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

City Winery will be hosting a three-night oil spill relief benefit, dubbed Reclaim The Coast, on July 23rd, 25th and 30th. The lineups vary for each...

July 23rd: Pete Seeger, Richard Barone, James Maddock, Elysian Fields, Mike Doughty, Lucy Wainwright Roche, The Roches, Julie Gold, Peter Yarrow (More TBA)

July 25th: Ian Axel, Ed Romanoff, The Madison Square Gardeners, Paula Valstein, The Spring Standards, The Wellspring, Rich Pagano (More TBA)

July 30th: Marshall Crenshaw, Martin Rivas, Christina Courtin, Among the Oak & Ash, Jay Nash (More TBA)

Tickets for all three are on sale.

They'll also have a packed house for "Channeling Chilton - A night of Alex Chilton's Music" on July 28th. The confirmed lineup includes Yo La Tengo, Marshall Crenshaw, Jody Stephens, Jon Auer, Doug Garrison, Rene Coman, Alan Vega, Jon Spencer (of the Blues Explosion), Fran Kowalski, Chris Stamey, Lesa Aldridge (Elizabeth Hoehn), Jay Proctor (of Jay & the Techniques), Bill Cunningham, Gary Talley, Terry Manning, Evan Dando, Jesse Malin, Danny Kroha (of The Gories). In light of the recent passing of founding Big Star bassist Andy Hummel, it should be an emotional night.
Tickets are on sale.

More info on the Gulf Coast relief effort are below...

Continue reading "City Winery hosting a 3-night Pete Seeger Oil Spill relief benefit & Big Star tribute night"

photos by Ryan Barkan

Just as everyone at the SXSW Music Festival was finding their groove Wednesday, news of the death of Alex Chilton hit. "Austin's in shock about Alex," read one of the countless social media memes. On Saturday, heartsick Big Star fans got to hear Chilton songs performed by a cast of guest musicians sitting in on the regularly scheduled Big Star showcase, held down by the remaining members of the band's current incarnation, Jon Auer, Ken Stringfellow and Jody Stephens...

But first a letter from Chilton's widow, Laura, who the 59-year-old musician had only recently married, was read by publicist Heather West [video below]...

...Curt Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets lumbered through "In the Street," otherwise known as the theme song for That 70's Show. M. Ward of She & Him croaked an elegant "Big Black Car." Mike Mills of R.E.M. found his religion with "Jesus Christ." John Doe of X dispatched a crystal clear "I'm in Love with a Girl." And in what was the night's biggest surprise, Sondre Lerche provided an intense, harmonic "The Ballad of El Goodo."

And that's how it went for the entire hour and a half, with guest musicians including Chris Stamey, Chuck Prophet, Evan Dando, Amy Speace, the Watson Twins, Susan Cowsill, and original Big Star member Andy Hummel (who came in from Lithuania for the show) all getting a chance to pay tribute to Chilton. A rendition of the classic "Thirteen" was one of the final songs of the night, the lyrics of which encapsulated not only the special moment that was taking place in the storied Antone's blues club, but the entire SXSW Music Festival: "Rock & roll is here to stay/ Come inside where it's okay." [Rolling Stone]

The full setlist with more pictures and a video from the show, below...

Continue reading "Big Star members & many special guests paid tribute to Alex Chilton Saturday night @ SXSW - pics, video & setlist"

photos by Lori Baily

Happy Holidays! I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material.

Where was Alex Chilton on Wednesday night? At the Brooklyn Masonic Temple, he was onstage, more or less, standing at the far right, sometimes even near his microphone (and sometimes even using it). But as has been the case on and off for the last couple of decades, he was frustratingly hard to find.

It was the first New York show in several years for Big Star, Mr. Chilton's band, still plying the songs that for a few years in the early 1970s helped shape what power pop was to become, even if it was coolly received at the time. (An impressive Big Star boxed set, "Keep an Eye on the Sky," was released on Rhino in September.)

