Monthly Archives: December 2011

BUFFALO KILLERS IN RHAPSODY’S TOP 25 ROCK ALBUMS OF 2011!

#20. Buffalo Killers – 3

Cincinnati’s Buffalo Killers might hail from the other end of the Buckeye State, but their artistic trajectory (up to the release of 3, that is) mirrors that of Cleveland’s James Gang. Like their heroes, the power trio has tempered their chunky riffage and thunder grooves with country-flavored folk rock that’s heavy on the sweet, high harmonies. In other words, 3 is best listened to not on Saturday night, when the keg flows unimpeded, but rather Sunday morning, when the only thing that can clear that foggy brain is a brisk swim in a cold lake tucked inside Ohio’s rolling foothills. [J.F.]
http://www.rhapsody.com/#blog/2011/12/rock2011

In addition, Buffalo Killers album 3 also made the Best of 2011 list in the Cincinnati weekly CityBeat, where they claim, “On the hard-touring Buffalo Killers’ third album, the retro-tinged Psych Pop trio’s songwriting reached a level of excellence on par with the legends that inspire them.”
http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-24648-the_year_in_your_ear.html

MARTHA BERNER DOES A DOUBLE-SHOT OF CHICAGO RADIO SESSIONS!

In support of both her recently released Fool’s Fantasy album and Chicago Record Release show at Lincoln Hall this Thu. Dec. 29th, Martha Berner stopped by the Chicago radio stations Fearless Radio (5pm) and WZRD Radio (8pm) last night (Dec. 27th) for lively unplugged sessions at both.

If you’d like to listen to Martha’s Fearless Radio session, they’ll be posting the podcast of it  here soon, so be sure to check it out in a couple of days!

BLURT MAGAZINE LOVES THE NEW RADIO MOSCOW!

Radio Moscow – The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz
(Alive)

Picture this: Victor Frankenstein enters his dark laboratory with a head full of acid, the DNA of heavy blues based bands like Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and the twisted musical insanity of Captain Beefheart. The Monster that would emerge from the electrified slab would be Radio Moscow and the tunes blasting from its unholy fingertips would be this album.

Over the course of two records (their self-titled debut and their superb stoner rock knockout Brain Cycles), Parker Griggs and Zach Anderson have forged a tripped-out landscape that has taken them to mainstream, if not hipster, appeal. The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz firmly feeds from the teat of late sixties and seventies Nuggets comp forefathers, vocal effects and hallucinogens dripping from the speakers and the psychedelic, heavy, effects-driven guitar of Griggs will either win new converts to the Radio Moscow love-in or make some super stoned fans very happy. Either way, the platter’s a winner. – DANNY R. PHILLIPS

http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3492/

JAMES LEG FLOOD OF TOUR PRESS!

STAR-TRIBUNE (Minneapolis, MN daily) – Positive Bayport show preview
The Big Gigs for the week of 12/16
James Leg made a big impression on the small audiences who attended the Deep Blues Festivals, which featured him with his roadhousey garage-rock band the Black Diamond Heavies, sort of an unlikely melding of the Black Keys and Deep Purple. Also known as John Wesley Myers and as a cohort of Scott H. Biram, Mr. Leg just issued a boisterous, hell-fiery solo album titled “Solitary Pleasure,” which he’s promoting with a two-night stand at Deep Blues promoter Chris Johnson’s smoking barbecue joint. (9 p.m. Fri. & Sat., Bayport BBQ, 328 5th Av. N., Bayport. $15.) Riemenschneider
http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/135671983.html

ISTHMUS (Madison, WI weekly) –  Feature /interview with artist photo to preview Madison show
Rock ‘n’ soul – Black Diamond Heavies’ James Leg takes a solo turn
Bob Koch on Thursday 12/15/2011
James Leg, Roboman
During the last half of the 2000s, Nashville’s Black Diamond Heavies built a dedicated fan base with some hard touring, pumping out a bracing mix of blues, punk and soul informed by the last half-century or so of American music. The group hasn’t released a new disc since 2009’s Alive as Fuck, but singer/keyboardist John Wesley Myers, a.k.a. Rev. James Leg, emerged this year with a solo album, Solitary Pleasure. He’ll bring songs from it to the High Noon Saloon on Dec. 19.

