I'm not saying you won't hear "Alone" or "Never" because they were big hits. I'm just saying the newer stuff I heard was more reflective of their 70's style. In fact, they sound so good that Ann Wilson has been asked to sing the National Anthem at the Redskins - Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game. Shawn Colvin is opening so be sure to get there early to see her. Tix run $40 - $65 and the show starts at 7:30. Here's Heart doing the title track from their latest album, "Fanatic":


Over at the Virginia Room at the John Marshall Hotel tonight, you've got singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, best know for his hit "Walking In Memphis". He recently performed at the all-star "Love for Levon" concert honoring late member of The Band, Levon Helm. Tix for the show run $25 - $55. Doors open at 7 and the show opens with Rebecca Pidgeon. Here's Marc doing a song about when he was shot in 2005 during an attempted carjacking called "Live Out the String":


Finally, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is at The National with hitRECord. This isn't exactly a concert. Here's the explanation from the press release:

"Joseph Gordon-Levitt will serve as the unique show’s host for the evening, presenting short new short works of collaboratively made video, music and writing created by the hitRECord world-wide community of artists. Gordon-Levitt will also direct, and will be performing and interact ing with the live audiences in sketches, readings and musical moments — contributed by the hitRECord community. Of course, he’ll encourage audiences to record the proceedings on their cameras, phones and other portable RECording devices.


hitRECord’s technology partner, Sony Electronics, will provide the hitRECord team and some members of the live audience with Sony Alpha NEX cameras to ensure quality footage is captured of the live proceedings for future remixing. Show goers can upload their videos from the live event to hitRECord.org where the hitRECord community of 125,000+ artists will edit and remix the footage to create videos to be screened at future events!"

Tix are $15 for the balcony and $25 - 30 for orchestra. Check out the hitRECord web site up there for some ideas of what to expect. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9.

Tonight's Late Night Pick is indie rockers Divine Fits on Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35 AM on NBC.

Dr. John, Blind Boys of Alabama, Late Night Pick: Ceremony

If you are looking for a show tonight, you can do no better than the Spirituals to Funk show with Dr. John and the gospel group, Blind Boys of Alabama. They'll be at the Carpenter Theatre and the show will start at 7:30 with tickets running from $34 to $42. The show will "explore the connections between jazz, blues and gospel". HERE is a preview of their show from a Grand Rapids MI blog. Here's Dr. John & the Blind Boys performing the Louis Armstrong classic "What a Wonderful World":


Tonight's Late Night Pick of the Night is SF punk group Ceremony tonight on Last Call with Carson Daly on NBC at 1:35 AM.

Late Night Pick: Alberta Cross

Alt-country band and band I have been digging lately, Alberta Cross, will be on Late Show with David Letterman tonight on CBS at 11:35 PM. If you interested in checking them out on the cheap, AmazonMP3 has their latest album, "Songs of Patience", on sale for just $5 this month.

Unknown Hinson, Dead Milkmen, Cult of Youth, Bio Ritmo, Taste the Local - W Broad Village Fest, Robbin Thompson

Crashed early last night and just couldn't wake myself up so we'll bang out the weekend's shows this AM. Look for another blog this weekend with the details on next week's shows.

We start tonight (Friday) with local Latin music band, Bio Ritmo, at Balliceaux. It's $10 to get in and the show starts at 10:30 PM.

