Late Night Pick: Gary Clark Jr.

Most excellent blues/rock guitarist Gary Clark Jr. will be on the Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon tonight (11:35 PM, NBC). Gary has a new album, "The Story of Sonny Boy Slim", coming out Sept. 11. Here's Gary's "Bright Lights" from 2011:



Here's Ashley Monroe on Conan last week:

Late Night Pick: Ashley Monroe

The buzz is big right now around neo-traditionalist country singer/songwriter Ashley Monroe. She'll be on Conan tonight at 11 on TBS. Ashley will perform "I Buried Your Love Alive" from her new critically acclaimed album, "The Blade". Here's the title track from her first album, "Like a Rose":



Here's Unknown Mortal Orchestra on last night's Conan:

Late Night Pick: Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Tonight on Conan (11 PM, TBS), check out neo-psychedelic band, Unknown Mortal Orchestra. If you are heading to New Zealand and/or Australia in December, they will be touring down under. And it will be summer down there! From two years ago, here is "So Good at Being in Trouble":



The Doobie Brothers reunited with Michael McDonald on the Tonight Show last week. Here's the song they performed on the show and also a web exclusive:

Weekend Picks: Agent Orange, Earth, The Good Life, Publicist UK, Ttotals, Murphy's Kids

The weekend starts Thursday night with a FREE show at Bandito's featuring Agent Orange, one of the first surf punk bands who rose out of the late 70's - early 80's Orange County, CA punk rock scene. Opening up will be Chrome Daddy Disco and Dismal Swamp Lords. The Dismal Swamp Lords are making their own RVA brand of garage surf music and their new EP is a fine start. Things get under way at 9 PM. Here's one I used to play on my college radio show, oh so long ago. Enjoy the picture of the original MTV VJs too.



Over at Gallery 5 Thursday night, it's Publicist UK, Dalek, and Petrichor. Publicist UK plays dark tinged, indie rock. They just released their debut album, "Forgive Yourself". Dalek is critically acclaimed underground, electronic hip-hop. Petrichor plays "rose-tinted techno". Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. Tix are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Here's Publicist UK's "Away":



At The Camel Friday night, punk/reggae/ska/psychedelic band Murphy's Kids will headline a show that also features Neighborhood Friendly (ska/punk) and Fool's Errand (gypsy Americana). Doors open at 8, show starts at 9. It's $8 in advance, $10 at the door.  Here's Murphy's Kids in Fredericksburg in July:



Friday night at Strange Matter, indie pop rockers The Good Life are in town for a show. Big Harp will open the show with doors opening at 8 and the show starting at 9. Tix are $12 in advance, $14 at the door. The Good Life's new album is called "Everybody's Coming Down". Here's their brand spanking new video from that album. "The Troubadour's Green Room". Cool song, cool video.



Stick around Strange Matter for Sunday's show with prog-metal band, Earth. These guys aren't just about playing fast, they can build slow, textured, trippy songs that sometimes top the 10 minute mark. Holy Sons and Lugweight open the show. Doors open at 8, music starts at 9. Tix are $13 in advance, $15 day of show. Here's Earth's latest album, "Primitive and Deadly":



Let's stick with Strange Matter as we begin the new month on Tuesday with Ttotals (outer blues two piece out of Nashville), Lady God (RVA's own slink band. You'll know it when you hear it.), White Kyle (out of Austin) and Manzara (psych metal rock). Doors open at 9, show starts shortly thereafter. It's' $7 to get in. Here's the Ttotals "Let the Light In":



Have a great weekend! I'll see you at the Agent Orange show! I'll leave you with the Foo Fighters continuing to be awesome as they "Rick Rolled" the heinous Westboro Baptist Church the other day.



Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Doobie Brothers With Michael McDonald

Tonight on Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (11:35 PM, NBC), The Doobie Brothers get together with former member Michael McDonald. A few members of the Doobies will also be teaming up with String Cheese Incident at this year's Lockn' Festival to do a set at The Doobie Incident. The Doobies are currently on the road with the Gregg Allman Band. Here's the Doobies back in, well, it was a long time ago, doing "What a Fool Believes":



Here's Langhorne Slim on last night's Conan:

Weekend Picks: Todd Rundgren, WRIR Commonwealth of Notions Fest, Richmond Bluegrass Fest, Chris Stapleton, Sister Hazel, Horsehead, Three Sheets to the Wind

