In what seems to be shaping up to be a Thrill Jockey invasion of Iowa, it has been announced today that coronetist Rob Mazurek’s avant garde jazz vehicle Chicago Underground will be performing at The Mill Restaurant in Iowa City on Thursday, February 18th! This will be the Chicago Underground Duo configuration featuring Mazurek and drummer Chad Taylor, who are the two constant members of the group which has recorded and performed as a trio (with bassist Noel Kupersmith) and quartet (with guitarist Jeff Parker of Tortoise) and sometimes as The Chicago Underground Orchestra (with Parker, Bitney and Herndon from Tortoise as well as Sara Smith, Chad Lopes, and Tony Pinciotti). The group started in Chicago borne of a standing improvisation workshop at the notorious jazz venue Green Mill. Since 1998, the collective has recorded 11 albums between the Thrill Jockey and Delmark labels, and their newest album titled Boca Negrawill be their fifth as the Duo.
I think that The Chicago Underground Duo is a pretty interesting band configuration as it is just a percussionist and Mazurek on coronet, although they sometimes bring other instruments along for their live show. I’ve never seen this band live before, so I’m hoping to make it to this show. I’ve seen Mazurek’s other project Isotope 217 before (on the 1998 tour with Tortoise). Isotope 217 is less improvisational maybe more like Tortoise in some respects.
The Chicago Underground Duo will be bringing their flavor of avante garde improvisational jazz to The Mill Restaurant in Iowa City on, Thursday, February 18th. Admission will be $8 and the show will start at 9PM. An opening act has yet to be announced.
Click Here to visit Thrill Jockey’s Chicago Underground page where you can stream whole albums from their catalog.
Click Here to visit The Mill Restaurant’s calendar page to get more details on the show.
Click Here to listen to “Spy on the Floor” from Boca Negra.
Fri Jan 15 New York, NY – FONT Festival
Sun Jan 17 Philadelphia, PA – International House
Wed Feb 3 Chicago, IL – Chicago Cultural Center
Fri Feb 5 Ann Arbor, MI – Yellow Barn
Tue Feb 9 Marfa, TX – TBA
Wed Feb 10 Tucson, AZ – Solar Culture Gallery
Thu Feb 11 Phoenix, AZ – Modified Arts
Fri Feb 12 Los Angeles, CA – Bootleg Theatre w/ Pit Er Pat
Sat Feb 13 Visalia, CA – Cellar Door
Sun Feb 14 San Francisco, CA – Cafe Du Nord w/ Pit Er Pat
Wed Feb 17 Omaha, NE – Bemis Center for the Contemporary Arts
Thu Feb 18 Iowa City, IA – The Mill Restaurant
Fri Feb 19 Northfield, MN – The Cave @ Carleton College
Sat Feb 20 Chicago, IL – The Hideout
Sun Feb 21 Milwaukee, WI – Woodland Pattern Book Center
Last year on April 24th, Mountains made their first Iowa appearance at The Picador headlining a lineup of experimental electronic musicians. They performed a piece that would become Etching, which was released by Thrill Jockey on limited edition vinyl only and is currently out-of-print.
Koen told me via e-mail they will be playing a new composition for this tour that they debuted during their recent tour of Europe. This new composition does not include their laptops as they implemented in past shows, which will be interesting. More knob twiddling in their extensive effects pedal arrays, I imagine!
Mountains is returning to the Midwest at the end of January as part of a tour that will kick off in Buffalo, NY and wrap up with a run of East Coast dates ending on February 11th in Boston. They’ll be hitting Chicago at the Empty Bottle on January 28th, Omaha on the 29th at the Bemis Center, Northfield, MN at the Cave which is on the Carleton College Campus on the 30th, The Project Lodge in Madison, WI on the 31st, then Iowa City at the Picador on Monday, February 1st. The Empty Bottle show will have David Daniell and Doug McCombs whose Thrill Jockey release Sycamore (still available on LP!) is one of my favorites from TJ last year! I wish they were continuing on tour with them so I could catch them in Iowa City! (update: David said that they are planning a trip out here in early March! Stay tuned!)
