On her fourth studio album, Jolie Holland embraces the live-studio rock approach of the 60's and 70's, and transforms it with her unmistakable touch. Loosely inspired by Neil Young's Zuma, with nods to The Velvet underground, the Stones, and Bowie, this playful dialogue gives way to Holland's most grounded work. Some of the lyrics were written tipsy on a train, others out of a trance state—every one drawn from the seemingly bottomless well of her muse. From the electrified sidling ode of "Gold and Yellow," through the outright violence of "Remember," to "Rex's Blues"—a devastating Townes Van Zandt rendition, Holland's inspirations and evolving aesthetic ring bell-clear in every song. Her complete vision for this album is evident from the songs' sound to the handwritten liner notes; even the record's cover is a watercolor painted by the artist herself.
Friday, July 29th. 9pm. $12 advance/$15 day of show. Advance tickets available online and at our local outlets.
With a slightly punk perspective on vintage American blues, The Devil Makes Three is a breath of fresh musical air on its eponymous Milan debut. Laced with elements of ragtime, country, folk and rockabilly, the critically praised, drummer-less trio - consisting of guitarist/front man Pete Bernhard, stand-up bassist Lucia Turino and guitarist Cooper McBean - brings forth a genuine approach to acoustic music that is deeply steeped in rhythm. "The rhythm is what our band is about," Bernard enthuses. "We write with rhythm and dancing in mind." Launched with the "The Plank," an ode to meeting one's maker, The DMT's infectious amalgam of styles talks the talk and it walks the walk right out of the starting gate. jimmy From the outfit's bad ass, back porch blues ode "Ten Feet Tall" - which is alive with three-part harmonies - to "Shades," a wry look at bar stool hugging daytime drunks, Pete, Lucia and Cooper create music that is pleasingly dissimilar to most other bands in modern music. Early critical praise of its self-produced recorded entry has earned comparisons to the likes of The Violent Femmes, Steve Earle and The White Stripes. "I grew up listening to a lot of old blues music when I was young," explains Pete, who was raised in rural Vermont and first befriended McBean in the eighth grade. "He was the only person I knew who was into the same style, although he leaned more toward the country side of things. When we started out playing, we were doing punk and rock."
Thursday, July 21, 2011. w/ Blind Boy Chocolate and The Milk Sheiks. 9pm. $10 advance / $12 day of show. Advance tickets are available online and at our local outlets.
One of the most celebrated country-folk performers of her day, singer/songwriter Iris Dement was born on January 5, 1961, in rural Paragould, AR, the youngest of 14 children. At the age of three, her devoutly religious family moved to California, where she grew up singing gospel music; during her teenaged years, however, she was first exposed to country, folk, and R&B, drawing influence from Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell. Upon graduating high school, she relocated to Kansas City to attend college.
After a series of jobs waitressing and typing, Dement first began composing songs at the age of 25. Honing her skills at open-mic nights, in 1988 she moved to Nashville, where she contacted producer Jim Rooney, who helped her land a record contract. Dement did not make her recording debut until 1992, when her independent label offering, Infamous Angel, won almost universal acclaim thanks to her pure, evocative vocal style and spare, heartfelt songcraft. Despite a complete lack of support from country radio, the record's word-of-mouth praise earned her a deal with Warner Bros., which reissued Infamous Angel in 1993 as well as its follow-up, 1994's stunning My Life. Her third LP, 1996's eclectic The Way I Should, marked a dramatic change not only in its more rock-influenced sound but also in its subject matter; where Dement's prior work was introspective and deeply personal, The Way I Should was fiercely political, tackling topics like sexual abuse, religion, government policy, and Vietnam. In 1999, she collaborated with country man John Prine on his album, In Spite of Ourselves. Dement recorded four duets with Prine that earned her a Grammy nod the following year.
Sunday, July 17th, 2011. 7pm. $26 advance / $28 day of show. Advance tickets available online and at our local outlets.
