Ian Felice at Carnegie Hall last month (more by Sachyn Mital)

Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band and The Felice Brothers have announced that they'll be heading out on a tour together this May which hits NYC on May 18 at Terminal 5. Tickets for that show go on sale today (12/14) at noon. All tour dates are listed below.

The Felice Brothers also play a sold out 3-night run in the NYC area for New Year's Eve, and were also added as an opener to a portion of Mumford and Sons' upcoming tour, including the February 6 show at Barclays Center, which Ben Howard also opens. That show, and the 2/12 show at Barclays (which Haim opens) are both sold out.

Haim also play a sold out MHOW show on Saturday (12/15) with MS MR, who play a not sold out show at Mercury Lounge on 1/16.

Meanwhile, Josh Ritter will release his new album, The Beast In Its Tracks, on March 5. You can watch an album trailer for that and check out lists of all Josh Ritter and Felice Brothers dates below...

Continue reading "Josh Ritter & Felice Brothers touring in May (dates)"

Firefly Music Festival goes down in Dover, Delaware from July 20-22 (which is only about a three hour drive from NYC). The lineup includes Jack White, The Flaming Lips, Passion Pit, The Black Keys, Polica, Cults, Death Cab for Cutie, Ra Ra Riot, The Felice Brothers, Mariachi El Bronx, Silversun Pickups, Lupe Fiasco, The Head and the Heart, Heartless Bastards, The Killers, John Legend, Bassnectar, Girl Talk, and more. Tickets for the fest are on sale now, and camping is available.

No schedule yet, but the full announced lineup is below...

Continue reading "Firefly Music Fest happens in Delaware --- 2012 dates & lineup (Jack White, Flaming Lips, Passion Pit, Black Keys, Polica, Cults, Death Cab & more)"

Frankie Rose @ Township (more by Sarah Frankie Linder)

In addition to the Jens Lekman/Of Montreal show at Williamsburg Park, the Northside Festival (June 14 - 17) just announced a slew of confirmed artists who'll be playing this year, including Future of the Left, the U.S. debut of Iceage-spinoff Vår (formerly War), Frankie Rose (playing the BrooklynVegan showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg with more TBA), Grass Widow, Cleveland's Gap Dream, Wymond Miles of the Fresh & Onlys,  Chain & the Gang, Kool Keith and more.

Other 2012 Northside Festival artists we've already posted about include Olivia Tremor Control, GZA, Neil Hamburger, Eternal Summers, Ceremony and Screaming Females and Royal Headache. Badges are on sale now and the full list of confirmed 2012 Northside artists is below.

Continue reading "more Northside Festival artists announced (Frankie Rose, Grass Widow, Felice Brothers, Buke & Gass, Vår, Gap Dream & more)"

The Hold Steady at Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010 (more)

Last month, we announced that Truck America is returning to the Catskills in September (the 9th through the 11th) and will be headlined by The Hold Steady and Okkervil River. The only other confirmed bands at the time were Ra Ra Riot and Wye Oak. The lineup has since been updated to include Fruit Bats, Vetiver, The Felice Brothers, CItay, Gary Higgins, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Takka Takka, Hospitality, The Low Anthem and others. Check out the full list below. Early bird tickets are still on sale.

For The Low Anthem, it's one of many dates they just announced including one at Terminal 5 with Iron & Wine.

Speaking of The Hold Steady, frontman Craig Finn posted to his Tumblr that he's making a solo album:

"I'm in Austin TX for a few weeks. Making a record. Staying in a friend's guest house. Got here yesterday. So far so good. I'll be tracking the progress here."

Check out the full Truck America lineup update below...

