The Bright Light Social Hour is an American rock band from Austin, Texas. Born out of a university art-rock collective, The Bright Light Social Hour has evolved into an unabashedly wide-screen rock group, melding fists-up rock and roll with muscular funk, soul, and psychedelia. The band recently swept the 29th Annual Austin Music Awards during SXSW 2011 with an unprecedented 6 wins, including Band of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year ("Detroit").
The Red River returns to Toledo to play The Ottawa Tavern on January 16th. You wont want to miss this ensemble's melodies and harmonies and overall musical goodness.
Linfinity, a band from New York, will be playing Mainstreet Bar & Grill in Toledo, Ohio on Sunday, December 5th. They are on the independent music label American Myth Recordings.
Linfinity has been described as having an "Old World" quality by Rolling Stone magazine and WNYC Soundcheck's John Shaefer. WNYC Soundcheck host John Shaefer described Linfinity's lead singer Dylan Von Wagner voice as "a strange blend of David Byrne and Anthony Haggerty." Rolling Stone magazine described his voice as "Eddie Vedder and Tiny Tim harmonizing."
Dan Deacon and Lightning Bolt, are teaming up for seven North American dates this October. Deacon will bring along his mighty Dan Deacon Ensemble for the trek, too.
10/07 Lexington, KY @ Busters 10/10 Chicago, IL @ TBA 10/11 Toledo, OH @ Mickey Finn's 10/12 Toronto, Ontario @ Great Hall 10/13 Montreal, Quebec @ Cabaret Mile End 10/14 Albany, NY @ Northern Lights 10/15 Brooklyn, NY @ Ridgewood Music Hall
“He’s fully absorbed his genetic and cultural heritage and draws upon both with great skill and dimension…an utterly distinctive voice that takes what’s come before and artfully moves it forward with the power of a certain steel-driving man.”—Los Angeles Times
Harlem River Blues, the new album from celebrated singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle, will be released September 14 on Bloodshot Records. This is Earle’s third release and follows 2009’s critically acclaimed Midnight at the Movies, which Paste Magazine declared, “A nearly flawless, organic LP,” while Rolling Stone gave it a four star review. In support of the record, Earle will tour throughout 2010. He will be in Toledo performing at Frankie's on August 21st. Please see below for details.
A recent transfer to New York City, Earle returned to his home of Nashville, TN to record the album at House of David studio. Harlem River Blues was produced by Earle and Skylar Wilson and features guest appearances from Jason Isbell, Bryn Davies (Patty Griffin, Guy Clark), Calexico’s Paul Niehaus and Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor.
Since his debut in 2008, Earle has toured consistently including performances at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Fest, the Grand Ole Opry and the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival as well as a recent appearance on “A Prairie Home Companion.” On August 1, Earle will join Levon Helm, The Avett Brothers, The Swell Season and many more at the 2010 Newport Folk Festival Additionally, Earle won “Best New and Emerging Artist” at the 2009 Americana Music Awards and was named by GQ magazine as one of “The 25 Most Stylish Men in the World” in 2010. He also recently appeared on HBO’s Treme with his dad, troubadour Steve Earle, on whose Grammy Award winning record Townes, Earle also guests. JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE TOUR 7/29 Rochester, NY Party in the Park* 7/30 Northampton, MA The Iron Horse 8/1 Newport, RI Newport Folk Festival 8/8 New York, NY “Gone to Governors” Live Music Series 8/15 Bristol, TN Mountain Stage 8/21 Toledo, OH Frankie’s 8/22 Wellston, MI Hoxeyville Music Festival 8/23 Kalamazoo, MI Kalamazoo Public Library 8/28 Lakewood, NJ Strand Theatre 9/4 Seattle, WA Bumbershoot Festival 9/6 Vancouver, BC Biltmore 9/7 Bellingham, WA The Wild Buffalo 9/9 Portland, OR Musicfest Northwest at Berbattis 9/11 Atlanta, GA Smith’s Olde Bar 9/12 Birmingham, AL WorkPlay 9//14 Nashville, TN Grimey’s in-store 9/15 St. Louis, MO Old Rock House† 9/16 Indianapolis, IN Radio Radio† 9/17 Louisville, KY Headliners† 9/18 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall† 9/23 Cincinnati, OH Midpoint Music Festival† 9/24 Columbus, OH The Rumba Café† 9/25 Berryville, VA Watermelon Park Festival 9/29 San Diego, CA Casbah† 9/30 Los Angeles, CA Autry Museum† 10/1 Santa Cruz, CA Rio Theatre† 10/2 San Francisco, CA Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 10/4 Humboldt, CA The Depot at Humboldt State†‡ 10/6 Salt Lake City, UT The State Room† 10/7 Denver, CO The Bluebird† 10/9 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue† 10/11 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall† 10/12 Bloomington, IL Six Strings† 10/14 Detroit, MI Magic Stick† 10/15 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern† 10/16 Buffalo, NY The Mohawk† 10/21 Portsmouth, NH The Music Hall† 10/22 Philadelphia, PA The First Unitarian Church† 10/23 Washington, DC 9:30 Club† 12/1 Baton Rouge, LA Manship Theatre
Tom Tom Club 'Genius of Live' Tour Includes Toledo...
