Jonathan Coulton and past collaborator/tourmate John Roderick (of The Long Winters) released a Christmas album, One Christmas At A Time, together with ten original Christmas songs by the two musicians ("actually one of them is a Chanukah song, so OK, nine"). Listen to two tracks from the holiday release below.

They'll support the release with another tour together this fall which brings them to NYC on December 14 at City Winery. Tickets for that show are on sale now. All tour dates are listed below.

Jonathan Coulton is also the house musician on NPR/WNYC puzzle show Ask Me Another which tapes live at The Bell House in Brooklyn . The shows are hosted by Ophira Eisenberg and tickets are on sale for five upcoming dates, all also listed below...

Continue reading "Jonathan Coulton & John Roderick released a Christmas LP, touring together (dates & streams)"

Rhett Miller at MHOW, October 2012 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Rhett Miller has only a sprinkle of dates scheduled from now until the early portion of 2013, but that does include a stop on January 9th, 2013 at City Winery. Tickets are on sale for the NYC show and for a December show at City Winery in Chicago. Rehtt Miller recently celebrated the 15th anniversary of Too Far to Care with his band The Old 97s on tour and at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Webster Hall.

In other City Winery news, John Wesley Harding returns with another set of Cabinet of Wonders variety shows, his guest-filled appearances that usually go down at City Winery now. The November 16th show will feature appearances from Steve Earle, Loudon Wainwright III, Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say YEah, Quincy Troupe, Gary Shteyngart, Mike Scott and Steve Wickham of the Waterboys (tickets) while the December 16th show will feature Josh Ferris, Colum McCann, Eugene Mirman and The Silver Ages. John Wesley Harding & the English UK recently dropped the "Making Love to Bob Dylan" single, which is available now via iTunes.

The hits at City Winery continue with Polaris Shortlister Kathleen Edwards. Edwards will spend the tail end of this year in Europe, travelling the first half of December in the UK, Scandanavia and beyond. The US gets very little love at the moment, but there are two NYC dates scheduled in the tail-end part of January so far. Look for the Canadian songwriter on 1/30 and 1/31. Tickets are on sale.

And last, but certainly not least, Alejandro Escovedo also has a limited number of East Coast dates scheduled as well. Dates in Texas dominate his schedule thus far but a stop in Evanston, IL for New Year's Eve and City Winery in NYC are in the crosshairs, with 1/18 and 1/19 scheduled for the guitarist. Tickets are on sale.

Other tour dates and some videos below.

Continue reading "Rhett Miller, Kathleen Edwards, John Wesley Harding & Alejandro Escovedo playing City Winery & other places (dates)"

Bettye LaVette at Highline Ballroom, May 2010 (more by Jacob Blickenstaff)

Bettye LaVette, who is celebrating her 50th anniversary as a musician, is in the Midwest now and about to play two shows at the new City Winery Chicago, but after a stint across the pond, the soul singer will retire from the road for the year in middle December. The downtime won't last too terribly long though; Bettye LaVette will play a pair of NYC shows in early January: 1/11 at City Winery (tickets) and 1/12 at Joe's Pub (tickets).

All tour dates are listed, along with video of an entire live show, below...

Continue reading "Bettye LaVette on tour, playing Joe's Pub & City Winery (in NYC & Chicago) -- updated dates"

DOWNLOAD: Joseph Arthur - Where is My Van? (MP4)

Still from "Where is My Van?" video

So after all this I got my van back!
I can't thank y'all enough for your support and help.
It cost plenty, but I'm very happy to have my art and my gear back.
Jose (the guy who had it) drove a hard bargain (Ron calls it a sort of hold up)
and sold it all back to me for $5,500 after he paid a grand for it,
but I'm trying to keep it in perspective,
Things like this can't be measured strictly with numbers
and the life lessons it taught were of greater value than the dollars and cents.
The main one being the support I got from all of you.
Along with the people,whom without I never would have gotten it back,
Ron, Vic, Lea, Carla, Julie, Peter, Kraig, Ehud and Spencer - THANK YOU!
The list goes on, but now I need to search this four wheel goliath for my tarot cards and try to catch new dreams.
Thanks again everyone and I hope to see you down the road.
I'll be the one driving a van more famous than me.