Todd Rundgren is in town Thursday night at The National. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. Tix are $20 GA Standing, $25 Reserved Seated Balcony. Always unpredictable and following whatever muse strikes him, this version of Todd finds him with his guitar, a DJ and two backup singers making up the whole band and playing electronic music. But he'll still play some of his biggest hits. Here's Todd performing "Terra Firma" a few days ago in Salisbury Beach, MD:

Friday night out at Short Pump Town Center there is a free show with Sister Hazel and Lee DeWyze (of American Idol fame). Lee takes the stage at 6, followed by Sister Hazel. Here's Sister Hazel's big hit from 1997, "All For You":



The WRIR Commonwealth of Notions Presents Volume 5 festival kicks into high gear this weekend with three shows at local venues featuring great local bands. They'll be at Strange Matter Friday, Sound of Music on Thursday and Broadberry on Sunday. Here's the lineups and all the info.

AUGUST 21ST - STRANGE MATTER - http://www.strangematterrva.com/
929 W. Grace St; Richmond, VA 23220
COVER: $5
DOORS: 7PM
SHOW: 8PM
 Wow Owls! - https://bestpractices.bandcamp.com/album/wow-owls-last-recording
Big No - https://www.facebook.com/BIGNOBAND
Everyone Dies In The End - https://everyonediesintheend.bandcamp.com/
Ultra Flake - https://www.facebook.com/Ultraflake
The Mad Extras - http://themadextras.com/
Victorious Trees (feat. DAVE WATKINS + SAMANTHA PEARL) - https://soundcloud.com/samantha-pearland http://www.davewatkinsmusic.com/

 AUGUST 22ND - SOUND OF MUSIC - http://www.soundofmusicrva.com/
1515 W. Broad St; Richmond, VA 23220
COVER: $5
DOORS: 7PM
SHOW: 8PM

LINE-UP
Toxic Moxie - http://toxicmoxie.com/
Gull - http://gullface.com/
Lobo Marino - http://www.lobomarinomusic.com/
Among The Rocks and Roots- https://amongtherocksandroots.bandcamp.com/

AUGUST 23RD - The Broadberry - http://www.thebroadberry.com/
2729 W. Broad St; Richmond, VA 23220
COVER: $5 IN ADVANCE/$7 DAY OF SHOW (ADVANCED TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED AT https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/877969)
DOORS: 7PM
SHOW: 8PM
 LINE-UP
Canary Oh Canary - https://www.facebook.com/canaryohcanary
White Laces - http://whitelacesmusic.com/
Mikrowaves - https://www.facebook.com/microwavesric
Ben Shepherd - http://benjaminshepherd.bandcamp.com/
Manatree - http://manatree.bandcamp.com/

 Let's try to get one video from a band at each show. From the Friday Strange Matter show, this is Big No:

From the Saturday night show at Sound of Music, here's Toxic Moxie:



And from the Sunday show at Broadberry, check out Canary Oh Canary:

The Richmond Bluegrass Festival goes down at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery on Saturday starting at 2 PM. It's FREE to attend and all ages are welcome. There will be beer (duh), bluegrass music (double duh) and lots o' food trucks for your culinary pleasure. The music starts with Ragged Mountain String Band at 2, followed by East of Afton, River City Band, The Whiskey Rebellion, and The Hot Seats will wrap things up when they go on at 7:30. Here's The Hot Seats performing a very funny song at the Gate to Southwell Festival in earlier this summer:



Country-rock singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton is at The National Saturday night. Tix are $22.50 in advance, $27.50 day of show. Doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7:30 with opener Sam Lewis. Chris will be playing at the American Roots Music & Arts Festival in Raleigh in October with Eric Church, Modest Mouse, Sheryl Crow, The Roots, Willie Nelson, Warren Haynes, Grace Potter, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Railroad Earth, Leftover Salmon, Greensky Bluegrass and more. That's a pretty tasty festival! Here's Chris the other night on Late Night with Seth Meyers playing "Might As Well Get Stoned":

Americana rock band Horsehead is at the Capital Ale House downtown on Saturday with Demon Eye and Dorthia Cottrell opening. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9, tix are $5 in advance, $8 at the door. Horsehead has a new CD out called "Casual Dracula" so expect to hear a bunch of stuff off of that. Perhaps they'll make some videos of songs from the new album. The latest I could find was from three years ago when they played Gallery 5. But it's a good one. This is "Hard Hand to Hold":

It's yacht rock time again with yacht rock tribute band, Three Sheets to the Wind, at The Broadberry Saturday. Tix are $12 in advance, $15 day of show, and you can go VIP for $35. Doors open at 8 and there is no opener. Here's the band playing "Reeling in the Years > 2 Tickets to Paradise":



That's it. Have a great weekend! Perhaps I'll see you at the Richmond Bluegrass Festival.