Black Diamond Heavies was initially a trio, but the guitarist bowed out before the band’s debut album, and since then Leg and drummer Van Campbell have whipped up an iconoclastic incarnation of the loud-punk-blues-duo concept. Today, it’s hard to imagine a guitar adding much to the work of Myers’ own two hands on whatever keys happen to be handy, often including a Fender Rhodes.

Fans got a sneak preview of solo Leg this spring at an intimate Mother Fool’s Coffeehouse gig. That performance “was a little more low-key than what folks will see at the High Noon Saloon show,” he writes via email. Other than “a different bad-ass on drums,” the Dec. 19 show won’t be too different from a Black Diamond Heavies show. “The material and show is in the same vein.”

While Solitary Pleasure doesn’t stray far from Leg’s characteristic take on blues and soul, it adds an even stronger gospel edge, particularly on a cover of Link Wray’s “Fire and Brimstone.” And the frenzy is occasionally turned down a notch. “Georgia” sounds like a lost 1970s Southern rock hit, and “Whatever It Takes” even finds Leg singing in an uncharacteristically sweet vocal style. A couple of songs have an off-kilter cabaret feel, à la Tom Waits, and there’s even a quote of the Three Stooges theme for good measure.

For those wondering about the nom de rock, Myers/Leg provides the answer. “It was given to me by a wild old street character in Tennessee,” he says. “He said I got a ‘jimmy leg’ when I play.”
http://www.isthmus.com/isthmus/article.php?article=35468

GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE (Green Bay, WI Daily) – Positive show preview.

James Leg, the organist and singer for Black Diamond Heavies who has played numerous Green Bay venues in recent years, is back to make his solo debut at 8 p.m. Sunday at Phatheadz, 420 N. Clay St. He’s touring in support of his first solo album, “Solitary Pleasure’’ and has been described as “Tom Waits fronting the Stooges.’’ Tim Schweiger and the Middlemen, Holly and the Nice Lions and the Onions open the show; $5 cover.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20111215/GPG05/111214146/Kendra-Meinert-column-Santas-will-can-sleigh-hitch-up-bikes

THE ONION/ A/V CLUB (Madison weekly) – Positive show preview.
James Leg
Also Playing: Roboman
John Wesley Myers’ voice sounds like a huge, coiled cobra doing a Louis Armstrong impression, which is to say menacing yet assuredly recognizable. The Black Diamond Heavies frontman puts that impressive instrument up front as James Leg. Over the rolling organ and lurching bassline of “Drowning In Fire,” off Solitary Pleasure, summons murky Mississippi Delta soul as lines like “Hell, it keeps on calling me” bubble to the surface. The “growler, shouter, and Fender Rhodes finger-fucker” is winding down a well-worn, devilish path to salvation, but the gravitational pull of his blood-and-guts vocals makes him stand out from other blues travelers.
High Noon Saloon, 701 E. Washington Ave., Madison WI 53703
608-268-1122
Mon Dec 19  8 pm
James Leg and Roboman at High Noon Saloon
21+ $7
http://www.avclub.com/madison/events/james-leg-and-roboman,279228/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds

WGRN RADIO / DIRTY ROOTS RADIO SHOW  (Greenville, IL Radio) – Phoner to be scheduled to promote Dec. 11th St. Louis show (4:30pm Thu Dec. 9th)

MOTOR CITY BLOG (Detroit music blog) – Show preview with photo.
http://motorcityblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/tonight-james-leg-of-black-diamond.html

CITY BEAT (Cincinnati weekly) – Positive show preview with live video.
Weekend Squeeze for 12/3 & 4
Weekend concert previews with Hank 3, Unkown Hinson, Kenny Ozz-Fest, James Leg, Reel Big Fish and more
Music Sunday: James Leg of Nashville Blues/Rock/Garage band Black Diamond Heavies has spent much of this year touring the world in support of his solo debut (and taking along Cincy uber-drummer Andy Jody and what looks to be a heavy keyboard set-up). Sunday night, he’ll be bringing the tour to Junker’s in Northside for a free show. Below, check out a really cool vid with footage from one of the twosome’s last appearances at Junker’s.
http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/blog-2694-weekend_squeeze_for_12_3_4.html

JESTER JAY MUSIC (online music blog) – Positive news post with album art and mp3
James Leg – Do How You Wanna (from Solitary Pleasure)
It was just another party that turned into a jam session in my friend’s basement. We’d been wailing away on blues based jams for hours — the smoke was thick, ears were ringing, and we were all in awe of the powerful groove we were creating. It was a experience captured only by our memories.

