If you ever wanted to attend a taping of the Late Show with David Letterman or Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, look no further than Artisphere in Arlington, Virginia this Saturday evening for a live, “big” version of the talk show, You Me Them Everybodyhosted by the multi-talented Brandon Wetherbee.
Wetherbee, much like Superman, is a journalist during the day as an assistant editor at the Huffington Post, and talk show host by night. No need for getting out your binoculars, Wetherbee will fill your Saturday night with two hours of talk, comedy, music, and premieres.
Brandon Wetherbee, a DC transplant, started his show in Chicago in 2009 is an advocate for local music, incorporating bands into every inch of the evening. Saturday night the house band will be made up of Ian Graham and Lisa Reed of Lenorable with special guest, Black Hills.
There are many ways to label Jay Brannan: Singer-songwriter. YouTube sensation. Gay troubadour. “The male Joni Mitchell.” None of those quite do justice to the multifaceted musician.
Raised in a conservative, religious family in Texas, Brannan found his own truth in the arts early on. Songwriting came about after a turn as an actor. He landed a role in the experimental film, Shortbus, but “Soda Shop,” a tune he wrote for the soundtrack, became a smash on YouTube and launched an unexpected songwriting career that’s spanned four EPs, two LPs, and a live album over the course of just eight years.
Brannan released his second full-length album, Rob Me Blind, in 2012. This LP brims with songs both wistful and cheeky, written with a cynical eye and a beautiful ear. Considering Brannan’s around-the-world-and-back touring schedule, it’s almost a miracle that Rob Me Blind was released as quickly as it was, without a sacrifice of musical integrity. “I had such a surreal time working with a legend like David Kahne,” says Brannan of the studio experience with the same man who’s produced Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, Regina Spektor, and many others.”He’s a genius and a dream producer… He really knows how to create memorable moments in music that are tasteful and not cheesy or over-the-top.” Indeed, if you’re into well-written lyrics atop affecting melodies sung by a mellifluous tenor, Jay Brannan is your man.
Brannan is about to embark on yet another tour, playing intimate venues and working out new songs alongside his fan favorites and beloved covers. “I’m just writing and recording as I go,” he tells us.
Read on: He’s got a lot more to say about where he came from, where he’s going, and the songs he’s been writing about it all.
I spent my high school years in the South around kids from conservative Baptist families. Because I knew a lot of people who grew up as you did, I’m curious: How did your experience growing up in this way shape your decision to get into movies and music?
Well, I think I was probably… you know, a lot of this is subconscious so I can only sort of guess, but I think a lot of what drew me to acting originally—and music—and the creative, expressive art forms was probably coming from such a conservative background. A lot of things that are based around image or suppressing reality or the way you really feel about things, you know, like social obligations and those sorts of things.
I imagine that this craving to express what was really going on, or just to talk about what was really going on—even if it wasn’t things I was feeling, but things that I was seeing and how the world works—I’m sure I wanted to have a voice. I felt like I was always trying to acknowledge things that no one else would acknowledge. Once you put some of that stuff into music or a movie form or a story, all of a sudden it’s socially acceptable to be expressive. I think that was probably a way to express myself in a way that was validated rather than criticized. Does that make sense? I know that’s kind of the long way around!
Remember—it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Here’s another favorite Jazz Fest aphorism—Jazz Fest happens during the day, so be the early. Here are my picks for Saturday and Sunday, April 27-28. The full schedule is here. Late edit- Hallelujah! First day report- The no-chair zones have been extended to the Congo Square stage!
SATURDAY |One of my fellow pundits was wondering a few weeks ago why Alex McMurray always seems to be scheduled early in the day since he’s a late night kind of guy, and so are his fans. See above, and see you at the Gentilly stage at 11:25 for a scintillating set from our city’s wriest songwriter.
Right after McMurray is a band that has been getting a lot of buzz since Quint Davis, the producer/ director of the Fest and the man we call “the Commander,” mentioned them at the month-out press conference. A Tribe Called Red is part of this year’s focus on Native American culture at the Fairgrounds.
Woodenbox are a curious beast; this Scottish alt-folk sextet make music that sounds wonderfully vintage without that horrid “retro” tag—which means you’re basically about to listen to something your Dad would’ve bopped to in the ’60s (nothing wrong with ’60s music by the way, but I take it those reading will understand what I mean.) Woodenbox have the perfect balance of sing-a-long loveliness with a nod to times of old.
