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Roger Clyne doesn't like serving the musical version of junk food. "I like to put a little more heart into my cooking than that," Clyne said.

For over a decade, Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers have avoided unnecessary additives, preservatives and sugary substances that may initially be satisfying, but ultimately provide no sustenance. Instead, they have been serving up nothing but uncompromised, unadulterated, pure rock-n-roll. RCPM have stuck to their credo of letting art lead commerce by mixing relentless guitar licks, four part harmonies and thought-provoking lyrics.

Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers have released six consecutive albums that have debuted in the top 10 on Billboard's Internet Sales chart, the first independent band to ever accomplish that feat. Two of those albums, 1999's Honky Tonk Union and 2004's ¡Americano!, debuted at #1. That streak of creating timeless rock music continues with RCPM's long awaited sixth studio album, Unida Cantina.

Roger Clyne, guitarist Jim Dalton, drummer PH Naffah and bassist Nick Scropos are renowned as one of the tightest, most exciting live acts on the road today. Over the past year, The Peacemakers have toured the U.S. several times over, traveled south of the border to play in Mexico and completed their first ever tour of the United Kingdom. The energy between the band members, experience and comradeship shine on Unida Cantina, the most upbeat and collaborative effort yet for the band.

"It's been 3 years since we've released a studio album," Clyne said. "During that time, we've incorporated Jim Dalton into RPCM and he brings a unique magic to our chemistry. It took some time to know ourselves again. It's always a challenge to remain consistent without being predictable; to create something novel, but not novelty; to appreciate success without becoming complacent. With Unida Cantina, we took our time and poured our hearts into it. Now that we're ready to share it. ...it's almost a rebirth for me."

On Unida Cantina, RCPM teamed up with producer/engineer/mixer and long time friend Clif Norrell (The Refreshments, Rush, No Doubt, R.E.M) to record 13 new songs. Collectively, the songs on Unida Cantina represent both the disillusionment and enlightenment of where Clyne's life is today compared to where he thought he would be when he was in his "immortal 20s." In many ways, it turned out different than he thought it would. But it also turned out better than could have imagined.

RCPM look to share those feelings of coming to terms with the differences between the expectations of youth and the reality of emerging adulthood on Unida Cantina. But in spreading that message, the Peacemakers also wanted to rock. Like their past albums, RCPM hope Unida Cantina will bring people together and unify those of like mind and heart. Sometimes people need a unification point or a place where they know they're not alone to face certain challenges, like a cantina. "My music will often bring people to that cantina," Clyne said. "If you need a cantina, you can put on Unida Cantina."

Unida Cantina is Clyne's most infectious record since he and Naffah released their 1996 cult-classic, Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big and Buzzy with their previous band, The Refreshments, on Mercury Records. Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big and Buzzy was Radio & Record's ninth Best-Selling Debut Album of the Year, went to #1 on Billboard's Heatseeker Chart and spawned two popular radio hits, "Banditos" and "Down Together." The Refreshments performed on national late-night shows and Clyne wrote and performed the King of the Hill theme song with the band.

With Unida Cantina, Clyne found his songwriting soulmate in Dalton. "For the very first time, I found someone's inclusion that didn't chase me or put me off my artistic vision. It opened the world to possibilities rather than close it. I felt magic," Clyne said.
Likewise, Clyne said he was more open from gathering input from everyone in the band than he has been on any other record. Both Scropos and Naffah, childhood friends originally hailing from The Windy City, had big input on the final production of Unida Cantina.

The result is pure American guitar-driven roots rock-n-roll. "All Over the Radio" is the album's first track, mixing the classic elements of RCPM music in crunching guitars and mariachi horn section. Other rockin' songs soon to become instant RCPM classics include "Dinero," "Heaven on a Paper Plate" and "Go With the Flow," the first song Clyne and Dalton ever wrote together.

The Spanish-influenced "Marie" has already become a fan favorite thanks to an acoustic recording session with MusicFog during the Steamboat Music Festival and a video that was released on the Internet.

The beautifully written "Small World" touches on the difficult task of showing the ultimate act of love for someone by letting go.

As Clyne sings on "Paper Airplanes," 'if you're feeling like you're too small for this world, or if you're feeling you're talking but there's no one there to listen,' sometimes you just need a place you can unify with other like minded people to weather the storm. And you may just find Unida Cantina.

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The anthemic, arena-filling "Scars From Another Life" (from his forthcoming album Hit Me Back) paints the a picture of how far singer-songwriter Michael McDermott has come: "I was so down... I had completely lost my way / When I hit Broadway I began to realize / That all they are are scars from another life." His life since becoming a recording artist--full of myriad highest highs, gutter-skimming lows, and absolute rock bottoms of the past two decades--could read like a screenplay, but with stories so ridiculously outlandish that they couldn't possibly be true.

All of it--the addiction, the failed relationships, the financial dramas, the career hurdles--have left plenty of scars, but McDermott's moving on, moving up, and taking charge. He makes no excuses for his past--it has made him who he is today--but sings to everyone listening (and to himself): "Don't run away, they're scars from another life."

It's been quite a ride since singer/songwriter Michael McDermott unleashed his debut, 620 West Surf, but one might even go so far as to say that his 2012 release, Hit Me Back, represents the work of a new artist: for the first time in his recording career, McDermott is a father, a philanthropic entrepreneur, and has experienced the loss of an adored parent. All are major life changes which have found achingly honest expression in his songs.

Hit Me Back also exudes McDermott's trademark embrace of faith and hope in the face of adversity. The lyrics are, as always, uniquely evocative: McDermott sings in poetry; his tunes are literate story-songs. On the haunting "Ever After," he offers the listener palpable insight into the jarring confusion and doubt felt in the days that followed his mother's passing (in October 2011). The wryly observed title track puts a new spin on fighting a long-time nemesis, alcohol. His demon-banishing in the aforementioned "Scars From Another Life" is echoed in the love-is-redemption refrains of "Let It Go." The exploration of temptation and bowing to its siren call is explored in the Americana-laced "A Deal With The Devil."

Influenced by such musical giants as Bob Dylan and Van Morrison, McDermott exhibited a talent for mature and lyrically dense songwriting that soon caught the eye--and ear--of then-talent scout Brian Koppelman (now a screenwriter, novelist, director, and producer; best known as the co-writer of "Ocean's Thirteen" and "Rounders"), who immediately signed him to Giant Records. That first album, 620 West Surf, boasted a Billboard Hot 100 charting single, ("A Wall I Must Climb"). McDermott continued to write introspective, character-driven songs that won him an enduring band of appreciative followers. In the liner notes for McDermott's self-titled album, bestselling author Stephen King wrote: "Michael McDermott is one of the best songwriters in the world and possibly the greatest undiscovered rock 'n' roll talent of the last 20 years."

The recording industry shakeup that marked the mid-1990s left McDermott without a contract, and awash in debt and self-doubt. "Throughout the years, I had continued to feel like I was on a mission, of sorts, singing spiritual songs," he once said, "but never really feeling good about the other elements of my life." McDermott released five more albums in the next decade, some with label distribution, others independently. He also continued playing live shows, and riding a personal rollercoaster of addiction, recovery, and sometimes-misplaced ambition.

Having at last become more comfortable in his own skin, scarred but smarter, McDermott has in recent years begun to make more life-affirming choices. He has launched his own coffee line, with sales from each bag of his two signature blends providing meals for seven children. Understandably, he's found positive inspiration in his wife, Heather Horton (whom he married during a tour stop in Italy in May 2009), and the birth of their daughter, Rain (in July 2010). And he's once again a signed artist, this time with New Jersey label, Rock Ridge Music, who will be releasing his forthcoming album. McDermott and wife Horton (a gifted musician/vocalist), and producer CJ Eiriksson (engineered albums for U2 and Matchbox 20, as well as McDermott's 2007 album Noise From Words) spent a whirlwind eight days in the studio to record Hit Me Back.

Of course, recent positive inspiration doesn't mean he's forgotten his tumultuous past or that he no longer faces present struggles. For McDermott, a performer and storyteller to the depths of his soul, his connection with fans and his uncanny ability to communicate universal truths through his own personal experiences are helping fade the many of the scars that remain. The demons aren't gone; he's just found a place for them to dwell in peace. It is coming to terms with those demons and putting them in their place that continues to fuel his art ever further.]]> 1369112400 Sat, 09 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1642
Andrew Belle is a new artist on the pop singer/songwriter scene. Residing in both Chicago and Nashville, he is currently a member of the critically acclaimed national tour Ten Out Of Tenn. Andrew released his debut EP All Those Pretty Lights in 2008, containing songs featured in hit TV shows including "90210" and "The Real World." His song "I'll Be Your Breeze" garnered nationwide airplay including Los Angeles tastemaker station KCRW. Andrew recently was named "Best Breakout Artist, Chicago" by MTV. His music and vocal stylings draw comparisons to Coldplay, The Fray, and John Mayer. Fans and critics often refer to his songs as "smart pop"-nuanced melodies and contemplative lyrics coupled with bold, infectious hooks.]]> 1369198800 Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1629
Ike Reilly has been called a raconteur. Just give his latest solo album, Hard Luck Stories, a listen, and you'll discover a rich, tour-de-force collection of tales that sound so authentic you'd swear they were all true.

The Illinois-born musician delivers them with course, soulful lyrics and a sound that meets at the intersection of groovy blues, folk and plain ol' classic rock. In 2003, with mates Tommy O'Donnell, Ed Tinley, Dave Cottini and Phil Karnats, he created the Ike Reilly Assassination, and has moved back and forth between band and solo incarnations since.

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Jason Heath and the Greedy Souls look for hope and life affirmation in that heart of darkness throughout their second album, Packed for Exile, released independently on Still Small Recordings.

Firmly entrenched in organically American music, the band mines elements of rock, country and folk coupled with rich storytelling and the poking and prodding of emotional contexts both personal and worldly.

Packed for Exile follows Jason Heath and the Greedy Souls' first release, The Vain Hope of Horse, which PASTE Magazine called "a wonderful debut: ragged, soulful and well-written." The compelling collection included guest appearances by Tom "The Nightwatchman" Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Wayne Kramer (MC5) and Wilco's Nels Cline on lap steel. The songs resonated with strains of working class rock'n'roll and rustic punk, leaving Dave Marsh, legendary rock journalist and author, to comment, "Jason Heath and the Greedy Souls speak to the heartache and joy in the world, with the wisdom not to try to separate them, and the skill to make all of it beautiful."

"Actually, we didn't set out to do a record," Heath says. "I was working with other musicians and had a lot of songs that didn't fit into that repertoire, so I recorded demos of me and just acoustic guitar, then added different members of the Greedy Souls, plus Nels, Tom and Wayne joining in. So while Vain Hope sort of became the record it wanted to be and just happened, for Exile, we've gone into it as an actual band album."

