Reatard hitting US after routing thru Europe with Pixies
Jay Reatard
Memphis garage rocker Jay Reatard is out on tour with what he considers to be the best touring group he has ever had.
“I’m driving to Chicago right now with Jacob and Anders,” Reatard said in an e-mail blast. “(And) after a month on the road in Europe with the new band, I can easily say this is best band I’ve ever had.”
Reatard is on tour all over the U.S. right now, and he just got back from Europe. Video of him shredding upon London and Dublin is available here.
Reatard was on tour with the famous Pixies, and meets back up with them on Tuesday in New York City. Come December, he’ll back rolling through the South again and spreading his lo-fi, raw punk rock to all who will listen. His tour includes some of the biggest names in the South.
Also, Reatard will be releasing the newest 7″ on his label, “Shattered Records” available for stream or purchase on his Web site. You can buy the vinyl from Goner now here. Reatard’s members of the Shattered Club will have it e-mailed to them, but that is a $75.00 membership plan.
[Tour info below]
E. Kentucky songwriter creating Spanish-folk style
Photo by Doug Strickland
This is the first installment of the Small Name, Big Talent series. Recommend songwriters for this series through e-mail, click here.
You never know what you will miss about home until you are gone, or what will bring memories of your roost rushing in.
For Jeff Hortillosa, an Eastern Kentucky native, it was the sound of his hometown’s rustling trees. Now living in a Spanish city and working as an English teacher, Hortillosa, or “Horti” to his friends, has only one sound that comes close.
“The only bit of home I really get is my guitar,” Hortillosa said. “Nothing comes close to sounding like the trees.”
It will be July before he comes moves back to the U.S., at which time he plans to teach so he can make money to support his habit: Music.
A natural musician, Hortillosa is the kind of guy who can pick up an instrument he has never seen before, pluck it a couple of times and then start strumming and humming out a new song. He is the guy who can play Van Halen’s famous guitar solo “Eruption” on a toy keytar. When he was young, he learned to play guitar just so he could teach his friend to play rhythm while Hortillosa jammed on his original instrument, the drums.
[Read on for more about Hortillosa, Download MP3s]
KY’s Jim James and Daniel Martin Moore sing out about mountain top removal
Jim James and Daniel Martin Moore are singing out against mountain top removal. Photo by Brad Luttrell | SaY
Just utter the word “coal,” and emotions flare, hotter and higher than the flames the black rock generates when burned for energy.
The supporters of coal mining fight back against the environmentalists, saying coal provides jobs and useful flat land in the impoverished Eastern Kentucky, while the anti-coal activists say the technology is readily available for a switch to green energy, and that we are destroying our environment.
Two Kentucky songwriters are coming together to help make their voices heard. Jim James, or Yim Yames as he is calling himself outside of his best-known band, My Morning Jacket, and Sub Pop’s pop-folk artist Daniel Martin Moore will be performing a show in support of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth’s effort to stop mountain top removal.
[Get tickets, directions, click more]
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Phantom Family Halo’s new album dark, courageous
Louisville's The Phantom Family Halo has a new album out that will eat your soul.
The Phantom Family Halo’s new album is so diabolic and dark that even Glenn Danzig’s skin would crawl after pressing Play. Guitars that slice like razorblades across a throat. Vocals and lyrics that make your bones cold. Hypnotizing subliminal messages. One might wonder if this family is related to the Mansons.
“Monoliths and These Flowers Never Die” isn’t for the weak minded, or even the faint hearted. This courageous album isn’t afraid of social conviction, or, apparently, eternal damnation. This album is experimental, psychedelic rock as it should be – fearless.
Opening with a hauntingly vindictive track, “Blackouts and Runaways” is as captivating as it is terrifying. Guitars that hum like chainsaws sync with the sound of a bass rhythm that will keep you awake at night. If you survive the first track, you will likely know if The Phantom Family Halo is for you or not.
[MP3s, more review, album release & tour info below]
The Seedy Seeds’ eclectic nature makes great pop
The Seedy Seeds. Photo by Brian Niesz | WOXY
Today is Friday the 13th, so you’re looking for something screwed up and out of the ordinary to do. How about seeing a show that combines accordions, electronica, acoustic guitars, synths and banjo?
Yeah, sounds pretty scary, but it’s the sound Cincinnati’s The Seedy Seeds professionalize in producing.
