Art Amiss toughens up for latest compilation
January 27th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
Art for "The Hills Have Amps," a metal compilation being released tonight at Smoke & Barrel.
Art Amiss has released several compilation albums that chronicle the various genres in Northwest Arkansas. This one stands to be the heaviest of them all, and for several reasons.
The newest compilation “The Hills Have Amps” will be released tonight (Jan. 27) at Smoke & Barrel Tavern. The new recording will first be available as a 12-inch vinyl album, meaning it will physically be heavier than the CDs the group normally hands out.
But it will be heavy musically, too. The album features songs from several Northwest Arkansas metal bands. One of the bands featured on the recording is VORE, who have been performing for nearly 20 years. Page Townsley, vocalist and guitarist for VORE, chatted with me about the state of metal in Northwest Arkansas, his band’s contribution to the compilation album and more.
Vore
Read the story here [Note: Subscriber content] or see the band live tonight at Smoke & Barrel Tavern, where the group will perform during a launch party for the new record.
Admission to tonight’s show is $10, but that price includes a vinyl copy of the album (which further includes a download card for electronic copies of the songs, too). Speaking of electronic copies, we understand the album will make its way to the Art Amiss Bandcamp page.
The show begins at 9 p.m. Also performing are Potions and Lightbulb Detective Agency.
The weekend in music, with The Crystal Method and more
January 27th, 2012 at 9:03 am
Take a whiff. A good deep one… What’s that wafting in? Hopefully, breakfast, with coffee… but there’s something else, too…. it’s…. the weekend.
Which means you should enjoy it, which further means you should watch some live music. Where, you ask?
One of the top-selling electronic acts of all time, the Las Vegas duo The Crystal Method will visit George’s Majestic Lounge for a show tonight (Jan. 27). The Crystal Method’s music has been featured on the radio, in television and in many films. Admission to the 10 p.m. show is $20. Tickets are available at the club or through its ticketing website.
George’s has another show worth checking out this weekend, too.
The only constant of The Lemonheads, which formed in the early 1990s, is one man, Evan Dando, once named one of People magazine’s most beautiful people. After a self-imposed musical exile, Dando and The Lemonheads have returned with new members and a new album “Varshons,” a collection of mostly obscure cover tunes. Currently on tour, the group will perform Sunday (Jan. 29) evening at George’s. Admission is $15; the show begins at 9 p.m.
Elsewhere this weekend, Glory Bones have a show tonight at The Lightbulb Club. Well, Well, Well will join them.
Also, Art Amiss will release a new compilation of Arkansas-made metal tonight at Smoke & Barrel Tavern. Our suggestion is to visit back later today for more about that vinyl album. (That’s a hint: We’ll be posting about it later this afternoon.)
Something we’re missing? Let us know.
Concert Review: Keb’ Mo’, Jan. 25 @ Walton Arts Center
January 26th, 2012 at 3:53 pm
The Keb' Mo' Band. All photos by KEVIN KINDER, NWA Media.
Legend tells us Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil to learn how to play the blues.
Keb’ Mo’ never went through such a process, but he proved to a crowd of about 1,000 on a Wednesday night at the Walton Arts Center he’s a capable and even emphatic when he plugs in and plays with abandon.
So, the question becomes this: If people would go to such lengths to play (even if the Robert Johnson story is just a blues rock fairy tale), why wouldn’t you use your power all time?
Keb’ Mo’ — and to a lesser degree, his opening act, Anders Osborne — provided no definitive answer. Keb’ Mo’, real name Kevin Moore, is a three-time Grammy winner for contemporary blues albums. And while he colors all his music with that shade, the first 45 minutes of his set was rather subdued. Included in the first part of the evening were ballads (“Life is Beautiful”) and a slow, folk-tempered song (“We Don’t Need It”) from Keb’ Mo’s newest album, “The Reflection.” The latter, a song about struggling through the recession, never resonated despite how topical it remains.
Two years ago, when Keb’ Mo’ was last in the same venue, he played with sparse accompaniment and a purposely subdued approach. We were promised that context then.
This time around, with a full band behind him, the evening started in much the same way and left me wanting a little more oomph. It would become, eventually, a much different kind of concert.
