Category Archives: Eastern Iowa

Things related to the music scene in Eastern Iowa including artists related to Trailer Records.

Diplomats of Solid Sound featuring The Diplomettes US Domestic Release on Pravda Records 7/8/08

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Diplomats of Solid Sound Featuring the Diplomettes on Pravda RecordsFinally a domestic record label has the sense to release the great new release from The Diplomats of Solid Sound Featuring the Diplomettes! Longtime Chicago Indie label Pravda Records. Although the instrumental releases were primarily on Estrus Records, this release coming out on Pravda makes sense as the Andre Williams album Aphrodisiac which utilized The Diplomats as his band as well as future Diplomette Sarah Cram on backing vocals.

The album is set to drop on July 8th and should be available via your favorite independent record store as well as Amazon and other online spots. This is good news for US fans of the band– the Italian Record Kicks releases are imports and really pricey! At the moment Amazon has one for $23! Dustygroove.com seems to be out of the CD at the moment with more coming at “the end of June,” but has the tasty vinyl version in at $18. According to the press release from Pravda these should be $14.98 MSRP, and indeed this is what Amazon lists the price to be.

This release has new cover art and packaging (you can see the Record Kicks cover art here). Otherwise, this is an identical release to the import version down to the “Hurt Me So (Lack of Afro Remix)” bonus track. The album was recorded live in the studio by Justin Kennedy at Minstrel Studios in Iowa city and subsequently shipped to Lack of Afro for final mixing and production. I think it is the live recording that gives the record its energy and ultimately why it stands up to repeated listening so well. Ultimately, the album was recorded in 2007 but it took a while to sort out what label was going to release it. In the meantime the band had very smartly put early mixes out on their MySpace pages. By The time the record was released most of their fans were already very familiar with the funk and soul of tracks like “Lights Out,” “Hurt Me So,” and “Come In My Kitchen.” Around my house, these songs are as familiar as any major label release would be and very much a soundtrack to our lives.

Even with the seemingly long career arc this band has had– I remember talking to Doug at a Bo Ramsey show in 1997 or 1998 at the Green Room in Iowa City about his “New Project” and the five albums since 2001– it seems like with the constant touring with the Diplomettes in tow has started to build a well-deserved buzz.

The Diplomats have at the moment about 11 shows coming up including three live shows in between Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Coralville and a handful of festivals. Make sure you get out to see them and pick up this album while you’re at it.

The Diplomats of Solid Sound MySpace Page with samples from the new album.

The Diplomettes MySpace Page with songs from the new album

Jun 20 2008 9:00P
Silver Dollar Cantina Dubuque, Iowa
Jun 27 2008 9:00P
Triple Rock Minneapolis, Minnesota
Jun 28 2008 8:00P
The Bottom Lounge Chicago, Illinois
Jul 3 2008 9:00P
The Picador Iowa City, Iowa
Jul 4 2008 7:15P
80/35 Festival Des Moines, Iowa
Jul 11 2008 4:00P
Camp Euforia Lone Tree, Iowa
Jul 12 2008 5:00P
Riverside Casino & Resort Riverside, Iowa
Jul 26 2008 9:00P
Linneman’s Riverwest Inn Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jul 31 2008 6:30P
Music In The Park Coralville, Iowa
Aug 28 2008 8:00P
KCCK Jazz Under The Stars Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Aug 29 2008 6:00P
Friday Night Concert Series Iowa City, Iowa
Aug 30 2008 4:00P
New Bohemian Festival Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Aug 30 2008 8:00P
Rock Island Brewing Compnay Rock Island, Illinois
Aug 31 2008 9:00P
Blankfest / Funny Bone Comedy Club West Des Moines, Iowa

Free Download: Kelly Pardekooper Celebrates Year 40 With 12 Months of mp3s

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Kelly Pardekooper by Emily Denaro, 2008Former Iowa Citean Kelly Pardekooper is now going to be former Madison, Wisconsinite as he is leaving the region for the sunny hills of Hollywood, CA.

Ten years ago Kelly released his home-recorded debut album called 30 Weight. Now as he is looking at his 40th year he is generously digging into his crates of tapes to release a track-a-month of FREE mp3s on his MySpace page and his website the collection dubbed 40 Weight. Kelly started this in May with the first song “Hard Eyes” and last week posted the June track “City At Night.” “City at Night” was a track recorded in 1996 when Kelly briefly fronted a band called Dan’s Big Truck.

Hopefully in the face of the big city lights of L.A. Kelly will continue to purvey the distinctly Iowa-influenced country-fried rock he has delivered on his last four albums and in particular his latest release Brand New Bag.

