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Mitch
Elrod and CountrySoulHouse CD-Release Show
Red
Square, Friday
We’re
going to get to Mitch Elrod and his CD in a minute; we just
don’t want to confuse you. The point is this: You can spend
all of Friday evening at Red Square, because there are four
notable bands on the bill. The fun begins at 8 PM with Vermont’s
the Everybodyfields. This rootsy trio are fronted by a dobro
. . . dobroist? Dobro-playing singer. Then, at 9 PM, it’s
Mitch Elrod and CountrySoulHouse, who will celebrate the release
of their just-released album Roadhouse Nature. Elrod’s
one of the best singers in town (we’ve said so, time and again),
which is reason enough to go. After this rich musical goodness,
at 10 PM, porch-rockers the Kamikaze Hearts will don eye patches,
parrots and electric guitars, thus transforming themselves
into their alter-ego, Pirate School. Finally, at 11:30-ish—according
to the club’s Web site—the evening concludes as it began,
with a Vermont band. Turkey Bouillon Mafia present a mélange
of “funk, jazz, metal, ambience, rock and utter insanity.”
Which means, of course, that they have a horn section. (Nov.
18, 8 PM, $5, 388 Broadway, Albany, 432-8584)
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Mach
5
Valentine’s,
Friday
Albany,
meet Cowboy Mach Bell. Actually, you may have already met.
The whiskey-voiced Holliston, Mass., native Bell sang lead
for Boston-area band Thundertrain through the late ’70s and
early ’80s; during that time, the band played a number of
now long-boarded-up venues in our fair city. But you may know
him best as the vocalist on Once a Rocker, Always a Rocker,
the third and final album by the Joe Perry Project. (Perry,
of course, being the at-the-time erstwhile Aerosmith guitarist.)
Anyway, enough with the history lesson: Bell has a new quartet
together, cleverly named Mach 5, and the members brag to be
the “most rockingest, most handsomest players in the world.”
Whether or not they can back up that claim, their debut disc,
Meet Mach 5, is a darn fine slice of skanky, Boston-style
garage rock. Also on Friday’s bill are the Red Hopes and Boston’s
fabulous Rudds. (Nov. 18, 9 PM, $5, 17 New Scotland Ave.,
Albany, 432-6572)
O.A.R.
RPI
Fieldhouse, Saturday
They
found their beginnings as an Ohio State University frat band,
jamming out at college parties and winning local and regional
affection. Now O.A.R. (Of a Revolution) have developed such
success that they are selling out venues coast to coast, pumping
their reggae-rock-jam sound out of college music servers everywhere,
and selling records in the hundreds of thousands. The last
eight years have become a true-to-life, rock & roll rags-to-riches
story for the group, and it isn’t over yet. According to All
Music Guide, their newest studio album, Stories of
a Stranger, “presents everything that defines O.A.R. in
a more concise package.” Mr. North, an Irish band gone American,
will open Saturday’s show. (Nov. 18, 7 PM, $20, 110 8th
St., Troy, 276-6262)
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| josh
cole |
Josh
Cole and the Household
Lark
Tavern, Saturday
With
so many bands coming through town and so many press releases
flying over the transom, we have a high tolerance for promotion.
So we’re willing to forgive cool-by-association promo lines
like this, from Josh Cole’s Web site: “After appearing with
Wilco, Patty Griffin and Chuck Prophet on Paste magazine’s
first-ever CD sampler. . . .” Whoa, Nellie. That’s some rarefied
company, Josh, but no harm done. This former Oregon organic-goat-cheese
farmer, and his band, the Household, have a “folk/rock/pop”
album, Hypocriticool, that has enough snarky guitar
to rock, and enough catchy hooks to be pop. And Cole himself
does sing a bit like a young Dylan, without working it enough
to be obnoxious. Opening will be the “hard-rocking” Sense
Offenders. (Nov. 19, 10 PM, $5, 453 Madison Ave., Albany,
463-9779)
A
Woman’s Heart
The
Egg, Saturday
In
1992, a group of Irish lasses came together to create an album
that would demonstrate their own unique talents, along with
the diverse influences that have shaped Irish music. What
they ended up with was Ireland’s best-selling album of all-time,
with nearly a million copies sold. The songs on that and the
two subsequent A Woman’s Heart releases range
from political to romantic to historical; Saturday’s show
will feature performances from all three albums. Headlining
their debut in the U.S. will be Mary Black, Maura O’Connell,
Cara Dillon and accordion and fiddle virtuoso Sharon Shannon.
(Nov. 19, 8 PM, $28, Empire State Plaza, Albany, 473-1845).
Blue
Rodeo, the Damnwells
Iron
Horse Music Hall, Monday
And,
to the East, Canadian roots-rock royalty meets scrappy Brooklyn-bred
Americana in this Monday-night matchup. Blue Rodeo have been
lighting up Toronto clubs for two decades, yet like so many
Canuck bands, they’re a multimillion-selling success story
north of the border, but virtually invisible here in the States.
The group, led by songwriters Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, currently
are touring in support of their 10th studio album, Are
You Ready? The Damnwells have spent the majority of the
last four years van-bound, and the touring has paid off—they’re
a very respectable live act for it, and their most recent
There’s No One Left in Brooklyn But You EP shows a
band who aren’t afraid to reinvent themselves on the fly,
just because they can. (Nov. 21, 7 PM, $18, 20 Center St.,
Northampton, Mass., 413-584-0610)
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| Also
Noted |
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| ray
charles |
Tomorrow
(Friday) night, “ambassador of the blues” Roy
Book Binder performs at Caffe Lena (8 PM,
$15, 583-0022). . . . New local pop outfit Sunset
Aside will celebrate the release of their
debut album, Ghost Stories, at the Hudson
Duster Friday night with the help of Blasé
Debris and Spitfire Pilot. (9 PM, $5,
467-2391). . . . Also on Friday, the Paddy
Kilrain Band will come out of hiding for one
show at the Van Dyck (8 PM, $6, 381-1111). . .
. It may be completely sold out by showtime, but
don’t let that stop you from trying to nab tickets
for Phish head Trey Anastasio’s Friday
night solo show at the Palace Theatre (7 PM, $38,
465-3334). . . . At the Lark Tavern on Friday,
“Grace: An Albany Tribute to Jeff Buckley” gathers
local poets and musicians to interpret the words
and music of the late singer-songwriter (10 PM,
$5, 463-7875). . . . On Saturday, local musicians
pay tribute to the late Ray Charles at Caffe Lena
(8 PM, $10, 583-0022). . . . Peter Yarrow
(of Peter, Paul and Mary) will perform with his
daughter, Bethany Yarrow, at Troy Savings
Bank Music Hall on Saturday (8 PM, $28, 273-0038).
. . . At the other end of the musical spectrum,
Blanks 77 will headline a multi-act punk-rock
bill at Valentine’s on Saturday (7 PM,
$10, 432-6572). . . . Legendary gospel group the
Dixie Hummingbirds will pair with the Dirty
Dozen Brass Band for a performance titled
“Just a Closer Walk With Thee: The Sacred Sounds
of New Orleans and Southern Gospel” at the Mahaiwe
Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Mass.,
on Saturday (8 PM, $20-$40, 413-528-0100). . .
. Finally, the Van Dyck welcomes acoustic-guitar
ace Adrian Legg on Wednesday (7 and 9 PM,
$20, 381-1111).
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Columns
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