WGBY & WFCR present Brian O'Donovan's A Christmas Celtic Sojourn live at 7PM Sunday, December 12th at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton.

By showcasing the Celtic Pagan and Christian traditions strong link to the music of the season, A Christmas Celtic Sojourn brings to life the annual Christmas edition of Brian O’Donovan’s (above right) 23 year old WGBH radio program A Celtic Sojourn, heard on NPR stations across the country.  After a successful run of sold out shows in Boston over the last 8 years, A Christmas Celtic Sojourn makes its Northampton debut this December and is presented by WGBY and WFCR. Seamus Egan of the Irish super group Solas serves as music director for the show which features and astounding collection of musicians and dancers including Robbie O’Connell of Clancy Brothers fame, former Cherish the Ladies singer Heidi Talbot from County Kildare, Julliard trained and increasingly in demand Celtic cellist Natalie Haas, Hanneke Cassel on violin, Eamonn Murray (percussion) and Sean Graham (guitar/accordion) both from the dynamic young Irish group Beoga, Chico Huff (bass), the exciting Harp/Fiddle duo of Chris Stout and Catriona McKay, dancer Kieran Jordan with former Riverdance performers Nick Yensen and Caitlin nic Gabhann (concertina), and the Championship Dancers from the Harney Academy of Irish Dance in Walpole MA will join the cast for what has proven to be one of the most memorable aspects of the show. Artistic director Paula Plum promises there will be a few surprises thrown in for what promises to be one of the most exciting Holiday performances in the country!

Tickets for Brian O'Donovan's  A Christmas Celtic Sojourn live at the Calvin Theatre at 7PM Sunday, December 12^th  are $28.50, $38.50, and $48.50 at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

Songwriters Jake Amerding, Mark Erelli, & Lori McKenna perform “Under The Covers” Friday, December 10th at the Iron Horse in Northampton

Every year since December, 2004, Jake Armerding, Mark Erelli & Lori McKenna have performed a special annual concert, “Under The Covers,” at Club Passim in Harvard Square.  As they’ve done only a few times before, the trio will take their show on the road to play at 7PM on Friday, December 10^th at the Iron Horse  in Northampton.  Doors will open at 5:30 PM.  Tickets to the All Ages show are $15 and are available at the Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 or buy online at IHEG.com.

“Under The Covers” brings this trio of artists – most widely known as original songwriters – together to perform and evening of other people's songs.  "We try to spice it up a bit and choose songs that folks might not associate with 'singer/songwriters,'" says Mark.  You're just as likely to hear an interpretation of Michael Jackson as they are Jackson Browne, and don't be surprised if you hear Howard Jones's 80's classic "No One Is To Blame" rubbing shoulders with Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo.”  Anything goes, and the spontaneity is enhanced by us all being onstage the whole time, chiming in on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, or harmonies.   Watch “Under The Covers” live in concert.

 JAKE ARMERDING: Jake Armerding grew up playing classical violin and listening to 80's pop radio.  He developed these influences into a roots/neo-folk style he calls "organic music," which he composes and performs across the country with the assistance of insanely talented friends.  He has released five albums of original material, along with a new EP, Cellar Sessions, with his instrumental side project, The Fretful Porcupine.  Armerding recently logged his thousandth performance, and has shared the stage with Bela Fleck, Nickel Creek, Josh Ritter, David Wilcox and Toad the Wet Sprocket.

 MARK ERELLI : For the past 10 years, Mark Erelli  has maintained a rigorous, international touring schedule, sharing the stage with Dave Alvin, Gillian Welch, John Hiatt and others, as well appearing at many major folk festivals, including Newport, Philadelphia and Shrewsbury (UK).  In recent years, Erelli has gained notoriety as a multi-instrumentalist sideman, accompanying artists such as Lori McKenna and Josh Ritter everywhere from Nashville's Grand Ole Opry to London's Royal Albert Hall.  Erelli has seven records to his name, including collections of western swing, lullabies and songs of stirring social conscience.  In 2009, he was one of eight artists invited to the UK to take part in the Darwin Song Project, a collaborative release featuring songs inspired by the life and work of Charles Darwin.  Mark Erelli is currently celebrating the release of two new CDs in 2010, a collection of murder ballads recorded with Jeffrey Foucault called Seven Curses, and Little Vigils, his ninth full-length studio record.