James Leg (AKA John Wesley Myers of Black Diamond Heavies) channels his own version on Do How You Wanna. It’s a lo-fi blues deconstruction with a grinding rhythm and flailing lead. Like the best garage rock or old school blues, the visceral playing is anchored in the magic of a moment. Leg’s battery acid vocals are part Captain Beefheart and part hard ass living.
http://jesterjaymusic.blogspot.com/

CITY PAGES (Minneapolis, MN weekly) – Bayport show preview scheduled (per Rick Mason)
James Leg and Molly Gene One Whoaman Band
Bayport BBQ on Friday 12.16 and Saturday 12.17
This latest pair of deep blues nuggets to visit the Southern barbecue joint on the St. Croix should provide a fine antidote for an overdose of holiday malling. Tennessee’s James Leg is the alias of Black Diamond Heavies chief growler and keyboards pounder John Wesley Myers, touring behind his solo release Solitary Pleasure. His gravelly rasp sounds a bit like Tom Waits with terminal tonsillitis, and there’s no denying his passion as he moans about drink and women and, inevitably, fire and brimstone. Sometimes he conjures up a whiff of honky-tonk on his Fender Rhodes, and the odd inebriated horn weighs in, seemingly escaped from a Bourbon Street strip club, as on “No License (Song for the Caged Bird).” But generally Leg’s drift is hard blues left out in the garage for a few weeks. He’ll be accompanied by a drummer here. Missouri’s Molly Dyer will take care of the drumming herself, along with the dirty, slashing bottleneck guitar work and harrowing, hell-hound taunting yelps and withering yowls she coaxes from her vocal cords. She negotiates blues as ravaged and gritty as a back-country road on her latest album, Folk Blues and Booze, which kicks off with a killer a cappella version of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “When the Train Come Along.” $15. 9 p.m. 328 Fifth Ave. N., Bayport; 651.955.6337. —Rick Mason
http://www.citypages.com/2011-12-14/music/critics-picks-robin-and-linda-williams-valet-and-more/

CAPITAL TIMES / 77 SQUARE (Madison, WI daily & online A&E site) – Madison show preview.
James Leg
When: Monday, Dec. 19, 8 p.m.
Where: High Noon Saloon, 701 E. Washington Ave.
Tickets: $7 (21+); high-noon.com
On “Solitary Pleasure,” his debut as James Leg, Black Diamond Heavies singer/keyboardist John Wesley Myers races through an assortment of blues-and-soul-flecked numbers that sound like they were recorded in a cramped, sweaty juke joint. “This howling dog inside of me,” he growls on the piano-driven “Drowning in Fire. “I just can’t make it still.” Oftentimes he doesn’t try, bashing through boozy ballads about hitting the bottle too hard, carousing and hanging with a rough-and-tumble crowd, his permanently hoarse voice suggesting he does a bit too much of all three. Roboman also performs. (Safe Bet)
http://host.madison.com/entertainment/music/clubs-roundup-corey-hart-plays-music-to-warm-winter-bones/article_174f6a5e-229e-11e1-81dc-001871e3ce6c.html

FOURTH ESTATE (Green Bay, WI college weekly) – Feature story with interview and artist photo to preview Green Bay show.

Solo artist turns blues into wild ride
Singer James Leg will perform Dec. 18
By Hailey Alfred

Every musician has his or her own unique voice. For example, Michael Jackson had his falsetto, and Cher has her timeless tone. For singer James Leg, he considers himself a mix of Louis Armstrong and Iggy Pop.

Leg, whose real name is John Wesley Myers, said he created a stage name for two reasons. One reason is he got into trouble with the law when he was a teenager.

“I got into a little bit of trouble a long time ago—stupid adolescent stuff—but sometimes it is nice to not be so easily traced,” Leg said.

The second reason is Leg’s desire to separate his stage persona from his normal life.

“What we do on stage is pretty wild,” Leg said. “Having the two names helps to separate the two people: the one on stage and the normal guy. You can’t really be that wild person all the time.”

