Friday Link Session

  • …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead and The Coathangers have teamed up as Thee Deadcoats to cover Pussy Riot’s “Putin Lights Up the Fires”. Proceeds will be split between the funding of Pussy Riot’s legal defense and the American Red Cross Sandy relief effort.
  • Classic 1981 concert film “Urgh! A Music War” is available to view in full on YouTube.
  • BBC Radio Four’s “Mastertapes” is available as a podcast (meaning non-Brits can listen without any country restrictions). “Mastertapes” is an interview, audience Q&A and performance show, and programs posted so far have featured Billy Bragg, Suzanne Vega, and Paul Weller.
  • Richard Hell is publishing an autobiography called I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp in March of 2013. The book can be pre-ordered at Amazon. There is a review of Chapter 28, which was released as a chap book, at We Who Are About to Die.
  • While most of the output from new Cleveland radio station 87.7 is pretty bland, the station is now the new home of Cleveland-centric showcase Inner Sanctum on Sunday nights from 9 to 11 p.m. Cleveland … Continue reading

Deep Blues Focus: Scissormen, The Staving Chain, Molly Gene One Whoaman Band

The second installment of our Deep Blues Focus series includes one of two Ohio bands on the bill and a one-woman band who has me pretty jacked up.

Remember: Deep Blues Festival, Beachland Ballroom, Saturday, July 16, doors at 4 PM.

 

Name: Molly Gene One Whoaman Band
Homebase: Kansas City, Missouri
Related artists: Bob Log III, The Reverend Deadeye, The Goddamn Gallows

 


Watch this video on YouTube

Molly Gene One Whoaman Band – Bumble Bee

Molly Gene One Whoaman Band Official Website

 

Name: Scissormen
Homebase: Nashville, Tennessee
Organizer

 


Watch this video on YouTube

Scissormen – Do Wrong Man – DBF08

Scissormen Official Website

 

Name: The Staving Chain
Homebase: Toledo, Ohio
Related artists: Henry & June, Johnny Walker (Soledad Brothers, Cut in the Hill Gang), Black Diamond Heavies, Mark Porkchop Holder

 


Watch this video on YouTube

The Staving Chain – various

The Staving Chain @ Danger Limited Recording Company

The … Continue reading

Patrick Sweany at the Lockview, Akron, OH, 5.8.11

 

Patrick Sweany should be a household name. I believed that before I saw him live, and that belief grew tenfold last night. Setting up in a little corner of a little restaurant/bar back on his old home turf, accompanied by his dad on washtub bass, Sweany played a three-hour, acoustic show (with a short break in the middle) that drew from almost every one of his five albums as well as including a healthy dose of covers. Weaving in and out of favorites by Joe Tex, Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Sam Cooke, Guitar Slim, Bob Wills and Willie Nelson, Sweany laid down his own fans’ favorites like “After Awhile”, “Your Man” and “Them Shoes”.

 


Watch this video on YouTube

 

And, of course, as it was the day that would have been the 100th birthday of Robert Johnson, a blues-influenced musician like Sweany wasn’t going to get away without playing a Johnson song. Though instead of echoing the covers of “Cross Road Blues” and “Sweet Home Chicago” … Continue reading

Bits: Patrick Sweany, Infantree, Shivering Timbers, Bill Withers, Empires

  • Patrick Sweany was featured on Cleveland public radio program Around Noon this past Thursday. A lovely interview with a couple of wonderful live songs. Listen here.
  • Infantree will be re-releasing their album Would Work in a re-mastered version at the end of April.
  • Akron’s Shivering Timbers are venturing out beyond Ohio and will be playing Nashville, Tennessee – February 25 at the Basement and February 27 at the 5 Spot. Their album, We All Started in the Same Place, is now available on iTunes.
  • Still Bill, a documentary about the amazing Bill Withers is now airing on Showtime.

And, from Jennifer:

  • Empires, scrappy little band of my heart, has a shot at being the first unsigned band to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. They are from Chicago, and when I last discussed them on NTSIB , I described them as a “punch drunk love affair” and that description is still true. Their sound is big and raw and sexy and, basically, rock and roll at its finest.

    Please, NTSIBbers, go and vote for them here at Rolling Stone, and then … Continue reading

Benjamin Riley Band/Cassie Morgan and the Lonely Pine/Patrick Sweany at Off Broadway, St. Louis, MO, 2.10.11

To continue Patrick Sweany Month here at NTSIB, we are pleased to have a guest review of Patrick’s recent CD release show in St. Louis by our friend Nate Burrell, along with some wonderful photos by Nate and another talented photographer, Kate McDaniel.

On a cold and icy Thursday evening in south city St. Louis, music fans braved the elements to go out and see an absolutely stellar 3-band bill at Off Broadway – our city’s premier music venue. With the stage lights beaming down, headliner, Nashville-based rhythm and soul rock-n-roller, Patrick Sweany grabbed his pale green guitar, stepped to the mic and shouted out “All right, St. Louis, how ya doin’?” and immediately started into a hot set that melted the stage and unthawed the ears of anyone unfamiliar with his signature sound. Backed by an extremely tight bassist and a drummer with metronome like precision, Sweany burned through a few numbers from early in his catalogue before unleashing live versions of tracks from his recently released 5th album That Old Southern Drag. Showcasing his commanding guitar work and his beautifully raspy, soul-filled voice, Patrick stomped, shredded, and howled out tune after tune for 75+ minutes, leaving the crowd … Continue reading