 LORI McKENNA: Lori is an exceptional example of how some songwriters just naturally seem to find their way to the homespun sound of a strummed acoustic guitar, an honest voice and a touch of twang.  Now with thousands of miles and gigs behind her, Lori has garnered comparisons to artists ranging from Natalie Maines (Dixie Chicks) and Patty Griffin to Nanci Griffith and Alanis Morissette.   Many reviews of Faith Hill's Fireflies agree that the three best tracks ("Stealing Kisses," "If You Ask," and the title cut) came from one songwriter: Lori McKenna. Lori’s new CD, Lorraine, will be in stores in early 2011.

Tickets for Jake Amerding, Mark Erelli, & Lori McKenna performing “Under The Covers,” at 7PM on Friday, December 10^th at the Iron Horse  in Northampton are $15 and are available at the Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 or buy online at IHEG.com.  Doors and dinner from 5:30. Show starts at 7PM.

With a potent new album and punk cred to spare Ted Leo and the Pharmacists play the Pearl Street Clubroom on Thursday, December 2nd.

Over the course of six albums with the Pharmacists, Ted Leo has traced out a blueprint of how to live as an artist, a person, and as a friend in the 21st century. When his breakthrough second album, The Tyranny of Distance, was released in 2001, Ted Leo was heralded as the savior of post-hardcore spirit in the wake of the rise of pop emo and the breakup of Fugazi. Ten years into a solo career that has outlasted two stalwart indie labels (Lookout! and Touch and Go), Ted Leo still writes songs like a guy who believes complex ideas require complex sentences -- or at least very specific ones.  Lifers like Leo, unafraid of inserting passionate personal politics into ebullient guitar rock, don't come around too often, and few can boast a track record like his. The ease with which he synthesizes punk and its many roots and branches into something distinctly his own rarely shown signs of slowing down.



The Brutalist Bricks, the first Pharmacists LP for the increasingly punk-leaning Matador and 6^th overall, feels hopeful, purposeful, direct-- a mood helped along by the Pharmacists' most impressive musical showing on wax since 2003's masterful Hearts of Oak. The Brutalist Bricks is a mix of political defiance, personal growth, emotional honesty, and a heartfelt self-sacrifice. What it has that other Ted Leo releases don't is the kind of confidence that can only be forged by nearly two decades of performing and recording. Unlike just about all of his mid-'90s peers, Leo has successfully become a career musician on his own terms, and unlike many similar artists, he's developed something of a heroic quality. At this point, Leo's not going to take his audience for granted, but he's also allowed more room to breathe as a bandleader like few punk bands ever have. One never doubted Leo's passion, but Bricks finds this refugee from the Bush regime sounding rejuvenated. There are a clutch of great songs here and no real dead spots. Leo was impressive even when he was an unmitigated idealist but now, older and less sure of things, he is even better.

Opening the show, New York City’s Bear Hands bounce between swift, taut dance-punk, sullen Modest Mouse impressions, breezy "Ooh wooh"–inflected Beach Boys pop, and an ethereal indie-pop daydream.

--Paul Thompson-Pitchfork

Tickets for Ted Leo and the Pharmacists plus Bear Hands at the Pearl Street Clubroom, Thursday, December 2^nd at 8:30PM are $15 at Northampton Box Office, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com

Thanksgiving Week in Northampton Stuffed with Live Music in a Blues Groove.