Supporting Mountains on this run is Swedish trio Tape. Tape is an ambient band that features guitars in kind of an Eno-esque fashion. They’ve been producing their music since 2000 and has been steadily growing their fanbase. They have a penchant for vinyl and their last brilliant release Luminarium and their upcoming release with Bill Wells Fugue are both available in limited vinyl pressings on Immune Recordings. I’m hoping they bring some with them on tour! Be sure to check out some of Tape’s music on their MySpace Page. I’ve been listening to their songs for the past couple of days and really like the dreamy atmospherics.
Wed Jan 27 Buffalo, NY – Soundlab w/ Tape
Thu Jan 28 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle w/ Tape
Fri Jan 29 Omaha, NE – Bemis Center for the Contemporary Arts w/ Tape
Sat Jan 30 Northfield, MN – The Cave @ Carleton College w/ Tape
Sun Jan 31 Madison, WI – The Project Lodge w/ Tape
Mon Feb 1 Iowa City, IA – The Picador w/ Tape
Wed Feb 3 Louisville, KY – Skull Alley w/ Tape
Thu Feb 4 Lexington, KY – Al’s Bar w/ Tape
Fri Feb 5 Knoxville, TN – The Pilot Light w/ Tape
Sat Feb 6 Chapel Hill, NC – Nightlight w/ Tape
Mon Feb 8 Washington, DC – Bossa w/ Tape
Tue Feb 9 Philadelphia, PA – The Chapel @ First Unitarian w/ Tape
Wed Feb 10 New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge (Unsound Festival) w/ Tape, Radian, Tim Hecker
Thu Feb 11 Boston, MA – TBA
As I previously posted, movie theaters across the nation had a new live concert film/experience titled “Larger Than Life in 3D” which featured Dave Matthews Band, Ben Harper and the Relentless 7 and Gogol Bordello which showed from December 11th through the 17th. I attended the 9PM showing on Wednesday, December 16th at the Wehrenberg Theater in Cedar Rapids. The movie was a 3D experience of three 2009 concerts with each of the bands.
I haven’t heard any reports about attendance of the showings, but the dark theater was empty– an exclusive showing for me, apparently. Maybe the fans of these bands had seen earlier shows, maybe it was a factor of folks out for Christmas shopping. Unfortunately, I was planning to give away some teeshirts, posters and lanyards promoting the event, but ended up bringing the pile back home with me. I did give away a couple teeshirts anyway. I think that this is a pretty cool event idea and the 3D and surround aspects of seeing a live act, while not the same as experiencing a live show with the crowd is very much enhanced over just seeing a video or even just a movie of a concert.
The movie kicked off with short sets from Gogol Bordello and Ben Harper. I haven’t seen either of them live– video or otherwise, so I was interested to see them.
Before the movie started there were previews of some upcoming 3D movies– a cute preview to the new addition to the Toy Story series which should be out in 2010. The Spanish-language Buzz Lightyear had me laughing out loud– looks cute. I also saw the preview for the new Tim Burton film Alice in Wonderland, which is apparently a sequel of sorts to the original story with an adult-ish Alice returning to Wonderland. In addition to those trailers I saw a trailer for another 3D concert movie from the folks at inconcert3d– in February there will be a “Best of Lollapalooza” movie which looks cool, and the trailer dropped that there will be a “Best of Austin City Limits Festival” in 2010 at an unspecified date. I’m sure that the ACL Festival footage came from the same shows that provided the footage for the Dave Matthews Band set.
Following the trailers they showed Alberta Cross performing “Old Man Chicago” from the Livestrong stage at Austin City Limits festival. I hadn’t heard them before, but had heard of them from their Daytrotter.com session (click here).
First up was a short but high-energy set from Gogol Bordello. The two songs performed were effectively the last two songs before the encore of their nine-song performance at the All-Points West Festival in Jersey City, NJ from August from this year. Pretty crazy set– the band played in a frenzy. Very Eastern-European folk rhythms. I thought it sounded pretty great, but I think it would have been better if the set would have been more than two songs and actually at the show.