Saturday out at West Broad Village, the faux community with the Whole Foods in it out in Short Pump, Taste the Local throws their West Village Festival. It'll run from noon to 7 and feature food from local restaurants, vendors, beers from ten of VA's finest breweries (including Legend, Hardywood, Starr Hill and Devil's Backbone) and music from local bands. Here's the schedule for the bands:

1. People's Blues of Richmond - 12 - 12:50
2. Big Payback: Tribute to James Brown - 1:15 - 2:15
3. 4Play - 2:45 - 3:45
4. Love Canon - 4:15 - 5:45

Saturday night at Kingdom, 80's Philly punk band, The Dead Milkmen, will perform. Loved these guys way back then, not just for the Philly connection, but for the sense of humor in their music. It's $20 to get in, doors will open at 6 PM. There are a bunch of other bands on the bill including The Bastards of Fate, The Mothball Fleet, Cheyenne, and Hold Tight. There aren't too many tickets so jump on this now if you are thinking of going. They'll be playing some new music tomorrow night but here is their classic "Punk Rock Girl" featuring Philly landmarks like the Eastern State Penitentiary and Zipperhead (the late, lamented punk rock store on South Street before all the chains moved in):


Robbin Thompson will be at Ashland Coffee & Tea on Saturday night. Tix are $15 in advance, $20 the day of show. Show starts at 8. Robbin will have a new CD out early next year so I'm sure you'll hear some tidbits from that. Here's Robbin playing his song "Where You've Never Been" on the Chinese instrument called the zhong ruan:


Over at the Capital Ale House on Saturday night, gothic, funny, rockabilly act Unknown Hinson will scare you and rock you at the same time. Tix are $18 in advance, $20 day of show. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9. He released a new CD earlier this year called "Reloaded". Even though a lot of his tunes are pretty funny, they can flat out rock too. Here they are covering Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile":


Sunday night at Strange Matter, indie folk act Cult of Youth will perform along with Lost Tribe, Pharkamon, Buck Gooter and Mutwawa. Doors open at 8, music starts at 9, tix are $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Here's Cult of Youth doing "Cats":


That'll do it for Saturday and Sunday. Back this weekend with more on the coming week.

Tony Jordan

Jimmy Herring & Victor Wooten, PBR, Late Night Pick: Lianne La Havas

Tonight, jam band veterans Jimmy Herring and Victor Wooten play with their respective bands, and hopefully together, at The National. Tix are $30 Reserved Orchestra, $27.50 Reserved Balcony 1, $22.50 Reserved Balcony 2, $20 GA Standing. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. Not sure who is opening so just get there on time. Victor Wooten is the bassist for Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, has won five Grammy awards, and "Bass Player of the Year" from Bass Player magazine three times. Jimmy Herring is currently playing guitar for Widespread Panic and has also played with what is generally regarded as the best version of Phil Lesh & Friends, as well as the Allman Brothers Band, Derek Trucks Band, The Other Ones, The Dead and Aquarium Rescue Unit.

Here's Victor Wooten performing "Amazing Grace":


And here is the Jimmy Herring Band doing The Beatles' "Within You Without You" a few days ago in Georgia:


Also tonight, People's Blues of Richmond will be at Republic. They'll get things under way there around 10 PM. The show is free if you are over 21 and $5 if you are under 21. Yesterday, PBR announced that they will have some big announcements coming soon. So I guess that's sort of a pre-announcement announcement. I suspect a new album and tour, but we shall see. Here's PBR playing at Camp Barefoot this year:


The Late Night Pick is British singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight. That's on at 11:35 PM on CBS. Lianne has been named as a "Band to Watch" by Rolling Stone magazine and was also nominated for the big British Mercury award. Also, on the show Robin Williams and a top ten list presented by Homer Simpson. Sounds like a winning show.

More on the rest of the weekend tonight.

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Cat Power

No, Cat Power is not a new political organization whose aim is to get cats the vote in time for the next election, Cat Power aka Chan Marshall is an indie rock singer-songwriter and she'll be on Conan tonight on TBS at 11 PM with a repeat at 1 AM. Cat Power just canceled her European tour yesterday due to health problems (she has a condition called angioedema) so hopefully she'll be alright to do the show and then get healthy.

Late Night shows pre-empted. Enjoy Alice Cooper.

All or most of the Late Night shows are pre-empted or in repeats because there is some election or something going on. So no Late Night Pick tonight. Instead, enjoy this video from Alice Cooper and if you haven't voted yet, VOTE!

