Archive: 2009

Last weekend, the 8th Annual Forecastle Festival brought about 17,000 people from around the country to downtown Louisville. This year’s fest has garnered rave reviews and went off with only a single hitch – 16 felony drug arrests, which the media picked up on instead of the fantastic music goin’ down. Matt Speck shot the festival and returned these photos…

READ ON for a full gallery of Matt’s Forecastle Festival photos…

We at Hidden Track have grown rather fond of Cornmeal, the Chicago jam-grass quintet that doesn’t seem to have a problem being called “jamgrass” or “jamband bluegrass” even though the terms are useful only as loose groupers. Fact is, though, if you dig a little deeper with Cornmeal, you hear plenty of bluegrass, roots and old-time, sure, but also a mischievous streak that recalls forebears like New Grass Revival in the way that they draw in everything from country and jazz to funk and blues without quite embracing any one of those idioms. There’s a lot to grab onto.

The band’s actually been around for nine years, but it took at least half that time to reach a stabilized lineup, and it’s only in the past two or three, since word got out from their Midwest fan strongholds and swept the festival circuit, that Cornmeal has attracted national attention. They’re still an unknown quantity in much of the country, although bassist Chris Gangi says the band does a little better every time it returns to developing pockets of fans in the northeast, southeast and west coast.

Hidden Track caught up with Gangi to hear about what’s on Cornmeal’s radar and how he, fiddle player Allie Kral, guitarist Kris Nowak, drummer JP Nowak and banjoist Dave Burlingame plan to keep striking while they have the momentum.

HIDDEN TRACK: So where am I finding you today?

CHRIS GANGI: I’m actually home at the moment, for about a day or two before we go back out again. It’s easy in Chicago to catch a day at home, and a lot of times we’ll bypass extended tours when we’re in the Midwest so we can make sure we get a few days off. When the band started out, that’s just what made sense expense-wise — we could go out for stretches and then come back home and save our jobs.

READ ON for more of Chad’s interview with Chris from Cornmeal…

The producers of the 4th Annual Las Tortugas Festival, hosted by Blue Turtle Seduction, have announced the initial artist lineup today. The artist announcement includes Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Tea Leaf Green, Hot Buttered Rum, Bag of Tricks (featuring Zach Gill, Steve Adams and Dave Brogan of ALO), The Mother Hips, and many others. The biggest […]

Words and Videos by Benji Feldheim

It started with two stages. Bands played on one large stage at the bottom of a hill and under a tent out in the woods over two days. A red barn with room for no more than a thousand was used for musician clinics during the day and late shows going into the early morning. Tents dotted only the wooded area east of a main road that snaked all the way from the barn to the main stage, with nothing but empty west and north. You could lie in your tent between five and 10 in the morning and just scream. People also lying in their tents would hear you and join in.

Summer Camp Festival 2001

The organizers then stretched it a day, making Summer Camp three days before Memorial Day weekend. And they added the third “Sunshine” stage. It stood west of the main dirt road, nearly as big as the main stage – which was then dubbed the Moonshine Stage. The extra day on Fridays was followed by a Thursday “pre-party” and two more stages called Starshine and Campfire. The barn became too tiny for access to all attendees, as numbers swelled from just over 1,000 when the fest was first thrown in 2001, to 10,000 this year.

Not only the numbers grew. The grass area north of the road is filled nearly as far as one can see with tents, booth spots for various breeds of non-profits and a full bar. There’s a tent that alters its roles from yoga class to coffee house-like stage for acoustic sets to a DJ tent real late for those “too excited to sleep” (in the immortal words of Trey Anastasio). But somehow it never feels cramped. One can still get to their campsite from near the soundboard at the Moonshine stage during a set break and get back without missing a thing. READ ON to check out the videos Benji put together…

Jenny Lewis – See Fernando

With Jack White’s newest band, The Dead Weather, hitting up NYC’s Terminal 5 for shows over the next two nights, the ever busy guitarist turned drummer has decided to open a pop-up branch of his Nashville-based Third Man Records store on Manhattan’s Lower East Side for a very limited time. The store, which will be […]

If anyone knows something about a concert on a rooftop it’s Paul McCartney. Over forty years after The Beatles’ infamous final concert on the roof of Apple Corps in London, the bassist returned to the scene of one of his greatest triumphs – the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York City – where he played a brief set of Wings and Beatle classics atop the building’s marquee earlier this afternoon as part of a taping for The Late Show.

Paul McCartney – Get Back

The set started around 5:30 PM when McCartney emerged through a window clad in a bright pink shirt and suspenders along with the other four members of his talented ensemble. Broadway was closed in one direction for a few blocks in either direction of the theatre leaving plenty of room for thousands of people from all different walks to life to enjoy the music coming from speakers set up on each side of the legendary venue. Most in the crowd were on their way home from work, noticed the crowd was forming and joined in when they realized Paul McCartney was performing.

Setlist: Get Back, Sing The Changes, Coming Up, Band On The Run, Let Me Roll It > Foxy Lady Jam, Helter Skelter, Back In The USSR

Sir Paul kibbutzed with the assembled mass while awaiting a cue from the producer to start. The crowd cheered their approval at every word the former Beatle said, especially when he mentioned New York. Within a few minutes of taking the makeshift stage, McCartney launched into a powerful version of Get Back – the same tune The Beatles opened their rooftop concert with in 1969. The sound wasn’t great at first, but the sound guy boosted the volume as the concert went on. Get Back crackled with energy as the band members, including McCartney, got a huge kick out of this very special venue.

