Horseshoes & Hand Grenades
Standing Room Only This is a 21 and over event. After 12 years, 6 albums, innumerable sold out shows, and countless libations, Americana mavericks Horseshoes & Hand Grenades appropriately consider themselves a “family” on a wild, wonderful, and often whacky roller coaster. The bond between the quintet— Adam Greuel, David C. Lynch , Collin Mettelka , Russell Pedersen and Samual Odin — fuels their creativity and chemistry on stage and in the studio. “Sometimes, it feels like we’re modern day cowboys on some kind of strange journey,” Adam affirms with a laugh. “We’re five friends who set out to do something we enjoy doing, meet interesting people, see old friends, and make some new buddies along the way. Because of that sense of friendship, everything seems to happen organically.” That’s been the case since these five musicians first met in Stevens Point, WI at college, joined forces, and hit the road harder post-graduation in roughly 2013. They have ignited stages alongside everyone from Greensky Bluegrass, Yonder Mountain String Band, The Infamous Stringdusters, and Trampled By Turtles to Railroad Earth, Merle Haggard, and Marty Stuart in addition to appearances at festivals such as Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Delfest, High Sierra Music Festival, Blue Ox Music Festival, Northwest String Summit, John Hartford Memorial Festival, and many more. Their five albums take the listener through a wide range of musical and emotional landscapes, something surely provoked by the five different members all sharing songwriting duties. Their most recent album, “Miles in Blue” is an 18-track album that celebrates their 10 years together as a band. While the album certainly nods to their tried and true blend of “new-time old-time” music, it also explores new musical avenues as the band pushes themselves to discover what else “can be”. “It marks a point of growth,” explains Adam. “We’ve got those ripper type tunes we’re known for on there, but we’re experimenting with other elements. Little pieces of everybody are encapsulated in this record. We were really conscious of allowing our respective musical curiosities into the fold. Sam drops in a jazz and classical feel. Dave brings that Zydeco, Cajun, and old school blues vibe. Collin turned up this kinda pop folk energy, and Russell gives us the old-timey banjo feel. For me, I’m trying to play out my singer-songwriter curiosities. There are five songwriters in the band, and we’ve gotten better at harnessing our individual creativity and bringing it to the collective.” The boys found the perfect place to bottle those signature spirits. They retreated to Cannon Falls, MN in order to live and record at Pachyderm Studios — where Nirvana recorded In Utero — for just a week. Joined by the Hard Working American’s Chad Staehly in the producer’s chair, they tracked the eighteen numbers that would comprise Miles in Blue over the course of a marathon session. The Horseshoes & Hand Grenades family grows stronger by the day. “The best part of this has been building a community,” Adam leaves off. “In this day and age, it’s wise to look for things that bring people together rather than separate them. We’re creating an extended family too.
Gibson Brothers
This is a 21 and over event.Standing Room Only There’s a reason why Ricky Skaggs pulled Eric and Leigh Gibson off the stage at the Ryman two decades ago and offered to produce their debut record. The same thing that led David Ferguson and Grammy Award winning producer and Black Keys front man Dan Auerbach to co-write and produce their 14th album “Mockingbird” (2018) and release it on his own label Easy Eye Sound alongside cultural icons such as Hank Williams Jr. and Dr. John: the Gibson Brothers are the real deal. They can pick. They can sing. And they can write a damn good country song. They’ve won about every bluegrass award you can name and released albums on almost every premier Americana label you can think of including Sugar Hill and Rounder, and, if that’s not enough, their songs have been recorded by bluegrass legends no less than Del McCoury. It’s a resume almost anybody in country music would be proud to have. But despite all of this, the Gibson Brothers are not yet household names. Their latest album, “Darkest Hour,” produced by dobro master Jerry Douglas might just change that. As soon as you hear Leigh singing with Alison Krauss [“I Feel The Same Way As You”] on the new project you realize that his voice is as good as anyone in music today. Add the brother harmony to that and they have something truly unique. While “Mockingbird” featured gorgeous production, recreating the sound on stage was difficult. “We put together a little band to go out and try to recreate it,” Eric told me, but we couldn’t. We would have to have such a huge band to try to recreate that record, but we did the best we could. The result is arguably the strongest record The Gibson Brothers have ever made. The songs recorded in the first recording period featured Mike Barber (bass), Justin Moses (mandolin),Eamon McGloughlin (fiddle), and of course, Jerry Douglas, adding in John Gardner (drums),Guthrie Trapp (electric guitar), and Todd Parks (bass) for the final tracks, “Darkest Hour “showcases just how easily Eric and Leigh move from what Dan Auerbach dubbed “country soul”(“I Go Driving”) to high octane bluegrass (“What a Difference a Day Makes” and “Dust”) with Douglas always keeping the spotlight on the songs themselves.Their talent level is well-established, and for the Gibson Brothers, they just want to keep writing, singing, and standing on a stage.
