check out the new location of The Musical Box:
http://musicalbox.bloginky.com
(don’t forget to change your bookmarks!)
in performance: “american idols live”
syesha mercado: the highlight performer of "american idols live"
At its best, last night’s three-hour American Idols Live marathon was a vindication. Granted, much of it wasn’t. But there were instances – teases, almost – where the concert possessed a level of pop smarts that outpaced the juggernaut TV series from which it was sprung.
One such moment came when David Archuleta blended the 1961 Ben E. King pop-soul standard Stand By Me with a few verses of Beautiful Girls by Jamaican reggae rapper Sean Kingston. On the surface, that might not have seemed like much of a leap, as Beautiful Girls borrows heavily from the lyrical construction of the former hit in the first place. But Archuleta, the runner-up of American Idol’s seventh season, used his comfortable tenor to make the tune a retro vehicle with an honest sense of swing.
Of course, when Archuleta spoke between songs, the armor came down and what stood before the crowd of 8,500 was a good natured 17 year old who couldn’t help ending almost every sentence with a chuckle.
The concert was, in essence, the reverse of conventional pop music marketing. Most acts hit the road to promote a new recording. American Idols Live was more of a victory lap for the 10 finalists of season seven. Each was presented as part of a Casey Kasem-style countdown. The 10th place finalist (modern R&B singer Chikezie Eze, who was another of the evening’s nice surprises) started the show. Each successive vocalist was afforded three songs a piece, save for Archuleta (he was awarded four) and season champ David Cook (who was given nearly a half-hour of stage time).
One house band, heavy on ‘80s-flavored keyboard orchestration, backed everyone up. And save for The Time of My Life – a flat ballad that won an American Idol songwriting competition and sung last night by Cook – the evening’s full repertoire was a jukebox of cover tunes that shifted from Feist to Ray Charles.
We’ll save for another time the bigger debate on American Idol’s credibility factor in manufacturing pop stars like fast food and then sending the newly idolized Idols on the road to sing music that is in no way theirs. To an audience devoted to their TV generated heroes, the performance provided a very obvious thrill
Watching girls grab the arms of their husbands, boyfriends or, in many cases, fathers when Jason Castro (No. 4) whittled the Gnarls Barkley soul hit Crazy into a folkish serenade or when Archuleta rose from the floor seated behind a piano for Robbie Williams’ weepy Angels was all the evidence one needed that American Idol has hit a bullseye with its target audience.
Cry foul over the heavy sentimentality the show heaped onto the crowd. The simple truth remains that pop stars sing and girls (and a few mothers and grandmas) cry. Like it or not, that has been part of the pop game since Frank Sinatra began his reign 60 years ago. It lived on last night.
Cook was something of a novelty in the pack. Dressed in a worn t-shirt and jeans, his set centered around two dirge-like makeovers: a grunge take on the ‘80s Lionel Richie single Hello and a version of Billie Jean fashioned far more on Chris Cornell’s doomsday remake than the Michael Jackson original. The diversion was nice, but the performance dragged. More than a few fans – having groveled enough at the feet of their Idols, no doubt – made their way to the exits, bypassing the ensemble finale of Don’t Stop the Music.
The highlight of the night, far and away, was 21 year old Florida singer Syesha Mercado (No. 3), who delivered with ease and expression hits by three new generation pop-soul divas: the Rihanna groovefest Umbrella, and a pair of power ballads – Alicia Keys’ If I Ain’t Got You and Beyonce’s Listen.
In a long evening of pop pageantry, Mercado, like Archuleta with his King/Kingston medley, showed American Idol had in its possession something its biggest critics never would have dreamed possible: soul.
jerry wexler, 1917-2008
jerry wexler in 1979
He was the producer and record mogul who first coined the term “rhythm and blues.” But as a true soul music stylist, Jerry Wexler needed no words. Admittedly, one might think he did, considering he was once a journalist. But as a defining force in bringing soul music to mainstream America, Wexler spoke volumes upon volumes, primarily as a producer, without opening his mouth or playing a note on a record.
