Word has com from Jeremiah Birnbaum that due to an injury to his vocal cords, he has canceled all upcoming solo and Ramblers shows. He will likely have corrective surgery within the month, and with luck will be fully recovered by mid-summer. But Jeremiah will keep a limited schedule of dates as a guitarist, joining friends onstage and his Thursday residency at the venue now know as ZirZamin will continue with a slew of guest artists. I’ve made that change to the May music calendar here and on the main May, 2012 music calendar, as well as added some additional shows.
Take advantage of tonight’s alignment with five bands playing over five hours in two clubs. Start the evening off at The Rockwood Music Hall at 7pm with Bryan Dunn. Bryan’s latest record is Sweetheart of the Music Hall, and the title track is an affectionate look at The Rockwood. Stick around after Bryan’s finished, because at 8pm, Jim Boggia will take the stage, playing intelligent pop on guitar and sometimes ukelele and serving up some very funny between song remarks.
Once Jim is done, it’s time to leave The Rockwood behind and walk the three short blocks over to The Living Room. At 9:15pm, it’s time for Chris Cubeta and The Liars Club. Chris is a very good song writer and he and the band play tuneful rock and he’s also a producer at Galuminum Foil Studios in Brooklyn. At 10:15pm, Nick Africano will take over and will play the CD release show for his brand new record, The Butterfly Bull, which has a Jeff Buckley-like feel to it. Finally, at 11:15pm, Misty Boyce will lead her band through her original keyboard based, synth flavored indie pop.
Bryan Dunn (7pm), Jim Boggia (8pm), Rockwood Music Hall, 196 Allen Street between Houston and Stanton Streets (F Train to 2nd Avenue, use the 1st Avenue exit), No Cover (but a contribution for each band is strongly encouraged)
Chris Cubeta and The Liars Club (9:15pm), Nick Africano, (10:15pm), Misty Boyce (11:15pm), The Living Room, 154 Ludlow Street between Stanton and Rivington Streets (F Train to 2nd Avenue, use the 1st Avenue exit), No Cover (but a contribution for each band is strongly encouraged)
Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Nick Africano released his first record in a while, The Butterfly Bull, earlier this week. The album as a whole has a very Jeff Buckley-like feel to it, as does the first single off of it. That song, Bring Me Water, is a co-write by Nick and NIHE fave Misty Boyce, who you can also hear on backing vocals and piano on that track. And Bring Me Water is yours to stream and download below. All free and legal.
Here’s the May music calendar, at least as much of it as I can find right now. It will be updated during the month; those updates will appear as a new post and will also be included here.
Welcome to March. It’s a pretty busy month as you can see. In the middle of the month, NIHE will travel down to Austin for our yearly sojourn at the SXSW Music conference and festival. As usual, this calendar will be updated during the month, although updates will probably cease during the festivities in Texas.
Mar. 7 – Full Vinyl Volume 3: Alanis Morrisette and Talking Heads w/ Tony Maceli, Greg Mayo, Zach Jones, Misty Boyce, Chris Kuffner, Casey Shea, Mighty Kate, Scott Chasolen, Charlene Kaye, Rebecca Havilland, Ramblin’ Rob Heath, Brian Killeen, Ryan Vaughn, Matt Aronoff,Chris Cubeta, Lelia Broussard and more – Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 – 11:30pm
Note: Show up to rodeo bar with your Joe’s Pub ticket stub & get a special gift. Dayna may hire a party bus from Joe’s Pub to the Rodeo Bar; let her know if you want to reserve a spot: dayna@daynakurtz.com – put ‘party bus, please’ in the subject line. if she gets at least 20 people to sign on, she’ll do it.
There are almost too many good choices for music tonight. You can head out to The Bell House in the industrial area of Gowanus in Brooklyn and hear the psychedelic pop of Robyn Hitchcock and then stick around for the second show with the folk noir of John Wesley Harding and the rock of The Minus 5.