Continue reading "Truck America expands lineup, Craig Finn working on solo LP"

Fleet Foxes @ Neport Folk Fest in 2009 (more by Jim Bruekner)

Felice Brothers @ Spiegeltent in 2008 (more by Faith-Ann Young)

today in NYC
* Kris Davis @ Barbes
* Maceo Parker @ SOB's
* Big Terrific @ Cameo
* Mandingo Ambassadors @ Barbes
* Dave Hill, Dick Cavett @ UCB
* Lykke Li, Grimes @ Webster Hall
* White Mystery @ Generation Records
* WFMU's 7 Second Delay Live @ UCB
* Jon Irabagon's Outright! @ The Stone
* Andrew Sterman Group @ The Stone
* Gruff Rhys, Y Niwl @ Knitting Factory
* Gary US Bonds @ Iridium Jazz Club
* Reggie Watts, Tommy Smith @ PS 122
* Gray Goods, Willy Gantrim @ Cake Shop
* Whitesnake, Evan Watson @ Irving Plaza
* Fornicated from The Beatles @ Glasslands
* Sarah Jarosz, Matraca Berg @ Housing Works
* MyNameIsJohnMichael, Chamberlin @ Mercury Lounge
* Robert Randolph and The Family Band @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Fleet Foxes, The Cave Singers @ United Palace Theatre
* Spirit Animal, NewVillager, Prospector @ Mercury Lounge
* Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers @ Highline Ballroom
* The Felice Brothers, Shovels and Rope, Rig 1 @ The Bell House
* Sam Roberts Band, The Rassle, Anthony D'Amato @ Bowery Ballroom
* Lukas Ligeti, Arrington de Dionyso's Malaikat dan Singa @ Issue Project Room
* Face To Face, Strung Out, Cerebral Ballzy, The Darlings @ Best Buy Theater
* Todd Sickafoose's Tiny Resistors (with Andrew Bird), Mary Halvorson Trio @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Say No! to Architecture, Space Lions In Outer Space, Bones, Funland Superquest @ Bruar Falls
* Hear Hums, Dustin Wong, Dark Sea Of Awareness, Emily Reo, Philip Seymour Hoffman @ Silent Barn

Elvis Costello and the Imposters @ The Wellmont Theatre is cancelled (postponed).

The Felice Brothers play their first of two shows at the Bell House tonight. Win a pair of tickets to tomorrow's show at BV Facebook. Check out their new video for "Ponzi" from their new album Celebration, Florida, below.

We're also giving away tickets to Paul Simon on Facebook

Anna Calvi tickets can be won right here on the site.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

Pete Seeger at Clearwater 2009 (more by )

The 2011 edition of the Clearwater Festival boasts some big names over its two days, June 18th and 19th, in Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson, NY. Founder Pete Seeger will be joined by Drive-By Truckers, Martin Sexton, Indigo Girls, Josh Ritter, Arlo Guthrie, Suzanne Vega, Billy Bragg (who plays NYCx3 a month later), and man other artists who are listed elow. Tickets are still available.

In related news, Martin Sexton will play four NYC shows before that Clearwater appearance, as part of a residency at City Winery. Tickets are sold-out for Martin Sexton on June 2nd, 3rd, & 4th at the venue but he just added a fourth late show on 6/4, and tickets are still available.

All Martin Sexton tour dates and the full Clearwater lineup is below.

Continue reading "Clearwater Fest 2011 lineup & other Martin Sexton dates"

"An exciting mix of folk music's founding voices and modern favorites highlights the 52nd edition of the Newport Folk Festival® when it returns to Newport's Fort Adams State Park July 30-31, it was announced today by the Newport Festivals Foundation, the recently-formed 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization which produces the event.

Tickets go on sale worldwide on Thursday, March 31, at 10:00 am at www.newportfolkfest.net.

Continue reading "Newport Folk Festival 2011 lineup announced, tickets too"

Newport Folk Festival 2009 (more by Jim Brueckner)

Newport Folk Festival will be happening again at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island, on July 31st and August 1st. The fest will also host a Friday night show on July 30th at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport Casino.

The lineup so far includes Levon Helm's Ramble on the Road, John Prine, Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers, Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket, The Swell Season, Andrew Bird, The Avett Brothers, Brandi Carlile, Doc Watson & David Holt, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Calexico, Blitzen Trapper, Richie Havens, Sam Bush, The Low Anthem, Tim O'Brien, The Felice Brothers, Justin Townes Earle, Tao Seeger Band, A.A. Bondy, The Punch Brothers with Chris Thile, Dawes, Nneka, Horse Feathers, Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three, Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore, Sarah Jarosz, Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons, O'Death and Liz Longley.