I'll leave you with this classic from Chic with one of the greatest bass lines ever:



Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Langhorne Slim

Folk/Americana/pop/rock/alternative/indie/country/singer/songwriter (I think that about covers it, but who needs labels anyway?) and Philly native Langhorne Slim is on Conan tonight (11 PM, TBS). Langhorne, or do we call him Slim, is out promoting his latest album, "The Sprit Moves" and recently played the Newport Folk Festival. You might dig Langhorne if you like Lucero, The Lumineers, Avett Brothers, Dawes, Bright Eyes, Tom Waits, The Kinks, and Bob Dylan. Here he is with his band, The Law, playing "The Way We Move":

Late Night Pick: Chris Stapleton

Country-rock singer/songwriter Chris Stapleton, who has written #1 country hits for George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Darius Rucker and others, will be on Late Night with Seth Meyers tonight (NBC, 12:35 AM). Chris will be at The National this Saturday night. Tix are $22.50 in advance, $27.50 day of show. Here's Chris doing an acoustic version of his song "What Are You Listening To":



Here's Hot Chip on Conan on 8/10 with "Started Right":

Weekend Picks: Col. Bruce Hampton & Aquarium Rescue Unit, Bruce Hornsby,Commonwealth of Notions 5, Milkstains, Beach Boys

The weekend starts Thursday night with classic 2nd wave jam band, Col. Bruce Hampton & The Aquarium Rescue Unit at The National. Tix are $35, doors open at 7, show starts at 8. Col. Bruce & the ARU were part of the original H.O.R.D.E., second generation of jam bands which included Phish, Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors and Widespread Panic. Col. Bruce & ARU would play together intermittently over their now 26 years together. Members of the ARU have played with every major jam band there is. Jimmy Herring has played guitar with Phil Lesh and is now in Widespread Panic. Oteil Burbridge is/was a member of the Allman Brothers Band. And drummer Jeff Sipe has played with Phil Lesh, Trey Anastasio and a host of others. Make sure you get in for openers Hard Working Americans, featuring the great singer-songwriter Todd Snider and Dave Schools, the bass player for Widespread Panic. Here's Col. Bruce and ARU doing "Fixin' to Die" a few nights ago in Atlanta:



And here's Hard Working Americans with some extra goodness as Jason Isbell sits in with them:

Strange Matter hosts a great set of rock and roll bands on Friday night. The Milkstains, Desert Sharks, Sea of Storms and Lady God will take the stage with the doors opening at 9 and only $7 to get in. Here's The Milkstains "Broken Bones":

Saturday night, it's the start of Volume 5 of the WRIR & Commonwealth of Notions shows which will continue next weekend too. But on this night, they'll be at Gallery 5 for a whole heap o' fantastic RVA bands including Goldrush, Anousheh, Positive No, Lady God, Various Eggs, Way, Shape or Form, and Manzara. It's just $5 to get in, doors open at 5 and the fun begins at 6. Positive No just had their new video "Pedal Through" debut on NPR's web site this week. The video is both a parody of 90's indie rock AND the classic documentary "Heavy Metal Parking Lot".



Fresh off the Grateful Dead Fare Thee Well gigs, Bruce Hornsby hits The National with his band, The Noisemakers on Tuesday night. Tix are $35 GA Standing and $40 for reserved in the balcony. Doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7:30 and there is no opener so don't dilly-dally in getting there. From his setlists so far, besides original Hornsby music you might hear some Grateful Dead, Dylan, Sam Cooke, Prince, James Brown, Leadbelly and maybe even a little Floyd. You never know with Bruce. He'll just throw something in off the top of his head. Here they are a few weeks ago at the Mount Baker Theatre in Bellingham, Washington:



Wednesday night at Innsbrook, what's left of The Beach Boys will don their Hawaiian shirts and perform in that God-forsaken hell hole of an industrial park. But don't let that deter you from going. Gates open at 5, show starts at 6 and tix range from $20 - $60. This is billed as "An Evening With The Beach Boys" which usually means no opener. Here's The Boys doing it again:



Have a great weekend! I'll see you at Col. Bruce and the ARU tonight!

