| 1559365200 |
Live Music |
Will Kimbrough, Grayson Capps & Corky Hughes @ Dyson House |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
June 1, 2019 |
June 1, 2019 |
8:00 PM |
11:00 PM |
Will Kimbrough, Grayson Capps & Corky Hughes get together on June 1 for a spectacular night of music. We've had em as solos and duos. We've even had their supergroup, Willie Sugarcapps. I guess we could bill this "Willie Capps, hold the sugar"! Martin Flanagan opens the show. Online link for this show is kimbroughcappsdragon.brownpapertickets.com |
| 1559883600 |
Live Music |
Anna Larson and Those Poor Serfs with The Wilder Janes @ Zeeland Street Market |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
June 7, 2019 |
June 7, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
11:00 PM |
This will be a by donation show. Buy tickets for best seats, make a donation or just come on in.
Emerging singer/songwriter Anna Larson creates tones and colors that love the right word. After a successful 2017 playing with indie folk band The Wheelwrights, the Austin-based, classically trained pianist delivers a distinctive collection of songs rife with Texas soul and Americana amplified by lush strings and moody, thoughtful conflations. Her debut solo album, “Shifting Sand”, was released in February 2019, preceded by three album singles. Larson has taken the long way round in music: from growing up on gospel, to the revelation of rock n' roll, through years spent as a classical pianist. But the connection to musicianship and craft remains the same, no matter the genre. “Beauty is what I’m chasing as a musician- whether that’s a instrument tone, or a just-right word choice. Beauty can groove, beauty can make you hold your breath, beauty can tell a story.”
Spring and summer 2019 will find Larson and her band playing dates around Texas and the Southeast. More information can be found at www.annalarsonmusic.com |
| 1564290000 |
Live Music |
Shannon McNally |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
July 28, 2019 |
July 28, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
SHANNON MCNALLY
Thom Jurek at All Music said it best, "Only Gram Parsons' term "Cosmic American Music" begins to touch her mercurial, changeling roots aesthetic, . . McNally is a Zen-like, post-Beat song poet”. For those who have followed McNally’s nearly twenty year career the thing that most sticks with the listener about her, is the timeless effortlessness that she brings to all she does. With a long catalog and longer list of peers with whom she has written, recorded and toured, McNally continues to turn out great music that defies blatant genre-fication.
At home across the American (Americana) music spectrum, the Grammy nominee who’s live music career began on the jam band circuit of the 1990’s with bands like Robert Randolph and Derek Trucks, writes as well as she interprets the songs of others, has a top tier musicality to her craft, a soul stirring voice that immediately grabs one by the heart strings and a troubadour’s wanderlust, not to mention as it turns out, she is also an excellent electric guitar player.
Like her anti-hero heros J.J. Cale, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan. Dr. John, and Jim Dickinson, McNally knows who she serves. She serves the song. Her quiet but steady plodding through the many layers of the business of music, hasn’t ever been rewarded with massive fame and fortune but in time that slow burn has become the treasure in and of itself.
The part of McNally’s narrative that is often missed is that not only has she self-managed herself for nearly all of her career but that she has also been a stout warrior-like-artist who often went toe-to-toe with label heads and A&R to defend and fight for her visions. She left the major label world after ten years at Capital/EMI to fend for herself on various smaller labels and self-release paradigms. Perhaps the business of music is finally catching up with her independent spirit. We shall see.
"She has the voice: bruised, smoky and ornery, right at home where country and soul meet. She has the melodies and the timing - she’s irresistible.” — Jon Pareles, The New York Times
“McNally ….sensual, swaggering, smokey. …..exhibiting an ability to depict pleasure and pain with an explicitness that seems deceptively natural for such a reasonably young songwriter.….a healthy dose of lowdown country and ragged soul..McNally's sound bears a timelessness that's truly uncommon.” — Austin Chronicle
“She is probably rock’s most talented undiscovered gem. This woman with the confident voice, pin-point lyrics and effortless guitar playing….Shannon McNally can rock your socks off at the same time she is hitting you over the head with words that actually make sense.” — Glide Magazine
“I first heard of Shannon McNally through John Leventhal, who described her vocal skills as having just the right amount of girlish smoke. At the time I was looking for just the right singer to make a cameo appearance on a song I was recording called “Famous Last Words of a Fool.” Trusting John’s appraisal---from his description I imagined something of a cross between Joan Jett and Lauren Bacall---I set about tracking the mystery singer down. What I eventually discovered in the small town of Holly Springs, Mississippi was this dark-eyed beauty who wrote grown-up songs, played a pretty mean Fender Stratocaster and, at times, sounded a lot Jesse Mae Hemphill. From our first meeting I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was the right man for the job of shepherding the next Shannon McNally record into existence. Now that the record is made, I hope music lovers around the world will come to know what I and many others already know: This girl belongs in the Americana Music spotlight.” Rodney Crowell
“McNally is back. Enjoy her wondrous voice and the effervescent spirt of this album. She proves to be, not surprising to those who are familiar with her catalog, a terrific interpreter in the vein of Emmylou and Linda Ronstadt.”
–Jim Hynes/Elmore magazine
“Black Irish shows McNally’s range as an artist – her ability to be soulful, sultry, introspective and tough in her songwriting and singing. McNally has never sounded better. “
– Maeri Ferguson/No Depression
“With any luck and the right promotion, it (Black Irish) ought to move McNally to the forefront of Americana artists, where she clearly belongs.”
– Hal Horowitz/American Songwriter
“Shannon McNally has a been gifted with a voice that has an ethereal hypnotic affect featuring a mix of southern drawl and Celtic lilt delivered as a velvety alto that ensnares the soul of the listener.”
– Rick Bowen/Innocent Words
“With Black Irish, Shannon McNally ascends to the highest tier of Americana auteurs and guarantees she won’t be abandoning that locale any time soon.”
– Lee Zimmerman/Glide Magazine
"Haunted notes from guitar strings fill the air as Shannon McNally offers up her voice to name women who have left their mortal spirits on the earth in 'Banshee Moan’." |
| 1564808400 |
Live Music |
Shawn Williams Band with Dana Abbott |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
August 3, 2019 |
August 3, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
10:00 PM |
This show is sponsored by Curt Bailey.
New Orleans’ pioneering voice in “alt-rocka countrybilly serial killer blues,” Shawn Williams sounds like the result of a dirtier-minded Elvis deciding to get it on in the back of some roadhouse saloon with one of those sad-eyed cowboy types that would rather be drinking alone.
Her debut album Shadow (March 2017) is a skillfully-mastered collection of originals that moves seamlessly from old-school R&B-inflected rockers to softer, wistful numbers that evoke the broken-hearted melancholia of the desert. Idiosyncratic, catchy, and rich with local talent, the tracks showcase Williams’ impressive musicianship and unique capabilities as a songwriter. New Orleans' OffBeat Magazine says, "it's an impressively mature debut album".
Williams' sophomore release Motel Livin' (June 2018) "throbs with some of 2018's best-written songs," says Europe's Country Music People magazine.
On recording as in live performance, she conveys a sense of rawness, a depth of feeling, and a lack of pretension that set her apart from the rest of the city’s pool of talented up-and-coming musicians.
Shawn has opened for national touring artists such as the Queen of Rockabilly - Wanda Jackson, Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, Corey Smith, The Accidentals, Todd O'Neill, The Way Down Wanderers, Loverboy, and more.
Aside from her own music, she is also the founder of the all-female Elvis tribute band, Pelvis Breastlies.
An accomplished career in radio has taken her from Atlanta to New York City and back to her hometown of New Orleans, where she marked success as the former programming director for two of the city’s largest radio stations (NASH FM 92.3 and 106.1 the underground), all the while managing to maintain gigging/writing/drinking schedule required of a young bandleader in a vibrant night town. |
| 1567659600 |
Live Music |
Sugarcane Jane and the Bucket Fillers with Ben Bell |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
September 5, 2019 |
September 5, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
12:00 AM |
Sugarcane Jane, Alabama’s Americana sweethearts released their seventh studio album, Southern State of Mind, in October ‘18 which has remained #1 on the Alabama Top Album Chart for sixteen weeks and counting.
The band is made up of multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer, Anthony Crawford, who has spent decades touring alongside Neil Young, Steve Winwood, Dwight Yoakam and his multi-instrumentalist wife Savana Lee, who cut her teeth in Nashville co-owning and managing the vintage analog recording studio, Deepfield Studio. Both of whom are members of Americana supergroup, Willie Sugarcapps with Will Kimbrough, Grayson Capps, and Corky Hughes. Anthony’s songwriting credits include Steve Winwood, Dwight Yoakam, Kenny Rogers, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Oak Ridge Boys, and others.
The Washington Times touted them “One of the best duos since Johnny and June”.
Listeners can expect mostly acoustic sounds, and some of the freshest-sounding vocal harmonies they will ever hear. |
| 1567746000 |
Live Music |
Sam Price & the True Believers |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
September 6, 2019 |
September 6, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
10:00 PM |
Sam Price & the True Believers was formed in 2015 by New Orleans bass player Sam Price, who is best known for his energetic performances with the Honey Island Swamp Band. Their debut EP was released to critical acclaim and voted ‘Best Roots Rock Album' of 2017 by Offbeat Magazine. A subsequent grant from the Threadhead Cultural Foundation led to the follow up recording 'Drangonfly’, produced by Papa Mali and released in March 2019.
The band's music features soulful vocals over rocking, funky grooves and poignant ballads with uplifting lyrics that have been described as "relentlessly positive" and "so from the heart, it hurts". |
| 1568350800 |
Live Music |
WIllis Alan Ramsey with Robert Cline, Jr. |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
September 13, 2019 |
September 13, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
12:00 AM |
Return engagement announced!
Willis Alan Ramsey is a cult legend among fans of Americana and progressive Texas country. Blending folk, country, and pop with witty, introspective lyrics, Ramsey recorded a critically acclaimed debut album for Leon Russell's Shelter label in 1972. It was one of the first albums by the new school of Austin singer/songwriters that would come to be tagged "progressive country" (Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt among them). However, Ramsey subsequently disappeared from music, owing to conflicts with his label and a general distaste for the business. Countless artists covered material from Willis Alan Ramsey, most notoriously the Captain & Tennille, who took "Muskrat Candlelight" into the pop Top Five under the new title "Muskrat Love." That's no indicator of the respect Ramsey commanded in the country world, with artists like Jerry Jeff Walker ("Northeast Texas Women"), Waylon Jennings ("Satin Sheets"), Jimmy Buffett ("The Ballad of Spider John"), and Jimmie Dale Gilmore ("Goodbye to Old Missoula") all cutting versions of Ramsey's songs. Ramsey spent most of the '80s living in the U.K. and studying Celtic music but enjoyed something of a rediscovery thanks to Lyle Lovett, who praised the songwriter to the skies. He and Ramsey co-wrote "North Dakota" for Lovett's 1992 album Joshua Judges Ruth and teamed up again for "That's Right (You're Not From Texas)" on 1996's The Road to Ensenada. Meanwhile, Shawn Colvin re-recorded "Satin Sheets" for her Cover Girl album, and Lovett later tapped the new song "Sleepwalking" for his own covers album, Step Inside This House. In 2001, Ramsey appeared on Austin City Limits, performing nine new songs as well as some older material; he also mounted a tour and reportedly working on a new record that he hopes to release this summer. Be ready for another great performance by Willis. |
| 1568523600 |
Live Music |
An Intimate Evening with Lena Prima |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
September 15, 2019 |
September 15, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
12:00 AM |
For the past eight years, Lena Prima and her band have been doing regular shows at the Monteleone’s Carousel Bar. For those in the know, it’s one of those special things you can only find in New Orleans: The daughter of music royalty doing a personalized take of classic songs, from her dad and elsewhere. Sometimes it’s a crowd of music fans and sometimes they’re outnumbered by the tourists that come in for cocktails and dancing, but Prima doesn’t mind: Being a natural entertainer is one of a few things that run in her blood.
The family history is hard to avoid, not least because Lena’s father Louis Prima did a residency in the very same hotel (in the upper-level Skylight Room, which is no longer a nightclub) toward the end of his career. Lena seldom does a show without a few of her dad’s greatest hits, at least “Jump, Jive an’ Wail,” “Just a Gigolo” and “Pennies from Heaven”—but her sweeter voice naturally gives them a different spin, and she’ll drop a few nuggets of family history in the song intros. When she includes some of her dad’s humor—say, an ad-lib about ravioli—you can hear her delighting in the absurdity, just as she probably did as a child.
But something subtler been going on through the long residency, and it has to do with Lena finding her footing as her own artist. When she and her husband (and sometime bassist) Tim Fahey moved to New Orleans in 2011, she’d spent many years coming to terms with her musical bloodline—sometimes embracing it and sometimes avoiding it altogether. As a recording artist, she’s been a bit of a chameleon: She’s devoted a couple of albums to her father’s repertoire, but also recorded some non-Prima jazz standards, and done a mostly-original album (2014’s Starting Something) in the entirely different context of locally rooted funky rock. From New Orleans she’s gotten the freedom to try all these approaches; in turn New Orleans has gained a vocalist who can do them with personality and joy.
Lena Prima. Photo by Gus Bennett
Lena Prima. Photo by Gus Bennett
She’s now about to go national, with the new album Prima La Famiglia (her debut for Basin Street) as the calling card. It’s a bit different and a lot more ambitious than anything she’s done before, less a tribute to her dad than a warm embrace of the Italian pop tradition, mostly from pre-rock eras (while her father sang quite a few of these songs, none are obvious signature tunes). Read between the lines and there’s a lot of affection for family and culture, but she’s also claiming a musical niche that’s anything but crowded nowadays.
“I had a strong feeling about taking these songs and passing them on to this generation,” she says. “Italian people definitely relate to these songs. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin always sang Italian songs. Until I moved back here, I didn’t realize how much Sicilian immigration there was in New Orleans and how many Italian-Americans live here. My dad always addressed the importance of my heritage, and that’s gotten stronger for me over the years. My dad really became a hero to Italian-Americans because he did these songs. It wasn’t always good to be Italian back then, and he made everyone feel proud about their heritage—which included being able to laugh about it.”
Anyone who grew up with Italian pop will understand how passionate love ballads can sit right alongside novelty tunes; it’s all part of the spirit underlying that music. Sometimes it’s all in the same song, like her version of “Come on-a My House,” a tune associated with Rosemary Clooney. Lena treats it as playfully sexy, keeping that mood even when she’s singing about pasta fagioli. “That’s the way it is with Italian women—there’s a sexy factor, but the sexy is funny. And every Italian woman wants to cook for you and have every kind of food you can imagine. The history of that song is interesting because it was presented to Rosemary Clooney and my dad at the same time; they’re so similar that it could be the same arrangement. And I know that Rosemary wasn‘t into the novelty songs, but it ended up being her biggest hit. I really wanted to record that, and we rearranged it so it would have a definite chorus.”
It’s also the largest-scale production of any record she’s made, done in Nashville with co-producer Scott Williamson and with pianist Larry Sieberth (her regular bandleader at the Monteleone) writing the arrangements for a big band with strings as well as horns. “My idea was to take these different songs—some Italian folk songs, some comedy songs and some real swingers—and make them sound modern and unified,” Sieberth said in a separate interview. “It was less about literal transcribing than conceptual transcribing—adding my own twists, sometimes more advanced harmonies, putting in some of that Nelson Riddle-style contrapuntal big-band writing. The overall question was, How can we make this hip?”
Lena was born in 1965, the daughter of Louis Prima and his fifth and last wife Gia Maione, also the singer who replaced Keely Smith as his featured duet partner. As a child Lena lived both in Las Vegas and New Orleans, attending St. Peter’s in Covington and Covington High School. They also lived on Esplanade Avenue for a time, and during the summers she’d accompany her parents to their Vegas residencies—a life that she says wasn’t as glamorous as it sounds. Asked about bring a showbiz kid Lena says, “It’s funny, I never had that feeling at all. I did a show once with some other children of celebrities, like [Judy Garland’s daughter] Lorna Luft and Dean Martin’s son—they all grew up together in Hollywood, and that wasn’t the case for me. My dad lived in Las Vegas but it was outside the actual city, and he had a golf course there. So I never had that showbiz feeling, it was more like growing up on a farm.”
She was, however, a devoted fan of her dad, and keeps affectionate memories of their short time together (he entered a coma when she was ten, and died three years later). “I looked up to him like he was the most important person in the world, aside from the president. My mom too, I’d watch her putting on her makeup like she was a movie star. It was always exciting to go out with my dad, because he was a joyful, excited guy all the time. We’d drive up and down the strip and he’d say, ‘Hey, look where you are right now! Everybody wants to be right here!’”
Though they had good moments together, she also connected to him via TV and radio, and got to know all the Louis Prima records the public largely missed—like his 1968 cover of the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Bald Headed Lena,” which bugged her because she wasn’t bald. “The gargling solo was great though—how often do you hear that?” She also remembers the first time she heard “Pensate Amore,” a song she revives on the new album. “I was watching the Flintstones on TV, Fred was singing to Wilma at a tower in Rome, and I swore I heard my dad’s voice dubbed. So I ran to my mom and she said I was mistaken, she said ‘He never did anything for Hanna-Barbera.’” It wasn’t until decades later, when researching a book about her childhood she’s working on, that she discovered via Wikipedia that Louis did indeed sing the song in a Flintstones movie. “And I loved it. That’s what my dad’s message was—‘Everything is about love. Don’t think about the future, look at the moon.’”
Another tune she resurrected for the album, “See That You’re Born an Italian,” is even more obscure, but there exists a mid-’60s clip (not on YouTube, alas) of both her parents doing it with Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé on the latter couple’s TV show. Her version preserves the bit where the band quotes from “Arrivederci Roma.” Says Lena, “My dad and mom recorded it together, so that was another 45 that I had to search for. It’s such a cute song though, and that ’60s version is just so ’60s.”
Lena Prima. Photo by Gus Bennett
Lena Prima. Photo by Gus Bennett
Lena made her stage debut at age five, a moment she remembers vividly. “It was at the Sands and I sang ‘Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.’ I remember that I was wearing this little sailor dress, hanging on to the end of my dad’s coat. I remember the spotlight shining in my eyes, and the people up front beaming and smiling at me. Years later someone sent me an envelope of those photos, which was an amazing gift—to see how lit up my little face was, the joy that I felt standing up there. And I remembered the sailor dress—isn’t it like a little girl to remember her fashions?”
The main mystery here is what took her so long to embrace the family legacy and start her career in earnest. The answer to that question is one she’s never really tackled before this interview, and still the toughest one to talk about. But it goes back to her mother’s reservations about her even having a singing career—and to some extent, Gia’s unresolved feelings about being a performer herself. “My mother was part of the ’50s. She was raised in a really strict Italian family where you’re supposed to get married and have children, and still be beautiful so that everyone thinks your husband has the most together wife.
“So when I announced to her that I wanted to be a singer, she didn’t approve. But here’s the part that I didn’t remember before: She said to me, ‘If you’re going to be a singer, you’d better be better than anybody else, or you’re going to be an embarrassment to the family name.’ That’s why I hid out as a singer for so long: I couldn’t in my own mind say that I was absolutely better than everybody. There’s always that thing between mothers and daughters; you don’t want disapproval of a parent. I loved her and she loved me, but my doing this was the denial of the status quo. I decided not to marry [at a young age], not to have children, not to do what my mother did. That was why I didn’t start my career until my late forties. I feel confident in myself now, for the first time ever. And that’s a story I want to tell, for the women who are struggling with it the way I did.”
Her mother bucked the same norms by joining Louis Prima’s band, but Lena feels that Gia never thought of herself as a professional singer. “She was only 20 when she snuck out to audition for the job, without her father’s knowing. She was working as a hostess at the time and the music part was a hobby. And that’s the way she kept it: She was a wife and a mother and a homemaker first, and she sang sometimes; she always told me it was okay if it was a hobby. But I wonder how she really felt about it. That was how that generation worked, they pushed their passions aside. It’s completely possible that she had bigger dreams and resigned herself.”
Which is why Lena chose to enter music pretty much incognito; at 19 she joined a cover band that was playing the Vegas circuit. As the featured “girl singer” she sang all the obligatory hits of the time—’Til Tuesday’s “Voices Carry,” Scandal’s “Goodbye to You” and the rest. “It was the ’80s, so my hair had a magenta tint. I would copy everything—my voice had a similar tone quality to Ann Wilson of Heart, and I did a lot of Journey because that was also in my wheelhouse. I was hiding out, because I still felt that I wasn’t supposed to be a singer. So I could just be the girl singer, working under the band’s name; I felt comfortable doing that. And I stayed that way for 20 years.” Even when a new generation discovered Louis Prima in the wake of David Lee Roth’s cover of “Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody” (a version virtually identical to the original, down to tempo and nuance), she kept her history under wraps.
The turning point came in the early ’90s, when she did the cruise-ship circuit with the Spiral Starecase (still riding its early-’70s hit “More Today Than Yesterday”). Someone in the ship’s office caught her name and put her up front, to the rest of the group’s chagrin. “That’s when people started telling me these amazing stories about my dad. One woman told me she’d cut school to see him play. She was sitting in the front row and my dad took a bite of her sandwich, that picture got in the newspaper and she got busted. But she said it was worth it.”
She continued trying to summon the confidence to put on her own show, getting input from some of her dad’s associates—notably his longtime drummer Jimmy Vincent and another Vegas connection, Wayne Newton’s piano player Glenn Smith. “I kept telling him the reasons I had for not going out on my own, and his response was always ‘Bullshit.’ But I really didn’t think I was supposed to be a singer. After my dad died I didn’t have another family member who was supportive about it. But I remember, the night I talked to Glenn, I went back to my cabin and the movie they were showing was Field of Dreams. That struck a chord.”
She finally invested money for an arranger and band, and launched her own show—which would seem a slam-dunk in Vegas, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. Bookings got hard to come by, and after a time she was working more in her other line as a jewelry designer. “Vegas really changed. There were nightclubs and DJs, but there weren’t any venues for the kind of music I was doing, my dad’s music.” It was her other hometown, New Orleans, that gave her the kind of reception she couldn’t find in Vegas. She was booked for the Jazz Fest in 2010, where she, her brother Louis Jr. and Keely Smith all played separate sets to celebrate Louis Prima’s 100th birthday (he also got the Fest poster that year painted by Tony Bennett). For Lena it was a pivotal trip that felt just like coming home.
“We booked a couple of dates around that Jazz Fest and it was amazing. WWOZ played the whole show live, I got to play the Louisiana Music Factory and [Irvin Mayfield’s] Jazz Playhouse. It was all a completely different feeling in regards to the music I was playing and what I was. And when we got back to Vegas, there was a distinct difference in the way it felt. In New Orleans there was always music, there was art and a vibe, there was something going on—in Vegas I didn’t have that feeling. It was more about the gambling and the money and the big corporations. So my husband and I just said, ‘Let’s move’. We couldn’t even afford to do it, the market was really bad. We sold our house to a real estate investor and got half of what we wanted—but we didn’t care.” And it didn’t take long before the move paid off: They took residence in New Orleans on Christmas 2011; the first Monteleone show was on January 6.
The next couple years should involve a lot of moving. Prima has wound down the Monteleone residency for the time being, to concentrate on touring; shows in Vegas and New York are now being planned. The local CD release party is planned for February 7th at the Royal Sonesta Jazz Playhouse from 5 to 7 p.m. She’s also formed a nonprofit, CIAO Women!, which honors Italian-American women who’ve done positive things in their communities. Between that and the album she seems set to carry on the family business of spreading a little Italian-style cheer.
Between that and the album she seems set to carry on the family business of taking Italy to the world. Her band is also ready to take things to the next level. “I think she’s really elevated her performance as well as her individuality, taking it from the bar scene to the concert stage,” says Lawrence Sieberth. “There are a lot of offspring performers out there, and they don’t all have an easy time. My feeling, and my hope, is that she’s elevated herself to the point where it’s less about her being Louis Prima’s daughter, and more that he was her father.” |
| 1568869200 |
Live Music |
Steve Conn |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
September 19, 2019 |
September 19, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
12:00 AM |
Steve Conn has played piano, organ or accordion with Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson, Sonny Landreth, Kenny Loggins, Jake Shimabukuro and a multitude of others. As a session keyboardist he has played on ten Grammy-nominated albums.
His most recent Grammy nomination was for Sonny Landreth’s 2017 live album, Recorded Live in Lafayette, on which he plays accordion, piano and organ, and is featured singing his song “The One and Only Truth.”
He was a New Folk Finalist at the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival, he’s had his music played on Oprah and CSI, and for two years he was the musical director for eTown on National Public Radio.
He’s a master songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who’s toured Europe with legendary bluesman Albert King, played on “The Tonight Show” with acclaimed vocalist Shelby Lynne, and joined rock ’n’ roll icon Levon Helm onstage at the famed Ryman Auditorium.
Steve's music reflects the depth and diversity of his Louisiana roots. Part funky bluesman, part soulful popster, he draws on his love of Southern literature to craft “tunes that infuse intriguing stories and characters with a depth of melody and musicianship that makes clear why Conn is in such demand." (Dirty Linen)
His first national release was the critically acclaimed River of Madness, a unique hybrid of Louisiana-influenced, pop-inspired deep grooves and high ideals. He released Steve Conn in 2003, featuring the classic “I’ve Got Your Dog” and the heartbreaking “Beautiful,” later recorded by soul icon Bonnie Bramlett.
In 2011 he came out with Beautiful Dream, 12 exquisitely crafted songs full of questions and observations about loss and innocence, hope and regret, cynicism and optimism.
He continues weaving those lyrical threads on the recently-released Flesh and Bone, which is resplendent with rootsy grooves, incisive lyrics, imaginative production and unforgettable songs.
"The personae of compelling singer/songwriter and savvy, roots-bound player are joined at the hip in the work of Steve Conn. One should not be surprised if they catch a side glimpse of Mose Allison or Randy Newman within the narratives of the axe-to-grind or heart-on-his-sleeve protagonists portrayed here."
— Duane Verh, Roots Music Report
"Steve Conn could be Louisiana’s Jackson Browne or Bruce Hornsby."
— John Wirt, The Advocate (Baton Rouge) |
| 1568955600 |
Live Music |
The Weeping Willows with Brother’s Bear-Bluegrass Night |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
September 20, 2019 |
September 20, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
The Weeping Willows, Laura Coates and Andrew Wrigglesworth, are a couple of
old souls, steeped in Bluegrass tradition and draped in Gothic Americana
imagery. They regale their audiences with stories of sunshine and romance,
God and The Devil, murder and decay. That kind of description might make
them sound like some carefully contrived concept-act but there's something
truly different about The Weeping Willows: they really mean it.
2015-2019 has seen The Weeping Willows nominated for 5 x CMAA 'Golden
Guitar' awards, 4 x Country Music Channel (CMC) awards, APRA AMCOS
Australian Independent Country Music Single of the Year, performing at
AmericanaFest (USA), Folk Alliance International (USA), Maverick Festival
(UK), the Port Fairy Folk Festival, Out On The Weekend with Margo Price,
Joshua Hedley and Courtney Marie Andrews and the 2018 Australian Americana
Music Honours. In recent years they have supported superstars Lukas Nelson
& Promise of the Real (USA), Hayes Carll (USA), Iris DeMent (USA), Eilen
Jewell (USA), Willie Watson (USA), Cory Branan (USA), Kevin Welch (USA) and
Tim Easton (USA) and completed national and international tours in support
of their sophomore album, Before Darkness Comes A-Callin' (2016), which
received four-star reviews in Rolling Stone, The Australian and The Music. |
| 1569474000 |
Live Music |
The Red Clay Strays |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
September 26, 2019 |
September 26, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
Known as “The Newest Southern Sensation”, the Red Clay Strays are bringing life back to the lost art of southern music! Biography From the far reaches of rural south Alabama, The Red Clay Strays claim their unique sound with a humble onfidence that can only come from their upbringing. This band, on stage and off, reminds you of southern music’s heyday and gives you hope that it may not have lost its way after all. Growing up listening to gospel along with artists such as Waylon Jennings, The Eagles, and the Allman Brothers, their wide range of influences create a combined style of the country music and southern rock we’ve all been waiting for. Lead Singer, Brandon Coleman, with vocals that bring to mind young Elvis, is the heart of their high energy show along with Drew Nix on rhythm guitar, Zach Rischel on lead, Andrew Bishop on bass and John Hall on drums.
A few heartfelt reviews...: "We stopped in to Acme Feed and Seed not knowing what we we in for. The four of us were blown away. We could not stop talking about the Red Clay Strays and their talent for the rest of our trip.” -Allison Munsey
“Holy crap are you guys amazing!!! There's a lot of talent on the Music scene, it's a rare find when a group stands out among the best...so happy we stumbled upon such a fantastic band today.” -Nicolette Schultz
“...not one person left disappointed and you had people dancing that hasn't danced in many years. Thank you for a great evening.” -Tracy Howell
"Definitely worth seeing.. The singer has an incredible stage presence and great vocal range and interacts well with the crowd. These guys are a music lovers band.They play everything from Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis to CCR and Stevie Ray Vaughan. They approach each song with the same intensity,passions and a cohesion that isn't usually takes years to achieve. Give em a try, you won't be disappointed!!” -Derek Dumas |
| 1569646800 |
Live Music |
Mia Borders |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
September 28, 2019 |
September 28, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
“Mia’s voice is an instrument of exquisite beauty.”
— CHRISTINA OXENBERG, HUFFINGTON POST
Born and raised in New Orleans, Mia Borders’ powerhouse vocals and charismatic songwriting have made her a perennial figure in the regional music scene.
Heralded locally and nationally as one of the city’s best talents, Borders has been featured on AXS.tv’s coverage of The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and has performed at such renowned venues as Essence Festival, Brazil’s Bourbon Street Music Festival, House of Blues New Orleans, Tipitina’s, Santa Cruz Blues Fest, Chattanooga’s Night Fall, Voice of the Wetlands, Memphis’ Levitt Shell, Wakarusa, Long’s Park Amphitheater, 2012 Food & Wine Classic, and The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. She has shared bills with B.B. King, Corinne Bailey Rae, Lee Fields, and Marc Broussard, among others.
Her live shows are regularly praised as “deeply funky” (USA Today) and “confident and cool” (The Times-Picayune). Borders herself is “a chanteuse of the highest order” with “miles of style and charisma” (AXS.com).
Her expansive catalogue includes three EPs, various live albums, three singles, and six LPs – including 2016’s “completely authoritative” Fever Dreams (Offbeat Magazine). 2019 brings Borders’ latest self-produced EP, “Good Side of Bad,” released under Borders’ own label, Blaxican Records. |
| 1570597200 |
Live Music |
John Craigie with Patrick Cooper |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
October 9, 2019 |
October 9, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
12:00 AM |
John Craigie Returns!
“...the lovechild of John Prine and Mitch Hedberg with a vagabond troubadour edge.” – The Stranger
“The record opens with the shanty-like Dylan-meets-Prine number “Virgin Guitar,” which displays Craigie’s talent for understated singing coupled with poetic lyrics.” – The Portland Tribune
“Craigie’s latest, “I Am California,” is haunting, poetic, and just how a longing for California should sound. Draped in nostalgia and covered in memories, Craigie paints a beautiful homage to the Golden State, with the assistance of singer Gregory Alan Isakov.” – Impose Magazine
“You can be sure I’ll be on the lookout for anything he does from now on.” - No Depression
180202_Craigie_072 Photos_Credit Keith Berson .jpg
Renowned for his eloquent Americana style, engaging live shows, and off-the-cuff clever observations, John Craigie carries on the legacy of classic singer-songwriters, while blazing a trail of his own.
Recently, that trail twisted and turned into new territory for the Portland, OR performer who The Stranger appropriately dubbed, “the lovechild of John Prine and Mitch Hedberg.” His music speaks loud to both audiences and fellow artists. Todd Snider notably hand-delivered a gift on-stage, and Chuck Norris has sent fan mail. His fifth full-length album, No Rain, No Rose boasted two collaborations with Gregory Alan Isakov, namely “Highway Blood” and “I Am California.” Both quickly cracked 1 million Spotify streams and counting, as his knack for a captivating narrative and rustic aural palettes powered the 13-track offering together.
“It’s about transparency,” he explains. “The storytelling enables listeners to relate. Really good music doesn’t make you feel good; it makes you feel like you’re not alone.”
180202_Craigie_320 Photos_Credit Keith Berson .jpg
As No Rain, No Rose landed, he caught the attention of none other than Jack Johnson. Through a serendipitous series of events, Craigie’s 2016 live effort Capricorn in Retrograde… Just Kidding… Live in Portland landed in Johnson’s car stereo during a California coastal road trip.
Shortly after, Jack reached out and Craigie soon found himself onstage for 12 shows during Johnson’s 2017 summer tour including performances at The Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California and The Gorge in Washington state. Along the way, he earned acclaim from SF Weekly, Seattle Times, AXS, and more. Festival appearances also include Oregon Country Fair, Kate Wolf Music Festival, High Sierra Music Festival, Burning Man, and many others.
When Craigie plays, it’s one of those special shows that can make you laugh and cry in the same song. It’s a musical journey that can’t be denied. |
| 1570770000 |
Live Music |
Linda Gail Lewis-The Return of the Queen of Rock and Rock |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
October 11, 2019 |
October 11, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
LINDA GAIL LEWIS
Born a Louisiana girl and now residing in Austin, Texas. She's the little sister to living legend and musical genius, Jerry Lee Lewis. Raised on rock'n'roll pumping piano and country, Linda Gail grew up with a passion for music. A professional musician since fifteen, she continues to tour sharing her high octane live show with music fans around the world.
ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE
“ The rip-roaring spirit of early rock and roll looks to be alive and well in 2018 thanks to the All-KILLER pairing of Linda Gail Lewis and Robbie Fulks, who are dropping their new collaborative LP Wild! Wild! Wild! this summer via Chicago’s Bloodshot Records.”
MOTHER JONES
“ He’s an American great who excels at both sly humor and thoughtful balladry. She’s the younger sister of original rock and roll Hellraiser Jerry Lee Lewis, with a wild musical streak of her own. Put them together and the result is non stop fun. Move over, Johnny and June, George and Tammy: Robbie and Linda Gail Lewis are the latest classic duo !”
NPR
“ Linda Gail Lewis and Robbie Fulks have teamed up on a shrewd, witty album that’s a throwback to the earliest era of rock n’ roll- but it’s not pickled in nostalgia.”
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
“Ms Lewis wails and pumps piano when taking on Jerry Lee’s 1975 number “Boogie Woogie Country Gal, and the full Fulks acerbic wit is unleashed as Ms. Lewis belts his “murder, right here, live, during the song” “Till Death”. The wild title song simply rocks.” |
| 1571115600 |
Live Music |
Shawn James |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
October 15, 2019 |
October 15, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
10:00 PM |
Shawn James at Dyson House Listening Room in Baton Rouge LA on 10/15!
Tickets: ADV $15// DAY OF SHOW $25//VIP $35
Take one listen to Shawn James’ music and you can hear his roots in the Mississippi delta by way of growing up on the fabled South Side of Chicago, his authentic, gutbucket blend of blues, folk, and soul music running the gamut of ecstatic joy and painful anguish.
His aching cover of Macy Gray’s “I Try” for GRAMMY.com’s “GRAMMY ReImagined” feature takes the original, a three-time nominee (for both Record and Song of the Year) and winner for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2000 to the church, bringing out the wrenching anguish and yearning at its core. “The emotional heaviness of the lyrics is what drew me to it,” explains James. “People can relate on some level or another regarding love, loss, addiction, and the reaction to dealing with those things.”
James’s reimagining included “adding a depth of sorrow and darkness not just to the lyrics, but the ambience and delivery of the performance,” slowing the song down to emphasize the depth of feeling as he tries to say goodbye.
The singer-songwriter has previously released four full-length albums, including his debut, Shadows, a live record (Live at the Heartbreak House), a covers EP (The Madrid Sessions) and the original songs of his most recent effort, On the Shoulders of Giants. Hew newest offering, The Dark & The Light, was released on indie label Parts + Labor Records and produced and recorded by Jimmy Messer (AWOLNation, Kelly Clarkson, Kygo, The White Buffalo).
James is a road dog, the hellhounds at his heels, performing more than 200 dates a year. His songs have been featured on HBO, CBS and Sony Playstation’s The Last of Us 2. His track, “Through the Valley,” topped Spotify’s Global Viral Charts, while generating more than 60 million streams combined on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. |
| 1571288400 |
Live Music |
South Austin Moonlighters with James McCann and Abby Hayes |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
October 17, 2019 |
October 17, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
The band started in 2011 when Lonnie got together a group of local music veterans to occasionally play together for the sheer joy of making music. Pretty soon it became evident that something special happened when we played together, and the band—which was originally meant to be a moonlighting side-gig for all of us—became our main gig.
Those of you who know us know that our success has come from working as a team. We hold each other up and inspire each other to keep pushing and challenging ourselves to be our very best at all times. We all sing and write songs. We take turns leading the band, singing harmonies and coming together to lift each other up.
At the end of the day we all love making music, sharing it with people and basking in the joy that our audiences reflect back to us.
The Moonlighters deliver their own unique brand of Americana music with organic, show-stopping vocal harmonies, incredible musicianship, and well-crafted, heart-felt songs.
The joy of making music is a tangible and contagious part of the Moonlighters’ live shows. They are often compared to The Eagles, Little Feat, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young—but the Moonlighters have a voice all of their own.
They write and perform original music 2012’s Live at The Saxon Pub, 2013’s Burn and Shine, 2016’s Ghost of a Small Town and the highly anticipated, Anders Osborne-produced album Travel Light, which will be released on May 17, 2019. |
| 1571893200 |
Live Music |
Lynn Drury Band with Loud Have Mercy |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
October 24, 2019 |
October 24, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
A PERFORMER SINCE CHILDHOOD, LYNN DRURY’S FIRST ACCOLADE WAS AT THE AGE OF FIVE. SHE WON A 4-H POLE-BENDING COMPETITION IN HER NATIVE MISSISSIPPI. THOUGH HER RODEO CAREER DIDN’T FOLLOW HER INTO ADULTHOOD, SHE WAS PRIMED AND READY FOR THE SPOTLIGHT BY THE TIME SHE FIRST PICKED UP A GUITAR NEARLY TWENTY YEARS LATER.
BORN IN YAZOO CITY, MS AND RAISED IN CARRIERE, MS, DRURY RELOCATED TO NEW ORLEANS, LA IN THE MID-NINETIES AND PERFORMED HER UNIQUE STYLE OF ROOTS ROCK ON MOST OF THE STAGES IN THE CITY. OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES, THAT METICULOUSLY CULTIVATED STYLE – NOLAMERICANA® – HAS BROUGHT DRURY’S ORIGINAL MUSIC TO STAGES ALL OVER THE WORLD. HER MUSIC, ALONG WITH HER PERSONALITY, IS REFLECTIVE OF HER TWO HOMETOWNS – “MISSISSIPPI GRIT – NEW ORLEANS GROOVE,” AS DRURY CALLS IT.
