Austin’s renowned roots-steeped rockers the Band of Heathens play the Iron Horse on Friday, August 5th at 7PM. Boston’s Will Dailey opens.

 If Uncle Tupelo taught us anything, it was that two incredibly talented and hyper-creative personalities will find it difficult to co-exist within the same band structure. Apparently, the principals of the Band of Heathens didn’t bother to learn that particular lesson, as their Austin quintet is that rarest of all musical entities; a band with three distinct frontmen.

Since meeting at a mutual residency as solo acts on Austin’s fabled Sixth Street five years ago, Ed Jurdi, Colin Brooks and Gordy Quist, singers, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists to a man, have had no trouble conceding the spotlight to one another in the context of Band of Heathens’ classically inspired Americana hymns and anthems.

On their third full length, Top Hat Crown & the Clapmaster’s Son, the Heathens continue to channel the spirits of some of American music’s most powerful personalities; the swampy Rock gumbo of Tony Joe White, the inclusively freewheeling embrace of The Band, the funky Blues swing of Leon Russell, the heartland Rock ethic of Tom Petty, the Folk/Blues/Jam jump-and-run of the Grateful Dead, and the bayou translation of CSNY’s harmonic brilliance. Along with the skilled touch of producer George Reiff (Chris Robinson, Courtyard Hounds, Ray Wylie Hubbard), the Band of Heathens have crafted Top Hat Crown into a marvelously timeless extension of some of the greatest music ever made, adding their own potent contemporary twists while working within a familiar framework that has remained vibrant and vital for the past four decades. 

 The Band of Heathens make their Northampton debut at the Iron Horse on Friday, August 5^th at 7PM with Boston-based singer/songwriter Will Dailey, whose heartfelt lyrics and folk inspired sound has resonated deeply among fans.

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

Global beats and rhythms in the Valley with a wide range of internatonal artists coming to the Iron Horse in Northampton

Ilo Ferrera, Changes in Latitudes- Wednesday, August 3^rd 7PM Iron Horse

So Jimmy Buffett walks into a bar… This being Jimmy Buffett, the bar is on some remote corner of the map – in this case Cape Verde, the Portuguese archipelago off the coast of West Africa. The travelers dropped their bags at a hotel and went off to look for food, liquor and music. They hit a few saloons and found great music everywhere. It was like Cape Verde was Beale Street, Memphis 1955 – everybody was a musician. But even in this player’s paradise, one young man stood out and knocked the world-weariness out of these music veterans. Ilo Ferreira was called onto the small stage at a local restaurant where everyone seemed to know everyone else. Ilo was young – looked like a college senior – and handsome. He showed quiet confidence as he picked up his guitar and adjusted his microphone. Then he started to play and sing and Buffett leaned forward... As a singer/songwriter, Ilo tends to line up with Pop Rock, and country music styles. Today he’s on the road with his American band and playing with Jimmy on his tour as special guest. By his own words “… to be part of the Buffett’s family on the road is like a rock n’roll dream taking shape. The first show I did with Jimmy got me in front of 57 thousand people from day to night. The biggest crowd I ever seen before was about 3 thousand. It’s being a terrific experience for me to see how this world of rock n’roll works…” .  Opening the show, a local band who tours nationally; Changes in Latitudes - Americas Premier Jimmy Buffett Tribute Show.

The Itals Sunday, August 14^th 8:30PM Iron Horse

                                                             

 One of Jamaica's signature harmony groups, The Itals were chiefly responsible for keeping the sound and spirit of roots reggae alive well into the dancehall era. The Itals have a genuine roots sound akin to Culture or the Mighty Diamonds.  They've never really gotten their due, overshadowed by roots acts like these, not to mention Israel Vibration and the Wailing Souls.  After having worked together in the late 1960's as The Westmorelites and going on to have successful solo careers, Porter, Ricketts and Davis formed The Itals in 1976. Their debut single In A Disya Time topped the Jamaican chart. Brutal Out Deh -- their first and often considered their best album from 1978-- is well-respected.  Heartfelt gems like "Herbs Pirate," "Smile Knotty Dread," and "Truth Must Reveal" give an impression of why The Itals have lasted as long as they have and are about as pure as roots reggae gets. They return to the Iron Horse, with original members Keith Porter, Lloyd Ricketts and Ronnie Davis who have reunited for the first time in 15 years.

Listen to “Satisfaction” from Rasta Philosophy.
 

