The third annual Brooklyn Folk Festival kicks off tonight (6/10) at the Jalopy Theatre and runs through Sunday (6/12). Tickets for all three days are available as well as three-day passes. Uncle Monk (Tommy Ramone and Claudia Tienan), Peter Stampfel & the Ether Frolic Mob, and others play the festival tonight. Saturday (6/11) and Sunday (6/12) will take place at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition and feature performances by Blind Boy Paxton, The Dust Busters, Radio Jarocho, Jalopy house band Whiskey Spitters, Boom Chick, and others.

The festival also includes workshops and film screenings on Saturday and Sunday including jam workshops, banjo and fiddle tunings, singing workshop, and films by Alan Lomax, John Cohen, and Mike Seeger.

Blind Boy Paxton

Blues singer/guitarist Blind Boy Paxton recorded an in-studio performance for KEXP last August you can listen to. He also contributed vocals to the track "But That's Alright" off Frank Fairfield's recently released album Out on the Open West...

"Frank Fairfield's backstory is the stuff of old American legend: A troubled vagabond who eventually made his way home to Los Angeles, Fairfield rooted through the city as a street musician, pulling bow across fiddle and hammering away at a banjo or acoustic guitar on corners or in flea markets. One afternoon, the right musician saw him play, became his manager, hitched him to a tour with champions Fleet Foxes, and landed him a record deal with one of the country's most trustworthy syndicates of old sounds, Tompkins Square. Now, he's the subject of a documentary and a touring musician with audiences in multiple continents.

The album (which just got an impressive 8.0 on Pitchfork) is streaming on Frank's myspace. Frank is currently on tour in Europe, but plays a record release show at McCabe's in LA on July 24th. No NYC dates, but Frank is on the lineup of September's Hopscotch Fest which takes place in North Carolina, so maybe one will pop up around then. Meanwhile go check out Blind Boy (who played a show with Frank at Jalopy last summer) at Brooklyn Folk Fest this weekend.

Check out the full Brooklyn Folk Festival lineup, some videos and the flyer below...

Continue reading "Brooklyn Folk Fest this weekend, Frank Fairfield isn't playing, but Blind Boy Paxton is (and Peter Stampfel and many more)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Though they wouldn't let her decorate Mercury Lounge with hay (she still had a little on stage, and some untouched bails of it in the corner), Dawn Landes and the Hounds put on a great record release show Friday early-night at the packed NYC venue. As one quirky New York chick put it,

There were special guests, Josh Ritter. There were hula hoops and birthdays, Landes friend Erin, sorry if I've gotten your name wrong, but Happy Birthday! There were even giant standing chandeliers. And, in the middle of it all was the smiling, quirky, sweet as sugar Dawn Landes.

Landes took the stage and instantly, things became a party. She rocked her way through a rollicking set charming the enthusiastic crowd the whole time. Landes is one of those performers that you can't help but like. She has this sweet charming quality that beckons you to have fun, smile and cheer her on.

Josh Ritter (Dawn's husband) (sorry guys) just played his own show opening for The Swell Season at Radio City. His next official NYC gig is a headlining slot at Town Hall. Video of their duet is below.

The equally charming "indie-acoustic duo" Uncle Monk, Tommy Ramone and Claudia Tienan, opened the show. Highlights of their set included a cover of "I Fought the Law" and "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" which Tommy introduced by saying it was a song he wrote when he was just a young kid.

More pictures and videos from the show below...

Continue reading "Dawn Landes (and Josh Ritter) & Uncle Monk (starring Tommy Ramone) played Mercury Lounge in NYC - pics "

DOWNLOAD: Dawn Landes - Young Girl (MP3)

Dawn Landes backing Doveman @ Merc the other day (more by Eric Townsend)

After we announced, Dawn Landes said she wanted a country-ish opener for her record release show which is happening tonight (1/22) at Mercury Lounge. What better opportunity then to do a show with Uncle Monk aka the last surviving original member of the Ramones' bluegrass band. Dawn loved the idea and Tommy Ramone said yes. It's an early show. Uncle Monk is on at 8pm. Dawn hits the stage at 9. Then the room clears out in time for the Serena Maneesh show happening at the same venue right afterwards.

If you miss it, Uncle Monk also has a show coming up at the end of February at Bowery Poetry Club.

Those outside of NYC can catch Dawn on tour, sometimes with Justin Townes Earle, starting Saturday. Dawn's new album, Sweetheart Rodeo, was released this week. The track "Young Girl" from that album is above. The video for the same song is below...

Continue reading "Uncle Monk (Tommy Ramone) opening for Dawn Landes (new MP3 & video) at Mercury Lounge tonight/Friday"

"Joey Ramone (May 19, 1951 - April 15, 2001), born as Jeffrey Ross Hyman, was a vocalist and songwriter best known for his work in the punk rock group the Ramones. Joey Ramone's image, voice and tenure as frontman of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon." [Wikipedia]

Joey Ramone's 58th-birthday bash is tonight (May 19th) at Irving Plaza. Acts on the bill for that include Fishbone, Supersuckers, Death, Uncle Monk (with Tommy Ramone) the Friends Of Joey and more. Included among the Friends Of Joey will be Richie Ramone, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Jean Beauvoir and others. Tickets are still on sale.

The event will also be the unveiling of new tracks from the forthcoming posthumous Joey Ramone solo record. In other Joey Ramone news, the singer's induction award to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was re-presented to his estate at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex in NYC, and accepted by Mickey Leigh and Tommy Ramone, on Thursday, May 14th, after mistakenly being left off the program in the original 2002 ceremony.

