by Andrew Sacher

Mountain Goats at Bowery Ballroom in March (more by Ryan Barkan)

Michael Dorf's (founder of Knitting Factory) series of tribute concerts to benefit music education programs for underprivileged youth (which last paid tribute to Neil Young in February) will continue on March 13, 2012 at Carnegie Hall, when 21 different artists will perform the 21 songs from The Rolling Stones' massive document of the early part of their long withstanding career, Hot Rocks 1964-1971. The compilation was released at the tail end of 1971, and was filled with the bluesy cuts that they used to leave their stamp on popular music (though notably includes no tracks from the psychedelic trip they took on Their Satanic Majesties Request in 1967) before putting together the colossal double album Exile On Main St. a few months later.

So far the artists that will be participating in the show include The Mountain Goats, Glen Hansard, Steve Earle, Rosanne Cash, Rich Robinson, and Carolina Chocolate Drops. More TBA soon. Tickets for the show are on sale now.

Meanwhile, Steve Earle will be kicking off a residency at Michael Dorf's venue City Winery with Allison Moorer and friends in January. The residency will take place every monday over the five week period of January 9 through February 6. Tickets for all five shows are on sale now. The Carnegie Hall show in March won't be the first time Steve has covered the Stones. He's been known to cover "Dead Flowers" at his shows. You can listen to a version recorded live in Calgary that appeared on the deluxe edition of his 1988 album Copperhead Road below.

The Mountain Goats, who also play at the Stones tribute, will be sticking around after the Carnegie Hall show to play NYC's Ecstatic Music Festival later that month. They'll be performing material with vocal quartet Anonymous 4 that frontman John Darnielle wrote for his new project Transcendental Youth, with arrangements by Owen Pallett. They play on March 24 at Merkin Concert Hall. Tickets for the show are still on sale. John Darnielle also just announced a bunch more 2012 dates, all of which are listed below.

All Mountain Goats & Steve Earle dates and the above-mentioned song stream, below...

Continue reading "a Rolling Stones tribute @ Carnegie Hall, Steve Earle & Allison Moorer residency, and more Mountain Goats dates"

Steve Earle in Austin in July (more by Tim Griffin)

In the NY Post:

You might recognize roots singer Steve Earle from his turn on the Big Easy HBO series "Treme." Or you might have seen him around town, walking or on the F train.

Born in Virginia, raised in Texas and settled in Nashville, Earle made New York City home a few years back. Reflecting on a pair of hometown shows -- Town Hall on Tuesday and the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Wednesday -- Earle says, "Your guest list ends up looking like the extras from 'The Ten Commandments,' there's the usual stress of a hometown gig. But I love to play New York City, it's home." He adds, "You have to work a little bit harder. It's like playing baseball in New York."

Earle would like to take the subway to his gigs, but was still discussing it with his wife, singer Allison Moorer, who shares the bill with him and his band the Dukes (and Duchesses).

Don't forget about The Wire!

Tickets are still on sale for both Town Hall and Music Hall of Williamsburg. All dates are listed HERE. Welcome home Steve & Allison (for a few days anyway).

photos by Ryan Barkan

Steve Earle kicked off his summer tour on June 9th in Seattle and played the Crystal Ballroom in Portland one night later. The pictures in this post are from that show.

It's Steve's first full band tour in many years. That band, "the Dukes (and Duchesses)", includes his wife Allison Moorer who he sings duets with and who plays some of her own material half way through the long show.

"The show comes to an end after about two-and-a-half hours, until the artists return for the first of two encores. Earle and the Dukes (and Duchesses) open the first encore with the title track of the newly released album and novel, "I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive," a cover of the last song released by Hank Williams before he died.

The first encore ends with Earle's popular "Guitar Town," which re-energizes the crowd and sparks a second encore. Once Earle and crew return to the stage again, he slowly picks his guitar while praising President Obama, chastising republican Supreme Court justices and saying "I ain't no Democrat y'all. I'm well to the left of that."

This leads into the singalong "Come back Woody Guthrie" tune before three more songs close out the set.