Vieux Farka Touré, Shokazoba Thursday, August 25^th7PM Iron Horse

With his 2010 World Cup performance before a billion people in Johannesburg, South Africa, Vieux Farka Touré has become one of the most celebrated African guitarists in history. Vieux now takes a dramatic next step with his new record, The Secret, produced by Soulive's Eric Krasno and featuring Dave Matthews, John Scofield,  Derek Trucks, and Vieux's final collaboration with his legendary father, Ali Farka Touré.  A highly talented guitarist, singer, songwriter, and percussionist, Vieux has crafted a global-minded style all his own. With flourishes of rock and reggae amidst Saharan Blues and traditional Malian melodies, Vieux Farka Touré ushers in the next generation of Mali blues. Seriously, the guy is an AMAZING guitarist and will transport you to another place.

 

“Vieux Farka Touré's beautifully realized debut recording both honors and extends the life work of his father, Ali Farka Touré: to explore and promote the rich music of Mali's desert north.” - Afropop Worldwide 

Rolling Stone’s glowing review of Vieux Farke Toure’s new album “The Secret.”

Vieux Farka Toure  VIDEO- "All the Same" featuring Dave Matthews

Sergent Garcia- Sunday September 4^th 7PM Iron Horse

Sergent Garcia, an original figure in the Latin Alternative and European mestizo music scenes, is returning to North America with a burning live show a new album out on the Cumbancha label titled “Una y Otra Vez” (Time and Time Again). A pioneer in blending the fiery Caribbean sounds of salsa, reggae, ska and dancehall with a punk attitude and continental style, Sergent Garcia's latest musical adventure finds him traveling to Colombia to dive into what is currently the epicenter of some of the world's hottest sounds. Una y Otra Vez marks this former rocker's return to his independent roots and renewed creative energy.

Cumbancha y La Gwagwita Presents : UNA Y OTRA VEZ, TIME AND TIME AGAIN, THE MAGNIFICENT RETURN OF SERGENT GARCIA. The salsa-reggae superstar solidifies his legacy and explores exciting new directions with guests from Colombia's scorching electrotropical music scene.

“Fans of Manu Chao will find Sergent Garcia immediately recognizable: insistently catchy reggae and salsa rhythms, sing-song rap, horn riffs propelling the whole mix.” - Financial Times (UK)

Boubacar Traore Trio- Wednesday, September 28^th 7PM Iron Horse

Boubacar Traoré is one of the great veteran exponents of the African blues, a guitarist, singer and songwriter with a long, and sometimes pained history. At the time of Mali's independence, 50 years ago, he was a national celebrity, and the young sharp dressers of Bamako would dance to his songs such as Mali Twist and Kar Kar Madison: he was known as Kar Kar ("Dribble") because he was also a footballer. But by the late 1960s he had returned to his home region to work as a tailor and farmer, and later, after the death of his wife, he moved to France as a migrant labourer on building sites. Thankfully, he was persuaded to start recording again in 1990, since when he has revived his career in Mali. Mali Denhou (2011/Lusafrica/Proper ) is his first album in six years and shows he's still in impressive form, matching his thoughtful, soulful voice against an acoustic guitar style that mixes blues riffs with west African influences. His easy going, gently rhythmic playing is backed by n'goni, calabash and balafon, with outstanding contributions from the French harmonica player Vincent Bucher, whose inventive, sensitive or driving solos perfectly complement Traoré's laid back style. He may be in his late 60s, but he's still one of Mali's finest musicians

Boubacar Traore “Mariama” Video

Sidi Toure –Tuesday, October 4^th 7PM Iron Horse

                           

"Sidi Touré is a worthy successor to Ali Farka Touré. Among Songhaï musicians, Sidi is the best. Sidi Toure has all the talent, quality , simplicity, playing and singing skills, it's incredible. We need people like Sidi." - Bassekou Kouyaté  

Sidi Touré was born in 1959 in the ancient town of Gao, Mali. He made his first guitar as a child, constructing it from his wooden writing slate. Growing up, Sidi Touré faced a conflict between the inexorable pull of music and the expectations of family and society, plus the significance and onus of a past that came with being born into a noble family. The Touré family had been sung about, and sung to, by traditional griots for centuries, but until Sidi Touré challenged the rules as a small boy, the Touré’s did not sing. Despite his family’s disapproval, Sidi became the lead singer of his school’s band, and then became the youngest member of Gao’s regional orchestra, the Songhaï Stars, who played bi-annual festivals like the Bamako Biennale and toured both regionally and nationally. After winning the award for best singer twice, he took the band to the northern regions of Mali and to Niger, and toured much of the western Sahel region. Throughout his time making music, Sidi’s sound has both captured and challenged his roots. His music moves from the translucent swaying takamba to the trance inducing Holley, while the lyrics often address many non-traditional issues. Sidi has a critical mind and his songs have a purpose.

Sidi was featured on The Takeaway Show with Vincent Moon. Watch the film here!