The Greedy Souls include the core of Heath, Jason Federici (son of late E Street Band member Danny Federici) on accordion and organ, guitarist Aaron Gitnick, Will Mack on upright and electric bass, and Heath's lifetime compadre Abe Etz on drums, as well as distinctive touches from, pianist Chris Joyner and fiddle player Ysanne Spevack.

The songs on Exile are fresh and original yet also echo with legacy. This is especially so on the album's first single, and deceptively upbeat "California Wine," which is filled with streaks of Golden State sunshine through its buoyant melody, but also brings with it wary skepticism.

"There's a collective consciousness about the myth of California," Heath says. "It's the Wild West, the dream come true, the gold rush. There's timelessness about the idea and it's got weight now in the modern age. You see people come and go with dreams on their sleeves sometimes those dreams get smashed on the rocks."

The elegiac "This Blind Heart," comes off as sheer introspection, but there are layers to be found beneath the haunting melody and confessional lyrics. "It sounds on the surface as though it's mostly about relationships," Heath says. "But it could be about bigger things -- fighting on instead of fighting with your existence, a progress of evolution for something better."

The swelling waltz, "A Fighter's Lullaby" is a definite standout, filled with resolve and comforting support. "As we were working on it, Jay's dad was pretty ill with cancer and the song seemed to become about situations of that nature, traveling that wilderness of struggle and despair," Heath notes.

The band kicks things up with stomping, blues-drenched saloon swagger of "Devil Ain't Talkin'" and turns to more reflection with a chugging rhythm atop a musical whimsy in "Runnin' Like a River."

"It's an interesting metaphor for things. In all the years of pop music, people haven't really gone too wrong with the river metaphor," Heath says. "I like the idea and it goes with the album's exile theme. I can't help but look at exile in old testament terms and the song has that imagery -- Babylon, leaving slavery, Zion, leaving excess and running out of there, like a river, not knowing where you going to but you're heading out anyway."

In the firelight warmth of "Ghost in My Home," the exile theme continues on. "It's about how you can often be in total exile, forced upon you or self imposed, and feel that while being in a close relationship with somebody," Heath says. "You're with them and you see each other everyday and yet, you feel transparent and alone."

A Los Angeles area native, born in the city of Inglewood, Heath was raised all over Southern California. His interest in making music began to rise in 6th grade with long time friend, Abraham Etz.

"We decided to start a band before we could play. That was quite a long time ago," Heath, says. "He chose drums, and I picked bass but got a six string before I got a bass. We were so bad we had to write our own songs; we'd practically kill ourselves trying to figure out a Ramones song."

As the years went by, music became central to their life as Heath and Etz found themselves playing together in various outfits, including Spinewire, who recorded with Tom Morello and producer Dennis Herring (Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse).

The Greedy Souls began to come together in December 2006. "The series of songs I'd worked on at open mic's and house parties around LA with a revolving group of troubadours sort of turned into that first album."

Other recordings also include a version of Bruce Springsteen's "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)," in tribute to Jason Federici's father who was such an essential part of the song. The Greedy Souls offer it free through the site Backstreets.com, staying true to the original spirit in an evocative re-telling of the New Jersey boardwalk story.

With the release of Packed for Exile, the band carries its vision forward through songs that paint pictures of lives in flux, meeting challenges sometimes unseen.

"It's Americana in terms of being American country, folk, blues, punk and rock 'n' roll influenced," he says. "We like to call it Post-Americana Acoustelectric, Agit-POP, Arena Folkountry Rawk.... It's all working class music, with common themes -- love, loss, redemption and the search for justice."

For Jason Heath and the Greedy Souls, that search goes on, in a mission of music.]]> 1369371600 Sun, 03 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0600 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1639
Ana's career has been meteoric, and shows no signs of slowing down!

The 4x Blues Music Awards nominee blends smoking electric funk slide guitar, jazzy instrumentals and tight blues groove with soulful feminine vocals. Her incredible stage presence makes her an irresistible force in the music world.

Ana Popovic was born in the war torn town of Belgrade, formerly Yugoslavia. Ana grew up in a warm and loving family where music was very important. Her father would, throughout her youth, always invite friends over for nightly jam sessions where Ana listened and analyzed the deep artistic roots of her music. In this atmosphere, she quickly picked up her father's impressive blues and soul record collection, grabbed his guitar and went to work at a young age of 15. Since then, Ana Popovic has developed into an phenomenal guitarist/vocalist who currently resides in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Today Ana and her phenomenal 4-piece band are tirelessly touring, playing major blues / jazz and rock festivals around the world!]]> 1369458000 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1608
This Must be the Band is a Talking Heads Tribute Band; they only play Talking Heads music, and, if possible, 3 to 4 hours at a time.

Since forming in May 2007, TMBTB has been Burning Down The House throughout Chicago and the entire midwest. With a rapidly expanding repertoire from the Talking Heads' catalog of countless hits, TMBTB highlights the best of the Talking Heads, equipped with their very own Bernie Worrell, Adrian Belew, Lynn Mabry, and Ednah Holt.]]> 1369976400 Mon, 21 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1604
Free eight song Wigs CD to the first 200 guests! The Wigs, known for their raucous fans as much as their wildly unpredictable shows, will perform a selection of songs spanning their career from the band's early days in Milwaukee through their time in Hollywood. Rounding out the night, The Wigs will play many of the cover songs that were staples of their early 1980s sets.]]> 1370062800 Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1646
"I know people think, 'Oh great, another guy with an acoustic guitar,'" says Charlie Mars. "What I really want is to say to them, 'Not so quick. Just one minute. That's not what this is.'"

Charlie Mars has been a journeyman artist with all the ups and downs that entails, from major label releases and high profile gigs opening for the likes of REM, KT Tunstall, Citizen Cope, Steve Earle, among others, from uncertainty to redemption. Now, with the extraordinary new Blackberry Light, the Mississippi-based troubadour builds upon the distinctive musical approach first mined on his 2009 breakthrough Like A Bird, Like A Plane, employing supple grooves and ambient Daniel Lanois-inspired production to enhance the elemental force of his classic songwriting influenced by the likes of Bob Marley, Bill Withers and Dire Straits. From the dreamlike, "Nothing But The Rain," to the shimmering "Picture of an Island," the album sees Mars delving deep within to offer insight and a path to self awareness and ultimately transcendence via a gracefully beatific distillation of folk, rock, and smooth acoustic soul.

"This music takes my mind to a place that allows me to see more clearly where I'm falling short," Mars says. "It takes my mind to a reflective place. It makes me sentimental about my past, my present, my future. It has a way of humanizing me and helping me shed some of the things that get in my way."

Currently residing in Oxford, Mississippi, Mars was at a professional standstill before Like A Bird, Like A Plane. With "no manager, no agent, no band and no money," he doggedly developed a sonic style uniquely his own, a sound informed less by traditional rock than by sinewy and soulful rhythms that seemed to bubble up from within his soul.

"We stumbled upon this percussive, atmospheric tone that, as far as I'm concerned, was different from anything else out there," Mars says. "I thought, 'This is my sound. This is what separates me from the things that I'm hearing elsewhere and I want to explore that further.'"

Mars kickstarted his second act by spending much of the next two years on the road; growing an increasingly fervent following while slowly compiling a sheaf of new songs.

Recording officially got underway in August 2011 at Austin's Texas Treefort Studios, with Mars once again accompanied by many of his cohorts, including producer Billy Harvey (Bob Schneider), keyboardist John Ginty (Santana, Citizen Cope), bassists George Reiff (Ian Moore, Steve Poltz) and Dave Monzie (Fiona Apple), and drummers J.J. Johnson (John Mayer, Tedeschi Trucks Band) and Dony Wynn (Robert Plant, Robert Palmer).

That stripped down framework comprises a stark and cinematic sound inspired in part by producer Daniel Lanois' famed collaborations with Bob Dylan, Ron Sexsmith, and Emmylou Harris. With its sparse instrumentation and focus on transcendent grooves and ambient space, the minimalist approach serves to add maximum intensity to Mars' already powerful songwriting.

"It's not just less is more," Mars says. "Less can be massive. When you find that special place of less, everything just opens up. Sometimes I'll think we're doing so little, we should do more, but then it's like, let's do less and see what happens."

Mars took a similarly modest tack towards the overall recording, looking to capture those perfect uncalculated moments where everything just clicks. "Back of the Room" â€" written initially as part of an Esquire feature asking five songwriters to compose a tune incorporating the words "Somewhere in Mississippi…" â€" was literally cut live as the band unwound from a long day's work, while the rollicking, funk-fueled "How I Roll" was truly born of spontaneous energy, its unabashedly wicked opening lines put down by Mars while Johnson was out on a brief appointment. Upon his return to the studio two hours later, the band jammed the track and recorded it straightaway.

"That was it," Mars says. "We never did it again."

Penned as a "counterbalance to some of the slower, more moodier songs" on the album, "How I Roll" sees Mars acknowledging his myriad demons, even celebrating their essential place in his complete being.

"Part of what I've gone through is acknowledging that I have a darker self," he says, "and I have to work diligently to try and improve myself so that I can stay out of that. At some point, I came to the realization that that darker self is going to win sometimes and I'm a little tired of apologizing for it. It's part of the whole, I don't have to carve that part of myself out and deny it."

Like any songwriter worth his salt, Mars employs his art as a channel towards personal discovery, candidly exploring all the human limitations â€" from pride and fear to cynicism self-doubt â€" that stand in the way of his attaining true happiness.

"The desire for connection and my terror in the face of it," he says. "That's what the album is about."

To get there, songs like "Great Wall of China" or the title track take lyrical cues from such literary heroes as Haruki Murakami, Cormac McCarthy, Walker Percy, and Denis Johnson, relying on spare language and abstract imagery to create vivid-to the bone revelations about universal life experience.

Upon the sessions' conclusion, Mars began aggressively pursuing one of his dream collaborators, legendary producer/engineer/mixer Tchad Blake. The Grammy Award-winner â€" known for his distinctive work with such artists as Elvis Costello, Richard Thompson, and Sheryl Crow â€" ultimately agreed and helped give Blackberry Light much of its uniquely spacious warmth.

"If there is a leap from the last record to this one, Tchad played a huge part in it, Mars says. He's an artist. He takes something and infuses it with his artistry and it becomes something else. He's the real deal."