Three hours after taking the stage to start the concert, the 56-year-old Steve Earle is still full of passion for singing and performing. It's clear he belongs above the crowd, not with them." [Oregon Music News]

No opener. That's likely how it will be when the tour finally gets to NYC in September. Tickets are still on sale for the shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Town Hall.

Since we last spoke Steve has also added a bunch of dates. All of them with more pictures from Oregon, below...

Continue reading "Steve Earle now on tour (updated dates), played Crystal Ballroom in Portland (pics)"

Steve Earle at Beacon (more by Matthew Eisman)

Steve Earle will head out with his electric band, The Dukes (and Duchesses) featuring Alison Moorer, for a string of tour dates in support of his new LP/novel I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive. Kicking off in June, the dates include NYC twice: 9/12 at Music Hall of Williamsburg and 9/13 at Town Hall. Town Hall tickets go on sale on Friday 4/22 at 11AM, while MHoW tickets go on AmEx presale on 4/20 before going on general sale on Friday. All tour dates are listed below.

I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive the album is due in 4/26, but the novel is due on 5/12 and "imagines the troubled life of Doc Ebersole as he is haunted by the ghost of his former patient and friend, Hank Williams". Earle is currently offering the first chapter from his new book as well as a download of the new song "Waitin' On The Sky" if you "like" him on Facebook.

More imminently, Steve Earle and Alison Moorer will also appear at the Beacon Theater on May 27th in celebration of Wavy Gravy's 75th birthday alongside Ani DiFranco, Jackson Browne, Dr.John, and many others. Tickets are still available.

Steve released a limited edition 7" on Record Store Day. Did you pick one up?

The A-Side is Earle's version of the Hank Williams song that is the title of both Earle's new studio album and debut novel, I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive. The song was the last single released during Hank Williams' lifetime in December of 1952. The B-Side is Earle's celebrated original "This City" which has garnered both Emmy and Grammy Award nominations as it was written for HBO's Original Series Treme (in which Earle appears as a cast member). "This City" also closes Earle's T Bone Burnett-produced new album released by New West Records on April 26th. The 7 inch single is a hand-numbered edition of 2,600 copies on translucent red vinyl with black swirl. The cover of "I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive" will be available digitally as a bonus track, and is exclusive in physical form to this 7 inch release.

All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Steve Earle releasing an LP & novel, touring (dates) "

Pete Seeger @ Clearwater Festival 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

Clearwater Festival, the annual benefit for the Hudson River environmental group of the same name, will be happening this year at Croton-on-Hudson's Croton Point Park on June 19th & 20th. Pete Seeger, the non-profit's founder, plays every year - joining him this year will be Steve Earle, Rhett Miller, Joan Osborne, Buckwheat Zydeco, Felice Bros and more. More of the initial lineup is below. Tickets to the fest are on sale (and currently almost half the door price). Pictures from last year's day one are HERE and day two are HERE.

A bit farther Upstate in Hunter, NY, the three-day Mountain Jam will be happening June 4th-6th. The lineup for that includes Gov't Mule, Levon Helm & Friends, Drive-By Truckers, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, The Avett Brothers, Dr. Dog, Les Claypool, Jay Farrar (of Son Volt), These United States, Justin Townes Earle (note dad, playing above) and Tao Rodriguez-Seeger Band (the same, except grandpa). The full current lineup is below, and tickets are on sale.

Later this summer (in July), Camp Bisco will be in Mariaville, NY.

Lineups so far for both fests are below...

Continue reading "Mountain Jam (6/4-6) the Clearwater Festival (6/19-20) have announced initial 2010 NY concert lineups & tickets "

David Byrne w/ Dirty Projectors @ Bowery Ballroom

I have, after many years, finished the Here Lies Love CD project - at least this iteration of it. It will come out [February 23rd] on Nonesuch. It's a collaboration with Fatboy Slim, an upbeat series of songs sung each one by a different singer. The songs are about Imelda Marcos and Estrella Cumpas, the woman who raised her. The package includes 2 CDs (22 songs), a DVD with videos of 6 of those songs, and a 100-page book that explains it all. Singers include Florence Welch (of Florence + The Machine), Sia, Santigold, Nellie McKay, Sharon Jones, St. Vincent, Róisín Murphy and many more (even me on 1 and 1/2)... I am pretty excited about this, but who knows, it might just make people crazy.