But memories are made in a variety of ways. The resurrection of Big Star in the early 1990s cemented its legend, and also the lineup: Mr. Chilton, who also played guitar, and the drummer Jody Stephens from the original group, rounded out by the guitarist Jon Auer and the bassist Ken Stringfellow, who were enlisted more than 15 years ago to fill out the band during its first comeback and never left. [NY Times]

Kurt Vile opened for Big Star at Brooklyn Masonic Temple on November 18th. More pictures and the setlist from the Scenic-presented show, (especially sorry for the delay on this post) below...

Continue reading "Big Star & Kurt Vile @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple in NYC - pics & setlist"

DOWNLOAD: Spiral Stairs - Maltese Terrier (MP3)

Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg of Preston School of Industry and Pavement (who are reuniting) is set to release his first album as Spiral Stairs on October 20th. That record, The Real Feel, will be released by Matador in the US and Domino in the UK. The first MP3, "Maltese Terrier" (or "Maltese T" as its listed below in the tracklist), is posted above. There'll also be a single for the song "Stolen Pills," out a week before on October 12th.

The whole album is produced by Jon Auer (of the Posies and Big Star, the latter of which has a show in NYC on Nov. 18th) and guests include Preston School of Industry/Posies guys Matt Harris and Darius Minwall and BSS' Kevin Drew (though he's not listed as a contributor below).

Spiral Stairs will be playing shows in the coming months. Currently, there's the Treasure Island Festival in San Francisco on October 18th, and a handful of West Coast shows around that, where they'll be opening for Bob Mould (who hits NYC in early October with Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson opening). No NYC date yet.

Album art and credits for the new disc, and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Spiral Stairs (mem. Pavement) - new album soon, MP3, shows"

"Big Star served as a Rosetta stone for a whole generation of musicians." -Peter Buck, R.E.M.

Rhino is releasing Big Star's 4-disc boxed set which includes 98 tracks spanning from 1968-1975. This power pop band created music that turned artists as diverse as Cheap Trick, R.E.M., and The Replacements into Big Star fans. The 4-disc boxed set, Keep an Eye on the Sky, includes extensive liner notes, rare and never-before-seen photos, and insightful essays about the cult of Big Star and the band's history. These influential tracks will be released September 15, 2009.

Also, on RECORD STORE DAY, a special Limited edition Big Star 7" Vinyl will be available. Only 3,500 vinyl will be pressed. These 7" vinyl will only be available at independent records on September 5th.

I'm not sure what Record Store Day has to do with anything, but that's a picture of the 7" above.

Big Star is:

Jon Auer
Alex Chilton (original member)
Jody Stephens (original member)
Ken Stringfellow

Jon and Ken, both members of the Posies, joined in 1993. The Posies recently got back together to perform "Frosting on the Beater" at Gramercy Theatre and The Bell House. Ken often plays solo shows, like when he opened for Robyn Hitchcock at the Bell House recently. Jon also plays solo shows, like the one he has scheduled at The Bell House on September 15th with Fountains of Wayne.

Alex Chilton still plays shows too, often in Hoboken, and sometimes with The Box Tops. In 2005 he survived Katrina. Posts about him are usually accompanied by comments like "Big Star please!"...

Tickets are on sale for a Wednesday, November 18th Big Star show at Brooklyn Masonic Temple.

Videos from a show Big Star played in Hyde Park in July, with a picture of the Rhino box set and the tracklist, below...

Continue reading "Big Star releasing box set, PLAYING NYC SHOW (on sale)"

John Wesley Harding & Eugene Mirman @ CoW in April (more by Tim Griffin)

John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonders variety show, which graced the city in February, March and April, in addition to tour dates around the country, will be back for shows on September 16th, October 7th and November 18th at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Tickets for all three are on sale now, AND now the shows have full lineups.

Like before there will be many special guests at each show. These include Tanya Donelly, John Roderick, A.C. Newman, Todd Barry, Rhett Miller, and many others. Each night is different. Full lineups with all JWH tour dates, below...

Continue reading "John Wesley Harding bringing John Roderick, Tanya Donelly, AC Newman, Rhett Miller & many more to LPR (dates) "