Following Gogol Bordello was a three-song set from Ben Harper and the Relentless7 excerpted from their performance at the Mile High Festival this year. I was really impressed with their set. Ben Harper was on fire laying out his bluesy approach which reminded me of Lenny Kravitz and Jimi Hendrix a bit. I really wish there would have been more Ben Harper! His set was enough for me to download his new album White Lies for Dark Times and order the 180g 2 LP version! I will admit that I hadn’t been following him at all. There was a friend of a friend in Minneapolis who, in the 90’s, was a big Ben Harper fan and had seen him a couple of times at First Avenue– he tried one night to get me to listen to some songs. At the time I wasn’t really very taken with what he played for me and I guess that stuck with me until I saw these songs in the movie. I was immediately taken with the slide guitar parts. Apparently the creation of the Relentless7 band sparked a new direction for Ben Harper– one that I think has some genuine soul and blues to it. I recommend catching him live with his new band.
Finally, Dave Matthews Band was up and played nine songs from their Austin City Limits Festival set. I was a fan of the first two Dave Matthews Band albums– especially Under the Table and Dreaming which was played on Rev105 and Cities97. I really hadn’t heard anything quite like them at the time– the passionate, slightly soft vocal delivery from Dave Matthews and the overall polish that really helped deliver the songs. Like many, I heard all of the huge singles– “Crash Into Me,” “The Space Between.” I just didn’t really keep following him because I didn’t feel that he really developed much over the years. It isn’t that I don’t like Dave Matthews, I’m just not really compelled to listen to him much–in my opinion he just hasn’t developed based on his studio output. Where Dave really shines is in a live setting. He has one of the great live bands, really– strong and able to really carry the show, I think. I wasn’t very familiar with most of the songs in the movie, except for the “Burning Down the House” Talking Heads cover, “Ants Marching,” and I had heard “Why I Am” from the new album. None of the big hits were in this set which seemed to focus on his new album Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, which is a tribute to the late DMB member LeRoi Moore. But, it is the live performance where he shines and he was clearly working for this performance– his shirt was soaked with sweat, and he was in constant movement, clearly enjoying the music often with a big grin on his face and doing his little shuffle dance.
After the DMB set, during the credits we got to see one more performance from Gogol Bordello– “Wanderlust King” which was cool. Effectively, then both of the opening acts got three songs. Looking around the empty theater I wondered if the show would have been more enjoyable with others in the audience. I expect it would have been– but traditional movie courtesy is to be quiet during movies– are the crowds more participatory during these live concerts– do they cheer? Maybe I’ll find out in February at the Lollapalooza movie if they have it in Cedar Rapids.
Ben Harper and the Relentless 7 Set:
Lay There & Hate Me
Keep It Together (So I Can Fall Apart)
Serve Your Soul
Dave Matthews Band Set: You Might Die Trying Funny The Way It Is Seven So Damn Lucky Shake Me Like a Monkey Why I Am Burning Down The House (Talking Heads cover) So Much to Say Ants Marching
Although the band Lotus is one of the new additions to the SCIFidelity stable of bands, their label debut Hammerstrike in 2008 was actually their seventh release since their formation in 2002 in Goshen, Indiana at Goshen College (according to their Wikipedia article). With the label switch, Hammerstrike proved to be a refining and commitment to the more instrumental and unique sound that Lotus had started to drift towards in 2006 with The Strength of Weak Ties. If Umphrey’s McGee is a jamband with Prog Rock leanings, Lotus is a jamband with Post Rock leanings.
After Hammerstrike, the band continued their regimine of extensive touring pausing only to revisit some tracks for the album that either weren’t completed or the band didn’t feel fit. These tracks were completed and collected into two EP’s released in October– Oil on Glass and Feather on Wood. In addition to the eight new songs, they include three remixes of tracks from Hammerstrike.
Lotus just announced a run of dates in February 2010 which includes two nights in Madison at the Majestic and Davenport at the wonderful Capitol Theatre. I saw Umphrey’s McGee in July at the Capitol and was really impressed with it– a nice old theatre with beautiful ceilings and a balcony.
Click Here to visit Lotus’s Website which includes tourdate updates and news.
