Grace Potter & The Nocturnals New Album Releasing on 6/8

photo credit: Adrien Broom

It seems like forever since the sophomore Grace Potter & The Nocturnals album This is Somewhere came out. In fact, in Internet and music blog years, August 2007 was forever ago! In my review of This is Somewhere, I observe that Grace Potter and her band were, “an earthy, honest, and grounded band excited for this opportunity to take their careers to the next level.”

In the over two years since the release of Somewhere, a lot has transpired for the band. They have been touring pretty much non-stop in supporting and headlining roles. They endured the replacement of original Nocturnal bass player Bryan Dondero with original Cardinals bass player Catherine Popper. They gained rhythm guitarist Benny Yurco as well. They’ve been in a bunch of live TV appearances and has played most of the big summer festivals over the years. They did a Daytrotter.com session and an iTunes EP of live tunes.

It’s clear that with all of this exposure and hard work the band has made it to that next level in my opinion. The band has a winning formula: hot lead singer with even hotter vocals as well as guitar and keyboard chops, a road-seasoned backing band and a strong sense of identity as a band.

On June 8th, Hollywood Records is releasing Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. The cover art above is a slightly retro take of the band with a brightly lit Grace taken by photographer Adrien Broom. Adrien toured with Grace Potter and has a very cool album of shots he took of the band. The album is produced by Mark Batson who also co-wrote six of the thirteen tracks with Grace Potter. Batson’s résumé includes work with Dr. Dre, Eminem, Jay-Z as well as Dave Matthews, so clearly the band (and label) is bringing in a big gun producer– an investment for the success of the album for certain. Part of the delay of this album was due to scrapping work that had started with T-Bone Burnett in May of 2009.

Track Listing for Grace Potter & The Nocturnals with Archive.org links to recent live performances of the songs (build your own!)

1. Paris (Live at the Wescott 1/21/10)
2. Oasis (Live at the Wescott 1/21/10)
3. Medicine (Live at the Wescott 1/21/10)
4. Goodbye Kiss (Live at the Wescott 1/21/10)
5. Tiny Light (Live at Island Exodus 1/18/10)
6. Colors (Live at Island Exodus 1/18/10)
7. Only Love (Live at Island Exodus 1/18/10)
8. Money (Live at the Wescott 1/21/10)
9. One Short Night (Live at Higher Ground 12/28/09)
10. Low Road (Live at the Wescott 1/21/10)
11. That Phone (Live at Bonnaroo 6/12/09)
12. Hot Summer Night (Live at Higher Ground 12/28/09)
13. Things I Never Needed (Live at Higher Ground 12/26/09)

Grace does her best Grace Slick in this video of their cover of the Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” which is included in the soundtrack to Almost Alice which is a companion piece to the Danny Elfman score to the movie.

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals are going on tour, with a stop at the legendary Antone’s in Austin for SXSW.

March 11         North Adams, MA       Mass MoCa
March 12         Ridgefield, CT             Ridgefield Playhouse
March 13         Sugarloaf, ME             Sugarloaf Ski Resort
March 18         Austin, TX                   Antone’s – SXSW
March 21         Aspen, CO                  Snowmass Mountain
March 27         Jackson Hole, WY       Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
April 25           Phoenix, AZ                 McDowell Mountain Music Festival
May 14           Richmond, VA              Browns Island

Click Here to visit the Grace Potter & the Nocturnals Website

Click Here to visit the Grace Potter MySpace page

Upcoming Show: Local Natives are Back! The Mill in Iowa City on 5/18, RIBCO on 5/15

Local Natives perform "Sun Hands"
It was last July when Local Natives graced our bucolic farmlands as part of the inaugural Daytrotter Barnstormer tour. I saw them twice– once in Bellevue at Mooney Hollow Barn and once at the Secrest Octagonal Barn. I recount my experience here. It was the case that at least for the two shows I saw, the Silverlake, CA group really stole the show in my opinion, and which is why I’m really excited to announce that they will be back in the area in May!

Since they played the barns last year, the Natives have seemingly been on the road non-stop. They had a package tour with Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and Fool’s Gold that brought them to Madison, Chicago and Minneapolis at the end of November and beginning of December. It seems like they’ve been to Europe a couple of times already, and are currently there through March 11th before coming back to do a run of dates in the US which include some high-profile festival shows: SXSW on 3/18-20, Coachella on 3/18, and Sasquatch! on 5/30 and Bonnaroo on 6/10!