Late Night Pick: Father John Misty

Tonight on Conan, watch Americana artist Father John Misty. You might dig FJM (as his friend's call him) if you like his former band, Fleet Foxes, or Nick Drake, Ryan Adams, Pete Seeger, Gram Parsons or Harry Nilsson. Conan is on TBS at 11 PM with a repeat at 1 AM.

Best Music of October, Late Night Pick: Regina Spektor

Metacritic had their monthly wrap-up of the most critically acclaimed new releases for the last month. Artists at or near the top include rapper Kendrick Lamar, R&B singer Miguel, alt-country singer/songwriter Jamey Johnson, electronica artist Flying Lotus, alt-country singer/songwriter Iris DeMent (returning with her first album of new material in 16 years!), rockabilly legend Wanda Jackson (coming to the Capital Ale House soon!), and more. Check out the full article HERE.

For late night, watch a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly featuring singer-songwriter Regina Spektor. Last Call is on NBC at 1:35 AM. Here's Regina's new video for the song "How":

All-Star Benefit for Sandy Victims, Late Night Pick: David Byrne & St. Vincent

There will be an all-star benefit for victims of Hurricane Sandy on multiple networks tomorrow night at 8 PM. Springsteen, Sting, Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, Billy Joel and others will appear. Money raised goes to the American Red Cross. Details are HERE.

Tonight on the Colbert Report, catch David Byrne & St. Vincent. Colbert is on at 11:30 PM on Comedy Central and then a few repeats over the next 24 hours. Byrne & St. Vincent's recent show in Vancouver got a rave review.

Woods, Widowspeak, Pretty Lights, Black Girls, Screens N' Suds, Autumn Bottom Brews

The weekend kicks off on Thursday night at Strange Matter with low-fi indie folk-pop band Woods. Tix are $10 in advance, $12 day of show. Be sure to get in early to catch openers Wolf//Goat and Widowspeak. You might dig Woods if you like Kurt Vile, The Mountain Goats, Bright Eyes, or the Grateful Dead. Here's Woods doing "Cali In a Cup":


Friday night, Black Girls will be at The Camel. It's $6 to get in, show starts at 10 with openers Tumbleweed Stampede out of Athens GA.

Saturday, you can eat your fill at the 13th Annual Brunswick Stew Festival down at 17th St. Farmers Market. That'll run from 11 AM until 4 PM. Get there early if you are lookin' for the good stew. Music will be provided by Road Kill Roy and Provervbial.

Also Saturday, check out some cool rock n' roll poster art at Screens n' Suds at Gallery 5. The main event runs from 4 - 9 PM and will feature craft beers, DJ Reinhold spinning, the Street Deli RVA Food Truck, and lots of cool poster art. There is also an event Thursday night at Hardywood Park Brewery and on Friday at Gallery 5 so check those out if you are so inclined.

Sunday in Carytown, it's the rescheduled Carytown Food & Wine Festival. It'll run from noon until 6 PM and $15 (advance) or $20 (at the gate) gets you a souvenir wine glass and wine tasting.

If you are more of a beer person, head back to 17th St. Farmer's Market for the Autumn Bottom Brews. 15 local breweries will be there along with food trucks, vendors, artists and bands. It'll go from noon until 5 PM. All profits from beer sales will benefit the charity Enrichmond.

Next Wednesday night (11/7), electronica artist Pretty Lights will be at The National. Tix are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with opener Eliot Lipp. If you want a scary little Halloween mashup for next year's Halloween party, Pretty Lights put one together featuring "the Nightmare On Elm Street Theme Song, Halloween Theme Song, some dark Bach Fugue 9, and of course, the super sweet and creepy Crypt Keeper's laugh from Tales From The Crypt." You can download it HERE. Here is Pretty Lights rockin' the crowd at Bonnaroo 2011:



For your Halloween pleasure, here is the Rolling Stones doing "Dancing with Mr. D":

Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Vampire Weekend

Our Sandy induced hiatus is over. Hope everyone is OK. We got lucky here in Richmond, with nothing more to contend with than a house full of rambunctious kids who couldn't play outside.

