photo of Jason Collett at the Grad Club on 26 November 2005 by Tamingnoise.

Imagine this: you are sitting in a field on a beautiful summer day, perhaps leaning back on a blanket. There are a few hundred people, hair tussled from a gorgeous ferry ride, along with kids and dogs. It is relaxed and relaxing. You have a cold beer in your hand because being ghettoized in a “beer tent” is for lame festivals. In the late afternoon/early evening, following on from Plants & Animals (whom I talked about last week), Jason Collett takes the stage. Sounds like a rather excellent way to spend a day, eh? It isn’t fantasy, folks, ’cause that and more is what is in store for you at the Wolfe Island Music Fest - which is just a shade over two weeks away. Are you getting excited? You should be.

Collett is one of the bigger names on the bill this year. I’m used to seeing him up-close and personal at ye olde Grad Club so it will be interesting to see him on a bigger stage. As he is no stranger to the festival (or any other) stage, I am sure he’s going to knock it out of the park.

Here are some upcoming tour dates (and see Collett’s website for full dates):

July 26th, Guelph - Hillside Festival
August 6th, Boston, MA - Museum of Fine Arts
August 7th, New York - Bowery Ballroom
August 9th, Wolfe Island, ON - Wolfe Island Music Festival

And, because it is what I do, here is the fantastic set from March in Kingston as part of the tour promoting his newest album Here’s To Being Here. He played a ton of new stuff, all the old favourites, and, as has become expected, was very warm and personable in his interactions with the crowd. Where the last time featured Collett+guitar, this time around he had a full band in tow and, as a result, this show was quite a bit more rocking. I think you will agree that it was a great evening. Enjoy.

Jason Collett, Grad Club, Kingston, 1 March 2008

1. Roll On Oblivion
2. wonderful place (talk)
3. Fire
4. We All Lose One Another
5. here’s to being in Kingston (talk)
6. Through the Night These Days
7. song for Henry Miller (talk)
8. Henry’s Song
9. Brownie Hawkeye
10. you’re doing sexy? (talk)
11. Hangover Days
12. bar band (talk)
13. Parry Sound
14. this song is for you, Kingston (talk)
15. No Redemption Song
16. Charlyn, Angel of Kensington
17. Out of Time
18. Pink Night
19. I like that part (talk)
20. Sorry Lori
21. scissor kicks (talk)
22. Waiting for the World
23. Pavement Puddle Stars
24. thanks (talk)
25. Not Over You
26. These Are The Days
27. Papercut Hearts
28. um (talk)
29. I’ll Bring the Sun

(and a bunch more live JC stuff can be found here)

Collett goodies - here. WIMF tickets - here. Go. Buy.

Howdy folks. We are just four short weeks away until the small town of Marysville on Wolfe Island (not to be confused with the other Marysville, which is located  just east of Belleville) is invaded with some of the best bands around as the Wolfe Island Music Fest rocks and rolls for two days of awesomeness. Last year, my first, was stellar. With another great lineup, this year should be no different. Need a reminder of who is going to be there? ok, here it is:
August 8th (8:30pm)
The Town Hall Hootenanny featuring Carolyn Mark, Jenny Whiteley, Joey Wright, Luther Wright and friends and The Abrams Brothers.
August 8th (10:30)
Flying V Productions showcase at The General Wolfe Hotel
The Handsome Furs with special guests Magic Jordan
August 9th (1pm start)
Featuring (in reverse order):
Wintersleep
Cadence Weapon
Land of Talk
Jason Collett
Plants and Animals
Tony Scherr
The Acorn
The D’Urbervilles [note: it was announced yesterday that The D'Urbs had to cancel due to illness. Ruby Coast has been added to the lineup]
Music Maul
P.S. I love you!

