And the basement lives hereTom and Pauline of BALCONYTV.COM interview Little Steven (Van Zandt), the American musician, songwriter, arranger, record producer, actor, and radio disc jockey, who is best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and his smash hit radio and podcast program The Underground Garage. They discuss his record label Wicked Cool Records, his program, the crisis of craft in music and the future of Rock.
A small story about why you should be there and why I have to be there!
Hello again Shark Forum. Haven't had a chance to write on here for a while as it basically slipped and slipped even further away from my mind. Also, I think for the most part, SF is about the visual art world and not so much the sonic one. Sharkboy has always insisted that ain't true and says it's because Rizzo and I are too lazy to write anything. There's a bit of truth there as well. It's also a lot more fun to piss off Sharkboy than to please him. That's another good reason not to write. I think the best reason to write, though, is when there's an event or show worth something to me and that I think would be a shame to miss. I was lucky enough to find out that guitarist and songwriter Richard Lloyd was going to play the Abbey Pub on May 9th by Sean Duffy, who books the club and asked if I'd open the show. It didn't take my band and me long to say yes.
The recent speech given at SXSW by the man famed for his radio/podcast Little Steven's Underground Garage, as guitarist for Springsteen's E-Street Band, and for producing many award-winning records. "Yes we are experiencing big changes in the business but much more importantly over these last thirty years or so we have been witness to a crisis of craft. "
It concerns "popular" music, but may also have important implications for visual art.
A Crisis of Craft
It is an interesting time in our business is it not?
Now you wish you listened to your parents and went to college, huh?
We are experiencing the biggest changes in forty years as the main revenue producing medium shifts from the album to...we don't know what? Keep in mind that up until the Beatles and the rest of the British Invasion landed in 1964 the vinyl single ruled what was called the Business. It wasn't exactly a business to tell you the truth. It was more like the Wild West with a bunch of freaks, misfits, outcasts, outlaws, entrepreneurs, renegades, wiseguys, and hooligans running around making it all up as they went along. ...
Controversial British Industrial noise pioneers return to decimate the most ironic of venues in Chicago. The Epiphany Episcopal Church of Chicago at 201 South Ashland Avenue will set the stage for two shows by Genesis, Chris, Cosey, and Peter reunion.
The Shark Spy from Moscow in Paris. My top 4 favourite GARAGE ROCK videos on youtube.
Here's a list of 25 Post-Hippy / Pre-Punk Rock LP's in alphabetical order that I would have been listening to had I lived in 1975!
Music video from Chicago's The Handcuffs, whose songs you've heard on MTV's "Laguna Beach," "The Hills" and "8th & Ocean;" A&E's "Rollergirls;" the soundtrack of the Sundance Award winning documentary "The Education of Shelby Knox" and more. The song for this video, "Can't Get the Girl (Without the Good Stuff, Baby)" appears on the band's debut CD "Model for a Revolution."
Excerpts: "In art it is important to remember that the most substantial, meaningful, honest, spiritual, cultural rituals, forms and esthetics come from the underground."
"So you know that Dominic Molon, the curator of "Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll since 1967," is in deep trouble..."
"Another big problem was that the MCA seems to have scorned one of the most influential and rich rock ‘n’ roll scenes in America ...Chicago..."
Read on ...
ERIC ANDERSEN AT THE DOLDER 2
FEUERTHALEN, SWITZERLAND JULY 27, 2007
When Edith showed me Eric Andersen’s name advertised for a Friday show at the Dolder 2, it set off a buzz of memory. Crossing paths in Austin, the Kerrville Folk Festival, and Nashville, the last time I had seen him was in the late 1990’s in Piran, Slovenia. An old friend of Townes Van Zandt, Eric was a living link to the storied days of early sixties Greenwich Village, and a stunning songwriter in his own right. Scheduled to be held outside in the garden, this was an evening not to be missed.
Editors note: David Olney is a master songwriter, raconteur and all-around stand-up guy. His work has been covered by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and Nanci Griffith, among others. To see him live or hear him recorded is a real treat - by turns melodic and heartbreaking, passionate and world-weary, jocular and deeply profound. Never one to take himself too seriously, Olney is possessing of an abundance of sardonic humor. Who else could write a song about the Titanic disaster, written from the viewpoint of the iceberg? If you haven't yet encountered this artist I envy you the pleasure of new discovery. His web site is davidolney.com
I’ve got this memory: It’s June twenty-something, 1973, Nashville Music Row… Tree Music, do you recall cooling your heels there?
It seems like you and me were getting thrown out—not thrown out, but not asked to stay.