The same can be said of Charlie Mars. Imbued with jazzy warmth, simmering dynamics, and uncommon use of space and intensity, Blackberry Light presents a gifted writer and musician at his confident and creative peak, a milestone work in what has proven to be a most extraordinary artistic evolution.]]> 1370149200 Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1641
Born near Detroit, Michigan, Marshall Crenshaw began playing guitar at age ten and he received his first break playing John Lennon in the off-Broadway company of Beatlemania. In 1987, he played Buddy Holly in the Richie Valens biopic "La Bamba." While living in NYC, he recorded the single "Something's Gonna Happen" for Alan Betrock's Shake Records, which led to a deal with Warner Bros. His debut album, Marshall Crenshaw was acclaimed as a pop masterpiece upon its release in 1982 and established him as a first-rate songwriter, singer and guitarist. The record spawned the Top 40 single "Someday, Someway," which rockabilly singer Robert Gordon covered and scored a hit with a year earlier, and other classics such as "(You're My) Favorite Waste of Time," "Whenever You're On My Mind" and "Cynical Girl." The great songs continued with the Life's Too Short album on MCA ("Fantastic Planet of Love"), three albums for Razor & Tie and the 2009 release Jaggedland ("Someone Told Me," "Passing Through," "Never Coming Down

A quote from Trouser Press sums up Marshall Crenshaw's early career: "Although he was seen as a latter-day Buddy Holly at the outset, he soon proved too talented and original to be anyone but himself." All Music Guide captured Crenshaw's vibe perfectly: "He writes songs that are melodic, hooky and emotionally true, and he sings and plays them with an honesty and force that still finds room for humor without venom."

"His intelligence, integrity, and passion for the great song always show up in his music," wrote Robert Christgau in his Consumer Guide of Marshall Crenshaw. Over a span of 30 years, Crenshaw has released 13 albums, all of which have received the highest marks from critics and have earned him a fiercely loyal fan base.

"I wanted to think of a different way of working that would inspire me and keep me motivated," Marshall Crenshaw says of his newest endeavor: a subscription-only service that addresses the recent seismic changes in the music-industry landscape by cutting out the record-company middle man to distribute his new recordings directly to fans.

The subscription service, which the veteran singer/guitarist/songwriter/producer recently launched via a successful Kickstarter funding campaign, will provide fans with a steady stream of new Marshall Crenshaw music via a series of exclusive three-song 10-inch, 45-rpm vinyl EPs on Addie-Ville Records, six of which the artist plans to release over a two-year period. In addition to the vinyl discs, subscribers will also receive a download card for high-quality digital versions of the EP tracks.

Each EP will consist entirely of newly recorded, never-before-released material, encompassing a new original Crenshaw composition, a classic cover tune, and a new reworking of a time-honored favorite.

"I really do think that vinyl sounds best, and that playing a vinyl record is still the optimum listening experience," Crenshaw asserts. "And with the sound quality that you get at 45 rpm, I think that these things are going to deliver the goods, sonically."

The first subscription EP's A-side is the brand-new Crenshaw number "I Don't See You Laughing Now," recorded with longtime cohorts Andy York (John Mellencamp, Ian Hunter), and Graham Maby (Joe Jackson, They Might Be Giants). The record's double B-side features a memorable new reading of The Move's 1971 post-apocalyptic anthem "No Time," recorded with veteran New Jersey rocker and frequent Crenshaw collaborator Glen Burtnick; and a new version of "There She Goes Again," whose original version appeared on Crenshaw's eponymous 1982 debut album, recorded live with alt-country icons the Bottle Rockets.

All three tracks were mastered for maximum awesomeness by legendary engineer Greg Calbi, who will handle mastering duties on the entire EP series.

Earlier this year, fans made the subscription project a reality by pledging more than $33,000 to Crenshaw's Kickstarter campaign, above and beyond Crenshaw's original goal, in increments ranging from $1 to $5000.

Crenshaw is excited that his new subscription model allows him to embrace his love for singles, while allowing him to make music on his own terms, free of record-company politics and the emotional baggage that routinely accompanies the making of full-length albums.

"I've always put a great deal of care into the albums I've made," Crenshaw states. "But as a listener, I've always been a singles guy and an individual-tracks guy. I'm looking forward to creating a steady output of music in small batches, rather than being stuck in a cave for months and stockpiling a whole bunch of music and dumping it out all at once. Now, when I finish something, I get to put it out, instead of having to wait until I've got 12 more."

Over the course of a career that's spanned three decades, 13 albums and hundreds of songs, Marshall Crenshaw's musical output has maintained a consistent fidelity to the qualities of melody, craftsmanship and passion, and his efforts have been rewarded with the devotion of a broad and remarkably loyal fan base.

After an early break playing John Lennon in a touring company of the Broadway musical Beatlemania, the Michigan-bred musician began his recording career with the now-legendary indie single "Something's Gonna Happen," on Alan Betrock's seminal Shake label. His growing fame in his adopted hometown of New York City helped to win Crenshaw a deal with Warner Bros. Records, which released his self-titled 1982 debut album. With such classics as "Someday, Someway" and "Cynical Girl," that LP established Crenshaw as one of his era's preeminent tunesmiths -- a stature that was confirmed by subsequent albums Field Day, Downtown, Mary Jean & 9 Others, Good Evening, Life's Too Short, Miracle of Science, #447, What's in the Bag?and Jaggedland.

Along the way, Crenshaw's compositions have been successfully covered by a broad array of performers, including Bette Midler, Kelly Willis, Robert Gordon, Ronnie Spector, Marti Jones and the Gin Blossoms, with whom Crenshaw co-wrote the Top 10 single "Til I Hear It From You." He's also provided music for several film soundtracks, appeared in the films La Bamba(as Buddy Holly) and Peggy Sue Got Married, and was nominated for a Grammy and a Golden Globe award for penning the title track for the film comedy Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Crenshaw also wrote a book about rock movies entitled Hollywood Rock 'n' Roll, and has assembled compilation albums of the music of Scott Walker and the Louvin Brothers, as well as the acclaimed country-and-western collection Hillbilly Music . . . Thank God! Since 2011, he has hosted his own radio show, The Bottomless Pit, on New York's WFUV, Saturday nights at 10 p.m. ET.

But it's writing songs and making records that remain at the center of Marshall Crenshaw's creative life, and he's distinctly excited about the potential of his new subscription service. "I still think that recorded music is a great art form, I still love it and believe in it, and I'm still always striving for excellence. The fact that the Kickstarter thing was a success, and that people responded so well to the concept, felt like a good validation of that."

"This is a really inspiring situation," Crenshaw concludes, "and I think that it's gonna be a good way for me to proceed into the future."

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In a country where interstates don't take you to new places, but to the same places, where everywhere you go you've already been or you've just left, The Bottle Rockets' new album absolutely nails a sound and a vibe with a palpable sense of place. Lean Forward is suffused with the determination and resilience of their distinctly midwestern roots; theirs is a celebration of pragmatism and tempered optimism, not the delusions and exhortations of glassy eyed zealots--they aren't going to fall for that. Oh, it's a flat out, smoking rock record, too.

Lean Forward continues the Rockets' creative resurgence ignited by 2006's Zoysia. Reunited with producer Eric "Roscoe" Ambel (who ran the knobs on the Bottle Rockets' seminal albums The Brooklyn Side and 24 Hours A Day), the Bottle Rockets do what no other band does better -- look into the hearts and minds and faces of the dying small towns in America and crafts populist anthems with the sympathetic eye of Woody Guthrie and sonic stomp of Crazy Horse. They are songs that demand the windows be rolled down and the volume turned up. And with the hooks, you'll wonder how they make such problems sound so good ...

Lean Forward is stacked with a sharp lyricism and gritty fatalism that looks off the front porch for inspiration, and has the locked down groove of a band on top of its game. "The Long Way" looks on the bright side of the path not intentionally taken and works into a joyous song-ending jam. Songs like "Done It All Before" and "Get on the Bus" shine with an irresistible buoyancy, as does "Shame on Me" which gets to the meat of the relationship matter that, despite our best intentions, we're all gonna screw up. "Hard Times" whips up a ZZ Top-inflected boogie with effortless mastery and a dual guitar attack that'll put some much-needed flare back in your jeans.

On "Kid Next Door," the lyrics bypass protest in favor of simple commentary on a war coming home, making it a far more powerful song no matter where one stands on the issue. It's a stone cold classic and handled with the deftness and conviction that speaks to the Rockets' sober-minded realism. To see that they've still got scruffy punk moxie to spare, look no further than "The Way It Used To Be" and the channeling of Bo Diddley via the Stooges on "Nothing but a Driver."

With their 15th anniversary now in the rear view mirror, the Bottle Rockets show no signs of letting up. Lean Forward is an album that celebrates the forces of erosion not earthquakes, of the marathon not the sprint. Honed in their towns and on their back roads, it is distinctly the Bottle Rockets. Rather than be confining, this identity broadens the appeal and strength of their music far from their backyards into our own. Their specificity speaks universally and the message is a simple one: Lean forward, man, because it beats falling back.]]> 1370235600 Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1653
Although there are numerous, conflicting, tales of how, when, where, and sometimes why the Dead Milkmen initially formed, the most reliable evidence points to band founder Joe Jack Talcum's decision, in the late 1970's, to create a band based entirely upon a group of woodcuts he discovered in the basement of The Vatican. Talcum then recruited acquaintance Rodney Anonymous and the pair immediately set about unlearning everything they had previously learned about music and spending countless hours screaming at inanimate objects.

In 1982 bassist Dave Blood was added to the group when after impressing Talcum and Anonymous with his ability to cover passing vehicles with ketchup. Shortly afterward, and entirely against his own will and better judgment, drummer Dean Clean joined the band.

In 1985, the band, or "The Dead Milkmen" as they were now known, released their debut album "Big Lizard in My Backyard" which was instantly declared "The greatest cultural achievement of our time"(by the band themselves). Big Lizard was followed by "Eat Your Paisley" in 1986 and "Bucky Fellini" in 1987.

The hit single "Punk Rock Girl" from the Dead Milkmen's 1988 release "Beelzebubba" opened many doors to mainstream success, which the band then purposely set about slamming shut in the faces of anyone who used the term "Market Penetration" in a non-sexual sense. Two years later, the Milkmen followed up "Beelzebubba" with "Metaphysical Graffiti"; a work which is universally regarded as "a CD you can buy if you've got roughly eleven dollars".

Bored and looking to "do something different that didn't include sacrificing a goat", the band then began recording "Soul Rotation" (1992). Although critically acclaimed as a brilliant recording (again, by the band themselves), sales were disappointing and the band returned to shoplifting.

1993's "Not Richard, But Dick" saw the band return to form and to arguing with each other...loudly...mostly in public places ...like restaurants, and so the band agreed that 1995's "Stoney's Extra Stout (Pig)" would be their final recording unless "some idiot hands us a %$#@load of money to record another CD." Tragically, for the Milkmen's bank accounts, the idiot with the money was killed by a polar bear at the Kiev Municipal Zoo.