Tickets are on sale.

Here are pictures from DAY ONE and DAY TWO of last year's fest. Videos from last year and the list of the artists playing this year, by day, is below...

Continue reading "Newport Folk Fest 2010 - initial lineup, dates & tickets "

DOWNLOAD: The Felice Brothers - Run Chicken Run (MP3)

Dean & Britta

Southpaw is hosting two New Year's Eve shows this year. The first (7pm doors) will be Dean & Britta with special guests. The second (10pm doors) is An Evening with the Felice Brothers. Tickets for both the early and late shows are on sale now.

Dean & Britta's upcoming dates are a mix of "13 Most Beautiful...Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests" gigs (like they did at Prospect Park in August) and regular shows. Between their pair of upstate New York shows this weekend (9/25 and 9/26) you can catch both versions.

The Felice Brothers came through NYC in August too, on their Big Surprise Tour with Old Crow Medicine Show, Dave Rawlings Machine (feat. Gillian Welch) and Justin Townes Earle...

The Felice Brothers honed their brand of urban country-rock busking in the New York City subway but they performed [at the Beacon Theatre] like true Yankee bleacher creatures. Riling up the crowd with songs like "Run Chicken Run" and "Whiskey in My Whiskey", their songs adhered to a hard-nosed insight, that's only gained through country experience, while leaving ample room for rural romanticism. Oddly enough some members seemed to effuse hip-hop onstage: Chains, flat-brimmed Yankee caps, hands pumping the rhythm, even bumping and grinding a washboard. [Pop Matters]

Continue reading "Dean & Britta & The Felice Brothers playing New Years Eve @ Southpaw (not together) ++ other 2009 Tour Dates"

words & photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

The Duke & The King had their record release show at NYC's Mercury Lounge on Tuesday night for their new album "Nothing Gold Can Stay" on Ramseur Records. The band is centered around the duo of Robert "Chicken" Burke and Simone Felice (of the Felice Brothers) and was filled out with simple instrumentation of violin, bass and a sometimes drummer/singer in a Wu-Tang T-Shirt (The Deacon). Simone and the Chicken traded off leading songs on guitar, harmonizing and playing the drums at an informal pace, feeling out which song would be played next in an intuitive, democratic manner. Simone Felice had the most presence as a leader with a confident, steady voice and the body language of both a bird stretching its wings and a snake coiling up on itself. There was a genuine appreciation among the musicians for each other, Simone and the Deacon hugged a couple times on stage, and when the violinist played a pretty intro Simone remarked, "That was beautiful, play that again!" The music was refreshingly pure; like the people who bring down the organic apples to the Union Square Farmer's Market, it was a reminder that current music can be made by simple means with out all the ego and unnecessary modern distractions.

The Duke & The King are now on tour and will be back in NYC to play a show at City Winery with Cory Chisel on August 25th. All dates and more pictures from the Mercury Lounge show below...

Continue reading "The Duke & The King - Mercury Lounge pics, 2009 tour dates "

Nels Cline @ Central Park Summerstage on Saturday (more by Paul Bachmann)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Steely Dan @ Beacon Theatre
* The Roots @ Highline Ballroom
* Frankie Negron @ Red Hook Park
* Craig Wedren w/ ACME @ Joe's Pub
* Kath Bloom, Little Wings @ Zebulon
* Los Campesinos!, Girls @ Webster Hall
* Depeche Mode, Peter Bjorn & John @ MSG
* Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit @ City Winery
* Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit @ Hudson Square
* Incubus, The Duke Spirit @ Radio City Music Hall
* Erykah Badu, Janelle Monáe @ Beach at Governors Island
* Dark Habits DJs with Mia Clark, Sara Jaffe @ Bruar Falls
* White Hills, Modey Lemon, Fiasco, Prisms @ Death By Audio
* Portugal the Man, Pistola, The Sway Machinery @ Union Pool
* Sister Mantos, Mirror Mirror, Light Asylum, Rachel Mason Band @ Glasslands
* Gary Panter & Devin Flynn, R. Stevie Moore, Ear Pwr, Toro y Moi @ Cake Shop
* The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Dig, Hollerado @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Stories in High Fidelty w/ Dean Wareham, Dan Kennedy, Rob Harvilla @ Union Hall
* Bushwick Book Club w/ Corn Mo, Susan Hwang, M. Lamar @ Goodbye Blue Monday
* Duke & the King, Tyburn Saints, Morning Pages, Maya Solovey @ Mercury Lounge
* Jenny Scheinman w/ Nels Cline, Jim Black, Matt Penman @ Le Poisson Rouge