SPIN EDITOR'S PICK: Meet Malian Singer Sidi Toure

Tickets for all shows at the Iron Horse in Northampton are on sale at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

Austin banjo adventurer Danny Barnes plays the Iron Horse at 7PM on Thurday, August 11th. Experimental cellist Gideon Freudmann opens.

Danny Barnes brings the punk and jazz worlds together on his country banjo. It is the natural progression of a life filled with all kinds of music. He grew up with a love for bluegrass, surrounded by the music of his father and grandmother. Later he picked up a passion for blues and punk from his two brothers. Always producing music with a strong bluegrass feel, he adds a punk flavor and often pushes into other genres.

The 47-year old artist has over 15 years of experience writing movie scores and playing in other bands, but he seemingly broke onto the scene with last year’s multifaceted album Pizza Box, released by Dave Matthews label ATO. It’s only fitting his unique style, complete with looping and electronic percussion, has been a huge hit on tours with the Dave Matthews Band, Nickel Creek, Bela Fleck, Yonder Mountain String Band, John Popper and Keller Williams. Pizza Box highlights his often humorous, always honest and poetic voice through a wisely interconnected album that took 3 years to formulate and only 2 weeks to record.

Besides his musical skills, Barnes is also a licensed pilot, skateboarder, motorcyclist, flyfisher, unicyclist, trap shooter, and disc golfer.

“Danny’s latest effort is a fantastic collection of stories set to an Americana soundtrack.  There’s something for just about everyone.” – Twangville.com

“The Bad Livers co-founder Danny Barnes is at it again with Pizza Box, his latest release that soothes our longing for John Hartford-style humor mixed with soulful banjo pickin’ and a fresh injection of inspiration.” – UncommonMusic.com

Opening the evening is Gideon Freudmann, a talented, experimental cellist that got the ear of producers from NPR's All Thing's Considered. Gideon has a sense of humor, a spirit of eclectic adventure and mastery of classic and jazz forms. 

Tickets for Danny Barnes plus Gideon Freudmann at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Thursday, August 11th at 8:00 PM are on sale at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

Dan Tyminski interview! Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas at Mountain Park in Holyoke this Sunday, July 24th at 7PM

Scott Gargan, Staff Writer CT Post Published 07:46 p.m., Tuesday, July 19, 2011 

Had it really been that long?

It was hard for Dan Tyminski to believe, but when Alison Krauss and Union Station returned to the studio in 2010, six years had passed since the band had recorded its last album, "Lonely Runs Both Ways."

"In some ways, it didn't feel like we had taken any time apart," Tyminski, the singer, guitarist and mandolin player, said during an interview last week.

After all, the band has spent the better part of the last two and a half decades performing and recording as a unit. Just like old friends, whose bond outlasts distance and time, they picked up right where they had left off.

 "It was as if nothing had changed," Tyminski added. "Well, maybe we all looked a little older."

Fans of the bluegrass megastars will have the chance to see Alison Krauss and Union Station back together when the band performs at Mountain Park in Holyoke this Sunday, July 24th.

Following a hiatus that saw the members of AKUS pursue various solo and side projects (the most notable being "Raising Sand," Krauss' Grammy-winning collaboration with Robert Plant), the group reunited to record new material at Sound Emporium Studios and the House of Blues in Nashville, Tenn.

The result was the band's fifth studio album (Krauss' 11 overall), "Paper Airplane." The 11-track record, which features cover versions of Jackson Browne's "My Opening Farewell" and the title track written by AKUS mainstay Robert Lee Castleman, was Krauss' first No. 1 album on the Billboard Top Country Albums.

But despite the commercial success, the creation of the album didn't go so smoothly at first. After recording an initial batch of songs, the band listened back to the tracks and realized "we didn't have everything we needed for the album to be complete," Tyminski said.

"We've spent a lot of time playing together. That's the easy part," he said. "But something was missing from the song selection. It took a few weeks for us to go back and find some more material" -- including Castleman's track, which the band instantly fell in love with -- "to complete the journey and vision for the record."

Once the song selection was complete, "everything just clicked," said Tyminski, who is known for his updated version of the song "Man of Constant Sorrow," which was featured in the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

The record finds the band taking on a somber tone, with melancholic tunes focusing on themes of hardship and determination. Krauss' voice is at once angelic and heart-rending as she belts out lyrics concerning lost love. "Dust Bowl Children," a wrenching romping bluegrass number, showcases Tyminski on vocals.

Though the band's spirits were high during recording, Tyminski explained that it takes a certain degree of "emotional exploration" to "bring yourself into the place of the songs your recording."

"You can't get the point across unless you bring yourself to that level," he said.

The band members accomplish this feat, in part, by feeding off each other's energy. Even after years of being apart, the band, which has dozens of Grammy Awards and millions of record sales under its belt, has easily rediscovered that connection. 