This is the first official single taken from their forthcoming second album End Game. They’ve already released the free track “Roll For Me” (which was accompanied by a video) and a lovely video for “Asphyxiation,” yet curiously there’s no video for this official single, which is a shame because we’ve very much enjoyed their visual output so far.
Enough waffling though, back to “Courage!” This is grand, beautiful, and catchy; the layers of instrumentation that lilt gracefully under Ali Downer’s vocals are just wonderful.
They cite Scott Walker and The Felice Brothers as their influences, but they take these and add a little zest and oomph. Woodenbox write gorgeous, meaningful songs for a new generation of real music lovers—perfect.
Apparently Lawrence Hayward’s whole plan was to release ten LPs and ten singles in ten years. Through growth and perseverance he pulled it off in the ‘80s via the band Felt. Their later albums are the ones most talked about these days, but that doesn’t mean the discerning post-punk/indie pop fan should neglect the early stuff. If interested in hearing the whole story, than Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty is the place to start.
Back in the day the proto-punk club was a pretty exclusive joint. A person could count the most important members on the fingers of one hand, even; there was The Stooges and the MC5 from Detroit, The Modern Lovers from Boston, and The New York Dolls and The Velvet Underground from New York.
Of course the list could be expanded a bit, with the digits on the opposing paw including Bowie and T. Rex from England and Rocket from the Tombs and Electric Eels from Cleveland, which leaves one solitary wiggler left to represent the ‘60s garage wave detailed on the original Lenny Kaye compiled Nuggets volume.
But the march of time has uncovered a smattering of once ultra-obscure names and unearthed new discoveries that have expanded the proto-punk sphere quite a bit, with bands like Ontario CA’s Simply Saucer, Detroit’s Death, Minneapolis’ Michael Yonkers, and others deepening the field considerably. Plus, Nuggets bands like The Monks, The Sonics, and ? Mark and the Mysterians, once primarily known for a song or two on comps, have been given a much larger role in the proto-punk universe through reissues and even reunion shows. Throw in an expanded role for Krautrock, UK pub-rock, and glam, and the proto-punk arena could theoretically take up its own section in a well stocked record shack.
We’re back with part two of our Austin Psych Fest Preview. The festival gets bigger and better as the weekend goes on. Saturday packs a full day of music and film screenings from 1pm all the way into the wee hours of the morning. Sunday’s lineup starts a bit later (allowing some hangover time) with the first acts going on at 3pm. As promised, here are some of the acts you won’t want to miss on these last two days of psych fest.
SATURDAY | This is the longest day of the weekend. The folks at the Reverberation Appreciation Society spared no expense setting up this lineup. With over 12 hours of live music planned, this may prove to be the best day of the festival. Here’s where you’ll find us on Saturday.
Young Magic is an eclectic group, to say the least. Members Issac and Michael are from Austrailia and joined by Melati of Indonesia; ultimately, the three met and began working together in New York City. Young Magic’s music is infused with personal experiences and cultural intricacies.
“Sparkly” starts off their latest album Melt, and it’s a track I’m definitely looking forward to seeing live this Saturday. A chorus of haunting “ooo”s is accompanied by strong percussion and delicate guitar, leading to a beautiful, airy song with strong tribal undertones. This feel is carried throughout their other songs, creating an album that sets a consistent tone, and is interesting from start-to-finish.
The waiting is over. Our favorite fest is finally here. So, imagine you’re hearing the sonorous voice that emits from the speakers built into modified coolers at the gates of the New Orleans Fairgrounds: “Welcome to the two thousand and thirteen New Or-lee-ans Jazz and Heritage Festival!” Here are your picks for tomorrow, April 26, 2013. The full schedule is here.
The old and the new guard face off right in away in the opening slot. The New Orleans Suspects are on the Acura stage and Flow Tribe is on the Gentilly stage. It’s hard to believe, but the Suspects made their Jazz Fest debut one year ago. Flow Tribe continues to generate lots of attention. You make the choice, but I know where I’ll be.
Trombonist Mark McGrain brings his exciting project, Plunge to the Jazz Tent at 12:15 PM. This band always brings the musical goods, and I am sure that they will be on fire for an opening day set.
