Monday, July 06, 2009
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Nathaniel Seer/John Statz/Tony Memmel; July 5, 2009; The Frequency
Nathaniel Seer’s label Chestnut Tree Records had asked me if I would be interested in having him do a house concert. Like I do with all the cold call house show requests I get, I went to his MySpace page to listen to his music before I said no. Surprisingly, I had a “Hey Mikey” moment- I liked it. Unfortunately the date they wanted was the Sunday right in between my two Thursday shows. Not only could I not do it mentally or physically, I didn’t want to ask people to come to my house three times in eight days. I replied and told them exactly that, but that they should let me know if he got something else and I would try to make it.
As it turns out, they did. Too bad it was the no-man’s land of an early Sunday show at the Frequency. It was the first early show I’ve been to at the bar that has become known for its late nights in its first year of existence. I’m all in favor of the early show, but I’ll admit it felt kind of strange to be there with sunbeams streaming in the skylight. Despite the fact that local favorite John Statz was also on the bill, the crowd was pretty minimal, but at least they were mostly quiet during his set. Admittedly Seer’s songs are a little grandiose, but I don’t think he can help it with a voice like that. Jeff Buckley is an easy comparison. He certainly has all the power and grandeur of Buckley, but lacks that annoying falsetto made him difficult to listen to.
Of course a great voice wouldn’t mean anything without equally great songs. I had bought his most recent full length release online since I wouldn’t be able to host the show. I had listened to it quite a few times and had a few favorites that I wanted to hear. With the small crowd I wasn’t the least bit intimidated to yell for something, but as it turned out I didn’t have to, “John Brown’s Hatchet” and the addictively propulsive “The Graveyard” showed up right in a row mid-set. Since I ordered Songs of Hate, he has released another CD. The Dark Will Come features colorful artwork that his son created as well as another set of beautiful tunes. The standout track is “Rose hill” which contains two noticeably great lines, “All of my friends are dead, or night as well be,” and “There’s nothing wrong with drinking alone” (Michelle bought the CD for that one alone).
Strangely enough, a club known for its tardiness started the show right on time at 6 pm, and Tony Memmel was already on stage when we got there. His wife accompanied him on keyboard; it was pleasant, if fairly standard, singer/songwriter stuff. I might not have even noticed that he was missing part of his left arm if I hadn’t caught sight of his merch. His T-shirt featured him in silhouette, arms raised. Subtle. It’s a shame more people didn’t come out to see this trio of songwriters, though I’ll admit I wasn’t surprised. That’s why Seer will definitely be playing at the house next time he comes through town.
Tony Memmel
John Statz
Nathaniel Seer
Nathaniel Seer’s label Chestnut Tree Records had asked me if I would be interested in having him do a house concert. Like I do with all the cold call house show requests I get, I went to his MySpace page to listen to his music before I said no. Surprisingly, I had a “Hey Mikey” moment- I liked it. Unfortunately the date they wanted was the Sunday right in between my two Thursday shows. Not only could I not do it mentally or physically, I didn’t want to ask people to come to my house three times in eight days. I replied and told them exactly that, but that they should let me know if he got something else and I would try to make it.
As it turns out, they did. Too bad it was the no-man’s land of an early Sunday show at the Frequency. It was the first early show I’ve been to at the bar that has become known for its late nights in its first year of existence. I’m all in favor of the early show, but I’ll admit it felt kind of strange to be there with sunbeams streaming in the skylight. Despite the fact that local favorite John Statz was also on the bill, the crowd was pretty minimal, but at least they were mostly quiet during his set. Admittedly Seer’s songs are a little grandiose, but I don’t think he can help it with a voice like that. Jeff Buckley is an easy comparison. He certainly has all the power and grandeur of Buckley, but lacks that annoying falsetto made him difficult to listen to.
Of course a great voice wouldn’t mean anything without equally great songs. I had bought his most recent full length release online since I wouldn’t be able to host the show. I had listened to it quite a few times and had a few favorites that I wanted to hear. With the small crowd I wasn’t the least bit intimidated to yell for something, but as it turned out I didn’t have to, “John Brown’s Hatchet” and the addictively propulsive “The Graveyard” showed up right in a row mid-set. Since I ordered Songs of Hate, he has released another CD. The Dark Will Come features colorful artwork that his son created as well as another set of beautiful tunes. The standout track is “Rose hill” which contains two noticeably great lines, “All of my friends are dead, or night as well be,” and “There’s nothing wrong with drinking alone” (Michelle bought the CD for that one alone).
Strangely enough, a club known for its tardiness started the show right on time at 6 pm, and Tony Memmel was already on stage when we got there. His wife accompanied him on keyboard; it was pleasant, if fairly standard, singer/songwriter stuff. I might not have even noticed that he was missing part of his left arm if I hadn’t caught sight of his merch. His T-shirt featured him in silhouette, arms raised. Subtle. It’s a shame more people didn’t come out to see this trio of songwriters, though I’ll admit I wasn’t surprised. That’s why Seer will definitely be playing at the house next time he comes through town.
Tony Memmel
John Statz
Nathaniel Seer
Friday, July 03, 2009
American Music Festival; July 3, 2009; Fitzgerald’s Nightclub, Berwyn
It’s hard to picture a more perfect way to spend a summer day than at Fitzgerald’s for their annual American Music Festival. It’s been going on for 29 years and I’ve only made it to a handful of them but I’ve seen some amazing sets from folks like Robbie Fulks, the Drive By Truckers, that band’s Patterson Hood doing a solo set, Freakwater and Dave Alvin who is almost always on hand to sing his “Fourth of July” on the actual day. I first became aware of it because of Jon Dee Graham who, like Marcia Ball and Dave Alvin, plays this event every year.
Since his horrific car accident last July, he hasn’t toured much, in fact I’m not even sure he has left the state of Texas, but it seems nothing can keep him away from his favorite gig. Everyone who saw him that night from the state trooper who found him to the doctors who put him back together claim he shouldn’t still be here. He apparently answered that with a classic Jon Dee statement slated to be the title of his new record, “It’s not as bad as it looks.” I’m guessing it probably was, but that didn’t stop him from getting right back on the horse and he was playing shows only a couple months later, against doctor’s orders of course. It seems he is now convinced that he is invincible, and he’s back to breaking the rules, ignoring smoking bans in every city.
He’s still in a lot of pain, so I’ll forgive him almost anything. It seems one guy in the back of the room didn’t have that forgiveness and kept yelling for Jon Dee to play some music instead of talking. He just shook his head, “that’s a mistake, no one has ever been able to tell me what to do,” he chuckled. Besides, there was still plenty of music in his set, including many of the songs that will be on that new record in addition to some classics that were repeatedly requested. I hadn’t recognized this version of the Fighting Cocks and I made him laugh later by asking him where he got the new cocks. Turns out the drummer had been his back-up to Joey Sheffield for awhile, while the bass player (who didn’t look like trouble but probably still was) used to be in Spoon. The band name has gotten the T-shirt treatment and he showed one off, the front showed a rooster with boxing gloves, while the back has the JonDeeCo motto, “False hope is still hope.”
Everything before that was just a lead up to his set and everything after that a let down. We arrived to another annual guest Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience. The family friendly band always plays early in the day and their sunny music is perfect for an afternoon under the big tent. If you are paying attention you are bound to get some of the Mardi Gras beads that Simien throws out by the fistful. They were followed by Roomful of Blues, an aptly named band that was equally entertaining. Feeling like maybe I was missing something I snuck inside to see what was happening on the second stage. Once my eyes adjusted I found the cutest band ever on stage.