Also in Brooklyn, but this time in Brooklyn Heights, you will find the jangly folk-rock of The Kennedys in the impressive First Unitarian Church. Brooklyn-based jazz-rocker Debbie Deane opens the show.
Just a few blocks away from The Mercury Lounge you can see gritty-voiced Matthew Ryan and his band, The Red Needles, perform songs from the Matthew latest album, I Recall Standing as Though Nothing Could Fall at The Living Room.
Finally, a few blocks uptown in The East Village you will find the rock and punk band Spanking Charlene playing what the band describes as 5th Annual Spanking Charlene Big Ass Birthday Bash in honor of Charlene’s birthday. We have been promised horns, strings, backup singers, food, trivia contest, games, laughter, revelry and humiliations galore. All this happens at The Lakeside Lounge.
Robyn Hitchcock (7pm, $20), John Wesley Harding and The Minus 5 (9pm, $15), The Bell House, 149 7th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, Brooklyn (Shuttle Bus running in place of the F or G Trains from Jay Street to 4th Avenue or R Train to 9th Street)
Matthew Ryan and The Red Needles, Living Room, 154 Ludlow Street at Stanton Street (F Train to 2nd Avenue, use the 1st Avenue exit), 8pm, $10
Spanking Charlene, Lakeside Lounge, 162 Avenue B near 10th Street (any train to 14th Street or the L Train to 1st Avenue, transfer t0 the M14A or M14D bus to 11th Street and walk to Avenue B), 10pm, No Cover (but a contribution for the band is strongly encouraged)
November is jammed packed with live music. No show on the Now I’ve Heard Everything Calendar costs more than $40 and a very large percentage of them are low cost or free.
As always, this calendar is an evolving post as there will be shows added during the month as well as the occasional cancellation. This time around I’ve included some shows on advance sale in December and January which might sell out.
Nov. 16 – Hill Country Live Wildfire Benefit with Shooter Jennings, Chip Taylor& John Platania, Dallas Wayne, Grayson Hugh, Laura Cantrell, The Defibulators, and others – Hill Country – doors 8pm / show 8:30pm
Nov. 18 – John Wesley Harding‘s Cabinet of Wonders with Nicole Atkins, The Blue Fisherman (from Edinburgh, Scotland), Howe Gelb, Myla Goldberg, Ted Leo, Eugene Mirman and Audrey Niffenegger – City Winery – doors 6pm / show 8pm
October is a busy month from what schedules have already been posted. CMJ comes around in the later part of the month and many, but not all CMJ shows have been trickling out in the past few days. There’s going to be some more to come, so check back here to see what’s going to be happening.
CMJ Update: There are frequently different times listed between the websites of CMJ, the club and the performer. I’ve gone with the CMJ times whenever possible as they seem to be the earliest. Most CMJ sets are short, in some cases, as short as 20 minutes. When in doubt, check with the club before you leave.
Oct. 5 – Petty Fest 2011 – Celebrate The Songs Of Tom Petty – Music Hall of Williamsburg – doors 8pm /show 9pm
Norah Jones, Nicole Atkins, Jesse Malin, Har Mar Superstar, Ryan Miller (Guster), Will Forte, Jody Porter (Fountains Of Wayne), Jessie Baylin, Sammy James Jr. (The Mooney Suzuki), Cory Chisel, The Sheepdogs, Ben Trokan (Robbers On High Street), Antony Ellis (5 O’Clock Heros), Tad Kubler (The Hold Steady), Josh Lattanzi (The Lemonheads, The Candles), Jack Dishel (Only Son), Justin Long, Alia Shawkat, Jonny Corndawg plus surprise guests
September is the end of summer, the reopening of school and the beginning of the fall concert season. The big event of the month is the new Brooklyn Indie Music Fest which is running from September 16 through 18. It features many performers both familiar and new to me (see below) and everything is in one place, Littlefield. The clubs have been recalcitrant in getting their full September schedules up, so expect additions to this calendar over the month.