As much as Rolling Stone Magazine has come to signify how far we have come down in our expectations of popular culture –with covers in recent years featuring the likes of Brittany Spears, Ben Affleck, Lindsay Lohan amongst others, occasionally there is a glimmer of the storied rag’s past, a moment where someone working there is able to cut through all of the pulp fiction and serve up some small truth, and a sense of what got them to the place they now are
I was reading a book by Larry McMurtry, author of Lonesome Dove and probably Texas’ best known living author. This book is called Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen, subtitled Reflections at Sixty and Beyond. I’m not sure who Walter Benjamin was, some kind of literary critic. But more to the point, McMurtry’s grandparents were land hungry Texas pioneers who lived a life characterized by hard work and perseverance… and the same was true of his father, a cowboy and small time rancher who worked his whole life fighting mesquite and prickly pear cactus. McMurtry said watching his father gave him the idea that work formed character… he spent all those years chopping back the mesquite and it kept growing back…working against impossible odds…it was a Quixotic thing. He said that the cowboy life…
Ok, I know I haven’t written for the forum in a while now. Told Sharkboy I was just too busy, but in reality…LAZY is a much more accurate description. Anyway, after a conversation last night with Finface about Wilco’s new album he said to me, (in between assassinating some poor shmendrick on BAS) “You should review the record on Sharkforum, Blockhead!”
Four days after being stricken by a stroke, rock 'n' roll legend Bo Diddley's condition is steadily improving, according to manager and longtime friend Margo Lewis. Although he's still having trouble speaking, Lewis said she was "encouraged" by Diddley's condition, but adds that it's too early to know whether he'll be able to perform again.
Thinking of Bo I thought I’d share this little story of mine.
A couple years ago I was traveling in Fez, Morocco when a pair of interesting characters approached me and introduced themselves. They resembled the Moroccan version of the old American cartoon characters Mutt and Jeff. Mutt was short of course, with a mustache and dressed in a blazer and loafers. He did all the talking, while Jeff stood beside him, silent and patient. Lanky in his striped djellaba and fez he sort of resembled Boris Karloff in The Mummy with his hollow cheekbones and somnambulant eyes that would occasionally roll back into his head as if he was about to pass out.
Good Friday, April 6th, 8 PM
Center Portion
2850 1/2 W. Fullerton Avenue
Chicago Illinois 60647
With an opening set by poet/performance artist Dan Hanrahan.
Then on Saturday John will be reading and signing his new book To Live's To Fly - the Ballad of the Late Great Townes Van Zandt at Seminary Coop Books
April 7, 2007 6:00 PM
57th Street Books
1301 East 57th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
773-684-1300
Details after the jump.
“I mean, it’s…so retro.” Browsing through a Rosanne Cash interview a couple of years ago this remark caught my attention. She was talking about a song on a new record she had coming out with the line “I would change for you,” a point she felt needed explaining. A modern woman, she seemed concerned about a testament to a love so strong she was willing to go against her very modernity. I wasn’t a big fan of Rosanne’s music—certainly not the worst among the sons and daughters of famous fathers—but her choice of words struck a chord: retro, a word indicating something backward or passé. I thought of retrospective, as in an art show looking back over a career; and retroactive, more like a legal term referring to the past or previous conditions; retrofit, as in installing new or modified parts to an older piece of equipment; and retrograde. I liked that one, going backward, or contrary to the usual order. Contraries were fearless warriors who rode their horses backwards. I suspected myself as being hopelessly, irretrievably retro, if not fearless.
Introducing a new Shark contributor: Yaroslav Rovenskikh. Yaroslav was an art and art history student of mine years ago. Now he is a painter, garage rocker, DJ and is involved with music management. Yaro, as many call him, is from Moscow, studied in Switzerland with an American (me) and now resides mostly in Paris, France. I like to think of him as my protégé. He speaks Russian, English and French fluently, and some German (and maybe some Italian after that last girlfiend?). He was one of my favorite students and even collaborated with me and several other ex-students of mine on a group artwork for an exhibition in Switzerland a few years ago. According to his My Space page his motto is “Come Spy with Me.” He’s (only) 25 years old, but has a strong set of quirky interests and views on art and a crazy cosmopolitan background, to say nothing of all the insanity and half-truths I taught him. So I hope he’ll be contributing some unique viewpoints on art, music, Paris, Russia, Europe and more. He’ll be posting under my rubric until we get him set up here at Sharkforum. Добро пожаловать! (Welcome! Or something like that!)Packing on the afternoon of the 17th we knew it would be a short night, with the alarm set for four, and I’m not sure we slept more than two or three hours before it went off. Wolfing down toast and coffee, we walked to the Bahnhof in a howling rain storm that turned Edith’s umbrella inside-out. We wouldn’t see daylight for another two hours. A conductor checked our tickets that read: Diessenhofen, Schaffhausen, Zürich, Basel, Paris. We were going as the crow flies. Another high-speed train called the TGV runs from Zürich to Bern, swinging way around to Geneva before heading north to Paris. They have a sleeping car you can take at night and arrive fresh in the morning. We were trying to save ourselves a hundred Francs. As it was we weren’t expecting to come home with a lot of money, especially after staying over an extra day and night. But it was Paris, after all, with all that the name implied. We wouldn’t mind changing trains, we said.
The latest installment of the famed Garage Rock radio-pod-cast show named “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” has Chicago as its theme. Some great music, quotations and more. Go to the site at http://www.littlestevensundergroundgarage.com/splash.htm
or directly to the clickable “jukebox” here:
http://linux.littlesteven.com/nebuplayer/258/06jukebox.html
Unfortunately there is no downloadable form. The main page’s intro film is worth watching before listening. A lot of fun.
