The Roots on the Intrepid (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

The Roots and "special surprise guests" will celebrate the holdays at their 5th Annual Okayplayer Holiday Jam, which goes down at Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday (12/15), followed by the usual Questlove DJ stint shortly thereafter. The show is private, but you (and a guest) can win a special invite by signing up for the Okayplayer newsletter. Further details are at the Okayplayer site.

The Roots will also celebrate legendary delta blues musician Robert Johnson's 100th birthday at the Apollo on March 6th, joining a lineup that includes Shemika Copeland, Bettye LaVette, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Sam Moore, Todd Rundgren and more TBA. Tickets are on sale, and the show will double as a benefit for the construction of the Blues Hall of Fame by the Blues Foundation in Memphis.

The Roots recently celebrated the release of their new LP Undun and inddirectly called Michelle Bachmann a "Lyin' Ass Bitch" (and will no longer have carte blanche on the songs they play as a result).

Video of Questlove and Black Thought from Power 105 this morning discussing the Michelle Bachmann incident, as well as the concept behind Undun is below...

Continue reading "Roots playing Okayplayer holiday party & Robert Johnson's birthday (but not whatever they want on Fallon anymore)"

photos by David Andrako

Hal Wilner's Freedom Riders show graced Prospect Park on June 16. The Celebrate Brooklyn show saw performances by Lou Reed, Rosanne Cash, Toshi Reagon, Tao Seeger, Todd Rundgren, and many others. The show celebrated the 50th anniversary of civil rights activists known as the Freedom Riders, and began with a pre-performance discussion with the artists. The full performer lineup is listed at the end of the pictures, below...

Continue reading "Hall Willner's Freedom Rides Project @ Prospect Park (in pics)"

Semi Precious Weapons & Rachael Ray @ Santos in NYC (Nicky Digital) (thx Krista)

As posted earlier today, Franz Nicolay & Major General will be opening for the Pogues at Roseland Ballroom on March 13th, but that is just one of many shows the Hold Steady's moustached member has coming up. Another one is tonight, March 5th...

3/5 FRANZ NICOLAY @ Small Beast Salon
Guest-hosting & curating.
THIS WEEK: 8:15-8:45 Franz Nicolay
8:55-9:25 Yoni Gordon
9:30-10:05 Serena Jost
10:15-11 Jennifer O'Connor
@ The Delancey - 168 Delancey, NYC

Franz is doing the same thing at the Delancey with a different bill on March 12th too, and he's doing a reading at Bar Matchless on March 14th. He'll have a busy few days which almost immediately then turns into a Hold Steady trip to SXSW that starts with a pitstop in Portland for a March 16th show at the Crystal Ballroom.

At SXSW, Franz is playing one solo/Major General show, and The Hold Steady are playing two. The first HS show is Friday March 20th at Mohawk. That's a public, official SXSW appearance. The second is the next day at Maggie May's for the Tom Jones-and-Semi-Precious Weapons-loving Rachael Ray. And they're not the only ones playing her party. As previously mentioned, The Airborne Toxic Event will be there, and so will New York Dolls, Ra Ra Riot and The Thermals. You can see the whole lineup and more details on the Dunkin Donuts spokesperson's website. The picture above was taken at Rachael's NYC show at Santos last week. See more like it at Nicky Digital's site.

NY Dolls also have an official SXSW show, and Sylvain Sylvain is sitting on a SXSW panel called "The Sound and the Fury". This all in addition to a new record coming out...

After working together on the New York Dolls' influential debut in 1973, the group reunited this winter with producer Todd Rundgren to record their fourth studio album, Cause I Sez So, set for a May 5 release on Atco Records.

Recorded at Utopia Sound Studio in Kauai, Hawaii, the album features 11 original compositions and a new version of "Trash," which was on their 1973 debut album. "It was amazing working with Todd again, and I think we were able to evoke the special sound of our first album and drag it by the hair into the present," says frontman Johansen.

Prior to the album's release, the New York Dolls-David Johansen (vocals); Sylvain Sylvain (guitar); Steve Conte (guitar); Brian Delaney (drums); and Sami Yaffa (bass)-will appear at the South By Southwest (SXSW) music conference and festival in Austin, TX. [as outlined above]

No upcoming Dolls dates in NY, bit Ra Ra Riot are at NYU TONIGHT (3/5), The Hold Steady are at Irving Plaza on March 30th, and The Thermals are playing Bowery Ballroom twice in May.

The NY Times went to RR's SXSW show last year. Video below...

Continue reading "Franz Nicolay, Rachael Ray, NY Dolls, Thermals, NYC, SXSW "