Leg, as the wild person, began his professional musical career about 10 years ago when he created his band, Black Diamond Heavies. Before that he was part of a honky-tonk band called Uncle Lighting. Leg is the lead singer and keyboard player for the band.

Leg said Black Diamond Heavies is a rock ‘n’ roll band, but he likes all kinds of music and doesn’t like to be nailed down to one genre. When the band was first starting out, people designated its sound as punk/blues.

“That wasn’t an accurate description because we play so many types of music: rock ‘n’ roll, punk-rock and blues,” Leg said. “We could start off a gig playing  Nina Simone and end playing Van Halen.”

Leg said the band’s influences include Nina Simone, Ray Charles, The Stooges, The Ramones and The Kinks.

“I certainly don’t play like Ray Charles or Nina Simone or even sing like them,” Leg said, “but they have still influenced my music in some way.”

Leg said Black Diamond Heavies are represented by Alive Natural Sound Records, which represents other blues/indie artists such as The Black Keys and Brian Olive. Alive Natural Sound Records discovered Black Diamond Heavies when it was first starting out. Leg sent them a demo of some of the band’s music, and it was eventually signed.

Since the band was signed, they have created three albums. Leg has also done a solo album titled “Solitary Pleasure.” He is currently working on a second solo album to be released next year.

Black Diamond Heavies has toured across the U.S. as well as Europe. It played in a variety of venues.

“In Europe, we could play for 5,000 and in Tennessee we might play for only 100,” Leg said. “We play in everything from dive bars to ballrooms. Wherever we can play our music is fine with me.”

Leg has some advice for young artists who want to start careers as musicians.

“Stay in school,” Leg said. “If you are a kid, and you think you are going to play rock and roll, it’s not what you think it is. It is not always living the dream. Things have changed.”

Despite the hardships Leg feels musicians have to face, he has managed to make a living through music and continue touring as both a solo artist and with Black Diamond Heavies. Leg’s solo tour will take him through Green Bay Dec. 18 for a performance at Phat Headz bar at 420 N. Clay St.
http://www.fourthestatenewspaper.com/entertainment/solo-artist-turns-blues-into-wild-ride-1.2734023

THE PITCH (Kansas City. MO weekly) – KC feature/interview with artist photo and album art to preview show.

John Wesley Myers — of Black Diamond Heavies — on what it means to be the Reverend James Leg
Posted by Nick Spacek
The Rev. James Leg is better known as John Wesley Myers, the frontman and piano player for the heavy blues-rock duo Black Diamond Heavies. He recently released his debut solo album, entitled Solitary Pleasure. Having just completed three months touring Europe, Myers is in the middle of his first solo tour of the United States. It stops at Davey’s Uptown tomorrow, December 13, with opener the Filthy 13. Myers took a moment to speak with us by phone about what differentiates his solo material from his work with the Black Diamond Heavies.

The Pitch: What differentiates the solo material from the Black Diamond Heavies? Is there more than just a two-piece?

James Leg: It’s still just a two-piece, man. Basically, the short answer is, the Black Diamond Heavies, we just decided to take a pause. We did a couple of shows in August, but Van [Campbell], the drummer from the Black Diamond Heavies, he was recently married. We’d been doing it, touring 260 days a year, for six or seven years, so we decided to take a pause. In the meantime, though — I’m not married, so I’m gonna keep playin’. [Laughs.]

The new record has multiple instruments on it, but right now, we’re just touring as a two-piece. I know it’s going to be confusing at first for some fans, but I wrote all the Black Diamond Heavies’ songs, and all these, of course, as well. Really, the only difference is that it’s a different badass drummer.

Now, did Van’s influence come through a little more on the Black Diamond Heavies’ material?

For sure, man. The Black Diamond Heavies were very much a two-piece. The drums on the Black Diamond Heavies’ stuff, they’re kind of like a solo instrument, in fact, because his influence is very prominent, whereas this is a little less of that. I’m still working with really great drummers, but it’s just more kinda my thing, I guess.

What I’ve heard of the new solo record is that it’s a little more rootsy — less rock than the Black Diamond Heavies. You do a Link Wray cover, yeah?

