Sigur Ros at @ Celebrate Brooklyn! 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

We've known about a few Celebrate Brooklyn! shows already (Belle & Sebastian / Yo La Tengo, The Roots with Jim James, Beck), but festival has announced their full 2013 schedule which includes Big Boi, Amadou & Miriam, Calexico, Mavis Staples, Cody Chesnutt, Os Mutantes, The Waterboys, Jamie Lidell / Dan Deacon, and They Might Be Giants... all of which are free. Celebrate Brooklyn! kicks off the season with a free show with Patty Griffin on June 5.

The full Celebrate Brooklyn! schedule is below.

Continue reading "Celebrate Brooklyn! announces 2013 line-up (Big Boi, Calexico, Dan Deacon, Waterboys, Mavis Staples, TMBG + more)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Jim James @ Webster Hall, 4/29/2013

It's a strange juxtaposition going from witnessing a caped James fronting My Morning Jacket at a packed Madison Square Garden, which holds roughly 20,000 during concerts, to seeing his dancing, up-close in a Blues Brothers-themed suit, 20 blocks south at Webster Hall, which fills with a little more than 1,400 at the main stage. But last night proved that venue has little influence and Jim James can and always will beguile an audience of any size. - [Baeblemusic]

Jim will be back in town this summer for a collaborative show with The Roots in Prospect Park, and also with My Morning Jacket when they open for much of Bob Dylan and Wilco's Americanarama tour (though not at Nikon @ Jones Beach, where Beck will open). More shots from Webster Hall are below.

Continue reading "Jim James played Webster Hall with Cold Specks (pics)"

Bob Dylan, who is currently on tour with Dawes, just announced his AmericanaramA: Festival of Music tour, which he'll be going on this summer. And he's tapped some pretty incredible support to go along with him: Wilco and My Morning Jacket. That tour hits the NYC area on July 19 The Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT, July 26 at Pier A Park in Hoboken, NJ, July 27 at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY, and July 28 at Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ. Ryan Bingham is also on all three of those dates and several others as well, and Richard Thompson is supporting on some of the other shows, but none in the NYC area. A ticket presale begins on Bob Dylan's site this Wednesday (4/24). Stay tuned for more ticket info. All dates are listed below.

UPDATE: My Morning Jacket are not playing the Jones Beach show, but they will be on the other three NYC-area dates.

As mentioned, My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James is also on his own tour that hits NYC for a sold out show on April 29 at Webster Hall with Cold Specks and for a Celebrate Brooklyn! show at Prospect Park on June 18, where he'll be playing a collaborative set with The Roots. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

All Bob Dylan dates are listed, along with a video of him playing "Tangled Up In Blue" with Mark Knopfler at their 2012 Barclays Center show and the tour flyer, below...

Continue reading "Bob Dylan announces 'AmericanaramA: Festival of Music' tour w/ Wilco & My Morning Jacket (dates)"

Jim James at MHOW in February (more by PSquared Photography)

Due to an "unforeseen scheduling conflict," the collaborative Jim James / Roots performance at Celebrate Brooklyn in Propect Park is moving dates from June 19 to June 18. All tickets purchased during the pre-sale will be honored on the new date. For those unable to attend, refunds will be available through Ticketmaster. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday (4/19) at noon. Updated Jim James tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Jim James and The Roots' collaborative Celebrate Brooklyn show changes date, now happening one day earlier"

Jim James at MHOW in February (more by PSquared Photography)

My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James is on a tour this year which hits Newport Folk Festival and NYC for a sold out show at Webster Hall (4/29) with Cold Specks.

Meanwhile, hip hop renaissance men The Roots have their own dates scheduled, including one in NYC on April 25 at BAM for day 1 of the Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival with Julia Holter, Parquet Courts, Solange, David Longstreth, TV on the Radio, Phosphorescent and others (4/25 tix and 3-day passes) and Philly on June 1 Penns Landing for The Roots Picnic with Grimes, Solange, Joey Bada$$, How to Dress Well, Hit-Boy, Araabmuzik, and others (tickets).