As I did last year, I’m going to feature a few of the bands that are going to be playing at the festival. I have seen most of the bands on the list - regular b(oot)log readers will note that a number of the bands that will be at WIMF have been featured here before -  and I can tell you from first hand experience that the quality of acts that will be at the festival is pretty hard to beat. I haven’t seen Cadence Weapon yet and I think seeing him is what I am most anticipating this year. But I am really looking forward to pretty much all the acts especially this week’s feature:

(photo by Fireflyvt, at Divan Orange, Montreal, 17 Nov. 2007)

Montreal’s Plants and Animals. They blew me away in October when they opened for Elliot Brood (who have a new album out!) and The Acorn (also at WIMF) and, when they came back as headliners they were even better. On their second visit they were promoting their amazing full-length “Parc Avenue” and with a longer set they were allowed to stretch their legs a bit, not having to worry that much about time constraints which might otherwise lessen the impact of their longer songs. This show was certainly one of the best so far this year that I’ve seen. They sounded great and put on an all-round fantastic show. As before, they never allowed their songs to get away from them, reeling in the jams at the perfect moments, while keeping things loose and natural. I have a feeling they are going to absolutely slay on the festival stage.

If you are unable to see Plants & Animals at WIMF I feel sorry for you, but you might be able to see them elsewhere as they are playing all sorts of festivals this summer. Check their myspace for full listings

16 July - La Telephone Rouge, Sherbrooke, Quebec
18-19 July - Folk on the Rocks Festival, Yellowknife
25-26 July - Hillside Music Festival, Guelph
3 Aug - Osheaga Festival (Parc Jean Drapeau), Montreal
4 Aug - Central Park Summerstage (with the National),     New York
9 Aug - Wolfe Island Musicfest, Marysville, Wolfe Island (just a ferry ride from Kingston)
13 Aug - Whistler Village Mainstage, Whistler, BC
17 Aug - Salmon Arm Festival,Salmon Arm, British Columbia
29 Aug - Espace 400 - La Grande Scene, Quebec City

Plants & Animals, The Grad Club, Kingston, 8 March 2008

1. Mercy
2. how about this thing (talk)
3. Good Friend
4. Faerie Dance
5. next selection (talk)
6. À l’orée des bois
7. nice muscles (talk)
8. Feedback in the Field
9. snowy evening (talk)
10. Lola Who?
11. big thanks to Paul (talk)
12. New Kind of Love
13. just can’t do it (talk)
14. Guru
15. encore (talk)
16. Early In The Morning
17. autoharp (talk)
18. Bye Bye Bye

For some more live P&A, you can check out my recording of their October ‘07 set which is is still up.

You can buybuybuy the amazing, and Polaris Prize shortlisted,  “Parc Avenue” along with their ep “With/Avec”, and rad shirts here.

And get your WIMF tickets through MapleMusic.

photo from the show by Rebecca Carter at Relix.

Lean in close. Sam Beam speaks in whispers and gentle strums so you have to give him your full attention. Iron & Wine is perfect for these humid summer nights. The music evokes mangrove, cicada, condensation on your drink leaving a dark ring on the table, & rocking chairs on a back porch. Beam delivers dark, beautiful, and poetic lyrics with assurance. It is not as sparse as it used to be but it remains as gorgeous as ever.

I was quite excited to see Iron & Wine when I was in Boston last year. Unfortunately the once majestic, now slightly rundown, Orpheum has an amazing history but poor sound (which apparently is well known to locals but I expected much, much more from such a storied venue). Couple that with no A/C to speak of during a late-September heat wave and rather uncomfortable chairs, seeing the show that evening - at the end of what was already frustrating day conferencing  - left much to be desired. But none of this was the bands’ fault. They played (what should have been) a great set, drawing heavily from the fantastic and then recently released new album “The Shepard’s Dog” with forrays into the I&W back catalogue (but sadly no “Naked as We Came” which I would have loved to hear) and during the moments when the sound wasn’t total shit (ie when you could hear the vocals, and the violin, and the drums - seriously how do the drums which work for 2/3rds of the show suddenly get lost?) it was pretty spectacular - hinting at what a great show it could have been. They are touring Europe in August and are in western Canada in early October. Check out full dates here and try to see Beam and his magnificent beard live for yourself.