In March of 2004, bassist Dave Blood decided to fake his own death for artistic reasons. Today he lives in a remote Serbian village with his wives and innumerable offspring. Suffering from the loss of Blood, it appeared that the Milkmen would never reunite, let alone reform, or even band together again. In 2008 the band reunited, with bassist Dan Stevens on bass, playing the bass, in order to play Austin TX's Fun Fun Fun Fest (temporarily renamed from "Fun Fun Fun Fun Fest" because "It'll be a little less fun with the Dead Milkmen there.")

2011's release of "The King in Yellow" -- the Milkmen's first release in sixteen years -- was at once declared a seamless continuation of their earlier work...in that it's a CD you can buy if you've got roughly eleven dollars.

In the autumn of 2012 the Dead Milkmen began releasing a series of singles on the should-be- by-now-obsolete 7 inch vinyl format in an obvious attempt to appeal to a younger "hipster" audience. Despite mounting evidence that the singles are failing to expand their fan base, the obstinate Milkmen have continued to produce them, with four "sides" already released in the new year, and with no signs of abating, and are selling them via a mail order form on their web site (www.deadmilkmen.com).]]> 1370494800 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1634
The Suburbs were formed in the western suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1977 following introductions by Chris Osgood of the Suicide Commandos. Following live performances, they released The Suburbs on the Twin/Tone label (the label's first release) in early 1978. The record was a nine-song 7-inch red vinyl EP. The band also saw two songs, "Urban Guerrillas" and "Ailerons O.K.", included on the compilation Big Hits of Mid-America, Volume Three. Band guitarist Bruce C. Allen did the art direction for the compilation. The band's popularity increased during the early to mid 1980s, and during this time, their new wave dance sound, eclectic lyrics, and stage presence gained a following that broke out of the Midwest and reached both coasts. In 1980 Twin/Tone released their first full length LP, In Combo. The single "World War III" (and its B- side, "Change Agent") showed development of the band's songwriting abilities and improved sound. A year later they released the double album Credit In Heaven which added elements of jazz, funk, and disco to the mix. The single "Music for Boys" was taken from the record and became a radio hit. In 1982 the band released a 12-inch single "Waiting," which frequently found its way onto dance club playlists. An EP Dream Hog followed on Twin/Tone, featuring three new songs and a remix of "Waiting" on the B- side, all produced by Steven Greenberg of Funkytown and Lipps Inc fame. Greenberg then brought the Suburbs to the attention of Mercury Records, which added them to their roster in 1983. Mercury started by re-issuing Dream Hog. By this time, the band's live performances were muscular and funky, attracting rabid fans and keeping the band busy as an opening act for the likes of Iggy Pop and The B-52's, as well as headliners in their own right. In 1983 Polygram released Love is the Law, a harder-rocking album that included a horn section and some of their most off-beat lyrics, also produced by Steven Greenberg. In 1986 the Suburbs signed with A&M Records and released The Suburbs produced by Prince's Revolution drummer Bobby Z (Robert Brent). Frustrated by a lack of radio play and abandoned by the major labels, the band broke up in 1987. In 1992 Twin/Tone released Ladies and Gentlemen, The Suburbs Have Left the Building, a best- of compilation, and in 1994 a live record Viva! Suburbs!. The Suburbs reunited during this period and played numerous shows in the Twin Cities, and have played on and off since that time including opening once more for the B-52's in 2003. Summer of 2002 saw the much-anticipated re-issues of the albums In Combo, Credit In Heaven and Love Is The Law on CD for the first time (issued on the band's own Beejtar Records - distributed by Universal). In late 2003 the band issued Chemistry Set: The Songs Of The Suburbs 1977 - 1987 (a best of CD with a few bonus tracks and a DVD of their 2002 performances at Minneapolis' First Avenue). In 2004 Chan Poling formed The New Standards with John Munson and Steve Roehm. In June 2005, keyboardist Chan Poling married Eleanor Mondale, daughter of former Vice President Walter Mondale. Guitarist Bruce Allen died December 7, 2009 at age 54. Bassist Michael Halliday dropped out soon after, and the founding members of Poling, Klaers and Chaney (Chan, Hugo and Beej) have continued on with new members Steve Brantseg (The Phones, Curtiss A) on guitar and Steve Price (Rex Daisy, Alison Scott) on bass. Original sax player, Max Ray (The Wallets) and his wife Rochelle Becker rounds out the band with Stephen Kung on trumpet. They are working on new songs for a potential new release sometime soon.]]> 1370581200 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0600 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1638
Alchemy is best known for captivating audiences during their electrifying live shows. Influenced by bands such as Two Door Cinema Club, Death Cab For Cutie, Bayside, The Killers and Rush, Alchemy brings a brand new sound to the indie scene.

The band released their debut album, 'Creature Of Love' on January 1, 2013 followed by the official music video shortly thereafter. Unsatisfied, the band immediately got back to work and recorded a second EP entitled "GOLD". Set to release on April 1, the maturation and refinement of the band is apparent on this new recording.

Alchemy is quickly making a name for themselves in Milwaukee and online. They are a regular on FM 102.1 Neighborhood Watch, and Marquette University Radio. Additionally, the band as been featured on a number of online radio outlets.

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The Bright White have performed at Chicago's Double Door and Lincoln Hall, as well as New York City's Mercury Lounge. Tracks from their two self-released EPs, Until Then and Lose Yourself, recently received airplay on Chicago's Q101 and WXRT.

Comprised of four working class guys who proudly wear their hearts on their sleeves, Chicago's The Bright White debuted in 2011. Frontman Matthew James and guitarist Joe O'Leary dreamt up the concept of a loud and spirited rock n' roll band months before they were fortunate enough to have drummer Steve Zelenko and bassist Peter Krutiak respond to a Craigslist ad for a rhythm section. Inspired songwriting sessions and a slew of local and regional bookings immediately followed. The Bright White will release their first full-length album on vinyl this summer.]]> 1370667600 Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1644
Easton, MD -- Front porch of producer John Alagia's house on the Chesapeake Bay.

I've just woken up from another end of the world dream where Bon Jovi was an alien planting explosive devices in cupboards that eventually cause massive flooding when I decide I need to do a morning coffee run (ok, I need cigarettes) so I grab my keys and head to town. E-Rob (Eric Robinson), our engineer, is just going to bed after working late on a vox comp for 'You Won't Let Me' and it occurs to me how I've truly lucked out with the people involved in "Chesapeake."

I am in the studio. And when I say studio, I mean Alagia's house that we've spent weeks converting into a studio. We shipped gear, borrowed microphones, amps, guitars, and a grand piano that's living in his bedroom (because that's where we get the best sound). We housed vox mics in his shower for some natural reverb and of course the porch where I write this -- a past scene of pre production jams complete with drums made out of cardboard beer cases and recycling bins -- cellos stuck in wads of duck tape so as not to slip on the floor, a wurly set up by the table of receipts I'm calling 'my office' etc.

I packed my car what seems like months ago chock full of air mattresses, giant breakfast skillets, keyboards, snow boots (unusable) and of course my diva tent -- an 8 person banana yellow monstrosity that I've been sleeping in for some time now to carve out a little private space for moi as well as leave room for the house full of amazing musicians that have come to play. There have been rounds of plumbers and air conditioner technicians, trips to Target for the inflatable pool that has since garnered a crop circle impression on the lawn for a mere $79.95, and thank you dad for the grill donation -- let there be burgers.

The players are my dream team, the kinds that have taken years to find and make history with. We've been saying 'there's a lot of love in the room' and there must be because schedules have been routed, carpools arranged -- anything to help a girl now financing her own career full throttle. Victor Indrizzo has a week off from Sheryl Crow's tour and when he's not doing the dishes has laid down some of the most bad-ass drum tracks that I've ever heard. Mike Viola (Candy Butchers, Walk Hard, Get Him To The Greek) has already tracked harmonies to rival The Beach Boys and The Carpenters and truth be told, wears sunglasses while in his pajamas. Michael Chaves (John Mayer, Five For Fighting) is the guru of vibe on guitar, only wears black and insists on sleeping on the couch as if it's the best room in the house. Kevin Salem (Dumptruck, Yo La Tengo) is still doing additional tracks he dreams up between producing underground Pakistani superstars as well as shuttling English cellist Oli Kraus (Sia, Duffy) down from NYC -- the same cellist I once leaned over to my friend at a Beth Orton concert 8 years ago saying 'someday I'll have strings like that', but that's another story... And of course Tom Freund who will forever be known as Starfish for the way he spreads out in a bed -- not that grown men are sharing beds here or anything. He can make you cry when he plays upright.

There is no label -- only my own -- and I'm pretty sure the artwork for this record will come down to Camera+, the iPhone app that works wonders on pictures. The stash of cash that Dad put away for my wedding has been put to use here along with whatever frequent flyer miles I knew I'd use someday. I launched my PledgeMusic campaign, which a psychic recently told me was karmic. I quickly reached my goal thanks to my incredible fans, and formed my own independent team of folks to get this record out. I must say it is all going along swimmingly.

The reunion with Alagia and the people in the room have been on instinct the best contribution I've made to this entire process. Viola, Kevin and Chaves have all been in the driver's seat for some of my recordings and who knew you could get multiple producers in the room with no trace of ego whatsoever. It is 'Big Pink' and the drums are set up in the kitchen, it fulfills every idea of 'camp' and when the band decides one track out of ten didn't feel at the right tempo they will recut it 3 hours before their morning flight because they care so much. I am in a constant state of verklempt and the looseness of this whole shebang made a perfect transition into creative spontaneity that I think is going to surprise many.

The songs are deep but not sorrowful and there is a sense of humor in some that can only come out when you are sleeping in a tent and considering the name 'Frankenfish' for the album title, but "Chesapeake" won out and Frankenfish became the name of my label. Midway through recording the album, we had a listening party bbq tonight where one person said to me that the songs sound like I'm in control of my own life now and I think she is right. "Chesapeake" has been made with a lot of love in the room (and tequila) and like the Franken fish that can swim and walk on land is surprising the hell outta me.

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It's been seven years since Sanders Bohlke's eponymous debut- a folk album hailed as passionate and praised for its honesty. But that doesn't mean that Bohlke has been quiet in the interim. To fill the spaces between, he's released a slew of standalone singles and EPs, including "Search and Destroy," a 7+ minute track that expands in an unyielding cascading rhythm and "The Weight of Us," a string-laden ballad that Popdose referred to as "sound[ing] like a stark personal statement... a hauntingly lovely song."