“Folktronica” is the buzz word a Seedy Seeds promo e-mail loosely used to describe the group. Even then, that might be too tightly fastened. Oh, and they’re not just another Mates of States knock-off. This is sincere, eclectic pop music that expands the genre’s boundaries and tools required.
[MP3, tour info, click more]
Harper Simon sprouting from family tree’s shadows
Harper Simon is playing Natasha's Bistro this Friday.
Harper Simon does have a sober sound, comfortable within itself, just like his father’s music does.
Oh, you know his father. Paul. Right? Paul Simon, as in Simon and Garfunkel. But Harper Simon’s music honors its family tree while sprouting away from its shadow. He has found his place in folk-pop, and it doesn’t need the preface of his father’s work.
Starting Friday the 13th, Harper Simon is touring South. He’ll be playing in Lexington, then heading to Louisville, Nashville, Memphis and Bloomington.
Natasha’s Bistro has become one of the biggest little advocates of local and good music in Lexington, Ky. That reputation gets is solidified with the booking of Harper Simon.
[Click to see tour details]
CONTEST: Free tix to Evangelicals/Holiday Shores in Louisville
SaY is giving away tickets to see the Evangelicals and Holiday Shores in Louisville.
The Evangelicals and Holiday Shores have booked a last minute stop in Louisville on Friday the 13th, and SaY is giving away a pair of tickets to the show for free, courtesy of Crash Avenue Publicity.
Since the show is last minute, the contest is also last minute. This will be quick – leave your full name and e-mail below. I will randomly select the winner on Wednesday at noon Eastern time.
This should be an awesome high energy, psychedelic rock show. The Evangelicals are getting a lot of attention right now. Go see this show, everybody is doing it.
[Show info, enter contest, MPfree, click more]
John Cowan Band tour planting “newgrass” seeds
The John Cowan Band is not bluegrass, it's new grass.
A lot of people and bands say they don’t fit into a genre. When you are only reading words, and not hearing music, it makes a band sound more majestic and interesting to read a frontman say, “it’s hard to say where we fit in.”
John Cowan’s generic news release says that, but it is right. With over 40 years of experience in the Southern music scene under his belt, he seamlessly flows from one genre to another. It’s not that he fits to one single genre or can’t fit to one, it’s that he fits to all of them.
Country. Bluegrass. Progressive bluegrass, or “newgrass” to Cowan. Even a little Southern rock n’ roll. Cowan and his band can do it all.
Cowan has been doing it well since the 1970s, when making a name for himself in the Louisville, KY. music scene. He was the lead singer for New Grass Revival, with band mates Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, and Pat Flynn introduced a new generation of music fans to an explosive, experimental brand of bluegrass. That band played together for nearly two decades, all according to a news release.
[Tour info, listen to Cowan after the break]
BLOG: Lexington’s Chris Soulis playing Elbow Room
Click to listen to Chris Soulis.
I first spoke with Chris Soulis back in the Spring when I did a column for the Kentucky Kernel on his band, Idaho Alaska. I really liked what they’re doing, and I think Chris is a good guy who cares about the local music scene in Lexington, Ky.
He’s playing a show with some other good artists in a week or so, and I wanted to put the word out. So, here it is, nothing fancy. Here is the event on Facebook. The show is next Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 10 p.m. at the Elbow Room on 6 S Washington St. Chris will be playing with Secret Twins (Michigan based band), Bad Medicine at the Campfire (also Michigan), Kommie Kilpatrick (you guessed it, Michigan) and the Chris Soulis.
I would say this show will cater to fans of Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Bright Eyes or Eels. Come out and support a local musician. And be sure to check out Idaho Alaska, Chris’ band.
Contest over for Jonathan Tyler & Northern Lights
Blake Carpenter won the free tickets to next week's show at Buster's.
What was the most pitiful turnout for a free ticket contest ever is finally over, so I will stop shoving it down your throat.
Blake Carpenter won the contest for free tickets to see Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights on Nov. 4 at Buster’s. The tickets were courtesy of Buster’s.
This contest was not a random drawing, however. To enter, readers had to comment on the original story and say who they would bring and why. Whoever gave the best answer won the contest.
“I’m gonna take this hot chic in my English class with all kinds of cool tattoos,” Blake said in his answer. “Come on SaY make me look like a badass.”
It’s official Blake. Congratulations.
