Lady Lamb the Beekeeper @ Rock Shop (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Singer/songwriter Aly Spaltro - formerly based in Portland, Maine, and known to fans as Lady Lamb the Beekeeper - is blowing up fast. She played at promoter Billy Ruane's rock 'n' roll wake last month, won Folk Artist of the Year at the Boston Music Awards earlier this month and performs at the Lizard Lounge tonight.

Oh, and she's already managed to get Amanda Palmer's stamp of approval. After seeing Spaltro's BMA set, Palmer tweeted, "chick blew me away live."

The exclamation of love was absolutely warranted: She blew a lot of people away that night.

The only thing off was winning for Folk Artist.

"I don't consider myself folk," Spaltro said during a visit to the Herald. "I'm really honored with the win, but I'm not folk. I don't know what genre I'm in." [Boston Herald]

Listen on MySpace, or watch some of the videos below and decide for yourself what genre the super talented Lady Lamb the Beekeeper is. Or just check her out live at one of the four NYC shows she's playing before the end of the year including the super interesting and free one happening TONIGHT (12/20) at the Delancey:

Main Floor: PAUL WALLFISCH'S SMALL BEAST / SMALL BEAST HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA! with Special guest Curators this week the LYNNS [LYNN FARRELL & LYNN WRIGHT ]Featuring: 8:00 pm PETE SIMONELLI [reading] / PAUL WATSON 8:45 pm LADY LAMB THE BEEKEEPER 9:30 pm AND THE WIREMEN 10:30 pm BEE AND FLOWER 11:30 Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten) & Danielle de Picciotto FREE!!!

If you miss that, she plays The Rock Shop Tuesday (12/21) with Cat Martino, Mercury Lounge Wednesday (12/22) with Favourite Sons, and then Rockwood Music Hall on 12/28.

She also plays a trio of shows in January with Evan Dando & Juliana Hatfield including the one happening at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Evan & Juliana played shows in NYC in September.

All dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "Lady Lamb the Beekeeper is here (for four NYC shows), touring with Evan & Juliana (2011 dates)"

by Andrew Frisicano

Ex-Hold Steady troubadour Franz Nicolay is currently on the West Coast prepping for a short tour that kicks off from there next week, but that won't (hopefully) stop him from joining in via Skype on this month's Bushwick Book Club at Goodbye Blue Monday on Tuesday, April 6th (tonight).

His other upcoming dates include NYC-area shows on April 23rd show at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, May 11th show at Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park with Bomb The Music Industry, and a May 14th performance at the release party for Kate Rockland's debut novel Falling Is Like This, at Word Bookstore in Greenpoint, along with music writer Rob Sheffield.

He's also set to play a May 21st edition of the weekly Small Beast series gone big at the Angel Orensanz Foundation. Ticket info for that is forthcoming, and the lineup should include Botanica, Barbez, Bee & Flower, Little Annie, Spottiswoode, Blasco and others.

This May and June Franz heads to Europe as a touring member of Florida punk rockers Against Me, who have a new album, White Crosses, out June 8th on Sire Records. Franz says, "Gonna be a touring Against Me for the summer. I have already prepared my beard and promise to give at least the recommended 35 percent." For whatever reason, the band isn't using Franz in the US though. They kick off a North American tour without him in April and play Asbury Park's Stone Pony on April 29th. Tickets are on sale (Sweden's Moneybrother is also on that bill and part of the tour). Against Me!'s new video for the song "Rapid Decompression" off the new record is below with all dates. The LP will be their second on Sire and their first since the departure of drummer Warren Oakes (replaced by Hot Water Music's George Rebelo).

Meanwhile, Franz's Hold Steady compatriots have been putting up tracks from their new album, Heaven Is Whenever, set to come out May 4th. The record's piano and keyboard parts (which are right up front on some of the new tracks) are played by guitarist Tad Kubler. Three of those new ones are streaming on their Myspace.

As for Franz, he's also released a book & other assorted projects, and soon, a new CD.

[After my tour], I'm starting work on my new full-length with producer Jim Keller, who's worked with everyone from Franz Ferdinand to Willie Nelson to Mastodon. Unlike "Major General," it's all new songs, nothing from the vaults - and in case you're curious what that means, I've posted demos for two of the songs, "Felix & Adelita" and "This Is Not A Pipe," at myspace.com/franznicolay. Hope you like.

All Franz & Small Beast tour dates, and Hold Steady & Against Me album info are below..

Continue reading "Hold Steady streaming new songs, Franz Nicolay keeping busy, playing in Against Me! (but not for their upcoming US tour) "

photos by Lori Baily

Martin Bisi and Larkin Grimm played Mercury Lounge on January 24th. Lori got some pictures. They're in this post. They both also shared a bill at the Knitting Facory about three week's prior (at the end of December).

Martin Bisi's next show is tonight (2/1) at Small Beast, a weekly show hosted by Paul Wallfisch, Mondays at The Delancey. Upcoming acts on Small Beast's diverse schedule include kitchen-sink punk Bad Credit No Credit, cabaret singer Little Annie, and punk jazz group Gutbucket. The full schedule for that and more pictures are below...

Continue reading "Larkin Grimm & Martin Bisi pics, Small Beast schedule..."

photos by Tim Griffin

Baby Dee

Botanica frontman/keyboardist Paul Wallfisch has taken over booking Thursdays upstairs at the Delancey, effectively creating one of the very few "must-see" nights anywhere in the New York rock scene, especially considering that for the time being it's free. Simply put, New York hasn't had a consistent home for intelligent, challenging rock and rock-related music since Tonic closed two and a half years ago. With this new series, playfully titled Small Beast, Wallfisch aims to change that. Typically, he starts the evening solo on piano, perhaps introducing a guest or two and then bringing up the night's featured artist or artists." [Lucid Culture]

Last night's bill (1/29) also featured Erik Sanko (Skeleton Key), Little Annie (who released an album with Paul last year and sang with him at this show), and Baby Dee (currently signed to Drag City and who has shared the stage with Little Annie before). Andrew WK, like he's also done before, sat in as part of Baby Dee's band for the show.

More pictures from the night below...

Continue reading "Baby Dee (w/ Andrew WK), Little Annie, Paul Wallfisch & Erik Sanko @ The Delancey, NYC - pics"