Local Natives’ album Gorilla Manor released in the US on French Kiss this week (2/16) and is available as CD, mp3 (with bonus tracks) and vinyl LP! I received my LP yesterday and because I pre-ordered I got a bonus 7″ of “Sun Hands” with a Daytrotter version of “Airplanes” as its b-side.

Local Natives will be hitting the very cozy Rock Island Brewing Company on Saturday, May 15th, The 400 Bar in Minneapolis on Monday, May 17th, and The Mill Restaurant in Iowa City on Tuesday, May 18th. That gap on Sunday makes me wonder if they might be sneaking in an encore Daytrotter session?

Click Here for the Facebook Event for the Rock Island Brewing Company.

Click Here for the Facebook Event for the Mill Restaurant Show.

Live Dates (from MySpace)

Feb 17 2010      8:00P SOLD OUT Maroquinerie     Paris
Feb 18 2010     8:00P Le Grand Mix     Tourcoing, Lille
Feb 19 2010     8:00P Le Normandy     Saint Lo
Feb 20 2010     8:00P Route du Rock Winter Festival     Saint Malo
Feb 24 2010     8:00P Thekla     Bristol
Feb 25 2010     8:00P Rescue Rooms     Nottingham
Feb 26 2010     8:00P Concorde II     Brighton
Feb 27 2010     8:00P Brudenell     Leeds
Feb 28 2010     8:00P Arts Centre     Norwich
Mar 2 2010     8:00P SOLD OUT Heaven     London
Mar 3 2010     8:00P Academy 3     Birmingham
Mar 4 2010     8:00P Club Academy     Manchester
Mar 5 2010     8:00P King Tuts     Glasgow
Mar 6 2010     8:00P Academy 2     Newcastle
Mar 10 2010     8:00P Academy 2     Dublin
Mar 11 2010     8:00P Limelight     Belfast
Mar 18 2010     8:00P SXSW     Austin, Texas
Mar 19 2010     8:00P SXSW     Austin, Texas
Mar 20 2010     8:00P SXSW     Austin, Texas
Apr 18 2010     3:00P Coachella     Indio, California
Apr 20 2010     8:00P Solar Culture     Tuscon, Arizona
Apr 22 2010     8:00P The Cavern     Dallas, Texas
Apr 23 2010     8:00P Emo’s (inside)     Austin, Texas
Apr 24 2010     8:00P Mango’s     Houston, Texas
Apr 26 2010     8:00P Sticky Fingerz Chicken Shack     Little Rock, Arkansas
Apr 27 2010     8:00P Thirsty Hippo     Haittesburg, Mississippi
Apr 29 2010     8:00P Cafe 11     St. Augustine, Florida
Apr 30 2010     8:00P The Basement     Nashville, Tennessee
May 1 2010     8:00P Masquerade     Atlanta, Georgia
May 4 2010     8:00P Local 506     Chapel Hill, North Carolina
May 5 2010     8:00P DC 9     Washington DC, Washington DC
May 6 2010     8:00P Bowery Ballroom     New York, New York
May 7 2010     8:00P Kung Fu Necktie     Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
May 8 2010     8:00P Great Scott     Allston, Massachusetts
May 11 2010     8:00P Beachland Tavern     Cleveland, Ohio
May 12 2010     8:00P The Basement     Columbus, Ohio
May 14 2010     8:00P Schubas     Chicago, Illinois
May 15 2010     8:00P Rock Island Brewing Company     Rock Island, Illinois
May 17 2010     8:00P 400 Bar     Minneapolis, Minnesota
May 18 2010     8:00P The Mill     Iowa City, Iowa
May 19 2010     8:00P Mojo’s     Columbia, Missouri
May 21 2010     8:00P Larimer Lounge     Denver, Colorado
May 22 2010     8:00P Kilby Court     Salt Lake City, Utah
May 25 2010     8:00P Empyrean     Spokane, Washington
May 26 2010     8:00P Neurolux     Boise, Idaho
May 27 2010     8:00P Mississippi Studios     Portland, Oregon
May 28 2010     8:00P Media Club     Vancouver, British Columbia
May 30 2010     8:00P Sasquatch!     Seattle, Washington
Jun 3 2010     8:00P Bottom of the Hill     San Francisco, California
Jun 10 2010     8:00P Bonnaroo     Manchester, Tennessee
Jun 15 2010     8:00P Shepherds Bush Empire     London