Roomful of Blues drop “Hook, Line, and Sinker” on Friday, November 26^th at 7PM at the Iron Horse

Few bands swing the blues more exuberantly than Roomful of Blues. Boisterous and relentlessly upbeat, their lively and heated brand of rippling, up-tempo, horn-dominated R&B has been packing roadhouses for more three plus decades and their holiday season shows at the Iron Horse are always a spirit elevator. Roomful’s new CD “Hook, Line & Sinker” (out January 18^th, 2011)  Hook, Line & Sinker  features carefully chosen songs from Little Richard, Dave Bartholomew, Amos Milburn, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Floyd Dixon  and others. The results are a non-stop hip-shaking party.  

JJ Grey and Mofro plus Girls, Guns, & Glory in the Pearl Street Ballroom on Sunday, November 28^th at 8PM 

Jacksonville ‘s JJ Grey and Mofro concoct a vivid blend of blues, Southern rock and funk, complete with richly evocative lyrics and an easygoing sense of blue-collar storytelling...lucid, plainspoken American music. His new album Georgia Warhorse has eleven new original songs including one co-written with songwriting icons Chuck Prophet and Angelo Petraglia (Kings of Leon). Also joining JJ for a track on this album is Grey's long-time musical hero and reggae icon Toots Hibbert, Georgia Warhorse also provided the opportunity for Grey to work with another friend and hero, fellow Jacksonvillian Derek Trucks. In true neighborly fashion, Trucks stopped by JJ's house to record slide guitar for the song Lullaby. This will be Grey’s Pearl Street debut and it should be a doozy.

Also this weekend at the Iron Horse:  

Frank Manzi , Loose Springsteen Wednesday, 11/24 7PM
Dance Night! No Cover. Purity Supreme’s Wooly Bully Thanksgiving Eve. Soul. Funk. Garage. Motown on Wed. 11/24 11PM
The Problemaddicts backed by Danny Pease and the Regulators on Friday 11/26 at 10 PM
The Alchemystics, Sauceon Saturday 11/27 at 10PM
Susan Angeletti Band with BJ Korona, Damon Reeves and the Love Thieves on Sunday 11/28 at 7PM

Tickets for all shows are available at the Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com

 

Queer Queens of Qomedy, Vickie Shaw, Jessica Kirson, Poppy Champlin crack up the Calvin Theatre at 8PM on Friday, December 10th in Northampton

On Friday, December 10^th, the Calvin Theatre in  Northampton welcomes the Queer Queens of Qomedy, three veteran comics from the West Coast; Vickie Shaw, Jessica Kirson and Poppy Champlin. 

With her new Showtime Special on the air, performer and producer Poppy Champlin (above) has a wild and roaming spontaneity that makes her one of the quickest witted comedians working either coast.  A regular fixture in Provincetown on Olivia and Atlantis cruises, at the Dinah Shore Golf Tournament,  and numerous television shows Poppy is a must see.   

Vickie Shaw is one of the premiere lesbian comics working the circuit today. From Texas, she is a mother and a grandmother, and says she is more than happy to hit the road and leave it all behind for a weekend. She’s a favorite in P-town among the ladies of Olivia but especially in Northampton. Currently, she has specials on Comedy Central and LOGO. 

Jessica Kirson has a wide variety of characters that bring a diverse energy to her routine. She recently appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno,  won a 2006 MAC award for “ funniest comedian in NYC” and has appeared on NBC's "Last Comic Standing" and"Last Call With Carson Daly." Check out her hilarious web series called the Jessy K show. 

Tickets for welcomes the Queer Queens of Qomedy at 8PM on Friday, December 10^th at  the Calvin Theatre in  Northampton are available at NBO, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686, and online at IHEG.com,  a portion of each ticket sale will go to NoHo Pride, NoHo Pride is a 501(c)3 tax exempt, entirely volunteer-managed, non-profit organization working for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and all other people who support the struggle for equality in Western New England.  They present Northampton's annual Pride Parade among other activities.