READ ON for more of Scott’s take on McCartney’s marqueetop show…

Even in today’s era of downloading individual songs, I still somehow obsess over the fine art of album sequencing. A recent example of its effectiveness can be found on Wilco’s latest, where the Chicago band pairs the insane ending of “Bull Black Nova” with the immediate acoustic relief of “You and I.” It’s like the two Excedrin that you down after the quick onset of a headache has taken over your body and thoughts—there is still rage, but you know the end is near. Singer-songwriter Jason Karaban’s newest project, a three-song EP titled Mayfly, is a lot like those two Excedrin—it comforts and kills the pain of the past with a perfect and promising dose of simplicity.

Brian Wilson has lined up a fall US tour, which follows aEuropean tour hat includes an appearance at Ireland’s Sept. 4-6 Electric Picnic festival–gets underway Oct. 23 in Mount Pleasant, MI. The 17-city outing extends through early December, winding down Dec. 5 in Stateline, NV. Details are below. October 200923 – Mount Pleasant, MI – […]

Anti-Records has announced the upcoming release of Mo Beauty from celebrated singer/songwriter Alec Ounsworth. The Philadelphia native, who earned acclaim with his band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, recently recorded his debut solo record in the music-steeped metropolis of New Orleans at the famed Piety St. recording studio. For Mo Beauty, Ounsworth was backed by […]

Boston-bred band Guster have just announced their nine-date headline tour, Lost & Gone Forever Ten Year Anniversary Tour, which will kick off 10/28 in Charlotte, NC and wrap on 11/27 at the Beacon Theater in New York.  This anniversary tour will be Guster’s only headline dates of this year.    Ten years have passed since […]

This year’s edition of the long-running Farm Aid  benefit concert is set for Oct. 4 in the St. Louis area, and will feature longtime mainstays–and Farm Aid board members–Willie Nelson , Neil Young , John Mellencamp  and Dave Matthews. The event will take place at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Maryland Heights, MO, marking the first […]

Sorry for the back and forth on this one, but apparently McCartney WILL be playing on the marquee this afternoon after all. You can see images of the setup for yourself here.  I linked to an old post on Showbiz411, and they have since changed their tune. Thanks to a heads up for astute commenter […]

According to Showbiz411, the New York City Department of Film and Television has declined the application to let Paul McCartney play on the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theatre this afternoon. McCartney will still perform inside and chat with Letterman. A bummer to say the least. UPDATE: Apparently the article linked above is old. McCartney […]

Last Week’s Sauce is a recurring column featuring recordings of shows that took place the previous week. As I was on vacation last week, this edition covering two weeks of shows. Thanks to crossthreaded for the photo.

Artist & Title: Dead Sessions – Feel Like A Stranger
Date & Venue: 2009-07-03 Club Metronome, Burlington VT
Taper & Show Download: Shiva Ho

Burlington Vermont’s Dead Sessions are a group comprised of members of the Turkey Bouillon Mafia as well as Phish archivist Kevin Shapiro and vocalist Christina Durfee. Dead Sessions next plays live aboard Lake Champlain Cruises on August 7th.

READ ON for more including tracks from Future Rock and Nate Wilson…

If you’re heading to Camp Bisco VIII this weekend make sure you stop by the HeadCount booth for a chance to win a free spot at the upcoming Caribbean Holidaze Festival (Dec. 10-14) in Runaway Bay, Jamaica. Anyone who stops by the HeadCount table at Camp Bisco and writes a letter to Congress on the […]

Sir Paul McCartney returns to the Ed Sullivan Theatre in NYC tonight for an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. If you don’t have tickets to the taping, it looks like you’ll still be able to watch Macca perform. Paul McCartney – Lady Madonna [12/10/92] The Beatle bassist will play with his band […]

From last night’s Late Show with David Letterman… Wilco & Feist – You & I

Ah, the truth – the hard-to-figure point that lies somewhere between the two sides of a story. Today, we got one side of the story thanks to a detailed explanation from bass player Bryan Dondero about why he left Grace Potter and the Nocturnals four months ago. In a very web 2.0 move, Dondero took Potter to task with a post on his blog.

[Potter and Dondero in happier times]

The bassist is in the middle of a contentious negotiation with the Potter Camp over proceeds from GP&tN’s 2007 release This Is Somewhere and let us know exactly what he’s looking for and what he’s been offered…

My terms remain firm: along with the agreements made on NBTW and the other tracks that I have already signed off on, I am standing behind asking for 10% of This Is Somewhere from release through the life of the copyright. Thus far, you have firstly agreed that 10% was a fair number so long as it does not include the retroactive money (ie. money that was made in the publishing from songs appearing on Grey’s Anatomy, One Tree Hill etc….) and would only be for a 5 year period. Then you agreed to include everything but Apologies. After you finally agreed to include Apologies, and the retroactive money, you decided to increase the amount that I owed the band since my leaving…

Towards the middle of his post Dondero basically transcribes a conversation he had with Potter that led to his departure which shows some diva behavior from both participants…

Grace: I feel like the things you do go against the grain of the rest of us.
Me: Like what? Give me an example.
Grace: This may sound vain, but the things you wear on stage…I think some of the things you do like putting your foot on the monitor or jump on the riser are at really inappropriate moments.

READ ON for more of Bryan’s post on leaving The Nocturnals…

The Rockness Festival, set by the banks of the world famous Loch Ness at the tiny village of Dores, held June 12-14th, 2009.