Where were you twenty years ago?

Probably not at The Ranch, but maybe this video will make you wish you were:



5 things I liked about this:

1. It features Shaggy Trey at his shaggiest;

2. It features dogs;

3. The cameraman's penchant for scoping girls seems to take precedent over capturing the jam;

4. The rooftop antelopes toward the end of the clip;

5. Mike's mop fighting with the wind is like watching a 70's carpet in a small hurricane.

Ain't no mountain high enough...

Just a little proof that not all of the music I see can be traced back to JamBase... some of the best songs I heard this summer rang out between 13,000 - 19,000 feet beneath the Snows of Kilimanjaro (which, since you asked, indeed are receding at an alarming rate...)


With plenty-o-packs on their backs but no musical instruments, the amazing guides & porters of Berg Adventures make the most of their voices in the jam-tastic celebration they offer each day as weary hikers arrive at camp. Despite having tired legs and varying degrees of altitude sickness, it's nearly impossible not to smile when you're greeted with this kind of love...

It just doesn't get any yummier than this.

Good news for New York: Kamara Thomas is on 'Earl Greyhound vacation', albeit a short one, which means that Big Apple denizens are getting treated to a bountiful slate of yumminess as she performs (on a seemingly almost-nightly basis) with her band, 'Larune'.

Thomas performed with Gordon Hartin and Serena Southam in a stripped-down version of Larune in Williamsburg at Sound Fix, and delivered some of the most incredible renditions of songs like 'Texas' and 'You Call Everybody Baby' that yours truly has ever witnessed. (You can sample those songs here...) The crowd in this fantastic new music space was held absolutely rapt as she and Gordon delivered tasty duets. (Sidenote: if you haven't caught Widower yet, you're too late, because they're moving to Seattle, but you can still check out their incredible sound here...)


Last night, Larune had a more robust lineup of happy Honkytonkers as they played to a packed house at The Living Room. Witness crooning at its finest below, featuring the velveteen vocals of Thomas, Serena Jean, Amal Bouhabib, and Suzan Hurtuk, as the lovely ladies share "Novena".




In true Honky Tonk fashion, Gordon Hartin supplies the sweet slide guitar, and Matt Whyte swaps up the Les Paul he shreds in Earl Greyhound for the softer sounds of an acoustic six string and occasionally the keys. Thomas has penned some truly dazzling ditties over the years, and you are as likely to stomp your feet and sing along as you are to wipe tears from your eyes. You can sample two of her finest songs here: My Kentucky and Slow Sally.

Be sure to catch Larune performing this Sunday at The Living Room with Periodic Label-mates Gabe Berezin (doing an acoustic Monuments session), Vaughn Montgomery, and Basement Band. And for that matter, be sure to check out all the incredible acts on the Periodic Label calendar, as this a a family of talented musicians who are well worth whiling away your summer nights with.

Page McConnell at the Fillmore/ Irving

It's a lesson we learn again and again: having expectations will generally hamper the event, and having none will almost always enhance the experience.

I had not even been planning on seeing Page's show on Monday evening at the venue formerly known as Irving, and thus a last minute phone call and generous offer (merci beaucoup, Sir Scotland) prompted me to come into Manhattan to see what Page would offer up.

The first thing I noticed (and loved) was the small but healthy crowd, which made maneuvering the normally-packed main floor a breeze. The next thing I noticed (and loved) was the swirly, shiny announcement raining down from the lightboard... yes, Chris Kuroda was in the house and providing free flashbacks for anyone who had seen that other band Page used to play with back in the day.

With those two factors duly noted, I turned my attention to the man on the keys, did a swift check of his band (all new faces to me), and took in a set that included most of the new material from Page's latest album. Which translates to, I nodded my head, I danced a bit, I yawned once or twice (and truth be told, rolled my eyes a bit during Maid Marion... I mean, c'mon Page, 'I'm not marryin' Maid Marion'? I think you can do better than that...).

But just as I was starting to think the set was going to be nothing beyond 'a pleasant way to spend Monday evening', things got cookin' toward the end of the set. 'Beauty of a Broken Heart' crescendo-ed into a wonderfully aweseome bubble bath of yum, with a peak reminiscent of (yes) that other band Page played with back in the day. Perhaps it was simply a matter of the band members finding their groove, but it sure would be nice if more of Page's new material were engingeered for this kind of peak-potential, because it was truly ear-to-ear-grin great.