Yeah, we did a Link Wray cover on there. Do you know that record? It’s self-titled. 1972, maybe? It’s just self-titled, Link Wray. Man, the shit he did in the ’70s. It’s not the guitar-hero shit that he was doing, the garage “Rumble” kind of stuff. The stuff he was doing in the ’70s was amazing. It’s very folky. He sings on it … yeah, check that stuff out.

But, yeah, to answer your question, I used acoustic piano on pretty much every track on this record. Some of these songs I had pitched to the Black Diamond Heavies, and they just didn’t feel like Black Diamond Heavies’ songs, so I just put ’em away for another project, which is what ended up happenin’.

Now, I know your given name is John Myers, but where does Rev. James Leg come from?

Well, I am a reverend. I grew up in church. My father was a pastor of a church. I didn’t find rock and roll until I was 15, so when I was 15, I was already ordained and preaching in my dad’s church and stuff like that, and then found rock and roll and marijuana and all that … so, the reverend part is for real.

So, the James Leg thing. There’s a street character in Tennessee. I’ve known him for 20 years, and he’s always called me James. He knows my name’s John, but he’s always called me James. The roadie for the Black Diamond Heavies, he started calling me Jimmy Leg, because when I start playing piano, my right leg can get a little crazy sometimes, and do its own thing — which, in the South, we say, “You’ve got a Jimmy leg.”

It kinda helps, man. The wild-ass onstage, it’s hard to be that person all the time, so it’s actually healthful to have it be a separate fucking person.

Sort of like, there’s Jim Osterberg, and then there’s Iggy Pop. Iggy’s the madman onstage, and Jim’s the guy who shakes your hand backstage.

Right. Exactly. Yeah, yeah.

What can folks expect when you get up onstage at Davey’s?

It’s sort of like a cross between a tent-revival circus and a wild rock-and-roll show. It’s pretty electric. They will feel it. If they come to the show, they will feel it, I can promise.

http://www.pitch.com/wayward/archives/2011/12/12/john-wesley-myers-of-black-diamond-heavies-on-what-it-means-to-be-the-reverend-james-leg

MARTHA BERNER INVADES WISCONSIN RADIO THIS WEEK!

In preparation for her hometown Williams Bay, WI record release show on Dec. 16th at Harpoon Willie’s, Martha Berner made the radio rounds in Southeast Wisconsin. First up was the local Lake Geneva station and good pals WLKG on Thursday, Dec. 15th at 8:10 am where Martha chatted with morning show host Dave Michaels about her new Fool’s Fantasy album released this week. Then on Friday, Martha dropped by the WMSE studios in Milwaukee to perform a 1:30pm unplugged in-studio with Andy Turner on his terminally killer “Zero Hour” show, followed by an hour-long(!) Martha special with interview and live in-studio songs on WBSD in Burlington.

If you’d like to listen to the audio stream of Martha’s WBSD performance, you can tune in here to their show Folk Rock County, U.S.A. at 10:00 a.m. (cst) Sunday, December 18, on 89.1 FM and www.wbsdfm.com and also January 9, Monday at 9:00 p.m. on their show The Album Hour.

ALIVE NATURALSOUND RECORDS LABEL COMPILATION “WHERE IS PARKER GRIGGS?” OUT NOW IN LTD. VINYL

Where Is Parker Griggs? is a collection of songs from the Alive Naturalsound label, with EXCLUSIVE MATERIAL by HACIENDA, RADIO MOSCOW, BUFFALO KILLERS, BLACK DIAMOND HEAVIES and more. This compilation showcases the many facets of this respected L.A. based indie imprint, founded by Patrick Boissel 17 years ago. From garage rock, psych, punk, deep blues and Tejas garage-soul, Where Is Parker Griggs? is an impressive overview of some of the new blood currently pumping through Alive – the first label to have the taste and insight to sign not only The Black Keys and Two Gallants, but all of the remarkable acts on this collection (not to mention many others). This album also features an early preview from Alive’s latest signing, the rootsy psyouthern soul of Birmingham, AL rock quartet LEE BAINS III & THE GLORY FIRES, whose full-length debut lands April 2012.

