The holiday season is upon us and addition to Yo La Tengo's eight-night run of annual Hanukkah shows at Hoboken, NJ venue Maxwell's (12/8 - 12/15), there are a number of other Hanukkah celebrations, parties, and shows happening in the NYC area this December.

The eighth annual Sephardic Music Festival is going down in NYC from December 8 - 15 across multiple venues. Shows announced so far include Copal, Pharaoh's Daughter, Animal Machine, and Sway Machinery at Knitting Factory (12/8) (tickets); Sephardic Story Slam at Lolita Bar (12/9); the Sephardic Scholar Series at CUNY Grad Center (12/10) (365 5th Ave); Vanessa Paloma and Lev-Yulzari Duo and friends at The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue (2 W 70 St); Zion 80, Mika Karny, and Hasidic New Wave with Yakar Rhythms at Le Poisson Rouge (12/12) (tickets); and more TBA.

Klezmer punk band Golem play a Hannukah show at Cameo Gallery on December 8 with Smoota and The Schlep Sisters. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

The Schlep Sisters are also teaming up with Thirsty Girl Productions to present the sixth annual Menorah Horah! at Highline Ballroom on December 9. The Hannukah burlesque show will be hosted by Sherry Vine and tickets are on sale now.

92YTribeca is hosting a 'Beer + Latkes Hanukkah Celebration' on December 13. Tickets for that are on sale now.

On December 23 at BB King's, Ray Ellin is presenting "A Jewish Christmas Extraganza" with "standup comedy from four and a half Jews," Lenny Marcus (Letterman Show), Brian Scott McFadden (Letterman show, Craig Ferguson Show), Dan Naturman (Letterman Show, Conan O'Brien, Tonight Show), and Gregg Rogell (Louie, Comedy Central special, Tonight Show). Tickets for that one are on sale now.

BB King's will also host a Hanukkah celebration on December 25 (aka Christmas) with The Maccabeats, like they did last year. Tickets for that are on sale now.

City Winery will also have a Hanukkah-celebration-on-Christmas night with JEWMONGOUS's (aka Sean Altman of Rockapella) 'Xmas Night Comedy Songfest. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

In more Hanukkah news, The Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation recently released 'Twas The Night Before Hanukkah: The Musical Battle Between Christmas and the Festival of Lights, a double disc compilation album with Hanukkah music on disc 1 and Christmas music recorded (or in some cases, written) by Jews. The album features tracks by Woody Guthrie, The Klezmatics, and more on the Hanukkah disc and Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Ramones, Sammy Davis Jr. and more on the Christmas side. That's the cover art above and the tracklist is below. You can order the album HERE.

In more related news, Matisyahu released a new song called "Happy Hanukkah," which you can stream below. As mentioned, he brings his "Festival of Light" tour to NYC on December 15 at Terminal 5. Tickets for that show are still available.

Continue reading "Hanukkah shows in NYC: Golem, Sephardic Music Festival, Menorah Horah! & more"

New Multitudes at Newport Folk Fest - 7/29/12 (via brooklynvegan instagram)

New Multitudes, the new project of Jim James, Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, and Anders Parker, whose album is made up entirely of previously unreleased Woody Guthrie lyrics, played day 2 (7/29) of Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island this past weekend. A few more pics from Twitter and Instagram (like the one above) and a video of "Chorine My Sheba Queen" from their set are below.

Two of the band's members, Anders Parker and Will Johnson will be teaming up for a tour which includes a mix of club and living room shows. That tour hits NYC on September 23 at Mercury Lounge and a day earlier (9/22) for a living room show in Brooklyn, which is still TBA. Tickets for all announced living room shows are HERE and tickets for the Mercury Lounge show go on sale Friday (8/3) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (8/1) at noon.

A list of all Will Johnson/Anders Parker dates, video, and more instagrams are below.