Notable Shows in the Greater Cleveland Area + Patrick Sweany

Shows worth checking out this week in and around Cleveland:

The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern

  • Fri, Feb 11| 9 PM (8:30 PM door)
    Waterloo Alley Cat Project Fundraiser
    Prisoners
    Rainy Day Saints
    Filmstrip
    $5 / $3 admission with dry or canned cat food
    Tavern | All Ages
  • Sat, Feb 12| 8 PM (7 PM door)
    Cabinet
    Hoots & Hellmouth
    Holy Ghost Tent Revival
    $10
    Ballroom | All Ages
  • Mon, Feb 14| 8 PM (7 PM door)
    James Hunter
    Blue Lunch
    $15 adv / $17 dos
    Ballroom | All Ages
  • Tue, Feb 15| 8:30 PM (8 PM door)
    Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds (feat. Kid Congo Powers – ex Cramps, Gun Club, Bad Seeds)
    Exploding Lies
    Shouting Thomas Torment
    DJ Hot Trash
    $8
    Tavern | All Ages
  • Wed, Feb 16| 8 PM (7:30 PM door)
    Chris Bathgate
    The Modern Electric
    Brian Straw
    Chad Hill
    $7
    Tavern | All Ages
  • Thu, Feb 17| 8 PM (7 PM door)
    Cowboy Mouth
    The Ray Johnston Band
    $15 adv / $17 … Continue reading

Patrick Sweany: Coming Soon, Baby, to Your City

It’s Patrick Sweany month here at NTSIB (check out the interview we did with Patrick if you missed it). Patrick kicks off a series of CD release shows for his latest, That Old Southern Drag, starting tonight in St. Louis at Off Broadway (check his website for more dates – more dates coming). To see why you should not miss the opportunity to see Patrick live if he’s coming to your town, check out the videos below.

Here’s Patrick playing the hell out of “Hotel Women” – and blessing a sneezer in the audience without missing a beat – from his album Every Hour is a Dollar Gone at Merlefest 2009.


Watch this video on YouTube

From the same album, “After Awhile”, filmed at the Old Rock House in St. Louis in December, 2010.


Watch this video on YouTube

And for the players, here’s a video of Patrick leading a workshop at Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch Guitar Camp, teaching Papa Charlie Jackson’s “Shake That Thing”.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKmnzIfPmBU?version=3]

Patrick Sweany Official Website

Patrick Sweany @ Bandcamp

Continue reading

Patrick Sweany: Let ‘Forward’ Be My Credo

Patrick Sweany

Patrick Sweany

Listening to Patrick Sweany’s albums is like reading his life. In between and over top of melodies that are sometimes sweet and sometimes rough, deftly finger-picked on acoustic and electric guitar, Sweany uses the full range of his rich baritone to sing of everything from the rigors of touring to the most painful complications of love. He doesn’t pull many punches, laying out his struggles and fears with his career and his personal life under a lens that looks as unflinchingly at himself as it does at anyone else. His voice, sometimes soft as a hand brushed against a loved one’s skin, sometimes as harshly ragged as a rusted-out muffler dragged down miles of dusty backroads, reflects the truth of every word.

Drawing on influences from Mississippi blues to classic soul to New Orleans R&B; to classic country & western to protest folk to rock of all stripes to a wealth of other styles and sounds that he has avidly devoured since his childhood, Sweany has steadily, industriously been carving out a career for over a decade, producing five albums to date (with one, … Continue reading

(Guest) Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Nate Burrell’s Best of 2010

Regular Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog Jennifer is taking a well-deserved vacation, and NTSIB friend Nate Burrell was kind enough to contribute his favorite photos of 2010 from his own collection. In addition to being a hell of a nice guy, Nate is a great photographer, and we’re very pleased to feature him again.

The Black Keys:
To Summarize: this band kicks ass. They have since 2002, and they are finally getting their due respect on a wider scale in 2010. Their most recent release, Brothers, opened them up to popular outlets, due to its groove-thick gnarly sound and the hit single Tighten Up; but don’t be fooled- their catalogue prior to this year’s album is disgustingly good. Get learned if you haven’t already.
www.theblackkeys.com


Dan Auerbach stepping to the edge of the stage for the sold out crowd at the Pageant – St. Louis, MO.

Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three:
After successfully touring the US and the UK, as well as having been named Best New Discovery at 2010’s Newport Folk Festival, this St. Louis-based American Roots Music band is definitely a band to look for. Absolutely … Continue reading

Obsess Much? : Dan Auerbach never stops

Okay, in terms of making this Cadillac Sky Week at NTSIB, this may be cheating a little, but since it’s my blog and you can’t stop me…

Dan Auerbach – of Akron, Ohio’s the Black Keys, if you don’t know by now – loves music. This may seem an obvious thing to say about a musician, but it’s more true of some than others. To quote the man himself from his Nonesuch feature page, “I’m pretty obsessed with making music and with recording, I’m always thinking about it. It drives my family crazy. But it’s what I do.” Auerbach likes being on both sides of the recording console and in his “spare” time, he lends his help, and his home studio, to a long list of bands. Here is a gathering of Auerbach-produced songs from bands ranging in vibe from bluegrass to blues to punk.

Cadillac Sky – Nashville, Tennessee


Obviously, we here at NTSIB love these guys and encourage you, again, to pick up their new album, Letters in the Deep, and catch them live if at … Continue reading