Next time, Tyminski said, they'll try harder not to let the time get away from them.

"We never intended to go that long between records," he said. "Now, we can't help but think about what we're going to do next."

Tickets for Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas at Mountain Park in Holyoke on Sunday, July 24th at 7PM Tickets at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, by phone at 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com. 

Celtic music and flamin’ fiddles galore at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton this summer from Valley locals and international troubadours alike!

 Zoë Darrow and the Fiddleheads - Friday, July 22^nd 7PM

Zoë Darrow and the Fiddleheads is a traditional Celtic band from Blandford, Massachusetts. Zoë Darrow, born in 1989, began fiddling when she was 4 years old and now leads her trio in Scottish, Irish, and Cape Breton fiddle tunes. Backed up by her dad Phillip on guitar and Tom Coburn on piano, Zoë Darrow and the Fiddleheads have been performing publicly since 1999. Zoë is currently studying anthropology and ethnomusicology at Mount Holyoke College, but still maintains a performance schedule along with her academic pursuits.  Zoë's recordings Please Don't Eat the Fiddleheads! and Fiddle Me This include both traditional and contemporary fiddle tunes. Current performances feature favorites from those recordings plus new inspirations from her trips to Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton, and Ireland. Zoë's fiddling, step dancing, and charming persona add up to a show that has been pleasing audiences throughout the Northeast.

Karan Casey & John Doyle, Buille - Monday, August 1^st 7PM 

Karan Casey and John Doyle were both founding members of the Irish supergroup Solas, and they both left the group for successful solo careers. In 2008, they got together to produce a CD, but before they could release it and tour together, John was offered a position as musical director and guitarist for Joan Baez. Now, finally, John and Karan are heading out on tour to sing the songs from the new CD, Exile's Return. Karan has been twice voted Best Female Traditional/Folk artist by Irish Music Magazine readers and her nomination for a prestigious BBC Radio 2 Folk Award. Doyle has spent most of his life enveloped by traditional Irish music, his main focus being the guitar. He’s worked with several prominent figures in the Irish community, including Frank McCourt (author of Angela’s Ashes).

Buille was formed in 2004 by Armagh born brothers Niall and Caoimhín Vallely along with Paul Meehan and Brian Morrissey as a vehicle to perform a body of new tunes written in a traditional style with contemporary arrangements. The groups’ debut album. “Buille” was released in 2005 to rave reviews and was described in the Irish Times: "Buille is as fresh a breath that's blown through traditional (and roots) circles in a long, long time." Buille are back now with a new project and album entitled “Buille 2”. This is a much more ambitious project featuring more large scale compositions and arrangements and utilizing a much bigger ensemble.

Coyote Run, Sarah The Fiddler- Thursday,  August 4th  7pm

Bagpipes, guitars, accordion, whistles, didgeridoo, electric bass, killer drums, and much more greet the audience at a Coyote Run concert. Something in the alchemical mix of players and their unique backgrounds creates a seamless, adrenaline filled show that never lets up. From the growling, rhythmic screams of the didgeridoo, to the rich, polyrhythm of the drums, to the monstrous and intricate bass lines, the wailing lead guitar, the filigree of the accordion, the triumph of the bagpipes and the lyrical whimsy of the whistles, this is a band that is unlike any other and is not soon forgotten.

 The moment her bow touches the strings (Sarah Michel)  Sarah The Fiddler's  passion for music is evident. Combining her influences of classical, bluegrass, and celtic music to create a unique style and sound. For the first few years of her playing career in New England Fiddle contests, Sarah was known as the girl with the red hat. Eventually it was her playing that was being recognized. Although classical music has been a staple in Sarah's music career, her passion lies with fiddling. At the age of six, she began lessons and was introduced to fiddle contests. She has entered and won over three hundred contests throughout New England and during her twenty year career.

April Verch - Wednesday, September 14^th 7PM

The photos on April Verch’s seventh album are a bit deceiving. The freshly scrubbed beauty could be mistaken for a young television star versus an accomplished player and composer, who started step-dancing at age three and playing the fiddle at age six. Who, by the age of ten, was winning fiddle contests and touring Canada -- releasing two solo albums before graduating from high school. Now, Verch, who leads her band with her own simultaneous fiddling and dancing (selling out prestigious venues and festivals for years), is giving notice that she is emerging to take the role of one of the top women in the roots genre with her recent release, Steal The Blue. April Verch performed in the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, BC.

