How to Spend Your Wednesday Night

I know Wednesdays are generally not regarded as being much of a night for doing something fun. Well, I have some suggestions on how to make this Wednesday evening a lot more fun.

First of all, start the evening off at 6 pm CST with the Ghost of Blind Lemon radio show on Deep Ellum Radio. For two full hours, the folks at Deep Ellum Radio are letting me (yet again) take the musical reins. I've got plenty of new music for you to listen to, including new tunes from The Virgin Wolves, Greg Schroeder, Tweed EQ, just to name a few. I'm also featuring Ryan Thomas Becker in this week's edition of Musician Spotlight. And if you're wanting more good internet radio, Chelsea Callahan's This Is Texas Radio Show comes on directly after me. Her guest for the evening will be Mark Pirro (Tripping Daisy, The Polyphonic Spree).

If you're wanting to get out, I've got a killer show for you to check out. Rahim Quazi and Luna Matto will both perform at Barley House, with LA band Goldenboy sandwiched in between the two. I normally don't like to talk too much about non-local bands in this blog, but Goldenboy is so incredible they're worth making the exception. Fans of dreamy pop a la Crowded House will certainly find this band worth checking out. In fact, Neil Finn of Crowded House performed on the band's 2006 album, Underneath the Radio. Speaking of impressive cameos and Goldenboy, Elliott Smith sang on their 2003 track "Summertime". The band's new album, Sleepwalker, features plenty of slow, gorgeous tunes, most notably the almost perfect title track. And with this being a Barley House show, you get all three acts absolutely free of charge.

Hey, it beats staying home and watching TV.

Weekend Plans: 3/11/11

I don't do these show updates often enough, but I felt like I needed to do this tonight, particularly after noticing what I feel is a VERY significant omission in the DC9 at Night list. But I'll go ahead and recap all the major local music options this weekend, except for what's going on with the 35 Conferette. Because listing all the worthy show options for that festival would just take way too long.

FRIDAY
Slobberbone/Whiskey Folk Ramblers/The O's (Sons of Hermann Hall)
It's good to see Slobberbone doing more and more shows as of late, and they'd be hard pressed to find two better opening acts.
Grant Jones & The Pistol Grip Lassos (Tradewinds Social Club)
It seems as if Tradewinds is coming back to life with more shows lately. I'm citing this show as piece of evidence number one to support that argument.
ADd+, Damaged Good$, Mohicans, Killa MC, G. Bailey, Tunk (Club Dada)
Club Dada certainly has taken a stronger interest in local hip-hop under its new ownership. While I can't speak for most of the acts on here, I will say that Mohicans shared a quite catchy mp3 with the DC9 at Night blog, and Damaged Good$ are one of Dallas' finest and most energetic hip-hop acts.
Anna Thomas (Crossroads Winery)
Anna rarely performs outside of the Frisco/McKinney area, and tonight's venue is no exception. Still, her music is worth the drive up north.


SATURDAY
Toadies/Ume/True Widow/Ishi/Here Holy Spain (Greenville St. Patrick's Day Parade)
I've found myself listening to Here Holy Spain's latest CD, Division, even more frequently than I expected to. Their set is admittedly quite early (12:30 pm to be precise), but it's worth getting up early to see. Ishi, with their quirky indie dance pop, seems to be odd band out on this loud and heavy lineup. Frankly, I think that they should have been slotted in the middle slot as sort of a mood lightening musical intermission, but that's just my opinion. As for the others, I don't know Ume, but True Widow has never done less than take my breath away, and it's near impossible to go wrong with Toadies.
Dove Hunter/The Cush (Lola's)
When Dove Hunter broke up last year, they did so with no hoopla or major farewell show. Appropriately enough, their reforming of Dove Hunter has gone equally underneath the radar of most local music fans. Here's hoping that they continue with more shows and make their presence known as strongly as it was several years ago.
The King Bucks (Adair's)
It's The King Bucks at Adair's. If you've seen them there, then enough said. If not, then do yourself a favor and catch one of their many shows there. This Saturday night would be a good time for that.
Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights, Taddy Porter, The Happen-Ins
The band is touring more and more nowadays, so take any opportunity you can to see them live. Expect this to be an even more festive than usual set, as this is the unofficial after St. Patrick's Day Parade party.
Rahim Quazi & The Supernaturals (Jack's Backyard)
The show is also a fundraiser for Family Place, so not only do you get some great music, you're helping out a worthy charity.
Opening Bell 8 Year Anniversary Party
Earlier, I made reference to what I felt was a major omission in the DC9 at Night weekend show listings. Sure, there are many worthy shows that can be overlooked. Usually, I'll let that sort of thing slide. This show, however, I feel is not a small oversight but a glaring omission. First of all, I dare anyone to name a venue that has done more for the acoustic singer songwriter genre than OBC. Acknowledging the venue's contributions to the music community is reason enough for a mention. And that's without discussing a single performer. Now click here and scroll down until you see the amazing over the top lineup for tonight's showcase. It's hard to single out a best performer on the lineup, but I will mention that Summer Ames, Becky Middleton, Rahim Quazi, Emily Elbert, Phoenix Hart, Kerri Arista, and Smile Smile are some of the most appealing performers on the lineup. Any one of those artists would be worth seeing alone. And let's not forget Sara Donaldson, who I do not believe has performed in Dallas since 2008. Oh, and there's even cake. Can't have a party without cake, right? Seriously though, come out, enjoy some wonderful music, and say Hi to OBC owner Pascale Hall and thank her for eight incredible years of beautiful music, and let's keep this venue going strong!

