Hey, that circled date on the Gregorian calendar suggests it’s Robert Hall Weir‘s 60th birthday. Here’s to our favorite short shorts-wearin’, cowboy croonin’, dyslexic rock star out there. May you
In the course of a half-hour we discussed some more pertinent topics with Reid, including but not limited to Radiohead’s label-less album, the reunion of the original members of Strangefolk at their tour manager’s recent wedding, the experience of an asskicking in business school, the joy of fatherhood, the awesomeness of chick books and much more. It’s unabridged, so make yourself comfortable, but it’s a great read…
We throw more content up on this here rag than two asshats with demanding day jobs probably should, so we’re guessing you’ve missed some goodies here and there. So as
As we noted in this morning’s Hors d’Oeuvres, members of Arcade Fire joined The Boss on stage in Ottawa last night. The fortified E Street Band ran though its first
Assembly of Dust returned home from its most recent tour and found itself answering questions virtually no folk-infused rock band has had to answer. The buzz surrounding the eight-show run with JJ Grey & MOFRO wasn’t necessarily about the quality of the music or the sad frequency of collaborations, but rather the bizarre backstage skirmish that followed the band’s gig at The Roxy in Boston.
Photo by Adam Kaufman
If you’re picturing frontman Reid Genauer standing over the Roxy’s manager like Muhammed Ali triumphantly towering over Sonny Liston, repeating “That’s folkin’ rock, motherfucker, that’s the taste of singer-songwriter fists of fury” over and over, then, well, you’re probably alone. So for the real story, and for much more from the tour and beyond, Genauer and I both took some time from our day jobs to discuss Assembly of Dust’s mini-tour with JJ Grey & MOFRO.
The reported ‘fight’ was only a small part of the story, and in the course of a half-hour we discussed some more pertinent topics, including but not limited to Radiohead’s label-less album, the reunion of the original members of Strangefolk at their tour manager’s recent wedding, the experience of an asskicking in business school, the joy of fatherhood, the awesomeness of chick books and much more. It’s unabridged, so make yourself comfortable, but it’s a great read…
Over the past 10 years there’s been a steady migration of New York-based musicians and venues from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Subsequent to that trend, recording studios and rehearsal spaces are headed southbound as well. Enter Rough Magic Studios, a five-room studio and rehearsal space in Greenpoint.
Rough Magic is catching the attention of many acts with its musician-friendly vibe, laid-back atmosphere and professional staff. Albert Cohen, a partner in the studio, explains why bands appreciate it: “We’re not just trying to bring in people to make money; we really want people to feel comfortable in our space.”
Their client list reads like a who’s who of some top bands from the area. So far members of Soulive, American Babies, Beirut, and many others have recorded at the studio. Cohen explains how Soulive became a regular client: “We brought them in for a session, and they said it’s a really comfortable place and the vibe is good. So much so that now they rent from us.”
Recently Brad Barr and Sonya Kitchell stopped by Rough Magic to record a track. Barr is a founding member of The Slip, and Kitchell is an 18-year-old singer/songwriter who is currently on tour with Herbie Hancock. Brad Barr was kind enough to share some thoughts with us about recording with Kitchell at Rough Magic, other projects he’s currently working on and more. Read on…
Recently we told you about the mindblowing new album from Bill Frisell’s Floratone project. Wanna make it better from your momma’s basement? Aspiring musicians can now put together their own take on the tracks by participating in Acidplanet and Blue Note’s Floratone remix contest. Blue Note has provided the tracks, you supply the magic. The winner will receive a prize package that includes a Playstation portable and tons of audio software. Go play.
And congratulations to RowJimmy for winning our giveway, because I’d kill a man to see Frisell play with ?uestlove, Christian McBride and McCoy Tyner.
And as always on Mondays, read on after the jump for a full slate of setlists and downloadable torrents from this weekend’s shows from around the world…
If the traditional gift for one’s first anniversary is paper, what exactly do you get a website? Our suggestion: barrels of cash. Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of this here
The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival finally confirmed for us there’s an East Coast bias. Last weekend’s three-day event drew anywhere between 300,000 and 500,000 people to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, trotting out some heavy hitters like Jeff Tweedy, Bela Fleck, John Prine and Emmylou Harris. Yet HSB still fell off the radar of just about everybody we know. Blogbuzz? Not even.
But we’ve been hearing nothing but positive reviews since the 52-hour, 72-band orgiastic aural fiesta ended. And our man on the scene said this year’s seventh annual edition may have been the best. We couldn’t persuade him to jot down some notes before heading off to the upcoming Echo Project in Atlanta, so we’ll point you to some professional reviews and hit you with the best photo gallery of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass you’ll find on the world wide superweb.
The San Francisco Chronicle penned a decent review of the festival from start to finish, but as BeyondChron astutely points out, the Chronicle’s reporter failed to even mention Jeff Tweedy’s memorable 100-minute acoustic set on Friday night. The San Jose Mercury News provided three separate days of fantastic coverage, which you can check out here, here and here. That should be good enough to satiate you on the words…now let’s bring you the pictures.
We’re fortunate to bring you a full gallery from one of the best photographers working the scene. Dave Vann is a man among boys, and his work follows after the jump. He’ll be shooting for us down at Echo, so stay tuned this weekend for some live updates from the field. Onto the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass shots…
When I first started downloading music from the Internet in the late ’90s, the best place to find live shows from the bands I liked was from the little site with a heady name called nugs.net. Nugs has always been ahead of the times, and they shocked the world in 2002 when they teamed up with Phish to make official recordings of their first post-hiatus shows available for download within 48 hours of the concert’s encore. Hell, I used to be excited to get a shitty fourth-generation audience tape of a Phish show, three weeks after it happened, and then all of the sudden we were able to download pristine copies of their shows quickly.
The success of livephish showed the major labels were behind the times when it came to selling recordings of live bands. Nugs.net knew what was up, and their reputation caught the attention of other bands who have started selling their shows through Nugs’ pay portal livedownloads.com Huge touring acts such as Metallica, Widespread Panic and Crowded House now make every show they play available for download through sites run by the Nugs guys, while smaller bands have also found a willing partner.
We’ve teamed up with the folks at livedownloads.com to feature one show from their vast catalog each and every week. First up, let’s check out their recording of a recent Widespread Panic show from September 27th in Oakland, California.
Usually when touring bands head out to the bay area they play any of the numerous amazing venues in San Francisco. Widespread Panic has always done things a little differently, and they decided to play their three night fall run at the Paramount Theater in Oakland. Read on for a full review of this show…