We'll see. There will be more concrete news, with links and music, in early January.

In the meantime, I have decided to rebrand myself, inspired by Philip Morris changing their name to Altria, Blackwater to Xe, and the train I'm riding on right now that calls itself Acela - none of which mean anything, but they are cleverly evocative. When I decide on the magic word, you'll be the first to know.

-David Byrne

What should David Bryne's new name be? The full tracklist for the new record, which also features vocal turns by Steve Earle and Allison Moorer (who both just played NYC on Friday), Cyndi Lauper, Tori Amos and Martha Wainwright, is below.

Here Lies Love premiered in March 2006 Australia, and Byrne brought the song cycle to Carnegie Hall as part of the venue's Perspectives Series in February 2007. As a stage show, the songs fit into a four act narrative, laid out in detail on Byrne's website. Those at either performance got a first look at the then-in-progress work...

Here Lies Love takes the form of a series of fairly traditional pop songs (verse-chorus-verse) played in a variety of styles (disco, rock, funk, latin, ballad) by Byrne and a small group of colleagues. Augmenting the core of guitar, bass and drums, is a percussionist and a keyboard player. The vocals are shared by Dana Diaz-Tutaan (Imelda), Ganda Suthivarakom (Estrella), and Byrne, who represents the 'voice' of other key players in Imelda's life. The stage itself is unadorned, although behind the band a small screen plays news clips and home movies of Imelda's life.

As already mentioned, the songs themselves are simple pop tunes, leaning heavily on the disco and dance genres, and could fit neatly onto any number of Byrne's solo albums. They are tuneful enough, and skillfully played, but I wonder about the connection of the music to Imelda's life. Would it have been possible to blend some traditional Filipino sounds and flavours into the music of Here Lies Love (although, admittedly, Imelda was a fan of Western dance music)? [Tidy Boy]

David Byrne will appear at a free, unticketed (first come, first served) event at the Bell House on Monday, January 11th. He presents "a short video/audio lecture called 'Creation in Reverse,' speaking to the ways that venue and context shape artistic creation, followed by a Q&A."

More Here Lies Love info and a video on the performance are below...

Continue reading "David Byrne rebranding, releasing an album w/ Fatboy Slim & lots of guests, giving a free lecture in Brooklyn "

photos by Chris La Putt

A very pregnant Allison Moorer joined Steve Earle for a few songs during her husband's two-hour acoustic show Friday night at the Society for Ethical Culture off Central Park West, a block from Lincoln Center.

The gig came during a brief respite back in their adoptive hometown, between legs of a tour promoting Earle's new album of compositions by his hero, the late Townes Van Zandt, whose songs he's now teaching to legions of new cultists.

Arguably America's greatest living songwriter laughed as he noted that "Townes" has become one of his best sellers, "which in a way is discouraging cause I didn't write any of the songs on it." [Borough 6]

David Broza (with help from guitarist G. E. Smith) opened the show and is playing again on Christmas Eve at 92Y. More pictures from the show with Steve's setlist, below...

Continue reading "Steve Earle & David Broza @ the New York Society For Ethical Culture in Manhattan - pics & setlist"

photos by Chris La Putt

"Although the [Clearwater] festival was geared towards an older crowd, it did have a pretty stellar lineup. Artists worth noting [that played the first day] were the now 90 years old Pete Seeger (of course), the man who opened Woodstock 1969, one Richie Havens, Susan Tedeschi (wife of guitar prodigy Derek Trucks), Tao Seeger, Old Crow Medecine Show and one of my new favourite bands, Dr. Dog. I was at the festival to work, as Relix had a booth set up for the purpose of selling subscriptions. I did get to drop in on Seeger briefly, he played with the kids from room 12, an assortment of children no older then 9 years old. The man really sparks to life when he is on stage and is simply a musical institution. After meeting and greeting Richie Havens (he was signing autographs and taking pictures at a booth directly across from Relix) I was able to pop in on his short set and catch a powerful rendition of Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower". Mr. Havens stuck closely to the original version but with the addition of a lead acoustic guitarist accompanying him. I also managed to drop by Old Crow Medecine Show's set and catch some of their highly upbeat bluegrass and country music. People were really diggin Old Crow, taking advantage of an excuse to hoe-dance and get down in the mud." [Back in 15 Minutes]