Once all that goodness had been unleashed, he closed the set with a song that I can't believe isn't covered more often, 'Monkey Man', and floored the already-jubilant crowd. And then, to cap off that fierce double-header, he encored with his jazzy gem, 'Cars, Trucks, Buses' and cemented the feel-good euphoria we all took home that night. Was I expecting to take home a loot bag of smiles? Hell, no. But I'm glad I went in with the sole intention of being mildly amused, as I left rooting for a musician with whom I felt I'd lost touch. Nice catching up with you, Mr. McConnell. Hope to see you again... soon.

My kind of town.

I was barely two months old when the deal went down, but 5/8/1977 is a date I know. Not because anything especially monumental happened in the crib that day, but because later on my brother would indoctrinate me with the finest of Grateful Dead bootlegs, and Barton Hall was among his most cherished cassette tapes.

Flash forward thirty years later, and far from having eschewed its hippie roots, the town of Ithaca, NY has made itself pretty dang cool by declaring May 8th "Grateful Dead Day" to commemorate that hallowed performance. The event was marked by a concert by Dark Star Orchestra, in which the band covered that classic show in its entirety. Mayor Carolyn Peterson is responsible for the declaration, and she issued the following statement to introduce the show:

Whereas, the Grateful Dead have been recognized by many highly credible organizations, individuals and entities including the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as significantly important and integral to the musical and social fabric of our contemporary culture, and

Whereas, on May 8th, 1977 the Grateful Dead performed in Barton Hall on the campus of Cornell University in the city of Ithaca New York, a concert that is widely acknowledged and regarded as a defining and transcendent occasion and example of the art of contemporary musical improvisation, collaboration, musicianship, and performance, and

Whereas, many tens of thousands of individuals who were not in attendance that night in Barton Hall, have become knowledgeable & familiar with the extraordinary nature of the performance on May 8th 1977 through the trading and sharing of recordings of the show, and

Whereas, the cultural identity and perceptions of Ithaca as a community, have been informed and bolstered by the widespread acknowledgment of the magic of May 8th, 1977, and

Whereas, it has been said many times by many people that, “there is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert”,

Now therefore, be it resolved that as Mayor of the City of Ithaca, and in heartfelt recognition of the thirtieth anniversary of the May 8th 1977 concert performance, I declare May 8th 2007 as Grateful Dead Day in the City of Ithaca.

The setlist included treats like Dark Star, Row Jimmy> Dancin' In The Streets, and They Love Each Other. You can download the entire Dark Star show here, or you can head over to Setbreak.com and with one click, add the original Grateful Dead classic to your personalized podcast.

And while we're on the topic of the Grateful Dead, I figured you all would enjoy this unbelievable snippet of Bobby Weir being... Bobby Weir. It came with a personal guarantee that there would be laughter out loud. I pass it along with the same guarantee to you, dear reader:

musical musings for may...

The Tragically Hip at the Fillmore / Irving Plaza

Did it happen, or was it a flashback from high school?

I think it really happened. The Tragically Hip totally rocked my face off. But instead of being underage and hoping my parents won't smell beer on my breath when they pick me up outside the arena after the show, I'm now over 30 and seeing them at a small, packed venue they're calling the Fillmore East. What the... How did I get here?! No wonder I'm confused.

Bottom line is that this very same lineup has been rocking pretty hard for the better part of two decades, and I was caught unprepared for the freshness with which songs from my youth played out before me. Songs I had forgotten I knew every word to suddenly seemed like... well, old friends who had also turned 30 and found themselves at the Fillmore East. I don't think I'd be out of line to say that the jam during "At the Hundredth Meridian" was one of the best I've heard all year. Which made me think... Hmmm, was The Hip a JamBand all along and we Canadians didn't know any better to categorize it? Regardless, they do jam. And well, considering the wealth of experience they take into each show, a refreshing change from the typical JamBand experience of watching a quartet of seventeen-year olds recycle lesson notes from "Jamming for Dummies".

For those who haven't seen the band, Gord Downie is an absolute magician onstage, a delight to behold as he jerks around like a puppet, spins around on the bottom of his mic stand, calls chords out to the audience as he strums his acoustic... you get the idea. He does things onstage I've never even thought a person could do, and he does it all with total sincerity.