When I was in high school I saw the 1974 film by Werner Herzog called Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle. In english that's Every Man for Himself and God Against All. The film deals with the fascinating, enigmatic life of Kaspar Hauser, a 19th century German foundling who turned up on the streets of Nuremberg, Germany in May of 1828.
The film is fascinating, dark, disturbing and hilarious, and for years my friends and I have refered to it in passing conversation. If Herzog's rendering is to be believed, Hauser posessed an accute common sense and a beguiling innocence.
Imagine my surprise, then, upon seeing the name of a band we were sharing a bill with last July - Kaspar Hauser. Aside from the fact that the venue and booking organization were beyond lame, KH were a blast to watch, and their new release QUIXOTIC/Taxidermy is terrific. They're playing a CD release show tomorrow night at The Hideout in Chicago.
There are traditionally Nine Muses and Nine Arts, frequently linked to one another. My Latin professor Dr Clemens Müller and I have concocted a fresh, contemporary version of this system for no darn reason other than pure, arcane fun.
James Brown dies on Christmas! Oh, I Feel... Not So Good - The mosquitoes, air pollution and heat have all been on the rise lately - My right arm must have thirty bites alone - I look like a junky...
The time to come to chennai is definately dec through jan - every night there is incredible music - you can't even go to the internet closet (not a cafe by any means) without seeing the most fantastic drumming on a small tv shoved into the corner of an already tiny space with 6 computer stalls...
i have been practicing/learning new scales like never before - ya need a bit of discipline to last at carnatic boot camp but i'm doing pretty well with it - these guys are really amazing - they are coming to nyc and touring the states in february - more details later - gotta say its a little exhausting at times - yesterday i was supposed to go to a concert - laid down for a minute - short nap at 7 pm and woke up at 1 am then practiced till 4am fell asleep until 6am woke up...
Okay old habits die hard - Like being a total dufus! Perhaps a hipster dufus but dufus none the less - When Krishna told me about "the ruby" he wasn't talking about a rock - It was a metaphor for his sweetheart - And she is very pretty - The other smooth move of the day was when I went to a local "High Class A-1 Vegetaerian" Cafe and sat at a table with a couple of technical engineers who took pity on me - I was having some sort of veggie dosai - eating with my right hand of course when they started to order more food - all sorts of great stuff - electric red cauliflower that made me eyes pop out - but DON'T DRINK THAT WATER MAN! - I was having a rough time tearing me pancake when unbeknownst to me the left hand lept off my lap to hold the thing down while I tore away - A look of mild disgust was mirrored back to me suddenly - Whoops! "Okay that one is yours," they said. In return for their kindness I thought I'd invite them back to the hotel and give them a couple CD's but they instantly balked - Who knows - all American serial killers must look alike to these guys - They said they'd see me around the cafe sometime - So back to the hotel for more practice of Carnatic scales - Slowly learning the Kalyani raga -C-D-E-F#-G-A-B- C' - It's not the notes that get me its the slide or the "gurry" [not to be confused with curry!] And of course going up is different than coming down [As any acid head from long ago will tell you] BTW the coffee is amazing - heavy on the milk and sugar but damn good rocket fuel - Helps while trying to keep up with these fantastic Carnatic percussionists - I've never been one for "fusion" ala Chick Corea's Return to Forever and Stan Clark is really somethin' but these guys have it going on on a profound level - woven into the DNA - the science behind the soul is astounding - Or is it the other way'round?
It's like that old enigma about cops - What do Indian men with mustaches (which seem to be most of them) call other Indian men without mustaches? Woke up having no clue what time it was - Watching pop videos ala Sharks and Jets on steroids - Fosse gave birth to a demon he never dreamed of - The girl/boy ritual dance video is alive and thriving/throbbing in the Sub Continent - Some tabla players have moved in upstairs which really enhances my mandolin practice! I should probably stop by after a couple days and see if they wanna jam - Their beat science is in perfect synch with the spinning fan above my head which kinda makes it sound phased like a Leslie - Have to keep practicing to keep up with Ganesh and Krishna - two phenomenal speed demons hammering out the calculations of Sub Continent Soul...
God(s)! this place is intense - I've been getting up every morning at dawn to walk and photo the city streets - Haven't been shooting too many people - mostly temples, shrines, symbols painted on the ground with rice flour - then back to bed for a few more hours then over to Ganesh's where we do "calculations" 4 rounds of 5 four rounds of 4,3,2,1 - it's mechanical and hilarious.
so i'm here in ganesh's office - listening to subash instruct some poor american dude in the next room with an electronic beep machine - he must tighten up the calculations! - the streets here are nuts - really must watch everything you do - the traffic in every size, shape and form is coming at youfrom all directions - the sheets on the bed were gross - had them change them this morning -
John Kruth is travelling in India making music, visiting with friends, and blogging. Following is the first of what will hopefully be many dispatches - ed
What an ordeal! The flight from JFK, scheduled at 7:15, didn't take off until 10 pm. But it was a good quick flight, We were then herded off the plane through security, then back on the plane again (without time to shop - how un-Heathrow!) for about 8 hours to Mumbai with the biggest fattest most fidgety kid sitting right in front of me. I saw some dumb Woody Allen mystery flick ain't never saw before. By the way Indian Airlines just pours you the biggest glass of Johnnie Walker Red they can and gives it to you free! Ah knockout drops! I couldn't finish the second one...