The tracks will only exist on MySpace for one month, but he also has them hosted on his website. Collect them all!

Click Here for the May track “Hard Eyes”

Click Here for the June track “City at Night”

Upcoming Show: Wye Oak & Pontiak at The Mill 6/15/08

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While I was out doing some research on the new Thrill Jockey signees Pontiak, I noticed that they are going to be playing at the Mill in Iowa City along with new Merge Records act Wye Oak. I wasn’t familiar with Wye Oak— they looked like a folk act which seemed puzzling to me considering the grungy distortion brought by Pontiak.

Well, a bit more research and listening to the album stream of If Children on Merge’s website revealed a band with its feet in a more shoegazer-y location. At times they sound like Low to me with the layered sounds and the dreamy delivery. Another band from Baltimore– what’s up with the insurgency of Baltimore bands all of a sudden?– Wye Oak is a two piece with Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack playing all instruments on the album and able to deliver this in a live setting.

Pontiak– although NOT from Baltimore– are getting a helpful boost from Baltimore band Arbouretum. Arbouretum and Pontiak are going to release a split LP on 7/22/08 on Thrill Jockey Kale which will be a tribute to John Cale. Vinyl only, thank you! TJ doesn’t have any streaming samples to listen to for Kale, yet, but they do have samples of Pontiak’s 2007 release Sun on Sun, which will be re-released on Thrill Jockey September 9th. You can purchase mp3’s and apparently the 2007 Fireproof Records vinyl before then, though!

Wye Oak and Pontiak will be joined by Ames, Iowa band Poison Control Center, and the surfy good vibrations of The Botticellis for a night of Indie goodness sponsored by Mission Creek— all for a measly $7! I’ve provided enough links below that you should be able to memorize the words to all of these band’s songs so you can sing along.

I’ve included links below to the Daytrotter sessions that both Poison Control Center and The Botticelli’s have done. Not to be upstaged, Wye Oak and Pontiak are scheduled to record a Daytrotter session before the Iowa City show.

Download four songs from If Children by Wye Oak

See a bunch of live videos of Wye Oak on YouTube

Listen to tracks from Sun on Sun and Valley of Cats from Pontiak’s website.

Poison Control Center’s Daytrotter Session

The Botticelli’s Daytrotter Session

Upcoming Show: Glen Phillips at the Hub in Cedar Falls, IA 4/16/08

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Glen PhillipsGlen Phillips is the frontman for the 90’s alt-pop group Toad the Wet Sprocket. Since the group’s split in 1998, Glen has participated in the occasional Toad gig, but has recorded four albums– the most recent being 2006’s Mr. Lemons— and two EP’s.

Last night Glen kicked off a run of solo acoustic dates that wrap up at the end of May and include a substantial number of Midwestern dates and two in Iowa! I had a chance to see him last night at World Cafe Live in Philly and it was great! I’ll collect my thoughts on this show and post a review later. The majority of the songs come from his solo catalog but include the occasional Toad cover and an inspired cover song or two. Glen Phillips in a live solo setting is typically a pretty intimate engagement and well worth seeing.

If, like me you hadn’t been following Mr. Phillips’s solo career I recommend signing up for MyTracks if only for a month so you can download all of his solo albums and EP’s except for his 2004 effort on Lost Highway that unfortunately seems to be a sore point for him. MyTracks is a subscription download service like eMusic is. For $7.95 you can download as much as you want for a month. Unfortunately Glen Phillips likely the most recognizable artist in their growing catalog. I’ll check some other tracks out before I cancel. The live acoustic album SOhO Live is an exclusive to MyTracks. Recorded last Fall it is fairly representative of what his set is like. Another unfortunate thing about MyTracks in general is that all of the tracks are encoded at 128 Kbps. I guess with unlimited downloads one shouldn’t complain, but I might have paid more for at least SOhO Live to get a higher bitrate. The other albums are available for download at higher bitrates from Glen’s site. While you’re there take a listen to his new EP Secrets of the New Explorers— fantastic stuff!

Glen will be in Des Moines at The Temple Theatre on Monday, April 14th, followed by a show at The Hub Live on Wednesday March 16th. The Hub is a new venue to me, so it would be cool to see it– however, I’m out of town on the 16th. As I was informed last night at Glen’s show in Philadelphia by a friendly fan (thanks, Heather!), Toad the Wet Sprocket will be touring this summer and will be hitting Philly again– June 11th at the Trocadero as confirmed by their MySpace Page. My friend Andrew and I saw Calexico a couple of years ago at the Troc, and it is another fantastic Philly music venue in addition to World Cafe Live and TLA now rebranded “The Fillmore at TLA.”