These two tours will cross paths in Brooklyn on June 19 18 at Prospect Park with The Roots and Jim James play a collaborative show at the outdoor venue as part of the Celebrate Brooklyn! 2013 season. (UPDATE: The show was moved to June 18.) Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (4/19) at noon with AmEx and venue presales starting Wednesday (4/17) at 10 AM. Other currently announced Celebrate Brooklyn! shows include a free Patty Griffin show on 6/5, a Belle & Sebastian and Yo La Tengo show on 7/11 (tickets), and a Barenaked Ladies, Ben Folds Five, and Guster show on 7/30 (tickets).

In related news, Roots members Captain Kirk Douglas and Mark Kelly are playing a show with their other band, The Dust Rays, on April 22 at Mercury Lounge with The Juggs and The Veldts. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Updated Jim James and Roots dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Jim James & The Roots playing collaborative Celebrate Brooklyn! show at Prospect Park (updated dates)"

Phosphorescent at Bonnaroo 2011 (more by Graeme Flegenheimer)

As mentioned, Newport Folk Festival is returning this year to Fort Adams State Park from July 26 to 28, and since we last spoke, the lineup has been revealed. This year's fest includes Beck, The Avett Brothers, Feist, Jim James, Colin Meloy, Andrew Bird, The Mountain Goats (who just announced a tour), Father John Misty, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Dawn McCarthy, Justin Townes Earle, Felice Brothers, Jason Isbell, Amanda Palmer, Phosphorescent, Beth Orton, John McCauley, Michael Kiwanuka, Lord Huron, Frank Turner, Black Prairie, Langhorne Slim, TIft Merritt, Spirit Family Reunion, Blake Mills, Houndmouth, Cold Specks, and others, plus more TBA.

Hope you acted quick back in January. 3-Day passes and 2-day passes are sold out, as are single day tickets for Saturday and Sunday, but you can still get single day tickets for Friday.

Speaking of the Rough Trade-signed, Lumineers-like Houndmouth, you have two chances to catch them in NYC this week before they become as big as the Lumineers. They're at Mercury Lounge on Wednesday (4/10) and Rockwood Music Hall on Thursday (4/11).

Full initial Newport Fest lineup below...

Continue reading "Newport Folk Festival -- 2013 lineup (Beck, Feist, Jim James, Phosphorescent, Father John Misty, Bonnie Prince Billy, Houndmouth & more)"

Cold Specks at Polaris Music Prize 2012 Gala (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

As mentioned, My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James is going on a tour which hits NYC on April 29 at Webster Hall (now sold out). Since we first mentioned that tour, Cold Specks has been added as an opener, and while she's in NYC for the Webster Hall show she'll play her own show at Pianos later that night with Prince Innocence. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

All dates are listed, along with a stream of her 2012 LP, below...

Continue reading "Cold Specks schedules NYC show during Jim James tour"

We haven't had a new Camera Obscura record since 2009's My Maudlin Career but that drought will end soon. The Glaswegians will release Desire Lines on June 4 via 4AD. The record was mostly made in Portland, OR last year with producer Tucker Martine (R.E.M., Spoon, My Morning Jacket). Says singer Tracyanne Campbell:

Of all our records this was pretty much the most challenging to write, partly because of the situation we found ourselves in with having to take such a long and uncertain amount of time out, but also because it would be record number five and we were getting harder and harder to please. Working in the US with southern gentleman Tucker Martine was a positive experience. He brought a certain calmness to recording that wasn't there before. We were also delighted to have Neko Case and Jim James sing on the record too. What a treat.

