Joseph Arthur still has something to say, and I hope I'm going to have a chance to hear him say it again, live. Joseph interacts with his audience and drew the Leeds crowd to their reluctant feet by will power, a lone hippy dancer and Bob Longworth's ability to be a gig yob at the first opportunity. By the time he sang "Faith" he had everyone like putty in his hands. The band of Greg (G Wiz) Wieczorek, Kraig Jarret Johnson and the rather too delightful Sybil Buck supported Joseph with humour (when things didn't go quite as planned) and some fine talent. Other highlights were "In the Sun," which has been covered by Peter Gabriel, and Michael Stipe of REM, and a new song crying out against the suppression of the tentative moves for freedom in Iran. [Quims]

That's a review of Joseph Arthur's July 20th show in Leeds, which was part of his most recent string of dates with backing band the Lonely Astronauts. The Akron-based singer-songwriter will drop the band for a trio of special collaborative gigs at NYC's City Wintery

Joseph Arthur & Joe Purdy (August 28) (tickets)
Joseph Arthur & Emily Wells (September 4) (tickets)
Joseph Arthur & Rene Lopez (September 25) (tickets)

Those date will be Arthur's last before heading out on a solo European tour in the fall. A note from the venue about each collaborator, with all Joseph Arthur tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Joseph Arthur - 3 special shows @ City Winery, other dates"