DALA, darlings of Canadian acoustic pop, make their Iron Horse debut on Thursday, November 18th

Darlings of the Canadian music scene Amanda Walther and Sheila Carabine of Dala (AmanDA, SheiLA) met in high school, wrote their first song together in 2002, and have since performed at Toronto’s legendary Massey Hall a total of seven times.  Dala write songs that are both catchy and insightful. Amanda’s ethereal soprano voice blends seamlessly with Sheila’s velvety alto, creating the lush harmonies that have become their trademark. They’ve  toured across Canada six times, opening for Jann Arden, Tom Cochrane, Matthew Good, and Chantal Kreviazuk.  They’ve also performed at The New Orleans Jazz Festival, The Edmonton Folk Festival, California’s Strawberry Festival, and Mariposa. In 2009, they were the only Canadian act invited play at the 50th Anniversary of the Newport Folk Festival. 

 
Dala’s new album “Everyone Is Someone” was released in June of 2009 to critical acclaim. It earned them their fifth Canadian Folk Music Award nomination, a Toronto Independent Music Award for Best Folk Group, and it was touted by The Irish Post as the Album of the Year. The song “Horses” was nominated by National Public Radio in the US as one of the Top Ten folk songs of 2009.  In the summer of 2010, Dala’s PBS special “Girls From The North Country” was broadcast across North America. This concert features Dala’s own songs weaved around classics by Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot.

“Dala can sing! What beautiful flights of melody and harmony, reminiscent of the Everly Brothers, the Louvin Brothers, Emmylou Harris and associates; though Dala can trade a melody line and leave one wondering who is taking the lead and simply leave one behind when the harmonies kick in.” - Peterborough Examiner  

Dala’s video for Horses from their PBS Special “Girls From the North Country”

Tickets are available at the Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com

Rising Nashville singer/songwriter Elizabeth Cook, 7PM, Monday, November 15th at the Iron Horse in Northampton

There are two Elizabeth Cooks. There’s the one who performs on the Grand Ole Opry, as she has for more than a decade, singing the straight-up country songs that make up the canon of that venerable establishment. Then there’s the singer-songwriter Elizabeth Cook whose best known lyric is “sometimes it takes balls to be a woman” and whose new album, Welder, includes lyrics about a “heroin addict sister,” a mullet-wearing, El Camino-driving boyfriend, and a “rock and roll man” frequently driven to fisticuffs by “cigarette ashes in a Budweiser can.” The music on Welder careens well outside the bounds of Opryland, shifting from waltzes and bluegrassy numbers to alt-country, pop ballads, and flat-out rockers. Elizabeth hosts a popular morning show on XM Sirius Outlaw Country – she travels in the same circles as Justin Townes Earle, Dwight Yoakam, Ryan Bingham, and Lucinda Williams.  The Iron Horse show will be a trio with Elizabeth, Tim Carroll on guitar and Bones Hillman (from Midnight Oil) on upright bass.

 “My mom was a hillbilly singer from Charleston, West Virginia—she played mandolin, guitar, and was a songwriter. My daddy was just sort of a novice musician and he ended up playing upright bass in the prison band when he was in jail. So when Daddy got out of jail he met Mama and they started playing little honky-tonks around central Florida. They had me when my mother was 42 and he was 48. I came along late and was sort of born into their little honky-tonk band scenario in central Florida in the ’70s.” -Elizabeth Cook

Elizabeth Cook “All The Time” Video    Utne Reader Elizabeth Cook Interview

Tickets are available at the Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

New face of Latin Soul ALEX*CUBA plays the Iron Horse Tuesday 11/16, presenting Award at 2010 Latin Grammys

Alex Cuba, the Cuban-Canadian artist who has pioneered his own 21st Century Latin Soul genre, has just been announced as one of the official presenters at the 11th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, which will take place November 11 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Cuba is also nominated for two Latin Grammys in the Best New Artist and Best Male Pop Vocal Album categories (for his acclaimed recent release, Alex Cuba).  Prior to his appearance at the Latin Grammys, Alex will perform at BMI’s Los Producers Charity Show on November 10 where industry heavyweights will cover classic 80’s jams to raise awareness and kick off the silent auction for Education Though Music (http://www.etmonline.org/). Hosted by Sebastian Krys, the private benefit show will take place at Crossroads at the House of Blues Las Vegas.

