Category Archives: Out and About

Power Pop Descends Upon CSPS in the Form of Chicago Rocker Dick Prall

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Well, it’s been a pretty great week for acts at CSPS! The Duncan Sheik show on Thursday night was pretty damn amazing, and I found a couple of acts I want to keep an eye on– that new Alpha Rev album coming out next year will be one that I’m looking forward to.

Tonight the big stage at CSPS will be graced by Dick Prall who used to live in Iowa, but now crafts his Brit Pop-influenced Midwestern Rock from the Windy City. He’s put out a solid run of pop rock masterpieces since his first release Somewhere About Here in 1998.

This year he is kicking off a new project that is a little different than his standard album releases. He is working with Pat Sansone of Wilco and The Autumn Defense to release a series of digital singles which will culminate in a full release with bonus material next year. In an e-mail exchange with Prall he said, “We’re trying a different methodology this time around to hopefully keep folks interested and engaged on a monthly basis – that’s the theory, anyway. All the songs are being done with Pat Sansone, who digs the idea, so I’m in good company.”

If the first single “Wanted Blue” is any indication, it will be one for the “Best of” list for 2013! Prall also said that they are considering vinyl for this release! Listen for yourself and download:

Dick is bringing a band with him tonight that he describes as “drums, bass, violin, & hollow-bodied guitar put together in a sort of laid-back Buddy Holly & the Crickets meets Elvis Costello backed by Spoon sort of way.” Sounds like my kind of lineup!

The show is at 8PM at CSPS, and tickets are $17 in advance and $21 at the door. The opener is Stolen Silver. Details at the LegionArts.org site.

Listen to Dick Prall’s acoustic session on Daytrotter.com (it’s a free trial if you don’t have a subscription)

Here are upcoming shows (from dickprall.com)

Duncan Sheik Returns to CSPS Thursday 11/15 With Sunset Sessions Lineup

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Holly, Gerry & Duncan

Duncan Sheik is making a return to Cedar Rapids tomorrow night. He is making a stop in the area as part of the Sunset Sessions Live tour and also in support of the fact that his Tony and Grammy winning musical Spring Awakening is going to be put on by U of I Arts. Sheik is going to speak at the UI Theatre from Noon to 1 and then he’s performing at CSPS at 7PM along with Austin band Alpha Rev and New Jersey singer/songwriter Laura Warshauer.

I saw Duncan in 2009 at CSPS when he came through Iowa in support of his Whisper House album. He apparently likes to tour with an ensemble– as in 2009, he’s bringing other bands with him. This tour is sponsored by The Sunset Sessions which is an organization that puts on events which are specifically designed to draw together musicians with radio programmers and music supervisors (the people who put your new favorite songs into TV shows, movies, advertising and video games). These days, music supervisors are up there as the leading tastemakers (next to music blogs, ‘natch 🙂 ). This tour is designed as a showcase for some bands that have been featured in these events, so we get to hear some new music from Duncan Sheik, as well as Alpha Rev (who has music all over TV on VH1, Bravo, ABC, The CW as well as film, and Laura Warshauer (who has been recently signed to Def Jam/Island).

Duncan is touring in support of his latest album, Covers 80’s Remixed, which, as the title implies, is a remix album of his 2011 release Covers 80’s, which has him delivering interpretations of his favorite songs from bands like Japan, Psychedelic Furs, The Smiths, The Cure and Tears for Fears.

This promises to be a pretty spectacular evening, frankly– some up-and-coming acts coupled with some 80’s nostalgia delivered from a great songwriter. It can’t miss.

Duncan Sheik, Alpha Rev and Laura Warshauer will hit the CSPS big stage at 7PM. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Details at the Legion Arts Website.

HERE is the Facebook Event for the show.

Codfish Hollow Presents… A Democratic Barnstormer featuring Pieta Brown and David Zollo 10/6/12

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Anyone who knows Tiff Biehl knows that she is a Democratic Activist of the first order. You might not know it to see her roaming the barn making sure everything is in working order during the magical Daytrotter Barnstormer shows that have taken place at their wonderful live music barn venue called Codfish Hollow just outside Maquoketa, IA. These shows have included bands like Dawes (twice), The Walkmen, Local Natives, Delta Spirit, and many others, culminating in an amazing show with Counting Crows this year on the 4th of July.

But, before Tiff had car vanity license plates that said BARNSTRM, she had plates that said OBAMA.