Free outdoor music tonight includes Frankie Negron at Red Hook Park and Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit at Hudson Square. Jason and band also play inside City Winery for another show tonight.

The Rural Alberta Advantage play a free show with The Dig and Hollerado at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

The Duke & The King play Mercury Lounge tonight...

"The Duke and the King is an alliance of Simone Felice of the Felice Brothers and his longtime friend (and sometime George Clinton collaborator) Robert "Chicken" Burke, along with a highly talented cast of others. They have pulled off a quite remarkable feat on Nothing Gold Can Stay - each song somehow sounding like a classic, each live performance suggesting we are in the presence of a rare, fiery brilliance." [The Guardian]

Los Campesinos! and Girls kick off their tour with a show at Webster Hall. Last night they played Union Pool.

The Roots continue their residency at Highline Ballroom, and they just announced a show with Common at Terminal 5.

Erykah Badu and Janelle Monáe play the first AEG show at the Beach at Governors Island.

Depeche Mode and Peter, Bjorn & John play a second night at Madison Square Garden. PB & J are also playing a secret show somewhere.

Shudder to Think's Craig Wedren plays at Joe's Pub with classical group ACME (American Contemporary Music Ensemble). Shudder to Think comes to town September 2nd.

Jenny Scheinman performs in her last gig for a while with Mischief & Mayhem (Nels Cline, Jim Black and Matt Penman) at (Le) Poisson Rouge.

The monthly Bushwick Book Club series tackles the Bible at Goodbye Blue Monday. Songwriters include Corn Mo, Susan Hwang, M. Lamar, Sweet Soubrette and Emilyn Brodsky. Flyer below.

Dean Wareham follows up his Dean & Britta Celebrate Brooklyn show on Saturday with a reading at Union Hall. The event, Stories in High Fidelty, will also feature music writer Dan Kennedy and Village Voice music editor Rob Harvilla.

Mia Clark (Electrelane) and Sara Jaffe (ex-Erase Errata) read from the new book The Art of Touring at Bluestockings, then DJ at Bruar Falls tonight.

The Cribs, whose lineup now includes Johnny Marr, put out a new video for "Cheat On Me," posted below. Marr previously gigged with Modest Mouse, who just released their Heath Ledger-directed video for "King Rat," also below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

photos by Tim Griffin

DOWNLOAD: Deer Tick - Easy (MP3)

Deer Tick @ MHOW 6/9 (more by Tim Griffin)

Deer Tick played with Jenny Lewis earlier this summer. She then played a free outdoor 4th of July show. Deer Tick fans will also get a free outdoor NYC show this summer, but that's not until August 7th. That's when the band play with Grace Potter & the Nocturnals at Prospect Park.

Prospect Park will be free, but it will also only be an opening set. The real show is tonight, July 24th, at Bowery Ballroom with Dawes and These United States. Tickets are still available.

If you miss it, but still want to catch Dawes (or you want to see Dawes again), they're also headlining their own Sunday night show at Union Hall in Brooklyn with Childe and the Seedy Seeds. Tickets are on sale.

These United States also have a show (actually shows) coming up at Union Hall, but not until August 28th. That's when they play an early show (with Vandaveer) and late show (with Motel Motel). Tickets for the early set, late set and both are on sale. These United States recently played an opening set at Prospect Park too. Pictures from the show with Dr. Dog and Phosphorescent are below.

