Deer Tick at Brooklyn Bowl in December (more by Tracy Allison)

Still depressed that those Phish and Disco Biscuits New Year's runs are over? Fear not jam band fans, it's only a matter of months before Mountain Jam returns to Hunter Mountain in upstate NY, June 6 - 9, to be specific. This year's lineup features the first ever Mountain Jam appearance from Deer Tick, along with Phil Lesh and Friends, Primus, The Avett Brothers, Gary Clark Jr, David Wax Museum, Widespread Panic, and of course, Gov't Mule (whose Warren Haynes is one of the festival producers), and others. Pre-sale tickets for the festival are sold out, but early bird tickets go back on sale Saturday (1/19) at 10 AM.

In related news, Warren Haynes' other band, The Allman Brothers are doing ten shows at Beacon Theatre in March and tickets for some of those shows are still available.

Initial Mountain Jam lineup below...

Continue reading "Mountain Jam reveals initial 2013 lineup (Deer Tick, Phil Lesh, Primus, Avett Brothers, Gary Clark Jr & more)"

The day when a bill Jeff Mangum on it selling out instantly might be gone, but take note that tickets just went on sale for the 11/15 "People's Bailout, a variety show and telethon to benefit the 99%". The updated lineup is Janeane Garofalo, Lizz Winstead, Max Silvestri, Hari Kondabolu, David Rees, The Yes Men, John Cameron Mitchell, Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel, Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, Guy Picciotto of Fugazi, Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio, Climbing Poetree, the Invisible Army of Defaulters, members of Healthcare for the 99%, Occupy Faith, "and many more."

Note: as strange as it may seem now, the LPR show is not a hurricane-related benefit (though Occupy Wall Street is on the case). The Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk & Anders Osborne show at Highline Ballroom on 11/5 is one though. Amy Helm, Eric Krasno (Soulive/Lettuce), Luther Dickinson (N. Miss Allstars), Bela Fleck and Questlove and more are on the bill so far. Tickets are on sale.

Questlove's DJ set at Brooklyn Bowl last night was also a benefit for the Red Cross. Bear in Heaven and Small Black are DJing a Sandy benefit at Glasslands tonight (11/2).

Woody Guthrie was born on July 14th, 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma. Over the decades, his songs have run around the world like a fast train on a well oiled track. They've become the folk song standards of the nation, known and performed in many languages throughout the world. Pretty Boy Floyd, Pastures of Plenty, Hard Travelin', Deportees, Roll On Columbia, Vigilante Man and This Land Is Your Land are among the hundreds of his songs that have become staples in the canon of American music.

The GRAMMY Museum is partnering with the Guthrie Family / Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. and the Woody Guthrie Archives to create the Centennial celebrations. The year-long celebration will include a host of concerts, programs and events taking place throughout the country and across the pond.

It's a rare thing for an artist to still be making an impact on modern music as he approaches the 100th anniversary of his birth, like Woody Guthrie is. It's fitting then that people have been celebrating Woody's centennial, at multiple events across the country, all year long. A big list of remaining events across the country is below. We'll also highlight a few.

The Guthrie Family ("Arlo Guthrie w/ Abe, Cathy, Annie, Sarah Lee, Johnny Irion...and the Kids") will celebrate with a "Guthrie Family Reunion" tour featuring three generations of Guthries. Arlo Guthrie commented:

"Getting the family together and heading out on the road is the perfect way to celebrate my father's centennial - only once before did we have the whole family on tour, and we did 80 shows. Instead of doing an entire year of touring and taking the kids out of school, we are focusing on shows right around Woody's actual birthday. This time of year marks the climax of the Woody Guthrie centennial celebrations all over the world. I'll also continue my solo touring in honor of my dad through spring 2013."

The Guthries, who will perform Woody's songs as well as new material written by various family members, will spend the day after Woody's birthday at Central Park Summerstage. The free Sunday (7/15), NYC show starts at 7pm. They also play a show in Ocean City, NJ the next day, and Newport Folk Festival later in the month. All tour dates are listed below.

On July 10 (12-1 pm), NYC's 92YTribeca hosts author Ed Cray who will discuss his book "Ramblin' Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie."

Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion play Hill Country in NYC on 7/12.

On 7/14 head to Coney Island for a free screening of "Bound for Glory" on the beach along with "live music by Billy Bragg and Steve Earle starting at 8:00pm, and the feature film starting around 8:45pm." Get to Coney Island earlier and see a free screening of "Man In the Sand" at the Coney Island museum. "Following the film, there will be a book signing by Nora Guthrie and CD signing by Billy Bragg, with both items available for purchase."

City Winery in NYC will play host to a trio of events titled "Woodyfest" from July 11-13 Hosted by Steve Earle, the shows will feature an assortment of artists paying tribute to the troubador. July 11 features John Hammond & Tim Robbins, and more TBA (tickets). July 12 has Rachael Yamagata, The Wood Brothers & Allen Toussaint (tickets). July 13th features Billy Bragg, Amy Helm & Joe Purdy (tickets).

Brooklyn College will host a "Woody at 100" celebration on September 22 with a conference, and a tribute concert.

More events, dates, and some videos from the party that took place at the 2012 Clearwater Festival in June, below....

Continue reading "Woody Guthrie turns 100 (and that means lots of events)"

Canadian folk/alt-country band Blackie and the Rodeo Kings are set to release Kings and Queens today (6/14) in the US via Music/Dramatico/Universal. The album features a different female vocalist in each track, and the list is pretty impressive. It includes Lucinda Williams, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Exene Cervenka of X, Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek, Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash and others. Full tracklist below.

The band plays The Living Room TONIGHT (6/14). Tickets are available. They play at 9 PM before Joseph Arthur plays one of his 10 shows at the same venue at 10 PM.

No special guests are announced, but we know at least one of the artists that appears on the album is probably in town. NYC resident Rosanne Cash, who spends much of the summer touring to promote her music and a book, has no dates scheduled before this Thursday (6/16) when she plays as part of Hal Wilner's 'Freedom Riders' show with Lou Reed, Tao Seeger, and others.

Lucinda Williams also has shows coming up too. She plays Wellmont Theatre on July 20 (tickets) and Beacon Theater on July 21 (tickets) with Amos Lee.

Emmylou Harris plays Summerstage on July 18 with the Levon Helm Band and Hayes Carll. Tickets are still on sale.

Exene Cervenka will be in NYC with X in September and October.

I don't know if Sara Watkins is on tour with the Decemberists (who play Prospect Park tonight), but she did play with them at the Beacon Theater in January.

All B&RK tour dates, album art, and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Blackie & the Rodeo Kings released a guest-filled album, playing a NYC show tonight (and other dates)"