The wait is over, though, as Sanders releases his new album Ghost Boy on February 19, 2013 via Communicating Vessels, one of the new crop of cutting edge Southern record labels, based out of Birmingham, Alabama with Jeffrey Cain (of Remy Zero) at the helm.

Lead single "Ghost Boy" is arguably Bohlke's most infectious melody and fully realized flirtation with pop music, and could easily hold its own with the biggest indie singles of the last few years. On this new record, Sanders continues his evolution as a songwriter with lush soundscapes that layer brooding and billowy textures against his soulful voice. Once again recorded with Jeffrey Cain, they've perfected a sonic world that deftly highlights both the beauty and the dark romance of Bohlke's songs.]]> 1370754000 Mon, 01 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1655
Mundy released his 5th studio album Shuffle (on 29th April 2011). Recorded over a year at various bunkers, this is Mundy's love song to his favourite American songwriters. Mundy's first record of covers perfectly compliments a catalogue that already includes a live album & DVD where he had a massive hit with Steve Earle's Galway Girl which is part of the journey which started with Jellylegs and Mundy's hit To You I Bestow from the Romeo & Juliet soundtrack. Along the way he's notched up other huge hits in Ireland like Mexico & July, a number 1 album in Raining Down Arrows and shows in the UK & Ireland with Oasis, White Stripes, Manic Street Preachers etc. However it's in the roots world where Mundy is currently residing, having toured with the great Jimmy Webb in the UK, opened for Lucinda Williams and earned the respect of Steve Earle "It's the one thing I'm sure to be remembered for and I owe a lot of that to Mundy", in 2011 he played in the Grand Canal Theatre with Emmylou Harris, opened up the ceremonies for Barrack Obama's visit to Ireland and finished the year playing huge shows in Ireland as special guest to the wonderful Imelda May.

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The anthemic, arena-filling "Scars From Another Life" (from his forthcoming album Hit Me Back) paints the a picture of how far singer-songwriter Michael McDermott has come: "I was so down... I had completely lost my way / When I hit Broadway I began to realize / That all they are are scars from another life." His life since becoming a recording artist--full of myriad highest highs, gutter-skimming lows, and absolute rock bottoms of the past two decades--could read like a screenplay, but with stories so ridiculously outlandish that they couldn't possibly be true.

All of it--the addiction, the failed relationships, the financial dramas, the career hurdles--have left plenty of scars, but McDermott's moving on, moving up, and taking charge. He makes no excuses for his past--it has made him who he is today--but sings to everyone listening (and to himself): "Don't run away, they're scars from another life."

It's been quite a ride since singer/songwriter Michael McDermott unleashed his debut, 620 West Surf, but one might even go so far as to say that his 2012 release, Hit Me Back, represents the work of a new artist: for the first time in his recording career, McDermott is a father, a philanthropic entrepreneur, and has experienced the loss of an adored parent. All are major life changes which have found achingly honest expression in his songs.

Hit Me Back also exudes McDermott's trademark embrace of faith and hope in the face of adversity. The lyrics are, as always, uniquely evocative: McDermott sings in poetry; his tunes are literate story-songs. On the haunting "Ever After," he offers the listener palpable insight into the jarring confusion and doubt felt in the days that followed his mother's passing (in October 2011). The wryly observed title track puts a new spin on fighting a long-time nemesis, alcohol. His demon-banishing in the aforementioned "Scars From Another Life" is echoed in the love-is-redemption refrains of "Let It Go." The exploration of temptation and bowing to its siren call is explored in the Americana-laced "A Deal With The Devil."

Influenced by such musical giants as Bob Dylan and Van Morrison, McDermott exhibited a talent for mature and lyrically dense songwriting that soon caught the eye--and ear--of then-talent scout Brian Koppelman (now a screenwriter, novelist, director, and producer; best known as the co-writer of "Ocean's Thirteen" and "Rounders"), who immediately signed him to Giant Records. That first album, 620 West Surf, boasted a Billboard Hot 100 charting single, ("A Wall I Must Climb"). McDermott continued to write introspective, character-driven songs that won him an enduring band of appreciative followers. In the liner notes for McDermott's self-titled album, bestselling author Stephen King wrote: "Michael McDermott is one of the best songwriters in the world and possibly the greatest undiscovered rock 'n' roll talent of the last 20 years."

The recording industry shakeup that marked the mid-1990s left McDermott without a contract, and awash in debt and self-doubt. "Throughout the years, I had continued to feel like I was on a mission, of sorts, singing spiritual songs," he once said, "but never really feeling good about the other elements of my life." McDermott released five more albums in the next decade, some with label distribution, others independently. He also continued playing live shows, and riding a personal rollercoaster of addiction, recovery, and sometimes-misplaced ambition.

Having at last become more comfortable in his own skin, scarred but smarter, McDermott has in recent years begun to make more life-affirming choices. He has launched his own coffee line, with sales from each bag of his two signature blends providing meals for seven children. Understandably, he's found positive inspiration in his wife, Heather Horton (whom he married during a tour stop in Italy in May 2009), and the birth of their daughter, Rain (in July 2010). And he's once again a signed artist, this time with New Jersey label, Rock Ridge Music, who will be releasing his forthcoming album. McDermott and wife Horton (a gifted musician/vocalist), and producer CJ Eiriksson (engineered albums for U2 and Matchbox 20, as well as McDermott's 2007 album Noise From Words) spent a whirlwind eight days in the studio to record Hit Me Back.

Of course, recent positive inspiration doesn't mean he's forgotten his tumultuous past or that he no longer faces present struggles. For McDermott, a performer and storyteller to the depths of his soul, his connection with fans and his uncanny ability to communicate universal truths through his own personal experiences are helping fade the many of the scars that remain. The demons aren't gone; he's just found a place for them to dwell in peace. It is coming to terms with those demons and putting them in their place that continues to fuel his art ever further.]]> 1370926800 Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1647
When a pair of intelligent, visionary emcees joins forces with a battle-hardened, groove-fusing rhythm section, and a classically trained violist the result is a sound that explores and expands the frontiers of live hip-hop. Progressive in both style and message, the band's ability to drop from symphonic rock-infused crescendos into stripped-down string-laden breakbeats has earned Flobots a reputation for both originality and authenticity.

Armed with musicianship, intelligence, and an ingrained sense of rebellion, Flobots are looking to engage a new musical culture, one mind at a time.

If you are thinking, you are winning.]]> 1371013200 Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1659
Project of Dan Clark (The Mighty Chouffe, Justin Vernon's Goddamn Cabin, The Dark Clan, Stromkern, am.pscyh, Ego Likeness, and The Gothsicles) and Dave Norman (Lockjaw, ex-Dark Clan), Magma Dragon is intended to fuse badass american headbanging riffs with fucking epic-ass euro power metal. Sharpen your sword and prepare for battle.

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Singer/pianist Marcia Ball knows how to raise roofs and tear down walls with her infectious, intelligent and deeply emotional brand of southern boogie, rollicking, roadhouse blues and heartfelt ballads. Over the course of her three-decade career, Ball has earned a huge and intensely loyal following all over the world. Her exquisite piano playing and passionate, playful vocals fuse New Orleans and Gulf Coast R&B with Austin's deep songwriting tradition into a sound No Depression described as "a little rock, a lot of roll, a pinch of rhythm and a handful of blues."]]> 1371790800 Sat, 04 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1650
Anyone familiar with Milwaukee's music scene in the late 70s remembers the music of 'Grass, Food and Lodging. For almost five years this homegrown group brought their brand of Bluegrass to the city, then an ever broadening sphere of aficionados and causal listeners throughout the Midwest, and eventually, national and international audiences. Life's opportunities called and members called it quits over a two week multi-concert good-bye with fans winding around the block for every performance at home base club, downtown's Blue River Cafe. Many years would pass before the ebb and flow of the idiom brought popular Bluegrass back to the region.

Many, many banjo rolls later, the band makes it's first, and likely its only re-grouping in a rare concert opportunity guaranteed to recharge any latent anti-disco sentiments of the time. Original members Dede Wyland - guitar, and Peter Knupfer - fiddle, rejoin local personalities; Ken Finkel - banjo, and Jim Price (JP) - mandolin, to reform the original group. Bluegrass wizard Jon Peik is on bass for the reunion. In addition, local musician-à-terre, Tom Schwark will supply basso to the group's acapella renderings just as he did throughout the group heydays. The evening promises to be a nostalgic and more mature revisiting of Bluegrass plus an in-person opportunity to hear one the best vocal trios on any stage - then and now.]]> 1371877200 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1640
Fans will not want to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity as both bands will deliver their unique brands of British guitar driven rock, each performing headlining sets!

Nektar's contribution over the past 40 years has quite rightly earned them their place in any "Progressive Rock Hall of Fame" but the band is much more than a Prog Legend. The Nektar brand of innovative composition, performance and visuals is simply unique and has stood the test of time and influenced countless numbers of their contemporaries.

With millions of album sales and concert attendances worldwide, Wishbone Ash's heritage as one of the most enduring and best loved British rock acts is assured. Martin Turner envisaged the band's innovative harmony-guitar hallmark and over four decades later, the enduring music of the classic marks of Wishbone Ash continues to delight audiences worldwide through both live performances and a rich legacy of recorded work that continues to be enjoyed by fans old and new. On this tour they will be performing their classic album "Argus" in its entirety plus other surprises!]]> 1372395600 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1663
Harvey Scales...a name synonymous with musical accolades, he started his career at the age of 14 in a group called The Playboys who rivaled then Al Jarreau's Doo Wop group, and later sang with The Esquires who had an international hit entitled 'Get On Up'. Harvey left the group to form his own that grew to be a large success, called Harvey Scales and The Seven Sounds and recorded on the legendary Stax Soul Record label out of Memphis TN. Harvey's biggest milestone was that he wrote the FIRST Platinum record in the history of recordmaking, the hit 'Dico Lady', and has gone on to write several other hits that have been recorded by J. Geil's Band and even The Beastie Boys.

Rock and Roll Daily columnist David Fricke writes in Dec 2009 Rolling Stone Magazine:
Two of my favorite supersoul tracks of 1967 came on the same single by Wisconsin's Harvey Scales and the Seven Sounds: "Get Down," a high-speed-James Brown blast that got to Number 79 on Billboard, and its hot-ardor flip, "Love-Itis," later covered by the J. Geils Band. New collection Love-Itis (Soul-Tay-Shus) has 'em both with a dance party's worth of obscure pulverizing follow-ups, including "Broadway Freeze," "Trackdown," "The Yolk" and the improbably wicked "Funky Football."]]> 1373086800 Sat, 04 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1651
It may be a surprise to hear the country rock sounds of Detroit's Deadstring Brothers coming from a city better known for loud rock and roll, but disillusionment can take many channels. Desolation, frustration and regret have always been present where great country music was played, and from its bombed-out inner city to its sterile suburbs, Detroit has its share.