Deer Tick's second album, Born on Flag Day, which came out in June on Partisan Records, has been getting the band some big-name attention -- they were recently awkwardly interviewed by NBC's Brian Williams, who claims to be a big fan and seems to be a fan of iTunes too. See that interview below. Popmatters, in their review of the album, say that "John Joseph McCauley III is a man's man" and that "He has little patience with the Ben Gibbards and Justin Vernons of the world--in fact, he sounds like the guy who stole their wallets and fucked their girlfriends." "Easy" from that record is posted above. Daytrotter and LaundroMatinee both have new live sessions available for free download.

Justin Vernon will be back in NYC in January. No update for Ben Gibbard.

Deer Tick are one of the bands on the bill for The Positive Jam, an all-day outdoor show happening in Ithaca, NY's Stewart Park on September 6th. Headlining will be the (namesake) Hold Steady, with The Felice Brothers, The Rural Alberta Advantage and others. Tickets are on sale. The poster is below.

Speaking of The Hold Steady, their New Jersey show at Starland Ballroom is tonight. NJ's Titus Andronicus is opening. Tickets are still on sale.

The Hold Steady have two other festival dates coming up as well: XPNonential Music Festival on July 25th in Camden, NJ and the Virgin Mobile Free Fest in Columbia, MD on August 30th.

The Rural Alberta Advantage, one of the bands in Ithaca, will also be playing a free show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on August 4th. The Dig and Hollerado have been added to that Brooklyn show as openers.

A set of Deer Tick videos (including the Brian Williams interview), photos of These United States, all tour dates for all bands, and a Positive Jam flyer, below...

Continue reading "Deer Tick & Hold Steady shows tonight & in Ithaca - Dawes, Titus, Rural Advantage & These United States too - dates"

Old Crow Medicine Show + David Rawlings & Gillian Welch @ Town Hall (muzikspy)

Old Crow Medicine Show, Dave Rawlings Machine (feat. Gillian Welch), The Felice Brothers and Justin Townes Earle will join together for the Big Surprise Tour, a revue-style show that'll travel for two weeks this August.

Shows will be composed of two 90-minute sets broken up by an intermission. In a free form ramshackle flow the bands and artists will share the stage, taking part in each other's songs, resurrecting old standards, and playing newly written collaborative material as they go.

There are also plenty of chances to catch each of the acts this summer before the Big Surprise Tour starts. Old Crow Medicine Show will be at the Clearwater Festival on June 20th and will open two nights for the Dave Matthews Band at the Jones Beach Theater on July 21st and 22nd. The Felice Brothers are currently touring the West Coast -- they'll play the Surf Lodge in Montauk on July 11th. The Dave Rawlings Machine (featuring Gillian Welch) performs at the Newport Folk Fesival on August 2nd, where Welch plays her own set one day prior. Justin Townes Earle appears at Bonnaroo on June 12th.

All tour dates and Big Surprise poster, below...

Continue reading "Big Surprise Tour w/ Old Crow Medicine Show, Justin Townes Earle, David Rawlings, Gillian Welch, Felice Brothers"

!!! is playing ACL 2009 (more by Chris Graham)

"The 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival will showcase a diverse blend of acts both fresh and familiar at the eighth edition of the event in Zilker Park October 2-4. Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, and Beastie Boys are performing for the first time at the Festival, with Kings of Leon, Ben Harper and Relentless7, and Thievery Corporation returning to Zilker Park once again. John Legend, The Dead Weather, and The Levon Helm Band will also make their ACL Festival debut, while Austin's own Ghostland Observatory will no doubt deliver another memorable set for festival goers.

With over 130 artists on this year's bill, the list of acts awes at each note with the likes of Sonic Youth, Mos Def, Toadies, Flogging Molly, The B-52s, Lily Allen, Citizen Cope, Arctic Monkeys, The Decemberists, Coheed and Cambria, Andrew Bird, Girl Talk, and many more.

In the tradition of the TV show from which it was born, the Festival has always aimed to offer musical discovery for the fans. The 2009 lineup is rich with pop, country, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, indie rock, hip-hop, and gospel, to name a few, spanning cultures and countries from New Orleans to Venezuela to France."