She decided that she wanted to bring her skills pulling together these Barnstormer shows with her passion for the Liberal agenda of the Democratic Party. So, we get another Barnstormer show at Codfish Hollow– specifically to raise money for Iowa House representative Tom Schueller (District 58) and Former Governor Vilsack’s wife Christie Vilsack (running against US Congressman Steve King in District 4) Also to help register the youth vote and Stand with Women and the LGBT community. An amazing example of a grassroots approach to making change.

A lineup was quickly gathered that should prove to make this another in a series of historic shows. Heading the lineup is Eastern Iowa artist Pieta Brown, who is said to be pulling together a band specifically for this show, joining her on the bill is another Eastern Iowa legend David Zollo. Along side them will be six other bands: The Blackberry Bushes Stringband, Subatlantic, Barnstormer triple alumni Brooks Strause, Fire Sale, River Glen Trio, Nate Gordon & Jay VonBruchhaeuser.

In addition to this impressive lineup of bands will be craft vendors, the old farm house will be open as an art gallery, plus the regular features of Codfish Hollow shows like hayrides from the parking lot, fire rings, and lots of great food. Congressman Bruce Braley will be speaking at 7PM as well.

The event will start at 2PM on Saturday, October 6th at 2PM and will run until the music runs out. Tickets are $25 until Midnight Friday night and $35 the day of the show. Children under 14 get in free. You can get your tickets HERE, or Melodie Schueller (563-357-0080) or from Tiff , from Osterhaus Pharmacy in Maquoketa, or at the Democratic Headquarters on Main street in Maquoketa!

RSVP to the event at Facebook HERE.

(Upcoming Show) Nellie McKay at CSPS in Cedar Rapids on 9/27

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Nellie McKay
It’s difficult to summarize Nellie McKay’s very diverse career. Since the release of her first double album Get Away From Me– which is how I first heard her- she’s released four more albums, had a painful breakup with her record label, starred on Broadway, acted in a couple of films, and generally exhibited her resistance to staying in any one place for very long. Irrepressible, unsinkable, unbelievable Nellie McKay.

When I saw her in 2008 at The Dakota in Minneapolis with my wife and daughter (where the above picture was taken) she stayed primarily at the piano with a few ukelele tunes and performed a few songs from a proposed politically-themed musical that I’m not sure was ever produced.

So, when I heard that she was coming to our wonderful CSPS Hall, I was very excited to see her again– she draws from a very rich palate and Cedar Rapids will be guaranteed a very unpredictable and rich musical experience. Not to be missed, frankly.

The show will be at 7PM, and tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Visit the Legion Arts website for more details.

And, if Nellie’s flight gets in on time, she’ll be doing an interview with Gordon Paulsen on KCCK at approximately 4:20PM. Tune in on the radio at 88.3 FM in Cedar Rapids, or online at KCCK.org.

While you’re at it, you should check out Nellie’s Daytrotter.com session!

 

 

The Pines at CSPS Tonight! New Video for “All The While” (Friday, 9/7/2012)

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I think Cedar Rapids is getting a little spoiled! Red House Records band The Pines is back at CSPS tonight for the third time since it reopened in 2011!  For the show in February the audience was graced with a surprise guest– Benson Ramsey’s dad Bo Ramsey!
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Whether or not Bo will make a surprise visit again tonight remains to be seen, but either way The Pines are a band not to be missed and the beautifully remodeled CSPS are the perfect location to see them. Be sure to grab the Pines’ latest album Dark So Gold which was recently pressed in vinyl!

The show will be at 8PM at CSPS with the doors probably at 7PM. Tickets are $14 in advance and $17 at the door. For more information visit CSPS website.

The Pines also recently released their second video from Dark So Gold. Produced by Jonathan Chapman.

Also– you should check out the latest Daytrotter.com session from The Pines–

Click Here

Gayngs Related Minneapolis Band Poliça to Play Voices Warehouse in Dubuque 9/25

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What does one do when Ryan Olson, the mastermind behind the Minneapolis Supergroup Gayngs suggests that you start your own band? Well, if you are Channy Leanagh (née Casselle) formerly of Minneapolis folk band Roma di Luna and one of the vocalists in Gayngs– you take the suggestion and help. Olson took some of the songs that Channy had been writing and added some of his own electronic wizardry– a process similar to how he grew the Gayngs album. Olson then called in some other musicians he had worked with the vision of creating not just a solo Leanagh project but a complete band.