Deadstring Brothers began in fall 2003. Since then, the band has worked to develop their own take on the American Sound, drawing influences from a variety of sources. Its all in there somehow, declares Kurt, but blues and country music just feel the most natural.

Not unlike Exile-era Stones, Deadstring Brothers deliver a menacing sound that draws equally on the melancholy of country ballads and the abandon of rock and blues. The bands music is deeply rooted in the storytelling and instrumental traditions of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and the American Outlaw Movement, but is also informed by the song structure and understated aggression commonly associated with Detroit bands. Their haunting melodies reveal the influence of early 70s rock icons like The Band and Gram Parsons and The Faces. Deadstring Brothers live performances have the energy of guitar rock, but sophisticated arrangements, Hammond Organ and a focus on traditional American music separate them from many of their Detroit contemporaries.

The band has been touring steadily since the 2004 release of their eponymous debut and have shared the stage with acts ranging from Shooter Jennings, Cat Power and Jesse Sykes to Giant Sand, My Morning Jacket, Drive by Truckers and the Mekons.]]> 1373518800 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1649
Born l952 in Cottonwood, AZ., Junior showed musical talent at an early age playing little melodies on the family piano before he could talk. Curiosity led him to an old guitar in his grandparents' attic, thus setting the stage for a lifelong interest in the steel strings. ,

After a series of high school dance bands, he hit the Country dance club circuit full time while still in his teens. This continued for decades all over the United States and many excursions abroad.

After settling in Austin, Texas, with his wife and rhythm guitarist-singer, Tanya Rae, he began his weekly tenure at the legendary Continental Club where the band successfully honed their craft leading ultimately to a major label signing (Curb), a Country Music Association Award (CMA), three Grammy nods, a Bluegrass Music Association Award (IBMA) with legend, Ralph Stanley, duets on record and video appearances with everyone from Hank Thompson and George Jones to The Beach Boys and Stone Temple Pilots.

Then came movies (Me Myself and Irene, Trespass, Still Breathing, The Dukes of Hazard, Blue Collar Comedy Tourl and II), TV shows (X Files, Chris Issac, Austin City Limits), multiple appearances on Letterman, Conan, Saturday Night Live, and even a cameo appearance in SpongeBob Squarepants. And there were the national ad campaigns, like The Gap, Lee Jeans and Lipton Tea.

Lately Junior has been concentrating just as hard as always on his songwriting skills with his more recent material, which still references dry wit, serious sentiment and instrumental prowess.

Some of these new songs show a previously uncharted direction into modern technical jargon. Just one listen to selections like "Hang Up and Drive" or "Apathy Waltz" and you will have no doubt that there is more here than just simple Retro-Billy. These songs are about today and Junior is still performing them "Junior style".

So what more does one say in an attempt to describe a truly one-of-a-kind music legend, who is doing what he does better now than ever before? How does someone describe the indescribable to one who hasn't seen or heard?

What comes to mind for me is the title to one of Junior's early albums which refers cleverly to his creation, the "Guit-Steel", the instrument consolidating standard and steel guitars allowing him to switch mid-song between the two while singing. The title of the album simply states the best advice that can be offered: GUIT WITH IT!]]> 1374210000 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1648
In the early 1970s, the small Midwestern town of Zion, Illinois still bore many of the markings of its founding as a religious enclave for a faith-healing evangelist and his followers: no liquor, no lottery tickets, no bikinis at the park on Lake Michigan. In this environment, if you wanted fun, you made it yourself. That included music.

And so Shoes was born. At first it was just a name: high school friends John Murphy and Gary Klebe decided that having a band would be cool, despite their complete lack of musical training or any instruments. They spent two years buying garage-sale guitars, learning whatever chords people would show them, and listening, listening, listening to the music they loved--the Beatles, Big Star, Bowie, the Move, Todd Rundgren, Nils Lofgren--trying to find their own voices.

In the summer of 1973, Jeff Murphy, John's brother, borrowed the money and bought a four-track tape machine. As they recorded with Jeff, they realized that he was the third member of Shoes. The next summer, they made their first DIY record without ever having played in public.

The result was the entirely homemade Heads or Tails (1974). For the next several years, Jeff, John and Gary painstakingly taught themselves to play and write and sing and produce, all without external guidance, in basements and bedrooms and a converted garage. When Gary studied abroad for a year, John and Jeff made a record for him, One in Versailles (1975), adding to their ranks drummer Barry Shumaker; when Gary returned the four punched out another full album in a matter of weeks, the scorching Bazooka (1975).

At the end of 1975, John and Gary returned from college permanently. Shumaker left, and they tapped local drummer Skip Meyer to replace him. Shoes pushed forward, beginning the power pop classic Black Vinyl Shoes that fall, a record which showcased their signature sound: fuzzy electric and bright acoustic guitars, jangly melodies, melancholy lyrics, and shimmering harmonies.

When it was self-released in 1977, it received excellent press, including a glowing review in The Village Voice, and was eventually picked up for re-release by JEM/PVC Records. With increased distribution, Black Vinyl Shoes drew the attention of major labels, and Shoes signed with Elektra/Asylum in early 1979.

Their three Elektra records--Present Tense (1979), Tongue Twister (1981), and Boomerang (1982)--won Shoes an international following and solid critical respect. They worked with Mike Stone, who had produced Queen, and Richard Dashut, who had helmed both Fleetwood Mac's massive best-seller Rumors and its experimental follow-up, Tusk. Shoes' videos--"Too Late" and "Tomorrow Night" in particular--were prominently featured on early MTV. But Shoes had signed during the devastating Crash of '79, and they struggled to break out during these years against the backdrop of an industry in free-fall. They were released from their Elektra contract in late 1982.

Determined to go on, Shoes built a small studio--Short Order Recorder--in a strip mall in nearby Winthrop Harbor, IL, producing not only their own music--Silhouette (1984)--but also the work of other bands, including Chicago's Material Issue. In 1986, they moved back to Zion, rebuilding Short Order Recorder into a small, respectable working studio with a national reputation. Shoes also expanded their label, Black Vinyl Records, releasing not only their own music, but that of like-minded artists and Short Order Recorder clients. It was a self-contained DIY operation gone professional.

Along the way, they released a collection of their finest songs--Shoes Best (1987)--and re-released their back catalog on CD. At the same time, they recorded the zestful alternative pop masterpiece Stolen Wishes (1990), which garnered a four-star review in Rolling Stone and had one track--John's "Feel the Way That I Do"--picked up for inclusion in a Hollywood film, Mannequin 2. The record fit right in with the alt-pop revival of the early 1990's: David Wild called it "a great, unpretentious pop record." Shoes toured the east and west coasts for the first time ever to support Stolen Wishes.

The business of the studio and label delayed 1994's Propeller, but when it was released, Shoes received the usual critical accolades--"spine-tingling pop of the first rank," wrote Parke Puterbaugh in Stereo Review, "more aggressive than Shoes' norm"--and delivered some scorching live performances, captured on 1995's Fret Buzz.

1997 saw the release of the limited-edition As Is: a two-disc collection of outtakes, alternate mixes, rarities and, for the first time on CD, the much-discussed but rarely heard 1975 releases One in Versailles and Bazooka.

By the end of the millennium, digital musical production had rendered independent studios all but obsolete; file-sharing had the same effect on many independent labels. Shoes sold Short Order Recorder in 2004 and returned to their roots, recording at home.

In 2007, Jeff released the solo record Cantilever, a collection of eleven shimmering pop songs NPR's Ken Tucker called "pretty glorious." That summer, Shoes appeared at the Great Performers of Illinois concert series at Millennium Park in Chicago, as well as on WGN and WLS-TV. 2009 saw the band's first overseas shows, as they traveled to Japan to celebrate the release of a CD box set on Air Mail Records. Shoes' 2008 recording of Cheap Trick's "If You Want My Love," originally intended for a charity tribute album, was pressed and released in Japan.

Through 2010, the band was busy with periodic reissues, movie soundtracks, and work on an in-depth band biography, Boys Don't Lie: A History of Shoes, a behind-the-scenes look at Shoes' musical career juxtaposed against the backdrop of the changing music industry (expected in early 2012).

At the end of 2010, work began on a new Shoes record, titled Ignition, their first in 17 years. Working with John Richardson, who has been their live drummer since 1994, Shoes have found a new drive and purpose in these sessions. "I think that we're playing with a renewed sense of purpose," Jeff says. "It's really been a joy to work on these songs and reminds us that, despite the fact that it takes a ton of work and worry, there really is no greater satisfaction for us than completing a new Shoes song. It has also helped to strengthen and reaffirm our friendships." Gary notes, "We're doing this for the joy of it, not to further our careers," and expresses optimism over the direction of the new record.

With fifteen tracks completed, John characterizes Ignition as "somewhere between Stolen Wishes and Propeller." And all the Shoes credit Richardson with adding new muscle to their songs. "Johnny's our secret weapon," John says; Jeff calls his drumming "inspired": "with the inclusion of Richardson's drumming from the earliest stages of the songs, it gives us a rock-solid foundation to build on."]]> 1374814800 Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1665
With Chicago roots and Texas ties, Daphne Willis brings both musicality and grit to the songs she writes and plays. Born in San Antonio to a classically trained vocalist and audio engineer, Daphne began singing at an early age and found her way to the guitar in high school. Since then, she's developed the confidence, melodic mastery and vocal range that have won her admirers from here to Beijing.

Daphne didn't plan a career in music. But as a student at DePaul University in Chicago, she found herself performing at open mic nights, which led to regular Chicago gigs and, eventually, a decision to leave school and hit the road. So she assembled a band and began playing 200 shows a year across the United States. Daphne released her independent EP Matter of Time in September 2007; in a twist of fate, Vanguard Records head Kevin Welk heard a track on an American Airlines flight. This led to a record deal in 2008 and the release of her second EP, Exhibit A.

To record her first full-length album, Daphne headed to the hills of Tennessee. She released What to Say in 2010, which was co-produced by Tim Lauer and Grammy winner Gary Paczosa. Album number two, Because I Can, came out in 2011 and reached the number two spot on iTunes' Top 40 Singer/Songwriter Chart. On her latest EP, Inside Outright, Daphne co-wrote songs with Hunter Davis, Chris Faulk, Angela Lauer, John Oates of Hall & Oates, Keri Barnes and Tim Lauer.

Daphne currently calls Nashville home, where she crafts her distinct brand of pop and is poised to expand her fan base world wide.

