We start on Thursday night with The Ana Egge Band at Ashland Coffee & Tea. Tix are $10 in advance and $15 day of show. Here's the press blurb about Ana: "Saskatchewan-born, Brooklyn-based folk troubadour Ana Egge isn’t your run-of-the-mill alternative-country singer. Using unique production and rock-based chord progressions, Egge has made a name for herself as a Gillian Welch figure with a rocker attitude. Ana’s newest album, Bad Blood was released August 23, 2011 via Ammal records. The 12-song set was produced by Steve Earle and recorded at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY. Bad Blood was mixed and mastered by Ray Kennedy (Earle and Kennedy’s production partnership includes the Grammy winning Lucinda Williams album Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, the Ron Sexsmith favorite Blue Boy, and many more. Steve Earle stated, “Ana Egge’s songs are low and lonesome, big square-stare noir ballads which she plays on a guitar she built with her own two hands and sings like she’s telling us her deepest, darkest secrets.”" Here's Ana and The Sentimentals doing "Motorcycle":
Over at Canal Club Thursday night, it looks like a pretty good rootsy, rockin' Americana show with Drivin' N' Cryin', Psychobilly Cadillac, and Road Kill Roy. Doors open at 7. Tix are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Here's some vintage DNC: "Turn it Up or Turn it Off":
The Outside Lands Festival is going on in San Francisco this weekend. While I haven't seen any word of a webcast with video, you can listen in live HERE. The schedule for the broadcast hasn't been announced yet but they are at least promising Dawes & Grizzly Bear. Also at the festival are Sir Paul McCartney, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails (great show last weekend at Lollapalooza!), Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Chic featuring Nile Rodgers (taking the place of D'Angelo last minute), The National, Willie Nelson, Hall & Oates, Head & The Heart, Gary Clark Jr. and more. The festival gets underway at 3 PM ET on Friday and runs through Sunday.
For your happy hour pleasure on Friday, check out the Kings of Leon webcast live from London at 4 PM ET on YouTube HERE. Fred Armisen of SNL (formerly) and Portlandia will be directing. Here's Fred schooling the band in preparation for, well, in preparation for something....
Back here in Richmond, Jackass Flats will play some bluegrass/Americana for you over at The Camel on Friday night. The show will get underway around 10 with openers Jordan Tarrant, Russel Lacy, and Jared Pool. No cover charge is listed but if there is one, it will be minimal. Here's the band in 2011 at Camp Barefoot:
At Capital Ale House, get jazzy jammy with Bill Evans' Soulgrass featuring Danny Louis of Gov't Mule . Doors open at 9 PM, the show starts at 10 PM. Tix are $15. Bill Evans has won a few Grammys and played with Miles Davis (when Bill was just 22), Herbie Hancock, Mick Jagger, Bela Fleck, Bruce Hornsby and many others. Soulgrass has a core group and then various guests sit in at each show. Here's the band playing with Jake Cinniger (from Umphrey's McGee) and John Medeski in NYC in March.
The Richmond Jazz Festival is at Maymont this weekend. It'll start at noon on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $65 each day. The lineup this year features Jill Scott (she was great at the July 4 show in Philly with The Roots that was broadcast on VH1), Michael McDonald, The Wailers, Chick Corea, Dr. John, Terence Blanchard, Joe Sample, Arturo Sandoval, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Susan Greenbaum and others. Here's Dr. John doing "Ice Age" featuring Jack White's favorite guitarist, Dan Auerbach from the Black Keys. Dan also produced the Doctor's last album:
Down at Tredegar Iron Works Saturday and Sunday, it's the Sound City Festival. Gates open at 2:30, music starts at 3:30 each day. Tix are $30 each day and that includes 3 beer tickets and they are promising 50 different beers from good breweries so you won't have to drink Bud Light. Bands include The Breeders, El Vez (on Saturday) and Deerhunter, Those Darlins, Black Girls, and The Trillions (on Sunday) and others. Here's The Breeders doing "Saints" because summer is ready when you are. Love this song.
Jimmy Eat World brings their power pop to The National on Saturday night. Royal Bangs opens the show. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. Tix are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Here's Jimmy Eat World's latest video, ""I Will Steal You Back":
Over at Strange Matter Saturday, it's a band that was influenced by The Breeders and other 90's indie rock, Speedy Ortiz. They've got a good buzz going on around them right now for their debut album, "Major Arcana". Doors open at 9, it's $8 to get in, and Sundials, Little Master and Springtime open. Here's Speedy playing today at Radio K. This is their song "MKVI":
At that fancy, new-fangled bowling alley, Uptown Alley, on Saturday, you will find People's Blues of Richmond playing their hard-ass, psychedelic blues and trying to pick up the spare. The show gets underway at 9:30 PM and there is a $5 cover. Big time web site Reverbnation chose PBR as one of their featured artists this week. Here's the pretty cool video for their song "Black Cat" from their new album, "Good Time Suicide":
On Sunday, it's watermelon time which means it's time for the Carytown Watermelon Festival in, you guessed it, Carytown. It starts at 10 AM, it goes until 6 PM. There will be watermelon, bands playing, watermelon, a kids zone with all kinds of crazy inflatables, watermelon, food, watermelon, adult beverages available in the Carytown bars, and more watermelon.
Daft Punk canceled their appearance on Colbert Report the other night because MTV screwed him over. But Colbert turned lemons into hilarious sweet lemonade with this video and the help of several celebrity friends and a former Secretary of State:
Have a great weekend! Hope you get lucky.
Tony Jordan