Time: Doors: 7:00pm, Show: 8:00pm
Address: 1722 N High Street
Web: http://www.promowestlive.com
Ages: All Ages
Price: $15 adv, $17 dos Buy Tickets Online
With: none
Additional Info: On Sale NOW!
Time: Doors: 8:30pm, Show: 9:30pm
Address: 115 King Street
Web: http://www.majesticmadison.com
Ages: All Ages
Price: $16 adv, $18 dos Buy Tickets Online
With: none
Additional Info: Limited Two-Night Tix available – On Sale NOW!
Time: Doors: 8:30pm, Show: 9:30pm
Address: 115 King Street
Web: http://www.majesticmadison.com
Ages: All Ages
Price: $16 adv, $18 dos Buy Tickets Online
With: none
Additional Info: Limited Two-Night Tix available – On Sale NOW!
Thu Feb 25, 2010 Royal Oak Music Theatre Royal Oak (Detroit), MI
Time: Doors: 8:00pm, Show: 9:00pm
Address: 318 W Fourth Street
Web: http://www.royaloakmusictheatre.com
Ages: All Ages
Price: $15 adv, $18 dos Buy Tickets Online
With: none
Additional Info: Tickets on sale 1/8 at 5pm
Fri Feb 26, 2010 Water Street Music Hall Rochester, NY
Time: Doors: 8:00pm, Show: 9:00pm
Address: 204 N Water Street
Web: http://www.waterstreetmusic.com
Ages: 16+
Price: $15 adv, $17 dos Buy Tickets Online
With: none
Additional Info: Tickets on sale 12/19 at 10am
Starting Friday, December 11th and running until Thursday, December 17th in selected theaters across the nation a new concert experience will occur. Titled “Larger than Life in 3D” it features concert footage of Dave Matthews Band from the Austin City Limits Festival this year, Ben Harper and the Restless 7 from the Mile High Music Festival and Gogol Bordello from New Jersey’s All Points West Festival.
While there have been concerts in the movie theaters before– notably Woodstock The Movie, The Last Waltz, Stop Making Sense, and more recently the Michael Jackson posthumous film “This is It.” What distinguishes this film– obviously from the title– is the fact that it is in High Definition 3D. Inconcert3D filmed each of the performances in a manner which provides the audiences a 360-degree view and 3D.
It’s well-established that Dave Matthews Band is a band to see live (even though I have yet to see him live other than on TV) and Ben Harper carries his own clout when it comes to live performances so it makes sense that the first of this kind of concert experience would use these two artists. Gogol Bordello– a “gypsy punk” band from NYC has been around since 1999 purveying their blend of ethnic music and building a fanbase and notariety for their live performances as well. They have been working with Rick Rubin on their next album which will drop in early 2010. In looking into Gogol Bordello, I read the Wikipedia article on the band and was reminded that the band first appeared on my radar due to their relationship to Madonna– they were featured in her directorial debut Filth and Wisdom, and frontman Eugene Hutz is one of the leads. Eugene was also cast as Alexander in the Elijah Wood film Everything is Illuminated. So, this is clearly a band that is making a name for itself– if only in exposure.
Dave Matthews Band played the Austin City Limits Festival on October 3, 2009 on the Livestrong Stage. The film is only an hour and a half, so obviously all of the songs for these three bands will not be shown, but here is what they drew from to make the performances:
Don’t Drink the Water You Might Die Trying Funny The Way It Is Seven So Damn Lucky Shake Me Like a Monkey Why I Am Jimi Thing
Spaceman Cornbread Burning Down The House (Talking Heads cover) So Much to Say Anyone Seen the Bridge Too Much (fake) Ants Marching Two Step
Ben Harper and the Relentless 7 played the Mile High Music Festival in Commerce City, CO on July 18th, 2009. Here is the full setlist from that show:
Comin’ Up Easy Number With No Name Shimmer & Shine Good Times Bad Times (Led Zeppelin cover) Lay There & Hate Me Why Must You Always Dress In Black / Red House Another Lonely Day Skin Thin Fly One Time Keep It Together (So I Can Fall Apart) Boots Like These Under Pressure (Queen cover) Up To You Now Serve Your Soul
Gogol Bordello played the All Points Festival in Jersey City, NJ on August 1st, 2009. Here is the full setlist:
Ultimate Sally Not A Crime Wonderlust King Mishto! Immigraniada (new song) Tribal Connection Start Wearing Purple Think Locally Fuck Globally Mala Vida
It looks like they have added new theaters this week, and Cedar Rapids, IA now has two theaters showing the concert! The ticket price for the Wehrenberg Theater is $12.25 for adult tickets. The cool thing about the Wehrenberg is they serve alcohol, so it will be more of an “adult” show. I think this is a pretty cool idea and hope that this takes off and we get more shows like this. I’d go to an extended Bonnaroo show, for example that maybe had a couple of hours of excerpts.