Click Here for Local Natives Website

Click Here for Local Natives MySpace Page

Click Here for Local Natives Facebook Fan Page

Click Here for Local Natives Blog

Click Here for the Local Natives Daytrotter Session

Upcoming Show: Death Ships Set Sail for Iowa City 2/27

The story of Dan Maloney’s Death Ships is one of a band outgrowing a local scene, gaining embrace of the Indie Tastemakers riding an arc of success but ultimately stalling. A familiar story to be sure (see: Tapes ‘N Tapes).

For over nine years Dan Maloney has been Death Ships— a band whose beginnings in Iowa City were as a side project. According to his January 2009 interview with Splice, he was in an Emo band called Faultlines when he decided to work on some solo songs. “…on the side I was experimenting with writing songs along the style of the music I grew up with. It took me a while to figure out I could sing better within a certain range rather than “shout/scream.”

Death Ships started initially as a solo accoustic effort and then expanded into a revolving cast of members and became known for having different lineups for every show. In fact, the first time I ever heard about Death Ships was in the context of them seemingly opening for every band at the Mill Restaurant. My friend saw Low and Why? at the Mill and Dan’s Death Ships were openers both times (without drums) and I believe that they opened for Tapes ‘n Tapes and The Hold Steady during their early tours as well. “When Randall (Davis) and Adam “Lars” joined the ranks,” Dan said in his Daytrotter interview, “they really helped shape Death Ships into a functional band.” In September of 2006 the debut Seeds of Devastation was released to some critical acclaim and Alternative Press named Death Ships “Best Unsigned Band.”

The band met ex-Wilco member Jay Bennett through a shared manager and he took the band under his wing and on the road with him as his backing band for two tours. In a recent email exchange with Dan, it is really clear that this time with Jay– who passed away last year— made a big impact on him. “[Jay’s death] was a big blow. I didnt know him better than others did, but from touring with him twice and spending a lot of time with him I got a good sense of the man he was: a caring, compassionate man with a love of music and joy that only comes from a child’s first Christmas. He picked us up and gave us a boost that I will never forget.”

Dan moved to Chicago from Iowa City a couple of years ago and has been carrying on the Death Ships name with occasional shows in the area and watershedding the follow-up to Seeds which will be called Circumstantial Chemistry. Additionally, a four-song EP Maybe Arkansas will be released on iTunes. The EP is produced by Luke Tweedy who runs Flat Black Studios in Iowa City and is in (ft) The Shadow Government. “I started working on a follow up a couple years ago and only scraped together four of the songs for this new EP. I moved to Chicago and basically had to start from scratch again. It’s hard– like any band– to sell everyone on commiting to [it], forfeiting the fact that there may not be much money involved but also requiring a lot of time and dedication. I hope I have this with this new group and am finally ready to start pushing Death Ships forward and getting these songs and new songs heard.”

Dan generously let me listen to the songs that make up Maybe Arkansas, and it is a flat-out charmer— hook-filled and standing out in my mind as a testiment to the great music that comes from the Midwest. These guitar pop songs draw easy and complimentary comparisons to other Midwest greats like The Jayhawks, The Honeydogs and, yes, Wilco. Each of these songs stick in my head with earworm intensity. Dan’s soft vocal approach on “I Like It A Lot” gives a breezy lead up to the break down “it’s dreams like these/ little melody/ i got plans for you/ you got plans for me” which very nicely launches in the double time and urging cry “put it all on me!”

This is followed by the fun, piano pumping, Beatle-y “Somethings Gone Awry” with its superb use of horns. I love how the song goes from this ironically upbeat drive complete with “do-do-do-do’s” to the mood change as the song runs out “It’s hard to blame the darkness for the rain/It’s hard to see clearly when when we’re reeling from a long black cloud…”

“Let Me Think It Over” is a promise to a former love. It has a undeniable 60’s R&B tinge to it– kind of like when Springsteen used to cover Mitch Ryder in concert– particular with the 3/4 time switch from driving 4/4 at the chorus. “We can get together like we used to be/the same old fool you’ve been dying to see.”