Radio Show Playlist: 3/9/11

First of all, thanks to all who listened to last night's deepellumradio show. I'm sorry that the show was an hour late starting, but from this point on, the show should regularly air every Wednesday at 6 p.m. CST. And for those who missed the show, I'm posting the playlist so you can see what you missed.

"Crawl", The Virgin Wolves
"Evil on the Highway", Dove Hunter
"Hey Jane", Bravo, Max!
"Buy You", Spookeasy
"Caldera", The Timeline Post
"You Pressed the Crash Button", Novaak
"Girl from the City", The King Bucks
"Unfold", Kerri Arista
"Save Me", Hares on the Mountain
"Supernatural", Rahim Quazi
"With You I'll Travel", Menkena
MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT: Taylor Young
"2828", Hi-Fi Drowning
"Fat Girls", THe BAcksliders
"California", The O's
"Remember You", The O's
"Like a Charm", Here Holy Spain
"Burning Pictures", The Monco Poncho
"If It Never Gets Better", Taylor Davis
"Throw Me Overboard", The Hope Trust
"At the Switch", Air Review
"So, Within", Seryn
"Capture", Summer Ames
"Wimbledon", Soviet
"Red Palomino", The Demigs
"Queen of Hearts", Hmm
"Echo and the Pass", Hendrick

Local Edge Playlist: 3/6/11

Tonight's episode featured (almost) exclusively artists playing the 35 Conferette. The one exception was the in studio performance and interview from People on Vacation. I could've sworn that they were on the lineup. Either the lineup has changed or I was mistaken. Speaking of which, if you want to see these bands at the festival, check the website for info on times/clubs/etc.

"Throw Me Overboard", The Hope Trust
"All Because You're Mine", Air Review
"Dog's Light", Bravo, Max!
IN STUDIO: PEOPLE ON VACATION
"Rainy Day"
"Because of the Sun"
"Back to Being Friends"
"Alyson Revere", Fishboy
"Battle Rock 24/7", Man Factory
"Goon", RTB2
"Forever Today", Soviet
"Prepared", Jessie Frye
"2012", Cocky Americans
"Icing", Roy Robertson

New Artist Spotlight: Arielle

It seems as if each year, a new female singer-songwriter comes along and plays a major part in defining the music of that given year. In 2009, I discovered the music of Iris Leu. Last year, it was the music of Emmeline that captured my eardrums. 2011 may not even be a quarter of the way done, but I think I've found my pick for the year. Like Emmeline, she too goes simply by her first name: Arielle. She first came to my attention thanks to John Keener at Lakewood Bar & Grill, who strongly recommended her music. It's also worth noting that he's the one who turned me on to Emmeline, suggesting that he has quite an ear for discovering talent.

Below I've included two videos that help spotlight her talent. The first one is her cover of Outkast's "Hey Ya!", and as suggested by the video, she plays all the different instruments. The video also allows for a bit of her personality to shine through, and simply have a little fun with the song



(In case you want to see more of her videos, or if the page cuts off the video as it probably will, you can click here to see all her videos.)

I also wanted to share one of her own songs entitled "Icarus". This particular video gotten repeated views for me. Arielle's vocal skills are nicely displayed here, simultaneously showing both a vocal strength and emotionally vulnerability.



Arielle performs tonight at Lakewood Bar & Grill at 8 pm. I will be catching her set; I highly recommend that you do the same.

A Few Updates

I've got a lot to share today, so listen up...

1. I've been wanting to share this poster with you for awhile. It was designed by Cory Jensen, who also does a nice little blog called Dusted Juke. Unfortunately, there is one change that needs to be made to the poster. Sadly to say, Menkena will NOT be able to play the show this Thursday at Lochrann's. Secret Cities from North Dakota will play instead, and Doug Burr will still headline the show. Needless to say, the show's still gonna be great, and I hope to see all my readers at Lochrann's this Thursday.



2. You've probably noticed I've been raving a lot about the upcoming Calhoun CD Heavy Sugar. It appears I'm not the only one severely impressed by their most recent effort. Erv Kerwalis of Idol Records has just now added Calhoun to their roster. The CD is scheduled for release on May 17th. This album meshes a certain amount of the edgier style of Falter.Waiver.Cultivate with the pop hooks more frequently associated with Tim Locke's work. The result? In the past 15 years or so that Mr. Locke has been making music, this is his finest work to date. Big claim? Yes. Does the music back up the claim? Absolutely.



3. The DC9 at Night blog just published a write up on Chad Lovell, the man behind deepellumradio, among other things. I would encourage you to click here to read the article. And yes, there will be more of my shows on the station, so keep an eye (or ear) out for that.

I'm working on some more stories/showcases/radio shows/insane ideas, so keep checking in. You never know what you might find.