Wexler died yesterday the age of 91.
As co-chieftain of Atlantic Records during its 50s and 60s heyday, he helped establish – and, in several cases, re-establish – the music of Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke, Booker T. and MGs and many others. He went on to work both sides of the color barrier, whether it was with Dusty Springfield on her fabled 1969 album Dusty in Memphis or with such New Orleans pioneers as Professor Longhair and Dr. John.
And then there was this curious footnote to a work life surrounded by soul music: Wexler is credited for signing a then-unknown Led Zeppelin to Atlantic in 1968.
For an extraordinarily insightful look at Wexler’s remarkable rock and soul life, keep an eye out Tom Thurman’s documentary Immaculate Funk, which has aired many times on KET. But for a big spicy slab of Wexler’s intellect at work, check out Franklin’s Live at Fillmore West.
The 1971 album is remarkable not only because it presents the Queen of Soul at one of the artistic apexes of her career (when her soul-savvy music began to echo the social restlessness of the early ‘70s); or because it highlights an extraordinary band led by the late, great soul sax man King Curtis; or because it sports a still-thrilling cameo by Charles on Spirit in the Dark.
No, Fillmore West works Wexler skillfully captures an event, the soul sound of a moment. He was masterful at piecing together artful R&B, layer by layer, in the recording studio. But Fillmore West was a masterwork. It chronicled more that creation of art. It presents for posterity, the eruption of a soul volcano.
in performance: zz top/brooks & dunn/rodney atkins
zz top: dusty bill, billy gibbons and frank beard
There isn’t a lick about the Texas trio known as ZZ Top – from the chest-length whiskers of guitarist Billy Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill to the mix of blues, boogie and groove that percolates throughout their music – that comes as a surprise.
“Same three guys, same three chords,” remarked Gibbons half through the band’s set last night at Freedom Hall in Louisville, one of the final opening day rites of the Kentucky State Fair.
Come to think of it, Gibbons made the same remark when ZZ Top last played the State Fair in 2004. But there was comfort to be found in the band’s familiarity. When Gibbons and Hill sauntered down a runway during the show-opening Got Me Under Pressure, you were again struck by their animated, near-comic appearance. The two were dressed identically in black, right up to their head gear: backwards baseball caps held in place by goggles. Gibbons’ beard was a little shorter and greyer. Gibbons was a little taller. But that was about it as far as cosmetic differences went.
The duo has been decked out like matching gnomic hipsters onstage for the past 25 years. But that didn’t make seeing them that way again last night, side by side, seem any less fun.
Ditto for the music itself. There wasn’t a tune played that post-dated 1983. That meant the 75 minute set was split mostly between MTV-friendly tracks from ZZ Top’s career redefining Eliminator album – which still sounded static in spots, especially during Sharp Dressed Man and Legs because drummer Frank Beard was locked into a synthesized, metronomic groove – and more blues savvy fare from Tres Hombres and Fandango, which were released a decade earlier.
The latter selections served as the show’s biggest delights. While what you heard, again, was pretty standard stuff from the ZZ Top songbook – as in the still-feisty Tres Hombres medley of Waitin’ for the Bus and Jesus Just Left Chicago – Gibbons and Hill opened the performance up. They opened things way up, in fact, for 1972’s Just Got Paid where Gibbons let loose with a hearty intro and concluding jam on slide guitar that nicely unveiled the band’s rootsier profile.
The closest thing to a surprise ZZ Top offered was a comparative obscurity from Eliminator, titled I Need You Tonight, that borrowed more from Gibbons’ blues might than the video-savvy grooves that drove the album’s bigger hits.
If there was a central novelty to the evening, it was the fact that ZZ Top was co-billed with the cosmopolitan country-pop duo Brooks & Dunn.