Brother Wolf w/ Aweful – FREE SHOW!
This is a 21 and over event.Standing Room Only Brother Wolf is from Michigan. This multifaceted creative, with an extensive background in communications arts (Professor of Communication Studies), has published music and art zines, as well as recorded, mixed, and mastered albums for dozens of bands and solo artists. The frontman of Michigan-based alt-rock bands Head and Love Fossil, he recently redirected his energies, devoting them to his solo work. Brother Wolf, three years since self-admittance to in-patient rehab, is channeling pure signal, healing through the fuzz of no regrets and a future wed to his true love and only addiction – rock and roll.Following up his 2019 EP Show Me Your Teeth, No Masters explores many hard-hitting topics through its ten tracks, from foreshadowing a future-is-female world to promoting anti-racism through healing, this record covers a full spectrum of progressive anthems. Brother Wolf is a multi-instrumentalist, performing the majority of the instruments and arrangements on No Masters. Through a non-linear process, Brother Wolf creates sonic collages with layers of guitar, occasional horns, strings, and piano, always driven by a strong foundational melodic bass line. Lyrically inspired by the wordplay in hip hop, Brother Wolf’s theatrical vocals add a layer of poetic justice to his compositions. Melodies reminiscent of Bowie, Thurston Moore, and Josh Homme unite to create the unique sound of Brother Wolf.A consistent message throughout the entirety of the album is an improvement, both of the self and society as a whole. Straying from nay-saying and platitudes, Brother Wolf delivers thick rock with layers of thunder and melody, transmitted through the beat of a tender honest heart. Through listening and feeling Brother Wolf’s sounds, listeners are inspired to live a life of positive action rather than passive complacency. Brother Wolf empowers listeners to take control of their own lives while simultaneously emphasizing the responsibility we have toward one another. Aweful from Chicago:https://www.facebook.com/awefulband/ http://m-nyc.thedelimagazine.com/category/bands-covered/aweful https://linktr.ee/aweful
Samantha Fish ft. Jesse Dayton w/ Eric Johanson
This is a 21 and over event.The first-ever collaborative album from Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton, Death Wish Blues is a body of work born from a shared passion for pushing the limits of blues music. As one of the most dynamic forces in the blues world today, Fish has made her name as a multi-award-winning festival headliner who captivates crowds with her explosive yet elegant guitar work, delivering an unbridled form of blues-rock that defies all genre boundaries. Dayton, meanwhile, boasts an extraordinary background that includes recording with the likes of Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, touring as a guitarist for seminal punk band X, working with Rob Zombie on the soundtracks for his iconic horror films, and releasing a series of acclaimed solo albums. Produced by the legendary Jon Spencer of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Death Wish Blues ultimately melds their eclectic sensibilities into a batch of songs both emotionally potent and wildly combustible. For both Fish and Dayton, the making of Death Wish Blues helped fulfill their longtime mission of opening up the blues genre to entirely new audiences. “I’ve played all kinds of music in my life, punk and country and Americana and so much else, and for me this was another wonderful rabbit hole to fall down,” says Dayton. “I love that it’s coming at a moment when we’re starting to see the resurgence of rock guitar for the first time in a long time, and I think it’s going to turn a lot of people on to a kind of music they’ve never experienced before.” Fish adds: “The main reason why I make music has always been the connection it creates with others. It’s a way to communicate with the world around me, to tell stories that people can then take and apply to their own lives and maybe feel more understood. We had such a fun time making this album, and I hope that it leaves everyone with the same feeling of joy that we all felt in the studio.”
