South African musician-poet-activist Vusi Mahlasela returns to Iron Horse Wed. Feb 16th. New album produced by Taj Mahal. Sana & Backa of Gokh-Bi System open.

Vusi Mahlasela is simply known as 'The Voice' in his home-country, South Africa, celebrated for his distinct, powerful voice and his poetic, optimistic lyrics. His songs of hope connect Apartheid-scarred South Africa with its promise for a better future. Raised in the Mamelodi Township, where he still resides, Vusi became a singer-songwriter and poet-activist at an early age teaching himself how to play guitar and later joining the Congress of South African Writers. After his popular debut on BMG Africa, When You Come Back, Vusi was asked to perform at Nelson Mandela's inauguration in 1994 and continues to spread Mandela's message as an official ambassador to Mandela's HIV/AIDS initiative, 46664.

After world-wide touring and international acclaim, Americans first caught a glimpse of Vusi in the lauded documentary film Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony, and the accompanying soundtrack. After the release of the film, long-time admirer and fellow South African, Dave Matthews, signed Vusi to his own ATO Records label and released The Voice (2003)¸ a collection of the best songs from Vusi's catalog. In 2007, ATO released his latest album, Guiding Star, his first full-length release in the States. ATO Records will release the highly anticipated follow-up record to Guiding Star on January 18, 2011. The new album, Say Africa, produced by Taj Mahal and recorded at Dave Matthews' studio in Charlottesville, VA, captures Vusi's hope for the future of Africa: 'Let all those who share in Mandela's greatest wish—to one day see an Africa that is at peace with herself—SAY AFRICA.'

After recording the album in the States this spring, Vusi returned to his home in South Africa and was honored to help ring in the World Cup at FIFA's Kick Off Concert at Orlando Stadium. The concert was broadcast internationally to an estimated one billion viewers. Following his performance, Vusi proudly introduced fellow South African, Archbishop Desmond Tutu on stage. Vusi's anthemic song 'When You Come Back' was ITV's official theme song for the World Cup in the UK. Other recent highlights include performing at Mandela Day to honor Mandela's birthday, touring with Bela Fleck behind the release of his Grammy-winning album 'Throw Down Your Heart,' which features a live track from Vusi and Bela, two appearances at the TED conference and performing with Paul Simon.

In the midst of a busy international touring schedule, Vusi remains dedicated to his social activism and partnerships with non-profits, including his own Vusi Mahlasela Music Development Foundation, committed to the promotion of and preservation of African music. Other organizations that Vusi actively supports are OXFAM, The Acumen Fund, The African Leadership Academy and the ONE campaign.

Over a musically and socially consequential career, South African singer-songwriter and poet-activist Vusi Mahlasela has successfully followed his muse and continued to give back to his country. As he puts it, he knows that 'musicians have to be like watchdogs, just by seeing and speaking out, directly to the youth as well, because we need some kind of Cultural Revolution to remove ignorance."

Tickets for Vusi Mahlasela plus Sana & Backa of Gokh-Bi System at the Iron Horse on Wednesday, February 16^th at 7PM are $15 at Northampton Box Office, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com

Local reggae legends Black Rebels to celebrate Bob Marley's Birthday (2/6/1945) at the Iron Horse on Saturday, February 5th at 10PM

Black Rebels, a key ingredient of the Valley reggae and cultural scene for more than a generation, will perform at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Saturday, February 5^th at 10PM  in celebration of Bob Marley’s birthday which is the next day(2/6/1945).  Emmanuel Manou and Kalpana Devi first joined creative forces performing, recording, composing, and touring together in the well known and respected band, Black Rebels in 1994. They completed 4 full albums between ’94 and 2011, and released many singles including, “Free Mumia” and countless EP's and acoustic works.  They toured West Africa in 1998 and 2007 and have toured extensively across the U.S. They've played major festivals and opened for all the greats in reggae including Damien Marley in the same year he won his Grammy for best reggae artist. They've inspired a devoted, growing fan base in the region where they reside, and across the U.S. and in West Africa.

 

Their sound is deeply rhythmic, contemporary, seasoned, raw, natural, urban. Their voices invoke, mesmerizing, transformative incantation and catapult into expansive, universal, completely original themes and timbres.

The Rebels say, “Our intention is to continue establishing our family and our collective work as a cultural hub and mission for global peace, and cultural and ecological collaboration.  For the last two decades, we have continued a focus on music performance, dance performance and education, cultural activism and youth leadership.  We have contributed artistic service, bringing years of drum and dance experiences to children and families; performing music and dance internationally; facilitating and creating platforms for authentic cultural exchanges; supporting well being and thriving in human development. Our work has helped define a microcosmic Utopia- ‘Where any child can walk from any place in the world to any place in the world and be safe, welcome and fed.’ As we continue to travel, perform, teach and make friends, we promise to raise up our neighbors and support  progress and nourish a culture of Living and Compassion expressed through music, dance, spoken and written word, sacred counsel for families, and the bridging of nations, one friend at a time.”  
 

Tickets for Black Rebels plus Mandla on Saturday, February 5^th at 10PM at the Iron Horse in Northampton are available at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686, and online at IHEG.com

Photos all rights reserved by samfeinsilver

The McLovins, who play the Iron Horse this Saturday at 10PM, are a trio of Connecticut kids who have managed to harness the musical ferocity of Trey Anastasio, Les Claypool, and Stewart Copeland before being able to legally drive a car

Back in the fall of 2008 a trio of Connecticut high school students first garnered attention with a YouTube clip of their take on Phish’s “You Enjoy Myself.” (See it below.) Ever since then, the then unamed band, which has come to be known as The McLovins (after Christopher Mintz-Plasse’s character in the film, Superbad…obviously ), has been laying waste to the northeast with their covers and with their original material. While some of the press has focused a good deal on their age, with a technical proficiency that’s above the level of many peers, their music rightfully becomes the focus.  

Thousands of fans have had their ears opened and their faces melted during the more than 125 shows the band has performed. This past summer the band touched an ever growing audience through their appearances at Nateva, Mountain Jam, Strange Creek, and Gathering of the Vibes. This talented trio is made up of 16 and 17 year-olds from the Hartford, CT area. Basslovin (Jason Ott); Drumlovin (Jake Huffman) and Jeff Howard (Axlovin) proudly represent the Jam rock scene but draw their inspiration from such diverse sources as soul, funk, rock and progressive music.

Tickets for The McLovins at the Iron Horse this Saturday, January 29^th at 10PM are available at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 or online at IHEG.com

Traditionalist with an edge, young British singer/songwriter Bobby Long releases his new album next week and makes his Iron Horse debut on Monday, 2/28 at 7PM

Bobby Long, who opened for Michael Franti and Spearhead this past summer at the Calvin Theatre, makes his Iron Horse debut on Tuesday, March 1^st at 7PM with support from Sun Parade. Tickets are available at Northampton Box Office, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

Bobby Long believes in making up for lost time. The young British singer-songwriter didn't even start to play guitar until he was 17, but from then on he's been creating memorable songs inhabited by hauntingly poetic lyrics. With model good looks and an engaging smile, he is a formidable presence even before he begins to sing. And when he does sing, it's with a heart-wrenching soulfulness that crushes any chance for apathy. It's a voice that simply demands attention. Now armed with an enviable repertoire of material and a legion of loyal fans cultivated through non-stop touring, this force of nature will be impossible to ignore.

Born in Northern England, Bobby Long at 18 moved to London to attend university and quickly established himself on the local open mic circuit, finding his voice and beginning to develop songs characterized by catchy melodies paired with elusive, imaginative lyrics. In London he met a circle of fellow musicians, among them Marcus Foster, with whom he wrote a song called "Let Me Sign," and soon-to-be megastar Robert Pattinson, who would sing it in the 2008 blockbuster film Twilight.

That coup gave him a head start on a fan base, but as an indie performer, he knew he would have to take the reins of his own destiny. So he recorded an acoustic CD, Dirty Pond Songs, in his bedroom, and set off for America in April 2009. As what became known as the Dangerous Summer Tour continued for months, he sold thousands of copies of Dirty Pond Songs on the road as well as two self-released live CDs. All have been available only at his shows. 

This Tuesday, February 2^nd 2011 sees the release of his debut studio album, A WINTER TALE (on Dave Matthews  ATO Records) on which he wanted to capture the immediacy of those live performances, "to have flaws in it, some signs of human nature." It was produced by Grammy-winner Liam Watson (The White Stripes' Elephant) at his analog Toe Rag Studios in London.

Impressing a widening circle of admirers, including many critics, Bobby has packed venues across the United States, Canada and Europe. In 2009, he played 160 shows in seven months in seven countries. The Boston Herald praised his "likeable, rough-hewn voice" and "catchy way with a chorus," while Pollstar reported that he "continues to amaze audiences with a bare-bones sound reminiscent of early Bob Dylan." Radio, too, has done its part, beginning when WXPN in Philadelphia added "Who Have You Been Loving" from Dirty Pond Songs to its playlist and invited him to perform live in their studios. His 2010 tour schedule kicked off in March with a live WXPN Free at Noon session, which was broadcast nationally on NPR's World Cafe Live while he was still unsigned.

He cites Dylan's career, as well as his songwriting, as a major influence. He also lists Richie Havens, Neil Young, Tim Buckley and Leonard Cohen as influences, along with more modern troubadours like Elliott Smith and Conor Oberst. A love of American roots music shines through his songs, evident on the album in the intense minor-key folk of "Penance Fire Blues," the two-step groove of "Two Years Old" and the old-timey waltz "Being a Mockingbird" with its banjo and pedal steel accents. And Bobby is no dilettante when it comes to traditional sounds--his university thesis was on the social impact of American folk music.

 "In London there's a big folk scene happening," he says. "It resonates with a lot of young people now." Yet lurking in his background is a broader musical sensibility that encompasses the guitar-tinged blues of Mississippi John Hurt, the knowing song craft of the Beatles and the Kinks, and even flashes of the angry heat of another band he admires greatly--Black Sabbath.

Above all, it's the honesty and aching vulnerability in his intricate songs (not to mention his shy demeanor on stage) that endears Long to burgeoning audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. "He breathes a labyrinth of imagery that is so fragile and heartrending--it's impossible to let go" declared one writer, and as another one put it, "If music is truly a form of self-expression, then British singer-songwriter Bobby Long apparently cannot tell a lie."

A WINTER TALE merges band power with acoustic rawness, featuring Nona Hendryx on backing vocals on "Penance Fire Blues," B. J. Cole (Elton John, Sting) on pedal steel, Icelandic singer Lay Low on several tracks, and other top-drawer musicians. And by way of continued extensive touring in North America, he will be bringing A WINTER TALE and what has been called his "tapestry of tales" to the ever-growing audiences seduced by his compelling voice, musicianship and charm.

Bobby Long, who opened for Michael Franti and Spearhead this past summer at the Calvin Theatre, makes his Iron Horse debut on Tuesday, March 1^st at 7PM with support from Sun Parade. Tickets are available at Northampton Box Office, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

Henry Rollins to mark 50th birthday with spoken word tour including a stop at the Iron Horse on Tuesday, March 22nd

As HENRY ROLLINS approaches the half-century mark, the everyman-of-all trades gears up for a new talking tour simply titled 50. HENRY will be hitting intimate venues to share stories from and reflections on his first 50 years – and the chaos that has surrounded him. He makes a stop at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Tuesday, March 22^nd at 7PM. Tickets go on sale this Friday January 28 at Northampton Box Office, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

 “On February 13th of 2011, I will turn fifty years of age. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime occasion than by doing some shows,” HENRY explains. “Hopefully, I will be able to evince some imperfect pearls of ancient wisdom to the audience, having made it this far.” It’s not so much the mere wisdom of age, but the wisdom of experience that audiences are likely to encounter when HENRY takes the stage – whether he’s relaying rock n’ roll anecdotes, or tackling more serious topics with his distinctive synthesis of anger, amusement, and global perspective. A relentless traveler on an unyielding quest for firsthand knowledge, HENRY’s most recent excursion took him across the Pacific to China, North Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and Vietnam.

“All of these destinations gave me a lot to think about, write about and talk about. Wondering if I knew more about North Korea than my guide in Pyongyang was a strange thing to walk around with all day. To see the lasting effects of Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin, otherwise known as Agent Orange, showing up in children generations later in Hanoi was an eye opener, to say the least,” says HENRY. “To leave all that and come back to America with all its unique idiosyncrasies always makes me want to know more. These days, as far as things to pay attention to, be frustrated about and seek to change, a conscientious person is fairly spoiled for choice. You know me, I’ll always tell you what I think.”

In the meantime, stay tuned to Nat Geo WILD to catch HENRY exploring the Snake Underworld in April, as he uncovers a world of snake obsession that goes far beyond his own fascination with the slithering reptiles. Snake Underworld marks HENRY’s second collaboration with National Geographic, following the National Geographic Channel Explorer special Born To Rage, which premiered in December, 2010.

HENRY continues to do his weekly radio show on L.A.’s revered NPR affiliate KCRW. ROLLINS the writer tracks his travels – and shares his thoughts on politics and the state of the world – in his “Straight Talk Espresso” blog at VanityFair.com, and more recently began contributing a music column to LA Weekly’s “West Coast Sound” blog.

For more on HENRY ROLLINS and 50, go to www.henryrollins.com.

Wry singer/songwriter Dan Bern whose songs have set the tone for recent Judd Apatow films like “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” and “Get Him to the Greek” returns to the Iron Horse on Saturday, February 26th

“Dan Bern strums drop-dead gorgeous melodies like a demon with his tail on fire”— Washington Post

Dan Bern is best known for his prolific songwriting and magical stage presence. He has released some dozen albums since 1997, while performing everywhere from small clubs to Carnegie Hall.  BERN comes to THE IRON HORSE in NORTHAMPTON on SAT, FEB 26th at 7:00pm.  For this show, Dan will be playing with Common Rotation, the Los Angeles-based trio of multi-instrumentalists with whom Bern has performed and recorded for the past two years.

Fresh off the heels of 2010’s Live in Los Angeles, Bern will release, Live in New York for this tour.  The two live records include some of his best-loved songs, including “Jerusalem,” “God Said No,” “I’m Not the Guy” and “Tiger Woods,” as well as a slew of brand new songs and previously live-only material.  2010 also saw the release of Bern’s first kid’s album, Two Feet Tall.  His first-ever Songbook, which has sheet music for 18 of his songs, will be available on the tour as well.

Recently, Bern has focused much of his talent and sharp wit on writing songs for movies and other projects.  He composed over a dozen songs for the Jake Kasdan/JuddApatow spoof Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, starring John C. Reilly, and contributed several more songs to Apatow’s Get Him to the Greek, starring Russell Brand and Jonah Hill.   He wrote the title song for Jonathan Demme’s 2008 documentary, Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains, and also contributed original songs for Demme’s 2010 off-Broadway production of Family Week, which included a Bern duet with Emmylou Harris.

Bern has several new projects in the works, including a studio album with Common Rotation, a country-tinged album of songs he wrote while living in New Mexico, and an album of songs he wrote with Mike Viola, his frequent collaborator on movie projects. 

Meanwhile, he is looking forward to playing the Iron Horse once again! Tickets for Dan Bern with Common Rotation, Saturday, February 26^th, 7PM at the Iron Horse in Northampton are available at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 or online at IHEG.com. Buy tix here.

Tennis anyone? Husband wife duo Tennis play the Iron Horse, Sunday, February 27th

By CHUCK CAMPBELL, Scripps Howard News Service

  

On 'Cape Dory' Tennis courts listeners with seaworthy sound: The cover of Tennis' "Cape Dory" hints at strangeness waiting inside: Lead singer Alaina Moore sports a body suit, excessive makeup and seemingly over-processed hair as she awkwardly contorts her body in an apparent attempt at seduction. Her look and the photo design evoke the '70s, a time when life in the fast lane sometimes meant a slow-motion, Quaalude-fueled drive into debauchery. (The cover is, in fact, a parody and/or tribute to the Lisa Hartman album "Hold On," both covers depicted above and below.)

Yet "Cape Dory's" nostalgic sound isn't disco, as indicated by the cover. It's something odder and older, a hybrid of '60s girl-group and surf rock. And Moore and Tennis partner Patrick Riley are committed to that sound as they glide through 10 songs inspired by a sailboat journey they took in the Atlantic. (The nautical theme is just another surprise from the duo from Denver, the Mile High City in landlocked Colorado.)

Once Moore and Riley bring listeners aboard, they'll hold them captive with the spacey, romantic brew of her vulnerable vocals and the instrumental mix of his otherworldly guitar plus her poppish keyboards and anchoring drums by engineer James Barone.

There's something Blondie-esque about "Cape Dory," and Moore recalls Madonna and Cyndi Lauper when those two dabbled in girl-group styles early in their careers. But Moore is more polished now than her predecessors were back in the day, her clear voice ringing out in striking contrast to the quaint, lo-fi production of "Cape Dory."

Hooks and melodies may be particularly strong on opening cuts "Take Me Somewhere" and "Long Boat Pass." However, the alluring flow of "Cape Dory" remains steady as she goes throughout.

Tennis plus Holiday Shores appear at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Sunday, February 27th at 8:30. Tickets here. 

Celebrated Canadian recording artist Bruce Cockburn to play Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Friday, May 13th in support of 31st album, Small Source of Comfort

Celebrated Canadian recording artist Bruce Cockburn will be supporting the release of his 31^st studio album Small Source of Comfort with an extensive North American tour that kicks off  March 24 in Kelowna, British Columbia and ends June 4 in Seattle, Washington. Cockburn will be accompanied on this tour by violinist Jenny Scheinman and percussionist Gary Craig who are both prominently featured on the new album. At this time, his shows in Chicago, Illinois and Annapolis, Maryland have sold out and a second New York City date has been added by popular demand. Tickets for his show at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Friday, May 13^th are on sale now at the Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686, or online at IHEG.com.

Small Source of Comfort is an adventurous collection of songs of romance, protest and spiritual discovery. The album, primarily acoustic yet rhythmically savvy, is rich in Cockburn’s characteristic blend of folk, blues, jazz and rock. As usual, many of the new compositions come from his travels and spending time in places like San Francisco and Brooklyn to the Canadian Forces base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, jotting down his typically detailed observations about the human experience.

Bruce Cockburn has always been a restless spirit. Over the course of four decades, the celebrated Canadian artist has traveled to the corners of the earth out of humanitarian concerns—often to trouble spots experiencing events that have led to some of his most memorable songs. Going up against chaos, even if it involves grave risks, can be necessary to get closer to the truth.

“My mother once said that I must have a death wish, always going to what she called ‘those awful places,’” laughs Cockburn. “I don’t think of it that way. I make these trips partly because I want to see things for myself and partly out of my own sense of adventure.”

“Each One Lost” and “Comets of Kandahar,” one of five instrumentals on the album, stem from a trip Cockburn made to war-torn Afghanistan in 2009. The elegiac “Each One Lost” was written after Cockburn witnessed a ceremony honoring two young Canadian Forces soldiers who had been killed that day and whose coffins were being flown back to Canada. It was, recalls Cockburn, “one of the saddest and most moving scenes I’ve been privileged to witness.”

 “Here come the dead boys, moving slowly past the pipes and prayers and strained commanding voices,” Cockburn sings solemnly on “Each One Lost.” Over a mournful accordion, the simple chorus sums up the gravity of the hymn-like song: “each one lost is a vital part of you and me.”

In contrast, one light-hearted number reflects Cockburn’s frequently under-appreciated sense of humor. “Called Me Back” is a comic reflection on the frustrations of waiting for a return phone call that never comes. Meanwhile, listeners are bound to be intrigued by “Call Me Rose,” written from the point of view of disgraced former U.S. president Richard Nixon, who receives a chance at redemption after being reincarnated as a single mother living in a housing project with two children.

Brooklyn-based violinist Jenny Scheinman (above) is one of Bruce’s two female collaborators on Small Source of Comfort. Scheinman, best known for her work with Bill Frisell and Norah Jones, provides some thrilling flourishes to instrumentals like “Lois on the Autobahn” and the bluesy, gypsy-like swing of “Comets of Kandahar,” a track that Cockburn describes as “Django meets John Lee Hooker.”Jenny should be familiar to regular Iron Horse patrons for her solo gigs as well as collaborations.

Produced by longtime associate Colin Linden, the album also features Annabelle Chvostek, a Montreal-based singer-songwriter with whom Cockburn wrote two songs on which they also harmonize: the introspective “Driving Away” and the driving, freewheeling “Boundless.” In addition to newcomers Scheinman and Chvostek, Small Source of Comfort includes such regular Cockburn accompanists as bassist Jon Dymond, drummer Gary Craig and producer Linden, who also plays guitar.

As always, there’s a spiritual side to Cockburn’s latest collection, best reflected on the closing “Gifts,” a song written in 1968 and but recorded here for the first time, and “The Iris of the World,” which opens the album. The latter includes the humorously rueful line, “I’m good at catching rainbows, not so good at catching trout.”

That admission serves as a useful metaphor for Cockburn’s approach to songwriting. “As you go through life, it’s like taking a hike alongside a river,” he explains. “Your eye catches little things that flash in the water, various stones and flotsam. I’m a bit of a packrat when it comes to saving these reflections. And, occasionally, a few of them make their way into songs.”

Those songs, along with his humanitarian work, have brought Cockburn a long list of honors, including 13 Juno Awards, an induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award and several international awards. In 1982, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Officer in 2002.

Never content to rest on his laurels, Cockburn keeps looking ahead. “I’d rather think about what I’m going to do next,” he once said. “My models for graceful aging are guys like John Lee Hooker and Mississippi John Hurt, who never stopped working till they dropped, as I fully expect to be doing, and just getting better as musicians and as human beings.” Small Source of Comfort, a reflection of Cockburn’s ever-expanding world of wonders, is the latest step in his creative evolution.

Tickets for Bruce Cockburn with his band at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton at 8PM on Friday, May 13^th are on sale now at the Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686, or online at IHEG.com.

Ticket contest! Get the Led Out at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton this Saturday night.

Five pairs of images below each reference a Led Zeppelin song title. Email your guesses (five song titles) to jneill@iheg.com and we'll notify the winners of a pair of tickets to Saturday's Get The Led Out show at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton by Wednesday afternoon at 3PM EST.

You can buy tickets at the Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686, and online at IHEG.com.

Los Angeles soul revivalists Fitz and the Tantrums get deep in the groove this Saturday night at 10PM at the Iron Horse

In just over a year, soulsters Fitz and the Tantrums went from the living room to the main stage. The recipe for meteoric success? Six killer musicians, five dapper suits, irresistible songs, some serendipity and one vintage organ.

 

Since their first show at Hollywood’s Hotel Café in December 2008, Fitz and co. have toured with Maroon 5, played to thousands at Colorado’s world famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre, shared the stage New Year’s Eve with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, and performed on KCRW’s esteemed show, Morning Becomes Eclectic.

For some bands, it takes a lifetime to build this success, but few performers deliver an unrestrained blast of soul-clapping, get-down-on-the-floor, moneymaker shakers like Fitz and the Tantrums. On the stage, Fitz and the Tantrums are not just a band, they’re an explosion. Scaggs high steps it to the tight-as-hell rhythm section, while Fitz, cooler than cobalt, croons like Daryl Hall for a new generation. It’s obvious that this is no tryst for the band, this is a full-blown, head-over-heels love affair.

Tickets for Fitz and the Tantrums with openers and between set tunes from the Purity Supreme DJ's on the wheels of steel are ten bucks at Northampton Box Office, NBO, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686, www.IHEG.com

Steve Forbert returns to the Iron Horse next Friday, January 21st . Rebecca Pronsky opens.

 Growing up in Meridian, Steve Forbert first picked up the guitar at age 10 and spent his high school years playing in a variety of local bands. Frustrated with his job as a truck driver, the restless singer/songwriter moved to New York City at 21, where he performed for spare change in Grand Central Station before working his way up through the Manhattan club circuit. Performing at Folk City and eventually opening for artists like Talking Heads and John Cale at CBGB, Forbert became something of a local sensation and signed his first record deal with the CBS-distributed label Nemperor.

Released at the height of the new wave explosion, his 1978 debut Alive On Arrival offered a first look at his colorful mix of spare acoustic introspection and scrappy rock ‘n’ roll and became one of the year's most acclaimed albums. While critics tagged him—like Bruce Springsteen and John Prine before him—“the next Dylan,” Forbert never put too much stock in the comparison and forged his own path, expanding his audience substantially with 1979’s commercial breakthrough Jackrabbit Slim and his era defining hit single, “Romeo's Tune.”

By this time, the heyday of the classic 70s singer- songwriters was quickly fading. Songs by America, Carole King, James Taylor and Gordon Lightfoot were quickly giving way on the pop charts to Van Halen, Foreigner and Pat Benatar. As the seventies gave way to the eighties, Forbert’s plainspoken, heartfelt early recordings were among the few keeping the joyful and innocent spirit of the genre alive.

Given the mythic nature of Forbert’s early career, one can be forgiven for wondering what he’s done since parting company with Geffen Records after they released The American in Me in 1992. The fact is that Steve Forbert has never stopped writing, singing and performing and has released twelve studio albums, three live sets and four DVDs since 1978 - to say nothing of the several compilations and archival releases that are available through his website (www.steveforbert.com) The freedom to release music when he chooses to and follow his own muse without having to cowtow to the fickle whims of musical fashion has ironically resulted in his creating albums like Evergreen Boy, Mission of The Crossroad Palms and Strange Names and New Sensations that must surely be considered amongst the best releases of his career.

As the years pass, the indefinable honesty and dignity of Forbert’s approach to music continues to have an almost magical spell on his small but loyal coterie of fans. Undeniably, there is something immensely appealing in his laconic delivery and hesitant assertions which still draw listeners into a universe where common people make difficult choices and occasionally win. (as was proven when Forbert was inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame in 2006.)

Finally, Steve Forbert in 2011 is a songwriter who not only appears comfortable with his place in life but who also — like the narrator of his early tune Steve Forbert’s Midsummer Night’s Toast — still rejects a nine-to-five existence in favor of hewing to his own road-less-traveled. Most recently, Forbert added verses and re-recorded “The Oil Song” after the BP oil spill disaster in April. “The Oil Song 2010” clocks in at 13 minutes, and Forbert updated the lyrics again in June.

“Music should be truthful and real,” Forbert once said, “but it should also be uplifting and healing.” That’s a philosophy he’ll be honoring throughout 2011 as he continues his very personal and spirited relationship with a loyal fan base that is growing old gracefully along with its favorite troubadour.

Steve Forbert with opener Rebecca Pronsky play the Iron Horse on Friday, January 21st at 7PM. Tickets at Northampton Box Office, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com

Rock renaissance man Marshall Crenshaw plays the Iron Horse on Friday, February 11th

• X

John Lennon

Led Zeppelin (music group)

Nick Lowe

New York City

Elvis Costello

By KENNETH PARTRIDGE, Special to The Hartford Courant

 

Marshall Crenshaw still can remember his artistic awakening, the moment he shed the clothing of his rock 'n' roll apprenticeship and decided to strike out on his own. It was February 1980, and a 26-year-old Crenshaw was playing John Lennon in a touring production of "Beatlemania," a Broadway show based on the music of the Fab Four.

"We were in Boston, and it was a five- or six-week run," Crenshaw says by phone, days before tonight's scheduled tour stop in Connecticut. "I'd given my notice and by that time, I had some songs. I was in such a great frame of mind. It was a time in my life I just had a great deal of faith in the future, and I thought all of a sudden I had a personal style of self-expression."

Two years later, having ditched his mop-top wig and honed his act in the New York City club scene, Crenshaw released his self-titled debut. Buddy Holly breezy and early-Beatles melodic, the album yielded the hit "Someday, Someway," still his signature tune.

Although he lacked the punkish aggression of Elvis Costello, sarcastic wit of Nick Lowe and cartoon flash of the Stray Cats, Crenshaw felt a kinship with the day's retro-minded New Wave artists. He says his throwback songwriting style was, at least in part, a reaction to the dreadful state of mainstream rock.

"I was on that page for sure," Crenshaw says. "There was school of thought a lot of people picked up on. It had to do with looking backward and looking forward."

Crenshaw had developed his taste for early rock 'n' roll as a teenager growing up in Detroit. While local FM stations were blaring Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, he was listening to WABX, a freeform AM station whose DJs dug deeper into the vaults.

"When I got into '50s rock, it was a rediscovery for me, because I'd heard all those records as a child," he says. "I heard them after the fact and thought, 'There's something beautiful about this stuff. It makes me feel good to hear it.'"

Three decades later, Crenshaw hasn't lost the feeling. While by no means a '50s revival record, his most recent effort, 2009's "Jaggedland," is filled with the same warmly echoing vocals and twangy guitars he fell for in his youth and has gone back to throughout his career.

"I'm not really trying to adhere to any particular set of rules and regulations," Crenshaw says. "I'm just letting the stuff kind of flow as it will."

Marshall Crenshaw with guest Frank Manzi performs Friday, February 11^th at 7PM at the Iron Horse in Northampton. Tickets are $15 at Northampton Box Office: 413-586-8686 or online at IHEG.com 

Moody, intense singer/songwriter Chris Pureka plays the Iron Horse in Northampton this Thursday night, January 13th at 7PM. Vandaveer opens.

In an age of fleeting success and temporary notions, Chris Pureka is an artist of substance, armed with an eye for detail and an emotional intelligence that can switch from withering to compelling with a subtle inflection. Her third studio album, How I Learned To See In the Dark, adds bold new elements to the base she has built over her six-year career. From non-traditional percussion, to lyrical abstraction, to a new unrestrained vocal quality, to Pureka’s choice of co-producer (longtime friend Merrill Garbus of tUnE-YaRds), this record signals an exploration of broader musical soundscapes.

While maintaining the unique alchemy of longing, loss and hope Pureka sets to music, there is a sonic adventurism on How I Learned to See in the Dark that marks a new stage in Pureka’s musical evolution. Even from the first notes of the album’s opening track, “Wrecking Ball”, longtime fans and the newly converted will sense that How I Learned To See In The Dark is a bigger album, deeper and more vast than anything she’s released to date. “I wanted it to feel different right away,” Pureka explains. “And ‘Wrecking Ball’ exemplifies many of the elements that are different from the last record.” That difference is a newfound edginess, coupled with a more abstract sound: there is a musical depth and complexity that shines through each track, all the while maintaining the space and creative instrumentation Pureka is known for. Standout track, “Landlocked”, showcases Pureka’s technical prowess with the finger-picking style that won her so many accolades on Dryland while “Broken Clock” is the rhythm driven, heavy hitter bound to be on your next break up mix. “Wrecking Ball” mixes a playful quirkiness in production with an underlying paced anger, laced with twangs of percussive guitar. Finally, album closer, “August 28th” is the deep breath following the emotional tumult that precedes it – a return to quiet contemplation for the writer and the listener: “I think the whole world needs a shoeshine/I think we’re all living proof.”

VANDAVEER is the alt-folk song-singing/record making/globetrotting project penned and put forth by DC-by-way-of-Kentucky tunesmith Mark Charles Heidinger. Vandaveer’s debut album, Grace & Speed, a mostly live, stripped down affair, swiftly entered this great big dusty world in the spring of 2007. The press responded heartily, with The Washington Post saying Vandaveer “revives the earnestness of the pre-psychedelic 60’s,” and XM Cafe calling him “this generation’s Nick Drake.” Touring continually on both sides of the Atlantic ever since, Vandaveer has played 250+ shows, sharing stages with a host of humbling artists including Bon Iver, Vetiver, Alela Diane, Alejandro Escovedo, Vashti Bunyan, Bill Callahan, Fleet Foxes, and the like. In addition to said Vandaveering, Heidinger has been known to fraternize and conspire with other music-making hooligans, primarily as a bassist for fellow DCers These United States.

Tickets for Chris Pureka and Vandaveer this Thursday, January 13th at the Iron Horse are available at NBO, 413-586-8686, or online at IHEG.com.

Local Kinks disciples Muswell Hillbillies give the people what they want with a reprise of this summer's hit show and a new setlist of Kinks klassics on Sunday, January 16th at the Iron Horse

Beginning in 1966, The Kinks released a series of albums that rank among the finest—and, at the time, most under-appreciated—works in pop music. Returning to the Iron Horse on Sunday, January 16th at 7PM, following last summer’s sold-out performance and a headlining gig at B.B. King's in New York City, the 10-piece Muswell Hillbillies—the area’s most dedicated followers of Davies—attempt to redress the balance with “Kronikles,” a cross-section of cuts covering classic collections like Something Else (“David Watts”), The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (“Big Sky”), Arthur (“Shangri-La”) and others, once again with backing from the all-teen Hillbilly Horns five-piece ensemble. 

Last June, Steve Pfarrer of the Daily Hampshire Gazette ran a story previewing the first show, excerpted here:

The take was pretty good, though there was some confusion about the singing: Was one of the backup singers supposed to join the lead singer's vocal, or add harmony? And what about the other two - were their voices too strong?

 "You need to back off the mic a bit, make it a little softer," Dave Simons said to his wife, Paula, and Emily Eagan, who had added a series of high "oohs" and "sha-la-las" to his lead. "You should be ethereal ... maybe we could try some reverb, too."

Simons, perched on a stool cradling an acoustic guitar, turned to Nate Aldrich, who'd also been adding backup vocals: "You should be coming in a little above me."

Simons had his work cut out for him on this early June evening. He was attempting to get 10 musicians, aged 16 to the late 50s, all playing a cornucopia of instruments, to make the Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset" sound like something worth listening to. But after a third run-through, there was a murmur of satisfaction in the cramped basement studio when the final chord sounded.

"Alright - we did it," said drummer Dave Sokol. "I think that sounded pretty good," added Hayden Durand, a saxophone player from the Hopkins Academy jazz ensemble.

Though cover bands are a dime a dozen, the Muswell Hillbillies stand out: This is a group of extended family, friends and neighbors - all from Hadley - who span a generation and play music as a hobby rather than a profession. Six members come from Hopkins Academy, including five from the school's jazz ensemble; two are veteran arts and music writers who play some music on the side; another is a former professional guitarist who these days is spending much of his time raising two young sons.

What the members share, besides addresses in Hadley, is a love for the Kinks, particularly the songs from the "Muswell Hillbillies" album. Though they didn't match the album sales of other significant British Invasion groups like the Beatles and Rolling Stones, the Kinks won accolades for lead singer Ray Davies' songwriting; they also influenced numerous other bands and developed a devoted (some would say fanatical) following. Of his band's attempt to recreate the Kinks' sound, Simons says,

"Everybody's really gotten into it, even the kids. Considering they were all born not long before the Kinks were hanging it up, that's saying something."

Hayden Durand, who's just finished his junior year at Hopkins, agrees. Before getting involved in the group, Durand, 17, knew only a handful of the Kinks' hits such as "Lola." Now he says of the group's music, "It's really good stuff."

The inspiration for covering "Muswell Hillbillies" came last summer, after Simons, 52, and his younger son, Jack, and Dave Sokol went to the Rendezvous Cafe in Turners Falls to hear a band led by Peter Mulvey, who records for the local Signature Sounds label. At the show, Mulvey's band played all the songs from the Tom Waits' album "Rain Dogs."  He and Jack, a bass player who's about to turn 18, both Kinks fans, began discussing the idea of doing the same thing with "Muswell Hillbillies." Simons, who has written for music magazines such as Guitar Player, Musician and Acoustic Guitar, enlisted Dave Sokol. Sokol is a former music editor of the Valley Advocate, where he and Simons met in the late 1980s when Simons worked there. Simons then roped in his next-door neighbor, guitarist Bill Howard.

Crowded into the 12-by-20-foot rehearsal room in the Simonses' basement - even more cramped than usual because they'd just added a bulky Hammond organ to the room - the group was battling the heat through another rehearsal. But as they worked through "Muswell Hillbillies," anyone familiar with the album would have recognized the songs straightaway - they weren't note-for-note renditions, but they were close.

"Hey, I think we're almost there," said Sokol, sitting behind his drum kit, after the third song. "But were we picking up the pace too much on 'Holiday'? It felt like it to me."

Behind Sokol, a couple of the horn players, who were standing in a line near the wall, were talking about a Nintendo game. On the opposite side of the room, a bare-footed Dave Skelly swung over from the piano to pick up an electric guitar to join Howard and Simons for "Skin and Bone."  Skelly, 22, was brought in to play keyboards after the initial Muswell Hillbillies group began rehearsals in January. A 2006 Hopkins Academy graduate who's now attending the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Skelly is a multi-instrumentalist who plays in his own band, Pop Party Opera. "He's our secret weapon," says Simons with a laugh. 

Skelly and Jack Simons, in turn, recruited the five Hopkins Academy horn players: trumpeters Nate Aldrich and Chris Leveille, saxophonists Hayden Durand and Michael Leveille, and trombonist Emily Eagan.

Eagan, who's just 16, isn't fazed by being the only female in the group full time. "I think it's been a lot of fun," she says. She's joined by Paula Simons for backing vocals on a couple of songs. The Simonses' older son, Julian, 24, will also play drums on a few pieces at the Iron Horse show.

Group members have mostly learned the tunes from listening to Kinks records, while Skelly wrote scores for the horn players. Bill Howard, 43, who didn't know the Kinks' early songs when he joined the group, says he's been impressed not just with the music from "Muswell Hillbillies" but the lyrics as well: "They're great stories - they're about real people."

Tickets for Muswell Hillbillies present Kronikles are available at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com

David Simons provided a set-list in progress go whet your appetite.

David Watts

Tin Soldier Man

Get Back in Line

Strangers

Brainwashed

Yes Sir, No Sir

Powerman

Till the End of the Day

Where Have All the Good Times Gone

I’m Not Like Everybody Else

Johnny Thunder

Animal Farm

Picture Book

Big Sky

20th Century Man

Alcohol

Rats

Dead End Street

Do It Again

Victoria

Shangri-La

And a clip from this summer's show. Victoria!