Month: November 2010

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Bit: Justin Townes Earle

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  • Justin Townes Earle is back in action and will resume touring at the end of November, bringing along Bobby Bare, Jr., Caitlin Rose and Ohio darling Jessica Lea Mayfield in support.

    CONFIRMED TOUR DATES:

    11/26/10 Nashville, TN, Mercy Lounge*
    11/27/10 Nashville, TN, Mercy Lounge†
    11/30/10 Memphis, TN, The Hi-Tone†
    12/01/10 Baton Rouge, LA, Manship Theatre†
    12/02/10 Houston, TX, Fitzgerald’s†
    12/03/10 Dallas, TX, Granada Theatre†
    12/04/10 Austin, TX, The Parish†
    12/06/10 Mobile, AL, Callaghan’s†(on sale soon)
    12/07/10 Gainesville, FL, Common Grounds†
    12/09/10 Ybor City, FL, Crowbar†
    12/10/10 Orlando, FL, The Social†
    12/11/10 Jacksonville, FL, Mojo Kitchen†
    12/12/10 Charleston, SC, Pour House†
    12/13/10 Carrboro, NC, Cat’s Cradle†
    12/14/10 Asheville, NC, The Grey Eagle†
    12/16/10 Philadelphia, PA, First Unitarian Church‡
    12/17/10 Boston, MA, Royale‡
    12/18/10 New York, NY, Webster Hall‡
    12/19/10 Washington, DC, 9:30 Club‡ (on sale 12/4)

    *Bobby Bare Jr. supports
    †Caitlin Rose supports
    ‡Jessica Lea Mayfield supports

    Other cancelled dates are being rescheduled, as well.

    Additionally, Earle will play live on WNYC Soundcheck on Wednesday, November 17 at 2:30 PM EST.

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Bits: Wu-Tang Clan, The Black Keys, Mumford and Sons, Robert Johnson, Drive-By Truckers

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  • The Wu-Tang Clan are touring in December (and possibly beyond), including a New Year’s Eve show in Pittsburgh.

    12/4/10 San Diego, CA, 4th & B

    12/5/10 Los Angeles, CA, Club Nokia

    12/10/10 Dallas, TX, Granada Theater

    12/22/10 Boston, MA, Wilbur Theater

    12/26/10 New Haven, CT, Toad’s Place

    12/28/10 Providence, RI, Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel

    12/30/10 Philadelphila, PA, Trocadero

    12/31/10 Millvale, PA, Mr. Smalls Theater

  • Re-issuing relatively new albums with additional live material is the new black. The Black Keys will be releasing limited edition numbered vinyl package of Brothers on November 26 as part of a special Black Friday Record Store Day, which will include the original double vinyl and CD of the album, plus a 10″ of a live session recorded in Akron of select Brothers tracks (different from their recent iTunes session) and a poster

  • Mumford and Sons will be re-releasing Sigh No More on November 29 in a limited edition package that will include the original album on CD, a DVD and a bonus disc of songs recorded at a pair of live gigs at Shepherd’s Bush Empire last March.

  • Blues legend Robert Johnson would have been 100 years old next year. In tribute, a tour called Blues at the Crossroads: The Robert Johnson Centennial Concerts will begin in January and will feature legends David “Honeyboy” Edwards and Hubert Sumlin, as well as Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm and Big Head Todd and the Monsters. The group of musicians will also record an album which will be released in conjunction with the tour.

  • Having apparently attended the Robert Pollard School of Never Sitting Still, the Drive-By Truckers are releasing a Black Friday Record Store Day 10″ which will include brand new songs “Used to Be a Cop” and “The Thanksgiving Filter”, with their new album Go-Go Boots being released on February 15. A download of their song “Your Woman is a Living Thing” is available via the band’s Facebook page.

Drive-By Truckers “Used To Be A Cop” from Jason Thrasher on Vimeo.

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Rebirth of the Cool: Ohio Covers Ohio, Part One

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The Black Keys have a way with a cover song and having long been champions of our shared home state of Ohio, it’s no surprise that they’ve covered a few of their fellow Akron-area musicians.

The James Gang, fronted for a time by Joe Walsh, formed in Cleveland in 1967. Their best-known song was a typically ’70s rock ‘n’ roll nugget called “Funk #49”.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_qHU_6Ofc0?fs=1]

While keeping the rock essence of the song, the Keys admirably trim the original’s excess making it, for me at least, far more palatable.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T0GzZuKbhY?fs=1]

While the Cramps formed in Sacramento, California, the dearly departed Lux Interior hailed from Stow, Ohio, just outside of Akron, and Lux and wife Poison Ivy lived in Akron for a couple of years in the early 1970s.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4BMW31juLc?fs=1]

While a somewhat less natural choice for the Keys than the “Funk #49”, their cover of the Cramps’ “Can’t Find My Mind” reveals an appealing glimpse of punk spirit and Auerbach’s penchant for fuzz guitar serves the song well.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0XOfMwMX1A?fs=1]

Devo formed in Akron in 1973 before eventually moving to California and never really looking back, but not before leaving the Akron music scene shaken, bewildered and inspired.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRENoPisFYk?fs=1]

Even though Patrick Carney has professed Devo to be one of this favorite bands, “Uncontrollable Urge” is an even less natural choice for the Black Keys to cover than the Cramps. There are hardly two bands more opposite in sound and spirit. I’ll let you be the judge of how well they bridged the gap.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClqeQ8BX05s?fs=1]