As you may have heard, Joseph wrote a song, "Where is My Van?," that you can download above. He also made a video for the song, featuring Peter Buck of R.E.M., that Michael Stipe has called "The best music video since Sinead O'Connor's 'Nothing Compares 2 U.'" You can watch it below. We can only hope Joseph will write a follow-up single, "My Van Was in the Bronx."

Speaking of Michael Stipe, earlier today he expressed his dissatisfaction with Fox News.

Van video is below

Continue reading "Joseph Arthur got his van back, playing fundraiser in October"

by Bill Pearis

Karl Wallinger

Karl Wallinger is bringing his band World Party to America next month for a short East Coast acoustic tour, including a stop in NYC at City Winery on September 17. Tickets are on sale.

Wallinger, the former Waterboys keyboardist who made five more-or-less terrific Beatles-y/Stones-y/Dylan-y World Party albums from 1987 - 2000, suffered a brain aneurysm in 2001. "It's a bit crap when your head explodes," Karl told MOJO in the September '12 issue. "It took four years to be back properly...I had to re-learn things because my eyesight is fucked. For a while I couldn't see the end of the guitar so I was playing quite a few jazz chords. And now I can't see my right hand on the piano unless I look very strangely to the right."

Eyesight problems aside, Wallinger has made an otherwise complete recovery. In April he released Arkeology, a 5-disc World Party rarities set, that also includes a couple new tunes. (Stream it via Spotify.) He also promises a new album in 2013.

All World Party U.S. tour dates are listed below, along with a few classic World Party music videos.

Continue reading "World Party acoustic tour in September, playing City Winery; new album in 2013"

Danny Brown at Prospect Park, June 2012 (more by Chris La Putt)

Labor Day is quickly approaching and if you're not leaving the city and need sommething to cap off the summer, the folks at Fools Gold Records are once again throwing their Day Off NY party which happens Monday, September 3 at City Winery's backyard and features Danny Brown, French Montana, Flosstradamus, Flatbush Zombies, #BEEN #TRILL, Just Blaze, and more. The party goes from 2PM - 8PM and is free and all-ages. More details are here. Flyer for the party is below.

The Fool's Gold party happens about a week after Danny Brown and Just Blaze share a bill at Warm Up at MoMA PS1 on August 25 with Nick Catchdubs, The Stallions, and BAIO (of Vampire Weekend). Tickets for that show are still on sale.

Danny Brown will also return to NYC when his tour with A$AP Rocky and Schoolboy Q hits Roseland Ballroom on September 27 (tickets).

Fool's Gold Day Off flyer and a list of updated Danny Brown dates below...

Continue reading "Danny Brown, Just Blaze, French Montana and more playing Fools Gold Day Off NY 2012 on Labor Day"

John Wesley Harding at Cabinet of Wonders in 2011 (more by Chris Graham)

John Wesley Harding (aka Wesley Stace) has been up to a lot this year, as usual. He finally gave his 1996 album, John Wesley Harding's New Deal, its first-ever vinyl release last month via Yep Roc. He's also set to continue his guest-filled Cabinet of Wonders variety shows at City Winery. The next happens at the NYC venue on September 8 with Sam Amidon, Todd Barry, Iris Dement, Ben Marcus and STEW, followed by shows on October 19 and November 16. The guests for the second two shows have not been revealed yet. Tickets for all three Cabinet of Wonders shows are on sale now.

The September 8 show falls right in the middle of John Wesley Harding's upcoming tour with progressive folk vets Strawbs, who will be playing acoustic.. That tour hits the NYC area on September 7 at Outpost in the Burbs in Montclair, NJ and September 11 at BB King's. Tickets for both NYC area shows are on sale now. Strawbs also play Strand Theater (9/8) in Lakewood, NJ the day that John Wesley Harding does his Cabinet of Wonders show at City Winery. All dates on the tour are listed below.

John Wesley Harding will also be hosting one of the shows in BAM and Greenlight Bookstore's Unbound literary series. He'll host the Gary Shteyngart Roast that happens on November 20 at BAM Harvey Theater with Kurt Andersen, Jay McInerney, Sloane Crosley, and others TBA. The full Unbound schedule is below.

