Weekend Picks: Kacey Musgraves, Gaslight Anthem, Avers, No BS! Brass Band, Black Water Gold, The Northerners, Trongone Band

Some good shows to start the weekend on Thursday night. At The Camel, local Americana groove indie rock band, Black Water Gold, headlines a four band show and it's just $5 to get in. If you don't believe that it's just $5, listen to that slick salesman below. Also on the bill are RVA power poppers, Lady God, psychological rockers The Nude Party out of Boone, NC, and also from NC, openers Thick Modine. Doors are at 8, show starts at 9. Here's that salesman giving you the deal of a lifetime and then one from Black Water Gold:

Richmond space rockers Avers start their tour with Elel over at Strange Matter on Thursday night. Doors open at 9, tix are $8 in advance, $10 day of show. Get there early to catch Sleepwalkers, who open the show and their band member, Austin York did the poster artwork. Avers will be heading up to Brooklyn, NYC, Philly, DC, then down to NC, GA, SC and TN on their tour. The buzz is building. Here's Avers getting "Evil" with WNRN:

At Broadberry Friday, bluegrass band Jackass Flats headlines a Camp Barefoot Showcase which also features Mighty Joshua & the Zion #5 and Aquafuture. Show starts at 9 and it's $10 to get in. Here's a promo clip for the show featuring Aquafuture:



Friday at The Camel has classic rock/folk/blues band The Northerners headlining the show with The Moonbees and B Side Shuffle. It's $7 to get in, doors open at 8, show starts at 9. Give The Northerners some love on Friday night. Their bus broke down last week when they were on tour in the South and they had to cancel shows in Mississippi, Florida and SC. Here's The Northerners with their friend Love Taylor on keys performing "My Song":

Saturday, rising Americana/country music artist Kacey Musgraves is at The National. John & Jacob open the show. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. Tix are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Kacey is getting the stamp of approval from some of country and folk's elders as she has recently performed with John Prine and Loretta Lynn. Kacey won the CMA Song of the Year award in 2014 for this song "Follow Your Arrow":

No BS! Brass Band invade The Broadberry Saturday night. Doors open at 8, tix are $8 in advance, $12 at the door. As we prepare for more snow (maybe), here's some cool vids of Richmond shot with a drone after the last snow storm set to "2 The Day" by No BS!

If you feel like dressing up like you are in Boardwalk Empire and drinking some hooch, head to the 4th Annual RVA Bootleggers Ball at The Bull and Bear Club. Tix are $35 but it's for a great cause, the Richmond Animal League. It starts at 8 and The Trongone Band and Piano Mike will provide the live music with DJ's Mr. Jennings & Reinhold spinning the 78's on the old Victrola (it is the 20's, after all). Here's a big chunk o' Trongone Band from September:

NJ anthem rock band The Gaslight Anthem are at The National on Tuesday. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8, tix are $20 in advance, $23 at the door. Get there early to see opener Northcote. Caught him at The Camel about a year ago and really enjoyed his earnest punk folk. And he's from Canada so he'll think this weather is balmy. This is a great song from Gaslight Anthem, "American Slang":



That'll do it. Hope to see you at the Black Water Gold/Lady God show on Thursday, or Kacey Musgraves on Saturday or somewhere else out and about this weekend!

Here's the Louisville Leopards doing a Led Zeppelin medley on xylophones. Jimmy Page shared this on his Facebook page so its got the Led Zep seal of approval!



Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Natalie Prass

Our favorite new hometown girl (she moved to Richmond about a year ago by way of Nashville and VA Beach), Natalie Prass, will be on Last Call With Carson Daly tonight (NBC, 1:35 AM). I saw her show at the Broadberry and was impressed by her dynamic voice, which reminded me a lot of Emmylou Harris, and her range of styles, playing with a string quartet for a song, doing a 40's jazz style ballad, a song that has media comparing her to a Disney princess, some 70's R&B and even pulling off a Janet Jackson cover. Here she is performing "Nothing to Say":



Here's Steve Earle & the Dukes on last night's Late Show with David Letterman:

Late Night Pick: Steve Earle

Alt-country hero, Steve Earle, is on Late Show with David Letterman tonight (11:35 PM, CBS). Steve & the Dukes have a new album out now called "Terraplane". Here's some classic Steve from way back in 1988 when nobody knew what alt-country was so he was helping to invent it:



Here's Hundred Waters performing "Out Alee" on last Thursday's Last Call with Carson Daly:

Late Night Pick: Hundred Waters

Tonight on Last Call with Carson Daly (1:35 AM, NBC), watch experimental pop electronic alternative indie club dance rock group, Hundred Waters. Their new album, The Moon Rang Like a Bell, is getting good reviews and you can stream a remix of the album HERE. And here they are performing their song "Boreal":



This is The Mavericks on last night's Late Night with Seth Meyers. (Link is HERE if video doesn't show up below.)