Continue reading "ACL (Austin City Limits) - 2009 festival lineup announcement"

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Ratatat show at Terminal 5.

Felice Brothers are playing Webster Hall on April 17th. Tickets are on sale (@ noon).

Ray LaMontagne is playing the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair on April 2nd. Tickets are on sale.

Tickets go on sale at noon for Gomez shows happening at Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Travis is playing Webster Hall on April 25th. Tickets are on sale (@ noon).

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Pela shows at Mercury Lounge.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Kills shows coming up at Music Hall and Webster Hall.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Crystal Stilts / Women show coming up at Music Hall.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Vivian Girls / Ariel Pink show coming up at Music Hall.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Bowerbirds show at Mercury Lounge.

A bunch of other shows also went on sale earlier today.

words & photos by Faith-Ann Young

This Sunday (11/2) was the last frigid night of Speigelworld. The wind picked up off the water and sent a chill to all the unfortunate ones who read the times listed on Deer Tick and The Felice Brothers' Myspace pages and came at 8pm. A cold, whiskey-filled two and a half hours later, the heavily lumberjack-plaid crowd packed into the circular tent (no joke, never seen more plaid in lower Manhattan in my 8 years here).

Deer Tick played first and you can read about that HERE.

Then The Felice Brothers came on late for a Sunday, demanding energy from the visibly sleepy crowd. They did so combining accordian, guitar, violins, ducktaped washboard, drums, jumps, jives, yelps, and brotherly joshing. Their bluesy tunes, sing-along screaming, dime-sack, type-writer and Gin references, and the Speigeltent's physical distance from all other things New York - all combined to serve as a good, cathartic escape from winter, recession, and reality. Showing the crowd how they "do it in the Catskills" (lots of jumping, foot stomping, and guitar improv), they had the crowd pawing at their feet, reliving "I put some whiskey into my whiskey," and singing along way past their bed time.

Dar Williams, Bruce Hornsby, and The Felice Brothers are playing the WFUV holiday show at The Concert Hall in NYC on December 2nd. Tickets are on sale. More Spiegeltent pictures (AA Bondy on guitar included) below...

Continue reading "The Felice Brothers - Spiegelworld pics, WFUV holiday show"

DOWNLOAD: Deer Tick - Art Isn't Real (City of Sin) (MP3)

Partisan Records is ecstatic to announce the signing of Deer Tick. Partisan will re-issue Deer Tick's debut War Elephant on November 25, 2008. The re-issue will be released on both double limited edition vinyl and CD with new album artwork. Partisan Records will also be releasing a full-length album of early original Deer Tick songs at a later date.

Songwriting prodigy John McCauley III wrote and recorded War Elephant at the age of 20, and plays every single instrument on the album. Originally a very limited release, the album [that I love a lot] quickly went out of print. The War Elephant re-issue will also represent the first ever vinyl release from Deer Tick.

Deer Tick is going on tour with The Felice Brothers who have a whole bunch of their own dates even sooner including September 13th at Maxwell's with AA Bondy (tix). The Deer/Felice NYC date is at Spiegelworld on November 2nd. All dates for all of them (and more photos from the above bikinis and guns photoshoot) below...

Continue reading "Deer Tick (Partisan Records) & the Felice Brothers tour dates "

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

After finally finishing the day three recap, now here finally is the rest of day two (8/9)...

Continue reading "Chromeo, Sia, the Black Angels & other APW day 2 pics"

DOWNLOAD: A.A. Bondy - American Hearts (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: AA Bondy - There's a Reason (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Weakerthans - Sun In An Empty Room (MP3)

AA (big A big A)

Last time AA Bondy played NYC was also the first time I ever saw him play live. It was late on a Friday night, the sold out Mercury Lounge was fully packed with drinking patrons, and the Felice Brothers were coming on next - not the best conditions for a solitary man on stage by himself with just a microphone and his acoustic guitar.

