Bo Ramsey with the 100s Live at Springville Fun Days 8/11/06

My friend Andrew and I made it out to the Springville Fun Days show with Bo Ramsey and the 100s opening for Dallas Moore. The deal we made with our wives was that we’d be home early and we figured we’d be able to get Bo and the 100s in before 8 or 8:30PM. We weren’t familiar with Dallas Moore– although we’d heard that he was pretty good. I listened to a couple of things on his site and decided I wasn’t really into it.

The day was sunny and pretty hot– in the 90s and we’d considered skipping if the heat was too much. The location of the show was a small tree-lined valley next to a stream and in the late afternoon the hill was protected from the heat. I felt pretty bad about the bands, however as they faced the hot setting sun while they played. There was beer to be bought with tickets so we split $20 of them.

The 100's

After a quick setup and soundcheck the 100s started around 4:30PM. I hadn’t seen them before, but had heard their 2005 CD Take the Gravel Home so I was familiar with a couple of their songs. The 100s put on an energetic set filled with folky-Americana tunes– most coming from their album but they peppered a handful of very well-selected covers. The first cover I remember is a John Hiatt song– one of my favorites and one that makes me chuckle as it is one of John’s funny tunes– “Ethylene” from the landmark Walk On album. They also did the rockin’ “Castanets” by Alejandro Escovedo (“I like her better when she walks away”). They also surprised me with an uncredited cover of “King’s Highway” from Joe Henry. I recognized it as soon as they played the intro, but I couldn’t believe that they would do that one. They also covered “My Sweet Annette” by the Drive By Truckers. In a lot of ways they played a set that was a pretty good primer for the current state of Americana. I like that they seem to play covers that they enjoy and fit their style of music. I’d like to see them again in the near future.

Dave Pedersen

The arrangement of the stage was a bit odd as the crowd was separated from the stage by the dirt strip used for the tractor pulls. It was very convenient– if a bit conspicuous– for picture taking. Periodically I’d dash out onto the track to snap some pictures. After the 100s sets I was approached by a woman who asked if I was with a paper– I explained that I wasn’t and told her about this site. She asked for a couple of cards and gave one to Dave Pedersen the lead singer. After I posted the pictures to flickr, he contacted me and we exchanged a couple of nice emails about their set and he hooked me up with a copy of their album.

Next up was Bo Ramsey along with his band, which included Jim Viner and Nate Basinger from the Diplomats of Solid Sound! Nate played with Bo when I saw him last year in Dubuque and I know that Jim has played with Bo in the past as well but it’s alway cool to see some Iowa City solidarity in action. The bass player was a guy from Madison named Jon Penner.
Bo

Bo brought a collection of guitars including a sunburst Telecaster modified with DiMarzio Virtual Series pickups, a sunburst Stratocaster, a vintage Silvertone, a Reverend Flatroc with a Bigsby vibrato, and a 12-string Jerry Jones Danelectro copy. Nate brought his B-3 organ and had assistance from a skidloader to lift it to the stage!

Nate Basinger

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a big crowd there on this warm late afternoon to see Bo and Band bring his unique style of country blues. We were treated to an uncharacteristically talkative Bo that afternoon. Before he played his cover of Jesse Mae Hemphill’s “Jump, Baby Jump” from last year’s Stranger Blues, he talked about how he was fortunate to have had a chance to work with her before she passed away which was filmed by Wim Winders and subsequently used in the Martin Scorsese Blues series. I remember watching that series and being surprised to see Bo with Lucinda on it. Bo also talked about the actual bar referenced in “Sidetrack Lounge.” Apparently there is an actual bar across the river from Burlington, IA in a little town called Gulf Port.

Bo and Jon

Quite a bit of the set was the same as when I saw him last year in Dubuque– mostly tracks from Stranger Blues and In The Weeds, as well as “classic” Bo songs like “Long Long Time” and “Get Away.” He also did the old Sliders tune “Rockinitis” which he credited to JJ Cale.