Tom Tom Club will perform at Mickey Finn's Pub in Toledo on September 29th.
‘Genius Of Live’ Will Be Released September 28th; It Will Feature Select Tracks From Tom Tom Club’s Album ‘Live At The Club House’ As Well As A Latin Alternative Remix Tribute To The Timeless Smash Hit “Genius Of Love”
‘Live At The Club House’ Found The Iconic Group Performing At Peak Energy For A Collection Of Friends In Their Home Studio And Traveling Their Catalog From “Genius Of Love” And “Wordy Rappinghood” To Their Signature Covers Of Al Green’s “Take Me To The River” And Hot Chocolate’s “You Sexy Thing” UPCOMING ‘GENIUS OF LIVE’ ALBUM RELEASE TOUR 9/21 – StageOne – Fairfield, CT 9/22 - – StageOne – Fairfield, CT 9/23 – Rock and Roll Hotel – Washington, DC 9/24 – Grog Shop – Cleveland, OH 9/25 – Midpoint Music Festival – Cincinnati, OH 9/26 – Exit In – Nashville, TN 9/27 – The Old Rock House – St. Louis, MO 9/28 – Metro – Chicago, IL 9/29 – Mickey Finn’s Pub – Toledo, OH 9/30 – Phoenix Theatre – Toronto, ON 10/1 – Cabaret Mile End – Montreal, QC 10/2 – Higher Ground Showcase Lounge – Burlington, VT 10/3 – Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA 10/8 – Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA 10/9 – The Getty – Los Angeles, CA 10/10 – Echoplex – Los Angeles, CA 10/12 – Casbah – San Diego, CA
Nacional Records is proud to announce the September 28th release of Tom Tom Club’s ‘Genius Of Live.’ The iconic group’s new album will feature select tracks from classic album ‘Live At The Club House’ as well as a remix tribute to the smash hit, “Genius Of Love.” Tom Tom Club will embark on their first lengthy U.S. tour in 10 years this fall.
“It will be a real pleasure for us to see so much of the USA again this fall,” says Tom Tom Club drummer/founder Chris Frantz. “We are all very excited about this tour, to go out and make new friends and reconnect with old friends. The band consists of seven players, is smoking hot and completely live. We don't use any sequencers or backing tapes at all!”
‘Live At The Club House’ was recorded with the group performing at peak energy for a collection of friends in their Connecticut home studio. It features Tom Tom Club’s effervescent, energetic, and upbeat live show while proving their original fusion of hip hop, reggae, Afrobeat and funk is truly timeless. The album travels the group’s catalog from “Genius Of Love” and “Wordy Rappinghood” to their renowned covers of Al Green’s “Take Me To The River” and Hot Chocolate’s “You Sexy Thing.” It was recorded shortly after the September 11 tragedy, converting the stress and paranoia of the times into positive energy.
“We have a really exciting band and wanted to record the band for posterity while we were all together,” Chris says. “Who knew if we would still be all together in the future? This was in October immediately following the harrowing events of September 11 and we wanted to do something positive and fun to counteract the sad and confused feeling people were experiencing at the time.”