Chalk up the first half to Keb’ Mo’ and his able backing band needing to warm up for the evening, or for the crowd needing a moment to let their drinks settle and warm them up a bit, but the difference after the hour mark of the concert was dramatic. Even early on, catcalls from the crowd gave Keb’ Mo’ suggestions for songs. When he got into one of those audience suggestions later — “She Just Wants To Dance” — the crowd was already on its feet and dancing, something it did for the bulk of the three-song encore, which found Keb’ Mo’ playing slide guitar blues and playing them well. Meanwhile, everyone in the mostly full venue showed their appreciation.
It was, after all, what they’d came to see.
A note about the opener: Anders Osborne, from New Orleans, faced the formidable challenge of opening for a largely unfamiliar crowd and using only his guitar and voice to do so. As someone said to me during the break between Osborne and the headliner’s sets, “Well, he tried hard.” Osborne set a tone for the evening, although it’s unlikely he or anyone in the crowd knew it at the time. After the fourth of the six songs he would play Wednesday night, Osborne pondered aloud that the evening was a blues night and he should play a blues song. As soon as he started into a slide guitar solo, the crowd collectively hollered in approval. Osborne too was best when he was at his bluesiest.
Keb’ Mo’ set list: 1) didn’t catch this title; 2) Change; 3) Life is Beautiful; 4) Government Cheese; 5) Perpetual Blues Machine; 6) I See Love; 7) We Don’t Need It; 8) More Than One Way Home; 9) Walk Back In; 10) The Whole Enchilada; 11) Shave Yo’ Legs; 12) Soon As I Get Paid; 13) Dangerous Mood; 14) I believe the song was Just Lookin’; 15) The Door;
Encore: 16) Am I Wrong?; 17) She Just Wants To Dance; 18) A Better Man
Carrie Nation invades a whiskey bar… and everything will be fine
January 25th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
The Kansas outfit Carrie Nation & The Speakeasy, named after the famous temperance crusader, will return to Fayetteville for a show Thursday (Jan. 26) at Smoke & Barrel Tavern. The group mixes bluegrass and brass instruments for a sound the band says blends punk, bluegrass, Dixieland and circus tunes. The show begins at 10 p.m. Admission is free.
Keb’ Mo’s constant blues
January 24th, 2012 at 11:33 am
Keb' Mo'
Life is good for musician Keb’ Mo’.
He has a family. He has three Grammy Awards. And yet, he plays the blues.
“I love the blues, but I don’t have the blues,” he tells Northwest Arkansas Media features editor Becca Bacon Martin in a recent interview.
In a story that we published Friday, the artist — real name Kevin Moore — chats about his family life, his desire to be unconventional and his tour, which will bring him to Fayetteville for a performance Wednesday (Jan. 25) at the Walton Arts Center.
You can read our story with Keb’ Mo’ online [although you'll have to be a subscriber to do so].
The Wednesday-night show at the Walton Arts Center begins at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $29-$49 and are available through the venue’s website or by calling 443-5600.
We’ll see you at the show.
Analyzing the Wakarusa lineup
January 23rd, 2012 at 2:41 pm
Fitz and the Tantrums are coming to Wakarusa. The name of the song, “Moneygrabber,” is not a commentary on the band or the festival.
In my rush to get the full Wakarusa lineup online last last week, I didn’t take the time to make sweeping, rash judgments about the quality and quantity of the artists coming this way.
And what’s a blog for if not for making generalizations?
Actually, I did some of that in print edition recently.
Here’s a brief rundown of my thoughts: The festival is very electronica friendly this year, a lot of the bands will be passing through Fayetteville in the months before the festival and the Avetts Brothers are great, because, well, they’re the Avetts, and I’m a big fan.
Read more of my thoughts courtesy of the Listen Here! column, an occasional feature in What’s Up! [Note: Subscriber content].
Some of you have already commented, and I appreciate that. For those who haven’t, what’s your take on this year’s lineup?
Cooking up some country fun: The music of Elizabeth Cook
January 23rd, 2012 at 5:03 am
Look up Elizabeth Cook online and it will tell you she’s a country artist.
That’s true — and she plays at the Grand Ole Opry (one of country music’s oldest establishments) to prove it.
But she’s also a fearless songwriter who is not afraid to talk about family troubles (her father spent time in prison).