While the three ZZ members played scrunched together in the center of the show’s massive stage, Brooks & Dunn’s 70 minute set was an all out production with elaborate video projections (ZZ used a few, too, but they weren’t nearly as ornamental) and a firestorm of red, white and blue confetti that showered the crowd during – what else? – Only in America. Brooks & Dunn also came to town packing a seven member band and a trio of backup singers.
Beyond that, the duo stuck to familiar roles, as well. Ronnie Dunn handled the bulk of the vocal duties, underplaying the beachcombing repose of Neon Moon and hitting a more celebratory stride for the duo’s hit cover of B.W. Stevenson’s My Maria. Kix Brooks was primarily the cheerleader who stepped up for tunes (Mama Don’t Get Dressed Up for Nothin’ and She Likes to Get Out of Town) that tended to push the party mood a touch too severely.
Some of the material was simply an ill fit. Play Something Country, for instance, sounded like a rewrite of the ‘90s Little Texas hit God Bless Texas – and that wasn’t country at all. And what was up with the Pink Floyd-ian flourishes that kicked off the finale of Boot Scootin’ Boogie?
None of that seemed to bug the audience, though. While there was a healthy number of empty seats in the back and upper decks of Freedom Hall, those on hand seemed honestly thrilled by Dunn’s gospel-like delivery of Believe and the almost Poco-ish country-rock decorum of the show-opening Cowboy Town.
Rodney Atkins turned a tight half-hour opening set that offered crisp, efficient deliveries of the radio hits These are My People and If You’re Going Through Hell. Though it was hardly Atkins’ fault, having a third act on the bill made for a mighty long evening. When Brooks & Dunn joined ZZ Top for Tube Snake Boogie, roughly four hours after Atkins hit the stage, the clock had sailed past midnight.
It was a lot of bang for the concert buck, to be sure – maybe even too much. After Hill led ZZ through a finale of Jailhouse Rock, the house lights came up to reveal an arena that was already half vacated. Even the State Fair midway had closed for the evening.
Now, what was that old saying again about staying too long at the fair?
sounds of the state fair, pt. 1
brooks & dunn: kix brooks, left, and ronnie dunn. photo by chapman baehler.
Ah, the sights, sounds and smells of the Kentucky State Fair. There is absolutely nothing on earth like them.
Where else can you see a tightrope walking tiger, cheer a pig race, commune with everything from goats to chickens and to deceptively docile bovine and then chomp down on a corn dog in 95 degree heat?
But, as David Letterman says, that’s not why you called. If you’re reading this, chances are you’re fancying a tune or two to cap off your State Fair adventure. Well, as usual, you’re in luck and then some. On tap over the next 11 days will be country music and rock ‘n’ roll – sometimes on the same bill (shoot, sometimes it may even come from the same act). But there will also vintage pop, hard rocking Christian music, a disco flashback, a hearty blast of ‘90s R&B and more.
We’re outlining the first slew of shows here, which will take you through the weekend. The rest we will save for Monday.
The majority of the shows are free. But, as usual, there are guidelines you need to keep in mind when you’re packing up the family for a full day at the wonderland that is the Kentucky State Fair.
Here is what you need to know:
+ All fairgrounds concerts, whether at Freedom Hall or Cardinal Stadium, will start at 8 p.m.
+ All free performances will still require admission to the Fair itself.
+ Parking at the Fair is $5 per vehicle.
+ If you’re attending a Cardinal Stadium performance and it starts to pour, the show will go on. Concerts will only be cancelled in the event of lightning.
+ The higher price listed for the ticketed performances includes Fair admission.
That’s it. Got the sun block? Got the Pepto Bismol? Got the earplugs? If so, get on up to Louisville. Starting tonight, it’s State Fair time.
Tonight: Brooks & Dunn/ZZ Top/Rodney Atkins at Freedom Hall – They teamed up awhile back for a CMT Crossroads special. Now, that “Lil’ Ol’ Band from Texas” rejoins the Goliath country music duo for a full tour. Knoxville’s Rodney (These Are My People) Atkins will open ($41, $46).
