We are now heading into the new normal with live music during the Covid-19 era. Live shows will need to be flexible and live streaming is a great way to keep music going. Streams have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. Things are (hopefully) improving on the pandemic front but live streams will be an option for artists during the foreseeable future. We will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and as a way to help out the artists. You can check out our weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past and as always, please support the artists any which way you can.
Today we highlight: The Black Angels
Check out the The Black Angels at their Levitation Sessions. To get in the mood peep some video below:
We are now heading into the new normal with live music during the Covid-19 era. Live shows will need to be flexible and live streaming is a great way to keep music going. Streams have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. Things are (hopefully) improving on the pandemic front but live streams will be an option for artists during the foreseeable future. We will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and as a way to help out the artists. You can check out our weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past and as always, please support the artists any which way you can.
Today we highlight: Dark Star Orchestra - Live from the Capitol Theater
The Dark Star Orchestrais going to recreate the famous Europe '72 performance by the Grateful Dead from Lille France exactly 50 years ago tonight from the Capitol Theater.
You can get your live stream ticket here and peep some video (audio really) of the Dead doing "Mr. Charlie" to get you pumped for this performance:
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...The Black Dahlia Murder!
With the recent passing of front man Trevor Strnad we wanted to showcase The Black Dahlia Murder for this Full Show Friday.
Pro shot, Pro Sound, Set list below. Enjoy and if needed in the United States: Help is available. Speak with someone today National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Hours: Available 24 hours. Languages: English, Spanish. Learn more 800-273-8255
The newest instrumental album from guitarist/bandleader Rick Holmstrom is a throwback to the days of stripped back rock/soul/R&B offerings in the vein of Freddie King and Booker T. and the M.G.'s.
The sixteen tracks on Get It! are brief and to the point, usually playing in one style before breezily moving on to the next effort. The groovy opener sets the tone with ringing guitars and a strutting appeal as the Mavis Staple's band leader, who Staples has nicknamed "Pops Jr." relishes that clear crisp, soulful guitar tone.
Joining Holmstrom on the record is his long time running partners Steve Mugalian (drums) (Lucinda Williams, Harry Dean Stanton, Chuck Prophet) and Gregory Boaz (bass) (Dave Alvin, Mick Taylor, John Mayall) as the trio dips into various styles with ease. 50's era rock and roll gets an upbeat run through on the quick "All About My Girls" while "Kronky Tonk" deploys a warbling southern twang throughout.
Mugalian shines brightly with his dynamite funky drumming during "FunkE3" and the stuttering "Bubbles" putting the spotlight on his excellent fills; both are highlight offerings. The rocky shimmer of "Weeping Tana", the lazy strums of "Erlee Time" and the jazzy twists on "Robin's Robin" all float on effortlessly while the surf rock solos from Holmstrom on "Surfer Chuck" are crisp and tasty.
The trio works best upbeat as the bouncy closer "Looky Here" proves, when they slow down for the creepy, spaced out vibes on "Taghazout" or the slow pretty strolling "Walking With Diane" the players insert a new dimension to their sound.
The '50's styled rock and roll of "Pour One Out" and the blues shuffling of "King Freddie" are both clear tributes to Freddie King and a clear message of the influence on Holmstrom while writing Get It! That bygone style and sound still rolls sweetly into the ear and makes the hips easily sway when this trios get their capable hands on it.
One of the hottest tickets in town during Festing time was to the Daze Between Band who put a fitting funky cap on the few days between the Jazz and Heritage Festival weekends down in New Orleans. The group played to a sold out house at the world famous Tipitina's late on Wednesday night May 5th as the infectious music kept flowing.
Opening the event was Butcher Brown from Richmond, VA who brought their mix of jazz/funk/hip-hop to the uptown venue, fitting perfectly into the city's melting pot sounds. With Corey Fonville on drums Marcus Tenney on sax/trumpet and vocals and DJ Harrison delivering funky keys the group's “black American music” was inventive while still paying tribute to those who have come before. Songs like “Gum In My Mouth” allow Tenney to rhyme over the beats and riffs from the band while big guitars and dramatic key work from Henderson ended the set on more of a fusion jazz tone.