I’m going to the shows this week, and will provide a report back on what it was like. I got some promotional goodies like some teeshirts, posters and groovy 3D “passes” that I’ll bring with me and be wearing– if you see me, stop me and I’ll hook you up after the show! I’ll be at the Wehrenberg Theater when I go, but I haven’t decided when. Maybe if you watch my twitter feed, you will know!
Click Here to visit the InConcert3D site to search for theaters and tickets near you!
Last week I posted about the first of the three This Land is Your Music shows at The Mill Restaurant in Iowa City featuring Pieta Brown and selected regional artists. Last week’s show featured Pieta in a solo acoustic setting. This week’s show featured Pieta in her most common live configuration– in a duo with Bo Ramsey. This was a show I was really looking forward to as it also had Bo as the opening act as a solo acoustic performance, which I hadn’t seen before!
As much as I look back fondly on the bar-rocking Sliders days of Bo, it is really interesting to see the “gentleman bluesman” identity Bo has adopted in the last decade or so. Seeing Bo on stage sitting down with his acoustic guitar in trademark attire of suit, boots and straw hat recalls at once both Hank Williams and Robert Johnson.
Bo’s music translates favorably to an acoustic setting and his guitar technique and chops are just as impressive as his electric ones. The song selection for his set spanned his entire career dipping back to the 80’s with “Back No More” and “I Don’t Know.” He pulled out “555 x 2” from Down to Bastrop which drew a favorable crowd reaction. We were also treated to his cover of “Sitting On Top of the World” he recorded for his blues “tribute” album Stranger Blues and my personal favorite from last year’s Fragile, “Buffalo to Jericho.”
Bo also performed two new songs– both of them co-written with Pieta Brown. “No Place Like Home” and “Going Back.” “Going Back” is a chanted lament for a simpler time with the repeated phrase “I’m Going Back.” Both songs are good– I’d heard them when Bo played the Mill back at the end of October. Hopefully this means he’s working on another album of material!
After a very short break where Pieta and Bo huddled in the corner going over the setlist they would play– they started into their set. It’s impressive to think that Pieta and Bo have been performing like this since the beginning of her career dating back to her first record around 2002. Bo as a sideman is a generational tradition started with Bo and Greg Brown and it’s an effective if economical way to perform. It is clearly a comfortable arrangement for both Bo and Pieta and neither of them really overshadow the other.
The set didn’t have much duplicates from last week except for three songs– the new “Faller” which is based on her meeting Tom Petty, “Calling All Angels,” and “Bad News.” The rest of the songs were a good mix of new and old and some choice covers. We also got a new track from the Shimmer EP– “Diamonds in the Sky” which she introduced by saying it was the first time playing it outside her bedroom.
The highlight of the night, however, was when she called Dave Moore up to the stage to perform five songs with them. He stuck to harmonica for most of the songs adding incendiary licks to “Are You Free”– I wish I would have recorded that! He switched to accordion for the Hank Williams song “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”
In the backroom gallery was work by Codi Josephson who runs Home Ec Workshop in Iowa City. She showed a collection of print-on-fabric pieces that looked pretty cool. You can see the exhibit in the flickr picture set.