The unique formula of Poliça (pronounced POE-LISA) takes the vocoder fetish from Gayngs (and Bon Iver for that matter) and layers it over a no-guitars lineup of electronics (mostly handled by Leanagh in a live settng), insane bass guitar by Chris Bierden of Twin Cities Indie Psych band Vampire Hands, and twin drummers Drew Christopherson (of Olson’s bands Digitata and Blunts) and Ben Ivascu (of Olson’s bands Building Better Bombs and Marijuana Deathsquads). Mike Noyce of Gayngs and Bon Iver guests on a couple of tracks, too. Poliça brings a significant pedigree to the table and the results are impressive– a very trip-hop electronica sound reminiscent of Portishead in my opinion.

Since Poliça released their debut album Give You The Ghost on February 14th on Olson’s Totally Gross National Product label (on CD and LP) they’ve been touring seemingly non-stop in the US and Europe. They played Iowa City in February as part of their album release shows, so it’s pretty interesting that they will be back in Eastern Iowa playing the Voices Warehouse Gallery on September 25th. Voices is a really special venue down in the Warehouse district of Dubuque. Beautiful exposed brick and pipes with a well-worn wood floor housing interesting sculptures, prints and paintings. I’ve seen a couple of shows there– Tortoise and Bo Ramsey and both were cozy personal shows.

Poliça played “Dark Star” on Jimmy Kimmel last week, and it was announced that they have signed to Mom + Pop Music (home of Andrew Bird, An Horse, Sleigh Bells) who will reissue the album and have already released a remix EP for “Dark Star.” All really great news for the band who will be opening for Bon Iver’s upcoming four-night run at Radio City Music Hall, which is just before the Dubuque show.

Opening the show will be Canon Blue, aka Daniel James. James’ new album Rumspringa is a orchestral/chamber pop album that was recorded while on tour with Efterklang. Check the audio out on his site– beautiful stuff.

Tickets for Poliça and Canon Blue are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. The show starts at 8PM. For more information check out the Voices Warehouse website.

Check out Polica’s Daytrotter Session Here.

(Upcoming Show) The Mighty Men of Dawes Return to Iowa – The Englert, Iowa City 8/19/2012

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Taylor and Wylie of Dawes
Since the last time California band Dawes graced a stage in Eastern Iowa in 2010 they’ve been busy. Last year they released their sophomore album Nothing Is Wrong, got their video for “Time Spent In Los Angeles” added to VH1’s Top 20, tapped as his touring band by Robbie Robertson (and backed him on Letterman!), toured seemingly non-stop around the world both headlining and in support of bands like Mumford & Sons as well as hitting the festival stages at Coachella and Lollapalooza.

After being spoiled with a bunch of performances in 2009 and 2010 (three Barnstormer shows, RIBCO, Barn on the Fourth in Maquoketa, Gabes) we’re excited to have the band back in Iowa with what should be an amazing show at the beautiful Englert Theater in Iowa City next Sunday, 8/19. Joining them is fellow Barnstormer and Daytrotter.com alum Nathaniel Rateliff.

Here is video I shot of “So Well” from when Dawes played Gabes in Iowa City in August of 2010:

This promises to be one of the great shows of this year, so don’t miss it. The crowd will be packed with Barnstormer regulars ready to welcome the boys back, so the crowd will be bringing the love and if past experience dictates, the band will respond with an amazing show.

Be sure to pick up the August issue of Little Village Magazine where I have an interview with Taylor Goldsmith. You can read the whole issue online HERE.

Tickets are $16 in Advance and $18 the day of the show and are general admission.

Details are HERE.

(Upcoming Show) Lindsey Buckingham at The Englert in Iowa City Sunday, 9/2/2012

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(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Lindsey Buckingham is having the time of his life.

At the time of his sixth solo album The Seeds We Sow in 2011, Lindsey Buckingham is able to frame his life as a musician and family man in the context of his journey thus far. He attributes his peace to two things. The first is his personal life, “To finally meet someone and to have the family thing happen, that’s been a real gift,” he says. The other is musical. “If there is a level of contentedness that I’ve arrived at, part of it is because I think in the last three or four years what I experienced during the solo albums and then what I experienced on the last Fleetwood Mac tour I felt like I had come to a point where there was so much foundation that I had built for myself making incremental steps forward as a musician and as an artist.”

Certainly, the last few years have been very productive for Buckingham, starting with an out-of-the-blue solo album in 2006, a derailed follow up that morphed into a new studio album for a re-ignited Fleetwood Mac, a re-imagining of the derailed follow up in 2008, a live album and then The Seeds We Sow in 2011.