The Old Crow Medicine Show will be back in August, that time as part of a tour of venues where there is guaranteed to be no mud to dance in.

The Clearwater Festival took place on 6 outdoor stages & tents at Croton Point Park in Croton-on Hudson, NY over this past rainy weekend. Alejandro Escovedo, Jennie Arnau, and Allison Moorer were also among those who played on Saturday (6/20). More pictures from that day below...

Continue reading "The 2009 Clearwater Festival - day 1 in pics (Dr. Dog, rain, Pete Seeger, kids, Old Crow Medicine Show, mud & more)"

MSG photos & words by Jacob Blickenstaff, Columbia photos by Jens Schott Knudsen

Pete Seeger @ Columbia in April...

"Clearwater conducts innovative environmental programs, advocacy and celebrations in order to inspire and energize the next generation of environmental leaders.

Clearwater was founded in 1969 by music legend and environmental activist Pete Seeger." [Clearwater]

Pete Seeger's been busy lately, especially for someone who just celebrated his 90th birthday. The event for that occasion took place at Madison Square Garden on May 3rd, and is reviewed in full below, with pictures. A few weeks before that, on Earth Day (April 18th), Pete played a show at Columbia's Teachers College. Photos from that show are below too. Right after that he headed to New Orleans to perform at Jazz Fest. Prior to those, Seeger played the Clearwater benefit with Jeff Tweedy at Beacon High School on March 28th. We also recently noticed his name as the special guest on a show at Joe's Pub.

This summer Pete Seeger is scheduled to play the Newport Folk Festival (August 1st and 2nd), and will perform at his own Clearwater Festival, taking place in Croton-on-the-Hudson, NY this weekend (June 20th and 21st). The Clearwater Fest lineup includes Dr. Dog, A.C. Newman, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Richie Havens, Old Crow Medicine Show, Alejandro Escovedo, Arlo Guthrie and others. Its full schedule is below. Tickets are still sale at the gate.

UPDATE: we can confirm that Pete played his scheduled Saturday morning Clearwater Fest performance "with kids" for those who braved the rain. Pete will perform again at the festival on Sunday afternoon with his grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger.

A review of Pete Seeger's 90th Birthday Celebration at MSG, and all above-mentioned photos, with the full Clearwater Festival lineup & schedule, below...

Continue reading "Clearwater Festival this weekend - full schedule ++ Pete Seeger pics (from his 90th birthday & Columbia University)"

photos by Fresh Bread

Steve Earle and Allison Moorer played one of the first shows at the newly-opened City Winery in NYC on Thursday night (1/8). It wasn't just any show though. It was a "pairing"...

"Pairings is a unique 'blend' at City Winery: an intimate concert series served with fine wine that will take place on City Winery's main stage every Thursday evening, starting in January 2009. Each concert will be preceded by an optional tasting or private dinner, followed by personal performances from some of today's most respected musicians."

Suzanne Vega and Lenny Kaye play the next Paring on January 15th. Then Mike Doughty & Tony Scherr Trio, and then Jill Sobule & Julia Sweeney.

Venue owner Michael Dorf (of Knitting Factory fame) made an introduction, and then Steve Earle's set kicked off with "Christmas In Washington" which included a multiple minute story about Obama and the upcoming inauguration followed by "My Old Friend the Blues." The rest of his 90-or-so minute set was spattered with old ("Copperhead Road", "Jerusalem", "Guitar Town") and new ("Down Here Below", "Tennessee Blues", "Days Aren't Hard Enough").

