Wednesday night, in the heart of Somerville’s Union Square, local songwriters Dan Blakeslee, Tim Riordan, and James Houlahan will be performing from 7-9 at Bloc 11 Cafe. Dubbing themselves as “The Folk Hynoptists,” each of their sets will feature original songs covering a wide range of styles and feeling. Blakeslee sings of late night wanderings, fascinating characters, and enduring love. Riordan’s tunes evoke strong connections to the listener, drawing one in with detailed, powerful emotions. Houlahan combines simple, sometimes traditional melodies with his own twist of folk magic and inventive language. Hypnotic trances are encouraged. Regardless, Bloc 11 is at 11 Bow Street, and they feature a variety of beverages and good eats.
This is our final Year End Best of New England Fans Poll’s Top 10 – full breakdown of the votes here.
On Wednesday we’ll publish the results of the Best of New England 2009 Poll, which is calculated through a rather complicated system involving a jury of scene makers, The Deli’s writers, our readers, the bands’ fans, and also through an initial open contest – rules can be found here. – Stay tuned!
Club D’elf makes it’s 2010 debut tonight at the Lizard Lounge (1667 Mass Ave, Cambridge). The band can only be described as experimental-world-jazz-funk with a dash of DJ mixes and a sprinkle of psychedelia (especially their album art!). Bass-wizard, Micro Vard, has traveled around the world (and probably beyond the fringes of outer space) to find instruments, rhythms and styles to bring home to the cozy basement venue. Their work is brilliant and beautifully aged (11 years!) Show is $10. 21+
And, next Saturday the 24th there is a pop-rock extravaganza at the Lizard Lounge.
Brendan Boogie just released a new album, The Sweet and the Brutal last month. Boogie is also responsible for the amazing The Cover-Up shows, which rally a bunch of local musicians to cover songs by awesome bands such as, Queen and the Black Crowes. Oranjuly and The Motion Sick are two of the most raved about indie bands in the city.This show is a must see for the whole family (family members must be under 21). $8 adv/ $10 door and you can buy tickets here.
Personal favorite, funk-jazz trio, Otis Grove, will be playing the Regatta Bar (in the Charles Hotel. Harvard Sq.) on 1.21 next week. They just let word out about a new album coming soon, The Runk. Their last album, Crank it Up is a delicious funk compilation (see rock-u-mentry of Crank it Up CD release above). Otis Grove will be playing the early show at 7:30pm Thursday the 21st. Tickets are $10, which is a really sweet deal, the Regatta Bar is a more elegant venue. You can go skating outside on that cute little pond they made and then go in and warm yourself up with the juiciest funk Boston has to offer.
If you like alt country and authentic bluegrass, you’ll want to make a bee-line for Club Passim this Thursday night at 8PM. The Dixie Bee-Liners are taking the storied Harvard Square stage to play in support of their new release, Susanville, described on their Web site as “a concept album that takes listeners on a musical road trip along America’s highways and byways.”Explains co-writer and mandolinist, Buddy Woodward, in a press release, "It’s a collection of short stories set to music. Each song is a vignette about a different person in a different car or truck in a different highway in America, and they’re all headed either to or from Susanville."The Bee-liners are fronted by Brandi Hart, a native of the Bluegrass State who was featured at the official ASCAP/IBMA Songwriters’ Showcase at World of Bluegrass 2006 in Nashville. Hart is not only a singer/songwriter but also “plays rhythm guitar, Nashville guitar, fiddle, and mountain dulcimer.” Hart and Woodward are joined by Rachel Renee Johnson on vocals and fiddle, Robin Davis on lead guitar and mandolin, jazz-trained Jeremy Darrow on double bass, and Casey Henry on Banjo.The southern sextet is known for blending contemporary and traditional sounds, and their latest album includes not only tradition strings but also bouzoukis, dulcimers and cellos. Should be a good night to break out your best boots…and bourbon.
Local musician Rebecca Kopycinski aka Nuda Veritas just dropped episode 6 of her rare TV show, Burly Song, which features a selected artist from the Burlington music scene for an interview and the playing of some tunes. The sixth edition of Burly Song features singer-songwrite Lady Lioness. You can check out individual songs and past episodes here.
