The Long Winters (Roderick second from left)

The Long Winters frontman John Roderick will play a few shows with Aimee Mann in January followed by a headlining show at Mercury Lounge on 1/28/12. Tickets for the NYC show are on sale. All dates are listed below.

1/28 is the same date that Aimee plays a NYC show at Zankel Hall which is one day after she plays Music Hall of Williamsburg (both shows are without John and now sold out or close to sold out). Aimee has also announced a NJ show in Red Bank and other dates since we last spoke. They are all listed below.

Back to John Roderick for a second. You can buy his guitar on eBay...

Do you want to play guitar like John Roderick? Sorry, can't be done. But, you can play his guitar as much as you'd like! Just win his solid body Hohner EX Artist electric guitar, whose unique sound has appeared in The Long Winter's recordings. Small Print: Guitar has been used. It's got a few scrapes (nothing that's visible from a stadium seat - see photos), needs a set-up (easy!), but has been lovingly modified - with embellished pick-ups (blood red nail polish, an 80's classic). Comes with a Gibson Explorer Guitar case (some use on outside, but like new on inside with instructions for programming the unused combo lock). Don't let THIS ONE get away. Donated by John to benefit Suz, all proceeds help her recover from severe illness. Thanks for lookin'!

Roderick also appears in Coulton's new video for "Nemeses" which came out before the even newer Coulton video for "Sticking it to Myself", both of which can be watched, with all the tour dates below...

Continue reading "a John Roderick show, his guitar on eBay, more Aimee Mann & They Might Be Giants dates, a new Jonathan Coulton video"

We'll get a more complete press release in the morning (and confirm what is listed below is 100% correct), but in the meantime below is a picture of the 2010 Sasquatch poster (that someone Tweeted) and the lineup as read by Bradford Cox at tonight's Atlas Sound show in Seattle (and being listed all over the Internet)....

Continue reading "Sasquatch announces 2010 lineup (includes Massive Attack & My Morning Jacket) (and many more) "

Ben Gibbard & Jay Farrar @ Bimbo's 365 Club, 10-24-09 (pneyu)

John Roderick of the Long Winters is the opener of the Ben Gibbard & Jay Farrar Kerouac-tour that ends with a show at Webster Hall in NYC tonight (10/28). Tickets are still available. John will then stick around for a day, and headline his own show at the intimate Union Hall in Brooklyn on Thursday (1/29). Tickets are on sale for that too.

Greg Kot was at the Gibbard/Farrar show in Chicago the other day...

"The one-week old band," as Farrar called it, devoted the show to playing the album in its entirety, plus a handful of loosely related songs: Farrar's "Voodoo Candle," Bob Dylan's "Absolutely Sweet Marie" and Tom Waits' "Old Shoes (And Picture Postcards)."

The "Big Sur" songs put the focus squarely on Kerouac's lyrics, which detail the dissolution of a drunk looking for sobriety and inspiration in a cabin on a remote stretch of the California coast. The material's tailor-made for Farrar: His voice has a natural slope to it, an ache that shades even his most optimistic sentiments, and his melodies are steeped in mourning.

Continue reading "John Roderick opening for Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard (Webster Hall tonight), playing Union Hall "

The Long Winters @ Castle Clinton in 2008 (more by Elizabeth Weinberg)

"A couple of months ago, the Long Winters got some mixed news: Our drummer, Nabil Ayers, was taking a full-time job in New York that would preclude his touring, and our band was invited to play Bumbershoot. We cried, we laughed. Happy as we were for our friend, his new direction meant we would have to start searching for a new drummer, a grueling process under the best of circumstances.

Since then, we've been auditioning drummers from all walks of drummer life, playing with a dozen different characters in search of a good fit. ....

....In our case we ended up with something I never expected: three drummers who made the grade. I've been agonizing over the decision for a couple of weeks, setting up increasingly difficult initiations to try to wear them down, but all three are stalwart. Meantime, Nabil will fly out to play one last show with us at Bumbershoot, and we'll choose a new drummer after the break." [John Roderick for Seattle Weekly]

The Long Winters played a new song at Bumbershoot. Before Bumbershoot they played the Doe Bay Festival with Mike Musburger (formerly of the Fastbacks and Posies) on drums. Videos of/from both of those and more below...

Continue reading "the Long Winters played Bumbershoot with their drummer for the last time +++ John Roderick is here..."

Willamette Week's Musicfest NW announces this year's festival line-up which will be held at various venues around the Portland, OR metropolitan area on September 16, 17, 18 & 19. On the heels of the most successful MFNW to date, MFNW 2009 launches with nothing but the hope of a bigger and better festival. MFNW's ultimate aim is to provide Portland with a unique and special musical experience that features all types of acts including nationally renowned artists while still honoring and supporting the special musical scene of the Northwest.

The lineup so far, including the newly-reunited Sunny Day Real Estate, is below...