Tonight, watch indie darlings Vampire Weekend (how appropriate for Halloween!) on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC at midnight. Jimmy is doing these episodes in Brooklyn. He picked a hell of a week to be on the East Coast. Also on the show, will be Jimmy's late night counterpart, David Letterman.

Drive-By Truckers, A Place to Bury Strangers, Hospitality, Man Overboard, STS9

Looks like a pretty good weekend for music beginning with two shows from my beloved Drive-By Truckers at The National on Friday and Saturday night. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 both nights with J Roddy Walston and the Business opening. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. I've waxed poetic about DBT a million times now. All I can say is that if you are ready for a kick-ass rock n' roll show, get yourself to The National this weekend. I'll be there for the Saturday night blowout. (BTW, if you like the artwork above, that's done by Richmonder Wes Freed, who does all of the artwork for DBT going back for over a decade.) Here's DBT doing their fantastic song about growing up loving rock music, "Let There Be Rock" (some language NSFW). Three guitar rock n' roll glory at it's best.:



If you are home this weekend, check out the Voodoo Experience music festival webcast HERE. There is no schedule posted for the webcast but bands playing the festival include Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Metallica, Jack White, Skrillex, The Avett Brothers, Justice, Bootsy Collins, Gary Clark Jr., George Porter, Die Antwoord, Thomas Dolby, Anders Osborne, Toots & the Maytals, Dave Stewart, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Treme Brass Band, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Coheed & Cambria, Marcia Ball, and more. The fest starts at noon Eastern time Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday, if you want a spooky good time, check out the Carytown Zombie Walk. No music but lots of the undead wandering through Carytown starting at 2 PM. They'll mosey from the Kroger down to the Byrd Theater and back.

People's Blues of Richmond will be at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery as part of Hardywood's First Anniversary party on Saturday. The festivities start at 2 PM and will go until 9 PM. PBR will play from 6 PM until the end. The Threeo play from 2 PM - 3:30 PM and River City Band play from 3:45 - 5:45. Here's PBR doing "Leaves Die" (some language NSFW. It's just a NSFW video kind of night.):



Noise pop band A Place to Bury Strangers will be at Strange Matter on Saturday night along with like-minded bands Bleeding Rainbow and Canary Oh Canary. Doors open at 9, show starts at 10. Tix are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. APTBS just got back from touring Russia so be sure to ask them about that. Here's their song "You Are the One":



If you are in the mood for some Halloween holiday music, check out Black Sabbath cover band, Brown Sabbath, at Republic on Saturday night. No info on the Republic site or Brown Sabbath's Facebook page about when this will start, but figure around 10 and figure a few dollars cover charge, at most. Here's the band playing "Wicked World" at The National a few years back:



Indie-pop band Hospitality will be at Strange Matter Sunday. Doors open at 6 for this all ages show and the music starts at 7 with openers Herro Sugar, The Garbers and Teen. Check out the article in Style Weekly HERE for a little more info on Hospitality and their charming pop music. Here's a little ditty from Hospitality called "Friends of Friends". The video stars Alia Shwkat of the once and future show, "Arrested Development":



Tuesday night, jam band STS9 will be The National. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener Kap10 Harris. Conscious Alliance is hosting a food drive at the show and it you bring 20 cans of food to donate, you'll get a free poster and do some good. Here's STS9 doing "Vapors":



Emo-pop band from NJ, Man Overboard, will be at Kingdom on Tuesday night. Doors will open at 5:30 and there are sure to be some openers but right now they are TBA. Tix are only $10. Here they are doing "Love Your Friends, Die Laughing":



Have a great weekend! See you at the Drive-By Truckers show on Saturday night!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: The Lumineers, Michael Franti webcast

