It’s been a slow week musically, but tonight is an exception as The Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 presents An Evening with The Damnwells twice. The Damnwells had one of my Ten Best Albums of 2009, One Last Century (that’s the cover above), which was only available as a free download on the Internet (and probably still is; the link for downloading that album still works). Their followup is now in the can and the band will be performing it at two shows, a long sold out one at 7:30 and one at 10:15, which the band tells me is almost sold out.
Still not sold? OK. The Damnwells play rock power pop with wonderful songs and great vocals. If you need a reference point, The Gin Blossoms aren’t all that far away from them.
September is just two days away, so it’s time to get a jump on the month with Now I’ve Heard Everything’s monthly music calendar. Since September is the start of the Arts year (in addition to the school and Hebrew years), there’s lots going on, and unlike some other months, things seem set for all of September.
And just a note about ticket prices: I keep the cost of a show in mind when I put together the listings for Now I’ve Heard Everything. For that reason, I haven’t included some shows I would have otherwise included this time around.
Joe Thompson and The Comfortable Catastrophe is a band I’ve never gotten to see but they come recommended: they have played regularly at The Rockwood Music Hall, and they recently won WNYC’s Battle of The Boroughs (they’re from Queens). Joe’s bio notes:
Thompson was brought up on the likes of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. Later developing a passion for classic rock & roll and the thought-provoking lyrics of 60’s and 70’s folk music, Thompson honed his craft in college as a trained singer and actor.
One more reason to catch Joe now: at the end of the month, he’s leaving New York and moving to Austin.
SS&DB packs them into the smaller original Rockwood. So, you can see this nine-piece funk, rock and soul band, complete with a horn section, in the new larger place which still allows you to get close to the band but will give you more room.
Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds, Rockwood Stage 2, 196 Allen Street between Houston and Stanton Streets (F Train to 2nd Avenue, use the 1st Avenue exit), 10pm, No Cover (but $5 donation to the band – which is less than 56 cents per band member – strongly recommended)
Wednesday night’s James Maddock show at The Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 belongs in the “you should have been there” category. It was it recorded for a live album (due around mid October), it was a sell out, it had the air of a party, and the band just nailed everything. If you weren’t there, here’s a video taken during the show. This song was originally on the one album by James’ previous band, Wood. Although it’s titled Never Ending, it does in fact end eight minutes and four seconds after the video begins.
But now’s your chance to get into the the live album game as well. Tonight, James Maddock will be recording a live album at The Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2, and I think that this will be the first live album recorded in that new room. James has been playing a bunch of new songs lately and his band, as always, has been tight. So this is your chance to not only see a great show but to be part of history as well.
I originally discovered Second Dan through a bit of serendipity. I was at a party a few months ago and after a while, the guy I was talking to told me that he not only was a photographer and a blogger, but he played in a band as well. As you have no doubt figured out by now, that band was Second Dan. I went to one of their shows and I liked them.
As for their music, you can call them rock and power pop. Second Dan is based right here in New York City, although the Melbourne accent of lead singer Dan Rosen might lead you to think otherwise.
Second Dan, Rockwood Stage 2, 196 Allen Street between Houston and Stanton Streets (F Train to 2nd Avenue, use the 1st Avenue exit), 10pm, No Cover (but $5 donation for the band highly recommended)
Last week, someone found Now I’ve Heard Everything when they Googled Norah Jones and It’s Too Late to Call It a Night, which is a new song by Amy Speace (I previously posted the video of that song here). I mentioned that to Amy Speace last week when she played The Living Room, and she told me that she actually had Norah in mind when she wrote that song.
Kristin Diable is a singer-songwriter who is a fave around here. She was New York City based (Greenpoint, actually) for about five years but about two years ago she moved back to her native Louisiana. Like many artists these days, she’s raising the money for her next record via the Internet via Kickstarter here. With just a bit more than a day to go, she’s raised almost twice her $7,000 goal.
The Damnwells, another NIHE fave, also went the Internet route to fund the production of their next record. That record is now finished; in the can as they used to say. So the Damnwells are hitting town and will play that new record when they set up shop at The Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 for two shows on Friday, September 2nd. The early show at 7:30 is sold out but the late show (at 10:30) goes on sale this morning.
It’s August 1st and time for the monthly calendar. This time around I just didn’t find things I thought worth mentioning for the last 10 days of the month. That will probably change as time goes on.
It’s a summer weekend in the city. You can park anywhere you like but many of your friends are out of town. No matter. Just stay in the air conditioning during the day and get ready to see Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds play Rockwood Stage 2 tonight at 10pm.
SS&DB packs them into the smaller original Rockwood (which has a 40-50 person capacity if everyone is being friendly). So, you can see this nine-piece funk, rock and soul band, complete with a horn section, in the new larger place which still allows you to get close to the band but will give you more room. They also have a wonderful, self-titled CD out which sounds every bit as good as the band does live.
Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds, Rockwood Stage 2, 196 Allen Street between Houston and Stanton Streets (F Train to 2nd Avenue, use the 1st Avenue exit), 10pm, No Cover (but $5 donation to the band – which is less than 56 cents per band member – strongly recommended)
Posted by Eliot 
Last week, someone found Now I’ve Heard Everything when they Googled 
