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

Posted on August 26, 2012 by mike

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

Posted on August 12, 2012 by mike

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

Posted on June 21, 2012 by mike

(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

Posted on June 16, 2012 by mike

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.

New Calexico Album – “Algiers” Out on New Label Anti- on September 11th

Posted on June 7, 2012 by mike

Back in April, I announced that Calexico would be releasing their first album since 2008’s Carried To Dust. Yesterday, the band announced the details around the new album as well as tour dates.

The album will be called Algiers, and will be released by their new US label Anti- Records as well as their long-time European label City Slang.

Along with this announcement is a pre-order for a very elaborate German boxset for $99, which includes Algiers on 180g vinyl with tip on and embossed cover, 2 CD (includes a bonus CD) digipack, a photo book, a screen print of the cover art, a sticker and an exclusive live performance on 180g vinyl. If that wasn’t enough, there is a download of three bonus tracks! Calexico did a great job with the vinyl boxset of the tour-only albums, so it’s great to see they are continuing to cater to the vinyl collectors!

Algiers Tracklist:

Epic – 4:16
Splitter – 3:30
Sinner in the Sea – 4:14
Fortune Teller – 3:57
Para – 3:53
Algiers – 3:42
Maybe on Monday – 3:37
Puerto – 4:23
Better and Better – 2:33
No Te Vayas – 4:15
Hush – 4:22
The Vanishing Mind – 3:54

Here is the first track from Algiers, “Para” (and you can download it):

Here is the video for “Para” directed by Jack Spiger:

In conjunction with this release is a fall tour with extensive European dates (from Casa de Calexico)

Date	City	Venue	Country
08/04/12	Montreal, QC	Osheaga Festival	Canada
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09/14/12	Cologne	E-Werk	Germany
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09/15/12	Groningen	TakeRoot Festival	Netherlands
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09/16/12	Paris	Le Trianon	France
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09/18/12	London	ATP Festival	United Kingdom
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09/19/12	Brussels	Ancienne Belgique	Belgium
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09/20/12	Darmstadt	Centralstation	Germany
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09/21/12	Zurich	Volkshaus	Switzerland
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09/22/12	Vienna	Wiener Konzerthaus	Austria
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09/23/12	Berlin	Huxleys Neue Welt	Germany
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09/25/12	Hamburg	Grosse Freiheit 36	Germany
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09/26/12	Copenhagen	Vega	Denmark
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09/27/12	Oslo	Rockefeller Music Hall	Norway
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09/28/12	Stockholm	Berns	Sweden
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09/29/12	Gothenburg	Pusterviksbaren	Sweden
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09/30/12	Malmö	KB Kulturbolaget	Sweden
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11/09/12	Madrid	Teatro Kapital	Spain
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11/10/12	San Sebastian	Teatro Victoria Eugenia	Spain
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11/11/12	Barcelona	Apolo	Spain
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11/12/12	Montpellier	Rockstore	France
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11/13/12	Milan	Alcatraz	Italy
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11/14/12	Bologna	Estragon	Italy
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11/15/12	Basel	Volkshaus Basel	Switzerland
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11/16/12	Leipzig	Werk 2	Germany
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11/17/12	Wangles	Rolling Stone Weekender Festival	Germany
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11/18/12	Wiesbaden	Schlachthof	Germany
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11/20/12	Luxemburg	Den Atelier	Germany
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11/21/12	Amsterdam	Paradiso	Netherlands
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11/22/12	Rennes	Le Carré Sévigné	France
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11/23/12	Massy	Espace Paul B	France
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11/24/12	Strasbourg	La Laiterie Artefact	France
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11/26/12	Linz	Posthof Linz	Austria
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11/27/12	Zagreb	Tvornica Kulture	Croatia
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11/28/12	Salzburg	Republic	Austria
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11/29/12	Munich	Muffathalle	Germany
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(Upcoming Show) Counting Crows Bring Tour to Codfish Hollow Barn for 4th of July!

Posted on May 15, 2012 by mike

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.

(Upcoming Show) Pieta Brown and Friends Present This Land Is Your Music at The Mill Restaurant 4/14/2012

Posted on April 8, 2012 by mike

Ms. Pieta Brown is bringing her “artist in residence” show called “This Land Is Your Music” back to The Mill Restaurant in Iowa City on April 14th, 2012. In a similar fashion to the last two the show will feature Pieta as the headliner with other artists with local ties opening and a gallery exhibit.