This Thursday, 11/19 is the final show in the series and will have Pieta Brown fronting a full band made up of members of Bo’s band. Having seen her fronting a full band before, I urge anyone who can make it to come out! The first two shows were fairly low-key, but with a drummer there is a good chance people will be out shaking it on the dance floor. The opening act will be Dustin Busch, and the gallery exhibit will be from Sandy Dyas and will be an installation of her photographs– I think it will be based on her “Heaven and Earth” installation at Cornell College. Doors are at 7PM, show is promptly at 8PM and admission is $10– the proceeds of which go to support Public Radio, KCCK, and the Friends of Hickory Hill.
Bo’s Setlist: Sitting On Top Of The World (Big Bill Broonzy cover)
No Place Like Home*
Going Back*
Tell Me Now
555 x 2
Back No More
Buffalo to Jericho
I Don’t Know
Pieta’s Setlist” How Many Times
Prayer of Roses*
Even When
Loving You Still
Rollin’ Down the Tracks
Bad News
Faller
I’m Going Away Blues (w/Dave Moore) (Frank Stokes cover)
Are You Free (w/Dave Moore)
Diamonds In The Sky (w/Dave Moore)
I Don’t Want to Come Down (w/Dave Moore)
I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (w/Dave Moore) (Hank Williams cover)
Calling All Angels
I’m Over You
Red Apple Juice (standard)
I’ve mentioned Pezzettino here before and I have some more to write about her coming up. To sum up, Margaret Stutt who performs as Pezzettino is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and crafts her unique almost outsider-art singer-songwriter tunes centered around her life and experiences propelled by her trusty accordion.
With two albums under her belt and an infectious new single and a new album waiting to be loosed in the studio, Margaret is currently on a tour of the Midwest and East coast hitting mostly homes and art-spaces. She’s doing this solo– just her and her accordion!
To fund the trip she took donations to make requests for songs to be covered with videos posted to YouTube. The range of covers was all over the map ranging from rap to indie to classic rock. All of them were deconstructed and re-assembled and given a distinctly ethereal electronic spin. When she was in Cedar Rapids in October I suggested that they had a Tricky or Massive Attack feel to which she gave an unfamiliar shrug. The electro-clubby breakdown in her cover of Skynyrd’s “Freebird” prompted me to ask if she’d consider remixing her own material. She said that this style was fun to use for these covers– and easy to do with GarageBand, but she didn’t feel she’d extend to her releases. This is an important point, these songs are fun, but really more of a distraction for her and not really representative of her two albums.
At one point she was going to sell pillowcases that she custom embroidered which would have a download of these songs. Releasing this collection as a free download like this works really well, and is a good introductory collaboration with the artists’ collective Sixty Years War.
It’s cool to get these songs, but to really appreciate these you have to watch the videos. Margaret usually recorded the song and edited the video in a matter of a day which is reflected in the immediacy and detail committed to both aspects of the projects.
Click Here to listen to the tracks and download a .zip file of Covers.
Click Here to visit the Pezzettino Channel on YouTube which includes the Covers project as well as her video blog and live performances.
Click Here to visit Pezzettino’s Blog covering her travels.
In the middle of her solo performance at The Mill in Iowa City Thursday night, Pieta said to the small crowd, “It’s like I’m playing to you in my living room!” Pieta was referring to the small crowd on Thursday night, but the stage was adorned with a chair and nightstand as well as lamps and an old dress form giving the stage a homey touch with lighting designed by Stan Crocker, who has done a lot of lighting design for TV shows like CMT’s Crossroads.
Last night was the first night of a three-week artist-in-residency at the Mill Restaurant in Iowa City of Pieta Brown. As stated earlier, the This Land Is Your Music series is showcasing Pieta Brown’s music but also includes other musicians from the area as well as other artists. Pieta stated in an interview with Ben Kieffer on IPR’s The Exchange that she wanted to take the opportunity to try out her music– new music and old in different configurations– solo, duo and full-band. She feels that The Mill was is a good place for her to try out new material which will be drawn from her new EP on Red House Shimmer, as well as songs that she is recording for her next full-length to come out next spring.
Last night’s show featured Pieta performing solo with Bo Ramsey’s son Alex Ramsey opening. In the back-room gallery the art of Pieta’s sister Zoe Brown and photographs by Dustin Busch were on exhibit. A last-minute addition to the lineup were three writers from the University of Iowa International Writing Program reading their short stories.