The Bright Light Social Hour w/ Choses Sauvages (Montreal)
This is a 21 and over event.Standing Room Only “Their expansive sound, penchant for experimentation and incredible shows combine a psychedelic southern blues-rock aesthetic with danceable electronics… Continually exhilarating.” –David Dye, NPR’s World Cafe. Austin-based indie psychedelic band The Bright Light Social Hour kick off spring with new single “Not New” announced alongside news of tour dates and a new album, Emergency Leisure, coming August 2 via Escondido Sound. Founded by Jackie O’Brien (bass/vocals) and Curtis Roush (guitar/vocals) – and newly joined by Mia Carruthers (keys/vocals), Zac Catanzaro (drums) and Juan Alfredo Ríos (percussion) – the band’s latest single showcases the sound of the forthcoming project, melding Texas trippiness with irresistible disco-punk groove. There’s an equally lysergic music video accompanying the track, in vintage Bright Light Social Hour style. “In 2019 we did a tour we didn’t realize would be our last. At least for TBLSH as we knew it. Emergency Leisure is a fictional autobiography from this period, centered on a seminal, hedonistic night at Bar L’Escogriffe in Montreal – our own Tropic of Cancer of sorts. “Not New” kicks off the odyssey, a new beginning in our Fool’s Journey. ” –Jackie O’Brien The band’s sound is iconoclastic and ever-evolving, with four studio albums to date including the critically acclaimed Space Is Still the Place and Jude I & II. In addition to composing original soundtracks for HBO, MTV, and Nintendo, they also wrote and recorded the award-winning theme for Amazon’s “Sneaky Pete” at the request of Bryan Cranston. The band is widely known for their explosive live performances, including festivals such as Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza, as well as opening for Aerosmith, Osees, and The Flaming Lips. Their inventive sound has garnered critical acclaim with support from the likes of CLASH, NPR, The Wild Honey Pie, Earmilk and plenty more. The new single showcases a band reaching peak song-writing prowess, a tight yet bewildering journey with groove-rich drums, psychedelic synths and a dirty dancefloor payoff that would make Nile Rodgers blush. With further singles, a new album, and much touring on the horizon, 2023 is looking like an incredible year for the Austin-based outfit. “‘Not New’ is a late night smoldering in a Québécois alley punctuated by three-part harmony, dusty driving drums, fat Mustang bass, glitter and congas. It’s our first single as a renewed band in advance of our fifth album, a homespun moody after hours soundtrack to strange times called Emergency Leisure.” –Curtis Roush “Transportive… like you’re floating off to a galaxy far, far away.” – Vice “Surreal, dreamlike… take me right to bed vocals.” — The Denver Post “A lush, space-western odyssey.” – Consequence of Sound “A touch of grunge, a little grime, and lots of spacey, psychedelic mind-melting sounds.” — Leafly
Damien Jurado w/ Chris Pureka
This is a 21 and over event. “Play on, there’s no such thing as better days,” Damien Jurado sings on “Roger,” the sweeping wash of a song that opens Reggae Film Star, his 18th full length album and second release from Jurado’s own Maraqopa Records label. But as he enters his 25th year as a recording artist, it’s clear these are, at the least, very good days for Jurado on the creative front. In these 12 songs, which evoke half-recalled dreams and overheard conversations, the cosmic rushes headlong into the autobiographical and specific moments on the clock fade from past to future to scenes set only in the eternal now.Playing out like a backlot documentary filmed on the location of an unnamed TV or film set—maybe a sitcom taping, or perhaps it’s a low budget science fiction B-movie, or could it be a talk show?—the album is populated by performers awaiting call times, camera operators praying for their shot, and studio audiences rapt with anticipation. The stars here eschew glitz and glamor. Instead, they wander grocery stores and parking lots in the verdant Pacific Northwest and the desert Southwest, looking for payphones and a sense of purpose.Produced by Jurado with multi-instrumentalist Josh Gordon and recording engineer Alex Bush at Sonikwire studio in Irvine,CA, Jurado’s home away from home and musical headquarters, the record’s compositions are among the most musically rich in his vast discography, encompassing romantic AM gold, ‘60s psychedelia, driving rock & roll, Latin shuffles, and left of the dial ambiance. Strings swell, melodic bass bubbles, and piano sparkles, undergirding Jurado’s unmistakable voice, at once intimately present and ghostly, grounded in the here and now but capable, at any moment, of drifting off into the divinatory. Following threads established by 2021’s The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania, the album sees Jurado embracing his auteur era, penning vignettes that arrive with little fanfare and depart quicker than you might suspect, only to linger long after they wrap.Seeking a skeleton key to decipher the action is beside the point—Jurado’s songs are worlds meant to be lived in, not picked apart—but on the beatific single “What Happened To The Class Of ‘65?” the singer imagines himself as both the viewer and the viewed, the eye behind the camera and its subject. This emotional and spiritual transference animates Reggae Film Star. Like a masterful director, Jurado offers motivation to the listener, staring unblinkingly from the mise-en-scène in your mind. “Look into the camera,” he commands on “The Day Of The Robot,” “One more time with anger/And sadness/I believe you.”A quarter-century in, Jurado remains gripped by his visions and driven by an unmatched creative drive. Reggae Film Star is one of Damien Jurado’s finest works to date, a stunning new feature from one of indie rock’s most cinematic figures. Here on this sound stage, you are the camera, you are the scene, you are the setting, and you are the viewer. Please try not to blink.