All lists of dates and that schedule are below.

Continue reading "John Wesley Harding doing more Cabinet of Wonders shows, touring w/ Strawbs, hosting BAM 'Unbound' (dates)"

Azure Ray will release their new album, As Above So Below, on September 4 via Saddle Creek. You can stream a track from the album, "Scattered Like Leaves," at the bottom of this post and download it too if you give them your email address. There's a video trailer for the album below as well.

Azure Ray are going on tour in a month, including an NYC stop at City Winery on September 12 and tickets for that show are on sale now. All upcoming Azure Ray tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Azure Ray releasing new LP, going 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.

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."

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)"

Ramesh at Mercury Lounge, March 2012 (more by Chris La Putt)

Bad news: Ramesh has cancelled his upcoming shows including the NYC gigs that were scheduled to happen this week (Glasslands tonight [6/25], the FOTP BBQ at City Winery on Saturday [6/30]) have been canceled. From Ramesh:

Hey Everybody,

We are really sorry about having to cancel the tour dates, but issues have come up, which have forced us to do so. New dates, along with other news, will be announced soon.

Once again, our apologies, and thank you so much for you support.

Ramesh

UPDATE: Ramesh will still play the Finger on the Pulse BBQ at City Winery on Saturday (6/30), but it will be an acoustic, stripped down set. Tickets are still on sale.

Oh and speaking of Finger on the Pulse, they were just announced on a new show at House House of Vans too.

As mentioned, The Portland Cello Project are playing the 2012 Hudson Square Music & Wine Festival's kickoff event on June 26. It's part of a short East Coast tour, that also includes a NYC show with previous tourmate Emily Wells at Housing Works Bookstore on June 25th (tickets). They'll also be back later this summer for a show at City Winery on August 22nd (tickets). All dates are listed below.

If you're unfamiliar with the PCP, as we like to call them, the ensemble turns contemporary pop into classical jams your uptight uncle would like. They just released a new album, Homage, which features their arrangements of hip hop songs from the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z, and others. Check out video of them performing a Jay-Z/Kanye tune they've renamed "Ninjas in Paris" (I wonder how many times they'll play it) along with a list of all upcoming tour dates below...

Continue reading "Portland Cello Project playing shows this summer (dates)"

The Hudson Square Music & Wine Festival returns with its fourth year starting June 26 and continuing every Tuesday through Labor Day. Brought to you by City Winery (where the shows take place), the free outdoor shows (they're behind the venue) go down from 5:30PM to 7:30 PM "rain or shine" and will feature appearances from Portland Cello Project (who also have other shows coming up), Brother Joscephus & Betty, Marco Benevento, Sam Moore, Luisa Maita, Ollabelle, Ryan Montbleau Band, Marshall Crenshaw, Toubab Krewe, and Poundcake featuring Teddy Thompson, Jeff Hill, and Ethan Eubanks.

Head below for the weekly schedule with descriptions.

Continue reading "2012 Hudson Square Music & Wine Festival schedule"

Craig Finn with The Hold Steady at Mohawk (more by Tim Griffin)

Hey Everyone,

I hope all is good. I've been enjoying my time at home writing music and seeing a bunch of shows. Thank you Nick Lowe, Wu Lyf, Titus Andronicus, Archers of Loaf, and Bruce Springsteen for some great times.

Besides going to shows, I'm also going to play quite a few coming up. The Hold Steady has a very fun tour in June...

I've also got a few solo shows. The first two are in Chicago on June 2...

Also, I will be playing a show with The Baseball Project on July 5 at City Winery in NYC. I had a great time performing and hanging out with these guys last year. This should be a great show...

For all the solo sets, it will just be me and a guitar. I'll tell you some stories and sing you some songs. This is the first time I've done sets like this, and I'm looking forward to it.

Hope to see you soon.

cf

The show is one of three current dates for The Baseball Project -- all in the Northeast. Below, you can check out those listed dates, a listing of all Hold Steady dates and a video of The Baseball Project's full set from The Met last month.

