As usual, The Deli’s Year End Poll (for emerging artists) will assign the cover of our Spring Issue 2010. The polling process is as complex as rocket science (if you want to try and get your head around it be our guest and go here).
The submissions for the open contest that will select minimum 3 artists for the next phase is now closed. We are currently receiving the jurors’ votes. The next phase will be the readers’ vote, which will start on January 3.
All the bands that submitted to our open contest were also added to our chart system for indie artists – which will get them some exposure in the future.
Here we are taking a little bit of a holiday break – we’ll still have some content up in the next few days, but not as much. We will see you back in early January – in the meantime Happy Holidays to you all!!
A few weeks are left before the end of 2009, and the time has come for our end of year musical "summary". Yes, you got that right: The Deli’s "Best of (emerging) New England 2009 Poll" is upon us!
This year we’ll have an overall chart including the votes from Jury, Writers and Readers, and a Readers’ charts including only the readers’ votes. There will be prizes in vouchers, software and studio time for all the top artists in both charts.
We have a lot to tell you about this, but as this poll couldn’t happen without sponsors, we’ll start by listing them all, and by thanking them for being part of this.
Instructions about the poll coming soon!
PREMIUM SPONSORS
OTHER SPONSORS
providing a total of 18 audio plug in for the pool of prizes(9 iZotope, 9 IK Multimedia)
If your company is interested in sponsoring or contributing to the pool of prizes for "The Deli Year End Best of Poll" it’s not too late! Just contact us here.
On Saturday night, the [dog] and [pony] DVD Release Party was held at SPACE Gallery. [dog] and [pony] is a local filmmaker team that documents performances of local Portland bands and musicians and edits footage of them to capture the essence of their performances. [dog] and [pony] started in March of this year with an intimate performance by Dead End Armory, followed by one of Highway Jackson. If you know both of those bands, you’ll understand that [dog] and [pony] is aiming to find the great diversity of Portland music, with Dead End Armory’s alt-country/rock and Highway Jackson’s southern rock style.
This release party celebrated [dog] and [pony]’s first DVD volume of 15 videos. Of the musicians and bands on the DVD, nine of them were there to perform—The Lobolly Boy, Samuel James, Dana Gross, Wes Hartley (of Dead End Armory), Chriss Sutherland, Jesse Pilgrim, Kris Rodgers (of Highway Jackson) and Jacob Augustine—along with Portland’s hottest new rock band, Marie Stella.
One of the better moments of the show was when Samuel James performed his re-imagined Blues version of Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean.” As soon as people realized what song he was performing, a collective grin stretched across the audience. I find it alarming that there can be such a talented artist who still has to hold a regular job at Videoport to make a living. This is true for many of the musicians who performed tonight, but hopefully [dog] and [pony]’s exposure will help them reach the stardom and praise that they deserve.
Another exciting moment was Jesse Pilgrim’s entire set. I had heard his voice had the likeness of Johnny Cash’s smoky bass, but I didn’t realize that he mixed his old country voice with punk-rock instrumentation. Jesse Pilgrim may have been the most exciting new voice I’ve heard in recent times.
Jacob Augustine was undoubtedly the crowd favorite of the night. His music was folk-based, infused with the incredible soul of his voice, all with a great backup band of piano, guitar, horns, and violin. Augustine was later joined by Aly Spaltro of Lady Lamb the Beekeeper for the final few songs of his set. Though the juxtaposition of the two figures was outlandish, the intensity and soulfulness of their voices were evenly matched. As a past enthusiast of Lady Lamb shows, it was exciting to see her perform with a full band behind her (she usually plays solo); I can only imagine how great her songs would sound with more instrumentation. You can pick up a copy of the [dog] and [pony] at all Bull Moose stores. A live CD recorded from the show will be released within the month. Follow the links below for video clips of [dog] and [pony]’s work:
I caught my first punk show of the winter season this Saturday at the Middle East upstairs at one in the afternoon. Who knew you could do that? I couldn’t remember a show I’d ever been to that had started before 7 PM. Except for the time I saw Raffi, live (incidentally, one of the better performances I’ve ever seen. Even if it was only because I was a four-year-old with a funnel cake watching a Unibomber-lookalike play three chords).