Back in 1987 the band No Trend proudly handed over its new album More to its record company, Touch and Go. The execs at Touch and Go gave it one listen, returned it to the band holding it gingerly by the edges with their fingertips as if it were something unspeakable like a radioactive monkey head, and in effect told the band, “Won’t touch. Please go.”
Their reaction was understandable. Given No Trend’s previous record they must have expected strange, but this was madness; with songs including the bizarre funk-schlock pastiche “Last on Right, Second Row,” the inexplicable disco-funk romp “Spank Me (With Your Love Monkey, Baby),” and the utterly indescribable 17:53″ rock opera “No Hopus Opus,” More is the kind of album that causes dogs to howl. And I mean while it’s still in its sleeve.
And so appropriately ended, not with a bang but with one final confused scratch of the head, the career of No Trend, one of the most exasperating, brilliant, and willfully perverse bands ever to come out of the hardcore scene.
Ashton, Md.’s No Trend and its vocalist/resident genius Jeff Mentges (aka Jefferson Scott, aka Cliff “Babe” Ontego) engaged in one of the oddest, most nihilistic quests in the annals of modern music, or so it can be argued: namely, to systematically alienate, disaffect, and piss off its own fan base, one exasperated fan at a time. Plenty of musicians have taken stylistic left turns that left their fans befuddled and even angry, but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who seemed to do so on purpose.
John Butler Trio, Dawes, and Dr. John are among the list of artists who have been added to the three-day festival hosted by the nationally-recognized leader in Triple A radio, WXPN.
Prior to this week, the only known artists to be playing this year’s XPoNential Fetsival were Dr. Dog, The Lumineers, Policia, and Wake Owl. All four bands are playing at the Susquehanna Bank Center on July 27th and a ticket to the festival includes admission to the lawn section at the show.
Earlier this week WXPN shared the full lineup with the world, and this year as with every year, it features an eclectic mix of artists young and old, ranging from local to legendary, and everything in between. On top of that, the festival has partnered with the Susquehanna Bank Center to allow fans access to lawn seats for Bob Dylan’s “AmericanaramA” tour when it stops by on July 28th.
The weekend long festival is returning July 27th–29th to Wiggins Park, located directly across the Delaware River in Camden, New Jersey. It’s the 9th consecutive year for the waterfront location and second consecutive year of a partnership with the neighboring Susquehanna Bank Center. John Butler Trio, Dawes, and Dr. John top the list of over 15 new additions. Other highlights include rising singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuaka, indie folk group Lord Huron, and bluegrass revivalist veterans Trampled By Turtles.
Cherri Fosphate are another Glaswegian musical highlight, and it seems there’s no stopping the amount of talent coming from Scotland at the moment.
These guys have already been touted on the radio as the next ones to watch, and with their EP “Burning Youth” out on May 11th, we can see why. Their music is full of rollicking indie rock, harking back to the naughties when bands like Bloc Party and The Strokes were carving a path.
Their recently released free download “Wool” is a brilliant example of their sunny, upbeat indie tunes, tinged with catchy guitars heavily accented vocals.
On April 15th, the world lost one of its great pop-rockers in Scott Miller. Many folks know him as the leader of the Loud Family, but before that he was out there doing it with a group called Game Theory. They were exactly the sort of outfit to make Big Star fans swoon and give praise to the power pop heavens, but unfortunately wide success eluded them. It’s a familiar story, but in this case an exceptionally fine twist in the narrative would be checking out the band’s marvelous 1986 effort The Big Shot Chronicles.
The concept of “too many damn bands” can seem like a phenomenon that’s been gradually escalating right up to the ever-loving here and now, a time and place where it’s basically impossible for one person with diverse musical interests to actually get a substantive handle on everything that’s worthy of hearing. And this is just concerning new developments. Forget about the insurmountable mountain of older material; there’s just too much history and too little time to ever come to terms with it all.
But in reality the situation’s been this way for a very long time. It’s just played out in environments that are inappropriately shorthanded as being wasteland’s of artistic denial. Those weren’t eras actually saddled with the concept of “too few damn bands,” but rather environments holding problematic distribution channels for both professionally minded musicians and those that valued a more DIY sensibility.