Bo and Band

Bo and his band played a fantastic set with Bo smiling a lot and really getting into the set. I liked the interplay between Bo and Nate trading off solos. We were treated to a couple of the excellent trippy extended guitar solos that reminded me of the days following him around Eastern Iowa in the early 90’s. I could see the guys from the Dallas Moore band off to the left of the stage watching intently.

Jim Viner

Andrew and I left before we could see any of the Dallas Moore show, but left happy to have seen these two acts put on a great show.

Bo Smiles
Bo is working on a new album that might be released this Fall. I hope this means that we’ll get to see more solo shows from him.

The 100’s Homepage

Bo Ramsey’s Homepage

Photoset of the 100’s at Fun Days

Photoset of Bo Ramsey at Fun Days

Upcoming Show: New Bohemia Music Festival – Cedar Rapids 9/1/07

There is a plan in Cedar Rapids to revive the downtown area and one of the initiatives is the “New Bohemia” artists area down in the area commonly known as Czech Village. To gain some support and awareness of this artists area the New Bohemia group is holding the 1st Annual New Bohemia Music Festival in this area on 3rd Street SE. The plan is to block 3rd Street SE off between 9th Avenue and 14th Avenue and have outdoor and indoor music performances all day from 3PM to 10PM – around 50 bands, musicians and performers. The admission is $10 in advance and $15 at the gates and includes shows at the bars in this area including 3rd Street Live and Tornados. The lineup includes some area mainstays like Dave Zollo and The Diplomats of Solid Sound, BF Burt, Nick Stika, Super Size Seven and Dennis McPartland and Craig Erickson. I’m thinking of heading down there if only to catch Zollo and the Diplomats. The outdoor shows finish at 10PM, but the bar shows will continue until close. The Diplomats are the headliners at 3rd Street Live and Zollo is the headliner at New Bo Park.

This seems like a really great event and I hope that they make this a yearly event– however, the publicity for this event was virtually nonexistant! I found out about this only because I was looking to see where the Diplomats were going to be next. I spread the word to the people I know who like live music but there has been very little press. The Shopper Stopper from this week has an article on it.

Upcoming Show: Public Property at Swamp Fox Festival in Marion 9/7/07

Public PropertyIowa City’s very own Reggae band Public Property will be playing Friday night (9/7) of Marion, Iowa’s Swamp Fox Festival. I’ve been meaning to catch this band when they stop in Cedar Rapids– and if the weather is good this should be a cool show. It’s free, and will be located in Marion’s City Square Park from 7PM to 9:30PM.

Public Property has been touring heavily since its formation in 2003 and has gained notoriety in the Reggae and Jamband scenes. Their third album and latest Movement is on my iPod and is a nice change of pace.

Listen to tracks from Public Property on their album page.

Jack Logan Live at the 40 Watt mp3 Downloads

I don’t know how I missed this, but thanks to a comment on Jack Logan’s MySpace page which I monitor frequently to download free mp3s of his demos, I searched for an online show from the 40 Watt that someone said that they had listened to. I’m assuming they found the mp3′ at the Southern Shelter blog of Jack’s small set he played at the 40 Watt in June as part of a 20-year anniversary celebration of the ownership by Barrie Buck of the legendary club. This was a set of older songs concentrating on the amazing and out-of-print Bulk. Southern Shelter is dedicated to providing mp3’s of shows that happen in Athens, GA. Dig through his back postings for great shows of acts big and small! These are tasty 320Kbps rips!

For those of you not familiar with Jack, he’s been around a while releasing his unique take on Americana/Rock/Folk/Country. People think that Ryan Adams is prolific, but I think that Jack might have him beat. I guess Jack is recording songs all the time. Since December of last year when I found out that he had songs you could download off MySpace, I’ve been checking back every week to see if new songs are posted. Since then I’ve grabbed 95 songs! These vary in quality and seriousness, but I think it is great that he’s doing this.