After a leisurely break the Daze Between Band took to the stage just after midnight. The group is an all-star collective featuring Eric Krasno, Adam Deitch, Ivan Neville, George Porter, Jr., Ryan Zoidis, Eric "Benny" Bloom, & Jennifer Hartswick. On this night the music was based heavily on The Meters funk with Porter leading the charge and the rest of the group gladly supporting.
The opener was a long drawn out version of “Pungee” as the collective got their feet under them before “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley” found Porter singing and Zodis shining bright during a strong sax solo. “Africa” kept the deep NOLA funk thumping as Neville and Porter changed the famous refrain to “New Orleans” to celebrate the historic host city.
“Work To Do” found Hartswick taking over lead vocals while Krasno riffed out a few “Fire On The Mountain” licks to smiles and cheers from the crowd. Ivan Neville moved the crowd with “Funky Miracle” which segued in and out of “Fire on the Bayou” as Krasno delivered a few sensational solos throughout the number.
The first guests arrived for the highlight of the night as Erica Falls and Stanton Moore came on stage to rock out with a high energy “If You Want Me To Stay” as Hartswick and Bloom pushed trumpet flares out into the humid NOLA night. Falls' vocals were over the top with power as she commanded the stage like the soul diva she is.
Krasno dove into “That’s What Love Will Make You Do” with polished soul appeal before Ian Neville joined the crew on guitar, backing Falls on “Ain’t No Use”. The music kept flowing late into the night with the band wrapping up their set with more classic Meters “Look-Ka Py Py” and a full on family encore of “Love Will Keep Us Together”. The song was a perfect summation of the Daze Between Band and the events spanning the actual days between Jazzfest weekends down in New Orleans as the city returns to its musical heights.
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's artists, Arthur Gunn doing a cover of "4th Time Around"
Thoughts on Original: From the first time we tackled a cover of this song: This is a weird one, as I heard this track after I had already fallen in love with The Beatles "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" and didn't know what Dylan was getting at with this song. After checking out Wikipedia, I guess I am not alone as John Lennon was all over the map with his reactions to it. The music is the same and the lyrics are a mix of lazy and nonsense, reading into anything Dylan says too heavily can cause one to go mad, but why he chose to do this song so close to when the Beatles had their first lyrical success is a mystery. Social commentary, goof, stoned malaise? Anywhichway, the song was never one of my favorites and not up to anywhere near the version he was praising or mocking, take your pick.
Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist: RtBE is hearing Arthur Gunn for the first time with his cover here. Not watching the show we had no idea he was a runner up on American Idol. Thoughts on Cover:
A very good straight ahead cover of the light acoustic number. Gunn's voice reminds of a young Rod Stewart with a rasp and desire.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Maze featuring Frankie Beverly!
Every April (and first week in May) we have a special showcase for bands who are playing this years Jazzfest in NOLA. Today we will focus on Maze featuring Frankie Beverlywho will be playing Sunday May 8th.
Today we showcase Maze from 1980 and part of this show made their live album from the New Orleans. This year they will take their annual Sunday slot and help close out the festival in their adopted hometown.
You can stream the festival through their website. This is one of the best radio channels in the country, so you should pop in and stream regularly, but these next two weekends are a must if you can't be at the Fairgrounds.
Son House had the career trajectory (unfortunately) of quite a few bluesman of his generation. He played and recorded in his youth, the music fell out of favor and he left the business, then was rediscovered later in life and found critical and sometimes semi-commercial fame from predominantly white audiences as a "folk-blues" singer.
Son House had a "comeback" album of sorts in 1965 with Father of Folk Blues, the recordings on the newly released Forever On My Mind happened before that release in 1964 as House was getting his chops back. The tapes were made by his manager at the time Dick Waterman and have been waiting for the right time to be released. Dan Auerbach's Easy Eye Sound has put this collection out now with the title track being unreleased and other standard House songs arriving in vastly different forms.
The title track opener is the first time fans get to hear this song from House and it is an intimate performance of great sounding strumming, strong singing which gets silly at times as House is clearly in his element. The humor, and corn liquor seems to be flowing as House delivers "Preacher Blues" with lines like "Gonna get me religion/Gonna join the Baptist church/Want to be a Baptist preacher/So I don't have to work".
This rambling blues tune shows off a softer side of House who is known for the haunting "Death Letter" which is presented here in a more reserved, introspective fashion; it is as if House is feeling out what the song means during this performance and is never quite sure of the elusive track.