My time is spent working 16 hour DAYS just trying to keep up with all I am doing. At 75, my schedule is MORE INSANE (but more gratifying) than ever!!! I am here in Denver until June 3rd, as 'Visiting Distinguished Professor" (the University of Denver's description of me, not mine).
I have already been assigned to 22 different events (!!!) as well as appearing in classes and seminars for the Sociology department, Creative Writing, French Studies, Anthropology, American Studies, Drama and Film, Jewish Studies, and of course the Music School.
Later, the crew lowered waterproof speakers into the sea and played some AC/DC songs including "Highway to Hell," saying the heavy metal vibrations help lure the toothy hunters.
The Shark has on any number of occasions found himself in the midst of defending or rather debunking the idea that Greg Dulli's apex happened with his explosively dark and great, seminal alternative rock band The Afghan Whigs. Make no mistake about it, the Whigs were to many (including The Shark) the most exciting band to come out of the whole of 90's alternative /grunge. What set them apart from even other bands who had superlative songwriting, was Mr. Dulli's lounge lizard gambits, a complicated sense of sleazy doom and gloom with accompanying forays into soul/60's pop/r+b all ensconsed in Pink Floyd like atmospherics....there was simply nothing like them-
Please check your local listings for YOUR air-time.
Link to the Austin City Limits page.......
Texas-size career decision awaits Nicholas TremulisAndy Downing
Published October 6, 2006By most standards, Nicholas Tremulis has lived something of a charmed life. The Chicago-born singer has recorded with Keith Richards at the Rolling Stone guitarist's house, performed live with Rick Danko just days before the Band bassist's death in 1999 and organized a series of charity shows for Neon Street for Homeless Youth dubbed "The Waltz." The annual event, which took place at the Metro from 2000-'04, drew the likes of Billy Corgan, Alejandro Escovedo and Jeff Tweedy.
For more of this piece go here.
I get more people asking, “When are you guys going to play another show with Blondie?” than just about any other question.
I was raised on matinees on Saturday afternoons
Looking up at Hoppy, Gene, and Roy, oh boy
I grew up a thinking the best a man could do
Was to be a rootin-tootin straight-shooting
cowboy buckaroo…
Mason Williams
I knew we were in for a long evening when we showed up to interview cowboy singer Todd Fritsch at the Bonanza club and the manager refused to let us in. It was going to be a long evening anyway but the fun went out of it after our run-in with this Arschloch.
Last night I took my son, (age thirteen) to the Chicago Theatre to see a performance by a guitar player who, when I was young, (age thirteen) was one of my heroes.
Sharkforum's very own John Kruth will be working with Shark-in-absentia Alejandro Escovedo (as well as husband of Shark Kim Christoff) in Brooklyn this weekend. Greatness is anticipated...
From September 16 - October 20th John Kruth will be co-producing a series of great concerts for the Culture Project's Impact Festival with producer/promoter Danny Kapilian. The first concert will be tomorrow afternoon:
CITIZENS BY ANY OTHER NAME featuring DON BYRON (MUSIC FOR SIX MUSICIANS), SUZANNE VEGA, AND ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO
Saturday, September 16, 2006, 4:00 pm
(gates open at 3:00 pm)
Free at Empire Fulton Ferry State Park at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Dumbo, Brooklyn (Water Street and Dock Street) This will be a free concert on the dramatic East River waterfront under the Brooklyn Bridge in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn (NOTE - in case of rain, the concert will be moved inside of the Tobacco Warehouse tent immediately next door in the Park, and will proceed in full).
I will let you know about future concerts which - 8PM, Saturday, October 7th - Protest:The Concert to Close Guantanimo at Town Hall with a great line up that includes:Angelique Kidjo, Tom Paxton, The Mammals, Rutha Harris, The Klezmatics, Marshall Crenshaw and the Urban Word Poets - more details to follow (Tix will be $25-65)
And the final concert will be Friday, October 20th at the fabulous Apollo Theatre in Harlem - Time for Change - A Tribute to Miles Davis (the line-up looks really great for this show as well, with Roy Hargrove, Gary Bartz, Badal Roy and many other greats of Miles' funk period - details to follow (Seats will be $25 -65)
Hope to see you at Dumbo tomorrow afternoon!
The schedule follows, and it's a doozy (don't miss Sharkforum's very own Rick Rizzo and his partners-in-crime Eleventh Dream Day on Saturday). The only catch is they'll most likely be working with this guy. He's a real Svengali. (And no, I don't mean Svenghouli)
THE GIG IS CANCELLED - SORRY. REFUND TICKETS AT PLACE OF PURCHASE, OR SOMETHING.
the issues: 2 sets
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 10TH
SIMON'S TAVERN
5210 N. Clark
(Clark and Foster)
9:00 Set 1
10:30 Set 2
My only remaining hero (now that Townes and Burroughs are gone) was a guy named Arthur Lee who played in a 1960's group called Love and who died recently.