Jack Logan Live @ The 40 Watt 6/11/07

15 Years in Indiana (a personal favorite)

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals – This Is Somewhere (review)

This Is SomewhereApparently Grace Potter is early enough in the arc of her career that she doesn’t get blatantly pissed off when presented with the natural comparisons about her band’s sound. When you are relatively new in the scene comparisons are the only useful way to explain to others what the band sounds like. A lot of the reviews and interviews drag the band across comparisons that run from (a young) Linda Ronstadt to Janis Joplin to Bonnie Raitt and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and the Black Crowes.

On their third album and first major-label release Grace and the Nocturnals are kicking it 1973-style. While Neil Young proclaimed that Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, this group claims the opposite in This is Somewhere. Somewhere seems to be the accomplished classic sound that the band effortlessly evokes.

The band appears to have fallen into the jamband genre– they opened for Trey Anastasio, they are from Burlington, Vermont (onetime home of Phish) and are going to be touring opening for Gov’t Mule through October. However, on This is Somewhere the band has put together a concise, consistent album of ballads, stomping soulful rockers, driving funky rolling piano-fueled songs, Faces-era dirty slide blues and a gospel tune that I think has a wider appeal than the summer festival crowds. I’ve had the promo for this album for over two weeks and have listened to it I’m sure over a dozen times. I found the album stands up to repeated listenings and manages to provide some nice head-bobbing hooks. I really like this album and am looking forward to seeing Grace and Co. live. I’m already downloading some of the shows out on Archive.org (see link below).

Some standout songs on This Is Somewhere are the subtle protest song “Ah Mary,” the stomping, sexy call for love “Stop the Bus,” “Mr. Columbus” which reminds me of the Heartbreakers– particularly the main guitar lick, “Falling or Flying,” and “Big White Gate.” The last two I listed are the last two tracks on the album and provide a very powerful conclusion. “Falling or Flying” is a soulful, bluesy song of reflection and hope and probably my favorite song on the record.

To date the band has appeared on network TV shows in support of This Is Somewhere three times (Leno, Good Morning America, and Craig Ferguson) and Grace Potter provides a strong, pretty front to her band and I’m sure that this group is destined for more exposure. Her soulful belting voice and mini-cocktail dresses exposing her legs behind her Gibson Flying-V guitars leaves a pretty memorable impression. Interviews with Grace I’ve read portray an earthy, honest, and grounded band excited for this opportunity to take their careers to the next level.

On “Falling or Flying” Grace sings “so, play every show like it’s your last” and it seems like this band is taking their own advice.

Buy This Is Somewhere from Amazon.com

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals - This Is Somewhere Buy This Is Somewhere from iTunes

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals MySpace Page

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals Official Website

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at archive.org Live Music Archive

Listen to “Ah Mary” from This is Somewhere

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at Indie911.com with a Hoooka

Upcoming Show: Euforquestra at KCCK Jazz Under The Stars 8/16

Sorry about the late notice on this one. Iowa City Jamband/Worldbeat ensemble Euforquestra will be playing the KCCK “Jazz Under The Stars” this Thursday night at Noelridge Park on the Northeast side of Cedar Rapids. This year marks the 20th anniversary of this free show put on by the Kirkwood College Jazz station.

If you haven’t seen Euforquestra play, this as good an opportunity as you’ll get. However, the forecast is calling for scattered thunderstorms. The forcast calls for partly cloudy with a high of 81 degrees. The rain date for this show would be August 30th.

Camp Euforquestra will be among the Cedar Rapidians again on Sunday, October 7th at Mahonies by Coe College.

Listen to Euforquestra:

Euforquestra on MySpace Check the great cover of “Slippery People” by the Talking Heads

Euforquestra on Archive.org – Stripmines Festival from 10/7/06

Download Euforquestra performing “Life During Wartime” from Stripmines Festival

Calexico Lends a Hand to Dylan Biopic Soundtrack

The music blogs/websites have been abuzz with the details regarding the upcoming soundtrack to the Dylan-as-played-by-six-actors film “I’m Not There.” The 2-disc soundtrack to release on 10/31 will include an amazing roster of contributors including Ed Vedder, The Hold Steady, Tom Verlaine, Karen O, Roger McGuinn, The Black Keys, Sufjan, and the list goes on. Calexico provides backing band for five of the songs.

