Sixty to Zero

Christmas comes early for Jayhawks fans: Tim O’Reagan & Karen Grotberg live at the 318 Club – 12/12/09

2009-12-13T13:46:00.001-06:00

Former Jayhawks, including Marc Perlman, warm up a tiny music cafe a stones throw from the frozen shores of Lake Minnetonka

Jayhawks drummer/singer/songwriter Tim O’Reagan has a knack for playing gigs “off the radar” – his most recent local appearances have been (twice) at a coffeehouse on the Crow River in Delano (an hour west of the Twin Cities) and two wonderful sets with his band at the 2008 Minnesota State Fair. Former Jayhawks keyboardist Karen Grotberg has been mostly missing from action during the last decade after she left the music biz to tend to the home fires (she joined the “classic” lineup of The Jayhawks for 4 reunion shows over the last two summers in Spain and Minnesota). So it wasn’t too surprising to see that Tim and Karen had booked a gig at an uber-cool “music cafe” in the Lake Minnetonka community of Excelsior, well outside the normal circuit of local music venues (although the 318 has been making great strides as a music venue over the last few years).

After 90 minutes of almost pure joy from Tim & Karen and friends (including founding Jayhawk member Marc Perlman and Soul Asylum’s Danny Murphy), I don’t think anyone in the audience was thinking about the long drive or unfamiliar surroundings. As it turned out, this was an extraordinarily fun and rewarding evening of music and good vibes in lovely downtown Excelsior, Minnesota, about a half hour west of downtown Minneapolis, just a few blocks from a rapidly freezing Lake Minnetonka. The 318 holds maybe 60 people and, thanks to just a few notices on the Jayhawks Fanpage and Facebook, the reservations for this tiny cafe were gone in a flash. Through a stroke good luck i was able to secure a precious table seat with a couple of old, dear friends who arrived at the exact same time as i did and had an extra spot.

Predictably, this quintessentially cozy little place (a converted lumber warehouse) was jammed, but the wonderful staff managed to find spots for everybody. I can't say enough good things about how cool everybody was at the 318. They were friendly and accommodating in a way that's almost entirely missing from "Rock World." And the food was killer, too. Things got under way just a tad after 8 with a nice opening set from Frankie Lee, a local singer songwriter who played bass in the short-lived but awesome "Tim O'Reagan Band" (with Jim Boquist and Peter Anderson), which was assembled to support Tim's 2006 solo album and made their debut at South by Southwest in March 2006. Frankie's set was nicely flavored with some Texas spice, not surprising since he spends a lot of time down in Austin. He did a great version of the immortal Doug Sahm's "Crossroads" and finished his set with a cool cover of Freddy Fender's "You'll Lose a Good Thing" featuring Tim and Frankie trading vocals.

The main set started out with Tim solo in a fairly laid back mode; he was soon joined by Frankie and Erik Koskinen, an abundantly talented guitarist, musician and producer who fronts his own band and also works with Molly Maher as one of her Disbelievers. Within a few songs, however, it became clear something special was brewing and that this was gonna be a very, very good night. The sound was exceptional and everybody on stage was in great spirits (the wine was a-flowin' freely!) and tip-top happy holiday form. After a nice sampling from Tim’s brilliant solo album + the always riveting “Tampa to Tulsa,” Karen hopped up on stage after receiving a very warm ovation. It's hard to overstate just how good it was to see her in action again and hear her lovely voice. She also was in a great mood; her smile warmed the room almost as much as the fireplace in the corner. Tim wasted no time in getting their former compadre Marc Perlman to plug in his bass and then it was off to the races. Perly ended up sitting in for a good chunk of the set, which resulted in this hilarious exchange:

Tim: so, we have a majority of the Jayhawks here
Karen: there are only a couple missing, really (audience titters)
Audience member: don’t worry, you guys sound great!
Tim: we’re not worried
Crowd: laughter

Tim's quick wit and fine-tuned sense of humor just added to the good times. He's come a long, long way as a "front man" since those early solo gigs almost 4 years ago.

The setlist was pretty incredible - not only a bundle of joy for fans of Tim and The Jayhawks, but a music geek's wet dream as well. "For Me Again" (an early lost Gene Clark treasure, finally released on the Echoes reissue of the classic Gene Clark With The Gosdin Brothers album – a touchstone for anything remotely resembling "alt-country") was a tremendous surprise as was a picture perfect reading by Karen of Tammy's edgy "I Don't Wanna Play House" and Tim’s excavation of Richard Thompson's "Wall of Death" from the harrowing Shoot Out the Lights album. The highlight of the entire evening may very well have been a drop-dead gorgeous performance of The Velvet's "Femme Fatale" (what a setlist, huh?!), which was just breathtaking, with Tim and Marc doing a bang up job with the background vocals. After this stunner, i heard somebody behind me ask her table mates, "was that a Motown song?" <eek!> Lou Reed would likely be very proud!

The best "Jayhawks moment" was probably the old b-side, "Last Cigarette," which caused a minor buzz in the audience amongst the diehards when they heard Tim call it out. Hearing Karen rip through this Harlan Howard gem – as well as a perfect version of her old spotlight song, “Ode to Billy Joe” – triggered a flood of happy memories associated with all those great live 'hawks shows back in the "golden age."

The Christmas miracles kept on coming when Mr. Dan Murphy was called to the stage. He wormed his way into the corner and plugged in his guitar and cranked up the tremolo on his amp. This ad hoc "supergroup" (Perlman, Grotberg, O’Reagan and Murphy - “PGOM?”) started off with more magic from the Jayhawks' "golden age" (“Reason to Believe”), nailed another killer obscure cover (“Sorrow,” also done by Golden Smog way back in the day) and ended the festivities with a song i absolutely can never hear too many times, The Faces' "Ooh La La," a perfect capper for this to-die-for set as the crowd bellowed merrily along with the chorus. Tim clearly wasn't planning on an encore, but was quickly cajoled back into action after a heartfelt ovation from the mostly awestruck crowd. He corralled Frankie who grabbed Danny’s guitar as they brought everybody back to earth with a quietly mesmerizing "Bottomless Cup."

Did I mention how great it was to hear Karen in action again? :)

TIM O’REAGAN / KAREN GROTBERG
12/12/09
318 Music Café – Excelsior, MN

1. These Things (a)
2. River Bends (b)
3. Black and Blue (b)
4. Happy Man (a)
5. April Come She Will [Simon & Garfunkel] (c)
6. Tampa to Tulsa (d)
7. Almost Saturday Night [John Fogerty] (e)
8. Star [Stealers Wheel] (e)
9. For Me Again [Gene Clark] (e)
10. Girl/World (e)
11. Wall of Death [Richard & Linda Thompson] (e)
12. Plaything (e)
13. I Don’t Wanna Play House [Tammy Wynette] (e)
14. Pray For Me (f)
15. Femme Fatale [Velvet Underground] (f)
16. (Lost My) Driving Wheel [David Wiffen/Roger McGuinn] (f)
17. Ode to Billy Joe [Bobby Gentry] (f)
18. I’m Down to My Last Cigarette [Harlan Howard/kd Lang] (f)
19. Reason to Believe [Tim Hardin/Rod Stewart] (g)
20. Sorrow [McCoys/The Merseys/David Bowie] (g)
21. Ooh La La [The Faces] (g)
encore
22. Bottomless Cup (h)

Tim O’Reagan = ac gtr, lead & bg vox
Karen Grotberg = piano, lead (13,15,17,18) & bg vox

a = Tim solo
b = Tim + Frankie Lee (ac gtr, vox) & Erik Koskinen (elec gtr)
c = Tim + Marc Perlman (bass)
d = Tim + Marc Perlman (bass) + Frankie Lee (harp, vox)
e = Tim + Karen
f = Tim + Karen + Marc Perlman (bass, vox)
g = Tim + Karen + Marc Perlman (bass, vox) + Danny Murphy (elec gtr, vox)
h = Tim + Frankie Lee (elec gtr, vox)

Demystifying The Jayhawks’ “Mystery Demos”

2009-01-18T11:24:00.002-06:00

An archival detective story

EDITORS NOTE: A 60>0 staffer recently had the good fortune to spend some time with Gary Louris examining the contents of his personal archives in preparation for a number of future projects. This was prompted by Louris’ decision to tackle the larger task of finally putting “The Jayhawks Archive” in order, a monumental undertaking that represents a significant archival, historical and musicological challenge. The information in this article wouldn’t have been possible without Louris' cooperation, not to mention his interest in his own musical history. Stay tuned for further developments concerning this exciting project.

The advent of the Internet Age has certainly caused a seismic shift in the way information is exchanged amongst serious music fans as well as enhancing their ability to communicate and interact. The rise of music blogs, “fan websites,” dedicated message boards and downloading portals – all evolving out of the ashes of 90s-style technology like listservs, bulletin boards and FTP sites -- over the last decade has ushered in an age in which dedicated music fans now readily have the ability to get hip to obscure information and arcanum, if not the actual music itself, in a way that would have been unfathomable just a few years ago. What was once the province of an elitist cognoscenti (uberfans, tape hoarders and just plain wackos) is now just a few clicks away for even a fan of moderate interest and technical abilities. It’s far harder to keep the cat in the bag in this age of increasing connectivity; nothing, it seems, stays secret for too long these days.

Case in point: the curious case of a group of mysterious “demo” recordings made in the early 1990s by Mark Olson and Gary Louris, the principal songwriters of The Jayhawks until 1995. At some point near the end of 2002, word of these “mystery” recordings began to spread on places where Jayhawks fans hung out online, places like The Jayhawks Fanpage message board and the “Bunkhouse” Yahoo group. As the legend goes, somebody’s girlfriend (or a “friend of a friend,” or “a buddy of mine” – you get the drift) found the proverbial box in the back of the closet that had some old tapes in it that were supposedly linked to some long forgotten “Jayhawks insider.” Eventually, copies of these artifacts found their way to a tape trader in Spain. The tapes came with very little in the way of documentation. In other words, the provenance of these recordings was sketchy, if not dubious, at best. Now anyone who’s spent any time in the back channels of rock fandom knows these kind of stories are legion (“My brother’s old roommates’ sister’s ex-husband used to be a roadie for Led Zep and Jimmy Page once gave him this really cool tape…”). So, initially, fans who heard this story were understandably skeptical. But, after some more digging and investigating – and the eventual distribution of the mystery recordings themselves -- it soon became evident that these were indeed a major find for not just Jayhawks fans, but also fans of that particular strain of music from the 80s and 90s known variously as “alt-country,” “Americana,” etc.

In short order, copies of these recordings – originally 46 tracks spread across two 90 minute cassette tapes – started making the rounds and serious fans, dedicated archivists and amateur musicologists began the pleasurable task of examining these unearthed “songs from the book of life” (to quote an old Jayhawks lyric). Since they appeared to be demos (they featured mainly just simple acoustic guitar work and the voices of Louris and Olson), they eventually became dubbed “The Mystery Demos,” or, as Olson referred to them at one point at a concert in 2005, “The Mystery Tapes.”

At first, confusion abounded. Initially there was news of just one tape (by now converted to recordable CD); a second set of recordings popped up about 4 months later. A cursory examination of the recordings indicated that there were at least two sessions involved since the performances on the second recording didn’t feature any of the violin work that was present on the first. Furthermore, there was a significant edit after the second track of the second set (it turned out those first two tracks were in fact from the first session) and there were subtle differences in sound quality for the remainder of the tracks in the second batch. This theory seemed to be confirmed by the dates that came with the two sets of recordings: “Feb 6, 1992” and “Oct 1992.” This immediately caused a great deal of discussion about the accuracy of the dates (now confirmed; see copies of the tape liners below). Some fans felt that since there were several MD songs that had been played live by The Jayhawks as early as 1988, that it stood to reason that the recordings took place earlier than 1992. On the other hand, none of the MD songs appeared on Hollywood Town Hall (released in September 1992), which would’ve made sense if the actual dates of the MD sessions predated the sessions for HTH by a significant period of time. Since the now confirmed date of the first MD session is very close to the time HTH was being recorded, it seems logical that the absence of any HTH songs indicates the MD sessions were focused on potential tracks for the next album (in this case, Tomorrow The Green Grass). There are Jayhawks demos in the archives from 1990 and 1991 that do contain HTH material, further circumstantial evidence that the MDs come from a time later than 1991, regardless of the dates on the cassette copies that first surfaced.

In retrospect, it now seems that these sessions were along the lines of what are known as “publisher demos,” a common practice in the music business in which artists compile “demonstration” recordings of unreleased compositions in one place for archival and copyright purposes. Often times there is no clear destination for the songs that comprise such recordings; it’s more like “here are all our new songs – let’s get ‘em down on tape.” One of the best examples of this during the rock era is Bob Dylan’s “Witmark Demos,” a stunning mother lode of Dylan compositions from his first prime era (62-64) that were mostly recorded right in the Manhattan offices of his music publisher. The fact that The Jayhawks took great care in recording these 1992 demos and generally performed the songs with a significant degree of passion and precision was not only a bonus for future listeners, but also a ringing testament to the seriousness of their craft at a time when they had yet to release a major label record and were largely unknown outside of the Upper Midwest. This commitment to excellence would characterize virtually all of their live and recorded work right up to the band’s eventual demise almost 15 years after these sessions.

Then there was the matter of who actually was playing at the sessions. It seemed obvious right away that the voices, guitars and harmonica came courtesy of Misseurs Olson and Louris. But what about the haunting violin that distinguishes so many of the tracks on the February sessions? At one point Olson can be heard saying “Ready Thad?,” an apparent reference to early Jayhawks drummer Thad Spencer. This sparked a theory that maybe it was Spencer who was playing the violin. Recent discussions with Louris, however, confirmed early speculation that longtime Jayhawks friend Razz Russell was the mystery violinist (he subsequently hooked up with Olson in The Creekdippers and a variety of other Olson-related projects). It turns out that that Spencer was involved, though; the February sessions took place in his recording studio in the warehouse district in downtown Minneapolis (primarily used for commercial work). The second MD session was recorded in a still undetermined LA studio with HTH and TTGG producer George Drakoulias in attendance. Some people hear an electric bass on some of the tracks, but evidence of that remains elusive. There also appears to be a mandolin on “Precious Time,” but virtually everything else on the MDs is the sound of just two acoustic guitars being played live. There are a number of quite delectable guitar solos that pop up throughout these tracks; it’s safe to assume that most of these come courtesy of Louris. Several of the songs feature a harmonica; since Olson and Louris both play, take your pick on who’s playing when. By all accounts, Jayhawks bassist Marc Perlman didn’t play on either of these sessions.

While the back story concerning these semi-lost gems is quite compelling, the most momentous thing about these recordings, though, is the songs themselves. It’s not really much of an overstatement to describe the “mystery demos” as the most significant collection of unreleased Jayhawks compositions extant. An amazing 32 of the 44 different songs on the MDs (two of the songs were recorded at both the February and October sessions) were never officially released by The Jayhawks during their existence. 11 of the songs were eventually released by Golden Smog, Mark Olson/Creekdippers or Olson/Louris, which leaves 21 MD songs still officially unreleased. Furthermore, there are no known live or circulating demo performances of 15 of those 21 unreleased songs, which made them essentially “new” songs for fans after their appearance in 2003 in trading circles. Even though many of the MD songs were recorded and/or performed in years before and after the 92 sessions by the full band (many of those recordings have not yet “leaked”), there remains an intangible, arcane quality to these specific 1992 recordings that make them more special than the usual mishmash of leftovers that all too often are found gathering dust in some closet or basement. The “mystery” designation for these tapes certainly turned out to be an apt one in more ways than one, something borne out by the excited online chatter amongst fans that took place after their initial appearance. Indeed, some of the musings inspired by the MDs since their excavation has been of the highest order (see postscript below), imbuing these folksy curios with an almost mystical power that their creators probably never contemplated – or intended – even at the height of their hubris.

Many of the MD titles will be familiar to even moderate Jayhawks fans (see chart below). In fact, some of Louris and Olson’s finest, best known work (“Blue,” “Pray For Me,” “Over My Shoulder,” “Red’s Song,” “Nothing Left to Borrow”) is represented here in all its stark, pure glory. Ultimately, 7 of the MD songs were destined for the Jayhawks’ landmark TTGG album, released almost exactly 3 years after the February 1992 MD session. It’s also fascinating to hear other Jayhawks faves in versions that differ significantly from later full band studio and live renditions, not to mention songs that would eventually feature in the repertoires of Golden Smog and post-Jayhawks Olson projects. Then there are little bits and pieces of MD songs that were incorporated into later works: the chorus structure/melody of “Ranch House in Phoenix” was used for Golden Smog’s “Radio King;” “Beggar’s Lie” is a very close cousin to the Jayhawks b-side “Get the Load Out.” The majority of the performances here feature Olson on lead vocals (especially the February session), reflecting his position as primary vocalist and composer throughout the first several years of the Jayhawks existence. Still, Louris’ contributions to the MDs are quite noteworthy (“You and I” and the stunning “5 Cornered Blues” are true lost classics; “Won’t Be Coming Home,” which dates back to at least 1990, is already honed to perfection, years before it blossomed as a Golden Smog chestnut), marking the start of the Jayhawks’ “Golden Age,” a 4 year period in which Louris’ role in the band as a singer, songwriter and guitarist would increase dramatically and the band’s reputation and career would explode, taking them right to the precipice of major stardom.

In the opinion of many fans, some of Olson’s finest work is contained in the shadowy corners of the MDs. Confident and focused, Olson peels off one great song after another. The aggregate quality of the Olson songs on the MDs that weren’t released by the Jayhawks or Olson himself after he left the band is impressive to say the least; many songwriters from the era the MDs were recorded would’ve been hard pressed to equal these “rejects” with their own officially released material. Songs like “Ranch House in Phoenix (performed maybe once by the Jayhawks in the late 80s), “Poor Michael’s Boat” (similarly rare but lovingly resuscitated for a couple of Olson/Louris tours 15 years after the MDs), and unearthed nuggets like “Tobacco’s Growin’ Tall,” “Follow Me Now” and “Pictures of the Family” are top shelf songs that typify the MDs -- full of Olson’s unique style and imagery, many tinged with palpable shades of empathy and heartbreak that recall his best released work from the era. There’s no doubt that his talents were in full bloom during this time. One of the reasons that Olson has cited for his departure from The Jayhawks was a dissatisfaction with the slow timetable that major label bands like The Jayhawks were locked into. The size of Olson’s song backlog by 1995 – vividly illustrated by the MDs and other collections of Jayhawks demos from this period – borders on staggering. Releasing a half dozen compositions every other year surely must have been a recipe for frustration for somebody as prolific as Olson, something seemingly confirmed by the flurry of Olson-related releases in the period immediately after he quit the band in late 1995.