Still tired from the excellent (as always) Bruce Springsteen concert last night. The crowd at JPJ Arena was definitely the best of any show, Bruce or otherwise, that I have seen at that arena. My favorite part of the show was the "rarities" block in the middle of "Seaside Bar Song", "Give the Girl a Kiss" (which Bruce taught the horn section on the fly), and  a powerful version of "Lost in the Flood", which I was able to cross of my Bruce bucket list. The other highlights were strong versions of "Backstreets" (the song that got me into Bruce those many years ago) and the encore opener of "Jungleland", which Bruce just nailed vocally. For the full setlist and the review from Backstreets go HERE.

Tonight at 9, Michael Franti is doing a webcast on the Green Mountain Coffee Facebook site HERE. Not sure if it will just be him solo or if Spearhead will be with him, but should be good either way.

Tonight's late night pick is Americana band, The Lumineers, on the Late Show with David Letterman. The Lumineers will be opening up for Dave Matthews Band at their shows at JPJ Arena in C'ville on 12/14 & 15. Tix for those shows are going on sale Friday at 10 AM. Bill O'Reilly will also be on so Dave should have fun sparring with him. Snooki will also be on the show, making for one weird show. Dave is on at 11:35 PM on CBS.

Springsteen, Trey, Into It Over It, Late Night Pick: Prince

Tonight, after his appearance on behalf of President Obama at the Charlottesville Downtown Amphitheater, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will rock the John Paul Jones Arena in C'ville. If you have GA tix for the show, remember to get their early to get in the lottery to be in the "pit" at the front of the stage. Details are HERE. Last I checked there were still some tickets available so you may be able to get some at the box office. Show starts at 7:30. Tix run from $68 to $98. Here's Bruce and the band doing "Death to My Hometown" from their latest album, "Wrecking Ball":

Trey Anastasio, guitarist from Phish, will be at The National tonight. Tix are $39.50. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. No opener as Trey and his band will do two sets. Trey is out supporting his new solo album, "Traveler". Here's the band peforming "Corona" a few nights ago in Chicago:


Over at The Camel tonight, indie pop rockers Into It Over It head up a big show that also features The Front Bottoms, Cheap Girls, Made Do and Mend, Hostage Calm and Stay Ahead of the Weather. Tix are $13, doors open at 6, show starts at 6:30. Here's Into It Over It's "No Good Before Noon":


Tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live at midnight on ABC, the great Prince will be on.

See you at the Bruce concert!

Late Night Pick: Kendrick Lamar

Rapper from the city of Compton and friend of Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, will be on Conan tonight. Conan airs on TBS at 11 PM with a repeat at 1 AM. Kendrick will perform a track off his new album, "good kid, m.A.A.d city. If you want to learn more about Kendrick, check out the iTunes podcast, Meet the Musician.

Late Night Pick: Bobby Womack & Damon Albarn, Once Upon a Vine Octoberfest

Watch soul legend Bobby Womack team up with Damon Albarn (Gorillaz, Blur) on a repeat of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight at 11:35 PM on NBC.

On Saturday at my favorite beer & wine store, Once Upon a Vine on MacArthur Rd. in the Bellevue neighborhood of Richmod will throw an Octoberfest bash from noon until 5 PM. Tix are $15 per person for all you can eat, beer and more. Live music will be performed by The Unknown Favorites.

Late Night Pick: Desaparecidos & Brother Ali

Tonight catch a repeat of the Last Call with Carson Daly featuring Conor Oberst's political punk band before Bright Eyes and now rejuvenated side project Desaparecidos (couldn't they have picked a name that was easier to spell?) and political underground rapper, Brother Ali. Last Call is on NBC at 1:35 AM. For the story behind Desaparecidos, read THIS STORY from the the NY Times.

Henry Rollins, Gov't Mule, YARN, People's Blues of Richmond, Susan Greenbaum Band

I've got a binder full of shows tonight so let's get started!