Continue reading "New Multitudes played Newport Folk Fest (cameraphone pics, video); Anders Parker & Will Johnson touring together (dates)"

Two special evenings with the exceptional singer and songwriter Justin Townes Earle will include Justin's original songs in the context of the continuing legacy of Woody Guthrie in his centennial celebration year. For an artist whose list of influences runs the gamut from Randy Newman to Woody Guthrie to Bruce Springsteen, categories are useless. Justin, son of a great American troubadour Steve Earle, won the coveted "Song of the Year" award at the Americana Music Awards in 2011, and his latest cd "Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now" has garnered critical acclaim. These two exceptional nights will feature special guests invited by Justin including John McCauley of Deer Tick, The Low Anthem, and Joe Pug.

While Woody Guthrie's actual birthday has passed, the Woody 100 festivities continue throughout the year, and here's another one which happens at PACE University's Michael Shimmel Center for the Arts on October 26 and 27. Guests The Low Anthem will appear both nights with Justin Townes Earle, but John McCauley will only play the first night. Tickets to the October 26 show (with McCauley), and tickets to the October 27 show (without McCauley) are on sale now.

In addition to these Woody shows, JTE is on tour and all dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Justin Townes Earle, The Low Anthem, John McCauley & more playing two-night NYC Woody Guthrie celebration in October"

As mentioned earlier today, Billy Bragg -- whose Mermaid Avenue records with Wilco brought the songwriter back in to the pop culture zeitgeist in 1998 -- will be in NYC soon for some Woody Guthrie 100 celebrations. It's part of a North American tour for Bragg who tonight (7/6) will play the legendary Winnipeg Folk Festival. The tour will then continues, and includes a stop at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Guthrie's Okemah, OK birthplace on July 12th.

Bragg then heads to NYC for City Winery's WoodyFest on July 13 (tickets) with Amy Helm & Joe Purdy and host Steve Earle who then plays with Billy again in Coney Island the next day on Woody's actual birthday (July 14). The Coney Island potion includes two events: a screening of Mermaid Avenue documentary Man in the Sand followed by a book/CD signing with Bragg and Nora Guthrie; and an outdoor screening of Hal Ashby's 1975 Woody Guthrie biopic Bound for Glory that will be preceded by a performance by Bragg and Steve Earle at 8PM (the movie starts at 8:45PM).

Bragg's tour continues after that, hitting Sweden's Way Out West festival in August, and many other Woody-themed shows throughout the year. All dates are listed below.

Back in April, Nonesuch Records released Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions which takes the original, critically acclaimed 1999 album where Wilco and Bragg wrote music to unpublished (but complete) Guthrie lyrics and adds 17 previously unreleased recordings made during the Mermaid Avenue sessions, plus a DVD and 48 page booklet.

The Billy Bragg show at City Winery is one of three nights of "Woodyfest" that Steve Earle is hosting and playing. Steve doesn't have any more NYC dates scheduled after that at the moment, but later this month he does head out on a tour with the Dukes that hits Tarrytown and in September he's doing a solo, acoustic tour that visits NJ, Bethel, and Poughkeepsie. In October he plays Austin City Limits.

Below you can read a little more on Guthrie and the Mermaide Avenue album, penned by Billy himself, plus all upcoming BB tour dates.

Continue reading "Winnipeg Folk Festival underway; Billy Bragg on tour (dates)"

Woody Guthrie was born on July 14th, 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma. Over the decades, his songs have run around the world like a fast train on a well oiled track. They've become the folk song standards of the nation, known and performed in many languages throughout the world. Pretty Boy Floyd, Pastures of Plenty, Hard Travelin', Deportees, Roll On Columbia, Vigilante Man and This Land Is Your Land are among the hundreds of his songs that have become staples in the canon of American music.

The GRAMMY Museum is partnering with the Guthrie Family / Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. and the Woody Guthrie Archives to create the Centennial celebrations. The year-long celebration will include a host of concerts, programs and events taking place throughout the country and across the pond.

It's a rare thing for an artist to still be making an impact on modern music as he approaches the 100th anniversary of his birth, like Woody Guthrie is. It's fitting then that people have been celebrating Woody's centennial, at multiple events across the country, all year long. A big list of remaining events across the country is below. We'll also highlight a few.