I hope my American friends had a wonderful 4th of July weekend (and I hope my non-American friends had an equally wonderful non-holiday weekend). Next week, I think, I will begin my countdown to Wolfe Island Music Fest 2008. Woot!

Iron & Wine, The Orpheum, Boston, 27 September 2007

* House By the Sea
* Sodom, South Georgia
* Carousel
* Upward Over The Mountain
* Jezebel

Buy the excellent Shepherd’s Dog (as well as clothes, other albums & various other goodies) and you can also purchase live Iron & Wine from PlayedLastNight (and you can Cook with Sam here! well, get to see him talk about his favourite recipe).

photo taken at the Gladstone by Marc Hodges.

Hey everyone. I hope you all had a smashing Canada Day. To celebrate I’m going to give a quick shout out to a great, Canadian band, The Rural Alberta Advantage, who shared the bill with Entire Cities at The Artel. Going into this show I had a passing familiarity with The RAA - I’d heard a song or two - but hadn’t investigated them in any serious way. Man, I was missing out. They are top-to-bottom amazing on record and live. The RAA feature powerful lyrics & delivery by Nils Edenloff; flawless, frenetic drumming by Paul Banwatt (who was pulling a double-shift as he played with EC earlier); and sublime backing vocals and killer glock work by Amy Cole. They kept up an amazing pace, blasting through the better part of the stellar album Hometowns. The album is dark and sweet and evocative and very very wonderful. They don’t look to be on tour at the moment but be sure to catch them if you have the chance. As usual, here are a few songs from their set in february. Enjoy.

The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Artel, Kingston, 16 February 2008

* The Ballad of the RAA

* Don’t Haunt This Place

* Frank, AB

Do yourself a huge favour and pick up Hometowns, it may be your favourite album of 2008. It is undoubtedly gonna be one of mine.

photo by Jenny Charlton, taken at at the Alex P. Keaton in London, ON, from the Entire Cities FB album.

Well my friends, it is time for the Skeleton Park Music Festival. It starts tonight and there is an action packed lineup of great bands from near and far - over twenty acts in all - in addition to children’s activities, dancers, artisans and more. With two evening events leading up to the full day extravaganza on Saturday at McBurney (aka “Skeleton”) Park I have no doubt it is going to be a helluva time.

One of the bands that I am most looking forward to seeing is Entire Cities. I’ve seen them a few times now and they never never less that fantastic. There is a palpable energy on stage which is shared by the crowd, as is always seen while shouting out that memorable chorus on “Dancing with my Brother”, they are engaging and energizing. Both live and on cds, they dish up the raucous (ie “Dancing”; the unreleased “Chain-Link Fence”) balanced with the sweet and tender (Coffee; the absolutely stunning “Waiting”). On their recently released full-length “Deep River,” they’ve captured the best aspects of the live show but, through the excellent production, the subtleties of the vocal and the many, many instruments (accordion, flute, singing saw, banjo, guitar, horns, furious drums etc etc) are not lost.

Be sure to come out and see Entire Cities for yourself at the SPMF (its free!) and for those readers in Toronto they will be playing Sneaky Dee’s with Hot Panda and Wordburglar on June 29th (part of the Wavelength Music Series). Below is my recording of their set at The Artel in February where they played a fantastic show with the Rural Alberta Advantage.

Entire Cities, The Artel, Kingston, 16 February 2008

1. Sunshine
2. tiny place (talk)
3. Cop Song
4. fundraiser (talk)
5. Dancing With My Brother
6. special people (talk)
7. Chain-Link Fence
8. didn’t sleep for three days (talk)
9. Dream Logic (Zombie Song)
10. recorded a couple of times (talk)
11. Coffee
12. kind of a punk rock song (talk)
13. EntireCities-16Feb08-13 [title?]
14. next song (talk)
15. Hat on the Bed
16. pre-release (talk)
17. Talkers
18. Accountant’s Dream
19. stolen from the RAA (talk)
20. Barns of Reefer

Get yourself “Deep River” at select stores (Made 4 You, Kingston; Soundscapes, Toronto(? according to AKA not soundscapes, you’ll have to check for yourself)) and online at Zunior.