Seven Nations - Thursday, September 15^th 7PM

Seven Nations — the name refers to the seven original Celtic nations of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Galecia, Isle of Man, and Brittany — officially began in 1993 in New York City with a standard line-up of drums, guitars, and bass,” notes lead singer and guitarist Kirk McLeod. With a passionate, tender, and rollicking style that winningly veers from roots and folk to dance and fusion-rock, Seven Nations has earned a growing reputation as an adventurous band with a charismatic stage presence. Seven Nations has been touring full-time since 1994 with successful stops in Europe, Canada, Puerto Rico, and virtually every state in the US. The band’s latest album, Time as the Enemy has been praised for “having the appeal of the original albums, yet a mature songwriting style. The lyrics are relatable, surprising, and the pipe/fiddle hooks stir a desire to listen to the album over and over.”

Coming Soon:

Saturday, September 17^th at 10PM The Big Bad Bollocks

Monday, October 3^rd at 7pm Great Big Sea frontman's new project: Sean McCann and the Committed

Tickets for all of these shows at the Iron Horse in Northampton are for sale at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.  Doors and dinner from 5:30. Music starts at 7PM.

Spicy urban beats from French-born Chilean MC Ana Tijoux at the Iron Horse on Sunday, July 31st at 7PM

There’s a surprising gap between MTV mainstream hip-hop and the uber-coolness of what’s actually happening to the music nowadays. Unknown to the mainstream audiences, French-born Chilean MC Ana Tijoux may very well be that elusive next best thing in hip-hop music. Ana’s album 1977 pays tribute to the old-school hip-hop, mixing organic vinyl scratches, urban grooves, jazzy horn samples and Latin sounds. Ana’s voice is velvety and smoky, some times whispery, yet always seamlessly flowing with the the beats. One song standing out is the largely autobiographical title track “1977″ with its strong melody, Mexican trumpets, dynamic rhythms and truly excellent production.

Anamaría Merino (born 1977), commonly known by her stage name Ana Tijoux or Anita Tijoux, is a French-Chilean musician. She became famous in Latin America as the female MC of hip-hop group Makiza during the late 1990s. In 2006, she crossed over to the Latin mainstream pop due to her collaboration with Mexican songstress Julieta Venegas in the radio hit "Eres para mí". She is currently promoting her second solo album, 1977.

Tijoux is the daughter of Chilean parents living in political exile in France during Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship of Chile. After the return to democracy in Chile, Tijoux flew back to her father's land. Being a teenager, she found home in the emerging hip-hop scene of Santiago and she started rhyming first in French, then in Spanish. For a while, she formed part of a group that included Zaturno, later of Tiro de Gracia. In 1997, she joined Seo2, Cenzi, and DJ Squat to form Makiza.

LISTEN

  

Tickets for Ana Tijoux at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Sunday, July 31st at 7:00 PM are $15 at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

 
 

Bright Eyes, Titus Andronicus join summer schedule at Mountain Park in Holyoke on Sunday, August 28th at 7PM. Tickets on sale this Friday, 7/15.

 The summer line-up at Mountain Park in Holyoke continues to roll out, adding Bright Eyes plus Titus Andronicus on Sunday, August 28^th at 7PM.  Combined with The Decemberists on July 31^st, Bon Iver on August 6^th and Fleet Foxes on September 25^th, Mountain Park is presenting a top-shelf representation of some of the brightest and most original  new bands of this generation.

Bright Eyes became a household name (in a certain kind of household) when, for a few months in early 2005, they seemed ubiquitous.  From magazine covers to late night talk shows, they were name-checked by everyone from sports casters to country stars. Conor Oberst has spent much of the last few years recording and touring with friends and musicians, The Mystic Valley Band, as well as releasing a a highly acclaimed album and tour as part of the so called indie supergroup Monsters of Folk. The People’s Key – the band’s seventh studio album – is the eagerly awaited follow-up to 2007’s acclaimed Cassadaga.. Fully realized and bursting with charisma, The People’s Key is assured and accomplished, artfully arranged and filled with the engaging and mesmeric songwriting for which Oberst is renowned.

 Titus Andronicus is a punk/indie band from Glen Rock, New Jersey formed in 2005. The group takes its name from the Shakespeare play Titus Andronicus. Their debut album, The Airing of Grievances received widespread acclaim. The album's loud, heavily distorted guitars are influenced by the shoegaze genre, while the lyrics and song titles are references to various books and other forms of entertainment (such as the album title, from the Seinfeld episode, "The Strike", about Festivus). Titus Andronicus' second album, The Monitor, was released on March 9, 2010, the same month that Rolling Stone magazine named the band one of the 10 best new bands of 2010.

Tickets for Bright Eyes plus Titus Andronicus at Mountain Park in Holyoke on Sunday, August 28th at 7:00 PM are $30 (General Admission) on sale THIS Friday, July 15th at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

Jimbo Mathus (of the Squirrel Nut Zippers) and his band the Tri-State Coalition roll into the Iron Horse on Monday July 18th at 7PM. TheWildcat O’Halloran Band opens.