When it comes to intelligent, melodic american music there are few who compare to David Olney. Consider the following from the New York Times a few years back:
"Some say Mr. Olney is too literary: he writes songs about Barabbas, John Dillinger and John Barrymore, all in a dark, brooding style influenced by the Texas singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. But if Mr. Olney's tight, powerful, empathetic and highly literate writing make him an outsider here, they're also what make him an insider in less commercial songwriting circles, with six albums recorded for the folk label Philo/Rounder all worth seeking out. One of the finest songwriters of his time, Van Zandt, who died two years ago, was once asked to name his favorite composers. He listed Mozart, Bob Dylan, Lightnin' Hopkins and David Olney."
- New York Times
He performs this Sunday night at Bill's Blues Bar in Evanston.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Bill's Blues Bar
1029 Davis Street
Evanston, IL
847.424.8400
Hey, we're not always on the attack here. There are things we Sharks appreciate. I intend to intermittently present booster-like praise for deserving people, places and actions. Here's one.
Sharkforum's very own Andrea Bauer and her band Coupleskate are releasing their debut EP this Thursday, August 17. Don't miss 'em, and be sure to hang out for All City Affairs.
THURSDAY, AUG. 17th | Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont | with Matt Focht (of Head of Femur) and All City Affairs | 9pm; $7, 18+
coupleskatemusic.com
SIXTY-EIGHT / TWENTY-EIGHT
The Life and Times of a Texas Writer and a Flat Top Box Guitar
By Vince Bell; vince bell.com
Something fascinates about a piece of gear, how we grow fond of it and come to rely on it as a friend. More than a tool, it becomes a repository of memories, times, and adventures shared together. This is especially true of boats and musical instruments, of old pickup trucks… and weapons. For Vince Bell his guitar is a weapon; he calls it the cannon. The guitar is a Martin D-28, the ‘D’ standing for dreadnaught, named after a battleship.
A letter to my friend and former drummer (GK) whom I love.
...and a meditation on the vagueries of creativity and the devil's bargain and the constant confusion of love and inspiration...
Glenn,Finally listened to your fine “Mobile” and I need to write, not because you need my opinion but because you took such obvious loving care making the record and some feedback seems like the very least you deserve. Also, your note – so carefully and humorously and intelligently worded, says in closing “I hope you like some of this.” Presumably this is because you know that experimental music sometimes leaves me unmoved. So, at some point we might have a lively debate about all of this. In the meantime, just this letter.
Sharkforum's very own Dave Roth and his band the issues play their first club gig in a while.
Wednesday, June 14 2006, 8:00 PM $6.00
Martyrs' Live
3855 N. Lincoln Avenue
773.404.9494
hhhhh
I’m allergic to hornets. And the first notes from Gideon Freudmann’s grungy, grinding cello on his new album make the hair on the back of my neck stand up with the memory of the time I stepped on a hornet’s nest in Vermont back in the early seventies. I soon turned pasty white (much like the face of Cesare, the somnambulist villain of this classic film) and began to swoon as the venom from twenty-five to thirty hornet bites rushed to my brain. Haunted and eerie, this soundtrack blends old world folk melodies with Freudmann’s neo-metal cello improvisations, augmented by some tasteful accordion, drums and a variety of percussion.
Subterranean
2011 North Ave.
Coupleskate, STAR, The Elevens, The Patent Clerks
Tuesday, June 6
8:30pm, 21+, $6
This show is part of Music with Meaning 7 which benefits Rape Victim Advocates and America's Second Harvest you can find out more about it at www.themachinemedia.com
Sharkforum's very own Andrea Bauer is in Coupleskate. Word is she's no relation to Jack. - ed.
Two kick-ass Chicago rock bands, two brand new CDs, an early live show at 9:00 p.m. followed by a late night DJ dance party. Sounds perfect, doesn't it?
Wandering down the quiet Greenwich Village street you’ll discover a humble handwritten sign advertising “Bluegrass Tonight” outside the leaf enshrined door of the Derech Amuno Synagogue at 53 Charles Street, on the corner of West 4th. Pull open the heavy wooden door and take a few steps down to the library/basement of the temple and you’ll find about twenty folding chairs are set up in rows of three and four. It’s quite an intimate setting to see a musical innovator of Andy Statman’s stature. When not on tour or in the recording studio you can find the mandolinist/clarinet virtuoso blending strains of bluegrass, free jazz and klezmer every Monday and Thursday night at the shule. For six and a half years now the low-key biweekly gig has allowed him to experiment with fresh ideas, while drawing from a batch of the city’s best improvisers, which has included such guest stars as David Grisman, Mike Marshall and Bela Fleck.
Betty's Blue Star Lounge
1600 W. Grand Ave.
Greenlight, Banking Hours, Coupleskate
Thursday, May 25th 9pm, $5
Sharkforum's very own Andrea Bauer plays guitar and sings in Coupleskate. Word is she's no relation to Jack. - ed.
Monday, May 22 ‘06 at 7 PM
Preston Bradley Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington
312·744·6630
FREE!
I first learned of U. Shrinivas many years ago when I discovered a strange double album of Carnatic mandolin music with a photograph of a skinny Indian boy holding what looked like a funky looking baby electric guitar on its cover. The record jacket boldly announced the arrival of the 12-year old “Adorable Child Prodigy.”