Tonight - P.O.D./Pop Evil at Cardinal Stadium - Perhaps the only known link between Christian metal music and WrestleMania, P.O.D. has forged considerable mainstream popularity over the past 15 years. Its new When Angels and Serpents Dance album welcomes guitarist Marcos Curiel back to the fold. (free)
Friday: Vanessa Hudgens/Corbin Bleu with Jordan Pruitt/Drew Seeley at Freedom Hall – OK, parents. This is the one you drop the kids off for. Hudgens and Bleu are better known as Gabriella and Chad from the absurdly popular High School Musical series, which is already preparing its third film for an October release ($26, $31).
Friday: Boyz II Men/Midnight Star at Cardinal Stadium – Boyz II Men defined a new R&B generation in the ‘90s with hits like End of the Road and 4 Seasons of Loneliness. The group still boasts three of its five original vocalists. Midnight Star’s roots, of course, stem back to its mid-70s formation at Kentucky State University (free).
Saturday: Brad Paisley, Jewel, Chuck Wicks, Julianne Hough at Freedom Hall – Paisley’s Vegas-style stage show is a full evening unto itself. Throw in opening sets by the newly country-converted Jewel and TV-bred Nashville newcomers Wicks and Hough and you’re talking a concert that will call for some serious baby sitter bucks ($44, $49).
Saturday: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts at Cardinal Stadium – Jett was rocking Rupp Arena as an opening act for The Police as far back as 1982. Over 25 years later she still loves rock ‘n’ roll and continues to garner ecstatic reviews for her live shows (free).
Sunday: The Oak Ridge Boys/The Roys at Cardinal Stadium – The Oaks may have thrown a few curve balls to their fans over the past year, like recording with country outlaw offspring Shooter Jennings. When it comes to the State Fair, though, the group’s Sunday concert spot is a bonafide tradition (free).
the boss bowl?
bruce springsteen. photo by danny clinch.
Word has it that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band may wind up as the featured halftime performer at Super Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1.
That report came yesterday from the New York Post. But then again, one of the Post’s lead stories also dealt with an employee caught taking a bath in a sink at Burger King: “Taking a bath, his way,” read the headline. Shoot, it even came with exclusive online video, which I reluctantly passed on. But take heart, Whopper-inos. The guy’s been fired.
But if the Boss news is true, Springsteen will follow in esteemed company. In the wake of the Janet Jackson ballyhoo of 2004, the Super Bowl streamlined heavily its halftime program by offering, in successive years, three-or-so song sets by Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Prince and, earlier this year, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
The online concert site Pollstar said no one with the NFL or Springsteen have confirmed the Super Bowl spot yet. But Pollstar gave a merry chase to the possibly of a “Boss Bowl” by referring to a Boston Herald column written by Fox News blow-hard Bill O’Reilly published on Sunday that trashed the free-speaking politics of Springsteen, Neil Young and Coldplay’s Chris Martin.
So sayeth rock patriot O’Reilly: “What annoys me about Springsteen, Young and Martin, in particular, is that they never debate the issues. They never show us exactly how deep their political thinking is, how wide their frame of reference is. Instead, they yell out dumb stuff to their zombie followers and revel in the applause. Overseas especially, any knock on America is greeted with rapture.”
Wow. Another informed and worldly manifesto from Mr. Bill. Too bad Springsteen can’t be as openly patriotic as the present day Beach Boys, which received O’Reilly’s blessings in the column. And what a shame the zombies can’t chum up to country stars that O’Reilly claims “generally don’t go in for this kind of stuff because their audience has little tolerance for it.”
Just reading the word “tolerance” in something penned by O’Reilly cracks me up. My recommendation would be for Mr. Bill to take in a Hank Williams, Jr. concert sometime. I guarantee he will never look at “tolerance” or country music the same way again. The crowd would devour him whole.