This year, the event has been condensed into one show– but it is a powerhouse bill shared with The Pines and is a weekend show. Pieta’s set will be with a backing band that she is calling The Sawdust Boys– which is what she called her backing band for her recent tour of Australia. The Sawdust Boys are JT Bates and Michael Rossetto, who are conveniently also part of The Pines. I’m sure we’ll see Bo Ramsey as part of one or both band’s sets. Bo stopped by somewhat unannounced for the recent Pines show at CSPS and brought the house down with an unexpected solo song!

In the past Pieta has used these shows as a way to work out new material in a live setting– The Mill is a long-standing familial venue for the Ramsey’s and Brown’s and their associated friends. The audience for Pieta’s shows are by far some of the warmest and welcoming I’ve seen and impromptu sit-ins by friends and family are par for the course.

The gallery exhibit will feature pieces from Pieta’s private collection, including works from Greg Brown, Chris Carman, Constie and Zoe Brown, Mei-Ling Shaw Williams, Benson Ramsey, Sandy Dyas, and Cortnie Widen.

As with the previous This Land Is Your Music shows, this show is a benefit for Iowa Public Radio, and The Friends of Hickory Hill Park. Show is at 8PM on Saturday, April 14th with doors at 7PM. Tickets are $12.

Visit the Mill Restaurant webpage for details and how to order tickets.

Read my reviews and see pictures of the three 2009 This Land is Your Music shows. 11/5/09 11/12/09 11/19/09

Read my review and see pictures of one of the two 2010 This Land is Your Music shows. 12/4/2010

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the last shows:

(Upcoming Show) California Guitar Trio Returns to CSPS 3/23/12

Posted on March 22, 2012 by mike

The over-the-top classical-slash-progressive-slash-surf instrumental guitar group California Guitar Trio is making a return visit to Legion Arts/CSPS on 3/23. Their last visit to our fair city was in October of 2008, and marked the first show following the devastation of the 2008 Flood.

For that show, CGT was touring in support of their covers album Echoes (named after the jaw-dropping cover of the Pink Floyd song). The trio played on the small risers in front of the stage to a very receptive house– everyone in attendance aware of the miracle which was the reopening of CSPS in such a short time. The band graciously donated part of the proceeds of the show to Legion Arts which goes to show how much they appreciated being part of the resurrection.

Four years later and the venue is again following a period of being closed, but this time it is due to a major overhaul of the facility that finds it even more a center of the arts for Cedar Rapids with new creative spaces created in the century-old brick building. CGT is on tour for their 13th album Andromeda which is the first release that is comprised completely of original pieces and they bring in some guest musicians to help round out the album. Incidentally, Andromeda marks the first release on vinyl for the band (that hopefully they will bring so I can get one signed!).

I’ve been a big fan of California Guitar Trio dating back to their work with Robert Fripp (of King Crimson). The trio met in one of Fripp’s Guitar Craft schools and he asked them to be part of his Robert Fripp String Quintet along with Chapman Stick player Pat Mastellato. Mastellato would become part of the “double trio” reformation lineup of King Crimson in the late 90’s, and it was during that tour in Minneapolis that I saw California Guitar Trio for the first time. Their mixture of classical, surf and sheer virtuosity and mind-blowing synchronized guitar work still amazes me to this day.

So, I’m pretty excited to announce that they will be back in Cedar Rapids Friday night, and I’ll be there. Tickets are $17 in advance and $21 at the door.

Click Here to get more information about the show from the Legion Arts Website.

Click Here for the band’s website.

Click Here to visit the band’s current record label Karate Body, who had the sense to press Andromeda on vinyl.

(Upcoming Show) The Pines at CSPS on February 4, 2012 – Video debut for “Cry Cry Crow”

Posted on February 2, 2012 by mike

Red House Records recording artists and former Iowa City band The Pines are returning to the big stage at CSPS in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, February 4th.

The Pines were here just last September as the third act to play the newly re-opened CSPS which had gone under a very extensive remodeling and updating over the previous year. The picture above is from that show.

This time the band is back as part of a tour supporting the release of the band’s fourth album Dark So Gold which came out this week and has already drawn some critical praise for its uniquely moody atmospheric approach to folk blues.

