Weekend Picks: Jamey Johnson, Kevin Gordon, The Congress, Christian Mistress, No BS! Brass Band, Southern Belles, Fool's Errand

Labor Day weekend is typically pretty quiet but there is some good stuff out there this weekend. Friday's got three shows starting with Kevin Gordon at Ashland Coffee & Tea. Show starts at 8, tix are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Kevin has a new half electric/half acoustic album coming out on 9/14 called "Long Gone Time". Here's the press blurb about Kevin:

Kevin brings the band for a CD debut! Bug Music artist Kevin Gordon – the southern rock and roll songwriter who has been covered by Keith Richards, Levon Helm, Irma Thomas, and others and who has recorded a duet with Lucinda Williams – released ‘Gloryland’ last year –  his first new album in 7 years. It’s a new high water mark for Gordon, representing his most powerful, fully realized writing to date. Writer and musician Peter Cooper in the hometown Tennessean  focused on the song “Colfax”: “We’ll empty your spit-valve for life if you find us anything more stunning than ‘Colfax,’ [Kevin Gordon’s] undeniably superb song that could only have come from one mind, and from one person’s experience. It’s ostensibly about a kid in the marching band but winds up being about the heart of American darkness and the steel that it takes to move beyond.” Drawing comparisons to a southern Bruce Springsteen, ‘Gloryland’ depicts heroic and anti-heroic characters tackling choices of faith, individual responsibility, and the positive force of art.

 Here's Kevin's "Colfax":



No BS! Brass Band is at Broadberry on Friday. Tix are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with Future Prospect. Here's No BS! performing "Infamous" at the Hudson Museum Amphitheater in NY:



The Southern Belles and Seth Stainback & Roosterfoot warm up for their shows at Lockn' Festival on Friday night at The Camel. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9, tix are $7 in advance, $10 at the door. Seth Stainback & Roosterfoot will open the festivities on the big stages at Lockn' on Friday and Southern Belles get to do the honors on Sunday. Best of luck to both bands! I'm hoping I'm not too hung over and can make it down for both bands! Here's Southern Belles on August 8 in Charlottesville doing "Won't You Come Down":



The Congress are at Broadberry Saturday night with Trongone Band opening. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9. Tix are $12 in advance, $15 day of show. The Congress started in RVA but now reside in Denver but they come back a lot to see friends and play us their Americana rock & roll. Here's The Congress with "New Amsterdam":

Gypsy folk band Fool's Errand play Cary St. Cafe for the first time on Saturday night. It's FREE to get in. Show starts at 10 PM with Steal The Prize starting the show with some psychedelic rock. Here's Fool's Errand with "What Happened?"

Heavy metal band Christian Mistress are at Strange Matter on Monday night. They've got a classic 70's - 80's metal sound, not the devil-growling vocals of newer metal and that's why I like them. Sorry, I'm old school when it comes to my metal. Doors open at 7, tix are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. High Spirits, Night Magic, and Savage Master open. From their new album, "To Your Death", this is Christian Mistress with "Open Road":



Wednesday night at Innsbrook, the great alt-country artist, Jamey Johnson, is in town. Gates open at 5, show starts at 6 with an unknown opener. Tix are $15 (GA lawn), $35 (Gold - Reserved), $45 (Gold - Preferred), and $99 (Gold - Platinum).  You might dig Jamey if you like Miranda Lambert, Shooter Jennings, Merle Haggard, or Waylon Jennings. Here's Jamey's "In Color":



That's it! There will be no blog next week as I will be Rockn' at Lockn'! Hope to see you all there! I'm really looking forward to seeing Robert Plant there, where he will do two completely different sets on two nights for the first time in his career. I'm sure he'll bust out some Led Zep classics, but I also hope he dips into his own solo catalog. I'd love to hear this one:



Have a great next couple weekends! I know I will!

