Columns

Tonight, Tea Leaf Green takes the stage for the second of two shows at the 8×10 Club in Baltimore with their acoustic alter-ego Coffee Bean Brown opening each show. CBB shows off a completely different, mellower side of the group’s music. These rare Coffee Bean Brown sets are in celebration of the first release from their own Tea Leaf Green Partnership imprint on June 2nd, Coffee Bean Brown Comes Alive, which features music recorded at the now-closed Mo Pitkin’s House of Satisfaction in September of ’07.

I caught Tea Leaf’s two-setter at Irving Plaza on Saturday night and it got me thinking about the band’s past. TLG blew up in the New York City area in 2005. They first caught the attention of a number of my friends at a Rocks Off cruise after a Trey Anastasio show at the Hammerstein in May of that year and they packed the Knitting Factory and Coda on their next two trips to the Big Apple in September and November 2005. 2006 brought more of the same for Tea Leaf as they made the giant leap from the Knit to Irving Plaza in the blink of an eyelash and sold out the 1,000+ capacity venue upon their return at a magical show in March of 2007.

But just as quickly as it came, the momentum seemed to grind to a halt. TLG was scheduled to play two shows at the much smaller Highline Ballroom during Thanksgiving week last year and had to cancel one of the shows – which I’ll go ahead and speculate was due to lack of ticket sales. I caught the show they did play and let’s just say there was plenty of room for me to dance. READ ON for Scott’s thoughts on Tea Leaf Green at Irving Plaza…

For the first time in 37 years there won’t be a big-time jazz festival in New York City this summer. Principal sponsor JVC has stopped sponsoring jazz festivals due to

We’d like to welcome back U-Melt keyboard ace Zac Lasher for the second set of entries from the Tour Diary he kept for Hidden Track. On Monday, Zac wrote about U-Melt’s journey through Chicago, De Kalb and Madison. For part two, Zac takes us behind the scenes of the band’s trip to Colorado…

4/20 – On the road to Des Moines, IA

The only thing more boring than driving hundreds and hundreds of miles with nothing to look at but fields of corn as far as the eye can see is driving hundreds and hundreds of miles with nothing to look at but fields of dirt where the corn has yet to really start growing.

Whenever we come out to this part of the country, I am amazed not only by the vastness and emptiness of it all, but by the sameness of it all. From the windows of a van, America is a giant cornfield broken up by concrete oases of corporate consumption – these little paved squares where McDonalds, Arby’s, Hardee’s, Pizza Huts, Taco Bells, and Dairy Queens and the like serve their mass produced food-products along side the BPs and Shells and Mobils — Wal-Marts, K-Marts and Days Inns and Super 8s and Motel 6s and Econo Lodges and Travelodges and and and… These areas are completely devoid of culture, completely devoid of any local color or characteristic other than the different sports team and University logos that can be found emblazoned on trucker caps and sweatshirts and blankets that they sell at the T/A or Pilot or whichever truck stop happens to be at that particular junction.

America. Fuck yeah.

READ ON for more of Zac Lasher from U-Melt’s Tour Diary…

The Allman Brothers Band continued their massive 2009 with a star-studded affair at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles last night. Tom Petty joined the band for a cover of

Last Week’s Sauce is a recurring column featuring recordings of shows that took place the previous week. Thanks to JDS for this week’s photo.

Artist & Title: Animal Liberation Orchestra – Purple Rain
Date & Venue: 2009-05-16 – Life Is Good Festival, San Francisco CA
Taper & Show Download: Todd Fleisher

This past weekend at the Life Is Good Festival in SF, Martin Sexton took over lead vocal duties during ALO’s set for this fantastic rendition of a Prince classic. Purple Rain is somewhat of a live staple in Sexton’s solo repertoire. ALO next appears at the Desert Rocks Music Festival in Moab Utah on Saturday May 23rd. Look for Martin Sexton at Mountain Jam on Sunday.

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READ ON for more entries from the likes of Cracker and The Breakfast…

Legendary guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan covers Little Feat’s Sailin’ Shoes backed by an all-star band featuring Chaka Khan, Maria McKee, Rosemary Butler, Omar Hakim, Arnold McCuller, Hiram Bullock, David Sanborn

God Street Wine toured the US aggressively, but they only played overseas once. In 1997, the quintet headed to Paris for two weeks of gigs at the Chesterfield Cafe to