THE BOWERY POETRY CLUB PROUDLY PRESENTS:
Reckless Optimism
featuring:
JOHN KRUTH – “The Madman of the Mandolin” – SF Chronicle
DAVE DREIWITZ – The Face of the Bass
STEVE BEAR – Perplexing Percussion
With a Special Mystery Guest or 2!!
SATURDAY, MAY 27TH @ 8 PM - $8
THE BOWERY POETRY CLUB
308 BOWERY, NYC
(X the street from CBGB)
Enough has been written about The Shark's friend Alejandro lately to fill a shark infested bay. What I haven't read enough about is how Alejandro with Orchestra is one of the top bands in the world to catch right now. Four big shows (by three artists) to push this week, all Sharkforum approved:
Thursday:
Eleventh Dream Day w/ Red Eyed Legends at Empty Bottle
Alejandro Escovedo at Martyrs'
Friday:
Alejandro Escovedo at Martyrs'
Twilight Singers at Metro
You may now rock around the city.
Not to be missed: Sunday, 5/7/2006 - 9:00 PM - $12.00
Fruit Bats with
Amandine and
Orso
Click here for the Pitchfork review.
(The following is courtesy of the Schuba's web site - ed.)
"Fruit Bats started out in the mid-nineties as Eric Johnson (not the virtuoso guitar player nor the Archers of Loaf guy) sat in his bedroom like so many other young people at that time and discovered the joys of the 4-track machine. He went on to form the short lived band I Rowboat, whose Velvet Underground-ish sounds managed to win no more than a small Chicago fanbase. One day Johnson and two other Rowboaters, guitarist Dan Strack and drummer Brian Belval decided to dip their collective toes in folk music.This side project was dubbed Fruit Bats, named after a type of large, flying, fruit-eating tropical mammal. Years later, after line-up shifts galore, many tours, and a deal with the fabled Sub Pop Recording Concern, Fruit Bats' sound has evolved and then un-evolved and then evolved back again. What was once weirdo folk tinkerings became cinematic pop which became something else."
Buy tix here.
Sharkforum's own John Kruth blows the doors off the Bowery Poetry Club:
In the face of rising oil prices, religious fanaticism and the threat of nuclear devastation
THE BOWERY POETRY CLUB PROUDLY PRESENTS:
Reckless Optimism
featuring:
JOHN KRUTH – mandolin, guitar, harmonica, voice
JOY ASKEW (Peter Gabriel, Laurie Anderson) – keyboards, voice
DAVE DREIWITZ (Ween) - bass
ANDY DEMOS – drums, tabla
&
IBRAHIM GONZALEZ (AKA the Mambo Dervish) - congas
SATURDAY, APRIL 29TH @ 8 PM - $8
THE BOWERY POETRY CLUB
308 BOWERY, NYC
(X the street from CBGB)
FUNKY, FOLKY, PSYCHEDELIC, SOUL
The Progressive Department at Atlantic Records was tucked away in a corner of the label headquarters in New York’s Rockefeller Center offices. Why they called it progressive, I’ll never be certain; there was no plan for progress. The bands were not well-known; The Subdudes, Map of the World, Lemonheads (before Mrs. Robinson). The department was there because indies were getting too popular. Just in case there was money to be made, the majors wanted to make sure they were the ones making it. When A&R rep Bettina Richards came to see Eleventh Dream Day for the first time at Cabaret Metro, she walked up to the dressing room moments after our guitarist Baird Figi had hurtled a folding chair down the stairs in disgust at what he thought was our worst gig ever. After sidestepping the chair she assured us in her inimitable affability that we were great and that no band was ever signed or not signed because of one gig. By January of 1990 we had remixed our Beet record at Fort Apache in Boston with Lou Giordano and were ready for our first major tour. When I first saw that classic green, white and orange Atlantic label with our name on it I felt as excited as I would have making my pitching debut with the Chicago Cubs. Led Zeppelin- Houses of the Holy and Eleventh Dream Day.
After another short night, and another drive to the airport at Kloten, we dropped Julie off… Sergio talked her into taking the Zimmerman accordion back to Nashville with her.
We played a trio gig at the Palazzo Mysanus in Samedan on the 29th, a ski town about as far to the southeast as you can go in Switzerland, and accessible this time of year only by a train ferry. It’s not always easy to play for the locals in a resort town, and this was one of those nights. We played for ourselves and at the end we won over a small crowd. Stopping once for coffee, and again when Hans-Ruedi pulled over to fish an apple out of the back, we returned the way we’d come, by Bregenz, around the southern shore of Lake Constance, on past St. Gallen to Frauenfeld where we made a final stop at the music store for strings and a new ‘G ’ harmonica. Heading home by the back roads, we had one night to get ready for Scotland and Netherlands. The phone rang while we were packing: it was my sister telling me our mother had died that morning in Dallas, about nine-thirty their time. Slipped away, she said. Counting ahead I figured we were somewhere close to home, about the time we stopped for the apple. I didn’t feel anything at the time, no kind of preternatural trans-oceanic signal to tell me she was gone. I thought about canceling, but it wasn’t only me involved; there were others, and plans long set in place. We had said goodbye in Dallas in January. Mom would have wanted us to finish the tour, I reasoned. I didn’t have to think about it for too long.