The Tom Tom Club was formed by Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth in 1981. Graduates from the Rhode Island School of Design, they moved to New York City where they founded the Talking Heads as a trio with David Byrne in 1975. Chris played drums, Tina played bass and David sang and played guitar. In early 1981, the Talking Heads took a hiatus after five years of touring internationally and four studio albums. Chris and Tina began the Tom Tom Club and signed with Chris Blackwell and Island Records.
When legendary reggae producer Lee “Scratch” Perry failed to show up for the scheduled recording sessions in the Bahamas, Blackwell allowed Chris and Tina to produce the album themselves with Jamaican engineer Steven Stanley. The Tom Tom Club's first single was “Wordy Rappinghood,” an unusually original mix of schoolyard rap over a funky groove that went into the top of the charts in 17 countries. “Wordy Rappinghood” turned out to be seminal in bringing mainstream attention to the new spirit of hip-hop.
Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, formed in Austin, Texas in 2007, is a blues band influenced by Howlin' Wolf and James Brown. In March 2009, Esquire Magazine listed Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears as one of the “Ten Bands Set to Break Out at 2009's SXSW Festival.”
Thomas Function will stop in Toledo this Monday, April 26th at Woodchuck's, located in downtown Toledo. If you didn't know, Thomas Function is part of the good family at Fat Possum Records...now you know.
The Black Atlantic rolls into Toledo this weekend for a highly anticipated performance at The Ottawa Tavern on Friday, March 26th. The show's promoter, Shakin' Promotions, has allowed The Lone Microphone & Toledo.com to help set up an In-Store performance at Culture Clash Records (4020 Secor Road). At the time of this post, it looks like the acoustic style gig will take place sometime around 6pm. This band has begun to make a name for itself in the states and will be coming this way after what is sure to be a successful showing at SXSW in Austin, TX. Their soft acoustic style can be defined as simple sweetness...with rich textured melodies that are powerful enough to pick you up and carry you away. Try to make both performances...this will be a good one.
As described on their website: The Black Atlantic is an acoustic indie pop band from Groningen, the Netherlands. Their music is an introspective and intimate affair of melancholy, folk influenced acoustic pop, relying heavily on vocal harmonies and melody on soft strummed guitars, piano and minimal percussion. The band often uses nature imagery to express their stories on love, death and family. The band has toured in various incarnations around the world (US, EU, UK) and have played with bands such as Nada Surf, Patrick Watson and Saturday Looks Good to Me.
No need to pick sides for The Civil Wars, one of music strongest newer duos on the scene. They will be stopping in Toledo at Frankie's on December 9th as they play support for Seabird, a rising band that hails from the Cinci/KY area. Should be a good one.
Time to show some home state love to HotChaCha! They will be playing at Howard's Club H in Bowling Green on September 3rd & Woodchuck's in Toledo on September 4th.
From Exitstencil.org: HotChaCha started as a girl band on an early Friday morning (in late March of 2007) at the West Side Market in Cleveland.
Mandy Aramouni and Jovana Batkovic were sipping on coffee and decided that due to Mandys’ brilliant guitar sound, and Jovanas’ outrageous stage presence, they had something HUGE going on. A few days later a local drummer, Lisa, was txt messaged to come and jam with the above mentioned broads.
For three months the girls consumed large amounts of beer, peed in the garbage can at the practice space, wrote music, and jammed. Finally, one night under the influence of large amounts of alcohol, they agreed to play their first show. At this point the band consisted of Mandy- guitar, Lisa-drums, and Jovana- vocals.
After they rocked, offended a bunch of people, and inspired everyone to masturbate and cry, they realized how HUGE they could be.
Another thing became apparent- they needed a bass player! Local bass playing boys were all in their business trying to get in on the HotChaCha phenomena, but the girls were firm- they wanted a girl bass player. That night Heather Gmucs saw the show and fell in love with the band. The next practice she joined HotChaCha and never left. It is than, that HCC was truly created.
Mandy, Lisa. Heather, and Jovi became one ultimate machine that will make you laugh, and cry, and masturbate all at once. You can’t deny the love.
No fooling...On Wednesday, April 1st April Fool's Day, Frankie's plays host to a performance by Seabird, a promising Cincinnati band (this is an early show). Based on their touring schedule, this group seems dedicating to bringing their music to fans in damn near every corner of the U.S. Don't be afraid to let the piano in rock music take your mind to an introspective place.