As was to be expected, there was lots of talking and it made it hard to pay attention at first. His wife Claire Felice (who also took the above photo of him) joined him on keyboards, and that helped a little, but not enough. Then in walked a drummer, and not just any drummer - it was Russell Simmins of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (and Tiny Masters of Today) fame - and that was just the magic ingredient the music needed to turn things into a proper Friday night rock show. The drums helped bring the beautiful songs off "American Hearts" (which is being re-released by Fat Possum) alive, and kept all eyes focused on the front of the room while simultaneously keeping mouths shut (or at least drowning them out).

AA plays again this Wednesday night (March 12) at the BrooklynVegan official showcase at Club De Ville in Austin. I can't wait to see him again, and I'm equally stoked that The Weakerthans chose him to accompany them and Christine Fellows on tour this spring. Tickets are still on sale for the April 11th show at Music Hall of Williamsburg (the same night AA plays Conan O'Brien). All tour dates below.....

Continue reading "The Weakerthans & AA Bondy - 2008 Tour Dates (SXSW/NYC)"

The Team Love-signed band's Mercury Lounge show is sold out, so it's not that crazy that The Felice Brothers' next NYC show will be headlining Bowery Ballroom in April - part of a just-announced tour with Justin Townes Earle and McCarthy Trenching - a tour that comes after the one they're doing with Drive By Truckers. All dates below....

Continue reading "The Felice Brothers - 2008 Tour Dates (Bowery Ballroom)"

DOWNLOAD: The Felice Brothers - Frankie’s Gun (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Felice Brothers - Wonderful Life (MP3)

Team Love will release a collection of The Felice Brothers hottest new tunes combined with some select and hard to find tracks from the tour-only full length “The Adventures of the Felice Brothers Vol 1”.

The Felice Brothers self-titled American debut will be available at brick and mortar retailers and digital stores on March 4th. In April, an 180 gram double vinyl version complete with a free download card will hit stores.

The brothers hit the road with the Drive By Truckers in February kicking off with a stop at the Mercury Lounge on February 1st and winding up at the Langerado Music Festival in the swamps of Florida.

Continue reading "The Felice Brothers sign to Team Love, MP3s"

AA Bondy & Felice Brothers @ Bottletree, Sept 2007 (CRED)

AA Bondy is also playing that February 1st Mercury Lounge show with his relatives The Felice Brothers. Tickets are on sale. Video of AA playing with Claire Felice, below....

Continue reading "AA Bondy playing with Felice Brothers @ Mercury Lounge"

DOWNLOAD: Drive By Truckers - Zip City (MP3)

Not only is this our finest album, but it sounds better on vinyl by an even bigger margin than any of the others. It was written, learned, played, mixed and mastered for vinyl. It's how it was meant to be heard and it shines like Rain Dance Car Wax on a 69 Camarro. It may not be as fast around the curve as your modern hybrid but that long road trip will be as fine a ride as you ever experience. As a bonus, an included MP3 will provide the digital impetus to make you iPod quake with it's fine sounds and it is pretty fine in that format also. Best of both worlds, vinyl sound, big beautiful packaging and portable iPod sounds for a hopefully reasonable price. Gatefold sleeve to separate what needs to be separated. Big Beautiful artwork by Wes Freed seen in the size it was intended to be seen in. Technicolor horizons. Indeed. [Drive By Truckers]

DBT front-man Patterson Hood made a list of his top 10 new releases of 2007......

1. IRON AND WINE - THE SHEPHERDS DOG - An incredible album that rewards multiple listens and my pick for the best album of the year.

2. RADIOHEAD - IN RAINBOWS - My close pick for second favorite. After all the hype of how it was released (or not), the album stands on its own as their best work since Kid A, maybe better.

3. WILCO - SKY BLUE SKY - Their best studio album. Even better when played live. Possibly the best band in America.

4. VIC CHESNUTT - NORTH STAR DESERTER - I've been saying this is his finest since West of Rome (1992) but upon further listening, this is his best album ever.

5. SPOON -GA GA GA GA GA - My vote for most fun album of year. Great live act also.

6. WHITE STRIPES - ICKY THUMP - Their finest album yet. inventive and a total blast.

7. RICKIE LEE JONES - THE SERMON ON EXPOSITION AVE. - Her finest album since 1981's masterpiece Pirates. Beautiful and inspiring.

