Showing posts with label Sam Lewis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sam Lewis. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

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

Monday, June 20, 2016

Sam Lewis show at Tin Pan rescheduled for 6/21, Tuesday

Sam Lewis' show at The Tin Pan, scheduled for yesterday in Richmond, was
canceled due to massive power outages in the area. The show has been
rescheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday, June 21, at 8pm).

http://www.tinpanrva.com/event/1170037-sam-lewis-special-guest-richmond/

For more info about Sam, check out the Weekend Picks blog below.

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Weekend Picks: The Suffers, Boy & Bear, Robbie Fulks, Jason Isbell, blink-182, Lucius, Jim Lauderdale, Joan Osborne, Sam Lewis, So So Glos, No BS! Brass Band

The good shows start Wednesday night with Joan Osborne at The Tin Pan. Tix are $50 advance, $55 at the door. Doors open at 6, show starts at 8 and there is no opener. Besides her own hits, Joan was amazing when she performed with the band behind Motown's greatest hits, The Funk Brothers, in one of my favorite rock documentaries, "Standing in the Shadows of Motown". She also did one of the greatest versions of the Grateful Dead's "China Doll" I ever heard in Camden NJ when she toured with The Dead in 2003 w/Greg Osby guesting on sax. It still gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. Here's the press blurb on Joan:
Joan Osborne has rightfully earned a reputation as one of the great voices of her generation — both a commanding, passionate performer and a frank, emotionally evocative songwriter. Osborne is widely known for her beloved hit song,“(What If God Was)One of Us,” as well as her live performances of “What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted” and “Heat Wave” in the GRAMMY Award-winning documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown. A multi-platinum selling recording artist and seven-time GRAMMY Award nominee, the soulful vocalist and noted song interpreter is a highly sought-after collaborator and guest performer who has performed alongside many notable artists, including Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Luciano Pavarotti, Emmylou Harris, Taj Mahal, and Patti Smith to name a few.
Osborne is widely known for her live performances of “What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted” and “Heat Wave” in the GRAMMY Award-winning documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown. Both fans and critics have praised Osborne’s contribution to the film. Counting such legendary artists as Etta James and Ray Charles as influences, Osborne is firmly rooted in R&B and soul, as evidenced by the soul covers she has recorded on her albums How Sweet It Is and Breakfast In Bed, in addition to Bring It On Home, which garnered a Best Blues Album nomination at the 2013 GRAMMY Awards. Those heartfelt performances are reflected in her Soul Revue concerts.
And here's that version of "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" from "Standing in the Shadows of Motown". Because I need to know what happens to us.




Indie pop rock band Lucius is at The Broadberry Wednesday night. Tix are $17 advance, $20 day of show. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with opener Margaret Glaspy. The lead singers of Lucius, Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe, have recently performed with Roger Waters Band too and will do so again at his Desert Trip Indio show. Here's Lucius performing in March at Amoeba Records in LA:




Folk rock band Boy & Bear pull into The National on Thursday night. If you like bands like Fleet Foxes or Lord Huron, you might dig these guys. Tix are $18 advance, $20 day of show. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with RVA's own Big Mama Shakes opening the show. As the national bands that play in RVA the two weeks surrounding Bonnaroo, Boy & Bear played Bonnaroo this year. I've been digging this band a lot lately and this song "Southern Sun" is one of my favorite songs of the last year and a half. Even though the video is wintry, it makes me think of heading out on a road trip, driving down a road on a beautiful, sunny morning in the summer, with green filtered shadows from the trees surrounding the road playing on the car. Check it out.