Continue reading "Musicfest NW in Portland, OR (Sept 16-19) - lineup"

The 39th annual Bumbershoot: Seattle's Music & Arts Festival, Presented by Samsung Mobile announces a small portion of the 2009 lineup. The 3-day urban event takes place Labor Day Weekend (September 5 - 7). The Festival stretches across the 74-acre Seattle Center, located beneath the city's iconic Space Needle, and programs 20 indoor and unique outdoor venues. This progressive Festival features a diverse array of arts including live music, comedy, theatre, dance, film, urban crafts, and literary and visual arts.

Continue reading "Bumbershoot announces partial 2009 lineup & ticket info"

photos by Elizabeth Weinberg

The Long Winters played a free show yesterday in NYC (July 31, 2008). Their last album, "Putting the Days to Bed", came out on Barsuk two full years earlier. And although they're in the process of recording a new album (they said 6 songs are already complete), they didn't actually play any at this show (they don't know how yet). The set was 90 minutes. They don't believe in encores. "Trust Me on This" adds,

It turned out to be a great idea, with optimal conditions -- I arrived 15 minutes before the show and got a free ticket and sat (sat! There were seats!) in the second row. The air was cool, mostly because we were so close to the water (right next to the Staten Island Ferry) and the sun set during the show. The light was great at the beginning of the show so I managed to take decent photos, though the sun was shining right at the band and they were all wearing sunglasses at the beginning of the show.

Continue reading "The Long Winters @ Castle Clinton, NYC - pics"

DOWNLOAD: The Long Winters - Pushover (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Long Winters - Stupid (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Long Winters - Blue Diamonds (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Long Winters - Carparts (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Long Winters - Scent of Lime (MP3)

For the last few years the beard has surged in popularity, first among indie-rockers in denim-rock bands, and now increasingly among the general population. I see them sprouting on faces everywhere, and I've noticed that I'm asked about my beard more and more all the time. It occurs to me that today's young men, and the young women and men who love them, may be as confused about the care and maintenance of beards as I was at their age, so they keep bringing the topic up in the hope that someone will offer some encouraging words of advice. I remember asking my Dad, who wore a moustache for thirty-five years, how he kept it trimmed so perfectly. He explained by taking out the scissors on his Swiss-Army knife and making a snipping motion while looking at me like I was retarded. This is the way men in my family explain things to each other. I used to surreptitiously examine older men's beards in the hopes of divining their secrets, but had to be very careful not to get caught staring too intently, especially in my old Pike/Pine neighborhood around the corner from the old Spar, where altogether too many men would have been HAPPY to show me how they trimmed their beards... [John Roderick of the Long Winters]

Tickets are required and space is limited. Two free tickets per person will be distributed at the Castle on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 5:00PM on the day of the show.

DOWNLOAD: Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Colleen (MP3)

Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Mirah, The Long Winters, Akron/Family, St Vincent and a few more people are playing free shows at Castle Clinton National Monument in Battery Park in NYC this Summer......

Continue reading "Castle Clinton 2008: Ted Leo, Mirah, Long Winters...."

DOWNLOAD: The Long Winters - Ultimatum (MP3)

The Long Winters' John Roderick blogged Bonnaroo this year.

In all fairness, I should probably recuse myself from reviewing the Decembrists. They are a band I know, we’ve toured together and I’ve appeared in one of their music videos. Also, Decembrist Chris Funk guested on the Long Winters’ most recent album. I can’t possibly review their show impartially, because I like them too much.

On the other hand, I’ve been in a “fake feud” with them for several years, involving some “smack talking” and pranking, which despite my best efforts has failed to catch fire mostly because they reciprocate too passively. (I think they’re holding out for a fake feud with Sufjan Stevens or something). So I can’t really be trusted not to call them a bunch of fruity, Vaudeville, pirate-song-singing sissies just to burn their britches a little.

But in this instance I’m acting as a professional journalist and I must honor my caste by reporting the news without adornment. They played their epic song, "The Tain," which was a bold choice, and their kitchy theatricality played exceptionally well with the big crowd.

At one point Colin led the audience in bidding the sun to set, and the effect was like a pagan ceremony — 15,000 people all motioning in unison toward the sun. In the end Mavis Staples joined them for a song, which was a little like... Like... Well, there is no better analogy for an unfathomable incongruity than: Like Mavis Staples jamming with the Decembrists. [John Roderick]

These fellows have a rabid popularity that leaves me deeply conflicted. Although their live show is undeniably full of energy, full of engagement, and full of whimsy, their music is full of s--t.

More Decemberists photos (by BV Bonnarooo correspodent Andrew Fischler) below....

Continue reading "Long Winters vs the Hold Steady & Decemberists @ Bonnaroo"

Handsome Furs are not playing Mercury Lounge tonight (May 24) due to VISA problems (which sucks), but Love As Laughter and TK Webb & The Visions will still go on (10pm).

M.I.A. is also having VISA problems again which in turn will not allow her to make her scheduled appearance at the Sasquatch Festival this weekend, BUT Jerry Yeti (not to be confused with the Sasquatch Yeti Stage) will once again be on hand to give us the non-MIA blow by blow. Perhaps he will check out The Long Winters who will be there to entertain us in her place.

Those with epilepsy should stay away from M.I.A.'s homepage. Those going to Lollapalooza should still expect to see M.I.A. there at this point.