The Guthrie Family ("Arlo Guthrie w/ Abe, Cathy, Annie, Sarah Lee, Johnny Irion...and the Kids") will celebrate with a "Guthrie Family Reunion" tour featuring three generations of Guthries. Arlo Guthrie commented:

"Getting the family together and heading out on the road is the perfect way to celebrate my father's centennial - only once before did we have the whole family on tour, and we did 80 shows. Instead of doing an entire year of touring and taking the kids out of school, we are focusing on shows right around Woody's actual birthday. This time of year marks the climax of the Woody Guthrie centennial celebrations all over the world. I'll also continue my solo touring in honor of my dad through spring 2013."

The Guthries, who will perform Woody's songs as well as new material written by various family members, will spend the day after Woody's birthday at Central Park Summerstage. The free Sunday (7/15), NYC show starts at 7pm. They also play a show in Ocean City, NJ the next day, and Newport Folk Festival later in the month. All tour dates are listed below.

On July 10 (12-1 pm), NYC's 92YTribeca hosts author Ed Cray who will discuss his book "Ramblin' Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie."

Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion play Hill Country in NYC on 7/12.

On 7/14 head to Coney Island for a free screening of "Bound for Glory" on the beach along with "live music by Billy Bragg and Steve Earle starting at 8:00pm, and the feature film starting around 8:45pm." Get to Coney Island earlier and see a free screening of "Man In the Sand" at the Coney Island museum. "Following the film, there will be a book signing by Nora Guthrie and CD signing by Billy Bragg, with both items available for purchase."

City Winery in NYC will play host to a trio of events titled "Woodyfest" from July 11-13 Hosted by Steve Earle, the shows will feature an assortment of artists paying tribute to the troubador. July 11 features John Hammond & Tim Robbins, and more TBA (tickets). July 12 has Rachael Yamagata, The Wood Brothers & Allen Toussaint (tickets). July 13th features Billy Bragg, Amy Helm & Joe Purdy (tickets).

Brooklyn College will host a "Woody at 100" celebration on September 22 with a conference, and a tribute concert.

More events, dates, and some videos from the party that took place at the 2012 Clearwater Festival in June, below....

Continue reading "Woody Guthrie turns 100 (and that means lots of events)"

Will Johnson, Jay Farrar, Jim James, Anders Parker

Jim James, Jay Farrar, Will Johnson (who previously collabroated with Jim James in Monsters of Folk), and Anders Parker (who previously collaborated with Jay Farrar in Gob Iron), have teamed up to record an album titled New Multitudes, which comes out February 28 via Rounder Records. The album features twelve tracks, all of which were written lyrically by Woody Guthrie but never recorded, and Jim, Jay, Will, and Anders have written original music to accompany the lyrics.

"Under the invitation of Nora Guthrie, Woody's daughter, to tour the Guthrie archives, each of the four songwriters were offered the chance to plumb and mine the plethora of notebooks, scratch pads, napkins, etc. for anything that might inspire them to lend their voices and give the words new life. "These guys worked on an amazing group of lyrics, much of it culled from Woody's times in LA. Lyric wise, it's a part of the story that is still mostly unknown. From Woody's experiences on LA's skid row to his later years in Topanga Canyon, they are uniquely intimate, and relate two distinctly emotional periods in his life.""

A limited edition will be available with twelve additional tracks written by Jay Farrar and Anders Parker and it also includes Woody Guthrie's original lyric sheets. Check out album track, "Old LA," which is streaming below, along with the album artwork and tracklist.

The four folkies will head out on a short US tour together in support of the album this March. That tour hits NYC on March 14 at Webster Hall. Tickets go on sale Friday, 1/20 at noon, with an AmEx presale starting two days earlier. All dates are listed below.

Jim James was just in town to help pay tribute (and perform with) Preservation Hall Jazz Band...

"At Carnegie Hall the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Del McCoury Band, My Morning Jacket, Steve Earle, Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards, and Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) were on hand. So were the New Orleans-born musicians Trombone Shorty and Allen Toussaint, who sang a tribute to the band for putting "pride in your stride."