All 2013 Camera Obscura tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Camera Obscura announce 'Desire Lines' ++ 2013 dates"

"Highlights of amazing @tibethouseus concert: Ira Glass dancing, Jim James singing, & Patti Smith & Phillip Glass performing a Ginsberg poem." - Ann Napolitano

Jim James and Ariel Pink (via Force Field)

The 23rd Annual Tibet House Benefit Concert went down at Carnegie Hall last night (2/21) with Jim James, Merrill Garbus (aka tUnE-yArDs), Ariel Pink, Patti Smith, Rahzel, Tenzin Choegyal, Jesse Smith, and artistic director Philip Glass, with backing from Scorchio Quartet, dancing from This American Life's Ira Glass, and an opening Monk chant.

As these shows usually go, the participating musicians all collaborated with each other on stage throughout the show. Some highlights include Ariel Pink being joined by Philip Glass at one point and then Merrill Garbus at another, Patti Smith reading Allen Ginsberg's "Wichita Vortex Sutra" as Philip Glass played backing piano, and the concert's final song, which saw everyone but Pink coming on stage for Patti Smith's "People Have the Power."

If you were there, did you see Uma Thurman in the audience? She was there with her father, Robert, a Buddhist writer who is President of TIbet House US, and who, along with Philip Glass, gave an introductory speech at the concert.

The full setlist and a couple shots of Jim James' set below...

Continue reading "Jim James, Merrill Garbus, Ariel Pink, Patti Smith, Philip Glass, & Rahzel played the Tibet House US 23rd Annual Benefit"

photos by PSquared Photography

Jim James @ MHOW, 2/19/2013

My Morning Jacket's Jim James, who released his first solo album earlier this month, played a sold-out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg last night (2/19) with Dean & Britta opening. It was the first of two NYC area dates (a sold-out McKittrick Hotel gig goes down tonight, 2/20). In addition to the songs from Regions of Light and Sound of God, he threw in a few MMJ songs too, like "Wordless Chorus" and finale "Victory Dance" which featured an appearance from that band's Tom Blankenship. Photos from the show, including ones of both Jim and Dean's setlists, are in this post.

The shows were a teaser for a larger set of dates set to go down in April which will include a stop at another sold-out show, Webster Hall on April 29.

In other news, Jim James was recently added to Bonnaroo and also released a video for "A New Life", a new single culled from his recent solo effort Regions of Light and Sound of God. Check out that video as well as more pics from MHOW below.

Continue reading "Jim James played Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Dean Wareham (pics, setlist), plays McKittrick Hotel tonight"

Jim James w/ MMJ at Capitol Theatre in 2012 (more by PSquared Photography)

My Morning Jacket frontman JIm James, who was just announced for Bonnaroo, is currently on his previously discussed tour in support of his new solo album, Regions of Light and Sound of God, which hits NYC for multiple shows. Those shows include tonight's (2/19) sold out MHOW show with Dean Wareham, and Wednesday's super intimate sold out show at McKittrick Hotel (2/20). However, if you'd like to get into tomorrow's McKittrick show, you've still got a chance because we are giving away a pair of tickets, courtesy of show sponsor RDIO. The tickets only grant access to Jim's set, not the "Sleep No More" show, which happens right afterwards.

Jim's dates also include other NYC shows on Thursday (2/21) for the Tibet House benefit, and a sold out show at Webster Hall (4/29) with Cold Specks. All other dates are listed HERE.

Contest details below...

Continue reading "Jim James is here, win tickets to the McKittrick Hotel show"

Weird Al and Bonarroo phone bank (including Mike Birbiglia and Eugene Mirman...

With help from Eugene Mirman, Chris Gethard, Mike Birbiglia, Portugal. The Man and more, Weird Al just began announcing the 2013 Bonnaroo line-up on the Bonnaroo YouTube page which happens June 13 - 16 in Manchester, TN. Weird Al just announced Pretty Lights, Wilco, A$AP Rocky, and The xx, and over the next hour, more artists will be announced. We'll update this post as more announcements come.