Americana band YARN will be at The Camel Thursday night. Tix are $7 in advance, $10 at the door. The show will start at 8 with opener Luke Mitchem. Here's the video for their new song, "Annie":

Get More: Annie, Yarn, Yarn Videos

People's Blues of Richmond will be at Tobacco Company on Friday night. The show starts at 9:30 and it's FREE. Here they are when they performed at The National on 9/20/12 with horns!

Speaking of horns, over at The Camel on Friday, No BS! Brass Band plays with Larri Branch Agenda who are opening and celebrating the release of their CD, "Labragenda". It's $7 to get in and Larri Branch Agenda  starts the show at 9:30 (doors open at 9). Here's No BS! when they filmed their live DVD (out later this year) at Montrose Studio on 10/7/12:



Also on Friday, Bush League will be at Poe's Pub (THE place to go to watch the NFL on Sundays, especially the Eagles). Show starts at 9 and it's FREE. Here is the audio from the show they recently did on WRIR:



Saturday in Powhatan, it's the 10th Annual Powhatan Festival of the Grape. As the name would imply, this involves wine tasting and drinking from 30 VA wineries, crafts, food and entertainment from Casper and Steve Bassett. It's at Powhatan's Courthouse Square from 11 AM to 6 PM. Tickets are $25 for tasting and $15 for non-tasting.

Neil Young's 26th Annual Bridge School Benefit Concert will be webcast HERE. It'll cost $5 to view the webcast but that's a small price to pay to help a good cause and see acoustic performances from bands like Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Jack White, Guns N' Roses, Flaming Lips, Foster the People, Sarah McLachlan, Ray LaMontagne, Steve Martin & Steep Canyon Rangers, KD Lang, Lucinda Williams & Gary Clark Jr. The webcast will only be on Saturday (they do a Sunday show too but no webcast for that one) starting at 7 PM ET.

Susan Greenbaum Band will be at Ashland Coffe & Tea Saturday night. Show starts at 8 and it's $10 at the door. Here's Susan performing Indigo Girls' "Closer to Fine" with friends Renee Kingan and Jocelyn Oldham earlier this year:



Sunday night, punk provocateur, Henry Rollins, appears at The National. Henry's spoken word show is titled "Capitalism" and will begin at 8 PM (doors open at 7). Tix are $20 - $25.

Warren Haynes' Gov't Mule plays The National on Monday. Doors open at 6, show starts at 7 with the fabulous sacred steel guitar sounds of The Lee Boys (you'll like them if you like Robert Randolph) so get there early. Here's Gov't Mule doing "Time to Confess":



We'll be back with our next dispatch on Monday night to cover some of the big shows next week here in the RVA.

In a shout-out to old school Henry Rollins, here are 29 Amazing Punk Flyers From the 80's.

Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: The Heavy

British soul rock band, The Heavy, will be on Last Call with Carson Daly tonight on NBC at 1:35 AM. The show features footage of the band performing at their sold-out show earlier this year at the El Rey Theatre in LA.

Late Night Pick: Miguel

R&B singer Miguel, whose album "Kaleidoscope Dream" is getting rave reviews, will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC at midnight tonight. Timout said "“Fast-riser Miguel is a big-time style sampler whose music, part Latin-tinged hip-hop and part classic soul, is poised to make some waves”. His new song "Do You..." (and his look) remind me of soulful Prince stuff.

Also on the Kimmel show tonight will be Don Rickles, so tune in, you hockey pucks!

Late Night Pick: Chairlift

Avant-electronic-pop band Chairlift will be on Last Call with Carson Daly tonight at 1:35 AM on NBC. You might dig Chairlift if you like MGMT, Gotye, Bjork, Cocteau Twins, Kate Bush or Tangerine Dream.