Alex Ramsey has contributed his keyboard skills to a number of Eastern Iowa music releases including a two records from the Pines as well as the last couple of Bo Ramsey albums but to date he hasn’t had much exposure as a solo artist. I made the very incorrect assumption that Alex, like his brother Benson would provide a sound that draws from the folk and country blues that is identified with so many artists from our area. Alex played a set of original piano-driven music that reminded me at times of Radiohead’s piano-focused songs but I would also compare it to the late Epic Soundtracks. It’s the slightly off-kilter but soulful vocal combined with the piano that brought me back to 1991’s Rise Above. Alex’s set was a combination of vocal and instrumental songs– most of which were described as works-in-progress. Alex performed three covers– one by Dr. Dog– “Livin’ A Dream,” a relatively obscure John Lennon track “Mr. Hyde’s Gone (Don’t Be Afraid)” which I think is only included on the Anthology box as a home demo, and he wrapped up his set with “Waltz (Better Than Fine)” by Fiona Apple. He said during the show that he wished he had a CD he could sell us– I do, too!
Following Alex was three participants in the International Writing Program reading their own short stories. I wasn’t able to catch their names, but one of them was Maxine Case from South Africa who read her short story “Homing Pigeons” (exerpt here). Another writer was Garcia Groyon from the Philippines. I can’t identify the first writer from the pictures. I think it was pretty cool that they were able to participate– it reminded me of the incredible resource the U of I writing program is.
Up next was Pieta who set out to do a solo set, but ended up adding in some special guests towards the end of it. I’d never seen her perform solo before, so it was a treat to hear how her guitar work changes to fill in the missing guitar parts typically provided by Bo Ramsey. She’s not a flashy lead guitarist, but I was impressed with her ability to drop in a arpeggiated chord or two to round the songs out. “New songs and new guitars– probably not an advisable combination” she quipped at one point– apparently she had all new guitars in tow. The last time I saw her she mentioned that she was getting her own Reverend Flatroc, so this time the guitar was here. In a pretty butterscotchish color apparently called “Rock Orange.”
The set was a pretty good mix recent songs, older songs and new songs as she set out to do. Curiously, she only did one song from her upcoming EP Shimmer– “You’re My Lover Now”– which seems to be the “single” if there was one. Of course, the Shimmer songs were recorded back in March and she said that she just got back from recording songs for her full length, so possibly these are fresher to her. She told me that she doesn’t really hit the stage with a setlist in mind. Three of the songs were from her self-released Flight Time EP with just one track from Remember the Sun and her arrangement of the traditional “Little Sparrow” from her I Never Told EP. She dropped in her version of the blues standard “Rollin’ and Tumblin'” and “Calling All Angels” which she did as part of her KCRW session back in 2007.
We were blessed with some new songs that all sound like they have some potential in the studio. “The Other Way Around” and “It Wasn’t That” were new songs to me. She also did “Faller” which I had heard when she did her show at the Mill with a full band back in June.
After the first nine songs she decided to invite her sister Constie Brown up to sing on “Remember the Sun” and “Just” and then she invited Dustin Busch up to the stage to provide some slide guitar to “Rollin’ and Tumblin'” and “Harry’s Blues.” Pieta said that her original plan was to play all of the instruments she had on stage by herself as she handed Dustin the Flatroc and a slide. She added that growing up music was always about getting people together to play. Dustin quickly adapted to the guitar and provided some nice accompaniment to Pieta. I’m looking forward to seeing his opening set at the This Land Is Your Music show on 11/19.
The backroom gallery was the back area of the restaurant that could be closed off and I think is sometimes used as a “backstage” area for bands. In its capacity of art gallery it was able to have some lighting to show the paintings of Zoe Brown and the photos of Dustin Busch. The gallery seemed to enjoy a pretty constant flow of people.
I like Zoe’s paintings quite a bit– you can see more of them in my slideshow below or at the flickr.com set. She’s not afraid of big expanses of color. Dustin’s double-exposureish photos were pretty cool, too. I would have liked to see more of them and maybe larger.