DRURY’S IMPRESSIVE CATALOGUE INCLUDES “CROSSING FREQUENCIES” (2001), “BLACKBERRY WINTER” (2002 WITH BAD MAYO), “SPUN” (2003 WITH BAD MAYO), “ALL YOU NEED” (2006), “DAL VIVO (2009), “SUGAR ON THE FLOOR “ (2011), “COME TO MY HOUSE” (2014), AND 2017’S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED “RISE OF THE FALL.” SHE HAS EARNED MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS AND AWARDS FROM NEW ORLEANS’ MOST PROMINENT PUBLICATIONS.
HER LATEST RELEASE, “RISE OF THE FALL” SHOWCASES DRURY’S “EXPONENTIAL GROWTH AS A SONGWRITER” AND WAS HAILED AS “ANOTHER BREAKTHROUGH” BY OFFBEAT’S JOHN SWENSON. SHE IS CURRENTLY ON TOUR IN SUPPORT OF THE RELEASE AS SHE WRITES MATERIAL FOR HER NEXT EFFORT. |
| 1571979600 |
Live Music |
Amanda Shaw with The KneeOn Sisters |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
October 25, 2019 |
October 25, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
Mix a little bit of country and Cajun, with a touch of Rock-n-Roll and Blues, and you have a funky Louisiana flavor that fiddler and singer Amanda Shaw brings every time her high heels dance across a stage. Amanda's passion for her culture is evident in the diverse blend of music she creates with every note she plays.
Becoming a classically trained violinist at age four, Amanda studied music at Southeastern Louisiana University Community Music School, and has been memorizing fans with locally- infused performances for nearly twenty years. As a young child, Amanda was inspired by artists like Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Bonnie Raitt and others that influenced the entertainment industry. Similar to those artists, Amanda made a name for herself by achieving goals and breaking records like becoming the youngest soloist to perform in the Baton Rouge Symphony at the tender age of eight.
Music has been engrained into Amanda’s world for as long as she can remember. That exposure greatly paid off as the Louisiana-raised musician has carved out her place in Cajun culture, and has become one of the most recognizable brands in Louisiana music. From national appearances on the Rosie O’Donnell Show, to once in a lifetime performances with Cyndi Lauper, Amanda’s magnetic presence helped her to build an extraordinary following of fans and supporters. Younger fans look up to Amanda for her pristine fiddling skills and sassy sense of style, while order fans respect her strong work ethic and sincere sensibility, but audiences of all ages agree that Amanda’s musical talent and appealing personality give her a special flair and make her an incredible representative of Louisiana’s melting pot of music.
Amanda’s award-winning music and high-energy performances with her band, The Cute Guys, produce a unique balance of mainstream harmonies with grassroots charm. She continues to master her technique by putting a personal Louisiana twist on performances at festivals and events around the world – locally, regionally and internationally. With regular appearances at iconic events like French Quarter Festival and Jazz Fest, Amanda has become a crowd favorite and a festival staple.
Amanda works extremely hard to give her fans the best she has to offer, and her passion for doing her best has been recognized with prestigious honors and awards throughout her career. The local artist has received dozens of awards including the Big Easy Award for Best Female Entertainer, Louisiana Music Hall of Fame Future Famer, Offbeat Magazine’s Best of the Beat.
Singer/Songwriter of the Year and many, many others. In the past, she has also collaborated with Grammy award-winning musicians, such as Chubby Carrier, and renowned songwriters, including Matthew Gerrard, to give her fans a superior way to experience Louisiana-rooted, world-class music.
In addition to her impressive music accolades, which include five critically acclaimed EPs and albums, Louisiana’s Sweetheart has also graced the covers and pages of esteemed magazines including Offbeat, BreakThru Media, New Orleans Living and many others. Amanda’s film career also embodies special performances including two Disney projects and a featured role in the IMAX film “Hurricane on the Bayou,” a documentary depicting the impact of Hurricane Katrina.
Amanda’s fiddle continues to make wonderful melodies as she holds a firm place in music history in a city that delivers harmony like no other. Between the release Good Southern Girl in 2010 and the announcement of her latest EP in 2016, Amanda has invested years fine-tuning her craft by taking part in writing and recording sessions in Los Angeles, CA and Nashville, TN. Amanda also spent some time touring with music industry legends Michael Franti and Spearhead, Steve Winwood, Carlos Santana and others. Amanda’s world travels and opportunities for creative expression have added a deeper dimension to her music and she looks forward to sharing those experiences with her fans as she takes the stage with every performance.
Amanda has exciting aspirations for 2017, including plans to release new music and the launch her own foundation to help make families stronger. She is incredibly grateful for her success, but knows that her light has only begun to shine. She strives to achieve so much more in the next twenty years and beyond.
"Music is in my soul - it's in every beat of my heart. My wish is that everyone who experiences an Amanda Shaw performance is able to feel the joy and beauty music brings to my life," Amanda Shaw. |
| 1573106400 |
Live Music |
Susan Cowsill Presents Carly Simon’s “No Secrets” |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
November 7, 2019 |
November 7, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
What is Covered In Vinyl? Susan and her band perform a classic album from start to finish. Requirements are simple: The given album must have originally been released on vinyl and must represent some sort of breakthrough for the artist. This show will be covering Carly Simon’s groundbreaking “No Secrets” |
| 1573192800 |
Live Music |
Dawn & Hawkes With Chico Oropeza |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
November 8, 2019 |
November 8, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
“Roots music that sears the heart yet goes down smooth. Blues, folk, country and rock tangle in their sound, every element amplified by the pair's lovely, tortured harmonies”
– Columbia Tribune
Miranda Dawn and Chris Hawkes formed Dawn and Hawkes after a chance meeting on an Austin dance floor. The first time they sang together they found a sound Texas Monthly calls “undeniably intimate”. Their initial duo effort, Golden Heart, climbed to No. 25 in Billboard’s Folk chart and landed at No. 2 in iTunes singer-songwriter albums kicking off a whirlwind of cross-country and international touring performances.
Acoustic Guitar hails the musicality of their first full-length, Yours and Mine, as “Impeccable vocal harmonies and instrumentation” and Huffington Post summarizes “Transcendent alternative-folk — you will find yourself craving more from this amazing, dynamic duo.”
The duo stored their possessions and lived on the road, drawing inspiration from American deserts and mountains, to the South Australian coast while navigating a shared journey through mortality, grief and compassion for differing perspectives. Upon returning to Austin, they set upon building a new home and self-producing their second full-length album, The Other Side, released in July 2018. The Austin American Statesman calls it “10 new tracks of sweet folk-rock – instantly appealing tunes – rooted in the singer songwriter heyday of the early 1970’s, they also fit well into the modern-day indie-folk revival.”
In a time when the world seems more divided than ever, this album explores themes of empathy, hope, and finding our common humanity. “While on our own adventures of ups and downs we found ourselves exploring themes of empathizing with the other side,” recounts Miranda Dawn. “We hope that you will hear this album and share it with someone you love, because these are anthems of compassion for everyone who's ever felt on 'The Other Side.'” |
| 1573624800 |
Live Music |
Jon Stickley Trio, noted Jam Grass Trio with Milly Raccoon |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
November 13, 2019 |
November 13, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
Jon Stickley Trio is a genre-defying and cinematic instrumental trio, who’s deep grooves, innovative flatpicking, and sultry-spacy violin moves the listener’s head, heart, and feet. “It’s not your father’s acoustic-guitar music—although Stickley’s pop showed him his first chords when he was 12 years old. Instead, Stickley’s Martin churns out a mixture of bluegrass, Chuck Berry, metal, prog, grunge, and assorted other genres—all thoroughly integrated into a personal style,” writes Guitar Player Magazine.
Premier Guitar says, “Stickley’s trio… is not a traditional bluegrass group by any means… they are just nimble and ambitious enough to navigate EDM-style breakbeats as effortlessly as the old timey standard ‘Blackberry Blossom.’”
“Stickley is a super-resourceful acoustic guitarist who uses the instrument in many surprising ways and whose timing is just flawless. Fiddler Lyndsay Pruett puts deep thought into her flowing solos, plus she adds little flourishes and sudden stops that elevate the music,” proclaims Nashville’s Music City Roots’ Craig Havighurst.
Jon Stickley Trio announces a change in lineup beginning in January 2018 with new drummer, Hunter Deacon, who is both classically trained and boasts heavy jazz influences. Hailing from the ever-hip Knoxville, Tennessee, Hunter studied with drummer Keith Brown and received a BM in Studio Music and Jazz from the University of Tennessee. Deacon then went on to complete a six month residency at a jazz club in Hangzhou, China where he performed seven nights a week. Since his return, he’s played with Scott Miller and the Commonwealth, toured the country with Sam Lewis, and performs with guitarist Mike Baggetta.
Stickley says about the seemingly sudden lineup change, “we’re really excited to add Hunter’s vibe to the mix, his creativity and willingness to experiment were two things that drew us to him, and Lyndsay and I were quickly surprised and inspired by what he’ll bring to the table.”
With inspiration ranging from from Green Day to Duran Duran to Tony Rice to Nirvana, Grateful Dead, David Grisman and beyond, the Trio is making waves with their unique sound. Along with releasing two full length albums and one EP in the past few years, the Trio has zig-zagged the nation, playing over 120 dates in 2017 alone. They are road tested and band geek approved!
Dave King (of The Bad Plus) joined forces with Jon Stickley Trio to produce 2017’s Maybe Believe and 2015’s Lost At Last (which The New York Times called “both respectful and free”) in the band’s hometown of Asheville, NC at the esteemed Echo Mountain Recording Studio. The Trio slipped a self-produced 5-track EP, Triangular, into the mix in December of 2016.
“In a time when a lot of instrumental music feels more like math than art, Jon Stickley Trio reminds us of the pure joy that can be created and shared through music,” says Greensky Bluegrass’ Anders Beck.
Stickley says, “The Trio feels fresher and hotter than ever, we’ve hit our stride in terms of creating tunes that are uniquely us and that’s a really exciting place to be musically. Not to mention we are so stoked to get back to many of our favorite festivals and clubs, and even more excited to play some the ones we’ve always dreamed of. 2018 will, without a doubt, be our best year yet!”
JON
Jon Stickley is known for his rapid-fire flatpicking, and his ability to blend different musical elements from across the board to create a sound that is all his own. Based in Asheville, North Carolina, this Durham native has been in various bands throughout the years, including Colorado’s legendary Broke Mountain, and several Asheville based bands. The Jon Stickley Trio has become his primary focus, and the vessel through which he presents his original music.
“Stickley’s powerful flatpicking gathers influences from the greats such as Tony Rice, but also allows for other, more modern, sounds to creep in. ‘Darth Radar’ is a rapid-fire take that moves from a serious ska beat to burning surf-style runs that would make Dick Dale proud.” –Premier Guitar, Jason Shadrick
LYNDSAY
Lyndsay Pruett is an extremely diverse fiddle player currently residing in Asheville, NC. Her daily life is a constant toss up of genres. As a member of the Jon Stickley trio, she gets to employ just about all of them, including bluegrass, swing, classical, Latin styles, country, and hip hop. Lyndsay got a BM in Commercial Violin Performance from Belmont University in Nashville, TN. Stylistically, she manages to compliment others’ music and add striking color to it through her improvisations and textural playing.
“Lyndsay Pruett is the violinist for the Jon Stickley Trio. She is also one of the best fiddlers you are likely to meet equally adept at jazz, classical, bluegrass, newgrass, rock, dub step, or just about anything else. Born into a musical family, Lyndsay has carried her musical roots well” –Perfect Note Podcast
HUNTER
Hunter Deacon grew up in Memphis, TN where he studied and played classical percussion and drum set. After moving around for several years, he landed in Knoxville, TN where he studied with drummer Keith Brown and went on to receive a BM in Studio Music and Jazz from the University on TN. In 2013 he moved to Hangzhou, China where he had a 6 month residency at a jazz club performing 7 nights a week. Since his return, he has played with Scott Miller and the Commonwealth, toured the country with Sam Lewis, and performs regularly with guitarist Mike Baggetta. |
| 1573711200 |
Live Music |
Ever More Nest with Shawn Williams |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
November 14, 2019 |
November 14, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
Ever More Nest is a new music project from New Orleans-based songwriter Kelcy Mae, who traveled to Tennessee, experienced totality, met her spirit guide, and made a record. A band with an unmistakable Americana tilt, Ever More Nest pairs Kelcy’s signature poetic lyricism with a musical style that can set you simultaneously on a rural dirt road and a gritty, big-city street. Inspiration for the band name “Ever More Nest” came from a line in a poem by Mary Ann Samyn, which Kelcy found striking in its ability to evoke both a nostalgia for and discomfort with place. The project’s debut record, The Place That You Call Home, is likewise obsessed with the idea of place, from the fallen trees of “North Mississippi” to the infinite stars of “Major Tom” or the streets of New Orleans in "Broken Bones."
Louisiana singer-songwriter and Ever More Nest frontwoman Kelcy Mae Wilburn cut her musical teeth in the way many Bible Belt kids do—singing traditional hymns in church choirs and belting out rock songs amidst the cigarette smoke of friends in cars on the backroads. When a set of braces prematurely ended a short-lived future in trumpet, a teenage Kelcy picked up her brother’s acoustic guitar and began writing songs. Her path to songwriting was forged in the hours after school, alone in her Shreveport bedroom, surrounded by Beatles posters, wafting incense, and the bad, burgeoning poetry of youth.
In 2001, Kelcy found a home in New Orleans, where she studied English at Loyola University and dabbled at local open mics. After Hurricane Katrina, she sold flooring while working toward her MFA in poetry at the University of New Orleans. The poetry of song was her first love, however, and to her first love she eventually returned, pursuing a life in music with the release of her folk-influenced solo record Pennies in Hand in 2011. The album garnered the budding artist local and regional praise. During the years that followed, Kelcy Mae learned the ropes of touring and the DIY music life.
With her next release, the 2014 double EP Half-Light, Kelcy Mae explored her country-leaning tendencies while staying rooted in a New Orleans-influenced, pop-rock approach. No Depression called it “an album that pairs solid, straightforward songwriting with a wide ranging musical style with just enough twang at the heart of it all to appeal to any fan of modern Americana.” Writer Skot Nelson praised Kelcy Mae’s voice as one of the album’s best features, comparing her to Bonnie Raitt and Natalie Merchant. To Houston Press writer Chris Gray, Kelcy “brushes up against the sad blue-eyed soul of Shelby Lynne and kindles her inner torch singer a la Neko Case….”
Now performing under the name Ever More Nest, Kelcy Mae shows that her work over the last few years—a music-driven journey of self discovery—has paid off, and with The Place That You Call Home (October 2018), she displays just how at home she is at the intersection of Americana, Alt-Country, and Rock ‘n Roll. Where 2014’s Half-Light toyed with country and Americana, The Place That You Call Home welcomes it with open arms and a shot or three of bourbon. As Ever More Nest, Kelcy has adopted a full-fledged Americana style that nods to the likes of Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown, Emmylou Harris, Wilco, Lucinda Williams, and Neil Young without sounding too much like any of them. Kelcy’s oft-lauded poeticism remains a calling card of her songs and is on full display on The Place That You Call Home.
“These songs are an exploration of relationships, and, more specifically, my relationship with place—my place in the world, my place in a relationship, or the place I live,” says Kelcy. “Some feel dark, some light. Some are rural and others feel urban. Hopefully they move people to reflect on where they are in their own lives.”
The Place That You Call Home was recorded in producer Neilson Hubbard’s former personal studio (now Skinny Elephant Recording), in the summer of 2017. Recording commenced on August 21, 2017, immediately following the total eclipse that darkened Nashville for two eery, unforgettable minutes, quite literally aligning the stars over Ever More Nest’s project. Cosmically blessed, the album accentuates the best of Kelcy’s emotive, authentic voice, delicate yet driving guitar work, and honest, observational songwriting that poses the universal question: “Just where do I belong?” |
| 1574316000 |
Downtown Events, Live Music |
Mary Gauthier with Jaimee Harris |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
November 21, 2019 |
November 21, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
Every day.
Every single day, which means some days are better and some much worse.
Every day, on average, twenty-two veterans commit suicide.
Every day.
That number does not include drug overdoses or car wrecks or any of the more inventive ways somebody might less obviously choose to die.
It seems trivial to suggest those lives might be saved — healed, even — by a song. By the process of writing a song.
And yet.
And yet there is nothing trivial about Mary Gauthier's tenth album, Rifles & Rosary Beads (Thirty Tigers), all eleven songs co-written with and for wounded veterans. Eleven of the nearly four hundred songs that highly accomplished songwriters have co-written as part of the five-year-old SongwritingWith:Soldiers program.
Participants of the program have shared that the experience of songwriting was life changing for them, some even said life saving. Something about writing that song — telling that story — is healing. What program co-founder Smith calls post-traumatic-growth.
Gauthier's first nine albums presented extraordinary confessional songs, deeply personal, profoundly emotional pieces ranging from “I Drink,” a blunt accounting of addiction, to “March 11, 1962,” the day she was born — and relinquished to an orphanage — to “Worthy,” in which the singer finally understands she is deserving of love. Maybe that's where the confessional song cycle ends, for she has midwifed these eleven new songs in careful collaboration with other souls whose struggle is urgent, immediate, and palpable. And none are about her.
Each song on Rifles & Rosary Beads is a gut punch: deceptively simple and emotionally complex. From the opening “Soldiering On” (“What saves you in the battle/Can kill you at home”) to “Bullet Holes in the Sky” (“They thank me for my service/And wave their little flags/They genuflect on Sundays/And yes, they'd send us back”), while “Iraq” depicts the helpless horror of a female military mechanic being dehumanized and sexually harassed by fellow soldiers.
Darrell Scott, returning from one of Smith's first retreats, called and told Mary she needed to participate. “I felt unqualified,” she says. “I didn't know anything about the military, I was terrified of fucking it up. I didn't feel I knew how to be in the presence of that much trauma without being afraid. But Darrell knew I could do it. Turns out, I was able to sit with the veterans with a sense of calmness and help them articulate their suffering without fear. I was shocked by that. And I took to it.”
It has become a calling. “My job as a songwriter is to find that thing a soul needs to say,” Mary says. “Each retreat brings together a dozen or so soldiers and four songwriters, three songs each in two days. We don't have a choice. We have to stay focused, listen carefully, and make sure every veteran gets their own song. And we always do.”
“None of the veterans are artists. They don't write songs, they don't know that songs can be used to move trauma. Their understanding of song doesn't include that. For me it's been the whole damn deal. Songwriting saved me. It's what I think the best songs do, help articulate the ineffable, make the invisible visible, creating resonance, so that people, (including the songwriter) don’t feel alone.”
The impact of these songs becomes visible quickly, unexpectedly.
Featured in the TV series “Nashville,” the Bluebird Cafe now prospers as a tourist destination. The room fills twice a night with people thrilled to be in the presence of real live Nashville songwriters.
Who, in turn, are thrilled to be in the presence of a paying audience that can do nothing to advance their careers, save give a genuine response to their songs.
The gentleman at the next table has handsome white hair and a hundred-dollar casual shirt, and almost certainly had no idea who Mary Gauthier was, nor what her songs might be about, when he came out of the sunlight into the darkened listening room. He knows, now. Thick, manicured fingers cover his face, trying to catch his slow tears. His wife sits close, watches carefully, but knows better than to touch him.
He is not alone in that small audience.
Every day we are touched by the veterans in our lives, whether we know it or not.
Every single day.
Even if it's only the guy on Main Street, in the wheelchair, with the flag.
Every single day.
And, yes, a song may be the answer.
“Because the results are so dramatic, this could work for other traumas,” Mary says. “Trauma is the epidemic. You say opioid, I say trauma epidemic. As an addict, I know addiction is self-medication because of suffering, and beneath that pain is always trauma. Underneath so much of the problems in the world is trauma, it's the central issue humanity is dealing with. We've found something powerful here, that brings hope to people who are hurting. So they are truly seen, and know they are not alone.”
Career Highlights
AWARDS
(2019) Rifles & Rosary Beads Named Best Album of The Year at International Folk Music Awards
(2019) Rifles & Rosary Beads Nominated for GRAMMY Award for Best Folk Album of the Year
(2019) Mary Gauthier Named International Artist of the Year by The Americana Association UK
(2018) Rifles & Rosary Beads, Nominated for Album of the Year by The Americana Music Association
(2018) Rifles & Rosary Beads Named #1 Best Singer/Songwriter Album of 2018 by LA Times
(2018) “War After The War” Named #1 Song of the Year by NPR/Malcolm Gladwell
(2015) Mary Gauthier Nominated for GLADD Outstanding Music Artist of the Year at 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards
(2014) Trouble and Love Named One of Best 40 Country Albums of 2014 by Rolling Stone Magazine
(2014) "Mercy Now” Named One of Saddest 40 Country Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone Magazine
(2010) The Foundling named No. 3 Record of the Year by LA Times
(2005) First Major Label Release, Mercy Now, on Top 10 List for 2005 in New York Times, LA Times, The Daily News and Billboard Magazine
(2005) Mary Gauthier Named “New Artist of the Year” by The Americana Music Association
(2005) Mercy Now voted the No. 6 Record of the Decade by No Depression Magazine
(2002) Filth and Fire named “#1 Independent Record of The Year” by Jon Pareles of The New York Times
(1998) Mary Gauthier Named Best Country Artist of the Year (GLAMA)
(1998) Mary Gauthier Nominated for 3 Gay and Lesbian American Music Awards (GLAMA)
(1998) Mary Gauthier Won 1st Annual Independent Music Awards for Folk/Singer-Songwriter Song for Drag Queens in Limousines
(1998) Mary Gauthier Nominated for Best New Artist of the Year, Boston Music Awards
SONGS RECORDED BY OTHER ARTISTS
(2019) "Worthy," - Sarah Potenza
(2018) "Mercy Now," - Kathy Mattea
(2017) "I Drink," - Bobby Bare
(2017) “Mercy Now,” - Bobby Bare
(2016) “I Drink,” - Tim McGraw
(2015) “Worthy,” - Bettye LaVette, Title Track – GRAMMY-Nominated, Best Blues Album
(2015) "Gentling Me,” - Amy Helm
(2014) “Mercy Now,” – Mike Farris – GRAMMY-Award Winning Album for Best Roots Gospel Album
(2013) “How You Learn to Live Alone,” – ABC’s Nashville, performed by Jonathan Jackson (Gauthier/Peters)
(2009) “Mercy Now,” - Candi Staton
(2006) “Wheel Inside The Wheel,” - Jimmy Buffett
(2004) “I Drink,” - Blake Shelton
(2003) “I Drink,” - Bill Chambers |
| 1574575200 |
Live Music |
Hurricane Becca and Her Outer Band with Jesse Lee Mitchell |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
November 24, 2019 |
November 24, 2019 |
5:00 PM |
7:00 PM |
Hurricane Becca and Her Outer Band is a new solo project of Becca Babin from The Wilder Janes. Becca is exploring her rock side with a classic rhythm section, bass played by Ryan Blanco and drums played by Chad Townsend. And you can expect unique instrumentation with Becca on harp, Ben Herrington playing trombone and accordion, Paul Buller on pedal steel, and Susan Aysen on clarinet. Becca’s songs are direct and quirky, raunchy and sweet. She will keep you on your toes! |
| 1575007200 |
Live Music |
West King String Band with Brother’s Bear, Bluegrass Jam Night |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
November 29, 2019 |
November 29, 2019 |
3:00 PM |
5:00 PM |
West King String Band is made up of long time friends AJ Fox, Jesse Harman, and Jack Studer. The band formed in 2013 in Saint augustine, Florida. Inspired by a large array of musical genres spanning from rock n' roll & classic country to traditional & MODERN bluegrass, They incorporate their influences to create an original, unique and diverse sound. The West King String Band has spent the last few years touring the country, playing more than 200 shows a year. They have shown an impressive amount of growth between the release of their debut album "Achin'" (self-recorded in their living room) and their newest release "Staring at the Sun" (recorded at the bombshelter in Nashville, TN). With the latest addition of Spooky Fiddler to the band, their high energy live performance is sure to be a show you won't want to miss. you can expect to see these boys continuing to make waves across the country.
? |
| 1575525600 |
Live Music |
The Iguanas with Rachel Ammons |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
December 5, 2019 |
December 5, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
The Iguanas Band
What if Americana actually encompassed ALL of North America? You'd have the Franco-Acadian inflections of Canada, as best exemplified by le accordion, blues and jazz, the only truly indigenous musics the US has ever produced, and the lilting grace and fiery passion of the music of Mexico. You'd also have New Orleans' premiere distillers of this continental musical melange, The Iguanas, and their new album Juarez.
Taking their cues from all of the above influences and then some, Juarez, the band's first studio album since 2012's Sin to Sin, redefines the notion of Americana, crossing cultures, styles, eras... and even languages. It's as if Rue Bourbon, Muscle Shoals and Plaza México were all within earshot of each other and The Iguanas were the musical conduit between them.
Based out of New Orleans for the past couple of decades -- save for a short, Katrina-imposed exile in Austin the members of the Iguanas have (collectively or individually) played or recorded with everyone from Charlie Rich, Alex Chilton, and Willie DeVille to Emmylou Harris, Allen Toussaint, and Pretty Lights. Their two-decade ride has taken them all over the map musically and geographically, yet the inescapable patina of their hometown infuses every note they play.
Through eight studio albums, countless tours and Jazz Fest appearances, and a flood that did its best to take their adopted city with it, it's a testament to the band's endurance that the same four guys that started playing in the early 1990s are still together. Joe Cabral is philosophical about the bands persistence in the face of challenges that would have felled indeed have felled lesser bands. First of all, this is all we know how to do; were musicians. But more than that, he continues, we respect the power of the band as an entity, and each individual in the band steps up to play his part. When its good, thats really what its all about.
Rod Hodges agrees. I dont want to get all heady and mystical about this, but its not really an outward reward were looking for. We all enjoy playing music, we all get along, and finding a group of people who can say that after all this time is a rare thing.
With their most diverse collection of songs just released, the band recently embarked on their most extensive tour in four years, a 32-day journey that saw them play 22 shows across the US and Canada.
http://www.iguanas.com |
| 1575612000 |
Live Music |
Gal Holiday and the Honkey Tonk Revue with the KneeOn Sisters |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
December 6, 2019 |
December 6, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
When the band formed in 2004, Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue were at the vanguard of New Orleans’ now-thriving country scene, and they’ve remained in a league of their own ever since. Combining evocative songwriting and impeccable musicianship, their dance hall show and infectious energy on stage have earned them their place in the upper echelon of local favorites and helped grow an avid fan-base of two-steppers around the world.
Sometimes called “The Punk Rock Patsy Cline”, “The Gal” is Vanessa Niemann, an Appalachian-born songstress who has lent her powerful voice and magnetic stage presence to various musical projects in New Orleans and around the country. Over the years, the Revue has counted among its ranks some of the finest musicians in the region. The current roster boasts guitarists Matt Slusher and Justin LeCuyer in addition to drummer Rose Cangelosi, and upright bassist Corey McGillivary, all excellent songwriters and singers in their own right, adding tight harmonies to the sound.
These multi-time Big Easy and Best of the Beat Award recipients have shared the stage with Willie Nelson, Marcia Ball, Blind Boys of Alabama, and countless others. 2018 was their eleventh year appearing at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, packing the Gentilly Stage where Lyle Lovett would perform later that day. Their albums have reached as high as third on the FAR Charts (Freeform American Roots Music) and the top 100 on the AMA Charts (Americana Airplay, Americana Music Association.)
Gal Holiday continues to tour both within the U.S. and Internationally. After a successful European tour this past summer, the band returned home to make their newest release, Lost & Found. Recorded over four days in November 2017 at Dial Back Sound in Water Valley, MS, the album has a lush soundscape thanks to the bands’ spirit guide and producer, Jimbo Mathus, and studio engineer, Bronson Tew. With an unmistakable Gulf Coast feel, Lost & Found touches on themes of loss, change, and discovery in twelve songs written by Vanessa, Rose, Justin and Jimbo.
Although 2018 will be a tour heavy year, you can still find them raising a ruckus in New Orleans and surrounding areas at dance halls, festivals, and local watering holes most any day of the week. They know the ins and outs of the country canon and can even get folks swinging to an unexpected pop cover or two, but above all, vivid songwriting is one of the group’s great strengths. Their rollicking foot-stompers and poignant Crescent City tributes alike crackle with an authentic country spirit.
Armed with this kind of versatility and an ever-growing body of original material, they put on a show that never gets old, delighting rowdy dancers, buttoned-down diners, and new-to-country music listeners alike. New Orleans may be most closely associated with Jazz and Funk, but Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue prove that the city celebrates its musical diversity with enthusiasm. |
| 1576303200 |
Live Music |
Little Freddie King-The Blues Legend |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
December 14, 2019 |
December 14, 2019 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
If you want the real blues – and I'm not talkin' about some long-haired hippy beatin' on a National Resonator guitar or a mustachioed, Italian-suited slickster blowin' on a chromatic harmonica - baby, you'd better call Little Freddie King. Normally only seen once a month at B.J.'s, a club located in the lowest bowels of the Ninth Ward where he shares floor space with a pool table and various carpet remnants, don't think for a second that his band won't be able to create the proper mood without their usual scrappy surroundings. The minute Freddie straps on his guitar and strikes up his first gnarled chord and drummer "Wacko" Wade Wright makes his presence known with a definitive cymbal crash, this lean, mean, swampy aggregation of gut-bucket wild men transforms the poshest of venues into a back-o-town beer joint.
Born in McComb, Mississippi in 1940, Freddie Martin grew up playing alongside his blues guitar-picking father, then rode the rails to New Orleans during the early fifties where he crossed paths with itinerant South Louisiana blues men such as Polka Dot Slim and Boogie Jake whose unique country-cum-urban styles would influence his own. Honing his guitar chops at notorious joints like the Bucket Of Blood (which he later immortalized in song), he jammed and gigged with Bo Diddley and John Lee Hooker, and also played bass for Freddy King during one of the guitarist's stints in New Orleans. People began comparing the two musicians' styles, hence Martin's nome-de-plume. While well-versed in a variety of styles, nowadays Little Freddie sounds a lot more like his cousin Lightnin' Hopkins – albeit after a three day corn liquor bender! Nevertheless, the King sobriquet is fitting, as Freddie is undeniably the monarch of the Crescent City blues scene.
Freddie's mid-sixties recording debut – an unreleased session for Booker/ Invicta Records – is one that will seemingly live forever in blues infamy. The very same notorious basement set-up that released so many killer discs by gospel guitar-slinger the Reverend Charlie Jackson (check out his anthology on CaseQuarter) – as well as below-the-radar classics by the Zion Harmonizers, the Rocks Of Harmony and Sister Alberta – the pairing of label and artist could hardly have been more perfect. If the lost tape is ever discovered, it'll be a watershed day in musical history, so start digging!!
Slightly easier to find, but occasionally almost as elusive, is Freddie's actual debut, a 1971 LP on New Orleans' Ahura Mazda Records on which he shared billing with his band mate John S. "Harmonica" Williams. Unofficially titled Rock and Roll Blues, the nine original songs that make up the LP are raw, gut-wrenching and filled with passion. "Born Dead" is an unbelievable survey of racism in Mississippi courtesy of vocalist Newton Greer, while Williams and King are featured strongly throughout. Freddie contributes two rocking instrumentals, "Sideways" and "The Kings' Special." While it was a milestone in New Orleans blues, the album's potent nastiness went under appreciated at the time. Leave it to Little Freddie to resurface 36 years later with Swamp Boogie (Orleans), an album of purely original material (notable titles are "The Great Chinese" and "Cat Squall Blues") that features the likes of Earl "Pass The Hatchet" Stanley on bass! He followed it in 2000 with Sing Sang Sung, a greasy live set that documented more New Orleans street poetry like "Bad Chicken" and the aforementioned "Bucket Of Blood."
Reviewing Sing Sang Sung for Offbeat Magazine, local blues writer Robert Fontenot captured the little Freddie phenomena perfectly: "It ain't pretty…You can practically smell the Chinese food and chicken coming from Chun King…the slop bucket wheeze put out on his cover of King Curtis's "Soul Twist" is potent enough to turn George W. Bush into the Godfather of Soul. It's THAT country and THAT ghetto." And that's about all you need to know, except that Freddie inked a deal with Fat Possum awhile back and his long-awaited latest – which contains the his genius "Crackhead Joe" – is supposedly due out in April. We've said it before and we'll say it again: Move over, R.L., Little Freddie is in the house!! |
| 1576389600 |
Live Music |
Feufollet-Christmas Party |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
December 15, 2019 |
December 15, 2019 |
5:00 PM |
7:00 PM |
The young and vibrant Southwest Louisiana band takes Cajun, honky-tonk, and string-band music as their starting point, and keeps an open mind about where their song craft will lead them. On Two Universes, their first studio album in over five years, Feufollet proves their Cajun roots don’t define them as much as propel them forward; whispers of the swamp and its time-honored waltzes trigger a modern and broad musical imagination, one that finds equal expression in blues, old-time, country ballads, rock’n’roll, whatever, all for the sake of the song.
Following the celebrated releases Cow Island Hop (2008) and En Couleurs (2010), Two Universes is the product of long-steeping recording sessions and collaborative songwriting between bandleader Chris Stafford and singer and multi-instrumentalist Kelli Jones, whose contributions make this a breakout album, of sorts.
Raised on Appalachian fiddle traditions, Kelli adds old-time stomp to the band’s repertoire. Also new to the band, keyboardist Andrew Toups lends a new-wave gospel sound owed to his background playing in rock bands. Toups’s influence on shaping the record, combined with Feufollet’s usual fare—twin fiddles, French accordion, guitar twang, and barn-dance rhythms— give the record more than a passing resemblance to the Band’s Music From the Big Pink.
But above all else, the album’s signature sound comes from the vocal performances. Flipping from husky honky-tonk angel to French chanteuse, Kelli’s voice perfectly pairs with Stafford’s swamp-pop vocal stylings. As the two trade off lead and harmony parts, they hit upon some of the same magic as history’s greatest duet partners—Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons, Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, and Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Theirs is the sound of two universes colliding and, no surprise, it reaches maximum effect on the album’s title track.
Cajun, country, and rock’n’roll all began as homespun enterprises, by musicians tinkering with inherited melodies until new sounds were struck. Feufollet keeps that experimental spirit alive and well with their diverse musical palette, edgy arrangements, and pop-song sensibilities. On their 11-track release—exquisitely packaged with the psychedelic-folk art of Louisiana painter Francis Pavy—the band accomplishes the unusual feat of creating a sound that is at once familiar and fresh, classic and yet unmistakably original.
Chris Stafford: Vocals, Accordion, Acoustic and Electric Guitars
Kelli Jones: Vocals, Fiddle, Acoustic Guitar
Andrew Toups: Keyboards
Jim Kolacek: Drums
Philippe Billeaudeaux: Bass |
| 1578117600 |
Live Music |
Kristin Diable and The City with Lane Mack |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
January 4, 2020 |
January 4, 2020 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
Kristin Diable
“Diable’s bluesy rock gets Nashville glitz on this tambourine-bolstered barn- burner that rolls in like a summer storm and blooms like Southern magnolia."
– NPR?
New Orleans based songwriter Kristin Diable's sound is as mysterious as it is familiar. Her latest release "Create Your Own Mythology" (recorded in Nashville with producer Dave Cobb) was applauded by NPR, American Songwriter and Southern Living as one of the best of the year.
A southern original, Diable’s voice bends as whimsical and unyielding as the Mississippi River, as her timeless melodies and lyrics channel the mystical within the everyday, the transcendent silver lining within the ordinary, weaving an intricate web of singularity that is Diable’s calling card. ?
The band has toured far and wide with highlight performances from intimate listening rooms and theaters to Austin City Limits Festival, New Orleans Jazz Fest, Carnegie Hall and all stops in between. Songs from her studio have been heard on television shows from CBS prime time on Hawaii-Five-O and MacGuyver, to Amazon's original One Mississippi (Tig Notaro), and HBO's True Blood and Treme. ?
Diable is currently taking time off from the long road and is in the studio working on new songs for the band’s anticipated follow up album set for release in 2019.
??
"Diable exudes both cool poise and smoldering, subtle sexuality throughout these ten perfectly crafted songs, beckoning you back for additional spins to ride her wave of sound." – American Songwriter’s Top 50 Albums of the Year |
| 1578549600 |
Live Music |
Jesse Daniel, Bakersfield Sound & Dalton Wayne-The Warmadillo’s |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
January 9, 2020 |
January 9, 2020 |
7:00 PM |
12:00 AM |
2018 was a good year for singer, songwriter and country music performer Jesse Daniel. Drawing from his own life experience, he released a self-titled debut album that would go on to receive favorable press from many of the top media outlets and critics in music today. Upon its release, he and his band hit the road for much of the year, earning himself a reputation not only as a hard worker, but as a major up and comer in the country music climate as we know it. Honky Tonks, night clubs and large festival lineups all saw Daniel’s signature brand of stage presence, as he turned heads across the United States.
2019 started off with a bang, as the singer took home the trophy for “Honky Tonk Male of The Year” at the Ameripolitan Awards in Memphis, TN. It was shortly after that he announced he would be hitting the studio to record his second full length album that summer. Things seem to be rollin’ on fairly smooth for JD, but his road up until this point has been anything but.
Jesse grew up in Ben Lomond, California. A small town located in an area called the San Lorenzo Valley, tucked away in the mountains east of Santa Cruz. It’s been said that there is “something in the water” of the San Lorenzo River, due to the musical talent that has come out of the surrounding area. Having cut his teeth playing in the local clubs and bars from a young age, as well as touring with regional acts, he found his love for the stage early on. Through this he also found his love for substances and as times got harder, they did too.
Jesse’s teens and early twenties would find him in and out of jail and rehabilitation centers. It was also there that his love for music and desire to perform was reignited. One day while in a facility in Oakland, California, he heard someone playing a Hank Williams tune in the other room. “I had just enough in me to sit in a chair and listen.” Daniel said. “I told him I wanted to play like him and he said, ‘Why don’t you?’”. The singer made a promise to himself that day.
Fast forward to present day, JD seems to have made good on that promise. Having dedicated his life to music, he’s gained fans nationally and internationally, as well as the respect of his peers. Whether on tour as support for major artists, or selling out clubs on his own, he’s only picking up speed on an upward trajectory. With the success of his self-titled debut and a sophomore album coming early 2020, Jesse Daniel is solidifying himself brick by brick as a name you won’t forget in country music.
“Whenever anyone asks me who is the next country artist to keep an eye on, I tell them Jesse Daniel from California. Every time. He is the future of country music...”
- SAVING COUNTRY MUSIC |
| 1579240800 |
Family Events, Live Music |
Kym Warner-‘Acoustic World Tour’ with Ali Holder |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
January 17, 2020 |
January 17, 2020 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
Born in Adelaide, South Australia, Four-Time Australian Mandolin Champion and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Kym Warner moved to the U.S in 2001. A founding member of the progressive acoustic band The Greencards, Kym toured the US, Europe and Australia extensively for thirteen years, recorded six studio albums and received accolades such as Three GRAMMY nominations, a #1 Billboard Bluegrass Album, an Americana Award for 'Best New Artist' and a national tour with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson.
In 2015 Kym was asked to play on Robert Earl Keen’s ‘Happy Prisoner” album and the following ‘Live Dinner Reunion’ album and has been a part of Robert’s touring band since 2015.
When not on the road with REK, Kym plays occasionally with Hayes Carl and Eliza Gilkyson, as well as a slew of local performances and studio work in Austin TX including hosting a regular bluegrass night each week.
Kym released his debut solo album ‘Everything That Brought Me Here’ in 2015 and has been performing as a solo artist playing a variety of instruments (mandolin, bouzouki, ukulele, guitar, mandocaster) playing both original and cover songs and telling the stories of the songs and his travels that have lead him to become an American Citizen and Texas resident. |
| 1579327200 |
Live Music |
Roadside Glorious with Sarah Burton |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
January 18, 2020 |
January 18, 2020 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
Buckle in and enjoy the ride with Roadside Glorious, the soulful, New Orleans-based, Southern rock n’ roll group. The band features dueling guitars, soulful singing, and an infectious, upbeat energy at live shows. Roadside keeps a busy touring schedule throughout the Southeastern United States, but they can be found playing regular gigs around the Big Easy.
Roadside Glorious features Evan Hall (New Orleans, LA) on lead guitar with Basch Jernigan (Gulf Shores, AL) on vocals, guitar, and harmonica. Tyler Self (New Orleans, LA) handles the bass guitar, and Aydan Closson (Gulf Shores, AL) plays the drums. The band described their catchy single “Lay Your Weapons Down” as “inspired by early rock ‘n’ roll from the ‘50s and ‘60s, in the same city that one of rock ‘n’ roll’s pioneers Fats Domino was born and raised”.
Roadside Glorious released their debut full length album, Brawn and Bone, in September of 2018. The album was recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL by 2018 Grammy nominated sound engineer John Gifford III and mixed/ mastered by 2018 Grammy nominated engineer Don Syrgley. |
| 1579759200 |
Live Music |
Christy Hays with Jodi James and Clay Parker |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
January 23, 2020 |
January 23, 2020 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
“Like Lucinda Williams in a Carhartt jacket, Christy Hays works rugged metaphors into emotionally charged country folk.” (Austin Chronicle). Christy Hays’ music has folk and country tinges, thoughtfully penned stories and a full band sound that is both driving alt country and moody folk rock. Christy Hays has released two full length albums and two EP’s since 2009.
Her new album ‘River Swimmer’ is due out in April of 2018 on Nine Mile Records. It brings the culmination of Christy’s influences and her experiences traveling the world.
Born in rural central Illinois, Christy Hays never really aspired to be a working songwriter. Hays grew up somewhat surrounded by music, her father, a luthier and guitar player showed her the major chords on her old Gibson. There was no pressure to play but music was a centerpiece. “I left Illinois in my early 20’s, directly after college. I graduated in December and moved to Haines, Alaska in April.” says Hays, squinting into the sun on a bright spring day in Texas. “I was really disillusioned buy our society and wanted to go live in the woods.”
Living seasonally, traveling in the US as well as abroad in the winters Hays essentially spent the better part of her 20’s in an alternative lifestyle where she came to the conclusion science was not her calling, rather music was. “I reached a point where songwriting and the art of self expression surrounding the craft were more important than the wilderness. I moved briefly to Memphis, then to Nashville in 2007.” explains Hays. Nashville was an awakening, a crash course in music business and performance. One she was not prepared for as city living depressed her and stage fright consumed her.
After two years in Nashville the decision was made to move to Austin, TX. “Austin felt more my speed and my vibe. I loved the country music and songwriters that were coming out of here in the late 2000’s. I felt at home shortly after I got here, I grew up musically and found a great community to collaborate with.” recalls Hays.
Hays has shared the stage with Hayes Carll, Sturgil Simpson, Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis and Jeffery Foucault to name a few. Bruce Robison cut her song “Lake of Fire” and released it on his newest album Bruce Robison and the Back Porch Band.
Hays now spends portions of the summer in Montana, gigging in the Northwest, writing and returning to her beloved wilderness. Hays dreams of creating an artist retreat out of that house for people just like her who need to escape the city, disappear and create. Compared to Brandi Carlile, Lucinda Williams, Rhett Miller, Kathleen Edwards and Patty Griffin, Hays has a sound uniquely her own. Hays has released two full length albums and two EP’s since 2009.
In addition...
Clay Parker and Jodi James are an acoustic duo from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The pair's use of dense harmony-singing and subtle musical arrangements indelibly binds them to the tradition of singer-songwriters and positions them well in the folk roots and americana strains of country music. |
| 1579845600 |
Live Music |
Hussy Hicks |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
January 24, 2020 |
January 24, 2020 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
Critically acclaimed Australian act, Hussy Hicks are a tour de force featuring Leesa Gentz’ powerhouse soul vocals and Julz Parker’s revered guitar skills. Prolific and well accomplished musicians, Hussy Hicks have honed their sonic dexterity over the past 12 years with six studio albums, multiple industry awards and more than 1,000 live shows under their belts. They’ve performed at Australia’s biggest blues, roots and folk festivals, clocked up 15 plus international tours and are selling out shows across Europe. Known for their emotive lyricism, energetic live shows and fiery, frenetic instrumentation, it’s no surprise this all female band have staying power.
Julz and Leesa are looking forward to returning to Dyson House at the Zee for one special show, Friday 24th January.
Interview with Leesa Gentz from Hussy Hicks...
I was raised on a heavy diet of country music – Tammy Wynette, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Waylon Jennings… you get the picture. My sister and I started singing and playing when we were about ten and by age 11 and 13 we were out playing in pubs across Northern New South Wales.
2.Inspirations
These days I take most of my creative inspiration from our extended musical family around the world. We’ve spent the past ten years touring solidly and in that time have come across some pretty awesome people making the kind of music you just don’t get to hear through mainstream media. A very rough shortlist of my highly recommended is: Krystle Warren, The Mulligan Brothers, Liz Stringer, Karl S Williams, Kristy Lee, Schrav… it could go on forever. Plus Blake Mills and Mavis Staples (who I don’t know personally but absolutely adore).
3.Your Band
Hussy Hicks is essentially Julz Parker and me; we’ve been playing together since 2005 and over that period have collaborated with loads of wonderful musicians. We kind of accidentally became a band because we loved hanging out and playing music and both of us had the travel bug – Hussy Hicks was the result.
4.The MusicYou Make
A difficult-to-classify jumble of folk, roots, country, funk, soul, surf and ’80s-inspired power ballads. Our live show is always different depending on the day, but you can be sure it’ll be high-energy, interactive, fun and passionate with loads of harmonies, percussion and some pretty mind-blowing guitar playing.
5.Music, Right Here, Right Now
As an independent musician I absolutely love the musical world we exist in at the moment. I hear a lot of people complaining about the state of the industry and I find the constant budget cuts to the arts really hard to take, but all in all we have a wonderful global network of music makers and music lovers that support each other and work to build a really healthy creative scene. I’m grateful every day that I get to live amongst it. |
| 1580018400 |
Live Music |
Lula Wiles with Tim Easton |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
January 26, 2020 |
January 26, 2020 |
6:00 PM |
8:00 PM |
What will we do? For Lula Wiles, the trio made up of Isa Burke, Eleanor Buckland, and Mali Obomsawin, the question is central to the creation of their music—and it’s the title of their new album. “We wanted to make an album that reflected, in a current way, what we are all staying up late thinking about and talking about over drinks at the dinner table,” says Obomsawin. “What is everyone worried about, confiding in their friends about, losing sleep about?” On What Will We Do, the band’s sophomore album, the trio’s voices burn, twist together, mingle, and rise like smoke signaling changes to come. But anchoring that delicate touch is a mastery of folk music —and a willingness to subvert its hallowed conventions.
Long before they were in a band together, the members of Lula Wiles were singing folk songs and trading fiddle tunes at camp in Maine. “All of us were lucky to have access to the folk music community at a young age,” Burke says. “The music traditions that we’re drawing on are social, community-building traditions.” On those warm summer nights, playing music was just plain fun. But the members of Lula Wiles carry those early lessons of community and the meaning of shared art with them to this day, as they seek to create music that questions cultural virtues, soothes aching wounds, and envisions a better world.
Lula Wiles came of age in Boston, in the practice rooms of Berklee College of Music and the city’s lively roots scene. In 2016, the band self-released Lula Wiles, a sensitive, twang-tinged collection of originals. Since then, they have toured internationally, winning fans at the Newport Folk Festival and the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and sharing stages with the likes of Aoife O’Donovan, the Wood Brothers, and Tim O’Brien.
Now, the release of What Will We Do on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings places the group squarely in line with some of its deepest influences, from the protest anthems of Woody Guthrie to the trailblazing songs of Elizabeth Cotten and Hazel Dickens. (Even the band’s name is a twist on an old Carter Family song.)
Going into the recording sessions with engineer and co-producer Dan Cardinal at Dimension Sound Studios in Boston, the members of Lula Wiles knew how they wanted this record to feel: intimate, warm, with the edges left rough. “We really wanted this album to sound like three people making music in a room,” Buckland explains. The songs on What Will We Do draw their power from small moments captured in real time, like the scrape of pick against string or the collective inhale at the start of a verse. The musicians take turns in different roles––Burke and Buckland on guitar and fiddle, Obomsawin on bass, all three singing—but no matter who’s playing what, they operate in close tandem, buoyed by the nimble touch of drummer (and frequent collaborator) Sean Trischka. In carrying on the folk ritual of innovation, they infuse their songs with distinctly modern sounds: pop hooks, distorted electric guitars, and dissonant multi-layered vocals, all employed in the service of songs that reclaim folk music in their own voice.
At its core, What Will We Do is an album centered around songcraft. The lyrics are sharp and the melodies finely wrought. You can hear, too, a growing maturity, a widening worldview. These aren’t your typical lovesick country tunes. “Last night we held a lie between our lips/ Another dead-end kiss,” Buckland sings about the end of a relationship on “Love Gone Wrong.” These are songs of stinging insight, of weary acceptance, of growing resilience.
The songs on What Will We Do speak to the issues of the day, even as they riff on folk music’s tropes. “Is this land yours/ Is this land mine/ The fault lines crack/ And the fists they fly,” Burke sings on “Shaking As It Turns” in a nod to the country’s deepening political divisions. Obomsawin punctures cowboy song nostalgia on “Good Old American Values,” a searing rebuke of American expansionism: “Good old American cartoons/ Indians and cowboys and saloons/ It’s all history by now/ And we hold the pen anyhow.” Sometimes, the best thing to do with an old idea is to turn it upside down.
That’s not to say that no traditional material made it onto What Will We Do. The title track is an Irish ballad—although the band couldn’t resist adding a twist of their own. Says Burke, “We wrote the verse about marrying the banker and redistributing all his money.” Lula Wiles brings new perspective to age-old traditions––above all, the people’s practice of sharing their communities’ struggles through songs. The band exists in the tense space where tradition and revolution meet, from which their harmonies rise into the air to create new American music. |
| 1580364000 |
Live Music |
Ross Newell with Eric Erdman |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
January 30, 2020 |
January 30, 2020 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
Ross Newell is a singer/songwriter who began composing and performing in the back seat of his parents van at four years of age. From that sticky, crumb covered bench seat he shouted family favorites such as "Momma can't hold me because she's got groceries" and "I Scraped My Knee At The Birthday Party".
Ross spent the next 10 years honing his craft and learning to use larger words. Although he no longer desires to be carried from the grocery store to his car, and is rarely injured at birthday celebrations, he still prefers to write honest songs from life experience.
While residing in Mobile, Alabama with the love of his life, Carly and their three dog children, the majority of his time is spent touring nationally as well as internationally with his band, The Mulligan Brothers. They have released two albums of original music and are actively working on a third. |
| 1580450400 |
Live Music |
Nobody’s Girl |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
January 31, 2020 |
January 31, 2020 |
7:00 PM |
10:00 PM |
Dyson House Listening Room presents...
Nobody’s Girl (aka BettySoo, Rebecca Loebe, & Grace Pettis) at Zeeland Street Market Wine & Deli. Tickets are $30-$50 + fees).
Hailing from Texas, Alabama, and Georgia respectively, now neighbors in Austin, BettySoo, Grace Pettis, and Rebecca Loebe have individually bewitched audiences with unforgettable songwriting for years. Friends now for a decade, they first met at the legendary Kerrville Folk Festival, each winners of the prestigious annual “New Folk” award there. Beautiful singers, effortless instrumentalists, and seasoned touring artists – they recognized that what each can accomplish individually could be made all the stronger by this collaboration.
Originally conceived as a one-time tour: a chance for three friends & like-minded peers to travel and perform together for a few weeks. A video of them performing a cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” they hastily created to promote that tour garnered over twenty-thousand views on Facebook within days of posting. Coupled with that 20-city tour, the spark had been set, the fire lit. Upon their return, they quickly (within 36 hours) wrote some songs together & entered the studio with a core band of Austin all-star musicians: David Grissom (guitar),
Glenn Fukunaga (bass), J.J. Johnson (drums), Ricky Ray Jackson (pedal steel) and Michael Ramos (keyboards & who also produced) to document what they’d just created.
Delving into pop-rock and soul territory fully and deliciously, their pristine voices blend so well, it’s sometimes hard to tell who’s singing what - even for them. The effect is like listening to sisters - until they trade off lead vocals. Then the distinctive, complementary elements of their voices becomes thrillingly evident. Their debut EP Waterline under the band name NOBODY's GIRL on the Lucky Hound label, is out now!
And yes, they have begun writing together for a full length album... |
| 1580536800 |
Live Music |
Resonant Rogues -with Day Trip |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
February 1, 2020 |
February 1, 2020 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
The Resonant Rogues craft fresh songs from a variety of vintage folk styles, featuring vocal harmonies accompanied by accordion, guitar, banjo, fiddle, and upright bass. With a passion for folk music that spans continents and oceans, the band is led by partners Sparrow and Keith J. Smith. The pair met in Asheville in the Autumn of 2012, and their instant spark lit a blaze that could not be contained. Since then, they have dedicated their lives to crafting and sharing their music, touring extensively around the world. The Rogues weave the threads of European, Middle Eastern, and American folk music together into a beautiful tapestry that simultaneously showcases tradition and innovation.
https://theresonantrogues.com/videos/ |
| 1581055200 |
Live Music |
The Krickets-Spanish Moss Sirens with The River Tramps |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
February 7, 2020 |
February 7, 2020 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
The Krickets are a female Americana group from the gulf coast who's music is what Paste Magazine describes as "a truly stunning, one-of-a-kind sound." Fresh out of the studio, the band just finished a sophomore album entitled 'Redbird.' The title track, 'Redbird' was recently named the 2019 Alt Country Song of the Year at the Independent Music Awards. Produced by Grammy nominee Sam Ashworth and recorded at Brown Owl Studios in Nashville this album has everything from traditional country to folk rock steeped in harmony and an earthy instrumentation.
2016 IMA Folk Song of the Year winner for their single "Cool Cool Water," The Krickets are a female swamp-folk band that released their first album "Spanish Moss Sirens" in May of 2016. Produced by Ben Tanner of the Alabama Shakes and recorded in Muscle Shoals, the album debuted at #1 on Amazon's ‘Best Sellers’, ‘Movers and Shakers’ and ‘Modern Folk’ charts. They were also named the 2016 IMEA Folk Artist of the Year. The group originally came together to play a cancer benefit in honor of Cristina "Cricket" Russell. Now, they are able to support the cause by donating a portion of every album sale to The Cricket Fund and Beyond which provides women's health services to the uninsured.
Band members: Emily Stuckey (vocals, guitar, percussion), Lauren Spring (vocals, guitar, fiddle) , Rachel Grubb (vocals, bass, guitar) |
| 1581228000 |
Live Music |
Ciaran McGhee and Brother’s Bear-Scotland Meets Appalachia |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
February 9, 2020 |
February 9, 2020 |
5:00 PM |
7:00 PM |
Up-and-coming Scottish Folk singer/songwriter Ciaran McGhee visited the Black Diamond FM Studio to have a chat with Kenny McDonald on his show "Down the Byeways" and sing a few songs. Having just finished an Honours Degree in music at Edinburgh University, Ciaran has thrown himself into performing. Playing gigs almost every day of the week at any one of several folk music venues, he may well become known as one of the hardest working men in the music business. His repertoire includes 400 years of Scottish Folk Tunes including some performed by Ciaran and Brother’s Bear. It will be a real pleasure to have these two acts on stage for some full band Songs. Didn’t Miss It!!
Brother’s Bear
This mult-instrumentalist quartet started in 2015 when local singers and guitarists James McCann and Joshua Brumley joined forces as a two-piece band. In late 2016, cellist Guillermo Quiros and upright bassist Nelson Williams hopped on board to complete the folk/bluegrass sound of Brother’s Bear.
The band members compare their sound and tight harmonies to the Avett Brothers, the Lumineers and Gillian Welch. With their 2015 album Say and their newest just released this year, Walking Each Other Home, they’ve already established themselves on the Baton Rouge scene. |
| 1583301600 |
Live Music |
Reina del Cid & Toni Lindgren w/ Brother’s Bear |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
March 4, 2020 |
March 4, 2020 |
7:00 PM |
9:00 PM |
Tickets: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4426575
Reina del Cid is a singer songwriter and leader of the eponymous folk rock band based in Minnesota. Her song-a-week video series, Sunday Mornings with Reina del Cid, has amassed 36 million views on YouTube and collected a diverse following made up of everyone from jamheads to college students to white-haired intelligentsia. In 2011 she began collaborating with Toni Lindgren, who is the lead guitarist on all three of Del Cid’s albums, as well as a frequent and much beloved guest on the Sunday Morning videos. The two have adapted their sometimes hard-hitting rock ballads and catchy pop riffs into a special acoustic duo set which they will tour in Europe and the United States this year.
reinadelcid.com |
| 1584248400 |
Live Music |
Jamie Lin Wilson with Shawn Williams |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
March 15, 2020 |
March 15, 2020 |
5:00 PM |
7:00 PM |
Jamie Lin Wilson
“It’s a weird road we’re on right now––I guess it always has been,” Jamie Lin Wilson says. She’s sitting on her porch in D’Hanis, a tiny town on the Seco Creek in South Texas, not far from San Antonio. She laughs a little, then adds, “But nobody’s life is the same. There is no blueprint.”
Thank goodness for all the lonely paths Jamie’s had to find that no one else has taken. With a voice that slides in and out of notes with easy grace, a sly sense of humor, and lyrics that highlight the details most of us miss, Jamie creates stark vignettes: intimate conversations between friends who might be lovers and lovers who can’t be friends; kids hopping from stone to stone in a graveyard; the way rolling clouds can signal a new season. She lives and works in that sweet spot where folk and country meet––Guy Clark territory.
“It’s unfair that the poets and songwriters are the ones who have the songs about their lives, when maybe that’s not what’s poetic,” Jamie says. “Maybe the moments are the ones happening in everyday farmers’ lives, or to a widow, or a son.” It’s her comfort in and commitment to two distinct worlds––that of the dream-chasing artists and the dirt-under-their-nails realists––that makes Jamie and her songs not just inviting, but cathartically important.
Jamie’s anticipated new record Jumping Over Rocks marks her second full-length solo album, but she’s not the new kid. She cut her teeth fronting and co-fronting beloved bands including the Gougers and the Trishas, winning over listeners and peers across the country. Now, her place as an acclaimed singer-songwriter on her own seems fated, imbued with a singular blend of freshness and road-earned wisdom. “I consider ‘Jumping Over Rocks’ to be a definitive record on myself and my style,” Jamie says. “I hope it’s something people connect with, that it’s familiar to them but also new. I hope that people find it interesting.”
No one covers the spectrum of age and experience quite like Jamie: moving portraits of men, women, and children coping, striving, wondering, and celebrating. Interesting? Undoubtedly. Universal but specific and personal, too. “I studied people around me more for this record than I have in the past,” she says. “I wrote songs from my perspective, from the outside looking in.”
Jamie didn’t pick up a guitar until she was 19. Casual remarks she dropped to her mom and cousin led to a gifting of an acoustic that Christmas. She started attending open mics in College Station, and was immediately welcomed into what was primarily a boys’ club of aspiring pickers and writers that included future fellow Gouger Shayne Walker. “By the end of the summer, I was playing gigs in a band, the Gougers,” she says. “I learned how to play guitar on stage.”
Jamie never looked back. She fell in love and married her college sweetheart, Roy. Together, the two raise their children and make their “weird road” work beautifully. “I’ve been taking kids on the road for eight years, touring constantly, just taking breaks to have babies,” Jamie says.
Jamie recorded Jumping Over Rocks during four days at Arlyn Studios in Austin. A fierce cast of musicians joined her, including Charlie Sexton on guitar, and together, Jamie and the players cut every track live. “You’re hearing my voice with the band––their playing, reacting to my emotions, and my voice reacting to the things they’re playing, all in real time,” Jamie says. “I think that adds to the feeling of these songs.”
The result is a rich collection of story songs delivered over rootsy strings, moody keys, crying steel, and sparse percussion, carried by Jamie’s songbird soprano that can convey tears or laughter with equal panache, sometimes in the same bar. The record kicks off with “Faithful and True,” a vocal showcase that mixes the sorrow of admitting shortcomings with a plea for forgiveness. Written with Jack Ingram, the song sounds like a classic from golden-era Nashville. “In our minds, it was about a relationship and obvious temptation,” Jamie says. “I started playing it at shows, and someone came up after one and said, ‘That song sounds like a prayer.’ I said, ‘Man, I think that’s what it is!’ That’s how I’ve thought of it ever since.”
Gently rolling “The Being Gone” questions the cost and payoff of decisions made, while “Oklahoma Stars,” which Jamie wrote with Turnpike Troubadours’ Evan Felker, pays tribute to those long nights that run together, unremarkably, but in hindsight come together to build a relationship, land, or life. Dreamy “Everybody’s Moving Slow” conjures up images of hazy summers as Jamie delivers a crooning performance worthy of the Rat Pack.
Opening with plaintive strings, “If I Told You” mulls over a painful thought: what if the other person doesn’t really want to know how you feel about them? Smiling through defeat, “Eyes for You” explores the vulnerability love brings. “In a Wink” kicks off with a poignant question: “Did you enjoy the clouds as much as Maggie did this morning? / I don’t know that anybody could,” before cataloguing the gorgeous moments we rush through instead of savor.
"Instant Coffee Blues," originally written by Guy Clark and featuring Ingram as a duet partner, is the sole cover on the record. It's followed by Jamie's own song, "Run," which explores an area Clark mastered, with a stirring debate over how long is too long for a woman to stay.
The album gets its title from standout track “Death and Life,” an epic it took Jamie four years to write. A widow mourning her husband and not quite ready to let go; a son who copes with his father’s death by getting to work with his hands, hammers, nails, and 2x4s: the two true tales became intertwined thematically as Jamie mulled them over. “I realized the song is how people who are still here deal with death,” she says. “It’s life after death, but not heavenly life. It’s how the living deal with death.”
When asked how she hopes listeners react to Jumping Over Rocks, Jamie brings up a hero: John Prine. “On his new album, there is a song that always gets me––‘Summer’s End,’” she says. “Every time I listen to it, I start crying, and I think, ‘I don’t know why I’m crying!’” She laughs her big laugh, which comes often and easily. “I hope something I create can get to somebody in that way. That’s what gets us through––finding common ground with someone else, whether it’s in songs or friendship. It makes you feel better about your own life.” |
| 1595998800 |
Live Music |
Red Clay Strays |
Dyson House @ The Zee |
July 29, 2020 |
July 29, 2020 |
7:00 PM |
10:00 PM |
The Red Clay Strays
Known as The Newest Southern Sensation, the Red Clay Strays are bringing life back to the lost art of southern music!. Biography From the far reaches of rural south Alabama, The Red Clay Strays claim their unique sound with a humble onfidence that can only come from their upbringing. This band, on stage and off, reminds you of southern musics heyday and gives you hope that it may not have lost its way after all. Growing up listening to gospel along with artists such as Waylon Jennings, The Eagles, and the Allman Brothers, their wide range of influences create a combined style of the country music and southern rock weve all been waiting for. Lead Singer, Brandon Coleman, with vocals that bring to mind young Elvis, is the heart of their high energy show along with Drew Nix on rhythm guitar, Zach Rischel on lead, Andrew Bishop on bass and John Hall on drums.
A few heartfelt reviews...: "We stopped in to Acme Feed and Seed not knowing what we we in for. The four of us were blown away. We could not stop talking about the Red Clay Strays and their talent for the rest of our trip. -Allison Munsey
Holy crap are you guys amazing!!! There's a lot of talent on the Music scene, it's a rare find when a group stands out among the best...so happy we stumbled upon such a fantastic band today. -Nicolette Schultz
...not one person left disappointed and you had people dancing that hasn't danced in many years. Thank you for a great evening.
-Tracy Howell
"Definitely worth seeing.. The singer has an incredible stage presence and great vocal range and interacts well with the crowd. These guys are a music lovers band.They play everything from Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis to CCR and Stevie Ray Vaughan. They approach each song with the same intensity,passions and a cohesion that isn't usually takes years to achieve. Give em a try, you won't be disappointed!! -Derek Dumas |
