Weekend Picks: Sam Lewis, Helms Alee, Bill Kirchen, Porches, Anthony Green, People's Blues of Richmond, Three Sheets to the Wind

Head out on Wednesday to see up and coming alt-country musician Sam Lewis at The Broadberry. Tix are $10 advance, $12 at the door. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with opener Angelica Garcia. I saw Sam at the Tin Pan a couple months ago and he put on a great show. What was exciting to me, the audience and Sam and his band was when he said they were going to play some new stuff that was in sort of a new direction, perhaps a little more soul infused into the music. That new stuff got the biggest ovation of the night, causing Sam to say, "Well, I guess that's a good direction to be going in." This guy could be the next Sturgill Simpson or Chris Stapleton (who Sam has recently been opening for and is a friend and admirer of Sam). No Depression magazine compared him to “the musical spirit of Leon Russell and maybe Al Green, after a weekend with Willie and Waylon in Dripping Springs, TX.” From a couple years ago, here's Sam doing "Some People":

Thursday night, People's Blues of Richmond returns to the RVA for a show at The Broadberry. Tix are $12 advance, $15 day of show. Doors at 8, show starts at 9 with openers Stop Light Observations and Seawhorse. This is the first date of their Fall Tour which will take them to PA, MD, AR, TX, CA, CO, NE, WI, OH, NY, OK, MO, IL, WI and IA. Whew! The rest of the country should hold on because they are about to be injected with the PBR sound. Here's "Gone Gone Gone" from their new album "Quit or Die":



At The Tin Pan Friday night, great honky tonk/blues guitarist Bill Kirchen will perform with keyboardist Austin de Lone for a party to celebrate the release of their new album together, "Transatlanticana". Tix are $20 advance, $25 at the door. Doors open at 6, show starts at 8, no opener is listed. Here's the press blurb on their duo:

Bill Kirchen and Austin de Lone team up for a hands-across-the-Atlantic collection with their new studio album, Transatlanticana, out on August 26, 2016 on Red House Records. This long-overdue release unites the pioneers of two major musical movements: Kirchen co-founded the original “Americana” band, Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, and his trademark Telecaster licks drove their hit “Hot Rod Lincoln” into the Top 10 in 1972. De Lone dropped out of Harvard to start Eggs Over Easy, moving to London and recording with Jimi Hendrix’s producer/manager and The Animals’ bass player Chas Chandler in 1970. The Eggs are the progenitors of British pub rock, the first link in the chain to punk rock, new wave and beyond. Backed by both their all-star British and American bands, Transatlanticana finds Kirchen and de Lone trading songwriting credits and lead vocals on this soulful and rocking collection. They kick it off with the timely “Hounds of the Bakersfield,” a tribute to the late Merle Haggard and the Bakersfield, CA sound.

Kirchen and de Lone cut the album in Austin and London, capturing on disc the best of their 30-year collaboration. Kirchen is Austin-based; de Lone is in the San Francisco Bay Area, but both artists have longtime ties with the UK scene: Kirchen has toured as a guitarist with Nick Lowe and put out three albums on UK label Proper Records; de Lone has toured as keyboard player for Lowe and Elvis Costello and put out his first solo album on UK label Demon Records. 

They first collaborated in the mid-1970s, writing together as The Moonlighters: “We sent Nick Lowe a bunch of songs for Rockpile, but unbeknownst to us they had decided to break up,” Kirchen says. What de Lone got back was a letter from Lowe that began, “Dear hero o’ mine. There’s not many of us left…” Lowe then offered to produce them in London, and the resulting Moonlighters album, Rush Hour, came out in 1983 on the Edsel label. Since then, Bill and Austin have teamed up with with Lowe and Costello many times: de Lone has worked with Lowe, Paul Carrack and Costello on several tours and Kirchen held the guitar chair for Lowe’s critically acclaimed Impossible Bird disc and tour. In 2008, Costello borrowed the title cut from Kirchen’s album Hammer Of The Honky-Tonk Gods for his band name at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco featuring de Lone, Kirchen, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welsh and Jim Lauderdale. 

The songs of Transatlanticana represent the core elements of Americana music – R&B, country, rock and even a gospel track. Butch Hancock duets his song “Oxblood” with Kirchen. It’s a meaty slice of Texas boogie recorded with the Austin contingent. “I guess they used to color concrete with ox blood; I thought it was just an old shoe polish color” says Kirchen.

Spirited and served up with wit and humor, Transatlanticana is a gem –- a ringside seat to these transatlantic sessions by a group of like-minded, top-of-their-game players enjoying each other’s musical company. For tour dates and more info go to www.billkirchen.com.

 Here's Bill performing with The Twangbangers in 2007:




Three Sheets to the Wind does their yacht rock thang at The Broadberry on Friday night. Tix run from $12 to $40, doors open at 8, show starts at 9, no opener, just two long sets of yacht rock from TSTTW. They are getting political at this show, with an alternative political party, The White Pants Party. So wear your white pants and party like it's 1979. Here they are doing "Ride Like the Wind":



Sludge metal/noise rock/shoegaze/alternative/indie/experimental band Helms Alee are at Strange Matter  on Friday. Doors open at 9, it's $10 to get in. Polyon and Manzara open. Helms Alee recently wrapped up a tour with The Melvins. Here's Helms Alee a couple years ago on KEXP:

Dark electronic indie pop band Porches is at Strange Matter Monday. Tix are $13 advance, $15 day of show, doors open at 7. Japanese Breakfast and Rivergazer open. Here's the video for "Black Dress" from their new EP, "Water".

Philly Indie/rock/folk singer-songwriter Anthony Green is at The Canal Club Tuesday night (9/6). Tix are $17.50 advance, $20 day of show, doors open at 7:30, Secret Space and Heat Thunder open. Anthony has a new album, "Pixie Green" out. You may also know Anthony from the other bands he has been in. He is currently the lead singer of Circa Survive along with having a solo career. He was previously in the bands Saosin, The Sound of Animals Fighting, Audience of One, Jeer at Rome, High and Driving, and Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer. From that album, here's "You'll Be Fine":



That's it. I'll see you at the Sam Lewis show.  I don't know if I'll have time to do a full Lockn' Festival recap, but My Morning Jacket put on an absolutely amazing show on Saturday night. But there's no good video of the show yet. Phish was also excellent, especially on Friday night so here's the full set. I especially like the Free and Wolfman's Brother in the first set and the a cappella Space Oddity to close that set. The second set run of Punch You In The Eye > Blaze On > Fuego > Ghost > Bathtub Gin was pretty special too.



Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan