Jambalaya Jam @ The Powerhouse Tomorrow Night

Mister Baby – "Dream On" @ Music in the Hall: Episode Two

Now that we’ve done five shows, it’s really fun to look back at the shows that got Music in the Hall started.  The Mister Baby set at the second show was classic and will always be one of my favorites.

Mister Baby released their debut album a couple months ago, and I highly recommend it.  Purchase it at CD Baby >>

Go to Music in the Hall web site >>

Go to Music in the Hall Youtube >>

Go to Music in the Hall Vimeo >>

Go to the Music in the Hall Amazon Store to buy the DVD >>

Two Shows to See This Week in the Ditch

[This is my new weekly piece over at The Velvet Ditch.]

As luck sometimes has it, the two shows I’m most looking forward to this week are on the same night.

Thu (7/9) – Jimbo Mathus & the Tri-State Coalition @ Rooster’s

Jimbo is one of the greatest showmen in the area.  He simply knows how to entertain a crowd.  This is honky-tonk music at its best.

Thu (7/9) – Rocket 88 (acoustic trio version) @ Blind Pig

My favorite Oxford band always puts on a good show in the cozy confines of the Blind Pig.  I’ll be catching as much of this one as possible when Jimbo and crew have some down time.

Jimbo Mathus & the Tri-State Coalition – “Tell it to the Judge”

Rocket 88 with Mayhem String Band – “King Moonshine”
@
Music in the Hall

Shows of the Week

These are the shows I’m most into this week.  Really interested to see the the setting at Snack Bar Wednesday.

Tonight

Marah – Proud Larry’s

Wednesday (7/1)

Sleeping Bulls – Snack Bar (10 pm….see videos down the front page)

Friday (7/3)

Pokey LaFarge – Parrish’s

R.I.P.: a Remix Manifesto @ The Lyric Tonight

June 29th @ The Lyric Theatre, 7:00 pm

The Oxford Film Festival’s Summer Series presents:

R.I.P.: a Remix Manifesto

Web activist and filmmaker Brett Gaylor explores issues of copyright in the information age, mashing up the media landscape of the 20th century and shattering the wall between users and producers. The film’s central protagonist is Girl Talk, a mash-up musician topping the charts with his sample-based songs. Is Girl Talk a paragon of people power or the Pied Piper of piracy? You decide. Creative Commons founder, Lawrence Lessig, Brazil’s Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil and pop culture critic Cory Doctorow are also along for the ride.

Looking Back, Looking Forward (June 25, 2009)

This column originally appeared in The Local Voice #83 (June 25, 2009).

Looking Back at the past two weeks…

The Hot Seats, formerly know as Special Ed & The Short Bus, gave a memorable show at Two Stick. Their ragtime approach to bluegrass had great energy and was very entertaining from a song-writing perspective. I highly recommend catching them next time they come through.

Damion Suomi and Sanders Bohlke gave memorable performances mid-week at The Lyric’s Red Star Bar. Damion left the stage for most of the show, performing mic-less a few feet from the attentive audience. It reminded me of another awe-inspiring, mic-less show from Mark Adamec a month earlier in the same venue. Both featured great vocals and a commanding presence. Damion was supported by Shivawn McCarthy on violin, who had quite the presence of her own.

Another highlight of the past couple weeks was the Hill Country Picnic Preview Show at Rooster’s. Performances from the Burnsides, Kimbroughs, Kenny Brown, Jay Lang, Eric Deaton, Little Joe Ayers, and others amped up my anticipation of this weekend’s picnic.

Looking Forward to the next two weeks…

The North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic is my favorite weekend of the year in this area. It’s a laid back festival, usually with 3-4 thousand attendees over the course of the weekend. It’s the perfect size and vibe to enjoy some great music without fighting the usual obstacles of a music festival. One of the highlights of the festival is the creek that runs the length of the picnic site. It is shaded and shallow, making it worthwhile to drag a chair down and cool off occasionally during the day, while still within earshot of the stage.

The music lineup is as strong as ever this year and never really skips a beat from beginning to end. Jimbo Mathus on Friday night and North Mississippi Allstars on Saturday night will be strong headliners, and Kenny Brown’s jam to end the festival Saturday night is always a sight to see and hear, as the stage is filled with a cast of heavyweights in the Blues world.

Things really get kicked off tonight, though (6/25), as George McConnell & The Nonchalants play Roosters. Since forming last year, these guys’ shows have just gotten tighter and tighter, as they tour in support of their Virtual 45 releases, a throwback format in which songs are released in pairs via their web site, much like the “A-side” and “B-side” of a 45 RPM single. Check those out and come out to what’s sure to be a rockin’ show.

Go to Hill Country Picnic lineup >>

Go to past review of the picnic from this site >>


The Local Voice Number 83

June 25-July 9, 2009
READ AT MAXIMUM VOLUME
Download and Read: The Local Voice issue #83 PDF
http://www.thelocalvoice.net/LocalVoice-PDFs/TLV-83-web.pdf

For a complete lowdown of what’s inside this issue, click here.

TLV-Cover-83-450

Interesting Tweets, Articles, Etc of the Day (6.23.2009)

2:20 pm Oxfordfilmfreak Local author Ace Atkins + friends just started a great blog the Velvet Ditch (loving term for Oxford) http://velvetditch.blogspot…

2:37 pm nodepression Coroner: Ex-Wilco guitarist Bennett overdosed http://ping.fm/Yx9rL

3:32: pm ThirtyTigers + those darlins love @muzzleofbees http://bit.ly/1FcQU

3:35 pm stereogum Beastie Boys new album details: http://is.gd/1aQLw

4:00 pm Pollstar Authorities in Illinois are saying Jay Bennett died from an overdose, but that doesn’t mean the former… http://tinyurl.com/l4exbk

4:04 pm PasteMagazine Catching Up With… Son Volt’s Jay Farrar http://tr.im/pvy6

North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic is this Weekend

My favorite weekend of the year is fast approaching!

MY_hillcountrypicnicposterREV.indd


Friday June 26

12:00 – 12:30 Zack Mack Band
12:45 – 1:15 John Barnett
1:30 – 2:15 Rocket 88
2:30 – 3:15 Blue Mother Tupelo
3:30 – 4:15 Boogie Groove
4:30 – 5:15 Bobby Rush
5:30 – 6:15 Shannon McNally
6:30 – 7:15 Burnside Exploration featuring Garry Burnside
7:30 – 8:15 T-Model Ford
8:30 – 9:30 DuWayne Burnside Band
9:45 – 10:45 Jimbo Mathus
11:00 – 12:00 Jam featuring Danny Lancaster, Duff Durrough, and special guests

Saturday June 27th

12:00-12:45 Kent Burnside & the New Generation
1:00 -1:45 Rev. John Wilkins
2:00 – 2:45 Jay Lang & the Ringers
3:00 – 3:45 Cedric Burnside & Lightin Malcolm
4:00 – 4:45 Eric Deaton
5:00 – 5:30 Rising Star Fife and Drum Band featuring Sharde Thomas
5:45 – 6:30 Robert Belfour
6:45 – 8:00 Dave Kimbrough
8:15 – 9:15 Hill Country Revue
9:30 – 10:45 North MS Allstars
11:00 – 12:00 Kenny Brown Jam

 

Go to past review of the picnic from this site >>

Go to more info at Highway 61 web site >>

Go to the picnic’s web site >>

Sleeping Bulls – "Jean Baptiste" @ Music in the Hall: Episode Three

Sleeping Bulls – “Jean Baptiste” @ Music in the Hall (Oxford, MS). This is Episode Three of Music in the Hall filmed on April 9, 2009, in Oxford, MS.  Full show includes Mayhem String Band, Sleeping Bulls, and Amy LaVere.

The full show on DVD is available at the  Music in the Hall Amazon Store and at Holli’s Sweet Tooth on South Lamar in Oxford, MS.

Sleeping Bulls: Web Site | Myspace | CD Baby | MITH Profile

Go to Music In The Hall web site >>

Interesting Tweets, Articles, Etc of the Day (6.19.2009)

PasteGeorgia Theatre Catches Fire in Athens

AJCFire guts Georgia Theatre in Athens

3:50 pm maxshores  Cigar box guitar film and concert tonight at Southside Film Fest in Bethlehem, PA: http://bit.ly/foMGQ

Blueground Undergrass at Two Stick Tonight!

These guys are a must see!

“Forget the Past ” @ Smiths Olde Bar

Clips of “Orange Blossom Special” and “Farewell to Lemmings”

Go to Blueground Undergrass’ web site >>

Go to Blueground Undergrass’ Myspace >>

Interesting Tweets, Articles, Etc of the Day (6.17.2009)

1:29 pm pitchforkmedia The White Stripes tour documentary now has a title and a screening scheduled http://bit.ly/kBG2y

YahooOxonian Dent May on Yahoo’s crossword puzzle of the day (14 across)

Honest TuneBonnaReview

PasteGetting to Know…Damion Suomi

Next Time? Damion Suomi

[Note: This is my new format for reviewing shows.  I basically answer the question, "Would I go see this artist/band the next time he/she/they are around?"]

And the answer for Damion Suomi is HELL YES!  He opened for Sanders Bohlke tonight in the front room at The Lyric, which is called the Red Bar.  It’s a cool, intimate setting with a pretty small capacity (100 or so?), and it was the perfect venue for tonight’s show.

Damion has a great stage presence and voice and is backed by Shivawn McCarthy on violin, who has quite the presence of her own.  He did something that I love and saw recently when Mark Adamec of Sleeping Bulls did it at the Music and Movies Night at The Lyric a couple months ago.

I’ve described that moment to some friends of mine as one of the top 20 music moments in Oxford that I’ve experienced.  On that night, following two other great acts, Stuck in the Mud and Tate Moore and the Cosmic Door, Mark grabbed his chair and guitar from the big stage, moved down in front of said stage with no microphone, and within a minute’s time had everyone’s full attention.  And I mean FULL attention, as everybody found a seat, and you could have heard a pin drop in the place as Mark belted out song after amazing song.

Tonight, Damion Suomi, after a couple songs, left the stage and placed himself a couple feet from the closest spectators (me among them), and proceeded to give us a show that in a fare world would only be reserved for the most special weekend night of the month.  But this was a TUESDAY, and well, sometimes life isn’t fare in a good way.  We got way more than we deserved on a Tuesday night, I do believe, and we are not complaining.  Great vocals and songwriting and the ability to command a room.  There was even a sing-along to end the set.

Sanders Bohlke and crew then took the stage, and as I mentioned in last week’s Local Voice column (which I do need to start posting here again, sorry), his recent backing band is phenomenal.  Lyon Chadwick (violin), Dave Woolworth (upright bass), Sean Kirkpatrick (vocals, guitar), and Ian Kirkpatrick (drums) provide the perfect compliment to Sanders’ amazing talent.

So yeah, good Tuesday.

IMG_0757
Marc Adamec at The Lyric 5.14.09

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Damion Suomi at The Lyric’s Red Bar 6.17.09

Interesting Tweets, Articles, Etc of the Day (6.16.2009)

11:30 am themusicslut JENNY LEWIS DEBUTS NEW VIDEO: Enjoy ‘Black Sand’ below. Catch Jenny Lewis on her North American jour.. http://tinyurl.com/nukgl4

3:25 pm SPINmagazine Wilco (the album) reviewed (4 stars): http://bit.ly/4tQ1s

4:30 pm  nodepression List of the Day time, y’all. Name the three best bands in your town.

5:32 pm largeheartedboy [new LHB post] 2009 Bonnaroo Downloads http://tinyurl.com/n6qx5e

Interesting Tweets, Articles, Etc of the Day (6.15.2009)

10:22 am eMusicNewsRT @listeningpost: Q and A: eMusic CEO Explains Controversial Price Increase, Sony Deal – http://redirx.com/?s5qo

11:03 am PasteMagazine RT @joshjackson: Conor Oberst + Jim James + M. Ward + Mike Mogis = Monsters of Folk. New album coming in Sept. – http://tr.im/oynV

USA TodayOxford American gets a makeover

No DepressionNo Depression Festival Schedule