Once copies of the “Mystery Demos” began circulating amongst fans a few years ago, it didn’t take long for word of them to reach Louris and Olson; indeed, fan-made copies soon ended up in their possession. Even though, as noted below, archival copies of these recordings existed – and the Jayhawks continued to demo and record some of the MD songs in the years after the 92 sessions – Olson and Louris evidently had only limited recollections of most of the MD material, not all that surprising considering the amount of time that had elapsed and the size of the band’s archives (Olson did release MD songs on albums in 1997, 2002 and 2007). It seems evident that the reemergence of these faded memories 5 years ago clearly triggered something for Louris and Olson, and they soon began reacquainting themselves with material that they had recorded well over a decade earlier. Not long afterwards, several of these “lost” songs (see chart) made an appearance in the setlists of the 2005 “Together Again” Olson/Louris tour, their first tour together in 10 years. One of the highlights of those shows was a breathtakingly gorgeous reading of “Precious Time” in the encore featuring just Mark and Gary and their acoustic guitars, a MD-style performance that undoubtedly was inspired by their recent re-exposure to the recordings. MD material continued to be featured in subsequent O/L tours as the “legend” of the MDs continued to worm its way through the fan universe and occasionally into the outside world.

The ultimate culmination of this story seems to have been achieved with the recording of no less than 6 of the MD orphans for Olson/Louris’ Ready For the Flood album (released in late 2008; recorded in early 2007). A decade and a half after they were recorded – and possibly almost 20 years after some of them were written – many of these wonderful songs finally found a home and a much-deserved wider audience. Given the quality of some of the remaining unreleased MD material, there very well may be chapters of this story left to be written.

1992
"Mystery
Demos"

Feb
1992

Oct
1992

demo-ed
pre-1990

demo-ed
90-92

demo-ed
93-94

demo-ed
98-99

official
Jayhawks
release

Jayhawks
live

official
Golden
Smog
release

Olson/
Creek-
dippers

2005
O/L
live

2006
O/L
live

2008
O/L
live

O/L
RFTF
2009

5 Cornered Blues

Beggars Lie

Berlin

Black-Eyed
Susan

Bloody Hands

89,90

Blue From Now On

TTGG

92-04

live

Cotton Dress

88,90

X *

Everywhere That
I Turned

Fingernail Moon

BE **

First Wednesday

Five a.m.

Follow Me Now

Hold Me Close

92,93

How Can I
Believe You

I Can't See You

Keith and Quentin

single

My Gospel
Song For You

Nightshade

BE **

No Place

Nothing Left to
Borrow

TTGG

93-05

One-Eyed Black
Dog Moses

DC &
live

Over My Shoulder

TTGG

94-95,
2004

live

Pictures of
the Family

Poor Michael's Boat

SB &
live

Pray For Me

TTGG

89-95,
2004

live

Precious Time

90-91,
2003

X *

Rain Fall a
Little Harder

Ranch House
in Phoenix

Red's Song

TTGG

94-95,
2003

Saw Him on the
Street Today

TTGG

94-95,
2004 #

Scarlet Light

She Picks
the Violets

TOHRCD & live

Strong For You

The Trap's Been Set

Tobacco's Growin' Tall

Tomorrow the
Green Grass

single @

91,94-5

Turn Your Pretty
Name Around

Two Hearts

TTGG

94-04

Up Above the River

Where's Jane?

Whisperin' You'll
Do Right

White Shell Road

WT &
live

Won't Be
Coming Home

90-91

DBTOM
& live

You and I
(Ba-Ba-Ba)

All songs written by Olson/Louris

Recording info
1. First session
    February 6, 1992
    Thad Spencer’s studio @ The Ford Building in Minneapolis, MN
    Personnel: Mark Olson & Gary Louris - vocals, acoustic guitars, harmonica, mandolin
                      Mike “Razz” Russel – violin

2. Second session
    October ??, 1992
    Unknown studio in Los Angeles, CA with George Drakoulias
    Personnel: Mark Olson & Gary Louris – vocals, acoustic guitars, harmonica

Chart legend
Should be mostly self-explanatory. The columns indicate appearances of MD songs on various official releases by The Jayhawks, Golden Smog, Mark Olson-related projects, Olson/Louris’ Ready For the Flood; demo sessions; and various live performances from 1988 to the present. The years in the Jayhawks Live column refer to the years with known live performances by The Jayhawks of the various MD songs.

* = bonus track on US version
** = CD reissue
# = 2004 Gary Louris solo performance
@ = also on European TTGG bonus disc

NOTE: “Precious Time” was also recorded by Maria McKee for You Gotta Sin to Be Saved (1993) with members of The Jayhawks backing.

BE = Blue Earth (1989)
HTH = Hollywood Town Hall (1992)
TTGG = Tomorrow the Green Grass (1995)
WT = Weird Tales (1996)
DBTOM = Down By the Old Mainstream (1998)
TOHRCD = The Original Harmony Ridge Creek Dippers (1997)
DC = December’s Child (2002)
SB = Salvation Blues (2007)
RFTF = Ready For the Flood (2009)

Historical note
Exact recording information (studio location, engineer, etc) is still unknown at this time for the October 1992 MD session(s) in LA. Also unknown is exactly how the sessions were recorded. It’s possible that multitrack recording was used (2 inch, ADAT) and it’s also possible they were recorded directly to DAT. Professionally duplicated cassette copies of the two sessions were initially found in Louris’ personal archive, along with other non-professional cassette copies (see liners above). The generational provenance of the cassette copies is unknown, although it would be safe to assume that the professionally reproduced copies were taken from a source close to the master. Eventually, DAT copies for both sessions were located in the archives, although they appear to be digital copies (i.e. “clones”), not DAT masters.

Collectors note
90% of the 1990-92 demos (essentially HTH demos) and nearly all of the live recordings referenced in the above chart are in general circulation in collectors circles. The pre-1990 demos, the 1993-94 demos (essentially more TTGG demos, spread across several sessions) and the 1998-99 demos are not currently circulating. The 46 tracks of the Mystery Demos themselves have been in fairly wide circulation since 2003. 60>0 won’t respond to any inquiries about obtaining any of these unofficial recordings, although we’d be happy to hear from anyone with comments, insights, corrections or new information.

Song Title Mysteries
The titles in the chart are the ones used on the tape case liners (pictured above). In some cases these are in conflict with some or all of the following: titles announced in the studio during the sessions, live setlists, other documents, or titles used on eventual official releases. Aside from songs that were eventually officially released, I’m going to assume for academic reasons that the official titles of these songs are the ones printed on the liners, especially since it’s not unknown for musicians to use “shorthand” when announcing titles before a take in the studio, not to mention song titles often have a strange way of being transitory. Whenever possible, I’ve compared these titles with other tracklistings on various recordings in the Jayhawks Archive. The official titles of many of these songs weren’t known when they first started circulating in fan circles and provisional titles were often used (often a line from the chorus or, the old archivist’s trick, the first line of the lyrics). The first “bootleg” recordings that popped up 5 years had tracklistings that were either absent (February sessions) or “unofficial” (October sessions). One other point of conjecture: since many of the unofficial titles were clearly guesses, it likely means that the source for the MDs that first circulated amongst fans was at least a few layers removed from an official “inside” source since copies of the recordings in the band’s personal archives include full tracklistings. Because of this confusion – the unofficial titles have spread far and wide throughout cyberspace and fan communities -- I’ve compiled a “conversion chart” to help with figuring out just what’s what.

* = song title announced during recording session
# = title used on official release

Mystery Demo Song Title	also known as
5 Cornered Blues	They Took You For a Ride *, 5 Corners
Beggars Lie *	Beggars Liar, Take Me, Beggars Life
Berlin	Ruins of East Berlin, East Berlin, You Let Me See Inside
Blue From Now On *	Blue #
Cotton Dress #	Worn Out Cotton Dress
Everywhere That I Turned	World’s Falling Down on its Knees
First Wednesday *	When Will You Send For Me
Green Grass *	Tomorrow the Green Grass #
How Can I Believe In You	Only You Know If I Could Really Love You, If I Could Really Love You
I Can’t See You	They Only Came By When They Wanted Something, Would My Debt Be Paid
My Gospel Song For You	Song For You *, A Song For You
Nightshade #	Little Nightshade
No Place	Where is the Lady, She Turned For Me Alone
Pictures of the Family	The Family *, I Loved You
Poor Michael’s Boat	Michael’s Boat
Rain Fall a Little Harder	Fall a Little Hard
Saw Him on the Street Today	See Him on the Street #
Strong For You	Words Held Silent For Too Long
The Trap’s Been Set	I’m an Angry Old Man
Tobacco’s Growin’ Tall	If You Could Love No Other, Doesn’t Look Like She’s Coming Back
Turn Your Pretty Name Around	Gone and Let Someone *, A Path For My Feet
Whisperin’ You’ll Do Right	Bring Your Eyes Down Low, All My Dreams Seem Old
You and I (Ba-Ba-Ba)	I Just Can’t Find You

Postscript
Editors note: Since late 2002, the MDs have inspired a great deal of discussion amongst Jayhawks fans – in various online forums, pre-show gatherings, or at home listening sessions. The appearance of long-lost treasures like the MDs – and the consequent ripples throughout fan “communities” – is the lifeblood of many a serious music head; hell, more than a few of them seem to live for events like this. I was particularly impressed and moved by the following words written in September 2008 by “JoMama,” a regular poster on the message board of the Jayhawks Fanpage (an unofficial fan site). This thoughtful essay speaks to the MD’s enduring power and legacy, so I’ve taken the liberty to reprint it in its entirety.

I'm curious about these demos.

I was riding the light rail up the Hiawatha Trail today, past Musky's [editor: another Fanpage poster] on from the Park and Ride to the Metrodome, past all these grain mills that originally had given Minneapolis its boost in population as a place to load barges with grain to send down the Mississippi to points worldwide. Past these dirty dusty buildings and train tracks and thinking about how truly sacred to the heritage of this town are these dusty old buildings in various states of decay or refurbishing.

I got to thinking about the "Mystery Demos" and how sacred they are to a certain parcel of humans who live here. This train I was riding comes awfully close to the 400 Bar where these Jayhawk fellas plowed their first rows in the field of opportunity.

I always have mixed emotions when traveling through this portion of the "Mill City"; how the gleaming steel and glass downtown towers over all that once was. I pondered that, yes, it is indeed possible that few folks held such regard for this city as it outgrew the days of milling and depending on the crop success to determine how many long hours would be spent dealing with each season's bounty.

I am always touched when I consider how something in the heart of the Jayhawks' sound touched on this undercurrent and its pastoral, agricultural roots.

And I thought too, just how obscure these "mystery" demos are and how so many songs floated around some practice spaces and occasionally into some concert venues and into the ears of many, the hearts of some as well.

Their appearance, I wondered, seems so unique, but I am really not aware how many artists or bands have such a trove of treasures laying in their past in rudimentary recorded form, but recorded well enough to deliver real wonderful and powerful songs to whoever comes across them.

I feel truly grateful that some very dedicated people have made the effort to get these out, and I wonder what ultimately will become of them. We've seen that some will have fruition on the new Louris and Olson CD, but what of so many treasures left? Will they remain mysterious and slowly vanish into a foggy late-summer evening and trail off like the warm day sighs into the cooling night? Will the next era dawn upon this land with no recollection other than from a special few?

To me, these are the echoes of children ringing through a playground long after the school bell has sent the children home. These are the faded buildings standing with little more purpose than to remind us to value the past so we can understand the present and have hope for the future.

Let them be restored, refurbished, rekindling flames in hearts looking into the future. Let them become something less than temporary oasis in approaching desert. Let them stand as do stars, as evidence, as grace, as mercy, as hope and love.

Special thanks to CZ for his invaluable assistance in this project.

Janey & Marc CD finally out!

2009-01-11T15:21:00.010-06:00

Janey Winterbauer and Marc Perlman step into the spotlight

“.…such a bittersweet sound”

Marc Perlman is best known as the bassist and a founding member of The Jayhawks, but among his many other talents, songwriting may very well his most formidable secret weapon, something generally known only to his close friends, collaborators and album credit trainspotters (“Trouble,” one of the Jayhawks best songs and a sadly beautiful gem, is mostly courtesy of his sharp pen; “I Hear You Cry,” released only with European versions of Sound of Lies is a startling departure, sounding unlike anything the Jayhawks ever released). Perlman’s compositional point-of-view is often from the dark side of the emotional spectrum – somewhere between Lonely Street and Heartbreak Hotel – and is imbued with a wistful melancholia that frequently is as heart-wrenching as it is intoxicating. Since the demise of the Jayhawks, Perlman hasn’t exactly been on the fast track when it comes to the music biz, being content to stay in the background with bands like Golden Smog, The Program and Polara, as well as engaging in a number of behind-the-scenes projects.

Modern day pop chanteuse Janey Winterbauer used to sing in Astronaut Wife, a provocatively interesting band formed by her husband Christian Erickson around the turn of the century. AW were frequently saddled with descriptors like “electronic” and “pop,” but they were so much more than that (Erickson’s lyrics in particular were light years removed from the simple artifice of many bands who shared AW’s sonic signature). AW put out a couple of amazing records, played infrequently, were anointed a “buzz” band by the local press and gradually moved into a seemingly semi-permanent state of hiatus, a situation that disappoints its members probably as much as its fans. In recent years, Winterbauer has joined Perlman and his Golden Smog band mates onstage for a handful of memorable live appearances. One of the highlights of Another Fine Day, Golden Smog’s underrated 2006 album, came courtesy of Mr. Melancholy himself, a gorgeous love potion called “Cure For This,” sung by Muni Loco (with harmonies from Louris), the wife of the band’s Spanish producer. For recent local gigs by the Smogsters, Winterbauer was drafted in as the female lead vocalist for live versions of “Cure For This,” a professional and personal match made in heaven as well as the germination for what would soon become the “Marc and Janey” project.

Out of this unlikely set of circumstances comes 25:32:47, a 6 song EP on Susstones that was just released this month. Overflowing with heavenly singing, sympathetic accompaniment and fetching melodies, this CD grabs the listener from the get-go and worms its way deep into the soul. This project – which has undergone a variety of possible names (Janey & Marc/Marc & Janey seems a fitting folk-style moniker) – was developed unhurriedly over the last year by an impressive roster of talent: Ed Ackerson (Polara, solo artist, Susstones impresario, longtime Perlman collaborator) produced the CD along with Perlman, and provides many of the instrumental colorings; fellow Jayhawkers Gary Louris & Tim O’ Reagan; former partner-in-bands Kraig Johnson; and Perlman’s Polara bandmates Peter Anderson and Tim Oesau. Recorded at Ackerson’s Flowers Studio, 25:32:47 showcases a style of music that is both timeless and decidedly unhip in today’s frazzled musical climate. The tempos are slow, the mood is dusky and the songs unfurl at a pace that will give ADD-addled fans fits. Some may call this music “dream pop” or “folk pop” or whatever convenient shorthand comes to mind, but it ultimately defies easy categorization. What stands out the most are the carefully crafted songs (Perlman is an accomplished writer and it definitely shows in his lyrics) and Winterbauer’s alluring voice. Many of the songs on 25:32:47 have have been around for a while – “Beautiful Day” was tried out during the last flurry of Golden Smog song activity and “Goodbye Kiss” has even older roots, evolving out of a 10 year old Jayhawks song called “Cure For This” (not the song on Another Fine Day; yes, it’s confusing) – probably since there weren’t any comfortable homes for them during Perlman’s tenure in the Jayhawks and Golden Smog. “With You” also has travelled a lot of miles and is something of a mini-epic – sporting a dramatic arrangement replete with orchestral percussion and soaring vocal passages.

Perlman and Winterbauer both seem to share a penchant for “sad songs” and have cited influences and signposts ranging from Françoise Hardy to Hank Williams. And all too infrequent Janey and Marc live shows have featured covers from the likes of Fred Neil and Tim Buckley (who once named an album Happy Sad, an apt reference for J&M if there ever was one). But J&M’s music transcends the “bummer” and “downer” tags that some will no doubt attempt to peg them with; there’s a reaffirming, almost cathartic, quality to their exquisite creations that make you feel glad to be alive while simultaneously breaking your heart -- a neat trick for sure. Sometimes a dose of the musical medicine that Perlman, Winterbauer and friends so ably peddle on this new release is the best cure for whatever ails you.

It’s taken over 25 years for Perlman to release something under his own name. After listening to 25:32:47 there no doubt will be more than a few people who will be wondering why it took him so long.

*****

25:32:47 is available in selected Minneapolis/St. Paul record shops and online at The Susstones Shop.

Jim Walsh recently profiled the “awesome twosome” in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Read it here.

Janey and Marc myspace page.

Ed Ackerson stays busy - very busy: Exclusive interview

2008-11-01T12:55:00.013-06:00

"I'm done with damming the river, I'd rather float on it."

(photo by AA)

(photo by JJ Jurgens)

Last week 60>0 got a chance to sit down and chat with Ed Ackerson, the Minneapolis producer/musician/studio owner/cultural instigator who’s about to release his second solo album, Ackerson2, which also just happens to be the third full album of new material he’s released in the last 12 months. The last year also saw the release of his self-titled solo debut – coming well into his third decade as a professional musician – and the first full length album in 5 years by Polara, the Minneapolis noise-pop pioneers that most people know Ackerson from. As on the first solo album, Ed did everything on Ackerson2 – all the writing, singing, playing, engineering, producing, artwork. This ability to excel at seemingly anything that is put on the plate in front of him is an Ackerson trademark and is a big reason why he’s an in-demand producer and sought after collaborator. The dude is a consummate pro.

With a schedule that even a busy person would characterize as “hectic,” Ed found time to talk about the past, present and future, and provided some revealing insights into what keeps him going in these challenging times.

60>0: Three full albums of new material in 12 months? Is there something funny in the water over in Uptown or are you just running out of space on your hard drives?

Ed: Around here there's always been something funny in the water. Wouldn't have it any other way.

I've got a lot of ideas these days, and I don't see any point in warehousing them. I've been through the major label trip of running every song past the committee. I'm done with damming the river, I'd rather float on it.

Is this brand new material, old stuff or both?

A few of the songs were on the horizon when I was wrapping up the first solo record, but the energy of this bunch of tunes is a bit different. Some of the tunes are very recent. "St. Cate" for instance I wrote in an hour in August . There's directness to this group of songs; it's not a concept record but there are definite themes that tie the songs together. A lot of it is about me trying to get my head around where some of my friends have gotten to and where I've gotten to and the space between now and what we all thought now might be.

Do you have a destination in mind when you're writing and recording new material? Can you tell the difference between a "Polara track" and a "solo track?"

Absolutely there's a distinction. When I'm writing for Polara I'm writing for the band. I tend to leave a lot of possibilities for Jennifer and Peter to add their spin. On the solo records the songs tend to be pretty complete from the inception, it's more a process of me jamming with myself.