8. PORTER WAGONER - WAGONMASTER - Thank God, he got to make this album before his sad departure this year. Kudos to Anti Records and Marti Stuart for making this happen.

9. BO BEDDINGFIELD AND THE WYDELLES - CLEARGREEN - Hard to find, self released EP from Athens GA. Well worth seeking out for great writing, singing and playing.

10. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - MAGIC - Best Springsteen album since Nebraska, his best Rock album since The River. A little over-produced, but still essential.

Drive By Truckers are touring in 2008. They'll play Terminal 5 in NYC on March 26th during the second half of their tour. Tickets go on sale Friday. The Felice Brothers will be touring with the Truckers, but only on the first-half of their tour - aka they will not be at Terminal 5, but New Yorkers wanting to catch the Brothers can do so on February 1st @ Mercury Lounge. Tickets are on sale now.

Former-Trucker Jason Isbell also has a bunch of shows coming up - some of them as part of a tour with Will Hoge. Together they play Bowery Ballroom in NYC on February 21st. Dawn Landes is also playing that show, and joining them on part of the tour. Tickets are on sale. Jason is also taking part in the New York Guitar Festival on January 12th.

All new interpretations of Dylan classics performed by Laura Cantrell, Stevie Jackson (Belle & Sebastian), Marshall Crenshaw, Oakley Hall, Nicole Atkins & Lenny Kaye, Jason Isbell, Jim Lauderdale, Toshi Reagon, Kelly Joe Phelps, Freeman, Harry Manx & Kevin Breit, The Last Town Chorus/Megan Hickey, Jesse Harris, Richard Julian & Jim Campilongo, Chocolate Genius Inc. and others.

Continue reading "Drive by Truckers, Patterson Hood, Jason Isbell, Felice Brothers, TOUR DATES, new albums, songs & a Best of 2007"

Bright Eyes @ Radio City Music Hall, NYC - Nov 19, 2007 (CRED)

the opening bands were pretty cool. the first band was the felice brothers, and they were sorta country-ish but not annoying and i didn't hate it. the second band was the lifeboats...the something lifeboats....i dunno i'll look it up. they were great;; more instrumental, but great.
and THEN, there was a second intermission after them so we knew that bright eyes would be next, and this intermission was really long so me and erika were like oh yeahhh connor has to finish up his coke or else he wont be able to preform properly!
but when he came on the stage, when he came on with his sky blue button down shirt and picked up his guitar, i was having a seizure.
the most amazing lyrics...oh god DJDSKLLFS!! and he said that they've been touring for 11 years, and that this was their last show. when he said that, me and erika looked at eachother with the widest and BRIGHTEST eyes, like we were the luckiest people on earth.
i really hope that connor was just coked out and he didn't mean that. i need to see them again. <3 [Rachel]

DOWNLOAD: The Felice Brothers - Frankie's Gun! (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Felice Brothers - Roll On Arte (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Felice Brothers - Your Belly In My Arms (MP3)

* Radiohead's In Rainbows was released
* Jay Reatard is playing Cake Shop
* PJ Harvey is playing the Beacon Theatre
* The Donnas are playing Highline Ballroom
* The Hives open for Maroon 5 @ MSG
* Black Mountain & The Cave Singers are at Mercury Lounge
* The Raveonettes & Nicole Atkins are playing Southpaw
* The Music of Elton John & Bernie Taupin @ Carnegie Hall
* Earlimart & Office are playing Knitting Factory
* Health is playing for free at Studio B
* A lot of other bands are playing Studio B too
* Bruce Springesteen is at Continental Airlines
* I'm listening to the free album stream of "Complete Clapton"
* Jason Isbell (Drive by Truckers) is at Bowery Ballroom
* The Felice Brothers are opening for Jason Isbell

What are you doing the afternoon of Wednesday October 17th? What about the night before? More Felice Brothers tour dates below. What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday? (The Felice Brothers)"