Where Is Parker Griggs? will be released January 10th as a 180 GRAM VINYL Ltd. Edition and Digital download, the latter which also features two additional bonus tracks from LEFT LANE CRUISER and THE BLOODY HOLLIES.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AND SHARE LEE BAINS III & THE GLORY FIRES NEW TRACK “EVERYTHING THAT YOU TOOK”

Where Is Parker Griggs? TRACK LISTING

side one
1. RADIO MOSCOW – Open Your Eyes — First time on vinyl
2. HACIENDA – Look At That Girl — Exclusive to this release
3. BUFFALO KILLERS – Love is Gold — Exclusive to this release
4. RADIO MOSCOW –  The Stranger — Exclusive to this release
5. HENRYS FUNERAL SHOE with Scott Morgan & Friends – Gimme Back My Morphine — Exclusive to this release
6. BLACK DIAMOND HEAVIES– Easy Money — Exclusive to this release
side two
1. LEE BAINS III & THE GLORY FIRES– Everything That You Took — Exclusive to this release DEBUT ALBUM TO BE RELEASED THIS SPRING
2. BRIAN OLIVE – Back Sliding Soul
3. BUFFALO KILLERS – Oh My Word — Exclusive to this release
4. HACIENDA – Love Me More — Exclusive to this release
5. GARDENS – Maze Time
6. WHITE NOISE SOUND – There Is No Tomorrow

Bonus for Digital : LEFT LANE CRUISER – Weed Vodka & THE BLOODY HOLLIES – Dirty S*x

So where exactly is Radio Moscow’s singer, guitarist and creative fountainhead, Parker Griggs? Actually, we don’t have a clue. But we do know that in January he’ll be out on the road fronting Radio Moscow for a handful of explosive Midwest shows in support of their latest Alive album, THE GREAT ESCAPE OF LESLIE MAGNAFUZZ. The northern California (by way of central Iowa) trio will then be teaming up with Swedish hard-rockers GRAVEYARD for a coast-to-coast winter tour. You can pin Parker down in one of the cities below as part of this super-heavy, mind-bending double bill!

RADIO MOSCOW MIDWEST TOUR DATES
01/06/12 Gabe’s, Iowa City IA
01/07/12 KURE 88.5 In-Studio Session, Ames IA
01/07/12 DG’s Taphouse, Ames IA
01/09/12 Ultra Lounge, Chicago IL
01/10/12 Ace of Cups, Columbus OH

RADIO MOSCOW / GRAVEYARD 2012 TOUR DATES
01/12/12 Bowery Ballroom, New York NY
01/13/12 Middle East, Cambridge MA
01/14/12 North Star Bar, Philadelphia PA
01/15/12 Golden West, Baltimore MD
01/16/12 DC9, Washington DC
01/17/12 Strange Matter, Richmond VA
01/18/12 Casbah @ Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte NC
01/19/12 Asheville Music Hall, Asheville NC
01/20/12 Exit / In, Nashville TN
01/21/12 The Masquerade, Atlanta GA
01/22/12 Hi-Tone Café, Memphis TN

01/23/12 Dave’s Skate Park, Texarkana, TX
01/24/12 Fitzgerald’s, Houston TX
01/25/12 Mohawk, Austin TX
01/27/12 Yucca Tap Room, Tempe AZ
01/28/12 Bootleg Bar, Los Angeles CA
01/30/12 Café Du Nord, San Francisco CA
01/31/12 Doug Fir Lounge, Portland OR
02/01/12 The Tractor, Seattle WA

FOR MORE INFO ON RADIO MOSCOW:
FOR MORE INFO ON ALIVE RECORDS:
FOR MEDIA AND INTERVIEW REQUESTS W/ PATRICK BOISSEL OR PARKER GRIGGS
(No promises we’ll be able to connect with the latter though. Really.)
Tony Bonyata
Pavement PR
p: 262.903.7775
e: bonyata@wi.rr.com

BUFFALO KILLERS LIVE ON FOX-TV DAYTON THIS FRIDAY!

This Friday, Dec. 9th Buffalo Killers will be performing live on FOX-TV in Dayton, OH on their “Fox45 In The Morning” news show at 8:45am (eastern). The trio will be performing their new song “Jon Jacob” from their recent critically-acclaimed album “3.”