Punk pop band The So So Glos are at Strange Matter Thursday night. Tix are $10 advance, $12 day of show. Doors open at 9 and Big Ups, Honduras, and Ghosts open. Their new album, "Kamikaze", is getting some might fine reviews with AllMusic saying, "Almost a decade into their existence, the So So Glos have matured and tightened their execution, making Kamikaze a huge leap past their already 2014 breakthrough, Blowout. Musically, the album is a pure joy". From that album, here's "A.D.D. Life":



We are gonna get funky at Friday Cheers this weekend with old-school sounding soul/R&B/reggae band, The Suffers. They may sound old school but they just started in Houston five years ago. They'll come on at 8. Openers Too Many Zooz will kick things off at 6:30. Doors open at 6 and it's just $5 to get in. And I will bring my rain jacket this time so you know it won't rain. The Suffers will be playing Cheers a few nights after playing in Tokyo, so while they may be a little confused as to what time it is, they will be sure to get us dancing and you know we dance better than Tokyo. They've also played Paris and Wichita recently. That's right, THE Wichita. Here's a 30 minute show they did recently for Audiotree:



Alt-country singer-songwriter Robbie Fulks is at Capital Ale House Downtown Friday night. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9. It's $12 to get in. No opener is listed. Robbie has a great new album out called "Upland Stories". Country Weekly said "This is a masterful album, replete with wonderful stories and fully drawn characters." And besides great songwriting, the guy can play guitar like a mofo too. Here's a session Robbie did for Audiotree two weeks after the one The Suffers did up there. Audiotree gets a lot of great artists.:



Jam banders The Southern Belles are at The Broadberry Friday with bluegrassers Jackass Flats. It's $10 to get in. Doors at 8, music at 9. Here's the Belles last Saturday night in C'ville:



Americana band The Taters will be at O'Toole's Restaurant Friday night at 8 PM. And if you miss them there or want to see them twice, they'll be at JJ's Grille in Glen Allen Saturday at 8 PM. The Taters recently did a Badfinger tribute show and did a stellar version of "Day After Day":




Innsbrook's gonna rock Saturday with XL102's Big Day Out Festival. blink-182, Kongos, The Struts, Ann Beretta, and Fun Size will all play. Gates open at 2 PM, show starts at 3. Tix are $30 for GA, $39 for Gold Circle. If you get the GA tix, note that no lawn chairs are permitted for this show. blink-182 will surely be playing songs from their new album, "California". From 2000, here's blink-182's "All the Small Things":




Hardywood has White Laces (future tech psych rock from RVA), Manzara (RVA post expanse driven kraut psych metal rock), Black Liquid Drop (drone psych from Austin) and Spooky Cool (RVA) playing Saturday evening from 5 - 10 PM. The taproom opens at 2 PM. Here's White Laces "Heavenly Creatures":



No BS! Brass Band hits Broadberry up again on Saturday night and we're not complaining.  Doors at 8, show at 9. $15 to get in. My Darling Fury opens. Sometimes No BS play giant European festivals. Sometimes they play for tacos.




Soulful (with a country twang) up-and-coming Nashville singer-songwriter Sam Lewis takes some time away from opening for Chris Stapleton to play The Tin Pan on Sunday night. Chris gave him a shout-out in Rolling Stone recently, calling Sam "a great singer-songwriter." Doors open at 5 PM, show starts at 7 with opener Karen Jones. $15 to get in. Sam's second album, "Waiting on You" was produced by Oliver Wood of the Wood Brothers and has some great musicians helping him out on it, among them guitarist Darrell Scott (Steve Earle, Guy Clark, Robert Plant), harmonica legend Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Neil Young), guitarist Will Kimbrough (Rodney Crowell, Jimmy Buffett), keyboardist Gabe Dixon (Paul McCartney, Supertramp), and vocal group, The McCrary Sisters (Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin). Here's Sam performing "Little Time":



Monday night, it's more great Nashville singer-songwriting with the legendary Jim Lauderdale at Capital Ale House Downtown. Tix are $15. Doors at 7, show at 8, no opener. Here's Jim performing "Why Do I Love You?" last week:



How about one more fantastic singer-songwriter this week? Jason Isbell, whose last album, "Something More Than Free" was recently nominated for Album of the Year by the Americana Music Association, is at the Altria Theater Tuesday night. Tix range from $29.50 to $49.50. Show starts at 7:30 with Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls. Here's Jason's full show in Boston in February as recorded by PBS station WGBH in Boston. Nice!



Alright! I'm out. See you at Cheers and maybe a few other shows this weekend. So much good stuff to choose from. I'll leave you with U2 doing "Mysterious Ways" on the ZooTV tour for no particular reason. One of the greatest concerts I ever saw. I believe Edge married the belly dancer.

Have a great weekend!



Tony Jordan