Other artists playing include Passion Pit, Kendrick Lamar, David Byrne and St. Vincent, Jim James, Big K.R.I.T., Billy Idol, Grizzly Bear, Japandroids, Foals, Wild Nothing, Deap Vally, Killer Mike, Lord Huron, Divine Fits, Nas, Beach House, The Gaslight Anthem, Local Natives, Dirty Projectors, Baroness, The National, The Vaccines, Holy Ghost, Death Grips, R. Kelly, Alt-J, Purity Ring, Cat Power, Wu-Tang Clan, Bjork, Tame Impala, Animal Collective, The Tallest Man on Earth, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Paul McCartney, Earl Sweatshirt, Four Tet, Father John Misty, Swans, A-Trak, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Cults, AraabMuzik, DIIV, Charli XCX, Matthew E. White, Frank Turner, JEFF the Brotherhood, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Calexico, Two Gallants, and more.

Tickets for the festival go on sale Saturday (2/23) at noon EST.

There's also now a video of Daniel Tosh announcing the initial lineup, which you can watch, along with the current list of announced names, below...

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2013 lineup announcement underway"

Retribution Gospel Choir @ Chicagos' Schuba's, 2012 (more by Grant MacAllister)

Bleeding Rainbow @ Knitting Factory, June 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

today in NYC
* Bedroom @ The Stone
* Jeff Garlin @ Caroline's
* Bilal @ Highline Ballroom
* Slavic Soul Party @ Barbes
* Sarah Goldfeather @ Barbes
* Trombone Shorty @ Marquee
* A$AP Ferg, Fat Trel @ S.O.B.'s
* Christopher Merritt @ The Stone
* Dead Kennedys @ Gramercy Theatre
* Two Lights, Edith Pop @ Bowery Electric
* Sunset Guns, Stephen Selman @ Big Snow
* Child Abuse, Radiation, Blackbody @ Saint Vitus
* Bridget Everett & The Tender Moments @ Joe's Pub
* George Clinton & The P-Funk All-Stars @ B.B. King's
* Silent Draper Runners' "Ritual for Bob" @ Videology
* Marco Benevento, Johnny Vidacovich @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Mumford & Sons, Ben Howard, Haim @ Barclays Center
* Chris Mills, Mary Bragg, Barnaby Bright @ The Living Room
* Relatives, Heart of Darkness, Noble Laureate @ Muchmore's
* The Sea The Sea, Bryan Dunn, Zach Hurd @ Pete's Candy Store
* Bleeding Rainbow, The Neighbors, Census, Spires @ Glasslands
* Brown Bird, Joe Fletcher & the Wrong Reasons @ Mercury Lounge
* Jay Green, Justin Williams, Zachary Lipez, Tim Harrington @ Union Pool
* Face Crimes, Yeah Well Whatever, Hawt Mess, Fuxk Yeah @ Silent Barn
* Thick Wild, Sewing Machines, Thomas Kivi, Wild Leaves @ Cameo Gallery
* Johanna and The Dusty Floor, Salt Cathedral, Hank & Cupcakes @ Pianos
* Gilbert Gottfried, Dave Attell, W. Kamau Bell, Artie Lang @ Gotham Comedy Club
* Retribution Gospel Choir, Alan Sparhawk, BB&C, Nightlands @ The Knitting Factory
* ?uestlove, PitchBlak Brass Band, Cyndi Lauper, Piyali Banerjie, Wendy Brackman @ Le Poisson Rouge

HAIM, who open for Mumford & Sons tonight at Barclays Center, will release their new EP on April 1 and you can stream a track from it, "Falling," below.

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My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James released his solo album Regions Of Light And Sound Of God last week and will be playing NYC later this month. He also recently released the video for single "A New Life" and if you like minotaurs, you won't want to miss this video, which you can watch below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

As mentioned (along with a full tour), Jim James was schedule to play Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night with the Roots, and that he did. Check out the performance below.

As also mentioned, Jim is stopping by the McKittrick Hotel on 2/20 to play a set in conjunction with the popular show "Sleep No More". Though originally listed as sold out, $162.50 tickets are on sale now. If you just want to see "Sleep No More" though, tickets are actually much cheaper normally.