The first act of the night was a Boston five-person folk-punk outfit The Swaggerin’ Growlers. The SGs came out with some real elephant-crushing energy that hardly relented during the course of their set and it wasn’t just one member of the group holding it all up. Whether it was lead vocalist Johnny Swagger contorting his body into some mean Hendrix-style lean-backs (which I’ve never, ever seen someone do at a punk show) or Fiddler/Tin Whistler/Accordionist Annie Growler getting mean on her tin whistle or even just the between-song banter, you could definitely tell that the SGs were there to have some goddamn fun up on that stage. Their fast folk-punk tunes in 4/4 time (with the exception of a 3/4 musical break where the lead singer shouted “WALTZ TIME!!!”), kept the crowd swinging and moshing through most of their set.
The Jazz Guys are playing their final show this Friday at Muddy Waters on Main St, downtown Burlington. Part of the burgeoning indie rock scene, with a throwback style of with equal parts irony and smiles (a cover of Beyonce’s "Single Girls" was floating around the interwebs earlier this year). They will also be joined by Burlington acts Missy Bly, Swale, and Kochalka.
Chris North Alspach, Regina Peterson and Dylan Clark make up Boston’s The Points North. They just released� I Saw Across The Sound, which is self-described as "vocal harmonies, flute melodies, and bass drum thumps carry the listener through twelve New England ghost-country folk songs, and was released Oct 1st on vinyl, cassette and digital download from Grinding Tapes Recordings."
They have a few dates coming up. Jan 6th @ the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge, MA, Jan 7th @ The Rabbit Hole in Fitchburg, MA and Jan 9th @ Mocha Maya’s in Shelburne Falls, MA .
This is an interview with Chris North Alspach.
The Deli: You all were raised in central MA, and the austerity and tonality of your music seems to draw on more intimate, close-to-the-earth musical traditions. At times, one feels transported into a farmhouse living room in the winter, with a warm fire accompanying the singalong. How has New England played a role in shaping the music you make?
Chris North Alspach: I appreciate the way you’ve interpreted our music and I’m glad tosay we’ve played a few shows in quiet farmhouses with warm firesand friends singing along. They’ve been very special times as wereally connect with the space. We all grew up in Central Mass. in post-agricultural communities and, after moving away, found that theaesthetic of that place really dominated our creative output. After ending a previous folk music project two years ago Regina and I worked hard learning the Irish flute and octave mandolin and solidifying ourvocal styles. It was all part of an effort to create the peaceful,cold and beautiful sounds that would convey the landscapes weexperienced as children, and the feelings they triggered. We typicallyplay rock venues whether it’s a basement or a bar, and part of whatmotivates us to write and perform this style is to be a bridge betweenlisteners in those environments and the world outside.
Enjoy the sights of Boston from the eyes of The Hush Now as they offer you tidings of the season in this video featuring "Wishing you a Happy Christmas". You can download the song HERE for free.
There are some really great shows going on this weekend.
WERS 88.9FM Presents Will Dailey’s Festival Holidad at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston MA tonight. Four bands will be celebrating the season with rock, pop and CD releases galore.
Also, Avi and Celia’s new project Hey Mama will be celebrating their Boston CD release at the Lizard Lounge tonight and tomorrow. Tonight they will have Qwill (I like them a lot.) supporting and tomorrow it’s Mia Dyson.
Session Americana‘s annual holiday extravaganza is at Club Passim with special guests (of course) Melissa Ferrick, Rose Polenzani, Sarah Borges, Merrie Amsterberg, and Peter Linton. Two shows for that 7 & 10.
As for Vermont tonight, country rockers Lowell Thompson and Crown Pilot at Red Square and The Day’s Weight (who kicked ass at the launch party) play Manhattan’s (man, I want some of that pizza and beer right now.)
So, you guys have no excuse not to do anything this weekend.