Weekend Picks: Justin Townes Earle, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, The Congress, Trongone Band, Richmond Bluegrass Jam, Hardywood Carnaval

It was even cold in New Orleans for real Mardi Gras, but perhaps things will warm up and at least you'll be indoors for Hardywood's Carnaval on Friday night. This will be Mardi Gras Brazilian style, thus the Carnaval title. It's FREE to get in and all ages are welcome. Things get underway at 5:30 with Capoeira Resistencia Brazilian martial art dance. Then, hometown heroes Bio Ritmo bring the salsa and Dende (from NYC) will close things out with Afro-Brazilian funk. Here's a preview video of Dende:

Trongone Band bring the jam/classic rock, both covers and originals, to The Camel Friday night. It's $7 to get in, doors open at 9 and the show starts with openers Dead 27s from Charleston SC. Here's Trongone Band at The Camel last month with "Ain't It Funny":



Saturday, the 6th Annual Richmond Bluegrass Jam lands at the Cultural Arts Center in Glen Allen. It will run from noon until midnight with 30 bands playing on 3 stages. You'll be able to eat at local food trucks and get beer but this is a family friendly event with activities for the kids. There is no charge at the door, but donations are suggested and encouraged as the money raised goes to the Richmond Fisher House, a home for military families to stay while their veterans and soldiers are in the VA medical center. The full band schedule is HERE. Jackass Flats will close out the evening at 10:20 PM. Here they are at Camp Barefoot last August:

Americana rock band, The Congress, who are much, much better than the US Congress, will perform at The Camel Saturday night. Tix are $12 in advance, $15 at the door, doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with Butcher Brown. The Congress will be supporting Tedeschi Trucks Band at the inaugural show at Blue Ridge Bowl on the Lockn' Festival site on April 18. Here's the Congress with "Ain't It Easy":

Country rock band Everwilde will be at Tobacco Company Saturday night. That starts at 9:30 and it don't cost nothin' to get in. They play originals and covers and here they are covering The Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil" at The Tobacco Company a year ago. The video isn't much to look at but the sound is pretty good.



Americana rock artist Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors are at The Broadberry Sunday night. Angaleena Presley opens the show. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8, $13 in advance, $15 at the door. Drew's latest album, "Medicine", recently got into the top 30 on the Billboard charts. Here they go doing "Here We Go". Looks like they emptied out the costume store for this video.



Rootsy singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle, son of Steve, will be at the Modlin Center for the Arts Camp Concert Hall Wednesday. The show starts at 7:30 with Gill Landry. Tix range from $10 to $28 depending on your demographic. After a brief bit of talking (36 seconds), here's Justin doing "Call Ya Momma":



Here's one from the guy who gave Justin his middle name and who was a mentor to Justin's dad, Steve. This is Townes Van Zandt doing his song "Pancho & Lefty", which was famously covered by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson.


Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: The Mavericks

Country rock band The Mavericks are on Late Night with Seth Meyers tonight (NBC, 12:35 AM). Their new CD, "Mono", came out yesterday. Here they are live in Austin way back in 2004:


Here's more country rock/alt-country from Sturgill Simpson on last Thursday's Late Show with David Letterman:

Late Night Pick: Sturgill Simpson

Up and coming alt-country singer/songwriter Sturgill Simpson will be on Late Show with David Letterman tonight (11:35 PM, CBS). In Nashville Scene magazine's annual Country Music Critic's Poll, Sturgill won #1 album, male vocalist and songwriter of 2014. He'll be here in Richmond at The Broadberry on 2/24 but if you don't have tickets already, you're out of luck. It's sold out. It's a new Late Show tonight, so here's what Sturgill did when he was on the Late Show a few months ago:



Here's Lee Ann Womack on last night's Conan:

Weekend Picks: Umphrey's McGee, New Pornographers, Fear of Music, Everwilde, Big Payback, Sleepwalkers, Andy Vaughan & The Driveline

Thursday is Abraham Lincoln's Birthday and what better way to celebrate than with progressive jam rock band, Umphrey's McGee! Umphrey's will be at The National. Tix are $25 in advance, $30 day of show. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with Tauk and you'll want to get there early to see them. They're pretty good. If you have to miss the Umph show or just want more, their next six shows will be streamed online for $9.99 a show or $49.99 for all six. If you're interested, check that out at http://tourgigs.com/show/umphreysmcgee_wintertour_live/. Here's UMG doing "Bad Friday > Auld Lang Syne" amid New Year's Eve mayhem in Atlanta. They don't usually have the horn section. That was a special NYE thing.