Continue reading "The Hold Steady touring in June (dates); Craig Finn playing with The Baseball Project at City Winery"

Tonight at City Winery:

Join Music for Occupy on May 8th to inspire and celebrate through music the Occupy Wall Street movement and the 99% who've been adversely affected by the economic corruption that has permeated our Democracy, created a near insurmountable disparity in wealth, and hindered life, liberty, justice and the pursuit of an honest living for all.

Music For Occupy is in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, and all proceeds above board attained through the production and distribution of "Occupy This Album: a compilation of music by, for and inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement and the 99%" will go directly towards the needs of sustaining this growing movement. A portion of the proceeds of ticket sales will also go to the Occupy Wall Street movement

Continue reading "Michael Moore covers Bob Dylan for Occupy CD (listen), performing live at Occupy benefit tonight (on sale)"

Deer Tick at Webster Hall (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As previously discussed, Diamond Rugs is the new "supergroup" featuring members of Black Lips, Deer Tick, Los Lobos and Dead Confederate. To be more specific, they are:

John McCauley- Vocals, Guitar
Ian Saint Pe- Vocals, Guitar
Hardy Morris-Vocals,guitar
Steve Berlin- horns, keys
Robbie Crowell- Bass, sax, keys
Bryan Dufresne- Drums

Guest Musicians:
Bryan Minto- harmonica
Bucky Baxter - pedal steel
Spencer Collum - pedal steel
Oscar Utterström - trombone
JP Frappier - trumpet

The Earl performance is right before Los Lobos head to NYC to play a pair of shows on New Year's Eve at City Winery. Tickets are still available for both the early and the late shows. All Los Lobos dates below...

Continue reading "Los Lobos tour dates include New Year's Eve in NYC; Diamond Rugs signed to Partisan, making live debut in Atlanta"

by Andrew Sacher

Mountain Goats at Bowery Ballroom in March (more by Ryan Barkan)

Michael Dorf's (founder of Knitting Factory) series of tribute concerts to benefit music education programs for underprivileged youth (which last paid tribute to Neil Young in February) will continue on March 13, 2012 at Carnegie Hall, when 21 different artists will perform the 21 songs from The Rolling Stones' massive document of the early part of their long withstanding career, Hot Rocks 1964-1971. The compilation was released at the tail end of 1971, and was filled with the bluesy cuts that they used to leave their stamp on popular music (though notably includes no tracks from the psychedelic trip they took on Their Satanic Majesties Request in 1967) before putting together the colossal double album Exile On Main St. a few months later.

So far the artists that will be participating in the show include The Mountain Goats, Glen Hansard, Steve Earle, Rosanne Cash, Rich Robinson, and Carolina Chocolate Drops. More TBA soon. Tickets for the show are on sale now.

Meanwhile, Steve Earle will be kicking off a residency at Michael Dorf's venue City Winery with Allison Moorer and friends in January. The residency will take place every monday over the five week period of January 9 through February 6. Tickets for all five shows are on sale now. The Carnegie Hall show in March won't be the first time Steve has covered the Stones. He's been known to cover "Dead Flowers" at his shows. You can listen to a version recorded live in Calgary that appeared on the deluxe edition of his 1988 album Copperhead Road below.

The Mountain Goats, who also play at the Stones tribute, will be sticking around after the Carnegie Hall show to play NYC's Ecstatic Music Festival later that month. They'll be performing material with vocal quartet Anonymous 4 that frontman John Darnielle wrote for his new project Transcendental Youth, with arrangements by Owen Pallett. They play on March 24 at Merkin Concert Hall. Tickets for the show are still on sale. John Darnielle also just announced a bunch more 2012 dates, all of which are listed below.

All Mountain Goats & Steve Earle dates and the above-mentioned song stream, below...

Continue reading "a Rolling Stones tribute @ Carnegie Hall, Steve Earle & Allison Moorer residency, and more Mountain Goats dates"

by Christopher Paragraph

Martha Wainwright @ City Winery - 11/21/2011 (photo by IreneSenra)

Nath-Ann Carrera started the night off with a handful of songs that inhabited a unique place between standard country western ballads and bizarre gay-themed narratives. It was clear from his opening monologue that this was a performer who was about more than just the music (he stepped out, barefoot, in a short white gown and brown headdress.) Carrera performed songs by Hank Williams and Townes Van Zandt, but was at his best when spinning original yarns that were as sharp and strange as his on-stage persona. (One involved a lesbian kidnapping Frank Sinatra, skinning him alive on a meat hook, and using it to make handbags to sell to hippie boutiques.)