Cuba recently finished up a U.S. tour with another highly successful Canadian artist, Justin Nozuka, and following the Awards, he will embark on a headlining tour of the U.S., performing material from his celebrated new album.  Chicago’s Newcity newspaper calls his live show “fiery but intimate” and cites his “undeniable talent and charm.” An updated list of dates with recently-added stops in Richmond, Nashville and Miami are below:

Alex Cuba perfectly reveals the artist’s singular sound and is helping him to build upon the success he has achieved through two previous, Juno Award-winning long-players. The vast acclaim for the new album includes an NPR First Listen feature, an “Album Of The Week” feature at Jazz FM UK, a KCRW Today’s Top Tune download and airplay on BBC Radio’s “Paul Miller Soul Show,” in addition to reaching the #1 spot on iTunes’ Alternativo/Rock Latino chart. 

 Among the rave reviews is Billboard, which said the new songs “should be the envy of every commercial Latin artist that Cuba will likely write for.” Noting the “unbelievable beauty” of Cuba’s songs, The Huffington Post says the new album makes the listener “remember just how good a songwriter this man is.” The San Francisco Chronicle summed up the current moment in Cuba’s career this way: “While he's better known in the States as a songwriter, since collaborating with Nelly Furtado on her 2009 Spanish-language album Mi Plan…Cuba is a compelling performer in his own right, a soulful singer who's forged a singular synthesis of Latin styles, jazz, funk and pop. With two Junos (Canadian Grammys) to his credit and an impressive book of original songs laced with memorable melodic hooks, he's a rising star who seems destined for larger venues.” National Public Radio suggests, “Alex Cuba, is just a lovely, playful album full of funk, jazz, pop and Caribbean influences. His guitar work is gorgeous, his voice is like raw honey and his lyrics range from emotional to playful. If we had to place a bet, we'd say he's going to win in this category.”

 A prolific songwriter, who has collaborated with the likes of Nelly Furtado, Jason Mraz, and Ron Sexsmith, Cuba continues to work on new projects with a wide variety of artists.

Tickets for ALEX*CUBA at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Tuesday, November 16th at 7PM are available at the Northampton Box Office. 586-8686.  or Online- IHEG.com

Amos Lee's new album "Mission Bell" is out 1/25 on Blue Note. He plays New Year's Eve in Northampton at the Calvin Theatre.

Remarkable and moving Philadelphia singer/songwriter Amos Lee will headline the Calvin Theatre in Northampton this New Year's Eve. His new album Mission Bell will be released January 25 on Blue Note Records.  Mission Bell is Amos Lee’s fourth album for EMI’s Blue Note Records, and his richest and most fully formed album to date. The album, which was produced by Joey Burns of the acclaimed band Calexico, displays both range and cohesion, an array of emotions unified by Lee’s eclectic taste and distinctive vocals. With a remarkable set of guests—including Lucinda Williams, Willie Nelson, Sam Beam (Iron & Wine), Priscilla Ahn, Pieta Brown, and James Gadson—and the musical backing of Calexico, the album marks the arrival of Amos Lee as a mature artist who continues to explore his musical and thematic interests.

Lee is a Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter who has released three critically and commercially successful albums on Blue Note Records—2005’s Amos Lee, 2006’s Supply And Demand, and 2008’s Last Days At The Lodge. His music has been called “anthemic” by The New York Times and “seductive” by Vanity Fair, while the Philadelphia Inquirer waxed rhapsodic about “his compact, well-constructed songs, slightly southern drawl, and sensitive delivery that balances jazzy crooning and blue-eyed soul work within classic archetypes.” The Associated Press has praised his “gloriously sexy voice” and People magazine declared him “one of pop’s best-kept secrets.”

Lee has toured with legends including Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, and Elvis Costello. He has appeared on the The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Late Show With David Letterman, Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, The Today Show, Live From Abbey Road, Austin City Limits and the Tavis Smiley Show. He has been the subject of feature profiles in Rolling Stone and on NPR All Things Considered and Weekend Edition.

Amos Lee's New Year's Eve show at the Calvin is supported by fellow Philly native Mutlu whose music is a clever blend of soul, reggae, hip-hop, and Brazilian jazz deriving inspiration from Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, Bob Marley, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. 

Tickets for Amos Lee plus Mutlu, 8PM, Friday, December 31st at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton are $28.50 and $38.50 at the Northampton Box Office, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

In the afterglow of the “Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear” in D.C., local citizens take to the streets on Election Day encouraging public to “Vote For Laughs,” see Lewis Black at the Calvin Theatre

In the afterglow of the “Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear” in D.C., local citizens take to the streets on Election Day encouraging public to “Vote For Laughs.”  While not running for office, hysterical political comedian Lewis Black rants for two straight nights at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Friday and Saturday, November 19^th and 20^th.  

The Iron Horse Entertainment Group’s Lewis Black “Vote For Laughs” campaign kicked into as high a gear as we could muster on Election Day to get the word out to the politically conscious citizenry … and anyone else who might drive by and can read. While not rising to the level of “guerilla marketing” by getting the campaign out to polling places around the Valley and, instead, sticking to a few blocks around their offices,  the IHEG staff refers to the campaign as an example of “lemur marketing.”   

There is no need to be a registered voter to buy tickets to see Lewis Black “In God We Rust” at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Friday and Saturday, November 19^th and 20^th at 8PM.  Tickets are available at the Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686, and online at IHEG.com.

TOOTS & THE MAYTALS on Jimmy Fallon show Tuesday 11/8 and at Pearl Street in Northampton Friday 11/12 with Fear Nuttin' Band

TOOTS & THE MAYTALS will return to the US on a two week East Coast tour November 5-20 to promote his latest studio album Flip and Twist released this past spring. The tour will include a TV appearance on NBC’s Jimmy Fallon show in NY on November 8th. Toots will also join an all-star list of musicians from New Orleans in a special Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tribute performance to Fats Domino at the Playhouse Square’s Palace Theatre in Cleveland on November 13th but most importantly of course, he plays at the Pearl Street Ballroom in Northampton on Friday, November 12th at 9PM.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) will honor Antoine “Fats” Domino and Dave Bartholomew, one of the most important partnerships in the history of rock and roll music, during the 15th annual American Music Masters series in November. Over the course of a week, more than 40 members of the New Orleans music scene will travel to Cleveland including Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees, artists, band members, authors, journalists and more for the special events that will honor two pioneers in a seminal rock and roll city.

 Toots previously paid tribute to Fats Domino in 2007 with his cover of “Let the Four Winds Blow” on the critically acclaimed Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino album. The album was critically described by AllMusic.com as “one of the more remarkable tribute albums to surface in recent years, spanning the worlds of rock ( Neil Young, Elton John, Los Lobos, Tom Petty), Blues (B.B. King), Country (Willie Nelson), Jazz (Herbie Hancock), and even Reggae (Toots & the Maytals, who just nail Let the Four Winds Blow)”.


In December, Toots will perform for 40 million viewers in the UK on BBC 2’s Jools Holland Hootenanny show for New Year’s Eve to close a very busy 2010 for one of Jamaica’s greatest musical ambassadors and Reggae Legend.

Tickets for Toots and the Maytals plus the Fear Nuttin' Band at the Pearl Street Ballroom in Northampton on Friday, November 12th at 9PM are available at the Northampton Box Office. 586-8686. Online- IHEG.com