On the new album, as well as the solo album you released last November, you wrote all the songs, played all the instruments, sang all the vocals and produced everything. Hell, you even did the artwork. What special challenges, if any, do you face when you're doing the "one man band" thing?

There are no challenges whatsoever! Making records is my favorite thing in the world. I love rock, and I've gradually figured out how to do all aspects of making a record pretty damned well. Except of course selling them. But to me that's the last thing I'm worried about. Making the record and hearing it back in its final form is the best reward for me. What happens after that is a lot less interesting.

There was a 5 year gap between, Beekeeping, the Polara album released this Spring, and its predecessor, Jetpack Blues. Why such a long time? What were you doing in the interim?

Actually, we did put out the Green Shoes EP in 2005, and there was an album of material we did in that period that we intended to release. Unfortunately our label Susstones was hamstrung by our distributor going bankrupt, so we didn't have an effective way to put that record out. That was a setback, and by the time we came up with new solutions I had already written a new bunch of songs. Those songs were the ones on Beekeeping. In time we'll get around to releasing the interim Polara material. We had a similar situation at the end of our time on Interscope, there are about 25 completed tracks that never came out from the period right before Jetpack Blues, a lot of really cool stuff. We'll get it out at some point, and it will fill in a lot of blanks in the story. Polara has always been working on stuff.

Like your first solo album, Ackerson2 is dominated by acoustic guitars, acoustic percussion, seemingly simple arrangements and a near total absence of the signature, multilayered Polara "noise pop" wall of sound. How did this "less is more" strategy come about?

On the last two Polara records we really pushed the envelope of pop music vs. noise pretty far, the production and arrangements are very complex and dense. I love working on that kind of super detailed music. But there's also a part of me that enjoys sitting around with an acoustic guitar and singing a song. Everyone has different moods on different days. I love playing on the big stage in front of a ton of people, but I also love the simple communication of a singer playing a song without stacks of amps and a ton of effects. I love making huge noisy records, but I also enjoy the challenge of making interesting, psychedelic music in a more minimalist context.

Throughout your career you've always seemed like someone on the edge of a breakout commercially, and on the first couple records with Polara you were right on the edge of international acclaim. A lot of your peers from that period have stopped doing music actively. You've kept moving forward, and you show almost no bitterness about the way your career has developed. What motivates you to keep doing it, and doing so much of it?

I love rock. Full stop. I think and I feel, so I write and I play and I produce. Rock is how I communicate, how I make order of the chaos of my loves, dreams, crises and fears. I've never been into this to "make it", whatever that means to anyone. Music is how I interface with reality, and music culture is the culture I live in. I am very happy that I'm able to have a good lifestyle doing what I want to. I had a good lifestyle doing what I wanted long before I ever signed any record deal.

You've earned a reputation over the years as a formidable guitar player, but there's also some remarkable vocal work on these albums. Has your attitude towards singing changed over the years? Do you feel more confident as a singer these days?

I found my "voice" as a guitarist when I was a kid, so guitar was my main outlet for expression. I've gotten a lot better as a singer over the years, lost a lot of the fear I used to have. In my opinion music is just expression; you use whatever tool is the most effective at the time to get your feelings across to the people listening. The voice is probably the most direct conduit between your thoughts and a sound, and I've been learning how to use that most direct path to get my ideas out.

Many of the songs on the 3 albums seem autobiographical, if not downright introspective and involve themes that tilt towards the heavy side of the emotional spectrum. Is this a natural consequence of getting older or something else?

It's probably about the process of growing up, seeing the way people end up as opposed to their original visions. This new record has a certain lyrical theme of reappraisal. It's a weird thing to see how time and circumstance warp your relationships with friends and reality.

When you're not single-handedly creating solo albums or working long hours at Flowers Studio, what are you listening to these days in your limited spare time? What's been floating your boat and has any of this informed your creative process the last few years?

I'm a massive record collector, and I'm into honest, freaky music from anywhere at any time. I split my listening time between new indie artists and new archival finds from all over the place. There's so much to learn about music, even for someone who has 6,000 records in their library, It's always exciting, I'm always finding out that I need to know more about music!

What do you think of the current state of the "music business?" Do you think the CD is dying? Are there any alternative delivery systems you're contemplating? How will Susstones meet the challenges of these changing times?

I have little interest in the music industry. Still, Susstones is working on a couple of new ideas to get stuff out directly to the people. The promise of digital delivery has been clear for many years, but now the tech is finally catching up. We'll have a coupe of surprises in 2009 for everyone.

What's next? Is there an “Ackerson3” in the works? More new Polara? Anything languishing in the archives?

For the beginning of next year we have a Polara instrumental album in the works, after that another Polara rock album of all new material. I've been writing a lot of songs lately, and they'll certainly find their way out in one context or the other!

*****

Ackerson2 comes out on November 18, followed by a CD release party at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis on November 28. Ed’s set will be a hybrid Polara/solo mash-up and the rest of the line-up includes The Mood Swings, Colonial Vipers Attack, Strange Lights and more.

Sussedtacular! @ The Varsity – November 28 - complete info

2008-11-01T12:00:00.000-06:00

Sussedtacular! at the Varsity - celebrating the release of Ed Ackerson's Ackerson2 CD.

Friday - November 28, 2008
Varsity Theater in Dinkytown
(1308 4th St SE, Minneapolis)

(http://varsitytheater.org/webcalendar/view_entry.php?id=4396&date=20081128)

Polara / Ed Ackerson Group

Ed will be joined by longtime band members Peter Anderson, Jennifer Jurgens, Marc Perlman and Tim Oesau with special guest/soul brother #1 Jim Boquist (of Son Volt/Paul Westerberg/Good Joe fame). This killer lineup will be performing key tracks from Ed's two solo albums, selections from Polara's vast back catalog -- including faves from this year's masterful Polara offering Beekeeping -- plus whatever exciting surprises they can cook up. This is definitely a "best of both worlds" situation.

The Mood Swings

Ashley and Sallie have been working hard in recent months on several exciting new tracks. Some of this new material is the result of some serious musical exploration/experimentation and finds TMS heading off in a number of fascinating new directions, with special emphasis on journeying into the inner realms of the psych-rock spectrum as well as cranking out some inspired extended instrumental workouts. Always a reliably hot live act, The Mood Swings are progressing on all fronts at an amazing rate. If you've been fortunate enough to have experienced their recent live cover of Hawkwind's classic lost anthem, "It's So Easy," you've got some idea of the tiger in their tank that's screaming to get out. Here's what our old friend Peter Jesperson had to say about the Mood Swings: "...I think Minneapolis always has good stuff going on. I was just there last weekend and saw a band called the Mood Swings who were just a knockout." (full interview )

Colonial Vipers Attack

One of the Twin Towns best kept secrets, CVA create extremely well-crafted "smart pop," with just the right amount of rock edge, Britpop stylings and shoegaze-y elements. And they're no slouches in the songwriting and catchy melody departments, either -- "Beautiful Fall," from their 2006 self-titled debut, is a stone classic. This is a special opportunity to see a band who doesn't play live nearly enough, a situation sure to change after they finish the new record they're currently working on with Ed at Flowers.

StrangeLights

Simply one of the best new bands to hit the Minnesota music scene in some time, this bastard child/offshoot of Bridge Club and First Communion Afterparty play powerful Psychedelic Rock so convincingly that you might have to check the calendar after you've come down to make sure what decade you're in. Their long-awaited debut, Evius (limited 7" vinyl and digital EP), will be released jointly by Susstones and MPLS Ltd in mid-November. Check out an exclusive preview here.

with special cameo appearances from:

Janey and Marc

The mesmerizing folk/pop stylings of Janey Winterbauer (Astronaut Wife) and Marc Perlman (The Jayhawks, Golden Smog, The Neglecters). Don't tell anyone, but they've not only finally completed their long-awaited studio project but there's a very good chance it will soon see the light of day via Susstones.

-and-

Farewell Continental

Featuring members of Small Towns Burn a Little Slower, To Reinvent and another "popular local rock group." They've recorded a new EP with Ed that should be coming out in 2009.

plus:

DJ The Guv'nor (of Sussed!)

-and-

Susstones Omniphonic Orchestra with Transpositional Vibe Array

Special Offer:

Free download card for the forthcoming Susstones Winter Sampler (featuring new tracks by Ed, Mood Swings, CVA and Strange Lights) with every paid ticket!

Polara rock the…parking lot?

2008-10-30T00:48:00.000-06:00

To prime yourself for the big Sussedtacular! bash at the Varsity at the end of the month, check out these live Polara vids from one of the many block parties that pop up like weeds during the all too short Minnesota summer. In this case, these are from the Chiang Banger Block Party, put on by nearby Chiang Mai Tai restaurant. This was the first Chiang Banger asphalt fete – and possibly the last, since this parking lot no longer exists thanks to the advent of the long-rumored expansion/redesign of the Calhoun Square shopping area.

The video quality is a bit shaky (it was actually shot by a 60>0 intern) but the audio is quite nice thanks to Knobby over at Susstones, who expertly cleaned up and mixed in a soundboard audio feed. Fortunately, there weren’t too many punters walking in front of the camera (probably had something to with the incredible volume being generated by musicians on stage!), although somebody who suspiciously looks like Phil Solem makes a “cameo” appearance at the end of a scorching if not thrilling version of Polara’s classic set opener, “Can’t Get Over You.”

Other than the stage being ridiculously cramped, this turned out to be a very successful day of great music. It was a hot, rockin’ afternoon that featured a line-up of acts who weren’t afraid to turn it up to 11 and kick ass (yes, The Mood Swings were also on the bill). It was so loud, in fact, that the beautiful people drinking and dining on the swanky rooftop of Stella’s kitty-corner across the street no doubt had some difficulty carrying on their Appletini-fueled conversations.

Polara - “Can’t Get Over You” (Chiang Bianger Block Party – Mpls – 7/20/08)

direct links:

high quality

normal quality

Polara - “Scorched Youth Policy” (Chiang Bianger Block Party – Mpls – 7/20/08)

direct links:

normal quality

Barack Rock!

2008-10-27T21:25:00.008-06:00

Susstones guiding light/Polara frontman/solo artist Ed Ackerson has some late-breaking, important news on his blog:

I’ve contributed an exclusive new song to Barack Rock!, a collaborative project between musicians and graphic artists meant to inspire participation and contributions to the Obama Campaign. The song, “See Through”, is accompanied by super cool artwork from Brooklyn-based Garrett Morin. Both the song and art are available on the site for download. The Barack Rock! project has been posting a new song/image every day, and there will be new art all the way up to Nov. 4. Special thanks to NY artist and friend Emily C.M. Anderson for
introducing me to the Barack Rock! project.
This year’s election is the most important any of us are likely to ever participate in, an amazingly clear choice between the forces of creation and reaction. Obama is a truly remarkable, inspiring man with an eye on a positive future and the smarts to help America get there. I support him 100%. I am also looking forward to helping Al Franken replace Norm Coleman in the US Senate. And, though I personally live in the 5th District (well represented by Keith Ellison), I’m voting with my dollar to support the campaign of El Tinklenberg against the crazed Michele Bachmann in the 6th.

60 > 0 is proud to help support this worthwhile cause and is 110% down wit Ed's political insights as well.

Viva le Obama!

2008-10-26T21:23:00.001-06:00

11/28/08 - Sussedtacular! at the Varsity Theater - Mpls

2008-10-25T21:51:00.013-05:00

Sussedtacular! at the Varsity Theater - celebrating the release of Ed Ackerson’s Ackerson2 CD

Well, it's that time of year...again! Ed Ackerson is either getting restless or his hard drives are filling up cuz he's gone and done it again. That's right, another new album - his third in the last 12 months! Coming on the heels of his debut solo album and Beekeeping, the first Polara album in five years, comes Ackerson2, released November 18 on Susstones.

The line-up so far for the Varsity bash:

Polara / Ed Ackerson Group - featuring longtime band members Peter Anderson, Jennifer Jurgens, Marc Perlman and Tim Oesau with special guest/soul brother #1 Jim Boquist (of Son Volt/Paul Westerberg/Good Joe fame)

The Mood Swings

Colonial Vipers Attack

Strange Lights

-plus-

special cameo appearances from:

Janey and Marc (Janey of Astronaut Wife, Marc of The Jayhawks)

-and-

Farewell Continental (featuring members of Small Towns Burn a Little Slower, To Reinvent and a "popular local music group")

-plus-

DJ The Guv'nor (of Sussed!)

Susstones Omniphonic Orchestra with Transpositional Vibe Array

Special offer: Free download card for the Susstones Winter Sampler (featuring new tracks by Ed, Mood Swings, CVA and Strange Lights) with every paid ticket!

Mood Swings / Strange Lights / Mercurial Rage -- Hot show this Friday!

2008-04-08T18:43:00.007-05:00

Now here's a reason to leave the house in the sixth month of Perma-Winter in Minnesota -- a f**king kick-ass rock show! All the buzz this Friday is focused on the mighty Black Keys and their sold-out show in the First Ave. mainroom, but next door in the Entry is a truly impressive lineup: 80s electro-revivalists Mercurial Rage, Susstones poppunkrock aces The Mood Swings (pssst! don't tell anyone, but the girls are working on some very cool new stuff in the studio) and one of the best pysch/rock bands to hit the scene in a long time, Strange Lights. If the set timing goes right, The Mood Swings should hit the stage during the break in the mainroom. This is a night not to be missed -- so much great music that it has to be spread out over two rooms.

Polara CD release party - May 9 @ Varsity Theater, Minneapolis

2008-04-07T21:18:00.001-05:00

Polara's amazing new album, Beekeeping, is being released on Susstones on May 6, 2008 (and the blogs have started to notice, too). To celebrate this mind-blowing event, a major bash is being held on Friday, May 9 at the Varsity Theater in the Dinkytown neighborhood of Mpls.

The players:

Mercurial Rage
The Mood Swings
Polara
The Alarmists.

plus

DJ The Guv'nor

and other guests TBD

Not a bad line-up, huh? :-)

Doors @ 7:30pm / music around 8
10 bucks

Polara rises again

2008-03-09T14:32:00.014-06:00

New album...new live shows...new beginning?

(Fitzgerald Theater - Oct. 2005; photos courtesy of Steve Cohen)

Well, this is exciting news – Minneapolis noisepop pioneers Polara have risen like the proverbial phoenix and are ready once again to shake up a music scene that sometimes seems moribund and uninspired...on a good day. There's a new Polara album ready to go and it's called Beekeeping. Once again, it's on Susstones and is set to drop on May 6, followed by a CD release party on May 9 at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis with support from The Alarmists and other exciting acts TBD. This is sure to be one of the coolest local gigs of the year; it’s been far too long since Ed Ackerson and his fellow space travelers have set the controls for the heart of the sun and taken lucky audiences along for a thrill ride to the outer limits of imagination.

The last major Polara release was Jetpack Blues in 2002, featuring “Is This It,” a lost hit single if there ever was one and one of the best songs to be released on a local album. Ever. A stop gap EP, “Green Shoes +4,” was released in early 2005 (sadly out of print, but well worth tracking down – the title song was originally destined for Beekeeping and the other 4 songs are uniformly excellent), but other than some rare, albeit memorable, local live shows, the Polara flame has barely been flickering recently.

One of our 60►0 “moles” recently had a chance to spend some time with an advance of Beekeeping and had this to say:

Beekeeping is a masterful achievement in PSYCHEDELIC ROCK. There's a 4 song sequence in the middle of the record that is quite stunning; it's as good as anything Ed has been involved with since he made his first record over 20 years ago. In some ways, this is a companion piece to Ed's recent solo album (they share one song in common, although that’s not immediately evident from the tracklisting), even though they bear few sonic similarities. Beekeeping is teeming with the trademark Polara sound – adventurous, exciting “pysch” excursions featuring always amazing instrumental and vocal contributions, all contained within a concise 3-4 minute pop song framework.
Ackerson’s production on Beekeeping represents new levels of imagination and sheer élan; the entire aural panorama – from tiny details and textures bubbling under to the most epic sonic moments -- is truly something to behold. The very sound of the album just shouts out tour de force. Fans may recognize several of the songs from sporadic live shows over the last few years (“Phase,” “E Flat,” “Talk Me Down”) mixed in with a whole bunch of future classics. There’s even a new “direction” or two thrown in the mix just to keep things interesting. I was also somewhat taken aback by just how prevalent the “rock” element is in many of the songs; at times this thing just smokes. And there is no shortage of hooks, either; several of these songs have “hit” written all over them, whatever that means in this baffling era. All I know is that if I heard the likes of “Talk Me Down,” “E Flat,” “Out of Your Hands” or the frighteningly heavy and catchy “Happy Ending” coming out of my car radio, I’d turn that shit up, hit the gas, and then it turn it up some more. After just a few spins, I’m comfortable in calling this the most consistent batch of winners Ed has ever assembled. It’s very likely that the accumulation of a huge backlog of material in the incubation period since Jetpack Blues has resulted in a treasure trove of outstanding material for this (and other future projects).

With hopefully impending releases coming from the next generation of Minneapolis psych rockers like First Communion Afterparty and Strange Lights, the release now of a killer new Polara album like Beekeeping, comes at a most opportune time. This is all very good news indeed for adventurous music fans far and wide. Fasten your seat belts -- this should be a good ride.

Stay tuned for more details.

First Sussed-tacular event of 2008 - another smashing success!

2008-02-29T21:38:00.017-06:00

Tuesday - 2/26/08
Bryant Lake Bowl Theater - Mpls

This altogether enchanting celebration marked another year for Sussed!, the Susstones Tuesday night DJ event that has been providing an early-in-the-week music buzz for discriminating aficionados for a dozen years now, the last 4 at the Bryant Lake Bowl in Lyn-Lake. These events are always a blast, but this one was a wall-to-wall success: a full house, awesome music, abundant good times.

Strange Lights bright light Joe Werner kicked the night off with a brief acoustic set that provided a very interesting contrast to the trippy electric excursions that have been wowing audiences at Strange Lights gigs lately. He played some new compositions, a song from his last band (Bridge Club) and ended his set with the stellar "Zombie Boots," a highlight of most every Strange Lights set and absolutely one of the coolest local songs of the last year.

Janey & Marc turned in their second great set in a row; this very well could've been the best outing yet for this supremely enthralling duo. No John Eller tonight, but drummer Peter Anderson, keyboardist Tim Oesau and bass player "Louie" rounded out what is the 5th (or 6th?) lineup used so far to bring the J&M magic to to the public. Oesau has played in this expanded J&M lineup once before; his contributions were particularly welcome, providing all kinds of wonderful textures that greatly enhanced the sonic proceedings in the cozy BLB theater. The abbreviated set went by in a flash -- the rapturous audience gave them a nice ovation and was clearly primed for some more.