I’m pretty interested to hear the Willie Nelson collaboration– I’d love to hear a whole album a la Songbird— the collaboration with Ryan Adams and the Cardinals– with Calexico.

The soundtrack in alphabetical order:

All Along The Watchtower –Eddie Vedder & The Million Dollar Bashers
As I Went Out One Morning–Mira Billotte
Ballad Of A Thin Man–Stephen Malkmus & The Million Dollar Bashers
Billy–Los Lobos
Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window–The Hold Steady
Can’t Leave Her Behind–Stephen Malkmus & Lee Ranaldo
Cold Irons Bound–Tom Verlaine & The Million Dollar Bashers
Dark Eyes–Iron & Wine & Calexico
Fourth Time Around–Yo La Tengo
Goin’ To Acapulco–Jim James & Calexico
Highway 61 Revisited–Karen O & The Million Dollar Bashers
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine – John Doe
I Wanna Be Your Lover–Yo La Tengo
I’m Not There–Bob Dylan
I’m Not There–Sonic Youth
Just Like A Woman–Charlotte Gainsbourg & Calexico
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues–Ramblin’ Jack Elliot
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door–Antony & The Johnsons
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll–Mason Jennings
Maggie’s Farm–Stephen Malkmus & The Million Dollar Bashers
Mama You’ve Been On My Mind–Jack Johnson
The Man In The Long Black Coat–Mark Lanegan
Moonshiner–Bob Forrest
One More Cup Of Coffee–Roger McGuinn & Calexico
Pressing On–John Doe
Ring Them Bells–Sufjan Stevens
Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)–Willie Nelson & Calexico
Simple Twist Of Fate–Jeff Tweedy
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With Memphis Blues Again–Cat Power
The Times They Are A Changin’–Mason Jennings
Tombstone Blues–Richie Havens
When The Ship Comes In–Marcus Carl Franklin
Wicked Messenger–The Black Keys
You Ain’t Goin ‘Nowhere–Glen Hansard & Markta Irglov

New Release from Joe Henry Civilians due September 11th

I guess this has been a Joe Henry week. First, I pick up his last release in the used bins in Chicago, then the 100’s perform “King’s Highway” at the Springville show on Saturday (the review and photos for this show will be coming soon) and now the news that Joe Henry is releasing his first solo album since 2003’s Tiny Voices. Apparently this was announced back in May, but I hadn’t noticed this until CMJ posted about it this weekend.

This is the second release on Anti- and is titled Civilians. Henry is assisted by Loudon Wainwright III, Van Dyke Parks, Bill Frisell and Patrick Warren. It looks like Joe might be doing some touring for this album, too.

Download “Time Is A Lion” from Civilians

Anti- Records page on Civilians

Upcoming Show: Jayhawk Flies Solo at the Mill

Mark Olsen Former Jayhawk Mark Olsen is taking his new solo material on the road and will be making a stop at The Mill in Iowa City on Thursday, August 23rd.

Mark is currently touring in support of his first solo album since he parted ways with the Jayhawks following their biggest album Tomorrow the Green Grass. The Salvation Blues was released in June on Hacktone Records and includes three collaborations with former partner in the Jayhawks Gary Louris.

Doors are at 8:30 with the show starting at 9PM. $10 cover.

Download “Clifton Bridge” from The Salvation Blues.

Mark’s MySpace Page with other tour dates.

B-Sides in the Bins #14 – Chicago Suburbs 8/6/07

Sherry and I were in Chicago last weekend for an esthetician’s conference. When I say “Chicago” I should say the suburbs– we stayed at the Oak Brook Hills Marriott Resort where the conference was held. I did some Googling to find what record stores were in the area and I found two that were worth visiting.