Rhode Island trio The Low Anthemwill embrace an exciting new decade by headlining their first North American tour in March and April and making their US television debut on the Late Show with David Letterman this Thursday, January 14th. They will also spend much of February supporting The Avett Brothers on the road (not in North America). They will come back to the states at the end of Februrary. Yay!
Audrey Ryan (Maine native and current Boston resident) is playing a very special show this Sunday at Club Passim in Harvard Square, Cambridge with New York’s Richard Julian. Both artists are known for their creativity and song-writing superpowers. They both bend folk and indie genres into something beautifully indistinguishable and new. Julian is a member of The Little Willies with Norah Jones. Julian has also toured with Bonnie Raitt and Suzanne Vega. Ryan recently released the full-length album, "I Know, I Know" in September. Once again the show: 8pm @ Club Passim on Sunday, January 17th, 47 Palmer St. Cambridge, MA. Tickets are pre-sale $12 (buy them HERE) and at the door $15.
The Organ Beats play the Middle East Upstairs Saturday, 1/9. Part of show (guaranteed to make you forget it’s the middle of January and you live in New England) featuring Conservative Man‘s EP release. Indie-pop The Luxury and This Blue Heaven are also supporting. All the bands have 80’s rock undertones, which is good because I mean like Pixies/New Order 80’s with a 20-teens (I can’t think of a better term for this decade) energy. See you there?
In the meantime check out this interview the Deli’s Michael Spencer did with The Organ Beats. They are also up for Artist of the Year. Vote if you love them the most!
Where have all the musical flowers gone? Probably Brooklyn. At least that’s where local folk/jazz/indy great Miss Tess has taken her “modern vintage” style as of New Year’s Day. She left with a bang.
“We had a fantastic New Year’s Eve, perhaps the best ever,” exclaimed Tess in a dispatch to her mailing list. “We played at Symphony Hall in Boston, got to watch the Boston Pops play with Amanda Palmer [formerly of the Dresden Dolls], saw lots of balloons drop from the ceiling as we all sang "We Are The Champions" at the stroke of midnight, and then I moved to Brooklyn on New Years Day. Hello New York!” (video above)
Miss Tess, whom Palmer had requested as one of her opening acts for New Years, has been a fixture of the Cambridge/Somerville scene for four years. Mingling jazz standards with original tunes, Tess assembled a changing line-up of first-rate jazz musicians, often culled from the New England Conservatory of Music, to serve as her “Bon Ton Parade.”
“I will miss some of my favorite local performers and places like Toad, Lizard Lounge and Atwoods, where I could go and run into a bunch of friends,” said Tess in an email interview. “I will not miss Boston weather.”
While she might not find much warmer climes in Brooklyn, it feels like the right move for the time and she is excited about the change.
“There’s a lot going on in Brooklyn as far as creative arts go—many places to play, and creative opportunities beyond solely performing. Also, my band moved there a couple months ago.”
Tess is in fact setting up camp with Sweet and Low-Down band mate (and formidable jazz vocalist in her own right) Rachel Price, as well as Mike Calabrese, the current Bon Ton drummer. While weekly stands at the beloved pub venues of the Boston folk scene are behind her now, Miss Tess, is wasting no time before starting another tour and will be back in town as early as January 21.She will play Club Passim in Cambridge for one of local folk great, Alastair Moock’s, “Pastures of Plenty” round robins and then the following night, will play a set of vintage dance tunes at Boston Swing Central. Her latest CD, released at the Lizard Lounge in December, is Darling, Oh Darling.
Here at The Deli we start the new year with the much anticipated results of our Open Contest linked to our Year End Best of New England 2009 Poll for emerging artists.
For the unaware, this Open Contest is the part of our Year End Poll which nominates artists through an open submission system – while the majority of the finalists for the Year End Best of Poll are freely selected by a jury of local bloggers, promoters and scenemakers.
The following are the winners chosen by the Deli – New England staff. These winners of the Open Contest will move to the final round into a running with other bands chosen by our jurors (bloggers, promoters and scenemakers).
Stay tuned. The readers vote tomorrow! The year-end best of New England poll will be posted on January 6th and will run through the 15th. The open blog is up now too, so let us know who should win and why.