A couple of notable things… Perly didn't waste any time unleashing his newest toy (just acquired that afternoon!), a Fender Electric XII 12 string, a distinctive, quite rare guitar made for a few years during the original Folk Rock boom in the mid to late 60s. This stunning looking axe has been played over the years by a most impressive list of musicians (Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page, Tim Buckley) and has been featured on some of the most famous recordings of the rock era (Tommy, "Stairway to Heaven"). Evidently, Perlman has decided if he's gonna do the "Folk Rock" thing, he might as well do it right!

Speaking of Tim Buckley, this was the second J&M show in a row that was highlighted by a song from the back catalog of this amazing folk/rock experimentalist, a true pioneer who left behind some of the most challenging, provocative music from Rock's golden age. Aside from being a gifted musician and vocalist, Buckley wasn't too shabby a songwriter either. Everybody in the room quickly fell under the J&M spell as they wove their way into "Song to the Siren," one of Buckley's most famous compositions (it was featured on the Monkees TV show and was also memorably covered by This Mortal Coil and the Cocteau Twins -- how's that for cultural diversity?).

Long afloat on shipless oceans
I did all my best to smile
'Til your singing eyes and fingers
Drew me loving to your isle
And you sang
Sail to me
Sail to me
Let me enfold you
Here I am
Here I am
Waiting to hold you

Did I dream you dreamed about me?
Were you here when i was full sail
Now my foolish boat is leaning
Broken lovelorn on your rocks,
For you sing,
"Touch me not, touch me not, come back tomorrow:
O my heart, O my heart shies from the sorrow"

I am puzzled
as the newborn child
I am troubled at the tide:
Should I stand amid the breakers?
Should I lie with Death my bride?
Hear me sing, "Swim to me,
Swim to me, Let me enfold you:
Here I am, Here I am, Waiting to hold you"

Simply stunning.

Their music may be new, but the past is never too far away when you take a trip into J&M's musical wonderland. The new retro axe, the carefully chosen period covers, the overall "folky" vibe -- all vivid reminders that often times the greatest music of today was also the greatest music of yesterday.

And continuing on the timelessness tip was Ed Ackerson + band, still basking in the glow of his fine solo debut album and related CD release party last November. The Susstones' Ace assembled the same crackin' good band he used at The Varsity: Peter Anderson, Tim Oesau, Marc Perlmam and Alarmist Eric Lovold -- nearly all the same players who had just backed up J&M. Talk about easy changeovers.

The entire set consisted of several songs from Ed Ackerson and every last one of them sounded great, not surprising considering the considerable collected talent of the band plus the quality of the material. After living with them for a few months, the songs on Ackerson's album continue to amaze -- this ageless collection of top drawer, often highly personal songs, inspired semi-acoustic instrumentation, beautiful singing and superlative production is a crowning achievment in Ackerson's long, storied career. On stage, the songs are vibrant and alive; in some cases -- like "Three Great Days" -- the needle gets pushed right up into the red as the band works things up into a truly impressive frenzy. I think the technical term for this is "rave up."

This intimate setting also allowed up close and personal contact with some of the best lyrics Ackerson has ever written.

It's only salt in the wounds now
Bringing up boats that I missed and how
I didn't live up to something
I never asked for
Parallel universe envy
Won't change anything here and now

I missed my calling...

Not bad for a "Space Rocker," huh?

Lovold once again deserves special mention -- his acoustic & electric guitar and harmony contributions are key elements in helping to elevate these live versions to a level they deserve. Kudos to him for coming along for the ride.

The night ended up with a brief but enjoyable set from "Phear and the Bullet," the nom de rock for Phil Solem (formerly of The Rembrandts) and Ryan Smith (currently of The Melismatics). These two cats have been playing around town in recent months – first as a mostly acoustic duo, lately as an electric three piece with the addition of Melismatics drummer Ron Caron. When they have the time to stretch things out (and perhaps consume a little “inspiration”) the combination of their chops, songs, charisma and undeniable comedic skills can be a potent force. On this occasion they only had time for 6 songs – some first rate pop from Solem (including “You Are Here,” a mesmerizingly good song), a couple of Melismatics gems and a finale that included, yup, you guessed it – “the song, I guess, we have to play.” Even though you’ve heard the Friends theme song a million times, only a cranky churl would deny its pure pop pleasures. And when P&TB whip up a spirited version of it on stage and everybody in the audience does the “clap thing” during the first verse...well, it just doesn’t get much better than that. Seriously!

What a perfect way to end the night – with a big fat smile on your face. And why not? We had just seen two hours of fantastic music in one of the coolest spaces in town, had been served drinks and food right we're sitting and hadn’t paid a damn thing for cover. That’s Sussed! – the weekly music bash that just keeps on giving. :-)

Gary Louris in-store @ Electric Fetus Minneapolis - 2/23/08

2008-02-24T00:28:00.015-06:00

Judging from the couple hundred of people packed into the Electric Fetus in Mpls, i'd say that there's a considerable buzz in the hometown of Gary Louris, whose fine new album Vagabonds was released 4 days before this totally engaging in-store performance. After working with Gary on a few recent radio and video sessions, Jim Boquist once again was on board for this outing. Boquist has played with Gary many, many times over the last two decades in various Jayhawks and Golden Smog settings, but these recent appearances have been truly special. At one point, Gary alluded to something he talked about in an interview with a 60>0 staffer a few weeks ago: Jim was thisclose to being a real Jayhawk on more than one occasion. The mind reels at "what mighta been."

There was also a few nice rounds of reasonably hilarious banter that was a nice counterpoint to the frequently weighty vibe of many of the songs.

Gary: [talking about his new website]... and i've got a blog, too. Blog -- that's a funny word. Jim, do you blog?
Jim: i think you can guess the answer to that question, Gary.

The audience got a generous 7 song serving of stripped down Vagabonds magic. "Vagabonds" and "We'll Get By" sounded especially warm and tasty in this context. Boquist was a perfect accompanist for this set; his harmonies and guitar work was never anything short of superb. He and Gary simply sound fabulous together. The large crowd was attentive and polite throughout this display of stunningly good music. There weren't even any audible catcalls for Jayhawks songs, especially since Gary said up front that he was only going to play songs from the new album.

A strategy that, of course, went right out the window when he stunned a good chunk of the audience with a chilling version of "Listen Joe," the emotionally weighty song he penned with Jeff Tweedy and released on the last Golden Smog full lengther, Another Fine Day (frequent readers know 60>0's views on this overlooked work; i won't repeat myself other than to say that that if you don't like it, you're wrong). Gary prefaced "Joe" with a comment about AFD being "misunderstood"; clearly, the relative failure of that project still weighs on him.

Another gem from AFD was offered up -- a surprising version of "Gone," done slightly more uptempo and in a higher, more "folky" key than the original. "Gone" has shown up a few times in solo Louris sets, but it's still jarring to hear it sans the loops, spooky electronic textures and complex production found on the studio version. Jim claimed that they had just "worked it up" earlier in the day, but it sounded awfully good to these ears. The presence of "Gone" in this setlist also served to provide a critical link to many of the "heavier" lyrical themes found on Vagabonds (and other recent, yet unreleased Louris compositions).

Well i saw you at the station / it was after the election
The downcast, they were calling / your behavior was appalling
At the feet of the blessed / your halo burned my hand
Are you happy were you are?

Well i knew then it was over / when the crowd began standing
You were driving / We were swerving / And the levers began burning
From the mountains to the desert / the search for truth was gone
Are you happy were you are?

And all the alcohol that everyone consumed
Could not erase the the void of emptiness...emptiness
Inside the tomb

Well, the old priest he was praying /
And the young nun she was laying
The drunkard he was drinking /And the young boy he was thinking
For the first time in a long time /He felt the touch of God
Are you happy were you are?

And all the alcohol that everyone consumed
Could not erase the the void of ghosts around the room
Don't look behind the face to see where faith has gone
You know that's only wise for everyone...everyone...holding on

Well i saw you at the station / it was after the election
The downtrod were calling / your behavior was so sad
At the feet of the altar / your halo burned my hand
Are you happy were you are?

Now that i think of it, "Listen Joe" and "Gone" are sorta "new" -- certainly in relation to any Jayhawks music -- so maybe Gary wasn't fibbing after all. :-)

The final song was also something of a surprise, albeit a very welcome one -- "Three Too Many," a song that was originally shortlisted for Vagabonds and is now currently available as a iTunes bonus track. The Syd Barrett meets Byrds glow was surprisingly still very evident, even minus the full electric band that makes the studio version so enjoyable. Gary also played this at a solo show last summer in Paris, so maybe this will also show up in future sets.

After the set, Gary graciously signed stuff and chatted with the fans for a long while. All in all, a perfect way to set the table for the upcoming tour with Vetiver.

Gary Louris (wth Jim Boquist)
In-store performance @ Electric Fetus
Minneapolis, MN
2/23/08

Gary Louris - vocals, guitars, harmonica
Jim Boquist - harmony vocals, guitars, bass

True Blue
She Only Calls Me On Sundays
Vagabonds
DC Blues
Listen Joe
Omaha Nights
We'll Get By
Gone
To Die A Happy Man
Three Too Many

New Ed Ackerson track now up!

2008-02-21T23:56:00.003-06:00

Here's a link to "Beside Herself," a fab outtake from the sessions that produced Ed Ackerson's wondrous debut solo album:

http://edackerson.com/blog/?p=70

Bloody well right!

Sussed-tacular @ Bryant Lake Bowl in Mpls - February 26

2008-02-21T18:56:00.003-06:00

SUSSEDTACULAR AT BLB!

Celebrating 4 years of SUSSED at the Bryant Lake Bowl

It’s time for another Sussedtacular extravaganza concert...which is really just an excuse for a bunch of Susstones artists and friends to get together and play some awesome music. Coming on the heels of the stellar Sussedtacular / Ed Ackerson CD release party combo platter at the Varsity Theater last November, the first Sussedtacular bash of 2008 promises to be equally exciting. This time the event will be held in the cozy confines of the Bryant Lake Bowl Theater.

What’s the occasion? Well, it’s been 4 years since Sussed, the long-running (since 1996) Tuesday night Susstones DJ event, moved into the front room of the BLB in the happenin’ Lyn-Lake neighborhood. Sussed main man Marc “Guv’nor” Mueller and his merry band of music freaks have been the best reason to head out on a Tuesday night for over a decade. Sussed is always a perfect opportunity to hear the latest cutting edge indie pop, deep classic soul grooves, pysch, freakbeat, garage nuggets, reggae, mod, brit invasion, choice cuts from Japan, Brazil and all points in between, soundtrack madness, proto-funk, post-punk, space-junk... basically whatever the hell the DJ wants to play! It happens every Tuesday in the front room at the BLB from 10pm-2am. Full bar / drink specials. And it’s free.

The poop on the concert:

Sussedtacular – Celebrating 4 years of Sussed at the BLB
Tuesday – February 26, 2008
Bryant Lake Bowl Theater
810 W. Lake Street (Bryant and Lake) – Minneapolis

10 pm sharp
ABSOLUTELY FREE

On tap for this must-see event:

Ed Ackerson + band – Ed’s eponymous solo album has been in the stores for a few months now and continues to amaze with its exceedingly smart brand of semi-acoustic folk/pop stylings and world-class production. On the album, Ed did the “one man band” thing. For recent live shows, including this one, he’s assembled an ace crew of local hot shots: Peter Anderson, Marc Perlman and Tim Oesau. Also playing with Ed will be Eric Lovold from The Alarmists on vocals and guitar, Minnesota’s latest white-hot sensation. Lovold’s contributions during live appearances with Ed last November made those occasions truly memorable.

Janey & Marc – former Jayhawk Marc Perlman and former Astronaut Wifer Janey Winterbauer have been making gorgeous music together for the last 15 months or so. Perlman had accumulated a boatload of songs without a home and Winterbauer’s amazing vocal talents had been adrift since AW’s entry into quasi-hibernation. They’ve recorded a bunch of cool stuff at Ed Ackerson’s Flowers studio and also have quietly become one of the most compelling live acts in town – Perlman’s sadly beautiful folk-pop and Winterbauer’s alluring voice are a match made in heaven.

Phear & The Bullet – aka Phil Solem (formerly of The Rembrandts; currently playing and recording solo, and also playing in Thrush, a rock trio with Michael Bland and John Fields) & Ryan Smith (currently with The Melismatics). Talk about your strange pairings! On paper, this looks like a classic odd couple situation – different generations, different musical styles, different hairdos. However, recent live shows at The Uptown Bar have been great in ways that almost nobody could’ve imagined, mixing Solem’s well-crafted, intelligent pop songs (and some Rembrandt’s stuff, too), revelatory acoustic versions of Melismatics songs from Smith, solid guitar work, interesting covers, goofy banter and tangible chemistry. In other words, this is not to be missed. Oh yeah, there’s a reasonably good chance that they’ll play that song – you know, the one that you secretly like but publicly diss around your friends.

Joe Werner – Werner is the singer/songwriter/guitarist for Strange Lights, a new collective of trippy space rockers who have already developed some serious chops that belies their youth. Spawned from the loins of Bridge Club and First Communion After Party, Strange Lights have been playing some amazing shows around town lately. Joe will be appearing in quasi-acoustic format, which should put his material in a different light than when the big freak machine is plugged in.

PLUS

Tasty tunes from the regular Sussed DJs:

Marc “Guv’nor” Mueller / Christian “MPLSLTD” Fritz / The Plate

Mark Olson (+ "special guest") @ 400 Bar - 2/10/08

2008-02-12T19:55:00.005-06:00

The temp was ridiculously cold outside (heading towards -10 F), but it was warm and cozy inside the 400 Bar as a nice crowd enjoyed the ambient body heat as well as the warm sounds emanating from the stage. Openers Janey & Marc turned in one of their finest sets to date while Mark Olson and his new crew (Ingunn Ringvold – vocals, guitar, piano, djembe and Michele Gazich – violin) just keep sounding better and better after several months on the road. Highlights of the main Olson set included “Clifton Bridge,” “Sandy Denny,” “Still We Have a Friend in You,” “Poor Michaels Boat” and a soaring version of the Jayhawk’s “Over My Shoulder.” Longtime friend/Creekdipper Mike "Raz" Russell joined in on violin half way through the set, reprising the "twin fiddle" magic that electrified much of the proceedings when Olson played the 400 last August.

The two beautiful sets of music were then capped off with 3 encores featuring Gary Louris joining Mark and his band. This earthquake resulted in several subsequent spine-tingling moments as the back pages of the Jayhawks came to life once again. The dirty details on the encore:

"Sister Cry," "Blue" (Ingunn chipped in on the chorus so the "univoice" gained a third component on this occasion) and "Pray For Me" (second time i've heard that song played live this week...and both times featured members of the Jayhawks)

short break

then everybody back up for a gorgeous version of "Decembers Child" (featuring some fine finger pickin' by Gary) followed by "Two Angels" (the crowd ecstacy went into the heavens at this point; i turned around and saw numerous smiles, stunned faces and people singing along)

farewells and thanks/lights up/house music comes on

crowd goes apesh*t

lights back down

everybody stumbles back on stage for a spontaneous encore -- a snazzy version of Johnny's "I Still Miss Someone"… a perfect ending to a thrilling encore

Gary also sat in with Olson last August at the 400 – and they sang most of the same songs – but this time things were even more intense even though the setting was “acoustic” this time. Go figure. Notably different this time, though, was the two of them singing “Blue” together. Last August Mark and Ingunn sang it (he evidently planned it that way since Gary had already appeared on stage by then) while Gary was outside having a smoke! As startling as it was to hear “Blue” without the trademark harmonies, it was positively bizarre to think that both Olson and Louris were in the same place at the same time and didn’t sing together on perhaps their most famous song. Talk about putting the past behind you!

Olson and company reportedly had a hellacious drive coming from the Pacific Northwest for this gig, but they were in exceedingly good spirits for the show. And it showed – this was one of the most enjoyable local Olson appearances in a long time.

Gary Louris is about to go on tour to celebrate the release of his fine new album Vagabonds and Olson and Louris will hopefully be on the road together later in the year to support the record they recorded last year in California with Chris Robinson. And Marc Perlman is definitely heading in the right direction with his wonderful Janey & Marc project. It’s not even Valentines Day and this already looks like it will be a very good year for Jayhawks fans.

Janey & Marc @ 400 Bar - 2/10/08

2008-02-12T19:04:00.009-06:00

When it was announced that Marc Perlman's new folk/pop project Janey & Marc would be opening up for a Mark Olson show at the 400 Bar in Mpls, there was a reasonably good chance that all 3 of the founding members of The Jayhawks would be in the same room at the same time since Gary Louris has been a frequent guest at recent local Olson appearances.

That was indeed the case on an exceedingly cold-ass night in Mpls; predictably, some hard-core Jayhawks fans in attendance were positively atwitter at the site of this powerful confluence. Even though Louris sat in for the encores at the end of Olson's set, that was it in the way of "reunions." Not that anyone should've been complaining, though. Even without Louris' exciting contributions, Olson's acoustic trio was in fine form and Janey & Marc were simply superb, turning in one of their best ever sets over 15 months of sporadic appearances.

J&M have appeared in several different configurations for the handful of shows they've played so far: just the two of them kickin' it old-school folk style; the "Kingfield Trio," adding Ed Ackerson on bass; a full-blown big band thang with drums, keyboards and John Eller on guitar and harmonies; and, for this acoustic show, a new trio lineup with J&M and Eller.

Janey, Marc and John did their best to warm the room up with their near flawless performances. Janey was at her mesmerizing best and Perly even brought out his A-game in the dry wit and humor department. All of the usual J&M jewels were offered ("Goodbye Kiss," "Back to You," "Love Me Once Again"), joined by a stripped down yet powerful version of their just hatched epic, "With You." "Beautiful Day" -- which first saw life during the sessions for the last Golden Smog album -- was another highlight; this song gets better with each passing performance. A spirited rendition of The Velvets' "What Goes On" (played just a few days earlier at another gig involving Perlman) made a welcome appearance near the end, as did "The Dark End of the Street," an achingly beautiful tale of dark love that was done definitively by James Carr 40 years ago and resonates perfectly with Perlman's often melancholy musings on pain and loss.

At the dark end of the street
that is where we always meet
hiding in shadows where we don't belong
living in darkness, to hide alone

There were also a couple of new additions to the J&M repertoire. Marc sang a very cool version of Fred Neil's "Dolphins" -- first popularized by Tim Buckley and covered by everybody from Linda Rondstadt to The Trash Can Sinatras -- a song that is almost eerily appropriate in this season of war and politics.

This old world may never change
The way it's been
And all the ways of war
Can't change it back again

I'm not the one to tell this world
How to get along
I only know the peace will come
When all hate is gone

Then there was the biggest shocker of the whole night, especially for astute Jayhawks fans -- "I Hear You Cry," a way obscure (bonus track on a 1997 European CD) Perlman penned and sung song from the Sound of Lies era. There's nothing in the entire Jayhawks catalog that quite sounds like this moody little ditty and, needless to say, there aren't a whole lot of people who are even aware of its existence. To say it was something of a surprise to hear this played live is a major understatement. For what it's worth, I thought it sounded wonderful, providing a road map that leads straight to some of Perlman's recent compositions. There are only a couple of known live performances of this song by The Jayhawks (in Europe in 1997) although, interestingly, it made an equally shocking out-of-the-blue appearance during a Golden Smog set at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC during an August 2004 benefit concert.