It has! and its great! Featuring Entire Cities, Jenny Omnichord, The Burning Hell, The Mahones, and many more bands along with dancers, crafts, puppet shows, its gonna be a weekend full of awesome. Oh, and its free. So, so good. For the full line up and more details check out their website.

photo

Howdy from the east coast, folks. This is gonna be a short one but a good, nay great, one. The Ghost Bees are from Halifax but they sound like they are from a place far away both geographically and temporally. They are not from around these parts, you might say, but that’s ok, because while they are not what anyone might expect they are truly wonderful. Wondrous even. Hearing them on record and, especially, live, they are mesmerizing. The sing delicate yet powerful songs. They strum and pluck and sing so very very beautifully. Otherworldly harmonies tell tales of fortune telling, pogroms, births, Pol Pot, Goethe, and more and more and more, all in the span of seven songs. Romy and Sari Lightman were kind enough to visit Kingston as part of the Apple Crisp Music Series at the end of April and share their songs with us. I have two for you plus one of their wonderful stories. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. They are in the West Coast of the US and Canada and then off through the prairies so check them out if they stop by your town.

Ghost Bees, Apple Crisp Music Series, Queen St. United Church, Kingston, 29 April 2008

* Sinai
* an exciting day today (talk)
* Tear Tassle Ogre Heart

Buy Tasseomancy. Buy it for yourself, you deserve it. Get one for a friend too, they will thank you.

photos by Miles from Nowhere taken at the Grad Club, 4 November 2006 (you can find my recording of that great show here).

Word on the street is that Jon-Rae and the River are no more, which is unfortunate because as a unit, they had a really great vibe. I was lucky enough to catch them playing at the Grad Club twice and in both instances you could feel the passion and energy dripping off each member of the band. On stage, belting their songs out, it was the very definition of rock ‘n roll. However, illness and excess, or so the story goes, took their toll and not too long after the last time I saw them, the band broke up and Jon-Rae Fletcher moved to Kelowna. He’s apparently been working on new material (you can download an unreleased song called “I Cannot Dance” from his myspace) and has hit the road in a series of solo shows including TONIGHT in Kingston as part of the Apple Crisp Music Series at the Queen St. United Church (7pm start. go eat apple crisp it is freakin’ amazing) along with PS I Love You who are celebrating the release of their/his new cd.

You can also check out Jon-Rae in:
6 June - Montreal, with Alphababy
7 June - Ottawa, with Entire Cities, Alex R. Newmanand Rich Aucoin (this awesome bill is brought to you by I{heart}Music. Go here for details).

Get out and see Jon-Rae if you can. I have no doubt his solo performance will be just as great as his shows with the River. Here is my recording of the JR&theR show from last March. I felt at the time that the band was a little looser (um…drunker?) than the previous show, but they nevertheless rocked the socks off of all in attendance. Enjoy.

Jon-Rae and the River, Grad Club, Kingston, 9 March 2007

1. Eastern Migration
2. All That I Had
3. good to have it here (talk)
4. when i die (title?)
5. bless her heart (talk)
6. JonRae&River-9March2007-06 [i forget the name of this song - i'll find it and update]
7. Two Hands
8. duct tape (talk)
9. Fuck Me
10. boys from St. Thomas (talk)
11. Best of My Time
12. Ghostsong
13. When You Come Knockin’
14. turn it up (talk)
15. Nothing To Do
16. wore me out (talk)
17. Hard In The City
18. we’re out of here (talk)
19. Downtown
20. one more (talk)
21. Just One More
22. encore break (talk)
23. Roll
24. our last song (talk)
25. Fourteen Years

Jon-Rae knows what you need (to buy): its his record.