Martha Wainwright, who was playing her 2nd November City Winery show, came out in a short dress of her own - perhaps inspired by Nath-Ann, and perhaps unaware of how close the front row was to the stage. She joked with the gentlemen in the front about how they were getting a special show thanks to her "genetic leg kick." (Martha, like her father Loudon, tends to jerk her left leg up while playing...) Wainwright performed songs from her two studio albums as well as a handful of new songs slated for her upcoming yet-to-be-completed record. Wainwright has come a long way since her original role as the perennial family back-up singer. Her two records have received critical acclaim worldwide, and she has created a second career for herself interpreting the music of Edith Piaf. It seems Piaf's music is where Wainwright has found her true inspiration as a singer, as her songs are filled with the same emphatic, dynamic emotion. Wainwright's ability as a vocalist shined as she showed a control over her voice that held the crowd entranced. Her banter between songs also showed off a brash sense of humor and comfort, providing comic relief between some pretty intense moments. The height of which was her performance of her late mother's classic "Talk To Me Of Mendocino," which walked the line between devastating emotion and soaring melody.

The second half of the set, which also included a guest appearance by Justin Vivian Bond for one song, employed the work of Thomas Bartlett (a.k.a. Doveman) on piano, who proved to be the perfect accompanist, aptly complementing Wainwright's musical tendencies with subtle, effective flair. Wainwright has developed a unique musical identity in her now-trademark style of shaking a melody out like loosening a cramp, singing over conventional yet somehow unexpected suspensions, and writing lyrics that are both personal and enigmatic. She is far more talented than her recognition might indicate (at least in the US). She possesses both precision and soul, and the ability and awareness to tastefully present it on stage. At the end of the night the crowd demanded Wainwright's return, which she granted, performing "Tell My Sister," another classic song of her mother's, and closing the night with a new original number that left the audience even more curious about what Wainwright has in store for her next record.

On December 15, the Wainwright/McGarrigle posse will join forces with Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, and many more to present "A Not So Silent Christmas" at Town Hall. All proceeds will benefit the Kate McGarrigle Sarcoma Research Fund. Flyer below.

Wainwright fanatics who can't wait that long can also see Loudon perform at Bartlett's "Burgundy Stain Sessions" on December 1 at Le Poisson Rouge.

Continue reading "Martha Wainwright played City Winery (with Thomas Bartlett), Loudon playing LPR (with Thomas too)"

Dan Hicks gets in the Christmas spirit (photo from 1967)

Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks kick off their annual "Holidaze In Hicksville Tour" in support of their smash debut Christmas album, Crazy For Christmas [released in 2010]. The Billboard-charting album features original Dan Hicks Christmas tunes, some classic favorites, and a few tunes re-worked for the holidays.

Continue reading "Dan Hicks touring for the holidays (2012 tour dates)"

Bob Mould reading from his book in Austin (more by Tim Griffin)

Bob Mould is in LA right now, gearing up head to Walt Disney Concert Hall tonight (11/21) to catch (and participate in) a hell of a show in his honor!

In this very special, one-night-only event, some of today's greatest artists gather to celebrate the music of Bob Mould. Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), Britt Daniel (Spoon), Ryan Adams, No Age, Best Coast, Craig Finn and Tad Kubler (The Hold Steady), Margaret Cho with Grant Lee Phillips will perform songs from Bob's catalog.

If you aren't familiar with the music of Bob Mould or just have never caught him live (and you're not in LA), you can remedy that situation on February 9th, 2012 when he hits NYC's City Winery. Tickets are on sale. It appears that this NYC show is NOT a See A Little Light: An Evening of Reading and Music show like was doing on his recent tour that took him to Bell House and featured both live performance and readings from his book.

Bob was just in NYC where he joined the Foo Fighters on stage at Madison Square Garden.

City Winery is one four 2012 dates Bob has scheduled right now. They are all listed below.