Hello my little China doll
Did I do something wrong?
Should I ask you for forgiveness
Or should I just leave you alone

We need some quiet conversation
We can tell each other lies
Maybe we could light a fire
If we tend it itll work out right

(chorus)
Don't you know how I hear you cry
But everythings all right
Dont you know how I feel inside
But everythings all right

There was a time I thought we'd make it
I didnt mean to bring you down
But I dream about you always
Just tell me I should let it go now

The set ended with a typically lovely reading of Perlman's "Cure For This," perhaps the finest moment on Golden Smog's woefully misunderstood/underappreciated 2006 album, Another Fine Day. As they had throughout the set, the perfectly attentive crowd gave J&M&J a heartfelt ovation; this was probably the best response i've experienced yet at a J&M show.

With stellar performances later in the evening from Perlman's former bandmates this was indeed a great way for Jayhawks fans to spend a frigid Sunday night. In fact, the previous week had been something of a special treat for local Jayhawks fans with Golden Smog appearing at an historic Obama rally and an off-the-radar but excellent benefit gig by Tim O'Reagan, Jim Boquist and Perlman. Perly was the common link at all three of these events. Coincidence?

Sussed-tacular @ Bryant Lake Bowl - February 26

2008-02-09T23:16:00.001-06:00

It's time for another smokin' Sussed-tacular event at the Susstones club house, the Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis. The action goes down on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The line-up is fluid at this point, but confirmed acts include the Ed Ackerson band and Janey & Marc.

Music starts at 10 pm and there's no cover.

More exciting details to follow. Mark your calendar!

"Tim, Jim & Marc" @ The Cabooze - 2/7/08

2008-02-08T15:25:00.001-06:00

Sometimes great sets can just pop up and smack you up side the head when you’re least expecting them

(no camera this time; photos from various previous gigs)
(Tim photo courtesy of kiki @ http://www.2bhifi.com/kiki/)

Back in the early 90s, Tim O’Reagan and Jim Boquist played a handful of shows in and around the Twin Cities as a quasi-folk duo. They were usually billed under a variety of less-than-imaginative names (“O’Reagan Boquist Band,” “Tim & Jim,” etc) and frequently appeared in out of the way venues (the Loring Bar??) with little notice or appeared as an unannounced support act at First Ave / 7th St Entry.

Well, Tim & Jim, along with Marc Perlman, were in fact on the bill last Thursday at a benefit at the Cabooze in Mpls for something called "Peace & War In The Heartland,” a poorly attended, low-key benefit for some organization i’d never heard of before. At one point in the midst of what turned out to be an absolutely delightful 10 song set, the fellas continued some fairly entertaining between song banter by entering into a discussion on what they should call themselves – “The Curmudgeons?”… “how ‘bout the Old Curmudgeons?”… “we’re kinda old.” For now, I’ll just call them “TJM.” Also appearing on the bill were two bands i was utterly unfamiliar with and Strange Lights, the young, always interesting gang of space rockers who have been turning in some awfully interesting sets of late. As it turned out, TJM went on first, just about an hour after the doors opened at 7pm and after a perfunctory rally speech by an old Vietnam Vet who was living through the second great international tragedy in his lifetime that involves US armed forces. Strange Lights trippy jams were relegated to the end; the whole thing was over by 11 – a very reasonable finish time for a week night.

The crowd was mostly young and many appeared to be attached somehow to the two middle bands who i still know next to nothing about, even though i dutifully sat through both of their sets. There were a handful of people who seemed to be familiar with TJM, but i can honestly say that i barely recognized about 3 people there out of crowd that might have hit 100 at some point. I knew twice as many of the musicians as i did attendees.

I really didn’t have much of a clue as to what was gonna go down. I had a hunch that there would be plenty of Tim stuff, especially since his name had been on the bill the longest and, indeed, was the sole name listed on the marquee outside (not even the benefit org was shown!). That turned out to be the case, but boy oh boy, there were plenty of great offerings from Jim and Marc, too. After a few songs, i realized i was in the process of witnessing a great set, and i immediately rued the knowledge that the proceedings were going to be undocumented – at least in audio and visual terms. I’ve been so out of the habit of going to shows lately that i even stupidly forgot my digital camera – one of the more bone-headed things i’ve done in recent weeks. So, i sat there like a smiling low-tech fool, absorbing what turned out to be one of the best sets of local music i’ve seen in a long, long time.

The line-up was simplicity itself: Marc on electric bass, Tim on acoustic 6 string and harp, and Jim on electric 6 string. They all were sitting down, just like back in the old folky days. Lead vocals were rotated through the set and Tim and Jim (and sometimes Marc) contributed harmonies. Not surprisingly, these 3 old pals acquitted themselves flawlessly. Tim and Jim’s harmonies were superb throughout and Jim’s always sterling guitar work was especially memorable as he coaxed one beautiful lead after another out of his old hollow-body Gibson. After a few minutes, i was transported back in time to the old Tim and Jim magic from those days when Tim wasn’t quite a Jayhawk yet and Jim was in between memorable gigs with Joe Henry and Son Volt. Only this was even better thanks to Perlman’s contributions. According to Tim, this was, shockingly, the first time this particular line-up had appeared in public, amazing when you consider how much time these guys have spent together as their paths have repeatedly criss-crossed over the last 17 years. For trainspotters, it should be noted that this was, i believe, the first time Marc and Tim have shared a stage since a Jayhawks reunion at the First Ave. 30th Anniversary bash back in December 2005. After the show, Tim said, “it sure felt good to play with Marc again,” something quite obvious to anyone in attendance who was paying attention.

It was especially thrilling to hear a couple of familiar classic Jayhawks songs with not so familiar harmonies. On “Pray For Me,” Tim took the Mark part while Jimmy channeled Gary to a scary degree – singing the high notes and turning in a frighteningly good Byrdsian guitar line; it all resulted in an exquisite experience. Bone chilling stuff. Before “Pray For Me,” Tim said “we’re gonna do some more covers... here’s an old Jayhawks song,” a statement sure to be dissected in some of the more obsessive corners of the interwebs. The harmonies on “Tampa to Tulsa” were certainly more familiar, as Tim and Jim have honed this song to near perfection in the post-RDM years, but this certainly was an interesting pair of “covers” for Jayhawks fans, providing compelling evidence that the Jayhawks legacy lives on even though the pieces of the puzzle get shifted around now and then.

Special mention should also be made of Boquist’s “Why,” a song once known to fans as “Muddy Shoulder.” During the recent Tim O’Reagan Band era, this song has flowered into a stunning thing of beauty. It’s got that classic timeworn feel that evokes nothing less than a lost Gene Clark masterpiece – just about the highest praise you could give someone, especially an old soul like Jim who clearly has an almost eerie spiritual connection to that special period of musical history. Speaking of which, the second song of the evening was another highlight of recent Tim O’Reagan live sets, the Gene Clark/Bernie Leadon classic, “Train Leaves Here This Morning,” a song popularized by the Eagles on their first album, but originally released in 1968 on The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard and Clark, one of the most influential albums from that era, and a wellspring of inspiration (and cover songs) for a whole generation of “alt-country” / “Americana” artists in later years, including TJM, Gary Louris and just about every other musician with a modicum of taste who’s picked up a guitar over the last 3 decades.

There were some predictable familiar moments from recent O’Reagan shows, including “Pictures of Dad” and the always moving reading of Simon and Garfunkel’s “April Come Say You Will.” Perlman also tackled an old fave of his, The Only Ones’ “From Here to Eternity,” a rare treat that almost always shows up only at small-scale intimate gigs like the Mad Ripple Hootenanny.

The last two songs had a special glow that capped off the all too short but superb set. A rousing cover of the Velvet’s “What Goes On,” sung by Perlman and complete with some enthused acoustic guitar jam work at the end, fired up the appreciative but polite crowd. This was always a highlight on the occasions when Kraig Johnson and the Program (sometimes featuring Perlman) burned through it a few years back when they were one of the hottest live acts in town and it was a joy to hear this inspired reading as well. Finally, and an obvious choice for this event – if not this era – was Nick Lowe’s “What’s So Funny (‘bout Peace Love and Understanding)?” Perlman and his Golden Smog bandmates almost got to encore with this song 5 days earlier at a historic rally for Barack Obama in Minneapolis, but fell victim to time constraints. This time the peaceniks got a straight shot of this 35 year old anthem of hope, featuring vocals from everyone on stage. Right on!

Sometimes great sets can just pop up and smack you up side the head when you’re least expecting them which, of course, is one of the main things that drives live music heads to continually troll the waters out in Clubland for the next big strike. This was certainly the case at this strange gig. I felt like i was in a different town and, at times, a different decade. Hopefully, we’ll get to see a reprise of this old new magic very soon.

Tim O’Reagan / Jim Boquist / Marc Perlman
“Peace and Love in the Heartland” benefit
February 7, 2008
The Cabooze – Minneapolis, MN

River Bends
Train Leaves Here This Morning
Pray For Me
Tampa to Tulsa
From Here to Eternity
Why
Pictures of Dad
April Come Say You Will
What Goes On
What’s So Funny (‘bout Peace, Love and Understanding)?

Tim O’Reagan – acoustic guitar, harp, lead and background vocals
Jim Boquist – electric guitar, lead and background vocals
Marc Perlman – electric bass, lead and background vocals

Golden Smog vs Obama in Minneapolis!

2008-02-04T21:01:00.001-06:00

(photo by Steve Cohen)

These days, you never know when you're going to be lucky enough to see another Golden Smog show. After seeing them do a few outdoor appearances last summer, it didn't seem outside the realm of possibility that those outings might very well be the last GS shows for a long, long time.

Well, never count the Smoggers out. I never thought i'd see them in a venue as big as the Target Center in Mpls, or at an event as significant as an Obama rally. The fact that Tweedy was in the mix (not surprising since he's a longtime Obama supporter; indeed Obama singled him out for thanks in his opening comments) was just icing on the cake.

They played 6 songs in just under a half an hour to a nearly full house. They sounded surprisingly good considering the circumstances (just a couple of days advance notice) and looked like they were living a dream come true-- not too shabby considering they're all a bunch of grizzled "vets." It was also an appearance rich with irony -- they played to the biggest crowd that i know of for a GS show, yet the percentage of the audience that was familiar with their material was clearly at an all time low. Such is the strangeness that occurs when the worlds of music and politics collide.

Manning the Smog skins for this show was Greg "Wiz" Wieczorek from Joseph Arthur's band, who also was the drummer for the Smoggers at their 2007 appearances. Wiz and Kraigy flew in at the last minute for the gig, just like real rock stars.

Oh yeah, it wasn't that hard to get in, despite all the "sold out" warnings. There were plenty of tickets being given away by those with extras and the "no ticket line" was shockingly short an hour before the doors opened. Everybody in that line got in once it was clear that there was room for them; i saw a fair number of empty seats up in the rafters right before Obama's speech started. The moral of the story: if you stay at home for a "sold out" event, there's 0% chance of getting in.

Here's the 4-1-1:

Golden Smog
Barack Obama Rally
Feb. 2, 2008
Target Center - Minneapolis, MN

Looking Forward To Seeing You
Glad and Sorry
To Call My Own
Love and Mercy
Beautiful Mind
Until You Came Along

Songs on the setlist that weren't played:

I Can't Keep From Talking
Corvette
Easy to be Hard
What's So Funny 'bout Peace, Love and Understanding (performed at soundcheck)
Revolution Blues

Band:

Gary Louris
Kraig Johnson
Marc Perlman
Dan Murphy
Jeff Tweedy
and
Greg Wiz on drums

The boys were originally slated for 45 minutes, but that got cut back. They were "hooked" right after UYCA which really sucked since the Nick Lowe and Neil covers were up next. How cool -- and appropriate -- would it have been to hear either/both of those in such a surreal setting?

"Let me take you down..."

2007-12-08T12:30:00.000-06:00

Where were you on December 8, 1980?
PD Larson shares his memories.

photo by David Refern

Curtiss A - photo by David DeYoung

I had just moved into the house i still live in today in NE Mpls and was sitting on a hand-me-down sectional couch i got from my grams -- the most hideous pink creation you could ever imagine; i think even she was glad to get rid of it -- watching Monday Night Football, just like zillions of other couch potatoes at the time. While watching the game, I was also casually going through some early notes for a story about The Replacements that eventually became the first major feature about them, a cover story in Sweet Potato, the predecessor to City Pages. My stoner roommate had just taken another hit from the bong when Cosell broke in with the news. I can still remember pretty much every detail of the moment -- the smell in the air, the look of my living room at the time, "shocking news from New York City..." coming across the tube. After hearing the news..."i heard the news today, oh boy"… well, i just sat there, stunned, devestated even.

The Beatles occupied a unique position in my world, and had since early 1964. Ever since those culture-shattering Ed Sullivan appearances in February 1964, i had been a resolute Beatles fan, a turn of events that quickly resulted in me becoming a fanatical music buff, an obsession that continues to this day. And once i figured out who was who in the Beatles, I became an unabashed "John guy." He was clearly the "smart one" and the "cool one" -- you could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. It's not like i didn't care about the other Beatles -- hell, they were the Fab Four -- but Lennon was the closest thing to a "hero" in my early days and things pretty much stayed that way through the ensuing years, even though the late 70s had seen Lennon fall almost completely off the cultural radar as he submerged into the joys of domesticity up on Central Park West.

After recovering from the shock of hearing the Lennon news on TV -- and, yes, it felt like a kick right to the gnads -- I headed downtown to First Ave. for no other reason than it seemed like the right thing to do, kinda like going to a rock 'n' roll "church." When i got down there, nothing was going on in the main room, so i made my way into the just opened 7th St. Entry annex next door. Curtiss A -- a local rising star at the time, then in his prime, also known as the "Dean of Scream" -- had gathered with some of his band members (including future Replacement Bob Dunlap; he didn't become "Slim" until Westerberg saddled him with that nickname several years later) and other various local musicians, including some of the Hypstrz. They basically just started playing a bunch of John songs -- a wholly spontaneous tribute. As the night progressed, more shell-shocked people continued to arrive and joined us in commiserating and drinking away the pain.

The following year, Curt reprised the tribute in the Entry and it's continued to this day through thick and thin. It's now become an "event" and routinely fills up the main room. Curt assembles a huge rock orchestra for this every year now and they not only play scads of John Beatle songs, they also play everything from the old rock 'n' roll standards that inspired John's songs all the way up to solo material from "Double Fantasy." And, since 2001, they also now include a set of George songs as well; this is a tribute, unfortunately, that will keep growing as the sands of time march on. The performances are always a blast, mixing joy and sorrow in equal measures. It's also become a major social BFD for many locals; it's kinda like a wake, holiday party & high school/family reunion all rolled into one. It's especially a treat to hear live versions of all the post-Revolver Beatles songs that were never performed live by the Fab Four themselves. Depending on the calendar and what's booked at the club, the show lasts anywhere from 3 to 4 hours. There was a particularly memorable outing a few years back at which Curt and company played for 4+ hours in the main room stage and then moved into the Entry when the regular weekend dance night thing started at 11. Once in the Entry, the festivities continued until 2 am, making for a 7.5 hour marathon. At one point the entire John Lennon Rock 'n' Roll covers album was played in order. Now that's what i call a f**king tribute!

So, tonight i'll be doing what i've been doing every single December 8th for the last 27 years. I don't see quite as many old friends as i used to, the club is under new management and i obviously have a pretty good idea of what to expect, but i honestly can't imagine being anywhere else on this date. I guess i'll be going as long as Curt and his friends keep doing it.

RIP John. RIP George.

"War is over, if you want it"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH-A7B1iyeI

http://www.citypages.com/cp25/pages/00181_030481.asp

http://www.first-avenue.com/Calendar/event_1426.aspx

http://www.vita.mn/event_detail.php?event_id=48130

http://www.howwastheshow.com/index.cfm/action/reviews.view/reviewKey/340

Recap: Sussed-tacular! @ The Varsity Theater - Minneapolis - Nov. 23, 2007

2007-12-03T22:29:00.000-06:00

The Sussed-tacular event at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis on Nov. 23 was a rousing success on every level. A nice crowd got to see some of the best music of the season. Ed Ackerson's world-class band (Marc Perlman, Peter Anderson, Eric Lovold, Tim Oesau) made the songs from Ed's new album really come alive, capped off by an invigorating reading of the Byrd's classic "5D" with friend Gary Louris chipping in. Everbody else on the bill brought their "A game," too: the psych-rock of the Strange Lights put everybody in the mood; Janey & Marc -- featuring an expanded line-up with John Eller on guitar and vox, Tim Oesau on keys and "Louie" on bass -- were sexy, sublime and awesome; the Mood Swings turned it up to 11 and kicked everybody's ass with their smokin' rock; and The Melismatics provided the perfect night cap with their well-oiled poprock offerings.

Here's a sampling from the first batch of pix:

janey & marc

mood swings

ed ackerson & band

finale w/The Melismatics

Mood Swings & Strange Lights rock Northeast Mpls

2007-12-02T18:22:00.000-06:00

Fresh on the heels of a smokin' Sussedtacular appearance, The Mood Swings crossed the Big Muddy last Friday and proceeded to rock the lastest NE Minneapolis "dive" bar to offer live music, Stasiu's Place. As always, the Mood Swingers looked as good as they sounded. Stasiu's -- sort of a Nordeast cousin to the Hexagon Bar and stumbling distance from other neighborhood landmarks like Grumpy's and Mayslack's -- proved to be a promising new music venue. The sound system was decent, the bar well stocked and the vibe was suitably cool.

The evening's festivites ended with the dramatic psych-trance of Strange Lights. This new band (sprung from the loins of Bridge Club and First Communion Afterparty) is definitely the sh*t; their druggy dronery is both exciting and intoxicating. Yeah, baby...

Here are a few pix...

mood swings

strange lights

Ed Ackerson in-store @ Electric Fetus - 11/20/07

2007-12-01T21:05:00.000-06:00

It's been an extraordinarly busy time for the 60>0 crew -- just starting to dig through the evidence of all the fine events that have taken place over the last few weeks.

Here a few pix from the 11/20/07 in-store appearance by Ed Ackerson and his band at The Electric Fetus store in Minneapolis. This was sort of a "coming out" party for the boys -- they were not only celebrating the release of Ed's superb new alb, but were tuning up for the big Sussed-tacular show a few nights later at the Varsity Theater. The band played for almost 45 minutes and offered up damn near the whole album! Not that it was any big surprise considering the talented line-up -- Peter Anderson - drums; Marc Perlman - bass; Eric Lovold (from the Alarmists) - guitar, vocals; Tim Oesau - keyboards -- but they sounded great, breathing life into these amazing new songs.