The Seeds We Sow represents Buckingham taking full control over his career handling all of the recording, production and also releasing himself. The album is a very up-close-and-personal perspective of Buckingham at times sounding like a really well-produced home demo, which I suppose it really is.

I consider Lindsey Buckingham to be a personal musical hero. His distinct sound and contribution to the canon of rock music with his solo work as well as his years in Fleetwood Mac have impacted me at a level that might be chromosomal. I started listening to music on my own around the time of Rumours and his music has been with me ever since. I have been fortunate to see him with the Mighty Mac three times in my life but never solo, so the news that he will be performing at the wonderful Englert Theatre in Iowa City on Labor Day Weekend is exciting news! He will be performing at 8PM on Sunday, September 2rd.

The presale for the show started on Tuesday for Friends of the Englert, and general sale for the show starts on Friday,  June 22nd at 1PM. Tickets are $55 for Tier One Tickets and $45 for Tier Two.

Click Here for more information about Lindsey Buckingham at The Englert in Iowa City, including how to order tickets.

Click Here to find out about how you can be a Friend of the Englert and get in on great pre-sale deals and other perks.

 

(Upcoming Show) Surf Zombies “Lust for Rust” Release Show at CSPS 6/16/2012

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I reviewed the latest release from Cedar Rapids Surf Czars The Surf Zombies Lust for Rust in Little Village Magazine last month.

The latest incarnation of the Zombies has bit bit more edge than the previous albums thanks to the production and engineering of Ian Williams (guitars for the Zombies and also in The Wheelers) and lineups, and I think that Lust for Rust is by far the best release from the band to date.

Tonight at CSPS, the Surf Zombies are taking over the big stage at CSPS for their record release show at 8PM. Tickets are $15 at the door. I can’t think of a more enjoyable way to take in the Surf Zombies– galloping drums and bass, gigantic reverbby guitars and a fantastic selection of beer and wine in the recently-opened bar which is operated by the fine folks at Brewed Awakenings.

More details here.

(Upcoming Show) Counting Crows Bring Tour to Codfish Hollow Barn for 4th of July!

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Codfish Hollow Barn in Maquoketa, IA Ready to Be Stormed

As many things do any more, it all started with a tweet.

Around the time that Dawes played the “Barn on the Fourth” show in Maquoketa, IA at Codfish Hollow in 2010, Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows tweeted that he wanted to play in a barn. Last month it was announced that Counting Crows would be performing in Cedar Rapids as part of their RAGBRAI event. At that time, I speculated that it would have been a good time to do a Daytrotter Barnstormer show and mentioned it to Tiffany Biehl (Tiffany and her husband organize the Barnstormer shows on their farm) on Facebook, and she responded with “I wish.”

For the last couple of weeks Daytrotter has been featuring some of the notable sessions from the previous Barnstormer shows, so when Codfish Hollow posted to Facebook yesterday about some big news coming up, I figured it was going to be a Barnstormer announcement since Codfish Hollow has had the distinction of being the home base for these shows.

Wishes apparently come true! This morning Counting Crows sent out an e-mail to their fans about their decision to release their newest album of covers Underwater Sunshine for free via BitTorrent. Included in this e-mail was an update about their upcoming Outlaw Roadshow summer tour, which included this:

The first leg (Featuring Counting Crows, Good Old War, Foreign Fields, and Filligar) has already been onsale for a week. It starts in Asbury Park and heads north through Connecticut and upstate NY to Ontario then criss-crosses down through the Great Lake States and the Shenandoah Valley, passing back & forth through Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, and Virginia before traveling down south to Alabama, South Carolina, and Mississippi just west of the Tennessee state line. It ends in Maquoketa, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois where all the bands will celebrate Independence Day at Codfish Hollow Barn playing a Barnstormer show and then retire to Rock Island to record Daytrotter Sessions. (emphasis mine)

The details for this show are only just finalizing right now, so there isn’t any information about tickets yet, but considering that the venue (also known as a “barn”) has a reasonable capacity of around 500, these tickets will be as rare as hen’s teeth, as they say. I’ll update this post with any information that I get.

What a wonderful opportunity for Eastern Iowa!

You should consider signing up for a subscription to Daytrotter— a fantastic deal at $2 per month for some amazing sessions and other perks.

Click Here to listen to Counting Crows last Daytrotter Session.