Ultimately, I think this is a really cool thing that Pieta is trying to put together. The idea is pure– bring the regional art together in celebration and give back. I think in our Internet-enabled era where we find our art and culture on a nearly boundless territory we often forget that there are artists in our own backyard that are worth supporting.
If you are available on either of the next two Thursday nights– 11/12 and 11/19– make the effort to come out. These are guaranteed to be loose, fun shows as Pieta considers the Mill to be her home turf.
The 11/12 show has Bo Ramsey opening and supporting her in her set with a gallery of Codi Josephson’s work. The 11/19 show will have Dustin Busch opening with Pieta fronting a full band that, billed as “Skyrocket,” I believe will have Jon Penner, Steve Hayes and Al Shares (I think). The gallery on the 19th will be a installation of photographs of Iowa photographer and supporter of the local scene Sandy Dyas.
The cover is $10 will proceeds going to support Iowa Public Radio, KCCK, and the Friends of Hickory Hill. Doors are at 7PM with the show starting at 8PM.
Pieta’s Setlist:
West Monroe
Other Way Around*
Bad News
Faller*
It Wasn’t That*
Calling All Angels
Little Sparrow
Gravel Road Blues (Joe Price Cover)
You’re My Lover Now
Remember the Sun (with Constie Brown)
Just (with Constie Brown)
Rollin’ and Tumblin’ (with Dustin Busch)
Harry’s Blues (with Dustin Busch) (Mississippi Fred McDowell Cover)
The original Works Progress Administration was part of FDR’s 1939 New Deal initiative which put millions of people to work in the darkest part of the Great Depression. This spirit of community and creativity is carried in the philosophy of a band that takes its name.
Works Progress Administration is a supergroup of sorts– an “expanding collective” according to the band’s website. At its core it is Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket and solo, Sean Watkins formerly of the excellent Nickle Creek and Luke Bulla who spent time in Lyle Lovett’s band. On record the band includes Sean’s sister Sara from Nickle Creek, Benmont Tench from Petty’s Heartbreakers, Pete Thomas from Elvis Costello’s Attractions, ace sessionmen Greg Leisz and Davey Faragher. Faragher was a founding member of Cracker as well as part of Costello’s Imposters. Works Progress Administration is a continuation of the collaborative nature of the relationship between Philips and Sean and Sara Watkins of Nickle Creek. Philips, the Watkins and Pete Thomas were also in the group Mutual Appreciation Society which recorded an album in 2000 and was released by Sugar Hill in 2004.
Even though WPA is a collective effort of its members, it’s clear that this band is really leaning on Phillip’s songs since he’s provided half of them. Sean Watkins, not content to stay at the bench, has contributed three standout songs (love “Paralyzed”!) and Luke Bulla’s “Cry For You” is an easy favorite of mine and would seem to have a lot of potential to be a highlight live. Seeing this group play CSPS in Cedar Rapids would be a real treat!
WPA will be at the pearl in the crown of New Bohemia in Cedar Rapids known as CSPS on Tuesday, December 1st at 8PM. Tickets will be $20 in advance and $25 at the door.
Click Here for the Works Progress Administration’s Website where you can see other tour dates and stream the new album.
Click Here for the Legion Arts / CSPS website where you can get information on how to get tickets.
Listen/Buy Works Progress Administration. This band is independent– meaning no record label. If you like what you hear please support this band by buying their album!
Benson Ramsey and David Huckfelt are collectively known as the roots-folk group The Pines. Based in the Twin Cities and on the Twin Cities label Red House Records, Benson and David are part of the newest generation of the Eastern Iowa sound started by Greg Brown and Bo Ramsey (who is Benson’s dad) among others. In September The Pines released their third album Tremolo— which is their second album on Red House.
I picked up Tremolo when it came out and have been listening to it pretty regularly. I feel that as much of a progression that Sparrows in the Bell was from their self-titled release on the now-defunct Iowa City label Trailer Records, Tremolo is a further refining of their sound.
The Pines will be at The Mill Restaurant in Iowa City on Friday, November 20th. The show starts at 9PM and tickets are $8.