Continue reading "Jim James played Fallon with the Roots (watch); Sleep No More back on sale"

Jim James w/ MMJ at Capitol Theatre in 2012 (more by PSquared Photography)

As mentioned, My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James is releasing his debut solo LP, Regions of Light and Sound of God, on February 5 via ATO, and you can now hear the whole thing over at NPR.

Jim has a few previously discussed shows coming up, including a set at the Tibet House 23rd Annual Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall (2/21) (tickets) and two other small NYC shows, MHOW (2/19) and the even tinier McKittrick Hotel (2/20), both of which are sold out. But if you weren't able to get tickets, you've got another chance. Jim just announced a full tour which will happen this April and May and it brings him back to NYC for a show at the larger Webster Hall on April 29. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (2/1) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Thursday (1/31) at noon.

Jim will also perform on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on February 4 with The Roots and he will return to the show the next day to sit in for the entire episode as a guest performer.

A list of all dates and streams of two tracks off his new album, below...

Continue reading "Jim James streaming new album, announces tour (dates)"

Jim James w/ MMJ at Capitol Theatre in December (more by Greg Cristman)

My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James will release his first solo album, Regions of Light and Sound of God, on February 5 via ATO. He's revealed two tracks off that album, "A New Life" and "Know Til Now," which you stream below. Also below is the album's cover art and tracklist.

As mentioned, Jim James will be in NYC for the Tibet House 23rd Annual Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall on February 21 with Philip Glass, tUnE-yArDs, Rahzel, Patti Smith with Jessie Smith, and more TBA (tickets and special packages are available). Jim James has added a few other club dates happening around that same time, including a Philly show and another NYC date on February 19 at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (1/18) at noon. There's also a roll call presale for the Philly show and the MHOW show that starts today (1/16) at 3 PM and on Thursday (1/17) the presale will be opened up to the entire MMJ mailing list. He also plays an intimate Rdio-presented show at The McKittrick Hotel on February 20 (sold out).

A list of all dates, song streams, cover art, and tracklist are below...

Continue reading "Jim James releasing solo LP, playing shows (dates, streams)"

photos by Greg Cristman

My Morning Jacket / Jim James @ the Capitol Theater

My Morning Jacket play Boston tonight for New Year's Eve, followed by a Sandy benefit in NJ on Wednesday (1/2), and Jim James will be part of the next Tibet House benefit concert in 2013.

MMJ kicked off their three-night run at Port Chester's Capitol Theatre on Thursday (12/27) and continued the following two nights. As previously mentioned, each night got an entirely different setlist and a different band opened each night too, with Friday (12/28) getting Antibalas and Saturday (12/29) getting Floating Action. Friday's show got "Holdin' On To Black Metal," their cover of Elton John's "Rocket Man," "Golden," and others; while Saturday got "Circuital," "Evil Urges," "Wordless Chorus," and others.

Pictures and the setlist from night 1 are HERE. Pics of night 2 and the setlists and some videos from night 2 and 3 are below...

Continue reading "My Morning Jacket wrapped up their run at the Cap (setlists, videos, night 2 pics)"

tUnE-yArDs at Lollapalooza 2012 (more by James Richards IV)

The Tibet House Annual Benefit Concert will return for its 23rd year at Carnegie Hall on February 21. Like in past years, artistic director Philip Glass will perform and he's brought along a typically awesome and diverse lineup of Jim James (whose band My Morning Jacket just kicked off a 3-night run at the Capitol Theatre), tUnE-yArDs, Rahzel, Patti Smith with Jessie Smith, and more TBA. Tickets for the concert are on sale now via Carnegie Hall and special packages that include a dinner reception with the performers can be purchased via Tibet House US. Proceeds from ticket sales will support Tibet House US, the Hurricane Sandy Relief Foundation, and the TIbet Community of New York & New Jersey.