Sussed-tacular photo of the week at HowWasTheShow.com

2007-11-30T22:43:00.000-06:00

A dramatic shot of Ashley Ackerson from The Mood Swings performing at the recent Sussed-tacular shindig made the Photo of the Week at HowWasTheShow.com. Kudos to photog Sara Montour for the killer shot!

http://www.howwastheshow.com/index.cfm/action/potw.view/potwKey/110

More Sara Montour photos from the Sussed-tacular show are here

Latest Ed Ackerson news

2007-11-21T20:11:00.000-06:00

Ed and his band celebrated the release of his new album by playing a dynamite set last night at the Electric Fetus record store in Minneapolis. Several songs from the new album were played in anticipation of the big Sussed-tacular show this Friday at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis.

Ed and Eric Lovold (from The Alarmists and part of Ed's band for the Varsity show) recently recorded a whole bunch of acoustic versions of songs from Ed's new album. Two of these are featured in the November edition of the Howwastheshow.com Artists Series podcast. "Three Great Days" and "Wired Weird" are included in the podcast along with a great interview with HWTS honcho David DeYoung.

The on-line Reveille magazine has an article this week along with an exclusive acoustic version of "Flashes of Light," another unplugged Ed and Eric track. Click here for the article + song.

Ed Ackerson update

2007-11-10T17:09:00.001-06:00

A few recent dispatches from Susstones Central Command...

Ed Ackerson is streaming another song from his new album on his blog. "To the Contrary" is a luverly piece of self-reflection set to the classic, chiming sounds of a vintage Rickenbacker. Think Byrds circa Fifth Dimension. Love those "la la la la lalalas," too. And it sounds friggin' great blaring out of the car speakers. Contact the Current and tell them to play this hot track!
Ed and his backing band for the Sussedtacular show at the Varsity Theater on Nov. 23 will be performing live at the Electric Fetus store in Minneapolis on the day the album comes out. This should be awesome -- a nice little, intimate preview of the greatness that will occur a few days later at The Varsity. 7pm - Tuesday, November 20 - free. 2000 4th Ave. S (Franklin & 35W) - Minneapolis.

Stay tuned for continuing updates.

http://edackerson.com/blog/

http://www.susstones.com/mainwp/

http://varsitytheater.indietickets.com/events/IT_000004_11232007_18

Neil Young 2007 Chrome Dreams 2 tour -- quick recap

2007-11-06T22:06:00.000-06:00

48 hours until the Minneapolis show...

... even the slightest songs [on Harvest] are gratifying musically, and two of them are major indeed -- 'The Needle and the Damage Done' and the much- maligned (by feminists as well as those critics of the London Symphony Orchestra) 'A Man Needs A Maid.'
Robert Christgau

Neil has several shows under his belt now on his current tour, plus he performed 2 interesting sets at the Bridge School Benefit a coupla weekends ago that were chock full of songs from Chrome Dreams 2, including a few done up in the unique Acoustic Jam style that has become a frequent highlight for Neil at this annual event (who can forget the amazing 20 minute acoustic versions of "Change Your Mind" with Crazy Horse at the 1994 Bridge show?).

As the CD2 tour heads for the American heartland, the reviews -- as well as the buzz amongst the faithful -- have been very good, sometimes bordering on the ecstatic. The acoustic sets have, predictably, been extremely well-received and, after downloading a few of the early shows, i can see why. Aside from the considerable excitement generated by all of the gems being unearthed for this tour, the general caliber of the acoustic set as a whole is right up their with previous Neil acoustic outings, including the 1999 "gold standard." "Ambulance Blues" -- sung in a slightly lower register, is just absolutely breathtaking; i actually got choked up the first time i heard the recording of it from the Portland show such was its power. "Campaigner," "Journey Through the Past," "Harvest," "Mellow My Mind" … man, oh man, we're talking the real deal here, my friends. And how 'bout "A Man Needs a Maid" at the piano complete with the cheesy sounding vintage string synth? One of Neil's greatest, if not most misunderstood, compositions, "AMNAM" has finally been restored to a position of prominence after a shocking, almost inexplicable 3 decade long absence from the setlists. For this tour, Neil has masterfully captured the lonely beauty of this heartbreaking song; there's no doubt that this will be remembered as a highlight of a tour with no shortage of highlights.

To me, the electric sets haven't been as chill-inducing as the acoustic sets, but that doesn't mean they're any less thrilling. God love Crazy Horse -- and who doesn't? -- but it's immediately evident after about 30 seconds of "The Loner," that you're gonna be in for a different kind of electric ride. The patented Crazy Horse "primal drone" stomp is nowhere to be found, despite the fact that Molina is manning the skins. After listening to a few songs, i started thinking of the 1973 Time Fades Away tour as a reference point.

All of the CD2 material has been in the electric sets so far and this undoubtedly will not curry favor amongst many "fans" who've spent big $$$ for their tickets and feel almost entitled to hear RAWK versions of the "classics." The undisputed highlight so far of the new material has been the long, jammy reading of "No Hidden Path" which finds this new band firing on all cylinders. Sounds pretty "classic" to me -- and a good sign that some of the newer material will grow legs as the tour progresses.

The biggest left-field electric pleasure for me has been the versions of Don Gibson's "Oh, Lonesome Me" that are being offered up. A truly unexpected delight -- beautifully sung and played. Simply marvelous. And missing waaaay too long from the setlist -- damn near 40 years.

Speaking of setlists, the running order so far has been a bit more static than i initially would've thought, but i don't think that will be much of a problem unless you're booked to see more than a few shows (and who the hell could afford that??). "Tonight's the Night" has been the usual closer, with "Like a Hurricane" rotated in a few times. I still haven't seen a confirmed setlist for the second night in LA (?!) but "Cortez" reportedly was played as the encore closer. Gotta get plenty of those "classics" in, doncha know...

And, much more significantly, "Love in Mind" supposedly was played in the first set at LA #2. Now that would be some news, perfectly in line with the archaeological motivations evidently behind this tour. One of my all time fave Neil songs (a claim Mpls rocker Kraig Johnson of Jayhawks, Golden Smog fame would also make), this absolutely gorgeous song was a highlight of the 1971 solo tour, Neil's first extended foray on his own and the first time most of the world was exposed to the power of Neil Solo. "Love in Mind" was played 18 times on that tour plus once more at the very beginning of the early 1973 tour that was eventually documented on the Time Fades Away live album. And then...nada. Strangely -- for everyone but maybe Neil -- "Love in Mind" is one of two recordings on TFA that aren't from the tour of the same name. The TFA version of "Love in Mind" is actually from the 71 solo tour, its only official release (for you trainspotters, this "Love in Mind" came from the 1/30/71 performance at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus, a recording that also yielded the version of "The Needle and the Damage Done" found on Harvest as well as the other non-73 track on TFA, "Journey Through the Past"). Unfortunately, Time Fades Away still hasn't been released on CD, a sad situation that, again, is all too typical in Neil World. After all, here's a guy who didn't release 4 of his albums, aka "The Missing Four," on CD until just a few years ago. The fact that one of those missing albums was On the Beach, indisputably one of his best releases, is one of the most perverse examples of artistic stubbornness i can think of in the entire history of Rock. Neil is certainly a man of principles -- that much i'll give him. As frustrating as his uncompromising nature can be for the fans, can you imagine having to work with him? :-)

I normally don't like to yell requests out at shows like this -- lord knows, there are plenty of mooks out there who will be -- but if there's even a chance that Neil would play "Love in Mind," i might have to let my inner freak flag fly. Apologies in advance...

See ya in the trenches.

3 new Ed Ackerson songs now streaming!

2007-10-30T16:41:00.000-06:00

Three songs from the upcoming Ed Ackerson solo album are now streaming on his blog.

Wired Weird" and "Little White Lie" -- two hooky pieces of pop perfection -- are joined by "Waste of Time," a beautiful, moody soundscape that suggests what Paul Simon might have sounded like circa 1985 if he had gone to Manchester for inspiration instead of Soweto.

In other "Ed news"…

The backing band for Ed's set at the upcoming Sussed-tacular extravaganza at the Varsity theater in Mpls on Nov. 23 will be:

Peter Anderson - drums
Marc Perlman - bass
Tim Oesau - keyboards

and special guest Eric Lovold from The Alarmists on guitar and vocals.

Ed reports that initial rehearsals with Eric have been excellent and that all systems are GO for the Varsity show.

Also, speaking of the Varsity show, Strange Lights have been added to the bill. This new Minneapolis band -- a love child of freak-rock bands Bridge Club and First Communion After Party -- meld the transportive power of Spiritualized or the Verve with the teeth of vintage MC5 or Hawkwind.

Strange Lights on myspace

Buy tickets for Sussed-tacular @ The Varsity Theater - Minneapolis - Nov. 23

Neil Young opens 2007 Chrome Dreams 2 tour in Boise

2007-10-19T12:15:00.000-05:00

Tour opener stuns hard-core fans!

(photo courtesy of Shawn Raecke - Idaho Statesman)

First off, take a look at the f***ing setlist!

(courtesy of Tom Hambleton, whose Sugar Mountain setlist site is an invaluable resource)

Neil Young
10-18-2007
Velma V. Morrison Center For The Performing Arts
Boise, Idaho

solo set
1. From Hank To Hendrix (acoustic guitar)
2. Ambulance Blues (acoustic guitar)
3. Sad Movies (acoustic guitar)
4. A Man Needs A Maid (piano/ '76 style synth) w/ Like A Hurricane tease near the start
5. No One Seems To Know (piano)
6. Harvest (acoustic guitar)
7. Campaigner (acoustic guitar)
8. Journey Through The Past (grand piano)
9. Mellow My Mind (guitjo)
10. Love Art Blues (acoustic guitar)
11. Love Is A Rose (acoustic guitar)
12. Heart Of Gold (acoustic guitar)

band set
13. The Loner (gold top Ben pedal)
14. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (old Black)
15. Dirty Old Man (Les Paul Jr ? - not Hagstrom, Ben organ?)
16. Spirit Road (Les Paul Jr ?)
17. Bad Fog Of Loneliness (White Falcon)
18. Winterlong (White Falcon)
19. Oh, Lonesome Me (acoustic guitar, Ben pedal)
20. The Believer (acoustic guitar, Ben pedal)
21. No Hidden Path (old Black, Ben guitar)

encore:
22. Cinnamon Girl (old Black, Ben guitar)
23. Tonight's The Night (grand piano, Ben lap steel)

Neil Young - guitar, guitjo, harmonica, piano, vocals
Rick Rosas - bass
Ben Keith - pedal steel, lap steel, guitar, organ, background vocals
Ralph Molina - drums, background vocals
Pegi Young - background vocals some songs, percussion (?)
Anthony Crawford - background vocals some songs, piano(?)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unbelievable!

A few random first impressions...

3 unreleased songs in the first set alone + one more in the second set (if you don't count live dvds).
• "Sad Movies" has only been played 5 times ever (including one aborted attempt) -- and that was 31.5 years ago during a memorable Crazy Horse tour of Europe and the UK.
• "Love Art Blues," an eminently fetching song from the legendary Homegrown lost album," was played a few times in 74 with CSNY and a couple of times solo in 92 (including a show for the ages i was lucky enough to catch in mpls).
• "No One Seems to Know" - a poignant, minor key piano ballad, aka "Once I Was in Love," that finds Neil at his most melancholy -- has been played live over 30 times in 3 of the last 4 decades but has never found its way on to an album.
• "Bad Fog of Loneliness" -- long a fan fave -- dates back to 69 and was recorded for at least two studio albs, including an early version of Tonights the Night, but never made the final cut for anything. It was played several times in 70/71 and then went into deep freeze until it shocked fans at handful of spring 89 shows with The Restless. It didn't show up again until it became a staple on the 2000 "Friends and Relatives" tour (a nice DVD document of that tour, Red Rocks Live, features a version of BFOL, it's only official release).
Other than a one-off on the 99 solo tour, "Harvest" hasn't been played since the 70s.

Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me" hasn't been played since 1970 (there's an unconfirmed report that it was played when Neil made a surprise appearance at a Bushwalla show in Nashville in August 2005, the night after his two night stand at the Ryman to record the Heart of Gold film).
Acoustic "Campaigner" -- don't think that's happened since 76. [edit - there were 3 acoustic performances on the 2003 European Greendale tour]

Not sure off the top of my head, but the last time "Maid" was played might also be 76.

"Winterlong," "Journey Through the Past," "The Loner," "Ambulance Blues" -- any one of these would make a Neil concert special for me.

4 songs from the new album -- all in the electric set. "No Hidden Path" was reportedly 15 minutes of vintage Crazy Horse-ish jam bliss.

Serious music fans are prone to hyperbole when things like this happen -- especially at the very beginning of a tour -- but if you're among the devout, it's pretty hard not to get excited about this. In the aftermath of the news about the Boisie lid-lifter -- which started with on-the-scene smart phone reports minutes after the show started...ahh, technology -- normally reserved "Rusties" on the "Rust List" were pretty much acting like the kind of crazed nutjobs you'd find on a Ryan Adams fan board. "This tour is for us," sputtered one fan, clearly on the verge of a trip to the ER. While that seems a bit, uh, much, you can't ignore the fact that Neil played a bunch of songs that a good chunk of the audience -- including most "serious" fans -- have never even heard of, let alone heard. Previous to this tour, "Sad Movies" had been played at 4 shows. In Europe. In early 1976. I've been a "Neil Nut" since 1970 and it took me almost 2 decades before i tracked down a dodgy cassette copy of a live show with this song (which, btw, is beautiful and haunting, a close cousin of many other "downer" unreleased songs from this era like "No One Seems to Know" and "Give Me Strength"). Over the years, serious Neil Heads have been known to complain about "stagnant" setlists and the lack of "bombshells" (in all fairness, almost every tour Neil's ever done has featured at least a few surprises -- the 2003 European Greendale tour being the most recent example of a tour with many heart-stopping unexpected delights). With only one show in the books so far, i predict that you won't be hearing too many of those kind of complaints in the coming weeks.

It'll be very interesting to see what else Neil will dredge up as this tour unfolds, especially since Neil is no stranger to left turns and defying expectations. Neil is likely travelling on this tour with the "big book" -- a massive, custom-made songbook with "all" of his songs & lyrics in alphabetical order, reportedly made by his archivist, Joel Bernstein. During a stop in Oakland during the amazing 1999 solo tour of the US, Neil was thumbing through the "book" and came across "Kansas," a song that was supposedly recorded in the mid-70s and was mentioned exactly one time in an old interview. There had been no "leaks" of the studio version and it had never been performed live. In other words, there were only a handful of people in the world even aware of the song's existence. As Neil was looking for "Kinda Fonda Wanda" (yes, somebody actually yelled that out at a solo Neil show), he mentioned something about "here's one nobody's ever heard," some punter predictably yelled "PLAY IT," and before ya know it, Neil did just that, offering up a haunting, abstract little sketch of a song that seemingly had absolutely nothing to do with the state referenced in the title. He was sufficently interested to play "Kansas"again 3 nights later in LA and then...back into the "vault."

Neil even has a sense of humor about his long-delayed archival releases. A few years ago, there was a 60 second video feature on Neil's official website courtesy of "Bernard Shakey" (Neil's nom de film). This short clip featured a through-the-lens tour of the actual archives -- the camera slowly went up and down the aisles, pausing every now and then to zoom in on shelves full of neatly arranged tapes. Just reading the info on the tape boxes was enough to cause irregular heartbeats for most serious fans. There were professional recordings of seemingly every live show he'd ever done. There were cryptic references aplenty scrawled on tapes and shelf markers (song titles? lost albums?) that Neil-ologists are still trying to decipher. There was about a 6 foot chunk of shelf space devoted to just the Tonight's the Night sessions (heart be still!). The camera even zoomed in on a book on a work table that turned out to be Ghosts on the Road, a fan-produced setist compendium/concert history devoted to Neil's long career. And the real zinger? The soundtrack to this short was, you guessed it, an unreleased song -- in this case, "Vacancy," yet another song that has never been heard by anyone outside Neil's inner circle. Neil has been torturing his fans ever since the admittedly superb Decades comp back in 1976 (Lucky 13 is barely worth a mention in this discussion) and here he is after 40 years of recording and a flippin' warehouse full of treasures...needling the faithful some more! Ha ha -- what a fricking comedian.

The time Neil has been spent in recent years trolling through his back pages has undoubtedly had an impact on him; it seems highly unlikely that he dusted off these obscure gems in Boise by accident. The alleged archival releases that are "coming soon" (really, they are!! - a claim that has been made numerous times over the last few decades) are the likely culprit, but with Neil, you never know. He's no doubt been wrestling with a lot of big picture stuff lately, not the least being his relationship with his fans, not to mention his own legacy. Maybe he really is throwing the fans a "bone" or maybe he's been assembling tracklistings for the reissues or maybe he just felt like doing something a bit out of the ordinary (not Neil?!). Whatever the reason, this tour is indeed shaping up to be something special -- if not extraordinay -- for Rusties far and wide.

I've got tickets for one show; if this keeps up, i might have to dip into my 401-K.

Boise review

Sussed-tacular! @ The Varsity Theater - Minneapolis - Nov. 23, 2007

2007-10-14T10:53:00.000-05:00

there's no way this isn't going to be epic!

CD release party for the new Ed Ackerson solo album + much, much more

Tickets are now available for what will surely be one of the coolest shows of the Fall:

SUSSEDTACULAR! AT THE VARSITY
Friday - November 23, 2007
Varsity Theater - Minneapolis

featuring...
Ed Ackerson (of Polara) celebrating the release of his new solo album on Susstones

with very very special guests

The Melismatics
The Mood Swings
Janey & Marc (Janey Winterbauer & Marc Perlman)
Strange Lights (new band from members of Bridge Club and First Communion After Party)
Susstones Omniphonic Orchestra
plus

DJ The Guv'nor spinning a cornucopia of Scrumptious Sounds and deep Black Friday grooves
and
other stuff that shall remain nameless for now...

Varsity Theater calendar

Another new Janey & Marc track

2007-10-12T10:54:00.000-05:00

(photo courtesy of Tony Nelson)

A new track popped up on the Janey & Marc myspace page last week -- "Beautiful Day." Astute trainspotters may recognize this title. A version was recorded for the recent Golden Smog album, Another Fine Day, but didn't make the cut (another Perlman composition, "Cure For This," is one of the highlights of that woefully underrated/misunderstood record). And a rare live version was performed at the supergroovy Polara Guest Sessions gig almost exactly 2 years ago in St. Paul.

It was also performed last week at a Mad Ripple Hootenanny session in Minneapolis, along with other recent J&M gems. Perly even was cajoled into singing an old Only Ones classic, "Even Serpents Shine."