 The late, great producer, raconteur, pianist, session man, artist and sage Jim Dickinson once called Jimbo Mathus "the singing voice of Huck Finn." Outside the South, Jimbo is likely best known as the ringleader of the hyper-ragtime outfit Squirrel Nut Zippers, or as the catalyst for Buddy Guy's breakthrough “Sweet Tea” in 2001 and Guy's Grammy-winning Blues Singer album. In his native Mississippi, and throughout the South, Mathus is recognized as the prolific songwriter of born-in-the-bone Southern music, the torchbearer for Deep South mythology and culture. Think Delta highways, bowling-pin Budweisers and "innerplanetary honky-tonk" for the masses. His credits include vocals on the North Mississippi Allstars'  “Electric Blue Watermelon” and was,  himself, Grammy-nominated for his participation on the Jim Dickinson memorial album, Onward and Upward as a member of Luther Dickinson & The Sons of Mudboy. He recorded Confederate Buddha, his latest solo album, with his current band The Tri-State Coalition, featuring solid talent cut from the same Delta cloth. He describes the sound as "...a true Southern amalgam of blues, white country, soul and rock-n-roll."

 On August 2^nd, Katharine Whalen will release her newest full-length album, “Madly Love”.  Best known as a founding member of 1990’s band Squirrel Nut Zippers (with whom she sold over 3 Million records), Whalen’s work post-Zippers has ranged from her own take on jazz standards with “Katharine Whalen’s Jazz Squad” to the avant-pop of her “Dirty Little Secret” release. Whalen started writing the songs on “Madly Love” during her last couple of years with the Zippers and says that the songs, “manifest a very true voice for me”.  It’s hard to categorize the music on “Madly Love”, but one could make the case that its blend of Irish blues and Southern-tinged rock falls under the rather broad definition of “Folk Music”.  Whalen notes, “As I wrote these songs, I was accessing very early memories of the grown-ups playing records constantly around the house.  Arlo Guthrie, The Everly Brothers, Mitch and Mickey, The Folks Men, and “The ‘New’ Main Street Singers were in heavy rotation, not to mention Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs!” 


Whalen is a chronic passionate creator, and the common thread winding its way through her creations – be it music, building dollhouses, drafting posters, or writing her column on picnics for a local paper in her North Carolina hometown – is a general contagious exuberance.  With “Madly Love”, she offers up a raucous (yet, at times bittersweet) collage of news-clipping from the pages of her life; swinging and swaying, our heroic belter throws open the barn doors, and we can’t help but join the party!

Tickets for Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coalition plus the Wildcat O’Halloran Band at the Iron Horse on Monday July 18^th at 7PM and  for Katharine Whalen and Her Fascinators plus the Primate Fiasco at the Iron Horse on Wednesday, August 17th at 7PM are available at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

Gillian Welch to play Northampton’s Calvin Theatre on Monday, November 28th at 8PM. Tickets on sale next Friday, July 15th.

 

Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings met at an audition for a country band while attending Berklee College of Music. Together, they moved to Nashville where most of their work together has transpired. They have since influenced and inspired new generations of country and folk singers, songwriters and players and earned the slavish admiration of many of the most lauded and loved voices of the Americana milieu. They’ve had their songs recorded by the likes of Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, and Solomon Burke. 

Gill and Dave’s body of work is deeply rooted in the world it has sought to portray in song: the American South. The Harrow & The Harvest, Gill and Dave’s new record is the product of two people who have become so entwined in one another that the songs and the singing and the playing on this record seems to exude from a single voice. The sound of two people playing live, with no overdubs, and very few takes. Two people making music together as if they were one soul combined.

 

Tickets for Gillian Welch at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Monday, November 28th at 8:00 PM are on sale next Friday, July 15th at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

Disappears, The Psychic Paramount - Psychedelic shoegaze haze and Krautrock grooves on a very heavy co-bill at the Iron Horse Monday, July 25th at 8:30. Amherst band Lord Jeff opens.

Disappears: Drawing on a combined reverence for reverb, heavy tremolo, distortion, delay and repetition, Disappears play minimal rock music inspired by everything from Kraut to American gospel to punk. Started as a recording project in 2008, Disappears inevitably left the studio - supporting Wire, Deerhunter, Tortoise, German legends Cluster and beyond.

WATCH Disappears “Superstition” video.

Initially designed to explore the simplicity of early American music and it's reinterpretation by UK acts of the mid 80's, the band self released a series of 7" singles and a live album in 2008, signing to the Kranky imprint in 2009. Their debut album Lux was released in the spring of 2010. Sans a few early champions, Lux was initially met with little fanfare and went largely unnoticed. Dark and hazy, it showed the band experimenting with minimal arrangements married to the attitude of bands like Suicide and The Fall.