If you’re in the Dayton area be sure to tune into this live music performance this Friday (as well as Buffalo Killers’ local Dayton show later that evening at Canal Street Tavern!). And if you’re not in the area, no worries… you can catch the FOX-TV performance online here after it airs live:
http://fox.daytonsnewssource.com/shared/newsroom/morning/videos/vid_518.shtml http://fox.daytonsnewssource.com/shared/newsroom/morning/videos/vid_517.shtml

SALT LAKE CITY’S SLUG MAGAZINE RAVES ABOUT THE NEW RADIO MOSCOW LP!

Radio Moscow – The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz
Alive Records / Street: 10.11

Radio Moscow = The Jimi Hendrix Experience + Wishbone Ash + Siena Root
Few bands can compete with the fury of Parker Grigg’s agile, furious funk guitar, and with each Radio Moscow release, it seems he becomes an even more charismatic performer. The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz ditches the high-fidelity sound of Brain Cycles and instead focuses on Grigg’s impressive improvisational skills. The compositions on this album are wild and ambitious, breaking out into hysterical jamming that never sounds forced, because everything the man plays sounds so damn smooth. Keep an eye out for these guys, as they like to tour through Salt Lake City, and they put on a killer show. –Henry Glasheen

http://www.slugmag.com/article.php?id=3171&page=11

JAMES LEG CINCY CITYBEAT SHOW PREVIEW

Weekend concert previews with Hank 3, Unkown Hinson, Kenny Ozz-Fest, James Leg, Reel Big Fish and more

Music Sunday: James Leg of Nashville Blues/Rock/Garage band Black Diamond Heavies has spent much of this year touring the world in support of his solo debut (and taking along Cincy uber-drummer Andy Jody and what looks to be a heavy keyboard set-up). Sunday night, he’ll be bringing the tour to Junker’s in Northside for a free show. Below, check out a really cool vid with footage from one of the twosome’s last appearances at Junker’s.

http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/blog-2694-weekend_squeeze_for_12_3_4.html

LAWRENCE BALL’S “METHOD MUSIC” BRINGS PETE TOWNSHEND’S “LIFEHOUSE” TO REALITY

Meditative yet propulsive. Structured yet sprawling. Gossamer yet muscular. Inspired yet meticulously constructed.  METHOD MUSIC by Lawrence Ball is all of these and more, a double album of highly adventurous electronic music by a master innovator of algorithmic composition.

But this album possesses a unique and illustrious lineage that, despite the clear difference in style and genre, connects it to one of the most famous works in the rock music repertoire – the ideas behind METHOD MUSIC are both the outgrowth and the foundation of the legendary LIFEHOUSE project by Pete Townshend, the conceptualizer and co-producer of the album, and presents a theoretical system of musical portraiture in which a listener’s personal data is translated into a unique composition.

Utilizing the conceptual underpinning first implemented in The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” (a track initially part of the original LIFEHOUSE project, and one mirrored on the opening cut of METHOD) along with Ball’s own computerized compositional system called ‘Harmonic Maths,’ Townshend, with Ball and programmer Dave Snowdon, created a website called The Lifehouse Method which turned this theory into reality.  While active during 2007-2008, the website offered users the ability to instantaneously create a customized piece of music, and during its run generated over 10,000 unique works based on the users’ own individual characteristics and personal traits.

What you hear on METHOD MUSIC evolved from the tests conducted by Ball and Townshend, which proved the viability of The Lifehouse Method system. Disc One, Imaginary Sitters, features a disparate set of portraits designed to showcase the potential diversity of the Method, while Disc Two, Imaginary Galaxies, expands the forms into larger structures with greater permutations, variables, and variety.

Lawrence Ball’s METHOD MUSIC was produced by Pete Townshend & Bob Lord and will be available worldwide January 31, 2012 on CD and Digital formats through Navona Records.

“I hope the listener feels as if held in a sonic cradle, watching and experiencing the dances of an intricate musical mobile.”LAWRENCE BALL

“The fact remains that Lifehouse, despite my best attempts, is a book that simply will not let itself be closed. That there is more to come is inevitable, what form it takes remains to be seen.”PETE TOWNSHEND

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD LAWRENCE BALL’S “SITTER 17” FROM METHOD MUSIC
(FEEL FREE TO POST AND SHARE)

METHOD MUSIC TRACK LISTING:

DISC ONE: IMAGINARY SITTERS
1. Meher Baba Piece
2. Sitter 09
3. Sitter 10
4. Victoria
5. Sitter 11
6. Sitter 12
7. Sitter 13
8. Sitter 14
9. Sitter 15
10. Sitter 17
11. Sitter 16