"Beautiful Day" is a most, er, beautiful song -- another winner from this monumentally talented duo. World domination awaits...

Golden Smog in St. Paul - 9/21/07

2007-10-10T17:37:00.000-05:00

Here are some better late than never pix from the most recent Golden Smog show in St. Paul.

The Smog played a compact, 75 minute "festival set" that, while not quite up to the standards of their last show in Waseca, was still very enjoyable. It was thrilling to hear another beautiful rendition of "Cure For This" as a picture-perfect sunset played out in the background. "Beautiful Mind" was also top notch; this epic track has become a centerpiece of Smog sets these days. No big surprises other than the fact that the boys "jammed" a bit on a few songs, an almost perverse little bit of stubborness in a shortened set setting. In other words, another classic "Smog Moment."

The lineup was the same as the Waseca show: Tweedy-less + the more than able assistance of world-class utility player Fil Krohnengold, vocalist extraordinaire Janey Winterbauer and the superstar himself, Greg Wiz.

The sound was a bit sketchy and there was persistent, very annoying feedback throughout the set (and much of Soul Asylum's as well). The general setup for the festival in Harriet Park was fine, with two stages on either end of the park providing overlapping, constant music throughout the evening. The attendance was "decent" -- maybe a couple of thousand -- for a fall outdoor music fest in Minnesota, although it was a drop in the bucket compared to the huge throngs that show up for Taste of Minnesota in July. From a comfort perspective, low attendance is very much a good thing although i'm not sure the promoters for this would agree!

Golden Smog
Minnesota Music Festival - Harriet Island
Saint Paul, MN, USA
September 21st, 2007

1. Looking Forward To Seeing You
2. Ill Fated
3. Beautiful Mind
4. V
5. Starman
6. To Call My Own
7. If I Only Had A Car
8. Frying Pan Eyes
9. Cure For This (Janey Winterbauer on lead vocals, Perlman on lead guitar)
10. Won't Be Coming Home
11. You Make It Easy
12. Corvette
13. Until You Came Along

lineup
Gary Louris - guitar/vocals
Dan Murphy - guitar/vocals
Kraig Johnson - guitar/vocals/bass
Marc Perlman - bass/guitar/vocals
Fil Krohnengold - keyboards/guitar
Greg Wiz - drums

Ackerson and Prenzlow announce new joint venture

2007-09-20T18:46:00.000-05:00

Surprise Rock 'n' Roll nupitals!

Ed Ackerson (Susstones poobah, Polara mainman, producer extraordinaire and Twin Cities music scene guiding light for almost 25 years) and Ashley Prenzlow (formerly of The Meg and Basement Apartment; currently rockin' with Susstones' sensations, The Mood Swings) were married on Friday in a private ceremony in Minneapolis. Technically, I guess, they "eloped" -- if driving a few minutes to the courthouse in downtown Minneapolis can be described as "eloping." :-) Even though they've been engaged since last Christmas, many of their close friends were nonetheless a bit taken aback by their entry into a state of "rock-a-mony."

The wedding announcements consisted of a mass text mail message sent out early Friday evening:

Ed and I officially tied the knot today!!!

and an e-mail with the following subject line:

We got married!

Not the kind of thing you normally expect to see in your inbox or cell phone!

An "informal" reception was held later Friday night at JPs in the Lyn-Lake neighborhood of South Minneapolis, and later spilled around the corner to the Bryant Lake Bowl, the unofficial "clubhouse" for the Susstones gang. The entire Golden Smog entourage + members of Soul Asylum -- fresh from a gig across the river in St. Paul -- and many friends joined in celebrating the blessed event with the esctatic couple -- Ashley was a vision of loveliness, glowing and radiant, while Ed was smiling so much that some feared he may need reconstructive facial surgery to get things back to normal.

We at 60>0 wish Ed and Ashley all the best. Love & kisses, long may you run and rock on!

Smog Alert

2007-09-20T18:11:00.000-05:00

Golden Smog set to play festival in St. Paul

live in Waseca - 6/9/07

The Golden Smog posse has been in town all week, rehearsing and getting ready for their show tomorrow nite on the river flats in downtown St. Paul.

The line-up will be the same as the one used for their last very memorable appearance in Waseca earlier this summer:

Gary Louris
Kraig Johnson
Dan Murphy
Marc Perlman

with able assistance from
Greg Wiz on drums
Fil Krohnengold on keys and guitar
Janey Winterbauer on vocals

This will be their second appearance of 2007. God knows when we'll see them in action again.

If the weather cooperates, this should be a fun nite. Golden Smog is slated to play for about an hour or so, going on at 7:15. They're next to last on the main stage, right before Soul Asylum.

Update from Gary Louris

2007-09-18T07:57:00.000-05:00

Another update from Gary Louris, courtesy of the Jayhawks Fanpage. Lots of interesting tidbits, including news that the long lost Jayhawks live album may still see the light of day! With Gary's solo album, the highly anticipated Olson/Louris album, the "Bunkhouse" album reissue (speaking of long lost), solo and/or duo touring, and maybe some archival Smog stuff, 2008 could be a banner year for Jayhawks/Golden Smog fans.

It was decided to wait until late January for the release of my solo
record. With the climate of the music business and the fact that I
am not a household name it was deemed best to give my record it's best
shot by not trying to compete against all the big boys in late
Fall/X-mas. And because of other mitigating circumstances it was
just the best for the record to wait, even though I always swore I
wouldn't hold a record....

I am still very excited about the Olson/Louris record and can't wait to get
that out too, but again it will have to wait until a few months after my
record. Mark and I have been talking and we are both ready,willing and able
to tour together on that release. Again, as one of my least favorite
artists once said: "The waiting is the hardest part."

I have also been told that the multi-tracks of the proposed Jayhawks
live record have finally been released by Rick Rubin to the people at
Lost Highway.. These need to be looked at again and remixed for a
possible summer release. There is also the usual talk of the first
(Bunkhouse) record being released in conjunction with the live one.
On top of that I have found that a respected filmmaker/friend of the
band's has a ton of old Jayhawks film footage dating back to '86 so I
am hoping we will be able to get some of that on one of these
releases....

There is also the plan to release a "greatest hits" and odds and ends
disc of Golden Smog by Rhino next year. So you can see there are
a lot of "plans".... now we need to get them out there and in
your hands... I know it is the usual waiting game but I am doing
everything I can to push it along....

In the meantime...get everyone and their uncle out to see Mark Olson
as his record is amazing and the band is fantastic...

Sincerely,
Gary

Neil Young's new album + tour

2007-09-17T21:38:00.000-05:00

Chrome Dreams II - a sequel to a legendary "lost" album

Neil Young has always been full of surprises, a trait that seems to be gaining momentum as he enters his "golden years" (who could've figured that he'd release something as "out there" as Living With War...and let's not forgot about Greendale, his rock opera social commentary roadshow). There's rarely a dull moment in "Neil World," and 2007 is looking to be another innaresting year for Neil fans far and wide.

For lots of reasons -- not the least that his inner circle has been with him for decades and has fewer leaks than the Freemasons -- news about forthcoming Neil projects has always been carefully controlled. Since Neil has been relatively quiet since the last CSNY tour in 2006, rumors, understandably, have been picking up steam lately. The last hot one making the rounds a few months ago concerned a possible tour with Crazy Horse, MIA from the stage since the 2003/4 Greendale tours (and those were only "partial" shows, basically the encore after the Greendale performance).

Then, with no warning, news of a new Neil album leaked a few weeks ago. The confusing title probably meant little to the general public, but it sure sent shockwaves through the international "Rustie" community since it clearly referenced a legendary "lost" Young album from the mid 70s.

Within days more info leaked, including a tracklisting, lyrics and credits (the lyrics and credits were soon removed in short order from a Neil Young fan site, likely by request of the powers that be).

Three of the titles were immediately recognizable to astute Rusties; interestingly, they were the first three tracks (no info has surfaced on the rest of the album yet). News of familiar titles on a new Neil album isn't even really news anymore; it's a pattern he's followed for almost forever. Almost every Neil album has at least one "old" song that has been resurrected from the archives. In some cases, the gestation period can be measured in decades. This guy is a serious "woodshedder."

Still, the initial reports of the CD2 tracklisting -- familiar titles or not -- caused something of a furor in the NY fan universe. This was largely due to the long-awaited release of "Ordinary People," an epic track that has always been one of the most popular unreleased songs amongst fans, even though there are only a handful of extant live recordings of concerts from the late 1980s in circulation that feature this amazing song. Debate raged back and forth about whether it was a "new" recording, an old recording or some combination of the two (Neil has a long history of using live recordings as a basis for hybrid studio creations -- a good chunk of perhaps his greatest album, Rust Never Sleeps, was created this way). The leaked liner notes seemed to confirm that the version of "OP" on CD2 is, at least partially, from the 80s, although the debate of whether there has been recent "additions" continues unabated. Since an advance of "OP" was leaked to certain radio stations (WXPN for one) as well as Rolling Stone.com, fans have been able to examine "OP" in all of the detail that a MP3 stream will allow. The early consensus seems to be that the basic track was likely recorded at Neil's ranch in mid-88, months before the fall Bluenotes tour where it was debuted to the public. Curiously, the verse order (there are of 9 long ones!) of the CD2 version is jumbled compared to the live versions, a source of yet even more debate.

Here are some initial notes from a "Neilologist" acquaintance concerning the known titles on CD2:

Ordinary People -- easily one of the top 2 or 3 unreleased Neil songs circulating amongst fans. About a dozen luminary performances with The Bluenotes in late 88, an era that also saw the debut of the original 20 minute, 11 verse "Sixty to Zero" before it was whittled down to a more manageable length and released as "Crime in the City" on "Freedom." Also a couple of solo acoustic performances in April 1989 during a tour of Australia with The Lost Dogs.

Boxcar - originally intended for "Times Square," yet another lost Neil alb that eventually turned into "Freedom" and the "Eldorado" EP (IOW, a lost song from a lost album being released on an album named after another lost album). Performed solo electric a coupla times at the tail end of the last Bluenotes tour in 88 and a bunch of times in early 89 with Neil & The Restless.

Beautiful Bluebird -- recorded in Nashville 83/84. Purdy little country ballad. No known live performances, although a studio version showed up on a bootleg with several other outtakes from the same era.

At this time, there are no solid theories on just why Neil would name a new album after something that he didn't see fit to release the first time. John Mulvey, a UK reviewer for Uncut, who's heard CD2, sums it up quite nicely:

"I’ve heard “Chrome Dreams II” now, and I’m broadly struggling to see its connection to the first mythical set. In some ways, it’s a kind of reverse: if “Chrome Dreams” was a collection of great Neil songs that were subsequently dispersed across various disparate albums, “Chrome Dreams II” in part seems to be a collection of disparate, mainly great Neil songs that have been gathered together, somewhat belatedly."

Chrome Dreams 2 tracklisting

1. Beautiful Bluebird 3:30
2. Boxcar 3:15
3. Ordinary People 18:13
4. Shining Light 4:33
5. The Believer 2:38
6. Spirit Road 5:01
7. Dirty Old Man 2:52
8. Ever After 3:32
9. No Hidden Path 11:31
10. The Way 5:15

Fall US tour dates

October 18 Boise, ID Morrison Center
October 20 Spokane, WA Opera House
October 22 Portland, OR Keller Theater
October 23 Seattle, WA WaMu Center
October 30 Los Angeles, CA Nokia Live
November 5 Denver, CO Wells Fargo Theatre
November 8 Minneapolis, MO Northrop Auditorium
November 10 Detroit, MI Fox Theater
November 12 Chicago, IL Chicago Theater
November 13 Chicago, IL Chicago Theater
November 15 Washington, DC Constitution Hall
November 18 St. Louis, MO Fox Theater
November 26 Toronto, ON Massey Hall
November 27 Toronto, ON Massey Hall
December 2 Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre
December 3 Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre
December 5 Wallingford, CT Oakdale Theater
December 9 Philadelphia, PA Tower Theater
December 12 New York, NY United Palace
December 13 New York, NY United Palace

"Janey and Marc" -- the first studio tracks!

2007-09-09T16:47:00.000-05:00

Minneapolis duo unleash their bittersweet sound on the world

("The Kingfield Trio" - Ed Ackerson, Janey Winterbauer, Marc Perlman -
6/22/07 @ 400 Bar, Mpls)

"Janey and Marc" -- aka Marc Perlman and Janey Winterbauer, aka one of the best kept secrets in the Minnesota music scene over the last year -- now have a myspace page up and running after months of furtive activity and under-the-radar live appearances. And, best of all, they've put up four songs; now the world at large can finally hear what the buzz is all about -- beautiful singing, lovely songs and world-class production. Early feedback from a Jayhawks fan site was overwhelmingly positive, along the lines of "wow, where can i buy this?"

Perlman has been working on a "solo project" for...well, let's just say it's been in the works for a long time. Hooking up with Winterbauer (who also sings with Astronaut Wife, Susstones' groovy merchants of electro-cool) and her prodigous vocal talents a few years ago seems to have kick-started this long simmering project to the next level. This launch is an encouraging sign that something solid is getting closer to the light of day.

The last few years have certainly been interesting times for fans of Perlman's former group, the beloved Jayhawks. Tim O'Reagan, Mark Olson and Gary Louris have all been involved in various studio and live projects -- a flurry of activity that is presently ongoing. Hopefully, the coming months will allow ample opportunities for Perlman's light to shine as well. The lucky few who have seen the "Janey & Marc" show and/or "The Kingfield Trio" know just how special this combination of talent is. Now it looks like the rest of the world will soon be able to join in on the party, too.

janey and marc myspace

David Poe gets ready to get his rock on

2007-09-09T16:27:00.000-05:00

David Poe's much rumored, long planned "rock project" with friend Duncan Sheik and company is ready to launch. Again. The new band -- also featuring Matt Johnson, Morgan Taylor and the mighty Fil Krohnengold -- will be playing "under the tent" in NYC next week, down by the river at the South St. Seaport.

Gig info:
Wednesday, September 12
New York City
Spiegeltent @ South St. Seaport
outdoors under the tent by Pier 17 • 11 pm

Tix: ticketcentral

This should be awesome. Stay tuned for more info and previews.

Neil Young's Chrome Dreams - a true lost classic

2007-09-08T14:57:00.000-05:00

With all the hoopla concerning Neil Young's new Chrome Dreams 2 album, it's probably a good time to look at just what Chrome Dreams 1 was/is.

Noted writer/historian Clinton Heylin once referred to Neil Young as the "king of lost albums." And he wasn't exaggerating. Throughout the years, Young as shelved one proposed album after another for a variety of reasons, usually related to his own restless creative spirit and spontaneous work habits.

A list of known Young "lost" albums includes a series of non-releases dating back almost 40 years:

a 1970 double live album featuring solo and Crazy Horse recordings from the Cellar Door in DC and Carnegie Hall and the Fillmore East in NYC

several early versions of Tonight's the Night

Times Square -- a late 80s project that eventually morphed into Freedom and the Eldorado EP

Odeon Budokan, a 1976 live Crazy Horse Album culled from shows in Japan and the UK, documenting the band at what many consider to be their peak

Islands in the Sun and alternate versions of Trans, both from the early 80s

various versions of Old Ways

This Note's For You Too -- a double live album featuring the Bluenotes - the follow-up to the This Note's For You studio album. This would've been especially interesting for a couple of reasons. First, The Bluenotes were a smokin' live band that were woefully misunderstood by many fans and critics. Second, the Bluenotes studio album gives only a scant picture of this interesting chapter in Neil's career. Finally, the Bluenotes period (87-88) proved to be an exceptionally prolific times for Neil. By the time it ended, Neil and the Bluenotes had performed almost 20 new songs, including several that never were released on any studio album (a few of these were R&B-ish numbers that Neil had written back in the early 60s in Winnipeg when he was playing in local bands like The Squires). TNFY2 was going to feature many of these as well as other key performances from the period. The non-release of TNFY2 left a gaping hole in Neil's creative lineage, one that hopefully will be rectified if and when his long-delayed archival compilations are released.

and perhaps the most famous example of them all, the legendary Homegrown album.

And then there's Chrome Dreams...version #1...the "original" version. First mentioned in a late 1976 Rolling Stone article, CD1 was slated to be the first album of original material following Zuma. A career retrospective, Decades, was also scheduled for release around the same time. As it turned out, the next Neil release was a collection of new studio material, but it was called American Stars 'n' Bars, not Chrome Dreams. Interestingly, a good chunk of Chrome Dreams did in fact show up on ASB, but it also featured songs that were eventually released on other albums: Comes a Time, Rust Never Sleeps, Hawks and Doves and even Freedom (well over a decade later!).

Here's the proposed lineup for Chrome Dreams 1, and the eventual disposition of the various tracks:

Side One
"Pocahontas" – 3:24 (solo acoustic version -- this track + overdubs released on Rust Never Sleeps)

"Will to Love" – 7:11 (same as American Stars 'n' Bars version)

"Star of Bethlehem" – 2:42 (same as Decades version)

"Like a Hurricane" – 8:14 (same as American Stars 'n' Bars version)

"Too Far Gone" – 2:41 (alternate version recorded 75 or 76 - still unreleased; different than version on Freedom)

Side Two
"Hold Back the Tears" – 5:16 (alternate version - still unreleased)

"Homegrown" – 2:20 (alternate mix of American Stars 'n' Bars version)

"Captain Kennedy" – 2:55 (same as Hawks and Doves version)

"Stringman" – 3:32 (basic track from 3-31-76 Hammersmith Odeon + later studio overdubs - still unreleased although a live version was released on Unplugged)

"Sedan Delivery" – 5:22 (alternate version - still unreleased)

"Powderfinger" – 3:23 (alternate version - still unreleased)

"Look Out for My Love" – 4:06 (same as Comes a Time version)

After years of rumors, reports of the elusive Chrome Dreams acetate surfacing were finally confirmed in the early 90s. Not surprisingly, two bootleg CDs soon followed, one sporting the complete acetate (plus, oddly enough, some uncredited, unrelated live 1977 tracks) and another featuring the unreleased CD tracks intermingled with live versions of the songs that were the same as the released versions (the big news with this second boot was the inclusion of a previously uncirculated studio outtake from the same era: "River of Pride," an early version of "White Line," a song that showed up in a few 75/76 setlists and was eventually released on Freedom 12 years later).