I'll leave you with Haim doing "The Wire" on SNL a couple years ago:



Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Hot Chip

Conan (11 PM, TBS) has electronic/pop/rock/indie/alternative/club/dance band, Hot Chip, on his show tonight. You might dig Hot Chip if you like LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix, Django Django, Beck, Thomas Dolby, Brian Eno, or New Order. Here's "Ready for the Floor" from their 2008 album, "Made in the Dark":



Here's Laura Marling on the Late Late Show with James Corden last Wednesday night:

Weekend Picks: Richmond Jazz Festival, The Shack Up, Brandon Flowers, Rich Robinson, Fool's Errand, Best Behavior

Gypsy folk band, Fool's Errand, is at Crossroads Coffee & Ice Cream in Forest Hill Friday evening. They'll play from 8 - 10:30 PM and it's FREE to get in. Here's the band doing "A Paper Face":

The Shack Up, The Shack Band's mini festival, goes down on Friday and Saturday at the Broadberry and The Camel. Broadberry will even have an outdoor stage during the day on Saturday. The music will be of your Americana and jam band type and there are lots of great bands playin' throughout the weekend such as Rockn' to Lockn' winner Southern Belles (congratulations!), Trongone Band, Butcher Brown, Shack Band (of course), Jackass Flats, Big Payback, Love Canon and more. You can check out the schedule on the poster above or look at the Facebook page for more info. You can pay to get into the individual shows for about $10 - $15 each; get a day pass for one of the days for $20 (advance), $25 (day of); or get a weekend pass for $35. Here's the preview video for the festival. Some language NSFW:



More festivals this weekend with the Richmond Jazz Festival taking over Maymont Saturday and Sunday. There a some FREE events Thursday evening at the VA Museum of Fine Arts and Hardywood. Friday night, there is an event for $30 at the Hippodrome. Check the web site there for those. But the main gig on Saturday and Sunday is $85 to get in daily. Gates open at 11 AM each day. The lineup on Saturday includes Richmond's own Sam Reed, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Rebirth Brass Band, David Sanborn, Pat Martino, New Edition and more. Sunday's lineup features Butcher Brown, Pat Martino, Sweet Honey In the Rock, Joshua Redman, Macy Gray, Natalie Cole, Ms. Lauryn Hill and others. If you go on Saturday, be sure to catch acclaimed newcomer, saxophonist Kamasi Washington, at 4:30 on the West Rock Stage. Here's Kamasi with his eight piece band performing at KCRW last month:



Saturday at Hardywood, just in time for Carytown Watermelon Fest, they'll debut their Watermelon Gose which "is tart, with added salt, which accentuates the watermelon flavor and aroma." That gets tapped at 2 when the party begins. Music starts at 5:00 with J. Flax & The Heart Attacks (surf rock out of DC), Peace Beast (dreamy psych pop), Lady God (out of RVA playing rock n' roll), and Best Behavior (out of NYC, surf-garage rock) will close the night. Food trucks will be there all day too, if'n you get hungry! Here's Best Behavior's latest single, "Star Signs":



Rich Robinson, guitarist from The Black Crowes, does a solo acoustic gig at Tin Pan Saturday night. Tix are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Show starts at 8 and there is no opener. With the Black Crowes not defunct, for reals this time, Rich is out doing his own thing, releasing his third solo album, The Ceaseless Sight. Rich will do songs from his solo albums, and cover some Dylan, Buffalo Springfield, and traditional folk blues classics. Here's Rich doing "One Road Hill" a few nights ago in Indy.



Tuesday at The National, lead singer of The Killers, Brandon Flowers, does his solo thing. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8, tix are $25. Here's Brandon latest single"I Can Change".



That'll do it. Have a great weekend! I'll leave you with some vintage Bowie.


Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Laura Marling

British folk singer-songwriter Laura Marling will be on The Late Late Show with James Corden tonight (12:35 AM, CBS). Laura's latest album, "Short Movie" is getting excellent reviews. Here's Laura singing "Sophia" from her 2011 album "A Creature I Don't Know":



Here's Lauryn Hill on the Tonight Show last week performing the Nina Simone song "Feeling Good":