August 26:  Song of the Day.  My Morning Jacket–Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2

Here’s another really cool animated video that has popped up in recent days, this time for one of my favorite tunes off of My Morning Jacket’s latest album Evil Urges.  (And you guys know how much I love the animation and the My Morning Jacket.)  In this new video for “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2) both the look of the video and the song itself are both really well done.  I’ll be interested to see what you guys think.

We’re just a little over a week away from the band’s upcoming performance at the Charlottesville Pavilion on Thursday, September 4.  Tickets are still available for this general admission show being billed simply as “An Evening With My Morning Jacket”.  For ticket info click here.  Gates open at 6pm, show starts at 7pm.  [”Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2″ video after the break] »Read More

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Trent Reznor is coming to Charlottesville and he’s bringing his band with him.

I happened to stop by Pitchfork.com this evening to discovered this little tidbit:   Nine Inch Nails has announced that they are extending their North American tour through December and one of the announced tour dates just so happens to be right here in Charlottesville.

After playing at The Forum in Inglewood, CA on September 6, the band will be taking the rest of the month off before kicking off a swing through South America and Mexico in October.  Nine Inch Nails returns stateside on October 23 with a tour stop in San Antonio, TX and then they will wind their way through the South before landing at the John Paul Jones Arena here in C’ville on November 5th.  The band’s website confirms the date, but no official word has been posted on the JPJ website yet.  Stay tuned for more details.

With the Charlottesville Pavilion’s concert season expected to wrap-up sometime in October, this is a pretty big concert announcement guaranteed to keep the Charlottesville music scene buzzin’ well into the fall.

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106.1 FM The Corner once again teams up with the Gravity Lounge to present another FREE concert performance as Teddy Thompson, the son of legendary performers Richard and Linda Thompson, pays a visit to Charlottesville on Wednesday, August 20.  Thompson is celebrating the release of his latest album A Piece of What You Need (Verve Forecast) which was released in the U.S. in June of this year.

Joining Teddy Thompson on the Wednesday evening bill are special guests Justin Jones from Washington, D.C. and The Grey Race from Brooklyn, NY.  The show kicks off at 7:30pm.

A Piece of What You Need is Thompson’s fourth solo album to date and is the follow-up to last year’s Upfront and Low Down which found the singer/songwriter reworking a collection of country classics from the likes of Dolly Parton, Ernest Tubb, and George Jones with surprisingly amazing results. 

I’ve posted a collection of video performances from Teddy Thompson after the break, including an acoustic performance of “In My Arms” (from his latest release), a live performance of “Change of Heart” on Letterman (from Upfront and Low Down), and a fantastic cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Tonight Will Be Fine”  (a live version of this one appears on the soundtrack for the film Leonard Cohen:  I’m Your Man).  I’ll see you at the show on Wednesday. Did I mention that it’s also free?!?

[publicity photo]

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What with the Smashing Pumpkins preparing to roll into town this weekend for their Saturday show at the Charlottesville Pavilion, I began wondering where they might be listed among the best bands of the 1990’s.  It’s a tough question to ask, an even tougher question to answer. 

In dealing with the merits of the Smashing Pumpkins any discussion (in my opinion) begins with their debut album Gish and the EP follow-up Lull, both of which were released early in the decade (1991).  These two recordings for me are the heart and soul of the Smashing Pumpkins sound that I love.  I’m not denying that Siamese Dream isn’t a really good record, but I’ll take the two aforementioned albums before their big hit record any day of the week.  By the time Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was released in 1995, the Pumpkins were on their way to becoming one of the top-selling album bands of the entire decade.

But do they make the list?  That’s the eternal question.  I’m sure we will debate the merits of the Pumpkins and other bands in the coming days, but before we do so, I should remind again you that the Smashing Pumpkins are in Charlottesville on Saturday (August 16).  Gates open at 6pm, show starts at 7pm.  Tickets are still available and can be purchased here.  My Top Ten Bands of the 1990’s can be found after the break. »Read More

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All I can say is that on Saturday I put in a little bit of overtime.  I got three posts up by the late afternoon and then made by way to the Gravity Lounge to catch both of the Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy / the Anomoanon shows.  My day started around 6:30am on Saturday and I don’t think I made it back home until 3am on Sunday morning.  I’m still trying to put it all together but here’s what you missed if you didn’t make it to the shows.

There was a definite buzz in the air as I walked up to the Gravity just before 7pm.  It’s not very often that I’ve had to wait in line to get in the door but then again it’s not every day that Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy is in town for a back-to-back double bill.  We’ve said it before but it’s worth saying again.  A big thank you goes out to Bill Baldwin, the owner of Gravity Lounge, and Danny Shea, of Satellite Ballroom fame, for putting these two shows together.

Around 250 tickets were sold to both shows and from what I gathered both were sell outs.  I’ve seen a ton of shows at Gravity, but these were definitely the largest crowds I’ve ever been a part of there.  All the chairs and just about all of the tables were gone, a standing room only crowd stretched from the front of the house to the rear, and the stage was filled with significantly more amps, guitars, and gear.  The Gravity Lounge, at least on this night, felt more like a rock club, albeit one lined with shelves of books.

[photo credit]

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Everytime I read something about Cass McCombs, there is always some mention of how rarely he grants interviews (except via e-mail) and how so little is known about this enigmatic artist.  See what I mean?  I too just fell into the trap.  So what if the guy moves around a lot and doesn’t grant a lot of interviews with the press?  I’m cool with a little bit of mystery.  In the end it really doesn’t matter much what he says because it’s his music that’s creating all the buzz.

[publicity photo]

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You may argue otherwise, but I’m going to say that tonight’s back-to-back shows at the Gravity Lounge featuring Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy with special guests Anomoanon promises to be one of the the Top Five Concert events in Charlottesville this year.  The two shows are being put on by The Satellite Ballroom Presents in conjuction with the Gravity Lounge.  The doors for the first show open in just about three hours (at 6pm).  Doors for the second show open at 10pm.  Showtimes are at 7pm and 10:30pm.

All I can say is prepare yourself for a very special evening.  Here’s the word:  There may one or two songs that appear in both show setlists, but for the most part the two shows are going to be entirely different from each other.  Also, as an added local bonus, Charottesville’s own Sarah White is going to be making an appearance onstage with the brothers Oldham. 

Tickets are $15 and at last check there are only a limited number of available tickets left.  These remaining tickets will be sold at the door this evening. [pic]

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August 6:  Song of the Day.  Eli Cook (solo)–Shake Em All Down

“He has what it takes to be the best blues singer of his generation“–AllMusicGuide.com

I’ve seen Eli Cook perform twice this year and from what I’ve heard I’d have to agree with the folks at AMG.  His Friday night set at FloydFest this year, with his band Electric Holy Firewater, was blistering.  But seriously you don’t have to take my word on it, because tonight you’ll have not one but two opportunities to see the local blues phenom from Nelson County live in Charlottesville.

The big show of the evening features Eli Cook opening up for the legendary B.B. King tonight (08/06) at the Charlottesville Pavilion.  Tickets are still available [more info here].  The show benefits the CAAR Work Force Housing Fund.  Gates open at 6pm, show time is at 7pm.  Eli’s second show of the evening takes place at R2 inside Rapture for the B.B. King After Party from 10pm - midnight.  This one is free and will feature not only the Eli Cook Band but also special local guests Book of Job.

[video performance of Eli Cook performing solo at FloydFest after the break]

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I know the work-week has just begun and but I’m already mapping out my upcoming week in music.  One of my planned stops around the Charlottesville music scene this week will find me heading downtown to The Box (formerly The Atomic Burrito) to catch a sweet three-band bill on Wednesday, August 6. 

The line-up includes special guest opener Joe Pollock (Jay Pun of Lasko & Pun called Pollock “one to watch” in the Charlottesville music scene), Panther Burn (led by Phillip St. Ours on guitar and vocals and featuring Aaron Farrington on bass), and headlining act Keith Morris and the Crooked Numbers (whose debut album Songs from Candyapolis from late 2007 is still one of the finest albums I’ve heard in quite some time.  You can read my review of Candyapolis here.)

[Keith Morris photo from the artist’s MySpace]

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It’s the first of August and the summertime heat is in full swing.  Enjoy the cool 90 degree weather today and tomorrow because by mid-week next week it’s promising to be hotter than Hades around here.  I believe I heard the weatherman say heat indexes between 100 and 110 by Tuesday or Wednesday.  I so love not having air-conditioning.

But if you like it hot, then let me direct you towards the Charlottesville Pavilion for Fridays After Five for a performance by one of the most blistering flat-pick guitarists around.  Larry Keel is a two-national flatpick champion.  His style of bluegrass combines tradition and space into a mix that was once described by reknown banjoist and slide guitar player Tony Furtado as:  “Wild-kinetic-spasmodic-down in the earth Bluegrass”. 

Larry Keel performs with his band Natural Bridge (which features his wife Jenny on bass) this evening at the Pavilion.  The talented local duo Birdlips open.  Gates at 5:30pm.  No admission charge.

[pic] 

For the rest of your weekend happenings… »Read More

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