A curious song on Marco Benevento’s latest album, Between The Needles & Nightfall, entitled Music is Still Secret lends itself to an interesting musical perspective. It’s vague, but it’s also quite thoughtful. In fact, many musicians put forth the exact opposite corollary; that virtually all music has been played before (by men with wigs). The song says a lot – without saying anything – about Marco’s philosophies toward music and how he goes about it.
And he is philosophical, not in any overbearing or annoying way, but in the way he knows what works in order to keep it fresh for both him and the listener. So, what does that mean, music is still secret? It’s really a question that everyone should answer for themselves, but in the meantime, we’ll let you in on some advice for unearthing a response.
Playing Music
“If I played in the same band all the time, I think I would get so bored.”
Since propelling to improvisational glory with comrade Joe Russo as the Benevento-Russo Duo and subsequently Mike Gordon and Trey Anastasio as GRAB, Marco pulled a relative about-face. Whereas most artists would probably be tempted to ride out that wave of publicity, Marco chose to keep his artistic boundaries wide open and apportion time between a slew of bands including Bustle in Your Hedgerow, Garage a Trois, Surprise Me Mr. Davis, and of course, the Marco Benevento Trio.
READ ON for more of our feature on Marco Benevento…
You couldn’t blame Disco Biscuits fans for thinking the worst when the news came out that Jon “Barber” Gutwillig broke his wrist back in March, but two months later the
As Furthur prepares for next weekend’s Furthur Festival, the group has announced a pair of “live rehearsal sessions” on Monday and Tuesday night at The Palm Ballroom in San Rafael,
In our never-ending quest to dig up some great bands that cost less than a corned beef sandwich at Katz’s Deli, we bring you another round of Blips. Blips highlights some great bands that are largely still in their larvae stage, but will soon morph into their beautiful butterfly. In this edition, we have some really cool new music, so take a sec, poke around the bands’ various websites, and see what you think of these four under the radar acts…
Truth & Salvage Co.
I seem to have an affinity towards bands coming out of the Laurel Canyon-area these days. In the late 1960s and early ’70s the small neighborhood nestled in the Hollywood Hills above Los Angeles was the epicenter for the folk and country rock movement, and now, over the last few years, the area’s rich musical history is influencing a new generation of bands. The latest to dive head first into the pool is the L.A.-based act Truth & Salvage Co., whose sound impressed Black Crowes lead singer Chris Robinson so much that he decided to sign the band to his Silver Arrow label and produce their debut.
Splitting the songwriting duties between four people, the band’s doesn’t fall too far from the Crowes tree, leaning more on the vintage weed and whiskey sound of outlaw country, than Southern-fried rock and blues. Drawing influences from the likes of Waylon Jennings, Little Feat, The Grateful Dead and CSN – they arrive at some amalgam that’s firmly rooted in the past, that at times is rowdy rock, and others mellow laments. Truth & Salvage Co. will release their self-titled
READ ON after the jump for Blips entries on three more acts – Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra, Mos Scocious and Newton Crosby…
Yesterday, we published a post about the start of Neil Young’s Twisted Road solo tour. At these performances, Neil has been opening with My My, Hey Hey (Out of the
Last Saturday, I set off on a journey starting in Queens and ending in the Lower East Side after walking from the Vernon Jackson stop in Queens, over the Pulaski Bridge into Greenpoint for The Total Franklin Street Immersion. I then proceeded to walk from Greenpoint to McCarren Park at which point I went down Driggs to Metropolitan where I realized I was three blocks away from Fette Sau.
If you have never been, it is worth stopping by. In addition to their awesome BBQ, they also boast one the best collections of American Whiskeys and a multitude of craft beer on tap. My lunch was brisket, spicy sausage, broccoli salad and an Arcadia Whitsun Ale on tap.
Here is a picture of their bar:
Fette Sau is old school BBQ. You order either by weight (I got a 1/2 pound of brisket) or by the piece (1 piece of Spicy Berkshire Pork Sausage), by the Side (Broccoli Salad). When I got to the register I saw this mason jar filled with spices and label on the front that said Fetta Sau Dry Rub and a back label that listed the ingredients (including coffee from their neighbor Oslo Coffee) . Once I read that back label I asked how much, the cashier said $10, said fine I’ll take one.
READ ON for more of this week’s Friday For the Foodies…
It’s a big week for Blips acts around here, as we’ve got our second new music video from an artist we profiled. This one comes from Dawes, the California-based act,
The Dave Matthews Band kicked off the Austin City Limits television season back in October peppering a few classics among plenty of new tunes from Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux
There is nothing wrong with a little back up. And by “back up,” I mean a bass guitar and a set of drums. I have listened to Jake Nannery’s voice, accompanied by nothing but an acoustic guitar. The added sounds provided by bassist, Ramon Salumbides, and drummer, Mike West was excellent. The slap of the bass and the solid percussion was the perfect touch to Nannery’s signature bluesy, rock style. The three have been playing and creating music for three to four years, and the opportunity to tour as a group was an exciting and fulfilling experience. Between April 16 and April 20, they traveled down America’s west coast, and camped in beach towns between shows.
It’s ironic that both The New Pornographers and Broken Social Scene released their new albums on the same day: two Canadian collectives with both old and young members now fighting the unavoidable “super-group” tag. However Together, the fifth album from The New Pornographers, sticks to their now well versed formula: AC Newman and his compadres playing the sunny and dark along with very special guests Neko Case and Destroyer's Dan Bejar. Together melds the pop flawlessness of 2005’s Twin Cinema with the eccentric flair of 2007’s Challengers into one cool carton of high-powered indie rock (if we can still consider Matador indie).