The new CDs arrived in time for our show at the Albisgüetli Country Festival in Zürich on March 15th where we opened for Albert Lee and Hogan’s Heros. One of the best bands I ever heard, these guys blew me away. You can hear world-class pickers any night in Nashville, ad hoc ensembles put together for the occasion. But watching a real band work is to observe a whole different class of animal, with precision and dynamics that come with years of playing together. Named after the steel player Paul Hogan—likely a joking reference to the television series— they go back over twenty years. Albert has played with Eric Clapton, the Everley Brothers, and Emmylou Harris. Just for starters. Sergio tells me Albert Lee’s influence on country guitar players has been major. I believe him. And keyboard Pete Wingfield… have mercy. Albert had his own piano on stage as well. The music was still ringing in my ears when we got back to the house about two. We stayed up ‘til four just winding down. Sergio and I smoked a fat one.
Day 2 SXSW
Nicholas Tremulis: Our first full day at SXSW started out a little on the rough side. My gig at Maria's Taco Express was called off due to the rain. After an 18 hour drive and a morning of gearing up to perform at one of my favorite picnic style of gigs, it was hard not to feel a little let down. But when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. The Shark, Alejandro, Kim, and I spent the morning checking out Texas wear at a friends store. After the Shark purchased some charro pants, the only pair of pants not camouflaged with oil paint stains that he owns, we headed over to catch a few bands playing at a tent party off of 6th street. I should also say that The Shark bought me a pair of white sunglasses. Did this make me his bitch? I'm still not sure.
Soul Asylum
Closer to the Stars: The Best of the Twin Tone Years
Rykodisc
The hipsters who worship at the altar of the Replacements and Husker Du seem all too reluctant to give respect (or even props) to the mighty Soul Asylum.
I love vinyl, and still buy it when I can. Just last month I wandered into Dr. Wax in Evanston looking for the Seed's classic "Pushin' Too Hard," and voila! It was there on vinyl. Aside from the fact that WLUW is a really great radio station, their record fair is really cool. For more you can go here.
This Friday, March 31 at Metro in Chicago:
ROBERT POLLARD
w/ THE HIGH STRUNG
Tickets: $19, 18 & over
Doors: 8pm / Show: 9pm
For those concerned with the health and relevancy of rock music over the last two decades, one of the guiding voices has been the great Rob Pollard with the various incarnations of his fine band Guided By Voices....
Recently Sharkforum's own Nicholas Tremulis and The Shark drove down to Austin, Texas for the South by Southwest music festival. What follows is part one of an email correspondence recounting their adventures. All images by Todd V. Wolfson. - ed.
Nicholas Tremulis:
As anyone who has dined with the Shark in Chicago knows; he is accustomed to the finest nouvelle cuisine our city has to offer. Therefore, it was with some trepidation and/or fear of losing a limb that I introduced my aquatic friend to the banal yet botulism free playground that is The Cracker Barrel.
The Shark himself along with fellow Sharkpack member Nick Tremulis recently swam down to Austin Texas for the South by Southwest Music Conference. Stay tuned for our two part coverage of that event along with a special feature detailing how The Shark saved the day when Mr. Tremulis was attacked with malice by an errant tornado bent on his destruction........
Fiendish Thingy featuring Sharkforum's very own John Kruth, Dogbowl, Dave Dreiwitz of Ween and Andy Demos with special guest John S. Hall of King Missile fame.
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery, NYC
Saturday, March 25, 8:00 pm
$10
Sharkforum's own Rick Rizzo performs with Steve Wynn at the Double Door. Here's a nice piece in last Sunday's Chicago Tribune about Rick and Steve, and their bands.
Doors 8:00 - Show 9:00 - $10.00
Double Door · 1572 N. Milwaukee · Chicago, IL · 773.489.3160
Having been invited to join the sharkforum I find myself suddenly bereft of imagination. I might have hoped for a bigger story just coming out of the chute; something with more splash and impact. But it’s the little things that count, as Sergio says, and that sounds good enough. I’m happy the little red Uno has found a home with a friendly young man and dog.
My first concert experience ever was Frank Zappa with Captain Beefheart at the International Amphitheater in Chicago in 1975. Row Forty on the floor. The amphitheater was originally used for livestock shows. Our dog raced there once. I was ecstatic. Zappa was previewing the upcoming Apostrophe record (remember Yellow Snow?). Luckily, there was the Bongo Fury live record to document that tour because the sound was atrocious. I’m pretty sure that was Zappa on the stage. The guy next to me (I didn’t know him) passed out with his head on my shoulder. The air smelled funny.
There are indeed a few things to say on this topic. The only groups who deserve any credit at all in this area are Rank and File, The Long Ryders, Green On Red, the Silos, the True Believers, Uncle Tupelo, and my own group, the Weathermen. Everyone else, including Yo la Tengo and most especially the Whiskeytown-Will Oldham-Old 97s-etc.-generation were latecomers to the game.
