The concert series at the Four County Players Theater in Barboursville kicks into an electric high gear as they present local blues sensation Eli Cook with his band Electric Holy Firewater for two back-to-back shows showcasing the music of the legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix. The Second Annual Classic Hendrix Concert featuring the aforementioned Cook and his band takes place this Friday and Saturday night at “Central Virginia’s longest running community theater” which has been in operation since 1973. [directions]
The inaugural Classic Hendrix Concert was held back in January of this year as a one-night event and was a sold-out success. As a result, the concert event has now been expanded to a include a second show. Performances both nights kick off at 8pm. Doors open at 7pm. $15. General admission. For more info call the Four County Players Box Office at 540.832.5355.
Eli Cook recently stopped by the WNRN studios for an interview and in-studio acoustic performance with Anne Williams, host of the station’s Acoustic Sunrise morning show. [you can listen to the interview below]
Earlier this summer Brendan Canning, co-founder of the Toronto-based indie rock band Broken Social Scene, released his solo debut album Something for Us All (Arts & Crafts). You can check out the video for the first single “Hit the Wall” above.
Canning and the rest of his bandmates in Broken Social Scene embarked on their “Something for Us All” tour back in August and are currently making their way up the East Coast with two Virginia stops on tap for this week. Tonight (10/21) you can catch BSS at Toad’s Place in Richmond [tickets] and tomorrow night (10/22) they’ll be at the State Theatre in Falls Church [tickets]. Land of Talk (just one of the countless musical side projects for this Canadian supergroup whose membership is equally countless) opens both shows.
I was lucky enough to see Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band perform for the very first time this summer at FloydFest. I actually saw the trio tear it up twice during my three-day stay at Floyd (I caught the last half of their Friday night set and their entire Saturday set) and with each performance the crowds just kept getting bigger and bigger. By the time the band’s Sunday afternoon performance at the festival rolled around, there were so many people jam-packed under the dance tent that I didn’t even attempt to fight the masses for fear of drowning in a sea of sweat. From everything I saw, the Big Damn Band was clearly a FloydFest favorite. They were definitely one of mine.
Here’s how I described the scene from Saturday’s FloydFest performance:
“One of the craziest, loudest, rawest blues experiences I’ve seen in a long time. The three-piece band featuring Reverend Peyton on National guitar and harmonica (pictured right above), Breezy Peyton on washboard (center), and Jayme Peyton on drums (left), The Big Damn Band easily drew one of the most vocal and animated audiences of the entire day.”
Hailing from Brown County, Indiana, Rev. Peyton and His Big Damn Band play the country-blues with a frenetic fervor. They stomp, bang, and strum with a take no-prisoners approach. Or as one festival promoter so perfectly described the Big Damn Band’s sound:
“…authentic brand of Blues that sounds like what might come out of that secret meth lab nestled deep in the backwaters of the Mississippi delta.”
Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band performs at the Gravity Lounge on Wednesday, October 22. The band’s brand new album, The Whole Fam Damnily, was released on August 5th by the L.A.-based SideOneDummy Records (which is also home to Flogging Molly, Gogol Bordello, and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.) The album debuted at #4 on the Billboard Blues chart. Keith Morris and the Crooked Numbers open and The Accordion Death Squad closes out the show. $8!!! [give a listen to “Mama’s Fried Potatoes” from The Big Damn Band’s The Whole Fam Damnily below]
Listen:
MP3: Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band–”Mama’s Fried Potatoes”
I know there’s plenty out there to keep you busy between now and Sunday, but if you’re going to take the time to see one show in town this weekend, I have to believe that this is it as the Gravity Lounge hosts two incredibly talented local music acts: Sarah White and 6 Day Bender. Show time is at 10:30pm. $5. [More on the artists, including MP3s from both Sarah White and 6 Day Bender after the break] »Read More
“It will be a heavy freak out”. Those are the words that were passed along to me to describe Monday’s upcoming Awesome Color and Invisible Hand show at the Outback Lodge. A heavy freak out sure sounds like a hell of a lot of fun, so count me in.
Awesome Color, the three-piece band out of Brooklyn, NY by way of Ann Arbor, MI, features Derek Stanton on guitar, Mike Troutman on bass, and Allison Busch on drums. The band has toured with the likes of Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. and their most recent album, Electric Aborigines, is the band’s second full-length release for Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace! label. Here’s what one reviewer had to say about the new record:
“Awesome Color…can channel the ghosts of the Stooges and MC5 without sounding like big-muffed necrophiliacs…Electric Aborigines proves Awesome can only get more awesome”–Detroit Metro Times
Invisible Hand, the solo side project for Charlottesville’s Adam Smith (who also performs with Truman Sparks and Articulate Chewbecca for starters), opens. [Invisible Hand MySpace] The show kicks off at 9pm. $6-8.
If you’d like to enter to win a pair of tickets to Monday’s show, drop a comment to this post that includes your own favorite “awesome color”. I’ve got one pair of tickets to giveaway and I’ll be announcing the winner the day of the show at noon. Winner will be drawn at random and notified of their good fortune via email. [listen to Awesome Color’s “Already Down” from Electric Aborigines below]
Well here’s one that seems like a good time waiting to happen as the Hogwaller Ramblers join the Mayor of Candyapolis, Keith Morris, and his band the Crooked Numbers for an evening of foot stompin, hand clappin’, singin’ and shoutin’ American music at The Box on Thursday (10/16). I’m told the music kicks off at 10:30pm, but if you want to make sure you can get a table or a seat at the bar I’d get there a little early (they don’t call it The Box for nothing you know). As an added bonus, there is no cover for the evening’s festivities.
The Hogwaller Ramblers, as their website proudly proclaims, are “Charlottesville’s oldest continuously recombinant musical project”, which loosely translated means they’ve been at it for awhile. Led by Jamie Dyer and featuring an ever-changing cast that includes some of Charlottesville’s finest musicians, the Ramblers have been a fixture on the local music scene since the 80’s. In addition to tonight’s performance you can catch them holding court at Fellini’s nearly each and every Sunday night.
As for Keith Morris, what can I say that I haven’t already said? The self-professed Mayor of Candyapolis leads his band of merry men and women through a world of lullabies and modern-day fairy tales that are intelligent, offbeat, and joyous. His highly recommended debut albumSongs from Candyapolis features of a collection of stellar guest artists from right here in Charlottesville, including a handful of Ramblers of the Hogwaller variety.
If you go to tonight’s show expect to see a fair amount of interaction between these two bands. Shared members abound and great songs are around every corner, but sadly this time around the bunny suit is not included. Keith Morris opens with the Ramblers to follow. [the Mayor provides a couple of tunes from Songs from Candyapolis for your listening pleasure ]
The poster should tell you everything you need to know. A three-band bill featuring The Antlers (Brooklyn, NY), King of Spain (Tampa, FL), and The Winter Sounds (Athens, GA) tonight at the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar. 9pm. $5. [videos from The Winter Sounds and King of Spain, plus a MP3 from The Antlers after the break] »Read More
The big concert in town this week will take place within the confines of Charlottesville’s biggest indoor venue as Elton John performs at John Paul Jones Arena on Friday, October 17. In his career John has sold more than 200 million albums and earlier this year when Billboard released its list of the Top 100 artists which have appeared on the magazine’s Hot 100, Elton John came in at #3 behind Madonna and the Beatles. Tickets for Friday night’s show range from $49 - $99 [ticket info]. The show starts at 8pm.
If you go to the show you can plan on hearing any number of Elton John’s hits from a list that is much too large to list here, but I’ll guarantee you this one gets played. However I don’t think you’ll be seeing Elton performing with the band he’s assembled in the video above. Taped in October of 1977, the video above is taken from The Muppet Show and features Elton John performing “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” with Dr. Teeth and Electric Mayhem. As always, enjoy.
In advance of tonight’s Sons of Bill / Wrinkle Neck Mules co-bill at Toad’s Place in Richmond, WNRN 91.9FM invited two of Bill’s sons into the studio for a live interview and performance on Friday. Anne Williams interviews James and Sam Wilson of Sons of Bill on WNRN’s Acoustic Sunrise below. By the way, WNRN is presenting this show. [And if you haven’t yet taken the time to do so, also check out my interviews with S.O.B.’s James Wilson and Andy Stepanian of the Wrinkle Neck Mules]
Listen:
MP3: WNRN interviews James and Sam Wilson 10.10.08
Richmond, Virginia’s The Great White Jenkins (pictured above) return to Charlottesville on Sunday, October 12 performing alongside Woven Hand (led by David Eugene Edwards,of 16 Horsepower fame) at Gravity Lounge. Presented by Starr Hill Presents. Showtime is at 8pm. $10.
The Great White Jenkins’ most recent release, the five-song EP Mussel Souls, was released earlier this year and finds the band once again mining the rustic side of rock with horns and harmonies both vibrant and sepia-stained. [Listen to “Wind” from Mussel Souls below]
![Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band [publicity photo]](http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj23/deeplyrootedradio/bdbporch1-1.jpg)