Click Here to see all of the dates Glen is playing this summer.

Click Here to visit Glen’s Website
Click Here to visit Glen’s MySpace Page
Click Here to visit Toad the Wet Sprocket’s Website (which includes their live dates)
Click Here to visit Toad the Wet Sprocket’s MySpace Page

Bo Ramsey’s Fragile Released Ahead of Schedule

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Bo Ramsey - FragilePreviously we announced that Bo Ramsey’s album recorded in 2007 would be released on April 8th in conjunction with some CD release shows. Since tomorrow is April 1st, I was getting ready to send an e-mail over to CDBaby to see if they were going to be ready to have the CD available for the 8th. I hit Bo’s site and imagine my surprise that the CD is available today!

For whatever reason, you can’t find the new Bo Ramsey album by doing a search of “Bo Ramsey” on the CDBaby site. But, this link works and I ordered my copy this morning! $14 plus $2.25 shipping.

Bo has two more shows on the calendar that are solo and solo with band. 4/5/08 in Minneapolis at the Cedar Cultural Center with Marty Christensen and The Englert in Iowa City on 4/26 with band. I hope we’ll get more opportunities to see Bo this summer.

Look for a review here in the near future. I have had the opportunity to hear this album in advance and my first thoughts are that this album is the logical progression from his blues cover album Stranger Blues and his best and most consistently timeless album yet.

Upcoming Shows and NEW ALBUM from Bo Ramsey

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Bo Ramsey at Springville Fun Days

It seems that Bo is going to sneak another album out to the unsuspecting masses. Titled Fragile, the follow-up to the fantastic 2006 country blues cover album Stranger Blues will be released on April 8th on Bo Ramsey Records. I suspect that we’ll be able to get Fragile through CDBaby where his other releases are currently available.

In support of the new release Bo will be performing some shows in the area. He’s still carrying out the constant touring in support of Pieta and Greg for their shows, but he’s getting a few shows of his own in. I’ve excerpted the “Bo only” shows from his MySpace Page. The March 28th Java Blend show is a radio show on KSUI that is also carried by KUNI. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Cedar Cultural Center show has the Pines helping out, since Benson Ramsey lives in the Twin Cities.

Mar 21 2008 9:00P
The Redstone Room Davenport, Iowa
Mar 22 2008 8:00P
Electric Park Ballroom Waterloo, Iowa
Mar 28 2008 12:00P
java house/java blend Iowa City, Iowa
Apr 5 2008 8:00P
Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, Minnesota
Apr 26 2008 8:00P
The Englert Theatre Iowa City, Iowa

IT’S STAR TIME! – The Diplomats of Solid Sound Featuring the Diplomettes at 3rd Street Live 1-26-08

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The Diplomettes

“It’s Star Time!!!” Doug announced to the Saturday night crowd at 3rd Street Live after a quick instrumental set of songs from The Diplomats of Solid Sound. “It’s Star Time!!” he repeated and introduced the lovely ladies of The Diplomettes who were greeted by enthusiastic cheering and clapping.

The announcement style is a tribute to the emcee Danny Ray who used to exclaim “Star Time!” before James Brown hit the stage. It’s with this knowing wink that The Diplomats of Solid Sound pays homage to the work of soul greats like James Brown who is arguably the architect of the music that influences them. The B3-fueled sound of The Diplomats draws equally from the Stax houseband Booker T and the MG’s and Brown’s band the JB’s.

Nate Basinger on the keys

The band seems very comfortable in the role of backing band to the three vocalists of the Diplomettes. Prior to July 2006 when the girls joined the group, The Diplomats of Solid Sound were largely an instrumental act with three albums under their belt; two of which on independent label Estrus Records. They were enjoying a modicum of popularity mostly in the EU where they had been doing touring and by the finicky tastes of TV producers needing a juicy instrumental vamp for some scene on VH1 and MTV’s regular diet of reality shows. In a similar fashion to Booker T and the MG’s each of the members of the band are noted regional sessionmen performing on most of the noted Eastern Iowa recordings in the last ten years.

Jim Viner and Doug Roberson from the Diplomats of Solid Sound

I guess the last time I saw the Diplomats was March of 2006 at Martini’s. I’ve seen the guys since then– Nate and Jim at the two Bo Ramsey shows and Doug a couple of times at the Picador. There always seemed to be something conflicting with convenient shows. As such, I hadn’t seen any performances with the Diplomettes other than catching some clips on YouTube.

