photos by Lori Baily & Ted Barron

DOWNLOAD: Tift Merritt & Norman Blake - Thirteen (Big Star) (MP3)

Tift Merritt w/ Matthew Sweet & friends @ the Big Star Tribute in March (by Lori)

Tift Merritt's is now on tour with Stephen Kellogg, and though tickets are unfotunately sold-out for their show at City Winery (May 6th), she has added another NYC show and this time it's FREE. Tift Merritt will play Madison Square Park on June 22nd at 6PM after her tour with Kellogg, but before she heads out on a string of UK dates with Greg Allman. All tour dates are below.

Add the June 22nd free show to the growing list of free shows happening Madison Square Park this summer. Another is the music portion of the Big Apple BBQ.

Tift Merritt joined an all-star cast that stood up in praise of the late great Alex Chilton (of Big Star) at Baruch College on March 26th, a shade more than one year after he suffered a fatal heart attack. Big Star's Third was the focus of the show, and it featured a revolving cast of musicians on vocals....

"Stipe's performance of "Kanga Roo" was at once fragile and unbowed, while his R.E.M. cohort, singer-bassist Mike Mills, found the holiday in the Christmas song "Jesus Christ." Alternative-country singer Tift Merritt was a vital female addition, showing that the vengeful kick of "You Can't Have Me" could go both ways. Other voices included Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo ("O, Dana," "Take Care"), Norman Blake of the Scottish band Teenage Fanclub ("Nightime"), Matthew Sweet ("Big Black Car") and Django Haskins of the group The Old Ceremony, who carried the bleak weight of "Holocaust" with a wise plain poise." [Rolling Stone]

During the encore Tift performed "Thirteen" with Norman Blake. A recording of that cover from the show is avaialble for download above. A set of pictures from the show are in this post. More of them, with all of Tift's tour dates, are below...

Continue reading "Tift Merritt covered Big Star w/ Norman Blake, Michael Stipe & more (MP3 & belated pics), touring (playing free NYC show)"

The Baseball Project at Maxwell's (more by Lori Baily)

"Well, we had so much fun the first time that we just had to do it again. Scott, Peter, Linda and I spent much of the last few years on the road, in the studio and trading files, ideas, anecdotes and laughs and the result is the second album by the Baseball Project: Volume 2: High and Inside." - The Baseball Project

High and Inside is out now via Yep Roc Records and streaming in full at Spinner. The all-star, baseball-themed band will hit the road in support of the record starting off in Atlanta on 3/11, hitting SXSW, swinging through Spring Training (#srsly), and eventually terminating on the West Coast in early April. Before that, Baseball Project member Steve Wynn will hit Living Room on March 4th with Steve Wynn & The Miracle Three. Tickets are still on sale.

Meanwhile, Peter Buck is keeping busy with R.E.M. as the band has a new album, Collapse Into Now, which is currently streaming in full at NPR. No tour dates for R.E.M. as of yet but if you have tickets for the Tibet House benefit at Carnegie Hall on 3/3, you can catch R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe there. Mike Mills of R.E.M. can be found at the Big Star Third show at Lexington Hall on March 26.

Blues great Taj Mahal is also on the Tibet House Benefit bill, and he recently added a date at Brooklyn Bowl on April 10. Tickets go on sale 3/3 at noon.

All tour dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "Baseball Project & Steve Wynn dates, Tibet House & Big Star reminders, more Taj Mahal show & an R.E.M. album stream"

"Big Star's third album, Third/Sister Lovers, has long been revered by artists and critics as one of the most influential albums ever produced. Written and recorded when the legendary 70s band was primarily a studio project consisting of Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens, the third album was never been performed in public with the original string and wind orchestrations. That changed in December 2010, when an all-star band unearthed the original scores, assembled an orchestra and performed Big Star's Third at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, NC. Performers that night included Jody Stephens (Big Star), Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Mitch Easter (Let's Active), Chris Stamey (the dB's) - the creative genesis they experienced prompted plans for a historic concert in New York City.

On March 26th, a mind-boggling array of indie rock all-stars will gather to perform Big Star's Third at Mason Hall. Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), Mitch Easter (Let's Active), Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo), Tift Merritt, Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Will Rigby (the dB's), Matthew Sweet, Chris Stamey (the dB's), Jody Stephens (Big Star) and M. Ward (She & Him) will be joined by The Lost in the Trees Orchestra with Jane Scarpantoni, Django Haskins (The Old Ceremony), Brett Harris, Sidney Dixon and Matt McMichaels to recreate the original scores and breathe life into a bittersweet album that has impacted generations of musicians. Some very special guests will be announced in the days to come. As the evening unfolds, Chilton and Stephen's musical ideas that were far ahead of their time 35 years ago will resonate in the hands of a collective of sympathetic, top-notch musicians. "We have been trying to create a concert piece that can have a life in years to come, trying to keep the spirit of the music and make it come across with the right emotions live," Stamey told Indy Week. "There's something about this record that connects with my generation, and apparently many generations."