Coming up, Tommy Ramone and Handsome Dick Manitoba, who will be at the birthday bash, are speaking with Lenny Kaye (of the Patti Smith Group and more) and Chris Stein (of Blondie) at "LOUD FAST JEWS! A Summit with Four Jewish Fathers of Punk" on Thursday, June 11th at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (15 West 16th St). Tickets to that event are on sale. More info below.

Catch Chris Stein this summer with Blondie, as the band tours alone and with Pat Benatar and The Donnas. All three will play the tour's NYC stop, a free show on August 13th at Coney Island's Asher Levy Park.

Also coming to NYC is Gods and Monsters' 20th anniversary show, scheduled for NYC's Gramercy Theatre on June 11th. The band, helmed by guitarist Gary Lucas, will be joined by guests that include Lenny Kaye. Tickets are still on sale.

Uncle Monk, Tommy Ramone's indie-bluegrass band, has scattered shows in NYC and elsewhere coming up. The band plays June 10th at Banjo Jim's and June 21st at Local 269. More dates below.

Joey Ramone's B-Day bash poster, Loud Fast Jew info, and a video of the Ramones' initial induction ceremony, also below...

Continue reading "Joey Ramone would be 58 today, party in NYC tonight ++ other Ramones / Blondie / Manitoba / Kaye appearances "

Celebrating what would have been the 58th birthday of punk icon Joey Ramone, the annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash will take place Tuesday, May 19th at The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza. Mickey Leigh, event organizer and brother of Joey Ramone, has announced that, as part of the 9th annual Bash, fans will be treated to a special advance sneak peek listen to rough mixes of never-before-heard Joey Ramone solo recordings. Various producers, including long-time Ramones producer Ed Stasium, are currently preparing tracks for a full album worth of material, slated for posthumous release at the end of the year.

This year's headliners are Fishbone and Supersuckers. The spectacular party will conclude with The Friends Of Joey featuring Richie Ramone, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Jean Beauvoir, Ivan Julian, George Tabb, Al Maddy and Mickey Leigh. Also appearing are Death and Rough Francis (both bands were the subject of a feature story in the New York Times on March 12), Uncle Monk (featuring Tommy Ramone), Bebe Buell, and Tom Clark & The High Action Boys. As the audience enters the venue they will once again be greeted by musician Tracy Thornton, playing Ramones songs on the steel drum. And, in what has become a Birthday Bash tradition, Sean O'Sullivan's Punk Pipers will round out the night on the bagpipes. The fete will be emceed by Matt Pinfield and Peter Aschner. Additional surprises are expected at the evening's events...Net proceeds from the Bash go to support the Joey Ramone Foundation for Lymphoma Research.

Tickets are on sale now. The annual event, organized by Joey's mom and brother, has been happening since 2001.

Videos from the 2008 party, below...

Continue reading "2009 Joey Ramone Birthday Bash lineup & new album info "

Gary Lucas

Lucas has played and collaborated with Leonard Bernstein, Captain Beefheart, Jeff Buckley, Chris Cornell, Lou Reed, John Cale, Nick Cave, David Johansen. He has also worked with Mary Margaret O'Hara, Onetwo, Peter Stampfel, Fred Schneider (B-52s), Bob Neuwirth, Geoff Muldaur, John Sebastian, John Zorn, Bryan Ferry, Patti Smith, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Matthew Sweet, DJ Spooky, Damo Suzuki, Iggy Pop, Dr. John, Allen Ginsberg, Graham Parker, The Dark Poets, Future Sound of London, Van Dyke Parks, Adrian Sherwood,Richard Barone, Bob Weir, Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers, Gov't Mule), Kristin Diable and many others. Jazz collaborations include Roswell Rudd, Steve Swallow, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, and Billy Bang. Some of these collaborations appear on his retrospective album Improve the Shining Hour, which also features his film and TV music for ABC News, 20/20 and Turning Point. He has produced albums for composer/saxophonists Tim Berne and Peter Gordon, and for the French avant-rock band Tanger. He co-wrote Joan Osborne's Grammy-nominated song "Spider Web" from her triple platinum album Relish.

Lucas co-wrote two of the songs, "Grace" and "Mojo Pin", from Jeff Buckley's popular and critically acclaimed album Grace. Early collaborations can also be heard on the recent Jeff Buckley and Gary Lucas album Songs To No One, which charted internationally with worldwide sales approaching 100,000. [Wikipedia]

Tonight/Wednesday at Cake Shop in NYC: Gary Lucas's band Gods & Monsters, Tommy Ramone's bluegrass band Uncle Monk, and Radio I-Ching (Andy Haas) with special guest James Chance - all on sthe same bill. Lots of talent and legendary status in the basement tonight (12/3).

The show is the first in Dee Pop's returning monthly Freestyle Music Series. According to Dee Pop, who also plays in Radio I-Ching, "Freestyle does not mean Free Jazz. It means free of categories. It doesn't mean anything. It means everything.". The January 21st show will feature Brown Wing Overdrive, Sediment Club, and Mostly Others Do the Killing. The dates after that are February 25, March 25, and April 22 - all at Cake Shop. Check out an Uncle Monk video below...

Continue reading "Gary Lucas, Tommy Ramone, James Chance... tonight (the 1st edition of Freestyle Music Monthly @ Cake Shop)"