It also occurred to me that The Hip may just be one of the most important seeds from which grew the current buffet of "hard rockin' in an obscure fashion" bands that hail from the north country: Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire, and the legion of bands that are splintered from each camp are all indebted to The Tragically Hip. When you listen to The Hip, you'll see why.

In other news...

Bjork is beautiful. So is the Apollo Theater. Together... you should be so lucky to someday take a bath in the result.




Fat Mama needs to get back together. ASAP. Too much talent in that lineup for this NOT to happen... and as we head into some Duo-less days ahead, it just may take 6 other guys onstage to hold down what Russo spews forth. And those horns... c'mon.



The best five dollars you never spent: the unbelievable hour-long set by Bobby Previte and Marco Benevento during the final night of performance (ever) at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Center. It will now revert to its pre-9/11 use of being a bank, but it will hopefully remain filled with the incredible energy that artists like Previte imbued into its walls. His show with Marco capped a week of duets with various madmen (and women), but you can catch these two back at it at High Sierra under the Coalition of the Willing banner. Stay tuned for info on how you can get your hands on a video copy of this set...

Those sweet babies from Rose Hill Drive sure know how to rip a cover tune... while their songwriting as-of-yet is nothing to blog home about, their musicianship certainly is. The balls with which they'll pull off covers like Sabbath's "Fairies Wear Boots" or Hendrix's gritty "Power of Love" are astounding. And don't worry about their songwriting, as the boys are just in their early twenties, and seeing as they've already opened for The Who, I think they'll be around a while. That's a good thing. You can sample the rest of their blistering set at the Mercury Lounge on April 28, 2007 here.

Arcade Fire sound just like Arcade Fire, even when they're at Radio City. Which is to say, pretty damn good, in that energetic 4-4 time kind of way. And it always fun to watch Canadians scamper around a room like that: playing trumpet on the first Mezzanine, booking across the backs of seats in the orchestra, and generally behaving like RCMH is kind of like a playground... which it kind of is. So, thumbs up, my Canuck friends. C'est bon.

Got a hankering for some country that won't make you cringe? Eat yer heart out, Dolly Parton. We've got Serena Jean performing at the Brooklyn County Fair with some of her Honky Tonk Happy Hour mates here...
You can catch Serena performing with Larune along with some other rather talented Honkytonkers on Monday, May 21st at the Living Room.

And finally, the best part of watching the Greyboy Allstars is pretending that Karl Denson isn't onstage. Then again, if he weren't, we wouldn't get those delicious smug glances shared behind his back by Robert Walter and Elgin Park up there. Their non-verbal communication is almost as tasty as the lick-a-licious grooves they're laying down. Some say the GBA sound just like they always did... I say that so long as RW wants to make that stinky-funk face, I'm down.

marco benevento - "live at tonic"

Well, it's been many months since Marco wowed us all at Tonic with his immense talent and infectious love of music. I've been lucky to have been basking in the sights and sounds of his residency since then, as I've been editing the footage from each of those delicious Wednesdays last November (and weren't we all glad the calendar graced us with FIVE Wednesdays that month...)

Below is a collection of some highlights from Marco's amazing residency. It features some of his rather talented friends, like Mike Gordon, Bobby Previte, Mike Dillon, Steven Bernstein... the list goes on and on. Yes, that's Brad Barr playing a drum with one of Marco's old Wurlitzer keys. Yes, that red-head dancing and playing the flute is none other than Sir Joe Russo. Even half of the Ween team, Claude Coleman and Dave Dreiwitz (pictured above), showed up one evening to back Marco, despite the fact that Coleman had never met Marco face to face before that evening. You certainly would never know it after listening to the two hours of music they created that night...

The fine folks at Ropeadope are going to release much of the material on a multi-disc set this summer, and as you'll see in the clip, the range of Marco's material is vast. Thelonious Monk ditties sit beside Pink Floyd tunes, and little-known songs from Leonard Cohen and Elliot Smith will send you back to your record collection to revisit them. Marco's jazz chops being what they are, prepare to be floored by the free-jazz improvisations that he created each night alongside the likes of seasoned veterans like Matt Chamberlain or Steven Bernstein.

Stay tuned for more material featuring Marco, as talks are in the works with Ropadope to create a web TV station devoted to all-things-Marco, curated by yours truly. Now that's what I call using time for fun...

Just for s%^&s and giggles...

5 things I liked about this:

1. It features Trey.

2. He says he '"rocked out so hard at Webster Hall last night" that he needs a painkiller. And then he asks if TO is still in town.

3. He doesn't realize that TO was backstage at Phish's last arena show in Philadelphia... or maybe this is what he's alluding to when he talks about how the backstage scene got out of control... whoops. Sorry, everybody.

4. He gives well-deserved props to Marco Benevento and Joe Russo when he describes how 'Dragonfly' was born.

5. I guess I only liked 4 things about this. But maybe number five would have to be how he cradles his guitar like a teddy bear and seems to be nuzzling up to the microphone like he's eating cotton candy.

beware the ides of march.

some serious rock n' roll power has been birthed on march 15th...


Mr. Phil Lesh


Ry Cooder


Sly Stone


DJ Fontana


Dee Snyder


Yours Truly


... and Fabio.

Save your eyes from the blinding pain of television: VBS.TV

Ever wanted to buy a dirty bomb on the Bulgarian Black Market?

Have a hankering to sit down with Bonnie Prince Billie, Henry Rollins or Nick Cave?

Wish you'd spent New Years in Kabul?

Me too. That's why I'm so glad that the brave souls at VBS.tv did my homework for me, and all I have to do is logon. (Okay, and spend two days a week at their Williamsburg office...)

Who else but Vice Magazine could create an online TV Station where your news programming marries the styles of 60 Minutes and Jackass, your travel shows take you from boy scouts in Beirut to hunting dinosaurs in the Congo (and you're next, Alberta, no kidding! Fort McMurray is their latest bizarre international location of interest), thankfully all served up with a healthy dose of rock n' roll.

You've seen 'Being John Malkovich' and 'Adaptation' already, so you are familiar with the brain that hatched the idea for Vice's web TV station. Spike Jonze suggested Vice start shooting all their articles, the magazine's founders concurred, and thus VBS.tv was born. Content will be streamed free of charge, 24 hours a day, and you can create a profile to save your fave shows. Introduce yourself to VBS.TV here:

Ringing in 2007 with The Duo, The Slip, and Larune...

Benevento/Russo Duo perform "9 x 9" at the Chameleon Club, Lancaster, PA 12.30.06:



It will come as news to nobody that there were a plethora of options available for New Years festivities on the East Coast this year. While the most enticing options almost always involve travel of some kind, I was lucky enough to find musical pleasures close to the Big Apple. However, my game plan involved turning a blind eye to the shenanigans in Atlantic City, and whether I could actually resist ringing in the New Year with the red-headed felon was a decision that many (including myself) wondered whether I could stick to. But stick I did, and I was rewarded with the warmest NYE run in recent memory.

The 29th began with a yummy double-header at Mo Pitkins of two sets of Honky-Tonk Allstars, Larune and Basement Band. Kamara Thomas bravely opened the Larune set with a solo acoustic debut of another of her signature panoramic song-writing journeys, and the band then joined her for favorites like "My Kentucky" and "I Just Don't Get It", the latter of which Jeff Malinowsky hilariously (and correctly) dubbed "Best song ever!". He thereafter took the stage with his Basement Band-mates, and delivered some wonderful a capella and acoustic numbers, including a lovely "Wagon Wheel". From Mo Pitkins, we hightailed it to the Knit to catch Rana's set, performing as a trio in the Tap Bar, and whilst the front row featured some distracting glow-ring e-tivity, Scott Metzger once again demonstrated his solid chops on guitar.



The next morning I hit the highway and headed west to PA (and not south to AC) to catch The Benevento/Russo Duo in Lancaster, PA. With no foreseeable shows as a duet in 2007, I wanted to make sure to catch one last Duo show to cap off a huge year for Marco and Joe-- a year that saw them on stages in Europe, on stages with half of Phish, and everywhere in between. I can't think of two musicians who have toured as tirelessly as these two, and this sentiment was solidified when the fact was revealed backstage that this was the first time in recent memory that Joe had not opened for himself: he has pulled double-drumming duty on tours with GRAB, Chris Harford's Band of Changes, and had even stood in the night prior for Sam Champion while Ryan Thornton manned the kit at Rana's Knitting Factory gig.