Of course, “diverse musical interests” is a key part of the equation. It naturally depends on the genre, but if a listener only cares about one style, it’s far easier to become a certifiable fountain of expertise. And in the ‘80s, anybody found holding court and spewing knowledge over the beautiful notion of guitar-based pop-rock was conversant with the name Scott Miller.
One of the most common questions people ask if they’ve never heard Clutch is “What kind of music do they play?” A knee-jerk response might be to label them as “stoner rock” or just “rock,” but Clutch is so much more, near impossible to put a label on.
Most of the time, the number one answer given is, “They sound like Clutch.” With an eclectic, never-duplicated sound that draws on many different styles and influences and makes it uniquely their own, Maryland’s heroes returned home to Rams Head Live in Baltimore on Saturday, to preach their gospel to the bearded masses.
First up for the night was Austin, TX retro-rockers Scorpion Child. When I say retro-rock, I mean it in every sense of the word: vintage clothes, vintage instruments, and the music, while played very well, seemed like an amalgam of any number of bands you’d hear on a classic rock radio station, with Led Zeppelin being the biggest flavor running through their sound. Singer Aryn Jonathan Black sounds like Robert Plant mixed with Billy Squier, and he and the band have drawn many comparisons to Zeppelin in the press.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate Scorpion Child – these guys can play. It’s just that every time I started to get into a song, I couldn’t help but feel like I had heard it before. With the talent these guys displayed, I would love to hear them come into their own and distance themselves from the obvious comparisons. Hopefully they will flourish and show us the first coming of Scorpion Child rather than the second coming of Led Zeppelin.
I was in New York last weekend staying at my friend’s place and noticed the first record in his record crate was Mika Miko’s We Be Xuxa LP. I gave him and myself an internal high-five because it got me really stoked to see Mika Miko’s Clavin sisters (Jennifer and Jessica) at DC9 in their newest band Bleached the following week.
It was going to be a fun show. Hunters, touring with Bleached, were rumored to be excellent live performers, and Dischord Records‘Priests are local favorites of mine and should be for anyone who likes strong female-fronted punk bands.
The Clavin sisters took to the stage as an eager crowd filled around them. Supermodel-sexy drummer Jonathan Safley followed, covered in tattoos, and limping with a cane. “We partied really hard in Atlanta, it was his first time drinking,” they joked. “He did a jump kick off our tour van,” Jennifer explained to us. Bleached launched into “Dreaming Without You” to an overly receptive crowd that didn’t calm down for their entire set.
Yesterday, fellow TVD contributor Mike Newman gave you the run down on APF and it’s amazing lineup of psychedelic rock, shoegaze, and more. We are just days away from the 6th annual Austin Psych Fest and I can barely contain my excitement. So, before I burst into a rainbow of psychedelic colors, let me tell you about some of the most notable acts to see this year.
THURSDAY | If you happen to make it down to Austin early this weekend or are already in the area, don’t miss this year’s kick off parties on Thursday, April 25th. Spread across two Austin venues—Mohawk and Red 7—and a total of four stages, these parties offer up a great introduction to this groovy weekend.
The outside stage at Red 7 features mainstays of the Austin Psych scene The UFO Club, garage rock favorites The Allah La’s, as well as a reunion of West Coast ‘80s psychedelic band Rain Parade. Tickets are limited for these events and only a select few will be available at the door, so if you want to get the weekend started right grab your tickets now. Weekend pass holders can rest easy, as their festival passes will allow them into the kick off parties as well.
Robyn Hitchcock has been composing alt-pop for decades, traversing soundscapes of sublime and accessible compositions with enlightened lyricism among several different musical ventures.
After initial critical acclaim with The Soft Boys, then later with his solo material and group success with The Egyptians, Robyn Hitchcock most recently has been working with longtime friends Peter Buck of R.E.M, Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows, and Bill Rieflin of Ministry and R.E.M. Collectively known as Robyn Hitchcock and The Venus 3, the quartet have released three full-length albums of hook-heavy indie pop in the past 7 years.
We’ve got tickets to give away to see the cult pop icon with his talent-laden trio, The Venus 3, at the 9:30 Club. Getting ahold of them is WAY easier than writing a brilliant song.
If you ever wanted to attend a taping of the Late Show with David Letterman or Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, look no further than Artisphere in Arlington, Virginia this Saturday evening for a live, “big” version of the talk show, You Me Them Everybody hosted by the multi-talented Brandon Wetherbee.