The assemblage will perform Third/Sister Lovers in its entirety - fans can expect additional Big Star and Chris Bell songs as well. "It's easier as time passes to revisit that album because it came out of such a dark period," Big Star drummer Jody Stephens told the Raleigh News and Observer. "There were brilliant moments in the studio, especially Carl Marsh's string arrangements, which really take it to a whole other world. But it could be emotionally difficult to watch certain things happen. I was so close to it at the time that I could not see what it was.""

BIG STAR THIRD is happening at Baruch Performing Arts Center (at Baruch College) in Mason Hall (17 Lexington) on Saturday, March 26, 2011. Tickets are on presale now (password: Alex), and going on general sale Thursday at noon. More details with the lineup listed out, below...

Continue reading "all star collective performing Big Star's 'Third' album"

words & photos by Lori Baily

The Baseball Proiject headlined a show at Maxwell's on Thursday night. It was before their set over the weekend at Wilco's Solid Sound Festival in North Adams, MA...

Wilco headlined, and Mavis Staples was their lead-in, but there was six hours of music before them Saturday at Solid Sound Festival at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Mass.

The warm, sunny afternoon made for perfect festival conditions for a series of sets by Wilco-curated bands which alternated between a pair of stages set up in outdoor courtyards on the Mass MoCA grounds.

Alt-rock supergroup the Baseball Project brought together Mike Mills of R.E.M., Steve Wynn of the Miracle 3 (and formerly of the Dream Syndicate), Scott McCaughey of the Minus 5 and journeywoman drummer Linda Pitmon to perform songs that were, in fact, mostly about baseball. Call it good, clean, nerdy fun.

With a rollicking rock 'n' roll sensibility, the foursome sang a tune written after a night out drinking with now-retired pitcher Jack McDowell, advocated for the inclusion of Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Harvey Haddix on the list of starters who have thrown perfect games (Haddix kept one going for 12 innings in 1959 before losing in the 13th) and threw in a couple of Minus 5 tunes, including "Lies of the Living Dead" and "Aw Shit Man." [Hartford Courant]

Mike Mills was filling for Peter Buck at that show and at the one in NJ on Thursday, where everyone was having a good time - performers and audience alike.

I know nothing about baseball or I would've been entertained even more. Scott McCaughey joined opener Dennis Diken for a couple of songs at the end of their set. The guys (and gal) in both bands are all really sweet and down to earth, Mike Mills even requested that he not be "lit like a lead singer, cause I'm not a lead singer."

More pictures of the NJ show, below...

Continue reading "The Baseball Project played Wilco's Solid Sound Festival & Maxwell's w/ Dennis Diken with Bell Sound (pics)"

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"

DOWNLOAD: Passion Pit - Sleepyhead (LOL BOYS Remix) (MP3)

Kevin Barnes @ Music Hall of Williamsburg last night (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Boss Hog @ Maxwell's (more by Tim Griffin)

today in NYC
* DANCE
* Anticon @ Knitting Factory
* CSS @ Webster Hall
* The Weight @ Union Pool
* Leona Naess @ Pianos
* Variety Shac @ Knitting Factory
* Jay Reatard @ Wired Store
* The Say Sos @ the Living Room
* Power Plant & Talibam! @ Zebulon
* Peasant @ Rockwood Music Hall
* Boss Hog, Those Darlins @ Bowery Ballroom
* Suckers & Twi The Humble Feather @ Glasslands
* Vetiver, Crystal Stilts & Silver Summit @ (le) poisson rouge
* Oasis & Ryan Adams & The Cardinals @ Madison Square Garden
* The Night Marchers, Obits & Two Tears @ Santos Party House
* DJ List Christee (Kevin Barnes) & karaoke @ the Bell House

Mike Mills was born today in 1958.

There will be no Gene Ween Band show tonight.

There will be no Aimee Mann holiday show tonight at Nokia, but there will be one tomorrow.

Anticon will be at Knitting Factory tomorrow too.

The Say Sos play their first-ever show at the Living Room tonight. The Say Sos are ex-BV writer, ex-Undisputed Heavyweights' Wes's new band.

Quasi curates three floors at the Knitting Factory this Saturday.

Some tickets went on sale today.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs put a new Christmas song on their MySpace.

The Cure performed "Freakshow" on Kimmel last night. Video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

Joseph Arthur & Mike Mills (REM) @ Living Room, NYC - April 1

Last night (April 1st) Mike Mills unexpectedly hopped on stage to sing "Pale Blue Eyes" with Joseph Arthur. Ryan Adams and Craig Finn were in the audience. -Carla

The Living Room's 10th Anniversary celebration ends tonight (April 4).

How was last night's Elliott Smith tribute?

blog buzz band REM land the new SPIN cover

An important video announcement below....

Continue reading "an important announcement from Michael Stipe"