Joe and Marco opened their set with a rare "Hateframe", and played an impressively tight and evocative show in the quirky and intimate Pennsylvania venue. A hands-down highlight was the cover-combination of Elliot Smith's "Waltz #2" into Radiohead's "Myxamatosis", a segue which appropriately showcases both ends of the Duo's sonic spectrum. Songs like "Love Song" and "9 x 9" (which you can view above) have grown much deeper and tighter since the release of "Best Reason To Buy The Sun", and if songs this young can be nostalgic, the anthems from their first album seem to recall a different era. Perhaps it is because the Duo's incessant touring and prodigious talent have meant that their entire repertoire has evolved immensely over the past few years. What is clear is that their presence as a duet will be missed in the musical tapestry of 2007.

New Years Eve brought me back to Brooklyn, not just because of the borough's musical offerings, but because waking up in your own bed is the most attractive way to start the year. I doubled-down on my Honky-Tonk intake by attending an incredible loft party in Green Point and happily counted down to 2007 with the rowdy sounds of Gordon Hartin singing "Navajo Rug'", with delighted Honky-Tonkers abounding. I then skipped over to NorthSix to catch the second set of The Slip.

While they had plowed through many of their hits like "Airplane/Primitive", "Children of December", and the ever-awesome "I Hate Love" already, that meant that the second set was peppered with one-of-a-kind gems like Bowie's "Changes",, Elvis Costello's "What's So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding", and my personal favorite cover of the ENTIRE YEAR: AC/DC's "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock N' Roll)" with a "Poor Boy" sandwiched in the middle. Pretty serious stuff for the beloved Berklee dropouts.

All in all, they capped off a lovely three-night run of smiling friends playing music in intimate rooms: what New Years should be every year if we're doing it right. Happy 2007...

'Scuse me while I Slip into My Morning Jacket...

It is a rare thing indeed when someone tells you that a band is about to melt your face off... and they're right. I had heard studio work from My Morning Jacket, and I suppose I can recall a few recommendations to see them live, but I was nowhere near prepared for the tower of sound that engulfed me on Nov. 30th at the Roseland Ballroom in New York.

First things first, of course, which brings us to the delicious opening set by The Slip, a trio who earns more and more of my respect each time I hear them. (Which, fortunately for me, is rather often these days...) The songs that comprise their latest studio effort, Eisenhower, are all remarkably stage-worthy, continually evolving, and are profound enough to provoke both your grey matter and your dance moves.

The band took to the stage adorned with furry wildlife as headgear: Brad Barr (guitar & vocals) played Moose, Marc Friedman (bass) was the Fox, and Andrew Barr (drums) took on the Wolf. The story goes that the pelts were acquired somewhere in western Pennsylvania, and there were multiple plush accessories purchased (including one for My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James, who brought his Bear onstage for portions of his set).

While Slip fans are now accustomed to getting their fill of Eisenhower's 'hits' like Even Rats, and Children of December, songs like Paper Birds are developing into incredible live adventures, and Airplane/Primitive might just be my favorite rock song of the year. Do yourself two favors: buy the album, and see the band, and you'll be a much happier person. New York, are you listening? The Slip will be playing their New Years show at (soon-to-be-closed for-renovation and returning-in-spring as the Williamsburg Music Hall) NorthSix in Brooklyn. You have been advised...

You can stream the set that The Slip played the following day for WXPN at Philadelphia's Electric Factory here.

Which brings us back to My Morning Jacket, where my face was just about to melt. I'm really at a loss for words to describe their impact, but what I can tell you is that I was captivated every single moment of the show. Not just entertained, but that kind of "I don't even want to have a sip of beer because I might miss something" engagement. I think it's safe to say my jaw was on the floor for the majority of the set, and I kept wondering "Where have I been? Why hasn't anyone told me about this breathtaking sound before?" The energy was powerful not only in the epic rock tunes (and these boys from Kentucky seem to know a thing or two about epic rock), but also in the seemingly mellow tunes which touched on everything from reggae riffs (Phone Went West) to easy listening elements (Lowdown) to jazzy romantic ballads (They Ran).

The show inspired that kind of striking-oil-eureka euphoria that a whole well of future musical enjoyment had just been tapped. While I was admittedly less flattened by the next night's show in Philadelphia, I can safely add this band to my list of not-to-be-missed concert experiences, and if you're reading this, you can't say nobody told you. San Francisco, are you listening? A three-night New Years run at the Fillmore. Consider yourselves advised...

You can stream My Morning Jacket's 12.01 Philadelphia show here, and you can also add it to your iPod through the Setbreak.com podcasting system.