I’d love to argue the point further and exhibit the deepness and width of my frame of reference. But, you see, I must go. Need more dumb stuff from Boss. Zombie mad.
critic’s pick 32
randy newman:
In the final verses to Potholes, one the ten fascinating ruminations of personal and professional politics that make up Harps and Angels, Randy Newman breezes over all of the irksome romantic remembrances in his life. “One forgives as one forgets,” he sings in his usual sleepy, sardonic voice. “And one does forget.”
Trouble is, he doesn’t completely forget. The tune turns savagely inward when Newman recounts how his father, upon meeting his second wife for the first time, reveled in telling the story of how the singer walked 14 batters in a row during a childhood baseball game only to leave the field in tears. Newman has confessed in interviews that the story – a view of romantic fancy balanced by youthful mortification – is true.
It’s important to understand the personal impact of Potholes. That’s because the rest of Harps and Angels, Newman’s first album of new non-soundtrack music in nine years, takes generous potshots at the rest of modern civilization.
On Only a Girl, a remarkably less complimentary romantic fable, Newman doesn’t realize until the last verse how a woman of questionable beauty (”wears orthopedic shoes; it’s some sort of uglification she’s into”) became enamored with someone of his advancing years: “Maybe it’s the money. Jeez, I never thought of that.”
Then there is the accidental near-death experience in Harps and Angels‘ title tune, where heavenly hosts croon an awful lot like The Raelettes. As it turns outs, the protagonist is nearly yanked up to heaven too soon due to a “clerical error” but is given a tongue-lashing all the same for his earthly misdeeds. Not that this sways his sense of spiritualism. “You know, boys, I’m a not a religious man,” Newman sings. “But I sent a prayer out just in case. You never know.”
Harps and Angels really heats up, though, when the current political climate comes into view. Borrowing a page from Newman’s sadly prophetic 1972 tune Political Science, one of the first pop songs to suggest America wasn’t nearly as beloved globally as we thought we were at home, comes A Few Words in Defense of Our Country. A parable fittingly set to a loping country melody, it reflects on the final months of the Bush era, discovers the flip side of Franklin Roosevelt philosophy in action (”What are we supposed to be afraid of? Why of being afraid”) but finally finds its only sad comfort in the fact the administration didn’t sink to the dictatorial depths Hitler and Stalin.
And let’s not forget A Piece of the Pie, a view of a corrosive class system and failing American Dreams where the feel-good but corporately co-opted patriotism of John Mellencamp gets skewered (”Johnny Cougar’s singing it’s their country now; he’ll be singing for Toyota in the fall”).
As pointed, funny and unsettling as Newman’s songs can be, they are as arresting musically as they are lyrically. Referring often to the elegant Southern orchestration of 1974’s classic Good Old Boys, Newman drapes his snapshots of a wilting America and checkered personal past in limber strings, suggestions of ragtime and Dixieland and, of course, the lazy, strolling accompaniment of his own piano playing.
Harps and Angels does come with two plaintive love songs (Losing You and Feels Like Home) that exhibit their own emotive ripple effects. But as a whole, the album is a scrapbook that reveals, in typical Newman fashion, an unrepentant wit and an eerily frank confessional streak. Slap all of that together and you have a view of a life parade that lumbers along in tune as it veers ever so profoundly off course.
issac hayes, 1942-2008
issac hayes
For one generation, he was the cat that sang about “that cat Shaft.” To another, he was the womanizing, foul-mouthed father figure known as Chef on South Park.
But to any audience, Isaac Hayes was the soul man supreme. He died on Saturday at age 65 in Memphis, the city he was essentially a musical ambassador for.
Hayes was, regardless of how commercially visible his music or career was, a template for cool. But in the early ‘70s, he was also a true innovator whose records became orchestral incantations where vocals were spoken as much as sung. Barry White ran with the formula in the mid ‘70s when Hayes’ hits started to settle. But Hayes was always the man. He was the one who designed the breathy, baritone-rich romanticism that defined a vocal era in R&B music.