Late Night Pick: Jamey Johnson w/Alison Krauss

Alt-country singer/songwriter Jamey Johnson is joined by Alison Krauss tonight on the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS at 11:35 PM. They'll be performing "Make the World Go Away" from Jamey's new tribute album to Hank Cochran, considered one of the greatest country music songwriters.

Late Night Pick: Kimbra

Tonight, check out pop singer Kimbra (you may know her as the female voice on "Somebody That I Used to Know") on Last Call with Carson Daly on NBC at 1:35 AM. Kimbra has a new track on the "Frankenweenie" soundtrack called "With My Hands" so maybe she'll be doing that one on the show.

Richmond Folk Fest, Dave Alvin, Jens Lekman, Taken By Trees, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Austin City Limits webcast

Big Folk Fest weekend, but we start on Thursday night with reunited Richmond band, Kepone, at Balliceaux. Show starts at 9:30 and it's $5 to get in.

Of course the big event this weekend is the Richmond Folk Fest, taking place Friday through Sunday in the Brown's Island area. It's absolutely FREE (though please give some $ to the bucket brigades!). Walking through this great event is liking walking around the world, soaking in all the great music the "folks" of the earth have to offer. Style Weekly posted their guide to the fest HERE and in their current issue. The big acts this year are Roseanne Cash (Saturday, 1 PM on the Altria stage), bluegrass great Ralph Stanley (Sunday, 4 PM on the Virginia Folklife Stage and then 5:30 on the Community Foundation Stage), and Fred Wesley, who helped create James Brown's great tracks in the 60s and 70s (Friday, 7:30 PM on the Community Foundation Stage and then three times on Saturday so check the schedule).

If you want a nice sampler pack, check out some of the workshops on the MWV Stage, Community Foundation Stage and Union First Market Stage on Saturday and Sunday. The workshops bring together three or four artists or groups who discuss and explore similarities in their music. They'll each perform a song or two and you may see some interesting collaborations, too.

And if you want to stop by and see me, I'll be volunteer "working" backstage at the Dominion Dance Pavilion from 11:30 AM to 3 PM on Sunday.

If you are not at the Folk Fest this weekend, but are at home near your computer, you can check out the Austin City Limits webcast on YouTube HERE. It'll be on Friday through Sunday starting at 2:15 PM each day. You can catch acts like The Black Keys, Jack White, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Roots, Iggy & The Stooges (read their awesome and hilarious tour rider HERE), and more.

Dave Alvin of The Blasters and solo work will be at Ashland Coffee & Tea on Friday night. Tix are $25 in advance, $30 day of show. Show starts at 8 with opener Christy McWilson. They'll be playing the great roots rock that Dave is known for. Here's Dave doing "Johnny Ace Is Dead" from his latest album, "Eleven Eleven (Expanded Edition)":

Also, Friday night at The National, it's reggae/pop/ska with Iration, The Expendables and Cisco Adler. Tix are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. Here's Iration doing "Porcupine":



Saturday night at The National, Swedish singer/songwriter (he does not sing in Swedish) Jens Lekman will perform. Be sure to get in early to check out indie electronic pop artist Taken By Trees (aka Victoria Bergsman). Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. Here's Jens on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon the other night doing the title track from his latest album, "I Know What Love Isn't":



Also, Saturday night, if you are looking for some post-Folk Fest Grateful Dead music, see Dead cover band King Solomon's Marbles at Emilio's Tapas Bar in the Fan. Show will start at 9:30. Don't know if there is a cover, but if there is, it won't be much.

Tuesday night at Ashland Coffee & Tea, folk legend Ramblin' Jack Elliott who influenced people from Bob Dylan to Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Beck, Bruce Springsteen, The Grateful Dead and Rolling Stones, will play for you. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 day of show and the show starts at 8. Here's Jack at this year's Whispering Beard Folk Fest doing a couple Woody Guthrie tunes and this dude knew Woody:

Have a great weekend!  See you at the Folk Fest!

Tony Jordan