DISC TWO: IMAGINARY GALAXIES
1. Galaxy 01 (for the late Syd Barrett)
2. Galaxy 02 (for the late Hugh Hopper)
3. Galaxy 03 (for the late György Ligeti)

FOR MORE INFO ON LAWRENCE BALL VISIT:
http://www.lawrenceball.org

FOR MORE INFO ON PETE TOWNSHEND VISIT:
http://www.eelpie.com

FOR MORE INFO ON NAVONA RECORDS VISIT:
http://navonarecords.com

FOR MEDIA AND INTERVIEW REQUESTS:
Tony Bonyata
Pavement PR
p: 262.903.7775
e: bonyata@wi.rr.com
https://pavementpr.com

CRACKER & CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN CLOSE OUT 2011 & RING IN 2012 TOGETHER!

Cracker & Camper Van Beethoven will be making their annual year-end California trek for a handful of shows (Solana Beach, San Fran and Petaluma), before Cracker heads further north to Portland on December 30th for a special one-off with bluegrass jam band Leftover Salmon, where the two bands will perform their highly-lauded 2003 album O Cracker, Where Art Thou? together in its entirety.

The following night Cracker & CVB will be in Chicago for a celebratory New Year’s Eve bash at Chicago’s House Of Blues. Camper Van Beethoven will open, followed by Cracker ringing in the new year, and then Big Head Todd & The Monsters playing into the wee hours.

Then Camper Van Beethoven will start off the year with their own headlining shows in Milwaukee, Madison and Iowa City, before hooking up with Cracker again for shows in St. Louis and Minneapolis. The two bands will then head east for their annual winter run through the Northeast. As David Lowery (frontman for both bands) told the Boston Herald earlier this year, “We always do it in January when it’s really cold and not many bands go up to the Northeast. It started from the fact that it was the only time that was slow for the Camper Van Beethoven guys who have real careers. Then we accidentally figured out nobody else is touring, so it’s seen as this mid-winter cabin-fever kind of party.”

Both Cracker and CVB will be running through their career-spanning canons of hits and fan favorites, while, perhaps even more exciting, Camper Van Beethoven will be performing a handful of new songs slated for their new studio album – their first in over seven years!

CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN & CRACKER’S WINTER 2011-12 TOUR

Tue. Dec. 27 Belly Up Tavern, Solana Beach, CA – CRACKER / CVB

Wed. Dec. 28 The Independent, San Francisco, CA  (CRACKER / CVB)

Thu. Dec. 29 Mystic Theatre, Petaluma, CA (CRACKER / CVB)

Fri. Dec. 30 The Roseland Theater,  Portland, OR (CRACKER & LEFTOVER SALMON perform O Cracker Where Art Thou? album)

Sat. Dec. 31 House Of Blues, Chicago, IL (NYE SHOW! CVB 8pm / CRACKER 10pm / Big Head Todd & The Monsters 12:30am)

Tue. Jan. 3 Shank Hall. Milwaukee, WI (CVB ONLY)

Wed. Jan. 4 High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI (CVB ONLY)

Thu. Jan. 5 The Mill, Iowa City, IA (CVB ONLY)

Fri. Jan. 6 The Pageant, St Louis, MO (CRACKER / CVB)

Sat. Jan. 7 TBA, Minneapolis, MN (CRACKER / CVB)

Fri. Jan. 13 World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA (CRACKER / CVB)

Sat Jan. 14  Highline Ballroom, New York, NY (CRACKER / CVB)

Sun. Jan. 15 Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA (CRACKER / CVB)

FOR MORE INFO ON CRACKER:
http://crackersoul.com

FOR MORE INFO ON CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN:
http://campervanbeethoven.com

FOR MORE INFO ON DAVID LOWERY’S 300 SONGS BLOG:
http://300songs.com

FOR MEDIA & INTERVIEW REQUESTS:
Tony Bonyata
Pavement PR
e: bonyata@wi.rr.com
http://pavementpr.com

  • Archives

  • tour dates

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    • 04/19/24 THEE SINSEERS in Phoenix AZ at Crescent Ballroom
    • 04/20/24 THEE SINSEERS in Tucson, AZ at 191 Toole