photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Bill Callahan @ the Allen Room - 2/8/2012


Following performances by a diversity of musicians including Keren Ann and Thurston Moore, Bill Callahan continued Lincoln Center's 2012 American Songbook Series last night (2/8) at the Allen Room, a show Mr. Callahan said seemed like an appropriate finale to his "Apocalyspe Tour." Here are some pictures.

tUnE-yArDs plays the series tonight (2/9).

In other news, Bill Callahan recently covered Leonard Cohen's great ""So Long Marianne" for a MOJO Magazine covers CD. Listen to that, with more pictures from the NYC show, below...

Continue reading "Bill Callahan played the Allen Room (pics), covered Leonard Cohen (stream)"

DOWNLOAD: Bill Callahan - "Baby's Breath" (MP3)

"A couple of years ago," [Bill Callahan] explains, "I realised that I was an entertainer" - he pauses for a moment, as if waiting for an unseen drummer to round off a punchline - "and that helped me immensely. From the first time you can look in the paper and you accept that you're the entertainment for some people that night," he continues, "it becomes so much more enjoyable to play live. Before that I was always wondering, 'What am I?'"

Callahan's moment of clarity has benefited both audience and performer. First, he abandoned the wilfully off-putting stage name Smog (on the characteristically gnomic grounds that "hanging on to it any longer didn't seem healthy"). Then 2009's Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle - the second album released under his own name, and one of his most accessible records to date - struck a chord with a wider audience. -[The Guardian]

Entertainer Bill Callahan is welcoming a new LP via Drag City on 4/19. The LP, ominously titled Apocalypse, features "Baby's Breath" which is available for download above/streaming below.

In May Bill kicks off a European tour followed by a tour of the U.S. in June that brings him to NYC for a pair of appearances: Music Hall of Williamsburg on July 11 and Bowery Ballroom on July 12. Tickets for both shows go on AmEx presale Wednesday, 4/6, at noon, and then general sale two days later (Friday, 4/8).

All tour dates and the song stream are below.

Continue reading "Bill Callahan announces new album & tour (MP3 & dates)"

photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

Bill Callahan gave a free in-store performance at Other Music in NYC on Saturday (4/18). The show was the last stop on a week-long record store tour that Bill set out on in support of his new album, out now, on Drag City Records. The show also conincided with Record Store Day, for which Other Music had a full day's schedule of entertainment planned (and a lot of limited Record Store Day records to sell).

In June, Bill will set out on a proper headlining tour. That includes the two previously-announced NYC shows at LPR and MHOW. All dates, and more pictures from Other Music, below...

Continue reading "Bill Callahan - Other Music in-store pics & all 2009 tour dates"

Bill Callahan (of Smog)'s new record, Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle will be released April 14th on Drag City. That same week, Callahan will be going on a promotional tour of U.S. record shops, with a NYC show at Other Music on Saturday, April 18th. April 18th, as you might remember, also happens to be Record Store Day. All dates below.

Callahan will also play two more NYC shows this summer, presumably as part of a larger tour (TBA). The first NY show is Saturday, June 13th show at (Le) Poisson Rouge (Tickets are on sale). The next is one night later, Sunday, June 14th at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn with Sir Richard Bishop and His Freak Of Araby Ensemble. That show, which is part of the Northside Festival, goes on sale today at noon (and stay tuned for more info on how to get a badge that gets you into all Northside shows).

Bill Callahan's Brooklyn show is the second MHOW Northside announcement. The first was John Vanderslice who is playing our own showcase at the same venue two days earlier. Like CMJ does in October for the whole city, The Northside Festival is acting as an umbrella for most of the shows happening at most of the venues in Williamsburg from June 11-14. Badges will be sold that let you jump from show to show to show (capacity permitting). More details will be announced.

All Bill Callahan tour dates, the new album cover art and tracklist, and a Black Cab Session performance video, below...

Continue reading "Bill Callahan - new album, a record store tour (Other Music) & 2 other NYC shows (1 for the Northside Festival) "