Continue reading "Bob Mould being honored in LA tonight, schedules more shows of his own (2012 dates)"

Levon Helm at Summerstage in Central Park (more by Chris La Putt)

The Band's Levon Helm will step outside of his weekly Midnight Ramble for a show at Wellmont Theatre on February 10th with Peter Wolf. Tickets are currently on AMEX presale and go on regular sale Friday 11/18 at noon. The show, along with a pair of dates that he has lined up at Ulster Performing Arts Center in Kingston, NY (11/18 and 5/25) are his only non-Midnight Ramble dates announced thus far. Full tour schedule is below.

Meanwhile, the Midnight Ramble continues this weekend with special guest Hook Herrera and on 12/3 Helm will welcome Jimmy Vivino (of Conan's Basic Cable band) and Dawes. Tickets for that show, and all others are still available (either seated or Standing Room Only).

Dawes will also head down to NYC & NJ that same week. Both Maxwell's shows, which Robert Ellis is opening, are now sold out though. You can catch Robert Ellis though during a tour with John Doe that hits City Winery on December 4th. For the X man, it's one of many gigs that will be keeping him busy through New Year's Eve.

All Levon and Dawes and Robert Ellis and X dates and a video below...

Continue reading "Levon Helm, Dawes, Robert Ellis & John Doe shows (dates)"

photos by Chris Graham

"John Wesley Harding just sang a song with an Atlantic Yards reference." - Kate

John Hold Steady Walkmen Mountain Goat Wesley Harding

"Well, you know, I've been making music for twenty something years now, and over the years, you meet many people in and out of your lives. They may or may not be your best friends, and you may or may not be close with their families, but there is a mutual respect and in some cases, that blossoms into very long friendships. For example, when I first came into America in 1990, I think my first ever solo show here was in Athens, Georgia. There, I was invited to stay at Peter Buck's house, and staying there was Nikki Sudden who has since sadly demised, and Billy Bragg; it was quite a wild scenario. It was my first time in town really, and my first solo show in America, so I've known Peter 21 years now. Scott, the producer of the record, came up to me at a show in Seattle in 1992 and said, "I'm a fan, I'm in the Young Fresh Fellows," and I said, "Fantastic." Now, bizarrely, he's not only in the Young Fresh Fellows, he's also in The Minus Five who was the backing band of my last album, and R.E.M who are now no more. Rosanne Cash, I met totally by chance in a New York lunch place. We were introduced, and I'm an artist-in-residence at this university, and I asked her to do a talk for the students with me because she's also a writer and musician. We've become very good friends, she's a great user of the social networking device Twitter, and we kind of keep in touch through that. So, I've known her a few years now, and her voice is so very recognizable to me, and I've loved it for so long that she is a very easy person to summon how good she would be in your mind of how good she would be in a song; then there's John Roderick of The Long Winters who is quite a recent friend; also Laura Veirs--I needed a woman to sing the parts of the ghost of my ex-girlfriend in one of the songs; and Steve Berlin of Los Lobos does the horns on everything, and he produced an album for me in 1992 called Why We Fight. He also found me a place to live. I was his neighbor for a couple of years. So, as you can see, it's a lovely web of friendship and mutual history."
- John Wesley Harding to Huffington Post

Tickets are still on sale for the Decemberists-filled Cabinet of Wonders that will go down in the same venue on 11/18. Many of the same musicians will also be in the house the next night at the Bell House and then at Maxwell's right after that.

More pictures from City Winery below...

Continue reading "John Darnielle, Rosanne Cash, Hamilton Leithauser, John Hodgman & others played John Wesley Harding's show (pics)"

photos by Chris Graham

"I just saw Craig Finn play a theramin with a beer bottle." - Kate McKean

Craig Finn, Eugene Mirman & friends @ City Winery

"Craig Finn, frontman of The Hold Steady, has confirmed the November 25 release of his new 7" single "Honolulu Blues," a preview of his highly anticipated solo debut out early 2012. The limited edition 7" vinyl, released with new b-side "Rented Room," will only be available in select record stores nationwide on Record Store Day's "Black Friday" sale. Both songs will be available via all digital retailers on November 29.