Back then, the Diplomat shows were pretty much low-key affairs. The band pulling out chestnuts from Booker T and the MG’s as well as Blue Note acts and the occasional surf tune in addition to their own material. A great band to kick back and listen to while drinking and hanging with friends. The 2008 version of the band delivers a completely different show.

In fact, the show Saturday night was almost more of a revue in the classic ’60’s sense focusing on showmanship. The focus of the show was the Diplomettes who brought a vintage girl group sensibilityto the act. Each of the three ladies provided lead vocal turns while the other two provided harmonies; sometimes singing in a three-part harmony. I could hear similarities to Motown acts like the Supremes and Martha and the Vandellas, but also Southern Soul/Stax styles, or a Phil Spector girl group influence. At times the vocals seemed to have a 40’s Andrews Sisters feel (at least in the three-part harmonies). Visually, the Diplomettes are stunning– color coordinated dresses and choreography all add to the appeal. I particularly like the palms-out and drop done to “Lights Out.”

Eddie

I was fairly familiar with a lot the songs as I’d been listening to them streaming from the Diplomettes MySpace page— it seemed like the crowd was as well. Original songs like “Hurt Me So” and “Come In My Kitchen” are certainly crowd pleasers. One cover that took me by surprise was the “We’re Doin’ It (Thang) (pt. 2)” by Eddie Bo and the Soulfinders! I’m familiar with this song due to its inclusion in the DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist Brainfreeze all-45’s mix. Very nice choice. I guess these shows are also an education in rare R&B!

The crowd Saturday night was great– lots of folks up dancing of all ages. My wife had a great time and we are talking about going to see them again in February– possibly in Dubuque or in Iowa City.

Go see them if you get a chance!

Here is my flickr.com photoset of the show with more pictures.

The Diplomats of Solid Sound Website

The Diplomats of Solid Sound MySpace Page with songs

The Diplomettes MySpace Page with songs

The Diplomats of Solid Sound Featuring the Diplomettes on Facebook

Diplomats of Solid Sound: Upcoming Shows, New Single, New Album, Free Download

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Diplomats of Solid SoundWell, it looks like 2008 is off to a running start for our favorite funk and soul group The Diplomats of Solid Sound.

First, from their MySpace page, we have the announcement of an upcoming single on Italian boutique funk/jazz/soul label Record Kicks. The A side of the single is the funky “Plenty Nasty” and the flipside is a big beat remix of the live favorite “Hurt Me So” done by Adam Gibbons aka Lack of Afro. Due out on February 25th (or February 11th?) on 7″ and Digital download the single is the precursor to the much anticipated full album release of The Diplomats of Solid Sound Featuring The Diplomettes.

Record Kicks is a label like Daptone in that they press limited runs of vinyl and this new album will be no different. At this time the release of the album is looking like some time in March. I’ll update this article when I get confirmation. I’m sure that the Diplomats will have copies of the single and the album with them at live shows, but you will be able to order the album from their online shop (if you like to pay in Euros) or from Dusty Groove and iTunes will have digital downloads. I’m sure that the Record Collector in Iowa City will probably have copies, too.

Record Kicks RK45-015 Plenty Nasty b/w Hurt Me So (Lack of Afro Remix)

Record Kicks have posted RealAudio samples of the single: “Plenty Nasty” “Hurt Me So (Lack of Afro Remix)”

The Diplomats have put a slippery new song on their MySpace page called “Budget Fro” which looks to be from the upcoming album. For a limited time you can also download a live version of “Intercontinental Git” from 2004’s Destination… Get Down! which was recorded at the Englert Theatre featuring Eddie McKinley and David Basinger. Get it while you can!

Also, the Diplomats have a number of upcoming shows in the area including two this coming weekend– one at the Mill in Iowa City on Friday 1/25 and on 1/26 at 3rd Street Live in Cedar Rapids.

Jan 25 2008 9:00P
The Mill Iowa City, Iowa
Jan 26 2008 9:00P
3rd Street Live Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Feb 1 2008 9:00P
O’Leaver’s Pub Omaha, Nebraska
Feb 2 2008 9:00P
Record Bar Kansas City, Missouri
Feb 15 2008 9:00P
The Busted Lift Dubuque, Iowa
Feb 23 2008 9:00P
Iowa City yacht Club Iowa City, Iowa
Feb 29 2008 10:00P
Reggie’s Chicago, Illinois
Mar 1 2009 8:00P
TBA Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Upcoming Show: Mark Olson – Cedar Rapids @ CSPS 2/13/08

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Mark OlsonFormer Jayhawk and Creekdipper Mark Olson is coming back to Eastern Iowa in February. He was in Iowa City in August at the Mill touring for his first solo album The Salvation Blues. The tour continued through the Fall followed by a run through Europe and now he’s back in the States on an ever-growing list of dates which includes Cedar Rapids!