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Chicago Singer/Songwriter Dave Tamkin currently calls Boulder, CO his home. He has created his own unique style of rhythmic-acoustic rock that's based around a fresh musical vision. His shows vary from intimate solo acoustic performances to a full band experience encapsulating a mixture of personal lyrics and skilled songwriting set against a high-energy percussive backbone.

He's shared the stage with Guster, Willy Porter, The Samples, Rusted Root, Michael Galbicki, Butch Walker, Matt Wertz, Eric Hutchinson, Stroke 9, The Violent Femmes, and Carbon Leaf to name a few. Tamkin has a style that's hard to resist. His lyrics are unabashedly honest and his passion for playing is undying.

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Mike Mangione & The Union is a touring group that combines a folk-rock sound with an orchestrated string section, soulful vocals and literate sensibility. The band's debut album, Tenebrae, received favorable press from all corners of the country, including the honor of being an All Music Guide Album Pick, while Blurt refers to their "tearstained folk, Memphis-styled gospel and bluesy-flavored pop" as "luminous." In 2011 they released Offering on their own imprint, RODZINKA Records, with sync and digital licensing by DUALTONE Records. The album and band were nominated for "best of the year" by RadioMilwaukee (88.9 FM), along with receiving other kind and warm accolades. In the fall of 2013 they will release yet another album, Red-Winged Blackbird Man, produced by Grammy-nominated producer, Bo Ramsey (Lucinda Williams, Greg Brown, Iris DeMent).]]> 1375333200 Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1657
Sedated formed in July of 2010 and had their first of many shows at the Jockey Club in Oshkosh on 10/ 2/10. This was their home base and their CBGB's. It was Larry's Facebook post about starting a Ramones tribute band that caught the attention of Jeff who hosted his weekly Wednesday karaoke show at the Jockey Club. In July of 2010 Jeff asked Larry if he was serious about starting a Ramones tribute band and Larry just blurted out "I'll do it if you wanna do it". Larry had known Jeff from his karaoke shows for about 3 years and Jeff just happened to have his younger brother Derek at the karaoke show. Jeff replied "Well my brother Derek plays drums and he would want to try it out, so why don't you send me a list of songs by the Ramones you want to do and we can go from there". We scheduled several practices, and after a 7 hour marathon practice that Labor Day, we felt we were ready to play a show. Larry suggested a name for the band that day. Sedated and Lobotomy were considered the two best, but we all knew Sedated just seemed to be the right name. We booked a show at the Jockey and on 10/2/ 10 we played for the first time. What started out as a one time show has transformed into a movement. (Ok maybe not a movement.) Sedated has now been together almost 3 years and has played at least once in every calendar month since they formed. It is a streak they are proud of and hope to keep going. This is not the same stale variety band playing some background noise. What you get is the full Ramones concert experience.

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The newly formed VERONICA LATE came together for the first time for this year's 22nd annual Johnny Thunders tribute show. Dr Destruction, Steve and Billie all played some of the same clubs that bands like Johnny Thunders, The Cramps, The Damned and Iggy Pop played in the late 70's and early 80's. They were all fans of the original New York underground bands. The band has also been joined by it's youngest member Jason. The band is fronted by Dr Destruction now known nationally for his Horrorhost tv show. The show is particularly popular in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Veronica Late not only features Johnny Thunders songs but a conglomeration of music from the CBGB era as well as stuff from Hanoi Rocks and the Lords Of The New Church, originals too.]]> 1375419600 Sat, 04 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1660
Flannel Animal's original songs are awkwardly situated genre wise somewhere between Neil Young with Crazy Horse and Hank Williams. The genre that people call Alt Country or Americana is perhaps where you might place them, but where one song might sound like a Neil Young folk song dipped from a whiskey barrel, another sounds like a stripped down country ballad on trucker speed, and then another like a moody rock song that never made the B side of a Creedence record. The way the boys of Flannel Animal see it is just it is what it is -- us making songs we wrote sound as good as we can make 'em. Bands and/or artists we are influenced by and which we may or may not sound like are: Neil Young, Lucero, Son Volt, Wilco, Slobberbone, Chris Knight, the Bottle Rockets, Steve Earle, the Jayhawks, the Drive-By Truckers, Robert Earl Keen, Joe Ely, Sons of Bill, The Backsliders, Two Cow Garage, Whiskeytown, and many others.

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Step 9 is a study in contrasts, starting with the band. Like the "Sultans of Swing", they all have daytime jobs and are doing all right, but play with more energy than many teenage bands. Blending the best of alternative rock and folk with their unique take on covers or their own catchy originals. Step 9 started as a gathering of musicians who used to play professionally earlier in their lives. Less than a year ago, they debuted in the Central Wisconsin music scene to great reviews and ever-bigger gigs. Their blend of styles (alternative, rock, folk), instrumentation (including keytar, synthesizers, driving acoustic, and harmonicas) and original music from the pens of Joe Adamek, Jim Roots, and Kurt Helledy has made them a crowd pleaser at every show.

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The Lilies are an alt- pop rock band based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The shore of Lake Michigan, immediate blue-collar factories and quirky art scene greatly intertwines with the bands' writing and down to earth enjoyment with performance. They have written and performed plenty of original music in local venues, and they are proud to have been recently showcased in promotion with the Milwaukee International Film Festival in October 2005, the MECA Music Conference in Chicago, Illinois at Goose Island in May of 2004, and the MEIC Conference in Lexington, Kentucky, November of 2004 at Mia's. The band is fronted by Lilly, a female singer-guitarist who spends her non-music time making short films and is backed by honest rock boys. The result is rock and roll complete with melody, harmony and heart. The Lilies love to play and it shows.]]> 1376110800 Sat, 04 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1652
Joe Firstman bought an $18 cross-country Greyhound ticket from his home in North Carolina to Los Angeles, arriving with a beat-up guitar and head full of songs. He quickly found the big stage. It all happened quickly: first came the big Hollywood gigs, then the industry buzz, then the big deal with Atlantic Records and national tours with big rock stars like Sheryl Crow, Jewel, and Willie Nelson. There was ego and excess and beautiful ladies and music, music, music. Firstman wrote it all down and sang his songs like his life depended on it.

"In the songs of Joe Firstman, sensitive young men prowl the hills of Los Angeles, searching for fame and beauty, only to find self-destructive behavior and egos gone wild..." wrote Jim Farber in the New York Daily News. "While Hollywood's peaks and pitfalls have been prominently charted by songwriters from Don Henley, Stevie Nicks and Jackson Browne to Warren Zevon, Firstman aims to reinvent the milieu for his own generation."

When the world stopped spinning, he'd landed a regular gig as the bandleader on the "Last Call with Carson Daly" show. For four years, this was his university -- playing and writing songs in whatever style the show's musical guests played and learning how to engage a studio audience, day in and day out.

Firstman released his 7th studio album, "Swear It Was A Dream," on September 6, 2011. The album features 10 new songs written and recorded over the last year in studios in Charleston, SC, Mexico, Los Angeles, and Nashville. Of the album, Firstman shared, "You can really feel the year in the record, you can feel the whole journey in there and it's my best piece. It's my best thing thus far."

The album's first single, "Who's Turning Your Light Out?" is Firstman's exploration of straightforward, unadulterated songwriting. "It was just a very personal lyric, but I tried to make it into a pop song that everybody would get. Its got lyrics about South Carolina and falling asleep with your head in your hands--I thought the imagery was relatable, " says Firstman.

"Swear It Was A Dream" is the follow-up to Firstman's two 2010 releases, "El Porto," and "Live At The Treehouse," both released on Rock Ridge Music. In 2009, Firstman's full-time, four-year job as bandleader on "Last Call with Carson Daly" ended when Firstman shifted his focus to his independent musical pursuits. Prior, Firstman put out a full-length ("The War of Women") and an EP ("Wives Tales") on Atlantic, plus another full-length ("DrAma") and live EP ("Live at The Sandbox"), which were released independently.

As Firstman was wrapping up "Swear It Was A Dream" in Nashville, he formed a new band with longtime friends and collaborators Jaron Lowenstein, Toby Weaver, and John Lloyd, dubbed "Cordovas." Their debut, self-titled, album features all new songs written and produced by Firstman in his first efforts at writing for a full-band and three part harmonies. Additionally, Firstman is currently producing Lowenstein's forthcoming solo album.

On September 3, 2011, The Cordovas launched their first US Tour, featuring a solo Firstman as the supporting act. The Cordovas tour wraps November 15 in Yakima, WA and Firstman will immediately jump into his tour with Zach Myers (Shinedown, The Farewell.) Firstman usually spends over 200 days touring per year and has shared the stage with such acts as Sheryl Crow, Jewel, and Willie Nelson.]]> 1376456400 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1661
Popa Chubby, born Ted Horowitz in 1960, is a native son of The Big Apple. His parents owned a candy store in the Bronx. The young Chubby would play the jukebox endlessly listening to the hits of the day. Motown, Stax Volt, Chess and Atlantic records spun endlessly through the young boy's head. "The defining moment came when my Dad took me to see Chuck Berry when I was 6. There's Chuck, onstage, larger than life. I see a bulge in his pocket and ask my dad what it is. 'That's Chuck's money,' my dad said. I was sold on the spot."

Fueled by Chuck Berry and soul music Chubby took up the drums but was discouraged from making noise. At 14 he got his first guitar and never looked back. The 70′s were fertile ground with blues rock ruling the Arenas. Chubby, fueled by Led Zepplin, Johnny Winter, Jimi Hendrix, Foghat, Cream and the Rolling Stones would put in long hours with his record player learning the licks that would become his signature.
In the late 70's Popa answered an ad for a guitarist in the Village Voice and became a mainstay of the early CBGB's Punk scene. He played, recorded, and toured with Punk godfather Richard Hell becoming an in demand session player on the New York scene.

"I kept seeing the name Willie Dixon on records," says Chubby in an interview. And indeed the spirit of Willie Dixon would be a guiding force in Chubby's music.

In 1990 The Popa Chubby band was born after a jam session with P Funk's Bernie Worrell. Popa began playing east coast clubs and in a short time became the house band at the legendary Manny's Car Wash in NYC where he worked with notable artists from Albert King to Odetta. In 1993, after winning first place in the KLON National Blues Talent Search (runner up was Keb Mo),he signed a deal with the Sony's O-KEH label and made the record "Booty And The Beast" with legendary Atlantic Records producer Tom Dowd at the helm. The record yielded a Billboard top 100 hit with "Sweet Goddess Of Love And Beer." Chubby was on his way. After the birth of his twin daughters, Theodora and Tipitina, he began to tour the world. Popa Chubby became a mainstay on the European festival scene where he has headlined such notable festivals as The Nice Jazz Festival, Freewheels Festival, Bos Pop Festival, The Kolne Rhythm and Blues Festival, The Montreal Jazz Festival, The New York State Blues Festival, and many more. In the interim Chubby made and produced a stream of work for Blind Pig and the French Dixiefrog Records including the groundbreaking "How'd A White Boy Get The Blues" for which the New York Times review referred to Chubby as a post modern Muddy Waters. Chubby continued to tour relentlessly and Garnered a W. C. Handy award for his 9/11 inspired "Somebody Let The Devil Out," a tribute to the first responders in the great tragedy.