"Empire State Express" finds House's strong guitar taking on train sounds as it starts to steam, but there are some vocal flubs and the track ends abruptly. That practice feel is throughout the album and while that doesn't take away from the overall effort, there are moments, such as the rough singing on "The Way Mother Did" where the artists isn't at his strongest.
The most polished effort is "Louis McGhee" which is a slow affair of love sick blues with affecting vocals and picking. The closer "Levee Camp Moan" is a bit ragged, but these are minor squabbles as Son House is such a major figure in the blues that Forever On My Mind is a must have for blues fans and a joy to hear.
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's artists, The Black Crowes covering "Girl From the North Country" live.
Every April (and first week of May) we have a special focus in our ongoing Monday Bob Dylan Cover Series on artists who will be playing Jazzfest in New Orleans. Today we highlight, The Black Crowes who play the best festival in America on Friday May 6th..
A fun little number that connects Dylan with folk's past. I heard Simon and Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair" first when I was growing up so I have always been a bit more partial to that version of this old folk tune even though Dylan changed a bunch of stuff around (obviously) with his recording that appeared on The Freewheeling Bob Dylan. His duet with Johnny Cash that highlights Nashville Skyline is something else entirely, a major sonic effort that I love. On an album that saw so many massive tunes come flowing out of the bard this one can be overshadowed yet his first version of this track is just a sweet folk ditty that has aged very, very well.
Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist:
RtBE dig the Crowes. We've seen them a bunch, reviewed them and ranked their album Before The Frost....Until The Freeze, in our top 50 of the '00 decade on Glide. We like that album even better than their debut, which they will be playing in it's entirety at Jazzfest this friday!
Thoughts on Cover:
A really solid acoustic cover from the Brother Crowes. Not a bad word to say, they nailed this jam.
We are now heading into the new normal with live music during the Covid-19 era. Live shows will need to be flexible and live streaming is a great way to keep music going. Streams have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. Things are (hopefully) improving on the pandemic front but live streams will be an option for artists during the foreseeable future. We will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and as a way to help out the artists. You can check out our weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past and as always, please support the artists any which way you can.
Today we highlight: Kurt Vile - Live from The Ryman Auditorium
We are now heading into the new normal with live music during the Covid-19 era. Live shows will need to be flexible and live streaming is a great way to keep music going. Streams have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. Things are (hopefully) improving on the pandemic front but live streams will be an option for artists during the foreseeable future. We will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and as a way to help out the artists. You can check out our weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past and as always, please support the artists any which way you can.
Today we highlight: Trampled By Turtles @ The Ryman Auditorium
The first of two great shows streaming form The Ryman Auditorium this weekend as the folk/bluegrass outfit Trampled By Turtles get it started tonight. RtBE have dug them in the past and this should be a fun night as the band plays this famous hall.
You can watch it over on Mandolin and peep some video below to get in the mood for the show:
Canadian bedroom pop artist Keeper E has released her newest single "I Can Do It" ahead of her EP thank u and please and don't go, out on May 6th.
Keeper E has this to say about this particular song:
“this song expresses a deep frustration with the patriarchy. I believe that mansplaining is a way for men to hold power over women and non-binary people, by making things seem more complicated than they really are. By doing this, we can start to believe that certain things really would be hard to learn and hard to start doing, when in reality, men are just trying to hold onto their power (consciously or subconsciously) and convince themselves that they are smarter and more capable than women and non-binary people.
This song is about claiming our own power and acknowledging that we are human, and we make mistakes, and can’t do everything right, but we still deserve to be treated equally to men and not have things over-explained and dumbed down. This song is all about empowerment and equality.”
You can stream the festival through their website. This is one of the best radio channels in the country, so you should pop in and stream regularly, but these next two weekends are a must if you can't be at the Fairgrounds.
RtBE will be down very soon and we can not wait, we will be checking out this stream to tide us over, you should do the same. Peep a few videos of acts playing this weekend:
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Little Freddie King!
Every April (and first week in May) we have a special showcase for bands who are playing this years Jazzfest in NOLA. Today we will focus on Little Freddie Kingwho will be playing Today!
It has arrived! Today starts the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival at the Fairgrounds. Playing later today is living blues legend Little Freddie King. To celebrate, check out his set from the 2020 Virtual Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival below to get pumped. Also tune into WWOZ later today to catch live music from the Fairgrounds!