A series of US tours followed, the band criss crossing the states playing to small but enthusiastic crowds. Undeterred, Disappears entered the studio a mere month after Lux's release to record their follow up Guider. Propulsive and violent, Guider perfectly represents the state of the band - uncompromising and uninterested in a world deluded with hype and numerical evaluations. Anchored by the 16 minute "Revisiting", Guider showed the band locking in on the minimalism hinted at on earlier releases as well as fully giving into the ideas of repetition and space explored by influences like the Staple Singers and Neu!. 

A chance meeting with Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth proved not only instrumental in the band supporting Michael Rother on his Hallogallo tour (on which Steve played drums) but also to his eventual joining of the band following Gibson's amicable departure. Bolstered by Shelley's presence as well as the critical acclaim upon Guider's release, Disappears launched a series of successful tours in the US, United Kingdom and Europe. Shelley joins them for the Iron Horse show.

 The Psychic Paramount: The key to The Psychic Paramount is rhythm. It's easy to invoke Can and Faust if any band has that essential kraut-rock beat, which is certainly here, but Jeff Conaway is so loose on the jam and so fierce on the fills that he's like a jazzier John Bonham. In fact, that's what separated The Psychic Paramount then, as it does now: a collective looseness that suddenly zeroes in like a machine gun on its target. Their sound is instrumentally driven and often heavily psychedelic with cosmic Rhys Chatham guitar exercises — a drone-like bed with subtle, bluesy leads — and sudden turns into acrobatic noise that threaten a spectacular crash. But the trio always finds its way back to the essential jam, its quick-cut twists and turns like a Bourne Supremacy for the senses.

Watch The Psychic Paramount “N5” video.

"Like the instrumental way stations within a bloodthirsty performance by a band with songs (like, say, The Who's Live at Leeds)... or like free jazz with rock syncopation and dynamics. There’s some pacing, some narrative, lots of purpose, but the basic idea is to be always exploding in your face." New York Times

"Huge jams that soar, crash, and smolder-- often at the same time-- the band pumps extra blood and muscle into their sound, as if stretching a balloon into a blimp." –Pitchfork

Lord Jeff—aka Lord Jeffery Amherst—is most certainly the only Valley band to lose members to Scientology, a drive-by shooting, and Katy Perry. The group has been a working concern for almost a decade, playing countless shows and releasing a string of recordings, including the recent eponymous album for Ecstatic Peace!  The group incorporates a diversity of styles into its music. “We are droney, reverbed-out, Dirty South, crunk, psychedelic rap with or without drum machines” says lead singer Sean Goggins. "It's all been a blur. I think we've played close to 400 shows by now, self released three albums and five tapes, toured the country four times." Over 20 musicians have passed through the ranks of Lord Jeff, but Goggins is convinced that the current lineup sounds better than any assembled in the last decade.

Tickets are $10 at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.co

Summertime Blues at the Calvin Theatre and the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton

 Jonny Lang - Friday, July 22^nd 8pm at the Calvin Theatre

 At times Jonny Lang sounds more like a seasoned bluesman from the Delta than a contemporary musician from North Dakota. His extraordinary singing and guitar playing stamped him as a once-in-a-generation blues talent. His 1997 debut, “Lie To Me” topped the charts and critics marveled at the poise and maturity the 16-year-old artist displayed. Lang has toured with Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, B.B. King, and Blues Traveler, as well as headlining around the world. The late Luther Allison said, "Jonny Lang has the power to move the music into the next millennium by reaching the ears of a new generation. The great musicians have the power to break all of the ‘isms’ -race, age, sex, etc. Jonny Lang is one of those musicians."

Johnny A- Saturday,  July 16^th 7PM Iron Horse

 Johnny A played as a sideman with such artists as Bobby Whitlock and J. Geils frontman Peter Wolf.  He belongs in the rarified ranks of players like Jeff Beck, Bill Frisell and Carlos Santana; he's recognizable from the first note. He has created a unique voice, not just playing guitar - he plays music. Gibson Custom Guitars introduced the Johnny A. Signature Model in 2003, designed from the ground up per Johnny's specs. Devotion to melodies, tight dynamics and succulent tones perfectly temper Johnny's balance of fire and ice.