The EP wraps up much too early with the title track. It starts as a melancholy aching sentiment of escape to starting over. “With a furrowed brow you slide across the seat/So, maybe Arkansas– another change in plans” It’s the narrator’s thoughts at the halfpoint of the song of the people they are leaving behind halfway that transforms the song to shouting anger. “Write a letter to your dear sweet mother/tell her that we’re only running from our halted, November mind…”What’s that you gain from this song??”

This EP is a calling card and statement of direction for this new phase of Death Ships. Dan continues from the e-mail he sent me, ” There were times after Seeds where I felt the fruit of my efforts were grossly being undermet and underappreciated, but I have come to peace about being jaded. This is music I make and part of my story. If a few people enjoy it I’m willing to accept that. It’s truly a labor of love and sometimes I forget that. If it ever stopped being fun I would hang it up, but clearly I can’t, because I’ve been doing this project for over six years.”

Dan is sailing his Death Ships to Iowa City on Saturday, 2/27 at The Mill Restaurant in Iowa City. They will be headlining a show with Datagun, Olivia Rose Muzzy, and the Vagabonds. 9PM and admission is a measly SIX BUCKS!

Click Here to download “I Like It A Lot” from Maybe Arkansas.

Click Here for the Death Ships MySpace Page which has some of the tracks from Maybe Arkansas streaming.

Click Here for the Death Ships Daytrotter Session

Click Here for the Jay Bennett Daytrotter Session with Death Ships as his band

Click Here for the Splice interview with Dan Maloney from 2009 that has some unreleased tracks and a couple from the upcoming EP

Upcoming Show: David Daniell and Douglas McCombs at Blue Moose Tap in Iowa City 3/4/10

Birthed from the very fertile improvisation and post rock scene in Chicago comes the collaboration of guitarists David Daniell and Douglas McCombs. David Daniell’s career dates back to 1996 with work in the improvisation group San Agustin. Between his collaborations and solo work he has established a pretty substantial recorded career. Daniell met Doug McCombs when they toured together in 2006 in  Rhys Chatham’s six-guitar Die Donnergötter band. McCombs notably plays bass and guitar in Tortoise as well as his solo project Brokeback and Eleventh Dream Day. This meeting cemented a relationship of the two music fans where they exchanged records which lead to the recording sessions that would result in their 2009 release Sycamore on Thrill Jockey.

Sycamore was recorded over five days in two Chicago loft spaces chosen for their acoustics. The resulting seven-and-a-half hours of music was pared down to the four songs on the album by Daniell and McCombs in editing sessions in a fashion recalling how the late Teo Macero worked with Miles Davis on albums like In A Silent Way (a personal favorite). Final editing and mixing was done by Tortoise compatriot John McEntire at the legendary Soma Studios.

The resulting album is an impressive execution. The ambiance of the record reminds me a lot of Tom Verlaine’s 1992 album Warm and Cool which was very a very influential record for me when it came out and was re-released by Thrill Jockey in 2005. Clean, layered guitars, sparse percussion provide what is a great soundtrack for my day.

Coincidentally, Bettina Richards– the label head for Thrill Jockey— told me when I visited last year that it was Doug who turned her on to the Verlaine album.

David Daniell and Douglas McCombs will be playing The Blue Room at the Blue Moose Tap House (which used to be The Industry, and before that The Cue) on Thursday, March 4th. The opening act will be Star City and another act to be announced. Doors are at 8 PM and tickets will be $7 and are general admission. You can purchase tickets in advance at TicketWeb.

Upcoming Show: Ben Schmidt Record Release Show at CSPS 2/6/10

Iowa City musician Ben Schmidt has been on the Eastern Iowa scene for a while, releasing two critically-acclaimed self-released albums– Write It Down in 2002 and While You Were Sleeping in 2005. His press releases draw accurate comparisons to  John Gorka, Jesse Winchester, Kelly Joe Phelps and Leonard Cohen.