Rahzel also took part in the 2012 Tibet House Benefit Concert. Check out pictures from that.

In related news, Patti Smith recently announced that she's working on a sequel to her memoir, Just Kids.

photos by PSquared Photography

My Morning Jacket kicked off their three-night run at Port Chester's Capitol Theatre last night (12/27). They've got a different opener each night, and last night it was Deer Tick (pics from their set HERE). Tonight (12/28) it's Antibalas and on Saturday (12/29) it's Floating Action. All three nights are sold out.

MMJ, whose member Tom Blankenship recently told us his Top Albums of 2012, promised not to repeat songs at any of the three nights so if you're going tonight or Saturday you can at least expect not to hear any of last night's setlist which included songs like "Off the Record," "Outta My System," "Magheetah," and many more (the full setlist is below). However, you might have some idea what you will hear if you participated in the band's Spontaneous Curation Series, where you got to help pick the songs they'll play.

After the Capitol Theatre run concludes, MMJ will celebrate New Year's Eve with a show at Boston's Agganis Arena. They then play a Sandy benefit in NJ two days later. Jim James is also part of the next Tibet House benefit concert in 2013.

More pics of MMJ, the setlist, and a few videos from Thursday's show below...

Continue reading "My Morning Jacket began their 3-night run at The Cap (night 1 pics, setlist, videos)"

My Morning Jacket will join Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Joseph Arthur, Nicole Atkins, River City Extension, Tangiers Blues Band and special guests for a Hurricane Sandy Benefit at Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ on January 2, 2013:

"Following Hurricane Katrina, the response from around the world was overwhelming," say Ben Jaffe, creative director of Preservation Hall Jazz Band. "Now it's our time to give back to a devastated community where many of our friends, family and supporters call home. In New Orleans, we turn to our music during hard times. It offers us hope and the feeling that things will be better. We are doing what we always do during hard times: celebrate life. Hopefully this will bring some joy to the residents of the devastated region at a time of great heartache."

In other news, Jim James is preparing to release his solo LP Regions of Light & Sound of God, due on February 5. Check out "Know Til Now" below, and preorder your copy if so desired.

Tom Blankenship of MMJ recently participated in the Rock Lottery at Knitting Factory (pictures).

Nicole Atkins is also trying to raise money for Neptune City with a new track.

Jim James track is below.

Continue reading "My Morning Jacket headlines Sandy benefit in Asbury Park with Nicole Atkins & others; Jim James readies solo record"

New Multitudes at Newport Folk Fest - 7/29/12 (via brooklynvegan instagram)

New Multitudes, the new project of Jim James, Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, and Anders Parker, whose album is made up entirely of previously unreleased Woody Guthrie lyrics, played day 2 (7/29) of Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island this past weekend. A few more pics from Twitter and Instagram (like the one above) and a video of "Chorine My Sheba Queen" from their set are below.

Two of the band's members, Anders Parker and Will Johnson will be teaming up for a tour which includes a mix of club and living room shows. That tour hits NYC on September 23 at Mercury Lounge and a day earlier (9/22) for a living room show in Brooklyn, which is still TBA. Tickets for all announced living room shows are HERE and tickets for the Mercury Lounge show go on sale Friday (8/3) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (8/1) at noon.

A list of all Will Johnson/Anders Parker dates, video, and more instagrams are below.

Continue reading "New Multitudes played Newport Folk Fest (cameraphone pics, video); Anders Parker & Will Johnson touring together (dates)"

photos by Kurt Christensen

Jim James @ Webster Hall

"New Multitudes, a centennial tribute to Woody Guthrie, made up of the singer-songwriters Jay Farrar, Yim Yames, Anders Parker and Will Johnson, operates from within a cocoon of familiarity. Not with regard to the songs, exactly: all 12 on the group's self-titled debut album, released last month on Rounder, began with previously unused scraps of writing from the Guthrie archives, freshly set to music.