Kenny Neal - Saturday, July 30^th 7pm at the Iron Horse

The album Let Life Flow marks the return of multi-instrumentalist and modern swamp-blues master Kenny Neal, with an inspired set that draws musically from the sizzling sounds of his native Louisiana.  Kenny Neal, born in New Orleans and raised in Baton Rouge, began playing music at a young age. Learning the basics from his father, singer and Blues harmonica master, Raful Neal.  Family friends like Lazy Lester, Buddy Guy and Slim Harpo also contributed to Kenny’s early musical education. In fact, it was Harpo who gave the crying three-year-old a harmonica to pacify him. Kenny stopped crying that day. Whether performing songs of soulful catharsis or hip-shaking celebration, Neal  pays tribute to his diverse influences, while injecting a heartfelt sentiment born of the real-life, human struggles that any listener can relate to.

Shemekia Copeland - Saturday, August 6^th 7PM at the Iron Horse

At a young age, Shemekia Copeland is already a force to be reckoned with in the blues. While still in her 20s, she’s opened for the Rolling Stones, headlined at the Chicago Blues Festival and numerous festivals around the world, scored critics choice awards on both sides of the Atlantic (The New York Times and The Times of London) and shared the stage with such luminaries as Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Taj Mahal and John Mayer. Heir to the rich tradition of soul-drenched divas like Ruth Brown, Etta James and Koko Taylor, Copeland’s shot at the eventual title of Queen of the Blues is pretty clear. By some standards, she may already be there.

Samirah Evans and Her Handsome Devils -Saturday, August 13^th 7PM at the Iron Horse

In New Orleans, a city known worldwide for its music, Samirah Evans was one of its most popular jazz & blues vocalists. She first performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1990, and became a regular fixture as either a leader or featured vocalist for fourteen consecutive years. She has toured Europe, Asia, and both North and South America as a headliner, and shared stages with a multitude of legendary artists from B.B. King and James Brown, to New Orleans own Queen of Soul, Irma Thomas. Samirah’s connection to the jazz lineage and her message of love and excitement radiates from the entire band like a giant light beam! She purrs, she roars, her voice subtle then huge, nuanced then powerful, her phrasing always exact.

 Tommy Castro Band Tuesday, August 23^rd 7PM at the Iron Horse

 R&B singer, songwriter and guitarist Tommy Castro is one of the most popular and creative roots artists to emerge in recent years. Castro, winner of the 2008 Blues Music Award for Entertainer Of The Year, is famed not only for his hard-hitting, impassioned vocals, soaring guitar work and his blues-infused, rocking R&B sound, but also for his striking, original songwriting and exhilarating stage show. According to The San Francisco Chronicle, “Castro navigates seriously funky Southern soul, gritty big city blues and scorching rock…his silvery guitar licks simultaneously sound familiar and fresh.”

Tickets on sale this Friday for HANSON- 2011 Musical Ride Tour on Friday, October 7th at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton

Pop-rock trio HANSON officially announce their 2011 Musical Ride Tour, a 15-year career spanning tour, where fans will be given the chance to vote online to choose the album they want to hear the band play each night. Voting will start on Hanson.net on Monday July 11^th. The shows will also include career highlights, and music from their acclaimed 5^th studio album Shout It Out, featuring the smash single “Give A Little”. The 40+ city US tour will run from September 4^th through November 1^st, before heading to the UK, Europe and Latin America. 

The Musical Ride Tour announcement comes amidst a busy summer schedule promoting the band’s summer smash “Give A Little” in the US and the UK, right on the heels of a sold-out London installment of the band’s 5of5 five-night concert series. The series, which featured each of HANSON’s albums performed in their entirety in five consecutive concerts, received critical praise and overwhelming fan response, and was preceded by the original sold-out series in New York in the Spring of 2010, and produced the 5-disc DVD box set, 5of5 available exclusively on Hanson.net.

“Much like the 5of5 concert series both in New York and London which blew us away, this whole tour is about looking back in order to go forward”, says Taylor.

Adds drummer Zac “This tour is a unique way of saying thank you to the many fans that have followed the band for years, who will, for the first time, get a chance to help shape the show they see each night”.

The tour also builds on the band’s reputation as a dynamic live act, with acclaim from indie cred stalwarts The Village Voice who called them “The finest straight up rock band in America”. The model of this tour’s fan engagement is in step with the band’s history of innovating online and focusing on a direct-to-fan relationship throughout their career. Previously the band has hosted opening band contests for local independent artists, nightly livestreams of performances, chats and interviews, and custom mobile check-in’s at shows.

The band’s 5^th studio album Shout It Out debuted at #2 on the Billboard independent charts to critical acclaim, and has seen increased fan fervor with the infectious summer smash “Give A Little”, and the soul-inspired “Thinkin ’Bout Somethin’” with it’s iconic homage to the Blues Brothers film and classic rock'n'roll and soul music. 

Tickets for Hanson at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Friday, October 7th at 8:00 PM are on sale THIS Friday, July 8th at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.