Tony Jordan

Weekend Picks: Lord Huron, Jamey Johnson, Rockn' for Lockn' 2, Chromeo, Blood Red Shoes, Balloon Fest, Beer Fest, Fear of Music

The weekend begins, as all weekends in May & June, with Friday Cheers on Brown's Island. This week it's alt-indie-folk-rock band, Lord Huron. You'll dig these guys if you like Fleet Foxes, My Morning Jacket, Vampire Weekend, Jake Bugg, Bon Iver, or Crosby, Stills & Nash or just great vocal harmonies over dreamy, folk rock. Lord Huron will be on at 8. Local band, The Northerners, will open at 6:30. Lord Huron will be hitting many of the big festivals this summer including High Sierra, Summer Meltdown, RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest (in GB), Mo Pop Festival, Shaky Knees (on Saturday), and Forecastle. Here's their latest video, "Ends of the Earth" featuring some really cool animation:



Down in Pocahontas Park this weekend it's the Country Music Campout. You can get tickets for both Saturday or Sunday or just pick one day or the other. Two day tickets run $40 - $80. Friday features Dustin Lynch, Frankie Ballard, and Chris Stapleton (tix run $20 - $40, show starts at 5:45). Saturday is Jamey Johnson, Charlie Worsham and Chris Hennesse (tix run $25 - $40, show starts at 4:40). Jamey Johnson is the real deal. You won't hear songs about sitting on the tailgate of his pickup truck, drinking beer by the river with a girl like 90% of pop country these days. This dude writes songs in the classic country tradition about booze, drugs, jail, hookers, and losing everything you've got. That's why you don't hear him on country radio and why you should listen to him. Check out this tune, "High Cost of Living":



Friday night at the RVA Theater (formerly known as Epic Theater, formerly known as Hat Factory, formerly know as Toad's Place), the second round of the battle of bands known as Rockn' to Lockn' goes down. The ultimate winner gets to play at the Lockn' Festival this September. This round features Downbeat Switch, Seth Stainback and Roosterfoot, The Trongone Band, and Horsehead. Show starts at 8, it's $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Expect mucho jamming.

At Meadow Event Park up in Doswell, VA Saturday, it's the Mid-Atlantic Balloon Fest. I don't mean party balloons or nitrous balloons (calm down, hippies) but big-ass hot-air balloons. It'll run Saturday & Sunday from 6 AM to 9 PM Saturday and 6 AM to 5 PM Sunday. Tix are $15 for adults and $5 for kids. Besides the 20 hot-air balloons, there will be live music, arts & crafts, wine tasting, food, craft beers and a kid's area.

Also on Saturday, you've got the 4th Annual Virginia Hops & Barley Festival where 288 meets Huguenot Rd. It'll go from 1 PM to 8 PM. There will be lots of craft beer (duh), food and live music. Taster tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Non-taster tickets are $10.

UK alt-punk rock duo Blood Red Shoes will rip it up at Strange Matter Saturday night along with Radkey and Imaginary Sons. Doors open at 9 and it's $10 to get in. BRS will be at a ton of major festivals in Europe this summer and they hit Richmond as they begin to dip their toe into the USofA. Here's their latest video, "Speech Coma". Warning: don't watch this video while you are eating lunch. It's kind of gross.



If you are a mom and you like the Talking Heads, then head to Forest Hill Park on Sunday evening for a FREE performance from Talking Heads tribute band, Fear of Music. I can't recall any Heads songs about mothers, but if there is one, Fear of Music will find it and play it. Or they'll just play "Drugs" which really rocked the last time I saw them. Because moms sometimes need drugs to get through their day. Remember "Mother's Little Helper"? The show will start at 6. Here's the Talking Heads doing "Drugs" with Adrien Belew in 1980 in Rome: (sorry can't embed, go HERE. It's worth it.).

Tuesday night at The National, it's the campy, fun, 80's-ish, electronic dance music of Chromeo. The show starts at 8 and it looks like it's just Chromeo so get there on time. Tix are $22 in advance, $27 at the door. You might dig Chromeo if you like Prince, Zapp, Cameo, Rick James, Giorgio Moroder, Daft Punk, LCD or Soundsystem. Here's Chromeo's 'Jealous (I Ain't With It)". If you are reading this at work or Friday, save this one for 4:30 PM and you'll be ready to dance out of work right to happy hour.

Have a great weekend! See you at Cheers!

Tony Jordan

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: 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.