Great Lake Swimmers photo by DoneWaiting, taken at HighFive, Columbus, OH, 7 April 2006

The last time I talked about Old Man Leudecke I was featuring Great Lake Swimmers, who were coming through town the next day and the last Time Tony Dekker came to the Grad Club he was accompanied by Julie Fader who will also be opening for and playing with Dekker when Great Lake Swimmers return on Wednesday, May 28th (I don’t know why but I find this repetition interesting). Its an early show (9pm) and as incentive for you to get there (very) early they will be a McAuslan Brewery Beer Tasting (only $5) starting at 7. That is my kinda double-bill.

Because I’m feeling a little lazy - and because I think it is still accurate (and because I imagine everyone skips the text entirely and goes for the mp3s so won’t notice anyway) - I’m going to recycle what I said before about GLS. “[The] sound is extraordinary. It is subtle but affecting. The atmosphere created evokes indistinct memories, faces faded with time, and the specters of events that are all but forgotten. Great Lake Swimmers are melancholic but are not bleak. With their musicianship they draw you closer, where Tony Dekker’s exquisitely crafted lyrics ensnare you. They will haunt you for day after hearing them.” Not to shabby for a hack, eh?

Other than the Grad Club show, GLS don’t have much in the way of tour dates until the festival season kicks off in July. The one exception is the The Blue Review, June 19, 2008 at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto where they will be playing with Sarah Harmer, Serena Ryder, Hawksley Workman, Danny Michel and special guests to help raise awareness and funds for the Blue Marble Music Fund. I have no doubt that its going to be a fantastic show and I have my tickets. To get yours, and for more info on the concert and the charity click here.

I haven’t seen Great Lake Swimmers live yet so, as with last time (the links are still active so go there to get more great live GLS) I am going to post a few songs which were provided by the generous, the wonderful, the always surprising, entertaining, and enlightening CBC (my new favourite show, in case you’re wondering is The Age of Persuasion. Check it out. It’s rad). These are just my three favourites from the show and you can find the full set at CBCRadio3. Enjoy.

Great Lake Swimmers, Dawson City Music Festival, Dawson City, 12 July 2007

* Various Stages
* Moving Pictures, Silent Films
* Your Rocky Spine

You can get even more live Great Lake Swimmers courtesy of Nettwerk who are sharing a Live EP (recorded at the Church of the Redeemer in Toronto). While you’re there, you can buy GLS’ albums or you can get them from Zunior (digital) and/or Weewerk.

photo courtesy of The Artel.

Man-oh-man am I behind on this. TONIGHT, May 21st, Old Man Luedecke is going to be at the Grad Club and you should go see him. It’s an Apple Crisp show celebrating the release of The Gertrudes‘ new record and a Skeleton Park Music Festival fundraiser (no word on the 2008 line-up for this yet but as soon as i know i’ll let you know) and it should be a really great time.

In addition to being totally banjo-rific, OML is an endearing performer - charming, witty, tells great stories - and his songs alternate between rollicking fun and tender ballads and they all have really great lyrics over intricately picked banjo. What more could you want? He’s recently released an excellent new album entitled “Proof of Love” which I highly recommend. The title track has been stuck in my head for days now and I’m perfectly happy to let it go ’round and ’round up there. When OML visited town in March of ‘07 he previewed a bunch of songs off his then-unreleased album and played a bunch from his (also highly recommended) record “Hinterland”. I have below a few songs from that night for you to sample. I had some issues with my mic so there is a bit of hiss but i don’t think it is too detrimental to the overall effect. I hope you like these songs (I really, really do) and I hope you see you out at the Grad Club tonight. He’s playing a ton more dates pretty much everywhere so click here to find out where else you can see him.

Old Man Luedecke, The Artel, Kingston, 16 March 2007

* I Quit My Job

* At the Airport

* Ain’t Goin’ My Way

* Proof Of Love

* The Drawing Near

* Joy of Cooking

* Rocky Mountain Belle (Ramblin’ Jack Elliott cover)

Get your self Old Man Luedecke’s albums through Black Hen (or follow the links to Zunior to get it digitally).