Ben is releasing a new album titled Silt which draws its inspiration from post-flood experience– the songs are from the perspective of people who have experienced personal “storms” — physical, emotional and spiritual and what remains when those waters subside. The album is pretty much a one-man affair with Ben recording vocals, guitars, bass, drums and electric piano. Assisting one the album is Nate “The Count” Basinger from the Diplomats of Solid Sound on organ, piano and accordion, Steve “The Chief” Hayes on drums, Lori Lane on harmony vocals and Larry Mossman on mandolin.

I’ve had the opportunity to listen to Silt, and I found myself focusing on his lyrics. Ben is a masterful storyteller and his deep, smooth voice provides the perfect narrative match. His style recalls some of the great classic singer-songwriters and anyone who is a fan of Lightfoot, Croche and Taylor should find Schmidt a complimentary listen.

To gear up for the promotion of Silt, Ben along with Larry Mossman are taping a Java Blend show with Ben Kieffer today (2/5) at the Washington St. Java House in Iowa City which will be aired on Friday 2/26 and Saturday 2/27 on Iowa Public Radio.

Ben will also be performing a show at CSPS in Cedar Rapids on Saturday 2/6 as a CD release show. Ben will be joined by Dustin Busch on guitar, Steve Hayes on drums, Lori Lane and Larry Mossman on mandolin. Dustin Busch will be opening the show with his hill country blues-influenced music. Doors will be at 8PM and tickets are $11 in advance and $15 at the door and available through IowaTix.

Click Here for the details of the CSPS show.

Click Here for Ben Schmidt’s MySpace Page.

Free Download: “Certain Special Way” from Love and Understanding by Joyo Velarde; drops 2/16

Wow. At long last it appears that we are within reach of the hip hop Siren of the Bay Joyo Velarde’s first full-length! Titled Love and Understanding, it will release on Tuesday 2/16 on Quannum Projects.

Joyo’s history with Quannum Records starts before Quannum when DJ Shadow, The Gift of Gab, Chief Xcel and Lyrics Born formed Solesides Records where she provided her background vocals to early releases by Lyrics Born, Blackalicious and Lateef. When the crew disbanded Solesides in 1999 and re-emerged as the Quannum Collective we got to hear Joyo as a lead singer on the track “People Like Me” which was part of the maiden release Spectrum which featured all of the original Solesides Crew. This was quickly followed up by a single of the pretty and airy Caribbean feel of “Sweet Angels.”

The promise of a full album for Joyo existed for nearly a decade– which isn’t to say she wasn’t busy recording providing her backing vocals for countless other releases and providing a constant presence with Lyrics Born on record and on tour. In retrospect it really seems like the four releases from Lyrics Born starting with the 2003 blockbuster Later That Day, 2005’s Same Sh*#%t Different Day, Overnite Encore live album, and 2008’s Everywhere At Once and the constant touring requirements put a voluntary hold on the recording of the album. Add to that the fact that Joyo and LB got married and had a baby in the meantime and one can see how this might take a back seat!

Thankfully, she was in the studio working on this album almost the entire time– so we were given a taste of what was to come with a couple of releases– The Hey Love! Mixtape in September 2008 included “Build This World,” and “Take You Home”, and her EP which was released last April included “Build This World,” “The Way We Are,”  and “Take You Home.”

In addition to the obvious participation from Lyrics Born, who is the Executive Producer for Love and Understanding, additional help was provided by Jake One, Asa Taccone, RJD2, Tommy Guerrero, Headnodic of the Crown City Rockers and Jumbo the Garbageman from The Lifesavas.

It will be interesting to see if Joyo tours for this. Hubby Lyrics Born’s next album As U Were is damn near completion and should drop any day assumedly. A tour for LB with Joyo opening would be really great, I think.

Tracklisting for Love and Understanding:

  1. Mama’s Got a Brand New Swag’ (So Exquisite) feat. Lyrics Born
  2. Build This World
  3. Certain Special Way
  4. Strong Possibility feat. Lyrics Born
  5. Ticket To Love
  6. With Feeling
  7. The Way We Are
  8. You Got Me (In the Mood)
  9. Lower Deck
  10. Feels Right
  11. Take You Home
  12. On and On

Click Here to download “Certain Special Way” from Love and Understanding due to drop 2/16/10.