Allison Moorer opened and then later joined her husband Steve on stage for some songs. Her set ended with a cover of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" which had everyone cheering, when she said during the intro, "It is nice to have a new president that can...talk."

Earle also mentioned his next CD will be an album of all covers by his friend Townes Van Zandt (RIP) who his oldest son, Justin Townes Earle (also a musician), is named after.

More pictures of the performers and the venue below...

Continue reading "Steve Earle & Allison Moorer @ City Winery, NYC - pics"

photo inside City Winery (Michael Dorf on stage) (from Eater)

In addition to a functioning winery and 21,000 square foot restaurant/event space, City Winery is also equipped with a full stage, state-of-the-art sound system and in-house A/V-making it one of the most interesting venues to ever hit Manhattan. Whether you are planning a private party, a public concert or an intimate evening of music and/or the spoken word, City Winery's stage and staff can accommodate a variety of live performances and cultural activities that will appeal to sophisticated New Yorkers, and wine connoisseurs, alike.

Unfortunately, "to purchase tickets to any of the upcoming shows or classes, you must first become a Vinofile member." I don't think you need to be a member to always go there - for instance you could just be a VIP at the upcoming REM Carnegie Hall event, but I don't know. I also doubt you'll need to be a member to go to the Blackoutsabbath Rufus Wainwright show happening there on March 4th (no tickets for that yet) (for now Rufus is focused on the upcoming McGarrigle Christmas Hour show).

All known upcoming City Winery events are listed below...

Continue reading "shows @ City Winery (Philip Glass, Rufus Wainwright, etc)"

Steve Earle & Allison Moorer @ Judson Church (more by Chris La Putt)

Will City Winery be a hit? The idea that music events and high-end private parties could generate additional revenue convinced Matthew Sperling, managing director of equity capital markets at Jefferies & Co., to become one of the winery's first investors. It was a decision he says he came to ``over many bottles of wine.'' And, of course, he's making his own barrel.

Dorf admits that ``the credit crunch is affecting my nerves.'' One investor has pulled out, and the $15,000 premier barrel category hasn't had any traction in the past three weeks. Still, a third of the barrels have been sold to a diverse group of New Yorkers, from group president of JP Morgan Mutual Funds George Gatch to supermodel Petra and artist Chuck Close.

Dorf is taking no chances. This week he's launching a ``community barrel'' category (about $1,500) for those willing to share with five like-minded strangers. (Think of it as the latest singles opportunity.)

He's also revamping next year's music plans.

``My idea of having Sting appear at a $1,000-ticket concert would have worked six months ago, but the game has changed in the past five or six days,'' he says. Thursday night ``pairing'' events start in January, with Grammy Award-winning Steve Earle and his wife, Allison Moorer, followed by singer-songwriters Suzanne Vega and Marc Cohn. [Bloomberg]

Philip Glass is playing there in March. A video feature NBC did on the venue below...

Continue reading "will City Winery survive in this economy?"

photos by Chris La Putt

Steve Earle (musician, activist, Joan Baez album producer, and actor on The Wire) & Allison Moorer (who happens to be married to Steve) played their third of four 'solo & acoustic' show in a row, at Judson Church in NYC last night (Sept 25, 2008). The fourth performance is tonight (Friday).

Alison opened the night with a quick 30 minute set and then later returned to join Steve on stage for a few songs. More pictures and the setlist (including The Wire theme song) from last night's seated show below...

Continue reading "Steve Earle & Allison Moorer @ Judson Church, pics, setlist"

Before Earle was signed as an artist in his own right, he was employed as a songwriter, writing songs for the likes of Carl Perkins, Vince Gill and Steve Wariner. His song "Mustang Wine" was due to be recorded by Elvis Presley in 1975, but Presley did not turn up for the recording session. The song was released as a single by Carl Perkins. [Wiki]

The Friday night (9/26) show is sold out, but there are still tickets available for the other three shows Steve Earle and Allison Moorer are playing at Judson Church in NYC. Tonight they play a show at Outpost in the Burbs in Jersey. All dates below...

Continue reading "Steve Earle - updated 2008 Tour Dates "