A first for the band– a video has been produced for the song “Cry Cry Crow” from Dark So Gold. Written and directed by Andre Durand who also did the “Calgary” video for Bon Iver, it captures the mysterious vibe of the song well. I hope the band will continue making videos!

The Pines will be hitting the Legion Arts CSPS Hall stage at 8PM. Tickets are $11 in advance and $15 at the door. Click Here to visit the Legion Arts website for more details.

By the way, you should consider visiting Daytrotter to check out their Pines session.

The upcoming Tour Dates (from the Pines Website):

Date	Venue	City
Friday, February 3, 2012	Cafe Paradiso	Fairfield, IA
	8pm show

Saturday, February 4, 2012	CSPS -Legion Arts	Cedar Rapids, IA
	8pm show

Friday, February 17, 2012	Cedar Cultural Center – Dark So Gold Record Release	Minneapolis, MN
	Jeffrey Foucalt opens

Saturday, February 18, 2012	SPACE	Evanston, IL
	10pm show – Sad Brad Smith opens

Friday, March 2, 2012	Ironwood Theater	Ironwood, MI
	7:30pm show

Saturday, March 3, 2012	Stagenorth	Washburn, WI
	7:30pm show

Tuesday, March 13, 2012	South By South West Music Festival	Austin, TX
	performance date and time TBA

Tuesday, March 27, 2012	The Iron Horse	Northampton, MA
	7pm show with The Parkington Sisters

Thursday, March 29, 2012	City Winery	New York, NY
	The Pines open for Mason Jennings

Friday, March 30, 2012	City Winery	New York, NY
	opening for Mason Jennings

Saturday, March 31, 2012	Castaway’s	Ithaca, NY
	Richie Stearns opens

Friday, April 6, 2012	The Englert Theater	Iowa City, IA
	opening for Mason Jennings

Saturday, April 7, 2012	Turner Hall	Milwaukee, WI
	opening for Mason Jennings

Friday, April 20, 2012	Stoughton Opera House	Stoughton, WI
	7:30pm

Saturday, April 21, 2012	Old Town School of Folk Music	Chicago, IL
	Opening for Loudon Wainwright two shows 7pm & 10pm

Sunday, April 22, 2012	Severson Dells Nature Center	Rockford, IL
	3pm show

Saturday, May 19, 2012	Sacred Heart	Duluth, MN
	Erik Koskinen opens

Saturday, July 21, 2012	Moonshine Showcase – Broadway Theater	Wabasha, MN


Friday, October 26, 2012	Red Barn Concert Series	Northfield, MN
	7:00pm doors – SOLD OUT

(Upcoming Show) Pieta Brown with Carrie Rodriguez and Kelly Joe Phelps Bring An Acoustic Cafe Roadshow to CSPS Tuesday 1/31/12

Posted on January 29, 2012 by mike

Though we don’t get this fantastic show on Iowa Public Radio, Acoustic Cafe is an independently-produced 2-hour radio show hosted by Rob Reinhart focusing on a wide variety of music, but tending to center on the “unplugged” side of things.

Acoustic Cafe also sponsors a tour, and for some of the dates on their evening tour Pieta Brown is joining the 2nd half of the run replacing Erin McKeown in the lineup with also includes Carrie Rodriguez (who Pieta toured with in 2011) and Kelly Joe Phelps. This is the lineup that will be gracing the big stage at Legion Arts/CSPS on Tuesday, January 31st.

We always welcome a chance to see Pieta live, and it will be great to see her at the remodeled CSPS along with a couple of complimentary acts like Rodriguez and Phelps. Rodriguez’s latest album is We Still Love Our Country, which is an album of covers with collaborator Ben Kyle of Minneapolis band Romantica. Phelps has been recording since 1994, and his latest album Western Bell came out in 2009 and is a beautiful John Fahey-esque album of instrumentals. While I’m sure he will perform songs from all points of his career– I’m hoping he includes some of these instrumentals!

Click Here to read my review of Pieta Brown’s new album Mercury that I wrote for Little Village Magazine.

An Acoustic Cafe Evening with Pieta Brown, Carrie Rodriguez and Kelly Joe Phelps will happen at 7PM on Tuesday, January 31st. Tickets are $17, $21 at the door. Visit the Legion Arts website for more details.

Time to play b-sides

Mike Roeder muses over things musical

Category Archives: Upcoming Show