While it's a paradox that welcoming outsiders and trying out hybrids is a survival tactic for a deeply local tradition, that's a fact of life for present-day New Orleans." [NY Times]

My Morning Jacket also apparently played a secret show of some kind while they were in town.

All Guthrie tribute tour dates, stream, album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Jim James, Will Johnson, Jay Farrar & Anders Parker team for Guthrie project album & tour (dates & song stream)"

DOWNLOAD: Woody Guthrie - Bad Repetation (MP3)

Rounder Records, in conjunction with The Woody Guthrie Archives, will inaugurate the new Woody Guthrie Legacy Series with a 4-CD boxed set, My Dusty Road on August 25. The original metal masters for these songs, recorded in the mid 1940s by Herbert Harris and Moses Asch, had languished for years in the Brooklyn basement of an elderly woman, stacked in cardboard barrels. Reissue co-producer Michael Creamer, who had learned of the cache from his cousin, took a few of the discs to the renowned mastering engineer Doug Pomeroy. The clarity and presence of the sound was revelatory.

The tracks included in the box set are just a fraction of the recordings found with the Guthrie recordings...

Roughly 2,000 metal discs were found in Irene Harris's storage bin. About 150 of those are Woody Guthrie recordings, and the rest are by a host of folk, blues, and jazz artists who recorded for the Stinson label, among them Lead Belly, Art Tatum, Mary Lou Williams, and Burl Ives.

....[Included in the find was] a disc marked "Bad Repetation," dated May 19, 1944, which had never appeared on an album or a field recording. It's likely that no one had heard the song for 60 years.

While most of the unearthed Guthrie recordings are already in print, half a dozen of the 54 tracks on My Dusty Road are alternate versions that have never been issued. "Bad Repetation" - a humorous song whose lyrics were included in two of Guthrie's late-1930s songbooks, suggesting the tune was a crowd-pleaser - is the one true find. [Boston Globe]

That track, "Bad Repetation", is posted above!!

Later this year and into 2010, the Guthrie Family - Abe Guthrie, Annie Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie, Cathy Guthrie, Johnny Irion and Sarah Lee Guthrie - will go on an extensive two-part tour of North America. The first leg includes a Thanksgiving weekend show (a yearly Arlo & Co. tradition) at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, November 28th. Tickets go on sale Thursday, October 1st.

All dates for the "Guthrie Family Rides Again" tour, and photos and tracklist of the Woody box set, which comes in a suitcase with all kinds of extra treats, are posted below...

Continue reading "Guthrie family touring (dates), Woody masters found in Brooklyn basement remastered for Rounder box set (MP3!)"

01. Parenthetical Girls - If it's a time for Christmas (2:46)
02. Ween - Silent Night (1:40)
03. Andrew Dost (Anathallo) - Yeah, I Know, It's Christmastime (2:04)
04. The National Splits - Let's Wrap Each Other (2:15)
05. Louis Armstrong - Santa Claus Blues (2:51)
06. Scott Allen (Thunderbirds are Now) - Winters Wonderland (3:50)
07. The Knife - Christmas Reindeer (7:11)
08. Melt Banana - White Christmas (1:42)
09. Thick Pigeon - Jingle Bell Rock (1:30)
10. Steven Garvey - Dreidle, Dreidle, Dreidle (1:11)
11. nullsleep - silent night (2:25)
12. Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians of the British Empire - Santa Claus (3:26)
13. Holly Golightly - Christmas Tree's On Fire (2:54)
14. Deerhoof - xmas tree (2:30)
15. Palace Songs (Will Oldham) - Christmastime in the Mountains (1:30)
16. Woody Guthrie - Hanukkah Dance [Alternate Take] (1:24)

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I know it's too early for this, but inspiration hit, so I went with it. Download, support the artists, enjoy, and happy holidays (Thanksgiving or whatever).

Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, Tim Robbins, Brad (with Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam), and more. $75 tickets are now on sale. Details below...

Continue reading "a Woody Guthrie benefit @ Webster Hall"