The other night a bunch of middle-aged musicians were sitting around drinking scotch and telling road (war) stories from their touring days. Here's mine:
We were lost and late for the sound check. There were four of us crammed into the van with all our equipment, driving around Virginia looking for the nightclub, when we pulled into a gas station to get directions. The woman at the cash register, a forty year old bottle blonde with Kool-Aid orange lipstick, insect green eyeliner and low-tar cigarette dangling from her lips clapped her hands together and said, “Okay, listen up boys ‘cause I’m only gonna tell you once! You pull outta here, hang a U-turn and take a right at the first traffic light. You go two more lights and take another right. You go down this hill and the road just keeps winding down and around and around. It’s like you’re goin’ through this tunnel and the trees have these long branches that hang down just like arms trying to grab you. But you just keep goin’ down and around and just when you think you’re lost, you’re not! You just pop out the Devil’s asshole and there you are!”
(Sharkforum's own John Kruth has played with more famous and brilliant musicians than you can shake a stick at. Lately he's been working with Peter Stampfel. Following is a review of their show last week with John Hammond - ed.)
Somehow suppressing my inner old-fart, which was telling me "stay home---it's a school night" I went out to see Peter and John at MAKOR (which I still don't know how to pronounce).
I don’t know if the paint fumes are getting to you art world people, but I’m happy to be removed from the drama. As a veteran of the music biz, it’s all familiar; the decision makers with no spines or vision, the talent-less hacks, the system that rewards mediocrity. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Actually, I feel somewhat blessed. Sure, my band eleventh dream day saw all the ugliness that the music business had to offer, but we survived intact, we lived to tell.
It’s late… around four AM and I can’t sleep. The pug is snoring like a frickin’ lawn mower while the cat yowls in the other room, sitting shiva for my sweetheart who’s gone to LA for the week. So what does one do at a time like this?
Ath-bhliain fe mhaise dhuit!!!!
i.e. HAPPY NEW YEARS (IN GAELIC)
NOW I AM GOING TO WORK ON,,,,SHPREKKIN' DE GUD ENGLISH!!!!
Below is my last weekend's schedule which started off the New Years off in sunny Tarpon Springs Florida, after shoveling snow here in the freezing hills of Putnam Valley, NY.
It was a wonderful concert, from Mozart and Bach to Scott Joplin and Duke Ellington. I hadn't been to Tarpon Springs since the winter of 1936-37 when I went to the first grade in Passagrille Florida, so seventy years later, it was nice to make a comeback!!!
Living in New York City I sometimes feel like I’ve lost touch with what author Greil Marcus called that “Old Weird America.” I’m thousands of miles from Wall Drug. Haven’t seen a Jackalope in well over a decade. Snipes can’t handle TV sets and boom boxes.
Oh, come off it you big apes. I’ve seen a lot of best of lists for 2005 movies and I have to say I’m a little shocked to see King Kong on many of them. Unless you only saw ten movies this year I can’t imagine this three hour chest thump taking the place of smaller, better films like Phil Morrison’s “Junebug” or Werner Herzog’s “Grizzly Man”.
Not since chocolate and peanut butter collided to make the Reese’s Cup has a flavor combo been so highly anticipated as the Tortoise/ Bonny Prince Billy recording, The Brave and the Bold.
Hey- you got singer on my instrumental band.
Perhaps the best rock book in 10 years (even though the Motley Crue book is still funnier), “Our Band Could be Your Life” IS my life. Published in 2001 and then quickly out in paperback, “Our Band…” tells the story of the second punk rock revolution and how it was subsequently won (by Nirvana in 1991). The tale is told in thirteen chapters using the device of the biographer, one band per chapter.
The allegedly 21-year-old, certainly talented singer-songwriter Nellie McKay ('mi-KAI') has two strikes against her in one month. First, a few new tunes go to waste in the awful movie Rumor Has It, and, reports the NY Times, she's the latest musician to be told by the suits that she doesn't suit their biz plans.
A friend of mine once asked me what the biggest difference between Buddy Guy and Jimi Hendrix was.
My answer: "A plane ticket."
Songs are powerful medicine. They can punch you square in the heart. Put a whole different spin on your day. Good songs have a way of sneaking up on you, whether through an infectious groove that makes you dance spontaneously, or they can ambush you with insidious introspective lyrics and haunting melodies. You could be out, doing a little shopping when you walk into a store and suddenly get an ear full of Billie Holiday singing “In My Solitude” and instantly find yourself transported to the dark end of “Downer Avenue.”
Here's yet more from Paul Belker's amazing collection, this time it's
Make A Rising: Semolina Pilchard's climbing up the Eiffel Tower once again, but this time the Walrus isn't Paul...
Okay, when was the last time you heard an album that combined elements and influences by the following: The Incredible String Band' Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, The Mothers of Invention's Burnt Weeny Sandwich, Beach Boys' Smiley Smile, Love's Forever Changes with sonic shards of Robert Wyatt, Eric Satie riding a bicycle with a flat tire and something that sounds like Harry Partch shaking up a can of spray paint then suddenly smashing Mr. Satie's bike to bits with a shovel which kinda creates music to a French movie I've never seen before.
Not literally, of course. (And not that there's anything wrong with that.) In today's Sun-Times Anders Smith Lindall offers up a steaming platter of home-town goodness: Jay Ryan of The Bird Machine. Ryan's burgeoning cottage industry designs and prints brilliant original pieces for cd covers and concert posters.