Feufollet hails from Lafayette LA and while none of its members look old enough to drink they were all consummate musicians. The cutest of the cute was lead singer Chris Stafford who plays accordion, guitar and violin and sings in flawless French. Turns out he is all of 21 so that beer was legal (but drummer Michael Stafford is still in high school). When I wasn’t watching Stafford (which wasn’t often), my attention was split between their terrific violinist Chris Segura and the flawlessly beautiful Anna Laura Edmiston. While it certainly wasn’t the type of music I normally listen to, I enjoyed the half set I saw. I was also delighted to hear they would be playing Madison’s Fete de Marquette the next weekend, and I’ll be watching for them in the future.
One old favorite and one new discovery, plus fantastic weather and a host of friends, that’s a good day. Thanks again Fitzgerald’s.
Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience
Roomful of Blues
Feufollet
Pieta Brown
Jon Dee Graham & the Fighting Cocks
It’s hard to picture a more perfect way to spend a summer day than at Fitzgerald’s for their annual American Music Festival. It’s been going on for 29 years and I’ve only made it to a handful of them but I’ve seen some amazing sets from folks like Robbie Fulks, the Drive By Truckers, that band’s Patterson Hood doing a solo set, Freakwater and Dave Alvin who is almost always on hand to sing his “Fourth of July” on the actual day. I first became aware of it because of Jon Dee Graham who, like Marcia Ball and Dave Alvin, plays this event every year.
Since his horrific car accident last July, he hasn’t toured much, in fact I’m not even sure he has left the state of Texas, but it seems nothing can keep him away from his favorite gig. Everyone who saw him that night from the state trooper who found him to the doctors who put him back together claim he shouldn’t still be here. He apparently answered that with a classic Jon Dee statement slated to be the title of his new record, “It’s not as bad as it looks.” I’m guessing it probably was, but that didn’t stop him from getting right back on the horse and he was playing shows only a couple months later, against doctor’s orders of course. It seems he is now convinced that he is invincible, and he’s back to breaking the rules, ignoring smoking bans in every city.
He’s still in a lot of pain, so I’ll forgive him almost anything. It seems one guy in the back of the room didn’t have that forgiveness and kept yelling for Jon Dee to play some music instead of talking. He just shook his head, “that’s a mistake, no one has ever been able to tell me what to do,” he chuckled. Besides, there was still plenty of music in his set, including many of the songs that will be on that new record in addition to some classics that were repeatedly requested. I hadn’t recognized this version of the Fighting Cocks and I made him laugh later by asking him where he got the new cocks. Turns out the drummer had been his back-up to Joey Sheffield for awhile, while the bass player (who didn’t look like trouble but probably still was) used to be in Spoon. The band name has gotten the T-shirt treatment and he showed one off, the front showed a rooster with boxing gloves, while the back has the JonDeeCo motto, “False hope is still hope.”
Everything before that was just a lead up to his set and everything after that a let down. We arrived to another annual guest Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience. The family friendly band always plays early in the day and their sunny music is perfect for an afternoon under the big tent. If you are paying attention you are bound to get some of the Mardi Gras beads that Simien throws out by the fistful. They were followed by Roomful of Blues, an aptly named band that was equally entertaining. Feeling like maybe I was missing something I snuck inside to see what was happening on the second stage. Once my eyes adjusted I found the cutest band ever on stage.
Feufollet hails from Lafayette LA and while none of its members look old enough to drink they were all consummate musicians. The cutest of the cute was lead singer Chris Stafford who plays accordion, guitar and violin and sings in flawless French. Turns out he is all of 21 so that beer was legal (but drummer Michael Stafford is still in high school). When I wasn’t watching Stafford (which wasn’t often), my attention was split between their terrific violinist Chris Segura and the flawlessly beautiful Anna Laura Edmiston. While it certainly wasn’t the type of music I normally listen to, I enjoyed the half set I saw. I was also delighted to hear they would be playing Madison’s Fete de Marquette the next weekend, and I’ll be watching for them in the future.
One old favorite and one new discovery, plus fantastic weather and a host of friends, that’s a good day. Thanks again Fitzgerald’s.
Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience
Roomful of Blues
Feufollet
Pieta Brown
Jon Dee Graham & the Fighting Cocks
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Walter Salas-Humara/Jeremiah Nelson; July 2, 2009; Kiki’s House of Righteous Music
People are funny. The house was packed in March of 2007 as sixty plus floated in and out of the Silos/Jon Dee Graham show. Walter Salas-Humara is the Silos, the only consistent member, the voice and the songwriter, yet not even twenty showed up to see him play a solo set, even though the only difference between then and tonight was a rhythm section. As an added attraction he brought along some of his artwork to sell along with the Silos’ extensive catalog of CDs. Walters Dogs are aren’t particularly anatomically correct, their legs look like spaghetti, their eyes like eggs, some have two heads, some have five legs, but they are all adorable. I’d bought two online previously, and adopted another tonight.
The shortage of people didn’t seem to bother Walter much (low turn-outs seem to affect me much more than they do the musicians), and he used the opportunity to make the show even more intimate by unplugging his guitar and strolling around the audience singing. Many of the songs came from his intriguing “I’m Not Jim” release written and recorded with author Jonathan Letham. The pair wrote the songs together and then sent the barebones recordings off to a couple of producers known as the Elegant Too (Chris Maxwell and Phil Hernandez) who turned it into something else entirely. “Uncomplicated” is exactly that, while “The Pitchers Gave Up,” about a ridiculously high-scoring game where even the shortstops were taking their turn on the mound, would be worthy of the Baseball Project. Other songs came from the Silos vast catalog, some I knew, some I didn’t, but it was all good. Made even better by his unconventional approach.
Openers Jeremiah Nelson and Shawn Drake were happy to stay on their side of the microphones, though that was due to the fact that Jeremiah was forced to sit. “Usually I wouldn’t be sitting down,” he explained, “but I lent my guitar strap to a very frantic Freddy Johnston last week at Steel Bridge and never got it back.” The pair often plays together during Jeremiah’s weekly gig at Mickey’s Tavern, but tonight sounded even better without all the commotion inherent to the east side institution. Most of the set consisted of Jeremiah’s newest songs which I think are among the best he’s written. “Daisy Chain” and “Run-on Sentence” are both smart and pretty, while the latter makes clever use of the two meanings of sentence. And this is my favorite way to hear them, acoustic guitar and violin, Shawn’s backing vocals complimenting Jeremiah’s lyrical and hypnotic voice. Though I will concede his rock band the Achilles Heel also does right by them.
I tried to get Jeremiah to play an encore song after his 45 minute set, but he passed. “I just really want to hear Walter play.” It was a great night of great music. I enjoyed every minute of it, but more importantly I think the musicians did too.
Jeremiah Nelson & Shawn Drake
Walter Salas-Humara
People are funny. The house was packed in March of 2007 as sixty plus floated in and out of the Silos/Jon Dee Graham show. Walter Salas-Humara is the Silos, the only consistent member, the voice and the songwriter, yet not even twenty showed up to see him play a solo set, even though the only difference between then and tonight was a rhythm section. As an added attraction he brought along some of his artwork to sell along with the Silos’ extensive catalog of CDs. Walters Dogs are aren’t particularly anatomically correct, their legs look like spaghetti, their eyes like eggs, some have two heads, some have five legs, but they are all adorable. I’d bought two online previously, and adopted another tonight.
The shortage of people didn’t seem to bother Walter much (low turn-outs seem to affect me much more than they do the musicians), and he used the opportunity to make the show even more intimate by unplugging his guitar and strolling around the audience singing. Many of the songs came from his intriguing “I’m Not Jim” release written and recorded with author Jonathan Letham. The pair wrote the songs together and then sent the barebones recordings off to a couple of producers known as the Elegant Too (Chris Maxwell and Phil Hernandez) who turned it into something else entirely. “Uncomplicated” is exactly that, while “The Pitchers Gave Up,” about a ridiculously high-scoring game where even the shortstops were taking their turn on the mound, would be worthy of the Baseball Project. Other songs came from the Silos vast catalog, some I knew, some I didn’t, but it was all good. Made even better by his unconventional approach.
Openers Jeremiah Nelson and Shawn Drake were happy to stay on their side of the microphones, though that was due to the fact that Jeremiah was forced to sit. “Usually I wouldn’t be sitting down,” he explained, “but I lent my guitar strap to a very frantic Freddy Johnston last week at Steel Bridge and never got it back.” The pair often plays together during Jeremiah’s weekly gig at Mickey’s Tavern, but tonight sounded even better without all the commotion inherent to the east side institution. Most of the set consisted of Jeremiah’s newest songs which I think are among the best he’s written. “Daisy Chain” and “Run-on Sentence” are both smart and pretty, while the latter makes clever use of the two meanings of sentence. And this is my favorite way to hear them, acoustic guitar and violin, Shawn’s backing vocals complimenting Jeremiah’s lyrical and hypnotic voice. Though I will concede his rock band the Achilles Heel also does right by them.
I tried to get Jeremiah to play an encore song after his 45 minute set, but he passed. “I just really want to hear Walter play.” It was a great night of great music. I enjoyed every minute of it, but more importantly I think the musicians did too.
Jeremiah Nelson & Shawn Drake
Walter Salas-Humara
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Bob Dylan/Willie Nelson; July 1, 2009; Marcus Amphitheater, Summerfest
There’s a reason I see Bob Dylan every time I can. Tonight is one of those reasons. Even though the last several shows I’d seen had been disappointing, you just never know when there’s going to be one like tonight where you just want to cry because it was so good. OK, maybe you don’t, but I know I almost did. The Sears and Kohl Center shows I’d seen in 2006 were large impersonal shows that I didn’t even feel like I was at, not because I was so far away but because there was nothing to connect to. Last fall’s Riverside Theater show was certainly more intimate but his voice was perhaps the worst I’d heard it. It wasn’t like the 90’s where he mumbled through every song, no, that night he just sounded like a parody of himself.
Tonight I was almost as far away as I’d been at the Kohl Center but I hadn’t felt this much a part of a Bob Dylan show since, well, I actually don’t know when. I’ve been telling everyone this was the best show I had seen in five years, but it may have been even longer. There was that ’01 Milwaukee show that absolutely blew my mind and those ’02 road trip shows in Omaha, Sioux Falls and Fargo that made me want to follow the rest of the tour, but I can’t think of a show since then that made me this happy. The entire crowd was on their feet to greet the first song of the set “Cat’s in the Well” but by the fourth song most of them had settled back into their seats. By the fifth I was the only one standing in my entire gigantic section. I kept waiting for someone behind to tap my on the shoulder and ask me to sit down, or even more likely for the less polite “Down in front!” Instead I was allowed to stand in my blissful state for the whole show.
From the second he walked on stage I knew tonight was going to be different. He had a guitar. It had been years since I had seen him play, by those ’02 shows he was already switching between it and keyboard and it wasn’t long after that he had stopped playing guitar altogether. He’s always had a very competent band behind him with plenty of exceptional guitar players but the fact that he was playing tonight seemed to signify this show would be different. Past shows have been too jammy, too bluesy, too many new songs, too mumbly, but this one was none of those things.
Together Through Life released earlier this year was a very pleasant surprise. A surprise to everyone, his record label didn’t even know he’d been working on a new one. Filled with folky accordion and pretty songs, it was love at first listen. It was even more amazing since despite many attempts I hadn’t been able to get into his previous release Modern Times at all. Only two songs from Life showed up in the set, the pretty “Jolene” (which means I know more songs named Jolene than people with that name) and “Forgetful Heart,” but it was filled with treasures. Perhaps the prettiest jewel in the chest was “I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Met).” The narrator of the song hurt by a snub from a lover offers this advice at the end “But if you want me to, I can be just like you an' pretend that we never have touched. An' if anybody asks me, "Is it easy to forget?" I'll say, "It's easily done, you just pick anyone, an' pretend that you never have met!"”
I’ve seen the lengthy “Desolation Row” turn into a death march, but tonight it stayed interesting through all ten poetry filled verses. “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” was a heartfelt promise, “Highway 61 Revisited” a joy ride, and “Summer Days” a blissful boogie. Like most Dylan shows it dug deep into his catalog, only a few songs could be classified as hits. “It Ain’t Me Babe,” “All Along the Watchtower” and “Like Rolling Stone” were probably the only songs a casual fan would know, which may explain why people started leaving well before it was over. After knowing almost every song Willie Nelson played in his nothing but the hits set, they had to be a little put out by Dylan’s refusal to make it that easy. Not that Willie’s way is wrong, but I’ll take Dylan’s way every time.
There’s a reason I see Bob Dylan every time I can. Tonight is one of those reasons. Even though the last several shows I’d seen had been disappointing, you just never know when there’s going to be one like tonight where you just want to cry because it was so good. OK, maybe you don’t, but I know I almost did. The Sears and Kohl Center shows I’d seen in 2006 were large impersonal shows that I didn’t even feel like I was at, not because I was so far away but because there was nothing to connect to. Last fall’s Riverside Theater show was certainly more intimate but his voice was perhaps the worst I’d heard it. It wasn’t like the 90’s where he mumbled through every song, no, that night he just sounded like a parody of himself.
Tonight I was almost as far away as I’d been at the Kohl Center but I hadn’t felt this much a part of a Bob Dylan show since, well, I actually don’t know when. I’ve been telling everyone this was the best show I had seen in five years, but it may have been even longer. There was that ’01 Milwaukee show that absolutely blew my mind and those ’02 road trip shows in Omaha, Sioux Falls and Fargo that made me want to follow the rest of the tour, but I can’t think of a show since then that made me this happy. The entire crowd was on their feet to greet the first song of the set “Cat’s in the Well” but by the fourth song most of them had settled back into their seats. By the fifth I was the only one standing in my entire gigantic section. I kept waiting for someone behind to tap my on the shoulder and ask me to sit down, or even more likely for the less polite “Down in front!” Instead I was allowed to stand in my blissful state for the whole show.
From the second he walked on stage I knew tonight was going to be different. He had a guitar. It had been years since I had seen him play, by those ’02 shows he was already switching between it and keyboard and it wasn’t long after that he had stopped playing guitar altogether. He’s always had a very competent band behind him with plenty of exceptional guitar players but the fact that he was playing tonight seemed to signify this show would be different. Past shows have been too jammy, too bluesy, too many new songs, too mumbly, but this one was none of those things.
Together Through Life released earlier this year was a very pleasant surprise. A surprise to everyone, his record label didn’t even know he’d been working on a new one. Filled with folky accordion and pretty songs, it was love at first listen. It was even more amazing since despite many attempts I hadn’t been able to get into his previous release Modern Times at all. Only two songs from Life showed up in the set, the pretty “Jolene” (which means I know more songs named Jolene than people with that name) and “Forgetful Heart,” but it was filled with treasures. Perhaps the prettiest jewel in the chest was “I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Met).” The narrator of the song hurt by a snub from a lover offers this advice at the end “But if you want me to, I can be just like you an' pretend that we never have touched. An' if anybody asks me, "Is it easy to forget?" I'll say, "It's easily done, you just pick anyone, an' pretend that you never have met!"”
I’ve seen the lengthy “Desolation Row” turn into a death march, but tonight it stayed interesting through all ten poetry filled verses. “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” was a heartfelt promise, “Highway 61 Revisited” a joy ride, and “Summer Days” a blissful boogie. Like most Dylan shows it dug deep into his catalog, only a few songs could be classified as hits. “It Ain’t Me Babe,” “All Along the Watchtower” and “Like Rolling Stone” were probably the only songs a casual fan would know, which may explain why people started leaving well before it was over. After knowing almost every song Willie Nelson played in his nothing but the hits set, they had to be a little put out by Dylan’s refusal to make it that easy. Not that Willie’s way is wrong, but I’ll take Dylan’s way every time.
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