New wave rockers, The New Collisionsare playing The Pill next Friday at Great Scott. Dance party fun time in Allston, MA. The show is only five dollars. The show is only five dollars. The New Collisions have had probably the most successful and amazing year of any new Boston act. Touring with Blondie, getting nominated for a Boston Music Award and playing many great shows around town and the US. You have no excuse to miss this show. Plus it’s after most of the colleges get out for winter break so less amateur night-riders on the B line. More about The New Collisions read this interview with the Deli HERE
The New Collisions| Great Scott 1222 Commonwealth Ave. Allston, MA| 10pm| $5
Business for Pleasure released their new album White Collar Ryhmes at the Middle East Downstairs 12.3.
The members of Boston’s Business For Pleasure don’t feel obliged to hide their influences – in fact, a quick sleeve-check showed, during a live set at the Middle East Downstairs last Friday, a range of 90s rap inspirations from Snoop & Dre to A Tribe Called Quest to the Notorious BIG to the Beastie Boys. Though I’m not typically one to judge a music group by the sources that they cite (left that shit back in high school), I do feel inclined to point out how Business for Pleasure’s only real flaw is that they seem to be stuck in a time that can not be recovered. Unfortunately, for these fine music makers there’s no way to sample the nineties.
Short of that, BFP kept it pretty damn real. What appeared at first to be a funk/rock/rap outfit warranting a comparison to a certain band who wrote a song about a Yoruba religion (hint: it’s not Lucumi) became a fairly danceable piece of musicianship in front of my very eyes. Every member of the group was involved in the performance and appeared to be loving it – from MC Jed Lewis letting out his particular brand of complex lyricism to keyboardist Tim Tsang singing a beautiful falsetto harmony over a song about halfway through the set (I couldn’t catch the name…forgive me). Throughout the whole set guitarist Cory Kwan’s catchy hooks and riffs reverberated throughout the basement of the Cambridge venue. It made me wonder: might this kind of musician-centric hip-hop still have a place in the music world beyond the kids bumpin’ The Roots on their headphones?
In all likelihood, no. But a part of me, for the sake of a group as nice-soundin’ as Business For Pleasure, really hopes that I’m wrong.
Mark Kaye is the founder of Hear Now Live, a Boston based company that provides additional revenue sources for local bands. Hear Now Live promotes shows at several local Boston area clubs. According to their website, "[Hear Now Live is] a one stop shop for a local band or an up and coming national band. On top of offering Bands the opportunity to play a HNL concert that will be promoted correctly and be band friendly, our shows attract true music fans, and the vibe created by HNL is unmatched."
The Deli: Tell me about Hear Now Live. How long has it been going on?
Mark Kaye: I have been in and out of the music industry for 20 years but I started HNL 3 years ago. It started as a way to get local music out to people faster by recording the shows and burning them on the spot. It turned into a full service Promotions and booking agency shortly after that. We try to create a community of music fans and have them always want to come back for more. We ask the musicians to believe in the each show and to help us create a positive environment so that there friends and fans will be happy and want to see them again or come to another Hear Now Live event.
One could make a strong case that the Cambridge and Boston area is filled with a diversity of talented musicians and songwriters…and that there are too few venues in which that talent can find a home. Tony Lovell, a talented singer/songwriter himself, is waging active war against that notion. He has been organizing acoustic showcases featuring some of that talent in rooms that don’t usually see such fare. At first, the dance club Middlesex became a forum for Cambridge singer/songwriters to strut their stuff. Now, he has brought that vibe and vision to The Enormous Room in Central Square. This Sunday evening, beginning at 6PM, a group of local songwriters will perform free of charge in a space that is usually reserved for DJs and electronic music.
Sunday’s lineup will feature a diversity of acts such as the ever-hilarious Joe Kowan, the heartfelt duo of Jeremy Ross and Cilla Bonnie, and yours truly. David Owczarek and Tony Lovell himself will round out the bill. Come join us for an evening of original songs in an original space.
Sunday, December 6, 2009, 6-9PM| 569 Massachusetts Ave.| Central Square, Cambridge, MA
As usual, The Deli’s Year End Poll (for emerging artists) will assign the cover of our Spring Issue 2010. The polling process is as complex as rocket science (if you want to try and get your head around it be our guest and go here).