Sept. 10 – Radio Free Song Club
The Radio Free All Stars will include Dave Schramm, David Mansfield, Jeremy Chatzsky and Paul Moschella. Laura Cantrell, Kate Jacobs, Dave Schramm, and guests Amy Allison and Emily Arin and Ed Askew will play brand new songs, and author Leslie Daniels is going to read an essay- Living Room – 6-8pm
Sept. 11 – 9/11 Benefit Show (net profits go to 9/11 Health Now) – City Winery – All tickets $50
Suzzy & Maggie Roche, Richard Barone, James Maddock, Teddy Thompson, Julie Gold, Rich Pagano, Loudon Wainwright, Jesse Harris, Marshall Crenshaw, Cory Chisel, Nicole Atkins, Rich Ferguson, Vernon Reid, Jesse Smith
Sept. 16
Mother Feather, DXA, Lyle Divinsky, Bubble Geese, The Little Death, The Dirty Urchins, People’s Champs, Apollo Run, Taurus, Michaela Anne, Seth Adam, Todd Kramer, Mike Scala, Chris Q. Murphy, Aaron Comess, Aaron Lee Tasjan
- Littlefield – doors 3pm / show starts at 3:15pm
Sept. 17
Open Till Midnight, Jonka, Julia Haltigan, Comandante Zero, Kendra Morris, Patchwerk, the Bloodsugars, Julian Velard, Kimberly Nichole, Melody Kills, Jeff Taylor, Jamie Bendell, Jon Sandler, Stately Ghosts, My Glorious Mess, Lola Johnson, The Woes, Craig Greenberg, The Ramblers, Sara Rayani, Cosmos Says Hello, Matt Sucich
- Littlefield – doors 11:45am / show starts at Noon
Sept. 18
Le Mood, Kaiser Cartel, The Madison Square Gardeners, The Mast, Freddie Stevenson, Wyatt, James Maddock, Corn Mo, GoodBye Picasso, Joy Askew, Alfonso Velez, Annie Keating, Mr. Barrington, Adam Levy, Shenandoah and the Night, Kristin Errett, Pete Pidgeon, Milly Beau, Bianca Merkley, Alana Amram, Dare Dukes
- Littlefield – doors 11:45am / show starts at Noon
Sept. 17 – Ursa Minor – House Concert at 805 E 21st Street, Brooklyn – 8pm
Sept. 17 – Linda Hill hosts the Hank Williams 88th Birthday Show w/ Lindy Loo & the Lucky Fellers, Monica “Li’l Mo” Passin, Elena Skye of Demolition String Band, Paul Thornton, Karen Hudson, and Chicky Wicky – Googie’s Lounge (Upstairs at The Living Room) – 9:30pm
Misty Boyce took a few months off from performing recently, which surely disappointed the audience of this Lower East Side fan favorite. But Misty used the time to figure out what what made sense as she moves forward in her career. Although Misty has been a much in demand side player on the New York scene, she’s letting that go for now; she’s decided to focus on her own music and the music of Clyde, the alt country/rock group that she and Nick Africano lead.
Another important part of Misty’s life is yoga. She’s become certified as a yoga instructor and she finds this as a good way to remove stress from her world.
As a result of this refocusing, Misty is moving forward with a renewed sense of purpose. Clyde has completed recording the band’s first album, recorded with Chris Cubeta at Galuminum Foil Studios. Misty told me recently that record was recorded without pressure and the songs came out naturally without a lot of production.
That relaxed feeling is carrying over. Misty noted that “recording the new Misty Boyce record is so much more relaxed” than the sessions for her first album. This new album will feature songs that she’s already been performing. And, Misty added, those recent songs have been written “from a happy place.”
Although Misty was referring to her state of mind, she could have been referring to her relationship with New York City as well. Although New York was at first off putting to this native of Las Cruces, a town of 80,000 located in the middle of the desert in New Mexico. But having found several communities of people with interests similar to hers, Misty has made her peace with The Big Apple.
Posted by Eliot 