Needless to say, this was a shocking event in the Neil Young fan world, especially since unreleased Neil studio tracks, let alone entire albums, are as rare as hens teeth. Of the unreleased versions on CD, there were three fairly huge shockers:

the jazzed-up "Stringman," a rarely performed song of considerable power and beauty that always held a special place amongst the faithful
the beautiful acoustic version of "Powderfinger," almost demo-like in its sonic simplicity but still able to evoke an almost unbelievable degree of weariness and metaphysical dread. Positively devastating. Rumors persist that this is also the version that Neil sent to Lynyrd Skynyrd as a possible cover choice, belying the supposed "feud" between the parties that dated back to "Sweet Home Alabama" (FWIW, in late 77, after the terrible Skynyrd plane crash, Neil performed a fragment of "Sweet Home Alabama" at a Miami concert)
an amazing slow version of "Sedan Delivery" that is night-and-day different from the almost punk-like RNS version released at the height of the late 70s Punk revolution. This "power swing" version is almost grunge-like in its deliberate intensity -- if you're looking for the roots of Neil's reputation as the "godfather of grunge," look no further than this mindblowing track

Judging from the tracklisting alone, it's easy to say -- especially in retrospect -- that Chrome Dreams would've been one hell of an album had it been released in its intended form, likely even a "classic." Thanks to some resourceful collectors and bootleggers, this is one "lost" album that managed to see the light of day.

Now what else does Neil have lying around in his "reject pile"?

Chrome Dreams 1 article

bogus track info sheet included with a bootleg of Chrome Dreams

acetate label

Uncomplicated fun at the Minnesota State Fair -- The Suicide Commandos rise from the dustbin of history

2007-09-05T19:24:00.000-05:00

The Minnesota State Fair is well known for lots of things – people watching, livestock, tons o’ food on a stick and a bunch of other stuff usually associated with these kind of events. Unfortunately, live music has never been one of the MSF’s strong suits, despite being located smack dab in the middle of the Land of 10000 bands. The big headliners tend to be mostly C/W or washed up 70s dinosaurs. Sure, there's the occasional cool surprise at some side stage, but, for the most part, the part of Minnesota that encompasses rock, pop, indie, etc. is poorly represented.

So, it was more than a little shocking to see that 70s punk pioneers The Suicide Commandos were announced as an opening act for a Joan Jett/Fountains of Wayne show in the Grandstand (newly refurbished, BTW, and pretty much kick ass). It was even more shocking when Ms. Jett cancelled and the promoters decided to continue on with underbill as a free show. Since i usually go to the Fair a coupla times anyways, it was an absolute no-brainer to make sure one of those visits coincided with the nite the Commandos were doing their thing.

On a picture perfect nite, Dave, Steve and Chris performed together for the first time since who knows when. I remember they played the now defunct and missed Lyndale Block Party several years ago, but i don't remember another show in the interim (not counting a surprise encore at the 331 Club in NE Mpls the Wednesday before the Fair during a Steve Almaas solo set). Don't have a setlist, but they played damn near every thing you wanted to hear and then some (including their always excellent chosen covers). They were a tad rusty at first, but in short order their trademark sound was in full effect, filling the night air with equal parts nostalgia and pure joy.

Aside from the music and the sheer thrill of hearing these guys play again, the coolest thing was the crowd. To say that there were lots of old, familiar faces in attendance is the understatement of the year. It was like a block party, wedding, funeral and high school reunion all rolled into one. Along with numerous familiar faces were tons of people that i hadn't thought about in decades but instantly recognized and remembered. 'twas a truly mind-blowing experience, one i won't soon forget.

I can't remember the last time i had so much fun music-wise at the Fair. There were a couple of great free Los Lobos shows a few years ago, a couple of free Iffy shows a few years before that, and then you'd probably have to back to the New York Dolls playing the "Teen Pavilion" back in 1974. :-)

Viva le Commandos!

crop art on display at the fair

THIS is American music

2007-09-05T18:04:00.000-05:00

The Drams @SxSW 2006

Centro-matic @ SxSW 2006

Now here's a good idea...take a bunch of hard-working, talented "rootsy" kinda bands who are pals with each other, package 'em together like an old Dick Clark tour, and then unleash them on audiences across the country thirsting for some "real" music, not the flavor of the day flotsam that passes for cutting edge these days.

Well, after months of back channel rumors, that's exactly what's being planned by the likes of Grand Champeen, Glossary, Two Cow Garage and The Drams. Other fellow travellers (Centro-matic?) may join in on the festivities. Details are still sketchy, but citizens of Mpls/St. Paul, Chicago, STL, Nashville and Texas should be on the lookout for further announcements.

This could be good. Very good.

THISisAmericanMusic

Tons o' new songs from Tim Easton (and "Dark Watson") on myspace

2007-09-04T18:17:00.000-05:00

One of the most talented troubadours in the land, Tim Easton, has announced he will be unleashing at least one new song every week for the rest of the year on his myspace page. This also applies apparently to his "folk/black metal/garage" side project, "Dark Watson," a clever nod to one of Tim's heroes, Doc Watson (judging from the initial offerings, Dark Watson looks to be an outlet for Tim's songs that lean more to the pure folk/blues end of the musical spectrum). Always a prolific songwriter, Easton has generously decided to share his bounty with his fans across the fruited -- and virtual -- plains.

The initial offerings have nearly all been first rate, including outtakes from recent Easton studio projects as well as leftovers dating all the way back to the Haynes Boys era.

Keep 'em coming Tim! Kudos.

Tim Easton

Dark Watson

New West Records

The return of...shoegazing???

2007-09-03T19:00:00.000-05:00

Just came across this two month old article about what some people in the UK are calling a revival of "shoegazing." Not that it ever really went away; it just became less commercially viable in the seemingly endless shuffle of genre permutations and recombinations that define the post-punk era and its aftermath. Apparently, though, with the growing success of bands like Blonde Redhead (i quite like their new album, produced by Alan Moulder of all people), this "revival" is now officially a "movement." Some journos are even calling it things like "nu-gaze," "stargaze" and "shoetronica" (my fave!).

Now where did i stash those Ride and Slowdive albs?

Mood Swings late summer rock shows

2007-08-24T15:10:00.000-05:00

Summer is about kaput, the State Fair is upon us, the kids are almost back in school and you still haven't done half the stuff you wanted to do this summer… but you still have a chance to get your ass kicked by Susstones' swingin' sensations, The Mood Swings.

First, there's a gig at the Uptown tomorrow night:

Saturday - August 25
Uptown Bar
Minneapolis, MN

featuring
The Julie Puppets
The Mood Swings
Action vs. Action
The Hard Left

$5 cover
Mood Swings @ 11:30

Uptown Bar

Then, on Friday, September 7, The Mood Swings return to Mankato to wreak further destruction on this sleepy little college town down the Minnesota River an hour or so. Anybody who hasn't checked out the What's Up bar in Mankato should really think about doing so; this place rocks in every defintion of the word. Load up the cooler and book a champagne flight down Hwy 169 -- a perfect mini-road trip.

Friday - September 7
What's Up Lounge
Mankato, MN

The Hard Left
The Mood Swings

$3 cover
Mood Swings play first @ 10pm

What's Up Lounge

Susstones

The Mood Swings

Mood Swings rattle some bones at scooter rally

2007-08-22T15:42:00.000-05:00

The Mood Swings played a nice, rockin' show last weekend at the Bedlam Theater on the West Bank of Mpls -- an extremely likeable venue located directly across the freeway from the Metrodome, walking distance from the 400 & Triple Rock and right next to a ped/bike bridge and a LRT stop.

Formerly a bar called "Knickerbockers" back in the day, The Bedlam usually books live theater, but it was turned into a rock venue for this annual event, which attracts scooter-ites, mod aficionados and music fans alike. The staff was supernice, there was a nice selection of beer & wine, the theater-turned-music-hall worked out fine and there's an upstairs outdoor deck with an absolutely stunning view of the Mpls skyline. Oh yeah, the best thing about this place -- lots of friggin' OFF STREET PARKING! Anybody who's ever been to the 400 or Triple Rock on weekends knows just how golden this is.

The MooEd Swings -- playing their 3rd gig in their new incarnation with Susstones poobah Ed Ackerson filling in on bass -- turned in a typically smokin' set in this strange, somewhat non-rock setting. Things began with an unexpected opener ("Generation Y") and culminated with an incinderary reading of an old garage nugget, The Gentlemen's "It's a Cryin' Shame." Everbody looked swank, the music was su-pah and a great time was had by all in a "new" setting right smack in the middle of the city.

Slim Dunlap Band -- back from the dead!

2007-08-21T16:41:00.000-05:00

2 show "tour" of Minnesota and Wisconsin a rousing success

One of Minnesota's most precious musical resources, The Slim Dunlap Band, returned to action a few weeks ago in remarkable fashion, playing 2 extraordinarily cool gigs in the unlikeliest of settings -- the Minnesota Zoo amphitheater and, the next night, a magical road house on a forgotten highway in the wilds of extreme Western Wisconsin.

The SDB had a remarkable residency at the Turf Club in St. Paul for almost a decade. When long time drummer Brien Lilja decided to relocate to California a few years ago the chemistry changed and, despite some able skins work from the likes of Dave Weigardt and Billy Dankert, things were never quite the same. The departure of SPMC guiding light/all-around great guy Rob Rule from the Turf proved to be the nail in the coffin for one of the coolest things to hit St. Paul on a Saturday night since…well, since forever.

Well, never say never. An opening slot for Son Volt miraculously appeared on the horizon and before you could say "Times Like This," Slim and the boys were back in action to rock another day. Brian was summoned and, as it turned out, he was headed back to the midwest anyways; apparently he'd had enough of La-La Land.

The opening set for Son Volt at the Minnesota Zoo was only 30 minutes long, but the band made the best of it. Glorious versions of many faves were offered up -- "Girlfiend," "Hate This Town," "Cozy Little Hideaway," "Times Like This," "Big Star Big," etc. The growing crowd ate it all up and then some -- the band received an enthusiastic ovation at the end of the too-short set, something of a rarity for the opener in this kind of setting.

Fresh on the heels of the Zoo buzz came a trip out to Rob Rule's wonderful new joint, The Bar Chord, in Knapp, Wisconsin, about an hour east of the Twin Cities. With no time constraints, the band played for well over an hour - they sounded great without a hint of any rustiness. A good chunk of Slim's two albums were played, along with some "newer" material (man it was good to hear "Breeders Cannonball" again!), a luverly cover of "Ridin' in My Car" and an uplifiting finale of "Times Like This" with fellow traveller Terry Walsh chiming in on harmonies. With friends, family and familiar faces in attendance at the Bar Chord, it was almost like a trip in the WayBack machine to University Ave. in St. Paul. The whole set definitely evoked bittersweet memories of all those (80, 90, 100?) shows the SDB played at the Turf over the years. People danced, people laughed, people rocked out and people simply soaked up the joyous sound emanating from the stage. To quote Neil Young -- and the sign above the door at the Bar Chord -- "live music is better." No shit, sherlock!

The trip down memory lane was over all too soon, even for a 2 show "tour." If we're lucky, Slim and his band will be playing again somehow, somewhere -- hopefully sooner rather than later. Now that Brien lives in the same time zone...

Slim's myspace page

Rob Rule conjures up the coolest Bar Chord ever

2007-08-19T16:48:00.000-05:00

Hot new music club opens in...Knapp, Wisconsin?!

When St Paul Music Club (SPMC) founder Rob Rule parted ways with The Turf Club a few years ago because of an ownership change, those who knew him figured he wouldn't be out of action for very long. And they were right. Rule's now the proud owner of the brand spanking new Bar Chord bar/restaurant/music club in Knapp, Wisconsin, about an hour east of Mpls -- a testament to Rob's perseverance and resourcefulness as well as his determination to get back into something he passionately believes in.

After leaving the Turf, Rob and his wife Leah bought a farm close to Knapp and fulfilled a long time dream of "getting back to the country." After a spell of looking for a bar/club to buy as well as booking bands in nearby Menomonie (8 miles down the road), Rule and a partner eventually came across the future Bar Chord. A previous owner had sunk 3/4 of a million dollars renovating the space, which had existed for 60+ years, mostly as a supper club/lounge kinda deal. For a variety of reasons, the previous owner went out of business in short order and the bank repossessed the property. Rob and his new partner got a great -- if not once in a lifetime -- deal on the place. You might even say they got it for, appropriately enough, a "song." Rob figured his budget would limit him to a "fixer upper" kinda place; he had no idea he would soon be the owner of an establishment that looks like it was just built a few years ago.

When you walk in the door for the first time, the last thing that enters your mind is that you're walking into a "dive." There's a huge restaurant, a spiffy new bar/billiard room and a large music room with a high ceiling and clear view of the stage. The recent renovation is evident everywhere you turn -- everything seems brand new cuz it is, from the bathrooms to the bar itself; there are even new flat screen TVs!!? Rob has decorated the place with his trademark style that will be instantly familiar to fans of the original Turf Club. The attention to detail as well as the "lived in" aura of the whole place is strangely deceiving; the joint looks like it's been up and running for years, not mere weeks.

Above the entrance to the music room you can't help but notice a large proclamation: "Live Music is Better," a motto of Rob's for sure as well as a nod to Neil Young, one of his musical heroes. The stage (with video monitors below spelling out the name of the place) is spacious, the PA is first-rate and the overall vibe is about as comfortable as a live music venue can be. If the Bar Chord was in the Twin Cities, i can guarantee you that it would instantly be one of the most popular places in town. It's certainly the hottest joint in the "greater Knapp" area. :-)

One of neatest things about the Bar Chord -- and something that made me chuckle as soon as i pulled up in the parking lot -- is evident before you even walk in the door. Rob has transferred the spirit and mythology of the old "SPMC" to the new "BCMC" (Bar Chord Music Club), right down to the design of the logo itself. Very cool. Even though you're an hour away from the Twin Cities, when you walk in you feel like you're on familiar, er, turf; that you've come back home.

And, in a way, you have.

So far, Rob is booking live music on Fridays and Saturdays. He's hoping to tap into the nearby Stout and River Falls college markets, as well as drawing those adventerous souls from the Twin Cities who are willing to make the journey to Cheesehead land. The BCMC roster over the last few weeks eerily resembles Turf Club calendars from a few years ago -- Rank Stangers, Ol Yeller, Kruddler, Grant Hart, etc.

As for the drive from the Twin Cities, it ain't no big thing -- an hour straight out I-94 to exit 32, go a few miles north down into the valley and you'll soon find yourself on HWY 12 in beautiful downtown Knapp. Speaking as a veteran of numerous runs up to the Red Carpet in St. Cloud, this is an even easier trip, perfect for a mini weekend getaway to a land that time has seemingly forgot (wait to you see the prices on the restaurant menu; talk about reverse sticker shock!).

Even though they just opened, the Bar Chord seems to be doing OK with their "food by day, music by night" strategy. Time will tell how business will grow in this remote little burg -- a former stagecoach stop on what was the main highway between the Twin Cities and Chicago back before the interstate was built a half century ago -- but, knowing Rob & Leah and their enthusiasm, ya gotta like their chances. After all, it wasn't that long ago that people were thinking he was nuts for thinking he could start up a rock club in St. Paul's midway -- and look how that turned out.

Kudos to Rob and Leah. Best of luck and long may you -- and the Bar Chord -- run.

Bar Chord

The Drams rock the plaza - Mpls - 6/20/07

2007-07-24T18:39:00.000-05:00

And the great free shows just keep on coming…

Just two days after Steve Wynn and his ragtag “Loose Change” outfit blew everybody away at the Hexagon bar in Mpls, Brent Best and The Drams hit one out of the park at a rather unlikely setting, playing a free, early evening outdoor gig on the plaza of the Orchestra Hall, smack dab in the middle of DT Mpls. The Drams appearance was part of a series that the Orchestra Hall puts on in June called “Alive After Five” in which a couple of musical acts perform from 5-9 every single day during the month. These free shows take place in a fairly dramatic location – outside in a sunken plaza cum amphitheater, next to a huge reflecting pool and a series of cement platforms, next to the striking architecture of the Orchestra Hall and the Nicollet Mall, and surrounded by the Mpls skyline. There are beer & food vendors and plenty of good vantage points. Outdoor concerts are all too rare in MN (the Twin Cities is the largest metro area in the country without a proper “shed” venue), so we’re all suckers for a chance to brave the elements in order to get some music in the great outdoors – especially when it’s free.

Brent on the boys put on one hell of a show – two full sets with new and old Drams material, the usual choice covers and a healthy dose of selections from Slobberbone, the beloved band that The Drams evolved from. In a relatively short time since a tentative debut at SxSW a few years ago, The Drams have steadily honed their act, turning into a solid live band in the process, performing with a confident verve that is positively engaging. They kicked things off with a classic Band song and never let up; this was easily the most enjoyable of the handful of local Drams appearances over the last two years. There was even a neat bit of synchronicity during “Des Moines” when a brief sun shower occurred right about the time the lyrics referred to the skies opening up. Wow, man…

Since our neck of the woods – referred to by Brent many times as a musical “motherland” – was a key area in the Slobberbone universe, we were treated to a generous helping of ‘bone classics, including a couple of cool solo versions to start out the second set. There were two new songs – the autobiographical (?) “Man of Note,” which has been around for a few months and the newer “Anything,” which Jess later said was his fave of the new songs they’ve demo-ed so far. “Anything” is a brooding, intense tune that already smells like a classic. Some interesting lyrics, too – “Relief don’t come cheap…But if you know some better way / I’d do anything / And if you felt the way I do / You’d do anything.”

The night ended with a rousing – and surprising – reading of the Drivin’ n’ Cryin’ classic, “Straight to Hell,” a song that used to show up in ‘bone sets a decade ago but hasn’t been heard much since.

To recap: the sound was good, the playing was flawless and the setting was easily worth the price of admission. More, please.

Postscript: since the gig was over at a time when most of the rock world is just starting to get moving and nobody had to leave until the next morning, Brent invited a bunch of us over to world famous Nye’s Bar for some post-gig fun – across the river from DT in the suddenly fashionable NE Mpls neighborhood. Nye’s was, not surprisingly, jumping: Molly Maher was laying down some cool folkbluesamericana grooves in the side bar, the piano bar was kickin’ and there was some kind of wild party going on in the back room. The drinks – and polish beer, hell yeah – were flowin’, road stories were told and just before I left, Keith and the roadie were at the piano bar doing bad karaoke versions of Eddie Rabbit songs. :-) A perfect ending to a perfect evening.

The Drams
6/20/07
Peavey Plaza @ Orchestra Hall – Minneapolis, MN
“Alive After Five”

Set 1
1. The Shape I’m In (The Band cover)
2. Hummalong
3. Trust Jesus
4. Man of Note
5. Never You Mind
6. Crudely Drawn
7. To Love Somebody (Bee Gees cover)
8. Winterlong (Neil Young cover)
9. Des Moines
10. You Won’t Forget

Set 2
1. Pinball (Brent solo)
2. Lazy Guy (Brent solo)
3. Robert Cole (Brent + Chad)
4. Biscuits
5. Billy Pritchard
6. Dunk You in the River
7. Anything
8. Gimme Back My Dog
9. Make a Book
10. I Am the Cosmos (Chris Bell cover)
11. Straight to Hell (Drivin’ n’ Cryin’ cover)