But Hayes was so much more than that. Along with the Staple Singers, he helped write the last great chapter in the golden age of Stax Records. That meant forging a soul sound that was reflective of the times. Funk discreetly prevailed in his best songs, as in the mantra-like guitar riff that percolated throughout 1971’s career defining Theme from Shaft. But Hayes, like the underappreciated Motown producer Norman Whitfield, also took a nod or two from psychedelia. A prime example: the fuzzy guitar counterpoint that injected the Burt Bacharach staple Walk On By with a sense of urban urgency. It became Hayes’ breakthrough hit in 1969.
Hayes’ charisma often carried over to movie screens as well, right up through Hustle & Flow in 2005. A personal favorite was a slice of pure camp: 1981’s Escape from New York, where he played a gang leader called The Duke who paraded around the decimated city in a Continental with twin chandeliers as hood ornaments. The Duke was a bad shut-your-mouth, too
But a defining screen appearance came in the1973 concert documentary Wattstax, where he closed the day-long “Afro-American Woodstock” with Shaft. The concert, staged the previous year, commemorated the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots. But it also, perhaps unintentionally, chronicled the end of Stax Records’ reign as one of the most influential soul labels to blossom out of Memphis – or the entire South, for that matter.
"soul men": bernie mac (who died friday), hayes, samuel l. jackson
Coincidentally, one of Hayes final filmed performances will be released this fall. He will be featured in Soul Men, a comedy starring Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac. Mac died on Friday at the age of 50. The premise: two veteran R&B singers reunite after 20 years at the Apollo Theater to honor the passing of their band leader.
There remains, of course, the music. While dozen of Hayes anthologies have been issued over the years, it’s best to stick with the early Stax recordings – specifically 1969’s Hot Buttered Soul, 1971’s soundtrack to Shaft and Black Moses and, for a time capsule view of what a vital R&B voice Hayes was to his generation, the 2004 remastered CD and DVD editions of Wattstax.
All were cut in an age where soul music was way, way more than simple entertainment. It was groove. It was heart. It was social consciousness. It was Isaac Hayes.
current listening 08/09
fleet foxes: "fleet foxes" (2008)
Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes – I’m a late convert to the engaging new pop and folk mix this young Seattle band creates. Amid all kinds of earthly and fanciful storylines are spacious echoes of early Fairport Convention and Strawbs along with vocals wrapped in the warm reverb that recalls My Morning Jacket. Toss in psychedelic tweaks in the vocal and instrumental arrangements and you have the one of the coolest debut albums of 2008.
david sanborn: "here & gone" (2008)
David Sanborn: Here & Gone – If you still sandwich sax kingpin Sanborn in with such wallpaper music merchants as Kenny G, then open your ears to the organic and keenly orchestral cool of Here & Gone. The Hank Crawford-era R&B of Ray Charles is the main reference point here, a fact highlighted by a richly swinging version of the former’s Stoney Lonesome. Throughout, Sanborn’s efficient alto wail is as distinctive as ever.
humble pie: "performance: rockin' the fillmore" (1971)
Humble Pie: Performance: Rockin’ the Fillmore – There was no greater Jekyll and Hyde guitar/vocal tag team than Steve Marriott and Peter Frampton, even though the latter split for a solo career before Performance was released in 1971. Marriott is simply devilish here, a blues/boogie showman of fearsome intensity. Frampton supplies the guitar muscle, transforming I Don’t Need No Doctor into a savage electric groove anthem.
love tractor: "love tractor" and "til the cows come home" (1981, 1984)
Love Tractor: Love Tractor/’Til the Cows Come Home – A 1991 CD issue of music cut by what was then the predominantly instrumental Athens, Ga. band between 1981 and 1984. The grooves are elemental, even static at times. But the pop sensibilities are broad as the band counters the dying New Wave with a pastiche of surf, pop and twang. The version of Kraftwerk’s Neon Lights typlifies this detached but sleek hullabaloo.
pentangle: "cruel sister" (1970)
Pentangle: Cruel Sister – Fleet Foxes’ take on psychedelic folk inspired a new listen to one of England’s most pioneering bands in that field. Cruel Sister was released in 1970 with guitarists John Renbourn and Bert Jansch adding sitar, concertina and electric strings to the fanciful singing of Jacqui McShee and the jazzier bass work of Danny Thompson. An 18-minite revision of the folk gem Jack Orion presented Pentangle at its creative zenith.
the last summer weekend?
the weekend begins tonight with the return of rod stewart at riverbend.