Produced by Mike McCarthy (Spoon, Trail of Dead) in Austin, Texas earlier this year, Finn's solo album features backing by members of White Denim, The Heartless Bastards, Phosphorescent, and Centro-matic." [PR]

Continue reading "Craig Finn releasing Record Store Day 7", played Cabinet of Wonders (pics)"

Last we spoke Matthew Sweet's 2011 tour included three shows at NYC's City Winery. "Due to popular demand" that number is now up to four. The new one is a late show on 11/2. The first one is tonight aka Halloween and tickets are still on sale. The 11/1 show and the early 11/2 show are sold out.

photos by Tim Griffin

Robert Ellis @ ACL Live

Jay Farrar plays his third NYC show in a row at City Winery on Sunday night (10/16). Laura Cantrell opens and tickets are still on sale. Check out a picture of the setlist from Saturday's show below. More Jay dates HERE.

The alt-country at City Winery continues when labelmates James McMurtry & Jason Isbell begin a tour there on Wednesday (10/19). All of their tour dates are listed below.

The 10/19 City Winery show is further enhanced by the addition of Robert Ellis on the bill. It's Robert's first of three NYC shows during CMJ week. The next two are 10/20 at Living Room (again with Jason Isbell) and 10/21 at Living Room. The 10/20 show is one of three Paste Magazine CMJ shows at Living Room. Full lineups, a set of pictures from a 10/6 show Robert played at ACL Live in Austin, and all dates, below...

Continue reading "Jay Farrar is here, Jason Isbell, James McMurtry & Robert Ellis will be soon (dates, CMJ shows & pics of Ellis @ ACL Live)"

Union Transfer rendering

Lots of interesting stuff to report in the world of live concert promotions...

NYC concert promoter Bowery Presents, who already has expanded to NJ, Boston, Maine, and Canandaigua, NY (not to mention MSG, Jones Beach, the Meadowlands, Radio City, etc), is opening a new music venue in Philadelphia this month. In partnership with Philly's one and only Sean Agnew of R5 Productions, and Avram Hornik and Mark Fichera of Four Corners Management, Union Transfer is...

... "named after the original train depot station that occupied the building [and] was developed by the group to meet Philadelphia's need for a mid-sized live music space and will accommodate 600 people. The general admission venue boasts a flexible capacity and can manage up to 1,000 people for larger crowds. Located at 1004-26 Spring Garden St, steps from Center City, Union Transfer is slated to open on September 21, 2011.

In perhaps less exciting news for Bowery Presents, Mercury Lounge talent buyer Jay Belin has reportedly moved on and started booking Irving Plaza, Gramercy Theatre and the new Paramount Theatre in Huntington, Long Island for Live Nation.

The Paramount Theatre is...

...located on New York Avenue a block and a half north of Main Street. The space is the former home of the nonprofit Inter-Media Arts Center (IMAC), which closed its doors in 2009 after 26 years of hosting jazz, folk and blues concerts.

The 1,500-capacity venue has been undergoing renovations for months. Among the changes, there will be a VIP lounge on the balcony and a member's only "Founder's Room" with a separate entrance in addition to the general admission floor.

"With both the architecture and the vibe of the venue dedicated to quality sound, hospitality, and experience, The Paramount is sure to be a hotspot for all of Long Island, and especially for Huntington," the founders said in a news release." [Long Island Press]

Speaking of moving on, Rock Shop booker Jack McFadden aka Skippy has moved to the music capital of Texas. He is still booking the Brooklyn club (and other NYC rooms) though. You just won't see him there as much.

Speaking of expanding, the race is on to see who can open in Chicago first. Will it be Brooklyn Bowl? or City Winery?

Speaking of Brooklyn Bowl, and last but not least for this post, the Wetlands is having a Class of '96 reunion at Brooklyn Bowl on Sunday (9/11). Ex-employees of the famed Tribeca club who will probably be in attendance include Rocks Off founder Jake Szufnarowski, Bowery Ballroom (and Union Transfer co-booker) Johnny Beach and of course ex-Wetlands owner and current Brooklyn Bowl owner Peter Shapiro. Brooklyn Bowl hosted a Wetlands get together of sorts in 2010 too, though that one was on a much sadder note, as it was to remember Wetlands' very first employee Dave Nolan who died of a heart attack last year.