14 May 2008

Carney Art: Carney, May 15 at the Redstone Room

By Administrator

Reeve CarneyThe first sound on the EP Nothing Without You has the full-throated force of Robert Plant, and it leaves a strong impression.

07 May 2008

A Lot More Than Nothing: Ben Kenney, May 9 at the Redstone Room

By Administrator

Ben Kenney, left, and his bandIf you want to see the full extent of Ben Kenney's talent, check out his video for "Eulogy."

In the clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47fzpzNOcw0), the bassist for Incubus and the former guitarist for the Roots sings and performs guitar, bass, and drums - at the same time in four different panels.

23 Apr 2008

What Sounds Good: Martin Sexton, April 24 at the Redstone Room

By Administrator

Martin Sexton If you're listening to Martin Sexton's Seeds and occasionally find yourself confused by the lyrics, don't despair.

The 2007 album, Sexton's first non-live-performance, non-holiday album since 2000's Wonder Bar, was made differently from his previous work.

"This was the first record I ever did where I didn't have everything written, lyrically, when I was making the record - the first record I didn't do live, basically," he said in a recent phone interview. "I had the music, and I'd have, say, the chorus of a song, but I didn't have the lyrics. So I figured if I make the record, that'll be the little flame under my feet to finish the tunes."

09 Apr 2008

Complete Musician: Mark Russell Smith, New Conductor/Music Director for the QC Symphony Orchestra

By Mike Schulz

Reader issue #679 On March 8, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra announced that Mark Russell Smith would be its new music director and conductor. And as the Minneapolis-based musician serves as artistic director of orchestral studies at the University of Minnesota, director of new-music projects for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and music director for Virginia's Richmond Symphony Orchestra, his current positions alone made him sound an appropriate, and sufficiently intimidating, choice.

Yet a day before our recent phone interview, Smith received an e-mail from the Quad City Symphony Orchestra that managed to intimidate even him - a document, he says, titled "Repertoire from 1917 through 2007," listing every piece the venerable area institution has performed publicly during those nine decades.

Wow, I say.

"I know," he says. "It's a little light reading."

09 Apr 2008

Isn't That Spatial?: Johnny A., April 12 at the Redstone Room

By Administrator

Johnny A. As he prepares for his third solo studio album, the guitarist Johnny A. - who will perform Saturday at the Redstone Room - wants to return to where it all started nine years ago.

"I kind of want to get back to a personified version of my first album," he said in a phone interview last week.

I'm not sure what "personified" means in that context, but I'm certain there's one problem with that plan: It would involve returning to a time when Johnny A. was learning a new genre - the instrumental - and his fellow musicians were learning to play with him. That age of innocence will be impossible to recapture, but Johnny A. hopes to rediscover the intimacy of his first solo work.

02 Apr 2008

Daytrotter's Realized Potential: Spoon, White Rabbits, The Walkmen at the Capitol Theatre, April 3

By Administrator

Reader issue #678

Thursday's concert at the Capitol Theatre featuring Spoon, White Rabbits, and the Walkmen represents the fulfilled potential of Daytrotter.com for the Quad Cities.

 

02 Apr 2008

Spoon: Rough-Edged Perfection

By Administrator

  Spoon

   When Spoon was finishing its 2001 album Girls Can Tell, the band didn't know what to do with "Chicago at Night," which would close the record.

 

In an interview last week, drummer and co-founder Jim Eno told this story about what he and guitarist, singer, and chief songwriter Britt Daniel decided to do: "I never would have tried this, but Britt and I were so young, and we were just like, ‘Oh yeah, let's do it.' We had to turn all the mixes in for mastering. ... We have these two versions, and we like different things about each version ... . So Britt says, ‘Why don't we use the left side of this mix and the right side of this mix?'"

 

02 Apr 2008

White Rabbits: Benefits with Friends

By Administrator

  White Rabbits

   For a band with one independent recording under its belt, the White Rabbits have a lot going on. They appeared on Letterman in July - "Maybe U2 cancelled," joked bassist Adam Russell - and a feature-film documentary is in production. (See http://www.whiterabbitsdoc.com.)

 

Russell credits the band's publicist with the Letterman gig, and filmmaker Andrew Droz Palermo is a friend of the band dating back to some members' high-school careers.

 

But Russell said these early successes are a sign that people believe strongly in the band. "Having close friends that work with you does pay off sometimes," he said.

 

02 Apr 2008

The Walkmen: Beyond the Legend

By Administrator

  The Walkmen

   The Walkmen have built enough of a legend that it would be easy to overlook their original material.

 

02 Apr 2008

Trains and Convicts and Pigs and Chickens and Dogs: Guy Davis, April 7 through 11

By Mike Schulz

Guy Davis

Blues musician Guy Davis is the son of legendary actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. His 1998 CD You Don't Know My Mind led the San Francisco Chronicle to rave, "Davis' tough, timeless vocals blow through your brain like a Mississippi dust devil." His 2003 release Chocolate to the Bone received a W.C. Handy Award nomination for Best Acoustic Blues Album, one of nine W.C. Handy nominations Davis has received during his career.

 

So it comes as something of a surprise when Davis, during a recent phone interview, says, "The first time I remember hearing the blues, it was being played by white college boys.

 

Pages

Subscribe & Listen to Reader Podcasts

On Stands Now

 

Tagged Content

Two Ways to Subscribe

1. Subscribe to free weekly e-mail content updates.

You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Real Astrology and RCR Crossword every week?) 

Subscribe!

* indicates required

2. Get 12 monthly issues mailed first class for $48

Get 12 issues mailed monthly for $48 per year.

Get the printed Reader edition mailed to you (or anyone you want) first-class for 12 months for $48.
$24 goes to postage and handling, $24 goes to keeping the doors open!

Click this link to Subscribe now.

 
 

Music Calendars

Submit your event listings to calendar@rcreader.com