Her songs fall beyond traditional country radio stations, but she falls neatly into the category of road-weary nontraditionalists alongside country music past. Or, to say it another way, even with blonde hair and makeup, she’s much more Johnny Cash than Taylor Swift.
Cook, chatting before a gig in Colorado, told me about her place in the country music world in a recent interview. You can read that story here. [Note: Subscriber content.]
Cook is busier than ever, both on the road and off. She’s the host of a show called “Apron Strings” on Sirius XM satellite radio’s Outlaw Country channel and she tells me she is working on acting on voice roles. All this while she continues to tour, like she will when she passes through Arkansas for two gigs: one Wednesday (Jan. 25) at Second Street Live (7:30 p.m., $25) in Fort Smith and Thursday (Jan. 26) at George’s Majestic Lounge (9 p.m, $10) in Fayetteville.
See you at the show.
Bonus — Here’s Cook doing “All The Time”:
Poncho Sanchez and the art of the conga drum
January 20th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Poncho Sanchez and his Latin Jazz Band
The Cuban word for conga player is conguera. Start talking about the world’s best congueras and it won’t take long before Poncho Sanchez‘s name comes into the discussion.
The artist has decades of playing the drums and leading bands, and he leads his Latin Jazz Band to the Walton Arts Center for a performance tonight (Jan. 20).
Sanchez chatted with me several weeks ago and discussed his craft and the music of Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo, the two men he credits with inventing his favorite genre. Sanchez recently released a tribute album, “Chano y Dizzy,” featuring songs written by both artists.
A story resulting from my interview can be found via Nwaonline.com. You’ll have to be a subscriber to our print or digital products to see the full interview.
Tonight’s show at the Walton Arts Center begins at 8 p.m. As part of the venue’s 10×10 concert series, tickets begin at $10. Call 443-5600 or visit the venue’s website for tickets or details.
The weekend in music, with Daymoths and more
January 20th, 2012 at 9:21 am
Daymoths
Ah, yes, the weekend. I can think of about 30 ways to celebrate. I don’t have time to get into all of the ways here, but just know you should enjoy yourself if you aren’t working. It’s unseasonably warm, the Razorbacks play a ranked basketball team at home and there are plenty of concerts to see.
Let’s get to the latter, shall we?
Indie rockers Daymoths is the husband and wife pair of Emily Dantuma and Ollie Dodge. They first started performing together in the band Vox Vermillion, then forged ahead as a duo. Daymoths recently released the album “Back in Time.” The group performs Saturday (Jan. 21) at Paradygm Shyft in Fort Smith. The 18-and-up show begins at 8 p.m. The cover charge is $5.
The same evening in Fayetteville, Stoney LaRue returns to a town he’s performed at many times.
The Red Dirt country musician has placed his emphasis on the road, playing about 200 live dates per year and releasing two live albums in the past decade. In August, however, he released just his second studio recording in the past six years, “Velvet,” a Top 15 country album. LaRue will return to the area for a show Saturday at George’s Majestic Lounge. Admission to the 9 p.m show is $15.
Elsewhere, Walter Savage plays jazz tonight (Jan. 20) at Hjem Restaurant and Boom! Kinetic takes over George’s Majestic Lounge the same evening.
We’ll see you around, and have an awesome weekend.
Wakarusa announces third round of artists, which completes lineup
January 19th, 2012 at 11:07 am
No doubt about it, The Avett Brothers are performing at Wakarusa. Above is their song “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise.”
With two of the three Wakarusa lineup announcements already made, the biggest question that remained was in regard to the artist that will fill a vacancy near the top of the list, ranked just below Pretty Lights and just above Primus.
Well, as of a few minutes ago, we know that other headliner: The Avett Brothers, who are wrapping up work on a new album.
The folk rock act from North Carolina will visit Mulberry Mountain near Ozark sometime between May 31 and June 3. Those are the four days that Wakarusa will invade Franklin County for its fourth annual event in Arkansas.
Also joining the bill are Matisyahu, The Travelin’ McCourys, Ghostland Observatory, Slightly Stoopid and many more.
Four-day event passes are $149. Prices for camping or day parking vary according to distance from the main stage area. Other price packages, such as VIP tickets, are also available through the ticketing website.
Now that we know the full lineup, what do think? How does Wakarusa 2012 compare to other years?