Talking Heads tribute band Fear of Music is at The Broadberry Friday night. Tix are $8 in advance and $10 at door. Doors open at 8 and The Invasion will open the show at 9. I am assuming Fear of Music will play "Love/Building on Fire", "Love For Sale" and the song that leads off this show which is one of my favorites:



Out at Uptown Alley, country rock band Everwilde take the stage in The Rotunda bar at 8:30 and will play until 11:30. It's $5 to get in starting at 8. Here they are "Still Trying":



If you don't want to celebrate Valentine's Day on Saturday, head to the Anti-Valentine's Day Party at Center of the Universe Brewery in Ashland. It's run from 1 PM until 8:30 PM with special kegs of Imperial Stout, other delicious beers for you to drink, southern food and live music from Undercover Bandwagon (they are on from 4 - 7). It's FREE to get in. Here's Undercover Bandwagon's original "Screen Time":



More beer and music with FREE admission at Hardywood on Saturday with the Sidamo Coffee Stout release. That will get tapped at 2 PM. There's square dancing from 4 - 6 with music provided by The Hashbrown Belly Boys from Charlotte NC so be prepared to do-si-do. At 6:30, Jay Turner & The Swinging Doors will play classic honky-tonk country. Andy Vaughan & The Driveline close things out starting at 8 with more Americana honky-tonk country rock. Here they are playing "Her Body's On My Mind":

At The National Saturday night, it's indie pop rock group, The New Pornographers, and really, what goes better with Valentine's Day than pornography? Ok, there won't really be porn there (unless you bring it yourself), that's just the band name which is designed to shock and titillate you. Tix are $22.50 in advance, $25 at the door, doors open at 7 and the show starts at 8 with Jaill. The New Pornographers hail from Vancouver and this video has been nominated for the Prism Prize for the Best Canadian Video of the year.

Tuesday is Mardi Gras and there is a Mardi Gras Git Down at The Broadberry. The Big Payback tribute to James Brown is headlining and the excellent rock band The Sleepwalkers open things up around 9:30. Doors open at 8, it's $10 in advance and $12 at the door.

That'll do it. See you at the Umphrey's McGee show! Here's Bruce with "Valentine's Day":



And what the hell, here's another one for the season from the Drive-By Truckers, "Feb. 14":



Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Lee Ann Womack

Country singer Lee Ann Womack will be on Conan tonight (TBS, 11 PM). Lee Ann's latest album and titular single, "The Way I'm Livin'" were picked as the top album and single in the Nashville Scene's year-end critic's poll. She was also chosen as Female Artist of the Year in the same poll. Here she is doing "I May Hate Myself In the Morning" from 2009:



Here's Rhiannon Giddens powerful performance on last night's Late Night with David Letterman:

Late Night Pick: Rhiannon Giddens (of Carolina Chocolate Drops)

Rhiannon Giddens of Carolina Chocolate Drops has dropped a solo album while CCD is in hiatus. It's called "Tomorrow Is My Turn" and it is getting rave reviews. It was produced by T-Bone Burnett and is a cover album of blues and folk songs, all of which were previously recorded by women. She'll be on Late Show with David Letterman tonight  (CBS, 11:35 PM). Here's a video of a song Rhiannon did on the New Basement Tapes album, which took unreleased Dylan lyrics from the 1967 Basement Tapes era and created songs for them. Other members of The New Basement Tapes were Elvis Costello, Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and Marcus Mumford (Mumford & Sons). This is "Spanish Mary":



Here's Morris Day and The Haim on Jimmy Kimmel Live's Mashup Monday last night doing "Jungle Love". Morris didn't get Appolonia 6 but he does get Haim.

Late Night Pick: Morris Day and the Haim

This combo should be interesting. Morris Day (of The Time) and Haim (the sister pop-rock trio) team up on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight (11:35 PM, ABC). Here's Haim live at Glastonbury last year:



And here's Morris Day and The Time's full concert at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic NJ in 1982:



Here's Jack White on Thursday night's Tonight Show:

And here's Bob Weir with John Mayer doing two classics from the Grateful Dead on last Thursday's Late Late Show:

Late Night Pick: Jack White, Bob Weir

Tonight on Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (11:35 PM, NBC), Jack White will be on to rock your world. Jack is doing a co-headline show with Robert Plant down in Chile on March 16. I hope they get together to do some Led Zep tunes. As far as I'm concerned, Jack White is the new Jimmy Page with his talent for creating those big guitar riffs. And Jack did learn right from Jimmy in this movie. Here's Jack when he was in The Raconteurs:



I rarely do two Late Night Picks but you know my love for all things Grateful Dead and Bob Weir will be on the Late Late Show tonight (CBS, 12:35 AM). John Mayer will be guest hosting tonight so hopefully they'll do a song together. I'm also hopeful that John will interview Bob and ask him why the Dead are only doing 3 final shows and not a tour, how Bob's health is and why he had to cancel shows last year and if he'll be touring with his band, Ratdog this year. Here's Bob & Jerry doing Dylan's "Masterpiece" acoustic back in 1987:



Here's the two tunes J. Mascis did on last night's Late Night with Seth Meyers including a cover of Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You":

Weekend Picks: Cary St. Cafe 20th Anniversary, WRIR 10th Annual Party, Leon Russell, Kevin Devine, Black Veil Brides, Southern Belles

The weekend starts Thursday with glam rock influenced Black Veil Brides at The National. Tix are $25 in advance, $28 day of show. Doors open at 6, show starts at 7 with openers Memphis May Fire and Ghost Town. Black Veil Brides will be jumping on the Vans Warped Tour this summer which is a great showcase for up and coming hard rock bands. Here's BVB's "Perfect Weapon" in all it's leathery glory:



At Emilio's on Thursday night, Adam & The Yew Banks and Goldrush party down with a show that's just $5 to get in and starts at 10. Here's Goldrush's entry for NPR's Tiny Desk Concert Contest, their song "If You Want Me":



A few anniversary shows on Friday night. The bar loved by hippies all over Richmond, Cary St. Cafe celebrates 20 years of bringing jam band music to the masses with their 20th anniversary show. The party starts at 4 when they tap a brew made especially for this event by Smartmouth Brewing, Going Down the Road Feeling Brown. E-String Al will play for happy hour (5 - 7:30) and a band whose various parts have been playing at Cary St. Cafe since the beginning, King Solomon's Marbles, will start at 10 playing good ol' Grateful Dead. A little mouse told me to get there early, say around 9, for a surprise opener. You may want to get there early anyway as this promises to be packed. And it's FREE to get in. Here's a special show the Grateful Dead did when they played in Egypt under the Great Pyramids:

At the Renaissance Ballroom on Friday night, it's WRIR's 10th Annual Birthday Party for the Rest of Us. The party starts at 7 PM and it's $15 to get in which goes to support the station. There will be live performances from Ann Beretta, Murphy's Kids, Ki:Theory, Sam Reed Syndicate, Huckiddy Puppet Show, Classical Revolution RVA, Dave Watkins Big Band w/Navi & Dumbwaiter, Square Dance w/The String Band For the Rest of Us, Bermuda Triangles, R.A.M.ifications a cappella group and WRIR DJs. Here's Ann Beretta playing in Sept. 2014 (fast forward to the 1:52 mark when the band starts) (some language NSFW):

Southern Belles bring their jam band selves to The Camel for their monthly First Friday show. Tix are $7 in advance, $10 at the door, doors open at 8 and Jauntee will open. In March, they'll head out on a tour that will take them to the big sky country of Colorado, Montana and Kansas. They are also working on their second album. The band was recently on CBS6's Virginia This Morning and here it is:

Sunday at The Broadberry, the power pop of  Kevin Devine with openers Into It. Over It. and Laura Stevenson will be there. Kevin will be solo acoustic and not with the Goddamn Band (I'm not being mean, that's their name). It will still rock, but quietly. Here's Kevin's "Little Bulldozer":



Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Leon Russell will be at The Beacon Theatre in Hopewell on Sunday night. Tix range from $21.50 - $75. Doors open at 6 and Barrelhouse will open. Here's Leon with late, great JJ Cale in the late 70's-early 80's (?).



Here's one just for kicks. Austin City Limits, the wonderful PBS music show, celebrated 40 years last year and here's Joe Ely leading an all-star cast through Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away":



Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: J. Mascis

Frontman of Dinosaur Jr., J. Mascis, steps out on his own tonight on Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC, 11;35 PM). Here's J. peforming the Dinosaur Jr. classic, "Get Me" after a short interview:



On the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night, two Neil Youngs sang "Old Man":

Late Night Pick: Neil Young

Rock and Roll legend Neil Young is on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon tonight at 11:35 PM on NBC. Hopefully he'll be playing some tunes and he's not just there to plug his new Pono high quality digital music player. I'll be interested to hear for myself if there is much difference in quality. It's going to start shipping any day now so we can all head to the store and check it out. It would have to be a pretty big difference for me to ditch iTunes/iPod and the thousands of tunes I have loaded onto that and start all over again. But good luck, Neil! Here's Neil in 1971 playing his then brand new song, "Heart of Gold":



Here's Sharon Jones on last night Late Show with David Letterman:

Late Night Pick: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings

Soul masters Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are on Late Show with David Letterman tonight (11:35 PM, CBS). The band's "Give the People What They Want" is nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Album. Hope they win. From 2008, here they are with "Tell Me":



Here's Ben Howard doing "I Forget Where We Were" on the Late Show on Friday night: