Sharon Van Etten is winding her way across the U.S. on her way to the Iron Horse in Northampton on Friday, April 15th. She made a lot of new fans in San Francisco if this Crawdaddy review of her show at Bottom of the Hill is any indication.

 Sharon Van Etten is winding her way across the U.S. on her way to the Iron Horse in Northampton on Friday, April 15th at 10PM. She made a lot of new fans in San Francisco if this Crawdaddy review of her show at Bottom of the Hill is any indication. Make sure you listen to the song at the bottom of the post. "One Day" is one of our favorites from her new EP "Epic."

Clutching our new Sharon Van Etten vinyl on the drive home, I found these quotes stickered to package:

“I can’t recall hearing anything more beautiful in all my life.”–Robin Hilton, NPR

“I’ve fallen hopelessly in love with Sharon Van Etten.”–Tom Ravenscroft

Those two sentences pretty much sum up my feelings about Ms. Van Etten’s show at Bottom of the Hill on Saturday night. Sweet. Heart-wrenching. Beautiful.

Van Etten is a tiny woman, lovely, with a porcelain face and a jet black, shingled bob. Her giant red guitar strapped to her shoulder like a signal that she is a force to be reckoned with. The moment she sang, the crowd hushed. Her voice is one of those that gets under your skin, into your bloodstream, and commands your attention. Not a mote of chit-chat hung in the air. She moved from sweet near-lullabies, to the bouncy folk-like “One Day”, to the soulful “Peace Signs”, to the utterly hypnotizing “Love More.” Embedded in this wonderful range, lies the root of raw emotion and vulnerability that makes her music not only gorgeous, but human.

Van Etten’s charm extends well beyond her musical talent. Her personality is irresistible. She would lift her head after a breathtaking song with the sweetest smile and say, “Thank you,” as if she couldn’t believe that people were listening to her. She told us about her dislike of fruit-flavored things, which song reminded her mom of Fleetwood Mac, and asked for requests. These details, though small, were generous. As if she was there with us, not on stage in front of us.

Maybe that’s what makes her music so infectious—the deeply personal undercurrent. You can see it when she sings: She closes her eyes and goes to that place, that memory, wherever it came from, and you go to your own. It’s almost as if she’s singing your song, your story, your love, your heartbreak. Something about the way her songs make you feel makes you want to remain forever in the space of her voice.

As such, I was grateful my husband had the foresight to bring the cash for the record. I pulled it tight to my chest and followed this trail of words out the door:

Incredible.
Stunning.
I think I am in love with her.
So. Damn. Beautiful.

Article by Skiles Hornig from Crawdaddy, March 29, 2011

Tickets for Sharon Van Etten plus Lady Lamb The Beekeeper at the Iron Horse on Friday, April 15th at 10PM are  available at Northampton Box Office- 76 Main Streeet, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com

The legendary Garland Jeffreys plays the Iron Horse Saturday, June 18th. New album "The King Of In Between" due out June 9th.

 The legendary Garland Jeffreys has done it all. This Brooklyn native attended Syracuse University, where he spent a year studying art history in Florence, Italy. Back home he began his career in Greenwich Village clubs and has since released
 numerous critically acclaimed albums featuring a roster of guest artists such as Lou Reed, Dr. John, Sly & Robbie,
 David Johansen, Phoebe Snow, Luther Vandross, Randy Brecker, Duncan Sheik and members of the E Street Band—a group that gives a pretty good indication of his genre-bending music.

With a powerful, supple voice and an eclectic catalogue of songs covered by everyone from punk pioneers The Circle Jerks (Wild in the Streets) to the neo-folk group Vetiver (Lon Chaney).

Jeffreys is “a man of diversity with music to match…had he been born earlier, Mr. Jeffreys could have had a career as a jazz singer…had he been born later, he might have been a peer to Citizen Cope and Ben Harper, who mix up their playlists and benefit from followings not bound by the dictates of radio.” -Wall Street Journal
 
The King Of In Between- his first release in 13 years is out on June 9th. Listen to the song "Coney Island Winter" here. Following a full band show last fall and a number of benefit appearances, Garland, a "best-kept secret" praised for his "streetwise flair" by Rolling Stone, has re-emerged as a fixture of the NYC music scene.

Garland Jeffreys plays the Iron Horse on Saturday, June 18th at 7PM. Tickets here.

Jersey girl Nicole Atkins knows how to rock, but she's also got a lingering romance with classic 1960s pop. She plays the Iron Horse Friday, April 29th.

Epic is a description so overused as to be leeched of meaning. So I'm not damning Nicole Atkins with faint praise when I say that she's got an epic sensibility – and a voice to go with it. The title of her sophomore release implies that ambition, which comes wrapped up in tightly arranged 3- and 4-minute songs rich in instrumental texture and big-beat dynamics. This Jersey girl knows how to rock, but she's also got a lingering romance with classic 1960s pop. You know, the kind of condensed symphonic wallop and surging emotional force that made Phil Spector the Tycoon of Teen, amped up Bruce Springsteen's signature anthems, and gives this album its big, unbeatable heart.

The Neptune, N.J., singer returns after some major professional shifts. She switched labels, leaving behind Columbia for Razor and Tie; got rid of The Sea, the band with which she recorded 2007's Neptune City; and revamped her sound without tinkering too much with the essentials: that sweeping, fearless, soulful voice. It's what ties together everything on Mondo Amore, which true to its name spins around an assortment of styles. 

The album closes with "The Tower," a brooding, romantic showcase for Atkins' pop-operatic chops, loaded with stinging blues guitar solos and "House of the Rising Sun" piano, which bolster the singer's inner Pavarotti. The cool thing is, that's really a grand summation. Elsewhere, Atkins whips up some sassy R&B strut with AM radio grit ("Cry, Cry, Cry"), essays girlie garage rock ("You Come To Me"), woos with a delicate ballroom lullaby ("Hotel Plaster"), waxes gloriously Orbisonian ("You Were the Devil"), and straps on her thigh-boots for some Zeppish stomping ("My Baby Don't Lie") via distorted country blues.

A pop historian as adventure girl as owner of an amazing set of pipes, Atkins is a lot of performers in one. Mondo Amore is her world, one big enough for all of them.

by Steve Dollar   

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

What do you suppose a left-leaning singer-songwriter like Bruce Cockburn dreams about? Bruce Cockburn returns to the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Friday, May 13th at 8PM.

Bruce Cockburn and his band make a long-overdue return to the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Friday, May 13th at 8PM with violinist extraordinaire Jenny Scheinman opening the show and joining the band. Tickets are available at the Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

Interview by Adrian Chamberlain, Postmedia News March 25, 2011 

What do you suppose a left-leaning singer-songwriter like Bruce Cockburn dreams about?
Did you say Richard Nixon? Absolutely correct.

Cockburn, 65, says a dream about Tricky Dicky inspired the composition of Call Me Rose, one of the best offerings from his new album, Small Source of Comfort. In the song, the late American president is reincarnated as Rose, a woman who's ``living in the project with two little kids.'' It goes:


My name is Richard Nixon only now I'm a girl
You know it because I used to be the king of the world.
I'm back here learning what it is to be poor
To have no power but the strength to endure.

Set to a loping bass line, Call Me Rose is funny in a tongue-in-cheek way. At the same time, its intent is socially conscious and, at heart, serious - this is Bruce Cockburn, after all. The song suggests the mindset of Nixon, and those of his ilk, would be radically altered if they walked a mile in a poor woman's shoes.

Phoning from a pit stop in Salt Lake City, Utah (his Dodge Sprinter had broken down en route from San Francisco to his Ontario home) Cockburn recalled arising one morning with Call Me Rose buzzing in his brain.

"When I wrote this song, I had nothing at all on my mind. I just woke up with it,'' he said. "I really don't know where it came from. But there's redemption there for everybody. Even him.''

Cockburn suspects the song's seeds lie in the attempt of Republican pundits to rehabilitate Nixon's tarnished image during George W. Bush's presidency. This campaign ultimately fizzled out.

"It was like, oh, Richard Nixon was so misunderstood, he was the greatest president ever in the whole 20th century. All this crap.''

Small Source of Comfort is Cockburn's first studio album in six years and, by some estimates, his 31st overall (various live releases and compilations make a definitive tally difficult). It's a strong recording. As ever, Cockburn's acoustic guitar work is highly accomplished. The songs are about womanhood, alienation, nature, fallen Canadian soldiers. As ever, his singing conveys a sense of wonder, wistfulness and world weariness.

Driving and the highway are a strong theme. The Iris of the World was inspired by road trips between Kingston and Brooklyn. Lois on the Autobahn, one of several instrumentals, is named after Cockburn's late mother. And Driving Away is about, well ... driving away.
The automotive motif wasn't intentional, Cockburn said. It just happened.

"I do love long-distance driving ... I like being behind the wheel, especially in the West, were the spaces are huge and there's so much sky. It's a good feeling.''

Cockburn made his first solo appearance in 1967 at the Mariposa Folk Festival. Perennially popular in Canada, he finally broke through in the U.S. in 1979 with the single Wondering Where the Lions Are. As his career progressed, Cockburn's lyrics - early on reflecting an interest in Christian mysticism - became more politicized. This is exemplified by his 1984 hit, If I Had a Rocket Launcher, inspired by a visit to Guatemalan refugee camps.

Today, he said, his primary aim in songwriting is to share strong emotions and experiences. Something will touch him; Cockburn, in turn, attempts to recreate this in his music.

"I pass that touch on to the listener. If I write that song right, then the person that listens to it will feel that touch, also. Whatever that was, whether it's pain or joy or the beauty of physical surroundings. That will hopefully get through the song to the listener.''

Jenny Scheinman (below)

His career spans four decades; he has sold more than two million albums. He's an Officer of the Order of Canada; he's in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. His songs have been covered by k.d. lang, Judy Collins, the Barenaked Ladies, Jimmy Buffett, Jerry Garcia. At age 65, with 30-plus albums to his credit, one might wonder what ambitions someone like Bruce Cockburn has left.

"I don't really have ambitions,'' he said. ``I mean, it's survival and continuing to feel like I'm going somewhere.''

Does Cockburn regard himself as someone who has achieved more than his share of milestones?

"The only milestone that I notice in my life that felt like a milestone was turning 50. That felt like, OK, half a century. That kinda means something,'' he said with a laugh.

"Once I reached that age, I felt like I'd wasted a lot of energy caring about stuff I didn't have to care about. About myself and my own behaviour. I felt, for the first time, I was allowed to have some fun.''

Tickets for Bruce Cockburn With Band plus Jenny Scheinman at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Friday, May 13th at 8PM are available at the Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

Interview by Adrian Chamberlain, Postmedia News March 25, 2011

achamberlain@timescolonist.com - Victoria Times Colonist

Martin Sexton kicks off Spring tour on Saturday, April 2nd at 8PM at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton with special guests Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion

“The real thing, people, a star with potential to permanently affect the musical landscape and keep us entertained for years to come.” —Billboard

“The best live performer I’ve ever seen.” —John Mayer
 
Martin Sexton will play live on WRSI 93.9 The River’s Riversound Café with Joan Holliday on Wednesday, March 3oth in the 5PM hour to promote the show. 

A native of Syracuse, New York, Martin Sexton grew up in the 80’s, uninterested in the sounds of the day, and fueled his dreams on the timeless sounds of classic rock and roll. Sexton eventually migrated to Boston, where he began to build his following singing on the streets of Harvard Square and gradually working his way through the scene. His 1992 collection of self-produced demo recordings, In The Journey, was recorded on an old 8-track in a friend’s attic. He managed to sell 20,000 copies out of his guitar case busking. 

1996-2002 Sexton released Black Sheep, The American, Wonder Bar and Live Wide Open (mixed by Jon Alagia – Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer). The activity and worldwide touring behind these records laid the foundation for the career he enjoys today with an uncommonly loyal fan base, selling out venues from Nokia Theatre (NY) to LA’s House of Blues.

Happily and fiercely independent, Martin Sexton launched his own label KTR (2002). Since then, his continual success through his diversity infiltrates many musical worlds – ranging everywhere from Jam Cruise to Denver’s Mile High Fest to Mayercraft Carrier to Carnegie Hall. His songs are featured in film and television including recent placements on NBC’s Scrubs and Showtime’s hit series Brotherhood.

“Martin Sexton is ripe with raw, expansive talent. His voice comes in a hundred impossible shades. His songs are sweet and spirited and soulful. His repertoire is like a cross-country tour of the American musical vernacular.” —Boston Globe

The New York Times wrote that this artist “jumps beyond standard fare on the strength of his voice, a blue-eyed soul man’s supple instrument,” adding that “his unpretentious heartiness helps him focus on every soul singer’s goal: to amplify the sound of the ordinary heart.” 

In 2007/08 Sexton logged his most successful years to date with the release of his latest studio offering, Seeds. The album debuted at #6 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, and the Los Angeles Times writes, “Call him a soul shouter, a road poet, a folkie or a rocker and you wouldn’t be wrong.”

On the heels of Seeds, the cd/dvd set Solo documented a series of unaccompanied live appearances, and captured Martin’s critically acclaimed incendiary live set in theatres coast-to-coast. 

His latest studio release, Sugarcoating, finds this one-of-a-kind-troubadour doing what he does best: locating larger truths within the specific details of the life he’s living.

Opening the show is the husband/wife duo Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion. Authentic. Timeless. Harmonious. Exhilarating. Any or all of these adjectives could describe the folk-rock sound created by Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion (eye-ree-un). Their collaborations are irrefutable proof that the disarming granddaughter of Woody/daughter of Arlo and the prodigious South Carolinian quite naturally bring out the best in each other. Not only has the couple toured extensively both as a duo and as part of the "Guthrie Family Rides Again" tour (with Sarah Lee's dad, Arlo Guthrie), they've also released the children's album Go … read moreWaggaloo (Smithsonian Folkways), a live DVD entitled Folk Song, a solo album by Johnny (Ex Tempore), parented their two young daughters and moved from South Carolina to the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. Sarah Lee & Johnny released their second full-length album, Bright Examples, on Ninth Street Opus this February.

Tickets are $25 and $35 and available at the Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com

Reggae-rockers Fear Nuttin Band celebrate release of new album Move Positive on Saturday, April 2nd at 8:30 in the Pearl Street Ballroom with a killer bill, co-headlined by The Alchemystics plus Danny Pease and the Regulators, Doctor Doom Orchestra

Fear Nuttin Band will be dropping a little "sumptin'" on record store shelves on April 5th. Chris Regan says he and his accomplices in alternative reggae-rock have finally regrouped to record Move Positive—an indie release on BoomBlaze Records recorded at numerous studios throughout the region including the now internationally recognized mixing talents of Zing Studio's Jim Fogarty.
 
"I really think it some of the best, most creative music we've ever come up with as we enter a decade of existence in 2011," Regan concludes.

If you simply  can’t wait, copies of the new Fear Nuttin’ Band CD “Move Positive” will be on sale at the show for only $5. Big ups.

Tickets for the CD release party at 8:30PM on Saturday night April 2 at the Pearl Street Ballroom are available at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686, online at IHEG.com.

 

Watch the video for “Pocket Dial” here.

New faces & voices at the Iron Horse in the weeks ahead: Sam Amidon, Nicole Atkins, William Fitzsimmons, Sharon Van Etten

The wall of fame at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton is filled with dozens of framed press photos that span several generations of artists who’ve played the club since its 1979 opening.  Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, Odetta, Jeff Buckley, Wynton Marsalis, and even Camper Van Beethoven are all hanging there somewhere.  We need to update the wall one of these days and we will surely include these new faces, tomorrow’s musical vets, all of whom are booked to play at the Iron Horse in the weeks ahead. Dig the new breed.

Sam Amidon, Brown Bird- Monday March 28^th 7PM

Sam Amidon favors folk standards that belong to no one and everyone. It sounds quaint, and maybe that's why some people who'd really enjoy his strange, surprising songs have overlooked I See the Sign. But Amidon's no folk purist, and for two albums now he's called on friends like classical/popular music bridge-builder Nico Muhly to help transport old stories into the 21st century. The genre that could comfortably accommodate otherworldly murder ballad "How Come That Blood" has yet to be invented. And R. Kelly cover "Relief", stripped of its contemporary R&B source codes and reframed by Amidon's New England twang, feels kind of unprecedented, even in this cross-pollinating era. The Vermont native is boyish and low-key in person, and on stage could be your roommate taking a break from his Xbox to grab a beer and tell you this sad, incredible story he heard the other day about a man who killed his wife. You may have heard it too. But it was never so moving. --Amy Granzin/Pitchfork

Nicole Atkins – Friday, April 1^st 7PM  

Three years after her debut album, Neptune City, Nicole Atkins returns with gripping ferocity on Mondo Amore. From the first track, “Vultures”, Atkins’ toe-tapping, foot-stomping, hip-swaying music moves through your bones. With years to perfect it, every note and beat seems crafted with intention and care, accentuating her equally deliberate words. The songs play like anthems, commanding you to sing along as her lyrics tell a long-awaited story.

Through the process of making the album, she broke up with her boyfriend, her band and Columbia Records, choosing to produce it on her own and eventually releasing it on Razor & Tie. “It was like the ending of life as you know it. It’s funny because most of the songs are about those three things at the same time, so in a lot of breakup records you want to point fingers, but I don’t think that this record is like that at all.”

Effortlessly blending rock, blues, country and soul, Atkins has delivered on Mondo Amore with a collection of songs that invites you into her world. Even the more somber songs are sung with a gritty earnestness that carries the energy of her more vibrant songs throughout the entire project.

William Fitzsimmons, Slow Runner -Sunday, April 3^rd 7PM

William Fitzsimmons is equal parts songwriter and psychotherapist, creating captivating music, which uniquely melds depravity, honesty, and autobiography into a counter-intuitive seamless whole. Since 2005, Fitzsimmons has created three full-length albums, each thoroughly themed and embossed with matters of family history, intimate disclosure, and bold confession, yielding rich folk music, ranging from the stark and acoustic to the voluminous and electronic. All the while reflecting William's commitment to addressing what is always pressing, and yet all too often ignored.

Fitzsimmons' path into music came at the influence and education of his parents, both of whom filled his childhood home with a myriad of instruments, sing-a-longs, and theoretical instruction. However, far from being a mere pastime in the Fitzsimmons' household, music was a communicative necessity between William and his parents, both of whom being blind, relied on the language of music to bridge the relational gap between themselves and a child who experienced the world entirely differently from them.

Fitzsimmons' new release, Gold In The Shadow, is a musical reflection of his personal resuscitation and psychological renovation, which took place in the years following his divorce. Based on a specific set of psychopathological disorders from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV), he describes the songs as "a real and long coming confrontation with personal demons, past mistakes, and the specter of mental illness that has hovered over me for the great majority of my life." 

Sharon Van Etten, Lady Lamb The Beekeeper - Friday, April 15^th 10pm 

Intimate and hushed, Sharon Van Etten's folk tunes tend to quiet any room she plays them in. These are the type of nuanced songs that can render a crowd breathless.

Van Etten was introduced to an eclectic blend of folk and rock 'n' roll while growing up in Nashville. She worked her way to Brooklyn, and after a national tour in support of her debut album, Because I Was In Love, she turned to Epic, a seven-song LP that was one of NPR Music's favorite records of 2010.

Lined with melancholic heartbreak, Van Etten bears it all — the betrayal, the obsession, and everything that comes along with collapsed romances. But where there is dark, there is also light, and she is not afraid to demonstrate her hopeful side. Epic is definitely an album beaming with learned experiences and growth, leaving every listener with something to take away.

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

Third Eye Blind 5/3, Bela Fleck and the Original Flecktones 11/10 - Two new Calvin Theatre shows on sale this Friday 3/18

Third Eye Blind live at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Tuesday, May 3^rd at 8PM

Since 1997, San Francisco’s Third Eye Blind have recorded four best-selling albums and assembled one career retrospective. Led by Stephan Jenkins, 3EB won wide success during a tumultuous group of years when the major-label recording industry was finally losing its grip on an enterprise that for decades it had dominated with steely efficiency. Nothing could have made 3EB happier! 3EB, however, have experienced no comparable loss. Instead, they have gained artistic clarification -- and, surprisingly, a fan base larger than ever.  Participation in the older, untouchable realm of nervous star-making and could color a band’s identity. In the case of 3EB, it often blurred the perception of their brilliant musical creations. In recent years, those creations have recast the band among a current generation of fans.  3EB now write, tour, record, and communicate in a fluid new world where their music continues naturally to evolve. Their exchange with their audience is unfiltered.

 

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones live at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Thursday, November 10^th at 8PM

Groundbreaking banjoist/composer/bandleader Béla Fleck has reconvened the original Béla Fleck & The Flecktones', the extraordinary initial line-up of his incredible combo.  Rocket Science marks the first recording by the first fab four Flecktones in almost two decades, with pianist/harmonica player Howard Levy back in the fold alongside Fleck, bassist Victor Wooten, and percussionist/ Drumitarist Roy “Futureman” Wooten.  Far from being a wistful trip back in time, the album sees the Grammy Award-winning quartet creating some of the most forward thinking music of their long, storied career.  While all manners of genres come into play – from classical and jazz to bluegrass and African music to electric blues and Eastern European folk dances – the result is an impossible to pigeonhole sound all their own, a meeting of musical minds that remains, as ever, utterly indescribable.  Simply put, it is The Flecktones, the music made only when these four individuals come together.

Tickets go on sale for both shows on Friday, March 18^th at Northampton Box Office (NBO), 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686, online at IHEG.com

Uh Huh Her to play Pearl Street in Northampton on Mother's Day, Sunday May 8th capping Pride Weekend

Formed in Los Angeles, UH HUH HER debuted to a packed house of industry heads, critics and fans, many of whom might have been more familiar with HAILEY’s character “Alice” on “The L Word” than they were with her role in '90s indie duo The Murmurs. For GREY, it was her first group project since tenure with the lo-fi indie-rock outfit Mellowdrone. Co-produced by GREY and Al Clay (Pixies, Blur), their full-length debut Common Reaction was a full serving of new wave electro-pop that broke through with the anthemic single "Not A Love Song."  The album went on to receive an overwhelming amount of critical praise, with the NEW YORK TIMES hailing the disc "...a lush, layered collection of dizzying, synth-driven pop" (Amanda Petrusich, 10/24/08) and the VILLAGE VOICE adding “Uh Huh Her’s debut album is a stylized mix of guitars and synthesizers framed by melancholic yet glamour-tinged vocals” (Zoe Gemelli, October 29-November 4). Elsewhere, the LOS ANGELES TIMES noted, "Uh Huh Her's sleek, synth-infused sound is closer to Adore-era Smashing Pumpkins or Metric than it is to the moody English alt-rocker (PJ Harvey). The band's debut album, is an electro-pop feast characterized by layers of overlapping vocals" (David Greenwald, 5/29/08). The ROLLING STONE coined them a “Sultry indie electro duo…” (Caryn Ganz, 10/23/08) and the NEW YORKER added, “...[Uh Huh Her] traffic in throbbing synth-pop that's destined to make mascara run” (Kelefa Sanneh, 10/24/08). SPIN added, “[Uh Huh Her] create a lush soundscape of lilting piano arrangements, percolating electronic threads, and sparkling vocals a la Metric and the now-defunct Organ” (Samantha Promisloff, 7/27/08).  Nylon Magazine has a great feature and a free download here. 

Tickets for Uh Huh Her plus Diamonds Under Fire on Sunday, May 8th at 8PM in the Pearl Street Ballroom in Northampton Mass. are available at Northampton Box Office, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com. Direct ticket link here.

An Evening with Celebrated Singer-Songwriter Carrie Newcomer at the Iron Horse in Northampton, Thursday, April 14th

“Rapturously tuneful, Newcomer’s material asks all the right questions and refuses to settle for easy answers.” -  Rolling Stone

       

Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer pays a visit to the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton  on Thursday, April 14th at 7PM.  Newcomer will delight fans with songs from her extensive repertoire including her most recent release, Before and After. 

Newcomer has been praised by the Associated Press for uniting her “rich voice with equally rich lyrics to weave a tapestry of life and hope.” Before and After combines the very best of Newcomer’s folk-roots sound, overlaid with Appalachian and classical influences.  The San Jose Mercury News said “The singer-songwriter crafts compositions that are as meaningful as they are lovely. The melodies are memorable, the lyrics eloquent. And they’re delivered to perfection via her rich, warm, soulful voice.”
 

Newcomer’s prior albums include Regulars & Refugees, The Age of Possibility, The Gathering of Spirits, the Betty’s Diner collection and The Geography of Light, which earned her Artist of the Year and Album of the Year from Folk Wax Magazine.  Her recordings have been praised in Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Acoustic Guitar, Performing Songwriter, and many other outlets. She has toured with Alison Krauss and Union Station, and her song “I Should’ve Known Better” was recorded by Nickel Creek on their Grammy® winning, gold-selling album This Side.

Spring 2011 will bring the release of Newcomer’s newest project Everything is Everywhere.  During the summer of 2010, Newcomer, came together with Indian sarod masters Amjad, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan, along with Grammy® nominated percussionist Jim Brock and pianist Gary Walters, to record this exciting collaborative project. A love for haunting melodies, an attraction to compelling rhythms and a sense of deep spiritual grounding are the connecting threads in this new collection, creating an elegant and extraordinary bridge between Indian classical tradition and Western songwriting form. Newcomer, the Kahn’s, Brock and Walters have created a unique and mesmerizing show based on the album, which will tour India in the Fall of this year.

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

Nicole Atkins performs at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Friday, April 1st at 7PM. The new album, “Mondo Amore” is a courageous, provocative work, fraught with dramatic tension, sweeping emotions, and musical ambition.

 “This is the record I’ve been wanting to make since I was 12,” says Nicole Atkins. “It has so many layers, it’s able to do whatever it wants without defining itself as one thing.”

It’s been a tumultuous three years since the release of Atkins’ acclaimed 2007 debut, Neptune City, but the wait has proved worth it. Mondo Amore is a courageous, provocative work, fraught with dramatic tension, sweeping emotions, and musical ambition, with Atkins’ remarkable voice commanding attention at the forefront.

 Atkins has a sound that grew up on Roy Orbison and Carole King, and Mondo Amore, might warrant comparisons to the ironic sometimes-twang of Jenny Lewis or the bursting emotional sound of indie-rocker Lissie, or even the crazy vocal tricks and creepy edge of Tori Amos. Half of Atkins' songs sound like they were crafted in a desert; they are all solitude and dust. Her voice seems like it’s echoing in canyons. 

Atkins' lyrics are dark and confessional; she's got all those common themes of broken hearts and cheating boys, but her imagery is in devils and dark magic and vultures. Everything Atkins sings sounds desolate, but she sings it all with such a swelling voice that she makes even a three-piece band sound like a symphony.

Having spent the past few years living in her native Asbury Park, Atkins dealt with personal and professional seismic shifts by returning to her adopted home of Brooklyn where she recorded her album at The Seaside Lounge Recording Studio in Park Slope. Producer Phil Palazzolo (A.C. Newman, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists) offered his services behind the glass. 

Atkins’ goal from the get-go was to create a more volatile sound than she had ever previously attempted, a sonic approach akin to such influences as Scott Walker and Nick Cave, while also touching on longtime inspirations like the blues and classic 60s psychedelic rock.

“The production of the last record was a little bit too cheery for my taste,” Atkins says. “It was really lush and pretty and this time I wanted to deconstruct the sound a little bit. With everything that was going on, and because of the subject matter, I knew I needed something more aggressive.”

The loose collective of musicians who assisted Atkins on Mondo Amore has now morphed into a leaner, meaner backing combo, now dubbed The Black Sea.  “This is the best lineup I’ve ever played with,” she says. “It feels like a family, like a band of brothers and sisters. This band is really into it, almost as much as I am,” she says. “We’re trying to figure out how to work these songs for a trio, with me just singing. Trying to make the biggest sound possible with the least amount of people.”

As its all-encompassing title suggests, Mondo Amore is a big, bold collection, a grandly romantic song cycle fraught with all the passion, anger, tenderness, and devotion of Atkins’ own extraordinary heart.

“It’s so much love,” she agrees, “it’s borderline obsessive.” 

Tickets for Nicole Atkins at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Friday, April 1^st are available at Northampton Box Office, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

It's no sham! Northampton rocks with six shows celebrating St. Patrick's month at the Iron Horse, Calvin Theatre, & Pearl Street.