What's familiar about New Multitudes is that process of refurbishment, which has also given us several albums by Billy Bragg with Wilco -- a collection, "Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions," is due out on Nonesuch next month -- and one by Jonatha Brooke. In these and other instances, mostly smaller in scale, access to the material was enthusiastically granted by Nora Guthrie, the guardian of her father's legacy...." [NY Times]

Continue reading "New Multitudes (Jay Farrar, Yim Yames, Anders Parker, Will Johnson) played Webster Hall (pics, setlist)"

"The almost two-hour performance was mostly made up of material off the just released New Multitudes album, with a few songs from each individual's other band(s) (Son Volt/Uncle Tupelo, Centro-matic, Gob Iron, My Morning Jacket). All four musicians shared vocal duties and switched up instruments on the regular. Jim James (or Yim Yames as he's billed for this project) handled bass guitar for most of the night, switching to acoustic guitar when needed. As evidenced in a few videos, Yim was certainly one of the more energetic bass players I've seen, roaming, and jumping back and forth all night. His lead bass lines did not get lost in the mix, that's for sure. Think Flea with much longer hair. Jay Farrar led with his electric/acoustic while Will Johnson and Anders Parker switched off between drums and mostly electric guitar." [an LA review]

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Sarah Jaffe kicked off a round of US dates in NYC at Mercury Lounge in NYC on Feb 22nd. Here are some pictures from that show where she debuted some of the new material on her forthcoming LP The Body Wins (due on April 24).

She's now on tour on the West Coast with Yim Yames, Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, and Anders Parker who are performing music from their new Woody Guthrie project. She does not however tour with them all the way to NYC where they headline a show at Webster Hall with support from Bobby Bare Jr. Tickets are still available for that.

Sarah completes her current round of dates at SXSW. They're all listed, with the rest of the pictures and her new video, below...

Continue reading "Sarah Jaffe played Mercury Lounge (pics), touring w/ Jim James & friends (though she's not opening the NYC show)"

Will Johnson, Jay Farrar, Jim James, Anders Parker

Jim James, Jay Farrar, Will Johnson (who previously collabroated with Jim James in Monsters of Folk), and Anders Parker (who previously collaborated with Jay Farrar in Gob Iron), have teamed up to record an album titled New Multitudes, which comes out February 28 via Rounder Records. The album features twelve tracks, all of which were written lyrically by Woody Guthrie but never recorded, and Jim, Jay, Will, and Anders have written original music to accompany the lyrics.

"Under the invitation of Nora Guthrie, Woody's daughter, to tour the Guthrie archives, each of the four songwriters were offered the chance to plumb and mine the plethora of notebooks, scratch pads, napkins, etc. for anything that might inspire them to lend their voices and give the words new life. "These guys worked on an amazing group of lyrics, much of it culled from Woody's times in LA. Lyric wise, it's a part of the story that is still mostly unknown. From Woody's experiences on LA's skid row to his later years in Topanga Canyon, they are uniquely intimate, and relate two distinctly emotional periods in his life.""

The four folkies will head out on a short US tour together in support of the album this March. That tour hits NYC on March 14 at Webster Hall. Tickets go on sale Friday, 1/20 at noon, with an AmEx presale starting two days earlier. All dates are listed below.

Jim James was just in town to help pay tribute (and perform with) Preservation Hall Jazz Band...

"At Carnegie Hall the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Del McCoury Band, My Morning Jacket, Steve Earle, Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards, and Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) were on hand. So were the New Orleans-born musicians Trombone Shorty and Allen Toussaint, who sang a tribute to the band for putting "pride in your stride."

While it's a paradox that welcoming outsiders and trying out hybrids is a survival tactic for a deeply local tradition, that's a fact of life for present-day New Orleans." [NY Times]

All Guthrie tribute tour dates, stream, album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Jim James, Will Johnson, Jay Farrar & Anders Parker team for Guthrie project album & tour (dates & song stream)"