The first one we hit was Remember When Records (309 W Ogden Ave, Westmont, IL 60559 (630) 963-1957). This place is one that I would have liked to spend more time. Unfortunately they are not open on Sunday when Sherry was at her conference and I had more time alone. She hung out like a trooper for a while while I dug through the vinyl. They had a combination of used and new. I saw the new Ryan Adams and the Cardinals Easy Tiger colored vinyl that I was tempted to pick up. They also had Tonight’s the Night sealed and really pricey 200g Living With War. I was hoping to spot some Thrill Jockey vinyl since this was Chicagoland and all. They had Town and Country’s 5, but that was it. Apparently there is a whole basement full of vinyl to look at as well as the six or so bins upstairs. They had a bunch of 45’s, too. I’d recommend hitting this place if you visit. I didn’t end up purchasing anything.

The next day I was on my own so I hit Frugal Muse (7511 Lemont Rd., Darien IL (630) 427-1140) In Chestnut Court Shopping Center, Frugal Muse is really more of a book store than a music store– it reminded me of Half Price Books. They had seven tables and a rack of CD’s split into Rock and R&B, Jazz/Blues, Classical, Country, World Beat, Hip Hop/Electronica, New Age and Children’s. A pretty decent selection of used CD’s. They also have a table of overstock items for really cheap. There are a number of crates on the floor under the CD tables of vinyl. Most of it was priced pretty reasonably. I recommend hitting this place, too. Here’s what I picked up:

Bombs Away Dream Babies – John Stewart (LP, RSO Records RS-1-3051, 1979) ($0.93) Former Kingston Trio signs with Robert Stigwood to make rock album with friends Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Dream Babies yields three Top 40 singles with “Gold” marching to #5. This album has Buckingham’s unmistakable fingerprints all over it. Actress Mary Kay Place (“Big Love,” “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman”) lends her vocals to “Over The Hill.” I didn’t know that she sang! Razor and Tie released a CD version of this in 1994 which is now out of print and going for well over $50 and upwards of $100! I’d like to have this on CD, but not for that price!

In The Weeds – Bo Ramsey (CD Trailer Records trailer 10, 1997) ($0.93) I already own this CD, but I felt compelled to “rescue” it from the cheap bins! Features guest vocals on “Desert Flower” by Lucinda Williams. This is a different version of the CD than the one I bought from Bo when he played the park in Marion in 1997. This one has a different running order and cover. “Desert Flower” and “Ain’t It Hard” are flipped and the cover art has brown type instead of the purple on my original one. Different mastering credits, too. On Bo’s site they say that the U.S. release of In The Weeds has an improved running order, so maybe the one I originally bought is the European version?

Tiny Voices – Joe Henry (CD Anti- 86683-2, 2003) ($6.98) I’ve been a casual fan of Joe Henry’s since his Short Man’s Room album from 1992 backed by the Jayhawks. Over the years Joe has transformed himself from an Americana to a sort of R&B/Jazz artist. Tiny Voices is his most recent solo record. It seems he has concentrated his efforts on producing lately including working on the critically acclaimed Bettye LaVette album I’ve Got My Own Hell To Raise, Aimee Mann’s boxing concept album The Forgotten Arm, and the Alan Toussaint and Elvis Costello album The River in Reverse. I always keep my eye out for his work in the bins.

Demolition – Ryan Adams (CD Lost Highway 088 170 333-2, 2002) ($5.98) A collection of outtakes and demos from Alt-Chameleon Adams. A mixed bag of country crooners, rockers and sleepers. I’m planning to complete my collection of Adam’s catalog out of the used bins. I have a few left to go…

Black Hole – Love Tractor (CD Fundamental Records 8 AD, 2005) ($5.98) Love Tractor was a band that I was introduced to (as many were) in the movie “Athens, GA Inside/Out.” I was struck by the brave naive sound of a band that created instrumental works while clearly not having mastered their instruments. The results were at once simple and unique. At that time I was in a band struggling to carve a sound in a similar fashion and felt a kind of kinship to them. Love Tractor has gone through as many lineups as record labels and these days the only remaining member from those early days is Mike Richmond. These days Love Tractor sounds more like a jamband than anything else. Black Hole is the first part of a trilogy that includes last year’s Green Winter.