Saw Doctors, AM Taxi- Sunday, March 6^th 8PM Calvin Theatre

The Saw Doctors were a little-known local bar band in Tuam (pronounced "Chewam") in County Galway when they were invited by Mike Scott to be the opening act on the Waterboys' 1988 tour of Ireland and the United Kingdom. In the years since, however, the Saw Doctors have emerged as one of the most successful Irish rock bands since U2. The Washington Post calls them "one of the world's most appealing roots rock outfits." Their most recent album is "The Further Adventures of The Saw Doctors." Live, the band can bottle the energy of a full theatre into an intimate pub where everyone’s raising their pints in harmony and unity. Especially in March!

Saw Doctors (above)

Enter The Haggis- Friday, March 11^th 7PM Pearl Street Ballroom

Over the past three albums and five years, Toronto’s Celtic rock band Enter The Haggis has found itself at the center of a grassroots success story ever teetering on the brink of mainstream success. From playing Celtic festivals to headlining them, and from the festival circuit to selling out multiple nights in rock venues, ETH has blazed a path with heavy and almost constant touring up and down the East Coast, to Canada, the West Coast and back again, winning over success one fan, one town, one region at a time.

Enter the Haggis (above)

Zoe Darrow & the Fiddleheads- Saturday, March 12^th 7PM Iron Horse

Fiddle Me This! Zoë Darrow ignites the stage with her distinctive blend of traditional Cape Breton, Scottish, and Irish fiddle tunes. With Phil Darrow on guitar and Tom Coburn on piano, she breathes life into fiery reels, lively jigs and hornpipes, and soulful airs. The Valley Advocate named them Best Celtic Band of 2007 and Celtic Heritage Magazine says, "Zoë Darrow is destined to add savory spice to the global mix." Come experience this local rising star!

 Zoe Darrow (center) and the Fiddleheads (above)

The Big Bad Bollocks- Thursday, March 17^th 7PM Iron Horse

Fueled by Guinness and Bushmills, Northampton's own Big Bad Bollocks have been endearing themselves to punks, rockers, mods and pub rockers alike since 1989.

Big Bad Bollocks (above)

Solas- Sunday, March 20^th 7PM Iron Horse

Acclaimed by many as the most exciting Irish traditional group in the world, Solas are masters of a tradition yet transcend musical category. The LA Times calls them "the best Irish traditional band in the world" While the Boston Herald raves "a five-member Irish-American band of startling instrumental and vocal firepower."

Solas (above)

Gaelic Storm- Saturday, March 26^th 8PM Calvin Theatre

After a start playing monthly gigs for friends at Santa Monica’s O’Brien’s Tavern in 1995, the band’s popularity skyrocketed when it appeared in James Cameron’s Titanic as the Celtic party band in the ship’s steerage. Unlike so many other bands that were unable to sustain a career after receiving near-blinding initial exposure, Gaelic Storm has amassed a large, loyal and ever-growing following. Given that the band spends over 200 days a year on the road, it’s a near miracle they find time to write, record and release an album at all but lo and behold, following the path of the band’s 2008 release "What’s The Rumpus?" this past August (2010) they dropped "Cabbage," the seventh Gaelic Storm studio album and fourth on their own label Lost Again Records debuted at #1 on the Billboard World Chart, additionally peaking at #14 on the iTunes overall Album Chart and #11 on the Billboard Independent Album Chart.

Gaelic Storm (above) click for high res.

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

Rock legends Paul Barrere & Fred Tackett of Little Feat play acoustic renditions of Feat classics at the Iron Horse on Tuesday, March 15th at 7PM

Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett, lead vocalist and guitarists of the legendary band Little Feat have joined forces as an acoustic duet that will quite frankly blow you away, performing songs from their Little Feat catalogue with a decidedly different twist. They first played together on the album Dixie Chicken and over the past thirty-five years or so have played together or individually on numerous recording sessions for Little Feat and countless others including Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Dionne Farris, and the Wallflowers to name a few. This will be a rare chance to hear the acoustic side of a band whose rock and roll party band reputation often overshadows the nuance and beauty of much of their music.

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