Hidden Track Staff

Last week, HT faves the Ryan Montbleau Band put out Heavy On The Vine – the group’s Martin Sexton-produced fourth studio album. Glide’s Shane Handler spoke with singer/songwriter Ryan Montbleau

Our friend Will McCranie caught a very special Dead Confederate show last night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg and has filed this report… Menacing as ever and wasting no

Our pal Ted Rockwell, of Everyday Companion fame, attended Saturday night’s Furthur show and enjoyed it so much he decided to submit a writeup on the evening urging our readers to check out the recordings…

So we’re all live music fans, right?

OK, now that we have that established, I will dispose of formalities like explaining what it feels like to go to a show at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater. And I will forego the description of the all-to-often occurrence of thoroughly enjoying a live performance, only to review the tapes and realize on second listen that the performance is full of flaws.

And I will skip right to the heart of the matter at hand.

[via @furthurband]

On Saturday September 25, 2010, Furthur played one of the best shows I have ever seen at Red Rocks. Period.

I realize that’s a big statement, but I can back it up. By anyone’s estimation I have seen my fair share of amazing shows at Red Rocks over the last 14 years; Neil Young in the rain, Radiohead, Bjork, Wilco, every single Widespread Panic show they’ve headlined, several incarnations of Phil Lesh and his friends, Gov’t Mule, Trey, The Arcade Fire, Sigur Ros… etc.

READ ON for more on Furthur on the Rocks…

M80 Dub Station, Conspirator, Ginger Kids & Tractorbeam @ Mishawaka Ampitheater, Sept. 18

Words: Alexander Wolff
Photos: Jason Woodside

There is something inherently cool about having a ticket to a Conspirator show and finding out that the Disco Biscuits are playing. See, the kids wanted Tractorbeam – an instrumental version of tDB. Between Allen Aucoin’s robotic drumming extremities being at a family reunion back East, not to mention the fact that it wasn’t even billed as a Biscuits show, it just wasn’t in the cards. Well, the demand was high and the strings were pulled, and in the end, it was indeed Tractorbeam the kids would get.

Jon “The Barber” Gutwillig’s push-and-play dubstep outfit M80 Dubstation came off as self-indulgent and sounded abrasive, but in the very least he was having fun. Conspirator played a better show with Adam Deitch on Thursday at Cervante’s, and the Ginger Kids experimental brand of break beat club bangers didn’t do all that much for this restless crowd. The party was set to go off though, and seeing as this may be the Mishawaka Amphitheater’s last great stand it feels in a lot of ways like a bash for the end of the world.

By far the best part of this non-stop, two-hour set was that instead of playing the songs that have come to be expected from Tractorbeam shows, the Biscuits flipped the script, rearranging songs that span mostly from the last seven or eight years of new music for this uncommon all-instrumental performance. Bombs, On Time, Portal To An Empty Head, Feeling Twisted and Neck Romancer are all songs that have showed up in the last year, and Tricycle is the oldest song performed having been debuted in 2000. They kept it fresh, and certainly took risks all night.

READ ON for more of Alex’s thoughts and Jason’s photos…

Photos: Rob Chapman

The first annual Catskill Chill Festival took place at Camp Minglewood in Hancock, NY on September 10th and 11th boasting a lineup that included Soulive, Keller Williams, U-Melt and the Heavy Pets. Catskill Chill was held on a gorgeous piece of property that is used as a performing arts camp during the summer giving attendees the option to sleep in a cabin instead of in a tent.

[All photos by Rob Chapman]

According to reports over 1,000 music fans turned out for Catskill Chill which isn’t so bad for a first-time event. The music started early in the afternoon and continued until the morning hours with American Babies, U-Melt and Heavy Pets playing until the break of dawn. Photographer Rob Chapman was on hand to document the action and we wanted to share his pictures of this newcomer to the scene. READ ON for more of Rob Chapman’s photos…

This week’s B List focuses on the unclassifiable Ali Baba’s Tahini, who return to the stage this evening at Martyr’s in Chicago for the first time in seven years. Made up of Umphrey’s McGee guitarist Jake Cinninger, brilliant songwriter Karl Englemann, whirl-of-motion drummer Steve “Krojo” Krojniewski, touring bassist Jeff Hinkle and Justin Powell on keys, ABT had an incredibly unique sound and developed a sizable fanbase over its brief existence as a touring band out of South Bend during the late ’90s.

Once Cinninger disbanded the group to join UM, you might have thought the future was bleak for Ali Baba’s Tahini but luckily the boys stayed in touch and recorded the outstanding Rockstars and Lawnmowers in 2004 before reuniting this year to put out Living Room and to embark on a brief five-gig run across the Midwest this weekend. There are only ten ABT recordings on the Live Music Archive, yet they each give a nice taste of the band’s history and what they are all about. We put together a list of one classic track for each recording along with a link to the recording itself…

The Unidentifiable = January 17th, 1998 – Mickey’s Pub

This recording of one of the first ABT shows comes from Jake Cinninger’s archives. While the track in question is marked as 42nd Street, this unidentified track features gorgeous lead guitar work and vocals from Cinninger. It almost sounds like the love child of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Lenny and Jimi Hendrix’s Angel.

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/abt42nd.mp3]

READ ON for more of this week’s B List on Ali Baba’s Tahini…

Words and Photos: Josh Fleet

Larkin Grimm @ The Knitting Factory on Sept. 2, 2010

“Good things happen to bad people,” says the woman in the winged black dress. She has put down a harp, picked up a blazing-red 12-string Fender Stratocaster and, left alone with this statement, could be mistaken for any other sage-like singer-songwriter.

But Larkin Grimm should not be left alone. Ever. She’s liable to burn the place down. Now – just after 11 p.m. on Sept. 2 – is no exception, and this place here – the intimate Knitting Factory in Brooklyn – is certainly not fireproof.

In fact, the hipster is the most flammable form of youth, and this place is filled with hipsters. Well, not filled. It would take 300 of the hippest kids in Williamsburg to burst the Knitting Factory, but only now – as Grimm steps to the microphone one last time for one more introduction to one final encore at this, her last show of Summer 2010 in her now-hometown – only now has the venue begun to feel as though it has a maximum capacity.

All that is to say that Larkin Grimm has not been left alone. All eyes are on the songstress. Everyone here is under her spell. Is she the Angel of Death or just a psychedelic saint?

“Good things happen to bad people,” says the saint. “That’s why I’m making an effort to be baaaaaad,” continues the demon.

READ ON for more from Josh on Larkin Grimm…