What better befits the long, hot summer days of August than with a long, hot summer weekend? With top seasonal sounds abounding well into next week, we suggest viewing one of the last summer weekends before school sets in and the week ahead as essentially as one and the same. Here are a few reasons why.
+ In recent years, one had little choice but to view Rod Stewart as a pop revivalist. After all, his last five studio albums have been covers collections (a rock sampler preceded by four Great American Songbook sets). But when he returns to Riverbend Music Center tonight in Cincinnati with Bryan Adams as opening act, the standards will be shelved in favor of Stewart hits from the early ‘70s (You Wear It Well, Maggie May) and ‘80s (Young Turks, Forever Young). But then again, Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? has been popping up an encore. Oh, the past can be a fearsome place. (8 p.m.; $31.75-$246.75). Call TicketMaster at (859) 281-6644.
+ The fact Scott Miller will be playing the Phoenix Hill Tavern, 644 Baxter Ave. in Louisville on Saturday just hurts. The Knoxville songsmith was a frequent flyer at local venues from the mid-90s on. He played Lynagh’s Music Club with his barnstorming power-pop band The V-Roys and then The Dame with the more Americana-inclined Commonwealth. There is now no place for our ol’ pal to play in town. Granted, a trip up to the Phoenix Hill on a Saturday night is a pretty doable deal. Still, it burns to not even have an available Lexington venue for such acts. Americana rockers The Gougers will open Saturday’s performance (8 p.m., $12). Call (502) 589-4957 or go to TicketWeb.
+ Fresh from last weekend’s Lollapalooza festival in Chicago comes the Homemade Jamz Blues Band, a roots music trio that takes its name, and its music, very seriously. Comprised of three siblings from Tupelo, Miss. – Ryan Perry (15), younger brothers Kyle (13) and even younger sister Taya (9) – the band utilizes homemade guitars and bass guitars built out of car mufflers. Chew on that sense of novelty all day long, if you like. It doesn’t subtract one bit from the worldly blues sound the trio comes up with on such songs as Who Your Real Friends Are and Penny Waiting on Change. The Homemade Jamz Blues Band teams with the Canadian Celtic ensemble The Barra MacNeils for Monday’s taping of the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour at the Kentucky Theatre (7 p.m., $10). For reservations, call (859) 252-8888.
+ When Filter began rocking the world outside of its Cleveland home base in the mid ‘90s, its music wound up on the big screen as much as it did the radio. During the latter half of the decade, the band’s crunchy, guitar-driven tunes were featured in The Crow: City of Angels, The Crow: Salvation, Spawn and The X Files: Fight the Future. The latter proved to be somewhat fortuitous. Filter frontman Richard Patrick’s brother, actor Robert Patrick, went on to star in the last two seasons of The X Files series. For now, though, Filter favors the road over Hollywood and will perform on Wednesday at A1A, 367 E. Main with Lucid Grey and Clear Conscience opening (8 p.m.; $12 in advance and $15 day of show). Call (859) 231-7263 or go to Ticket Fusion.
I am a native Kentuckian and freelance journalist who has been writing about contemporary music for the Lexington Herald-Leader since 1980. I have not a lick of honest musical talent myself, just a pair of appreciative ears for jazz, folk, blues, bluegrass, Americana, soul, Celtic, Cajun, chamber, worldbeat, nearly every form of rock 'n' roll imaginable and, when pressed, the occasional tango and polka.