Mark’s new album The Salvation Blues is very stripped-down and personal view of a man dealing with loss in his life– the resulting catharsis is strikingly, achingly beautiful and shows Olson at the top of his craft. Providing familiar harmony vocals on three of the tracks is former Jayhawk Gary Louris.

Gary Louris’s new album titled Vagabonds will be released on Rykodisc on February 19th.

The packaging of the CD that I have is a small replica of a hardback book complete with dustjacket! The CD itself is stamped as if the book was either checked out or possibly stolen from the San Bernardino County Library in Joshua Tree.

Mark will be performing at CSPS which is the walk-up art gallery and performance space in the New Bohemia area of Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 8PM. The tickets are $13 in advance and $16 the day of the show. If you haven’t been to CSPS you should make an effort to get to one of the best music venues in Eastern Iowa. It is a cozy, intimate, non-smoking venue that is the perfect way to see an artist like Mark perform.

Download “Clifton Bridge” from The Salvation Blues

NPR Radio Show with Video from November interview and performance of Mark Olson

Mark Olson’s MySpace Page which has four songs from The Salvation Blues.

Mark Olson’s Facebook Page which has three songs on it.

Visit HackTone and click on Mark’s album to hear more tracks.

Upcoming Show: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals with Brandi Shearer at The Redstone Room in Davenport 2/11/08

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Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are kicking off an early ’08 headlining tour with dates sponsored by Amoeba Records with Brandi Shearer in support. They will be making a stop in Davenport at the Redstone Room on Monday, February 11th. Tickets will be $13 in advance and go on sale today (12/26) and will be $15 at the door.

We’ve talked about Grace here before. I had a chance to see her open for Gov’t Mule in Des Moines, and she and her band put on a very powerful performance. They certainly held their own opening for the Mule. As much as I enjoyed the opportunity to see the legendary Gov’t Mule in concert, I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed that I wasn’t seeing more of Grace and her band. So, here is my chance to see her headlining a show! According to the e-mail I got from the folks at the River Music Experience the people who saw her last show at the Redstone Room said it was the best they’ve seen there.

I haven’t heard of Brandi Shearer before I got wind of this show. She is the first act signed to the new record label run by the Amoeba Music record stores. So, this tour with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals is being sponsored by Amoeba as a way to promote their new artist and her album Close to Dark. After listening to the free download mp3’s and the streaming audio samples I think this is a really good pairing. Brandi has a bluesy, smoky voice that compliments Grace’s. Grace has been known to come out and sing with the bands she’s toured with, so maybe we’ll see some of that with Brandi, too!

Amoeba is going to be giving away a zip file of mp3’s every couple of weeks to promote Brandi as well as the Gram Parsons catalog. Week one has two tracks from Brandi. One is a 128Kbps live track from Brandi covering Gram Parsons’ “Hickory Wind” as well as a 320Kbps version of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” The Christmas mp3 is a nice one just Brandi and an acoustic guitar. The zip file also includes the first track “Close Up The Honky Tonks” in 128Kbps from the new Flying Burrito Brothers live album Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals with Brandi Shearer presented by Amoeba Music Tour Dates:

January 14th
Jack Rabbits
Jacksonville, FL
8:00PM doors

January 15th
Soul Kitchen
Mobile, AL
8:00PM doors

January 17th
WorkPlay Theater
Birmingham, AL
7:00PM doors

January 18th
3rd & Lindsley
Nashville, TN
8:00PM doors

January 19th
Smith’s Old Bar
Atlanta, GA
8:00PM doors

January 20th
Newby’s
Memphis, TN
7:00PM doors

January 22nd
House of Blues
New Orleans, LA
8:00PM doors

January 23rd
Stubb’s BBQ
Austin, TX
8:00PM doors

January 25th
Mongolion Brewery
Flagstaff, AZ
8:00PM doors

January 29th
Troubadour
West Hollywood, CA
8:00PM doors

January 30th
The Independent
San Francisco, CA
8:00PM doors

February 2nd
Media Club
Vancouver, BC
8:00PM doors

February 8th
Bluebird Theater
Denver, CO
8:00PM doors

February 9th
The Bottleneck
Lawrence, KS
8:00PM doors

February 10th
The Blue Note
Columbia, MO
8:00PM doors

February 11th
The Redstone Room
Davenport, IA
8:00PM doors

Click Here to get the first week mp3 download from Amoeba.