I thought I’d add this one to the video mix after re-visiting it earlier this morning while searching through YouTube for a Paul Curreri tune to be included in today’s Kelly Joe Phelps / Paul Curreri post.  Ultimately, I just felt that this one is just too damn good to pass up and that if you haven’t seen it, you should check it out.

In case you missed it, Devon Sproule performed on the BBC music TV show Later…with Jools Holland back on February 29, 2008 (that show also included performances by The Kills and Supergrass).  Devon performed two songs for the program, a beautiful and delicate version of “Stop By Anytime” as well as this smoking rendition of “Old Virginia Block”.  Both live performances also featuring husband Paul Curreri accompanying Devon on guitar (he also adds vocals on this video performance as well).

Devon’s most recent album Keep Your Silver Shined (Waterbug) was released in March of last year (and includes recordings of the two songs listed above).  And just a heads up to all her fans:  A new album is in the works!

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If you happen to be a fan of the intimacy as well the intricacy of a song then tonight’s co-bill at the Gravity Lounge featuring Kelly Joe Phelps and Charlottesville’s own Paul Curreri should rank high on your list of must-see shows.  Both artists tackle the role of solo folk singer with an ear for country-blues soul and a sense of jazz improvisation, and together the pair have performed well over 100 concerts together.

Phelps, who began his music career playing bass in a free jazz style, discovered his love of country-blues in the late 80’s after hearing the music of Mississippi Fred McDowell, among others.  He released his debut album, Lead Me On, in 1994 and that collection of old gospel, blues covers, and original material would lead him to a long-standing relationship with Rykodisc Records who would go on to release six of Phelps’ albums between 1997 and 2005 (including one of my personal favorites Sky Like a Broken Clock in 2001).  His most recent album, Tunesmith Retrofit, was released in 2006 on Rounder Records.

Celebrated equally for his musicianship as well as his songwriting, Phelps is considered by many to be one of the country’s premier slide guitar players performing today and his work as a guitarist has appeared on albums by the likes of Greg Brown, Jay Farrar, and Tim O’Brien.  In 2003, it was Phelps who produced Paul Curreri’s second album Songs for Devon Sproule and he also played slide guitar on one of the album’s signature tracks “Crozet Trestle Bridge”.

In looking at the path his own career has taken, Paul Curreri considers Phelps to be an important figure in his own development as an artist and musician, and tonight’s show at Gravity should in many ways be the celebration of a shared musical vision.  Curreri has released five albums to-date including his latest The Velvet Rut (City Salvage), which has received rave reviews from critics, including a five-star rating from Mojo Magazine.

Paul Curreri and Kelly Joe Phelps at the Gravity Lounge tonight at 7pm.  $15.

Watch:
Video:  Kelly Joe Phelps–”Tight the Jar”

Watch:
Video:  Paul Curreri–”Letting Us Be”

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Warm, desert scenes of sand and sunshine give way to a Day of the Dead procession under a blanket of stars and candles in this Jolie Holland video for “Mexico City” from her latest album The Living and the Dead (Anti-).  I first discovered Holland’s Texas-born voice of vintage country-soul when it appeared on the Be Good Tanya’s debut album Blue Horse back in 2001 and I’ve been a fan ever since.  And while I’ve only heard this particular song off the new album and very little of the material off of its predecessor Springtime Can Kill You, Jolie’s first two records, the living-room recorded debut Catalpa and its studio follow-up Escondida, are both highly recommended  (as is the Be Good Tanya’s Blue Horse).  [also read Dana’s review of The Living and the Dead in her most recent WTJU Spins article for MUSE here.]

Currently touring overseas in Europe, Holland ranks relatively high on my list of artists that I’d love to see perform here in Charlottesville.  If I’m not mistaken she last performed in C’ville back in July of 2006 at the Gravity Lounge, some two weeks before I first landed in town.  A day late and a dollar short is the sometimes story of my life.  Regardless, I present the video today because there’s some much needed warmth and beauty in Jolie Holland’s voice and in this video that seems well-suited for my slightly chilled bones on this cool, gray November afternoon.  Enjoy.

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This is the fifth presidential election that I will have voted in.  (I cast my first vote for a presidential candidate in 1992).  Regardless of who you support or who you feel is best to be the next President of the United States, I don’t have to tell you how important this election is.  We’ve watched it unfold for almost two years now.   There were moments when I didn’t think this day was ever going to come.  Now it’s here.  It’s Election Day. To the end that we will elect a new president is a certainty.  What is not certain is the outcome.  Make sure your voice is heard and counted.  Vote.

[videos from Bruce Springsteen, Nina Simone, and Sam Cooke after the break] »Read More

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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.

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This is actually a bummer.  Here’s the official word from Oliver Southard, Gravity Lounge’s PR guy:

“Due to circumstances beyond our control, Leon Russell’s show for Friday Oct. 17th will be CANCELED.

We will still go on with having opener and AMAZING guitarist Beppe Gambetta starting at 7:30PM.“  [Beppe Gambetta MySpace page]

Here’s a little tasty live nugget featuring a couple of Oklahoma Red Dirt greats just for the hell of it as J.J. Cale and Leon Russell perform “Going Down”.  It’s a small consolation in lieu of tonight’s cancelled show but it is a classic live performance!  [Watch the video]

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Game 5, ALCS.  Boston 8.  Tampa Bay 7.  Unbelievable.  Here’s a little bottom of the eighth inning, Fenway Park tradition for you.  I’ve been singing it all morning long.

[By the way, Neil Diamond performs at the John Paul Jones Arena on Monday, December 8.  Tickets are currently on sale.  For ticket info click here.]

Popularity: 15% [?]

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

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I have to admit that I’ve been listening to a ton of Ryan Adams music lately.  This is partly inspired by the fact that Adams and his band The Cardinals have a new record on the way.  Cardinology is due in stores on October 28 on Lost Highway Records and if you’re like me and plan on buying the thing on vinyl, know that it will include a 7″ bonus album, a comic book, and a digital download code (I love the fact that more and more vinyl records are including the DDC so that I can not only listen to the music in its purest recorded form on my turntable, but I can also load it up on my iPod and take it with me wherever I go).

Most of my recent listening has been in the form of the two late 90’s albums Ryan recorded with his old mates in Whiskeytown (Strangers Almanac and Faithless Street) as well as a couple of repeat listenings of both Heartbreaker (his solo debut) and the most recent Follow the Lights EP with The Cardinals (which I own on vinyl).  Just in the last day or so, I’ve also been listening to a super-sweet, solo-acoustic, live bootleg recorded in Seattle, WA back in 2000.  [the sound quality is A+ and can be downloaded for free at Aquarium Drunkard.  Click here.]

The video above is taken from a live in-studio performance on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic and nicely bookends Ryan Adams’ post-Whiskeytown career.  It includes two performances:  “Come Pick Me Up” from the Heartbreaker album as well as the Cardinals’ cover of Alice In Chains’ “Down in a Hole” from Follow the Lights.  Enjoy.

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Whether you’re a fan of punk rock or a student of rock n roll, the name Jonathan Richman should most definitely ring a bell.  Jonathan has been making music for over three decades now and is probably best known as the founder and leader of the highly influential band The Modern Lovers.  (The Boston-based band first formed in 1970 also included Jerry Harrison who would later join The Talking Heads, John Felice of Real Kids fame, and David Robinson, one of the co-founders of The Cars.  That’s Richman on the right side of the photo)

The band’s seminal album, its 1976 self-titled debut, was recorded in 1973 but was released after the original line-up had already went their separate ways. Produced in part by John Cale of the Velvet Underground, The Modern Lovers LP included some of the band’s best known songs including “Pablo Picasso” and “Roadrunner” and it would go on to become a touchstone for many of the artists in the the punk/new wave movement (Iggy Pop, David Bowie, and the Sex Pistols all recorded covers of Richman’s songs from this album).  Journalist Chris Colin, who wrote about Jonathan Richman in a 2001 article in Salon even went so far as to label Richman the “Godfather of Punk” due in large part to the three chord simplicity found in many of The Modern Lovers’ early tracks.

Following the break-up of the original Modern Lovers in 1974, Richman put together a new band that performed as Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers through the late 80’s.  Since 1989, Richman has been recording and touring primarily as a solo act, accompanied only by drummer Tommy Larkins.  He has performed on Late Night with Conan O’Brien on a number of occasions (Conan is a big fan) and his songs, known for their wide-eyed, childlike sense of humor, have been included on PBS’s Sesame Street.  In 1998 Richman appeared in and wrote the title song for the Farrelly Brothers film, There’s Something About Mary.

Jonathan Richman and Tommy Larkins perform at the Gravity Lounge on Saturday, October 11 at 7:30pm.  $15.  And one last thing, if you go to see his live show don’t be surprised if you hear some songs sung in Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, or French. [I’ve collected a trio of videos featuring the music of Jonathan Richman after the break] »Read More

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