Throughout Popa Chubby has made and produced several CD's with his wife and long time Muse Galea.

Her 2003 Solo CD "Diary Of A Bad Housewife" and 2008′s "Viscous Country" stand as great works.

A short time later Popa was contacted by Dreamworks Productions and asked to audition for the role of Shrek on Broadway. He worked in two staged readings with Tony award winning director Jason Moore before previous commitments took him back on tour.

In 2009 Popa joined the Dutch based Provogue record label and released the blues rock masterpiece "The Fight Is On." 2010 saw Popa's highest grossing year to date with concerts in 11 countries.

In 2011 Popa Chubby will mount the "Monsters Of Blues Rock Tour" with the legendary Walter Trout in France, Germany, Switzerland , and the UK. There is talk of bringing the tour to North America.

Popa Chubby is an artist who stands for musical and personal integrity. Audiences worldwide all say the same thing:

"This is the best show I have ever seen!"

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Chris Duarte, a San Antonio native was born in February of 1963, the same year as his Strat. His goal, to be a successful musician and write music for all the world to hear. His choice instrument, the guitar and at the age of 15 his career of being a musician began. At the tender age of sixteen he dropped out of high school and moved to Austin, Texas to further develop his musical career. Several years later, Chris met a man by the name of John Jordan who would become Chris' best friend and co-founder of the Chris Duarte Group. John, like Chris was born with music in his blood. Although John's first instrument was piano, he would become the bass guitarist for the Chris Duarte Group. Together they would travel to over 300 dates on average per year for over 15 years straight. It was then that Mr. Jordan departed from the group to pursue a solo career and to open his own Record company called Tana Records. The band still continues to play well over 200 nights a year in every state and many countries abroad. Collectively, the Chris Duarte Group has realeased a total of four albums. Texas Sugar Strat Magic (1994), Tailspin Headwhack (1997), Love is Greater then Me (2000) and Romp (2004). the band is due to hit the studio in December of 2006 for release number 5 from the Chris Duarte Group. Since then CDG has put out Vantage Point (2008) and it poised to release a new cd with Bluestone Co. called "396". Now based out of Atlanta, GA. Chris is backed by Joel Powell on Bass and Chris Burroughs on Drums. Get ready to have your face rocked off! Chris Duarte has been known to play guitar till his fingers bleed.]]> 1376542800 Sat, 04 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1666
DWIGHT TWILLEY: The True King Of Power Pop and the father of New Wave. Dwight Twilley fronted the Dwight Twilley Band, a legendary trio from Tulsa. Twilley had a major hit with the very first record they recorded professionally, "I'm On Fire," in the summer of 1975. The band went on to record a brilliant first album, Sincerely, which was released in 1976. Sincerely has since come to be regarded as one of the best American albums of the Seventies. A second album, Twilley Don't Mind, was and released on Arista in the fall of 1977. Twilley went on to record a solo album for Arista, Twilley, and proved conclusively that he could do it all himself -- songwriting, arranging, guitars, and piano. Scuba Divers was released on EMI in early 1982. Twilley had another hit with a re-recorded version of "Somebody To Love." During the year, he appeared frequently on the fledgling MTV channel, and was the subject of one of the very first MTV live concerts in July, 1982. In 1984, Twilley released his biggest hit album, Jungle, which included the massive hit "Girls" (with a cameo by long-time friend Tom Petty); with a funny, Porky's-inspired video, the song was in heavy rotation on MTV for six months. A second single, "Little Bit Of Love" also hit, and the third single "Why You Wanna Break My Heart" was included in a cover version on the mega-selling Wayne's World soundtrack several years later. Now the king has returned and he is back and better than ever supporting newest releases, "Tulsa", "The Luck", "Have A Twilley Christmas", "47 Moons", and the first ever live Twilley CD/DVD, "Twilley, All Access".]]> 1376629200 Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1664
A rockin' fundraiser for the Humane Society of Wisconsin, featuring the premiere of the movie "Time Trek," Richard LaValliere's final work -- as composer, musician, and actor.]]> 1376715600 Mon, 06 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1667
Songs.
Songs are the key.
Miles Nielsen has been writing them for as long as he can remember. Good, bad, great -- yeah he's covered all those bases.
For some, music is something in the background, or in the corner of the bar, or merely something that lives on the other side of the dial -- a magic diversion created to pass the time in the car. For Miles Nielsen, music is as much a part of his life as
the act of taking a breath, every experience, every conversation, every dream is a potential song in the making.
There are millions of people writing, recording and releasing music in today's world of immediate return. Learn three chords, turn on the computer and you have a worldwide release. There are very few, however, who are writing music that makes you immediately wish there was "more" -- another song to make you turn up the volume , another nugget of melody or lyric that you can find some part of to
make your own.
Miles's songs provide that sense of yearning and ownership. You want to have another record, another song -- you want to hit rewind ... you want to know more about this world created in song by Mr. Nielsen. A captivating wordsmith, instrumentalist, and creator of hooks -- rare indeed, but present in the person of Miles Nielsen.
It would be hard to imagine that the years spent honing his craft throughout the bars and music halls of the Midwest, were not leading to something bigger, something permanent. His latest release, Miles Nielsen presents the Rusted Hearts certainly occupies a space of permanence -- these songs are not mere throwaway pop songs -- but, rather explorations and declarations of a mastery of style and substance,
destined to fall into regular rotation on the turntables of fans new and old for years to come.
What is next? Like with any other prediction -- no one can say. Gifts like Miles's come along very infrequently, and one can only hope that his ability to be so "in the now" -- listening for the songs spoken in the everyday world will continue to grow.
Then maybe that "more" we are looking for, will be given to us via that very key we yearn for --

...through Songs.]]> 1377234000 Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1662
Literal brothers, Alex (banjo and vocals) and Ben Morrison (guitar and vocals) of The Brothers Comatose grew up in a house that was known for its music parties. "The Morrison house was a gathering place for local musicians -- everyone would bring an instrument, call out tunes, call out changes, and just play for hours" says Brothers Comatose bassist and Morrison music party goer, Gio Benedetti. "I learned more in that living room than in any class I ever took." The brothers took this generous, inclusive and rowdy attitude and brought it to stages all over San Francisco. With the addition of members Philip Brezina (fiddle) and Ryan Avellone (mandolin) the string quintet brings their original string music and the feel of an intimate music party to audiences all across the United States.

The environment the band creates with their music and their live shows isn't the exclusive band vs. crowd world of rock and pop, but rather the sing-along, stomp-along, inclusive world that gave birth to string band music. The band -- while playing festivals like Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Strawberry, High Sierra, Outside Lands, Kate Wolf, and SXSW, - has not lost sight of their roots, their fans and the relationships that have brought them where they are.

Despite their name, the band is anything but Comatose. They toss alligators (inflatable) into the crowd, they hand out chopsticks for audience-percussion-participation, and are known to jump down and play acoustic encores in the middle of the crowd at the end of a set. It's just one, big, extended Morrison music party. Only now, the living room travels via Chevy G20 Conversion Van from state to state.]]> 1378357200 Sat, 04 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1668
Canada’s legendary Punk Kings,who helped spread punk rock counterculture around the world, approach a momentous milestone. For nearly 25 years D.O.A. has been happily slashing away at all manner of philosophical enemies. They’ve traveled the globe almost continuously since they formed in 1978; they released their first snarling piece of vinyl, the "Disco Sucks" EP in June of that year. That slab of plastic opened the door to international prominence, riots, rip-off record companies and three generations of fans.

In 1981, D.O.A. made the term "hardcore" their own and pushed it into the common vernacular with their legendary album "Hardcore 81" and subsequent tours. Consequently, D.O.A. has been cited as a major influence for tons of bands ranging from The Red Hot Chili Peppers to Green Day to Rancid to The Offspring. They followed that up with their ground breaking EP "War on 45" and "Bloodied But Unbowed."

D.O.A. has always worn their politics on their sleeves.They’ve done a lot shit disturbing along the way.They’ve been harassed and busted and survived all that crap. D.O.A.’s blatant slogan,TALK-ACTION=0 sums it all up.

The stuff the band’s worked on through the years; they’ve played benefits for Rape Relief, anti-racism, rock-for brains, anti-globalization, OXFAM, first nations rights, anti censorship and environmental causes amongst many others.

D.O.A.’s sound and philosophy has been held together by Canada’s Godfather of punk Joey "Shithead" Keithley’s songwriting, singing and guitar playing. D.O.A.’s sound, although always rooted in punk rock, has managed to create a fair bit of consternation for those who would like to choose musical boxes. It’s punk,but it incorporates rock n’ roll, reggae, metal,and ska. Whatever the hell their sound is, it’s pulled out a "Yeah,that’s the shit!" from the likes of Henry Rollins,The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sonic Youth, Jello Biafra, Bif Naked, John Doe, Randy Bachman, Dave Grohl, Pete Seeger, Yada,Yada,Yada, you get the picture.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary, Sudden Death has released the definitive D.O.A. album, "War and Peace," a 25-track compilation of D.O.A.’s greatest recorded moments. War and Peace starts at the roots of "Disco Sucks", "The Enemy" and "Liar For Hire" right through to their modern blitzkrieg sound of "Dead Men Tell No Tales" and "Just Say No To The WTO."

D.O.A. will blast through live shows with their new rock solid lineup of Joey, Floor Tom Jones on drums and bassist Randy Rampage. Watch for extensive touring in Canada and around the world in 2007 and beyond.

In 2003, Shithead’s first book "I Shithead,a life in punk" came out on Arsenal Pulp Press. It is a definitive and raunchy look at punk and the spread of counter culture throughout western society. Sudden Death has also released "Let’s Start The Action," an electronic tribute to D.O.A. performed by 20 different artists from around the world and inspired by the anti-globalization movement. As well, Sudden Death has recently re-released D.O.A.’s 1st two albums"Something Better Change" and "Hardcore 81", recently picked as two of the top 5 Canadian punk rock albums of all time. A full length documentary on D.O.A. "Talk-Action=0" is being developed by filmmaker Marcus Rogers [The Widower].

D.O.A. has traveled a long, tough road that has taken them around the world and the raw energy continues. The band has never been more active, having recently released their second DVD, D.O.A.’s "Greatest Shits" and a split album with metal legend Thor entitled "Are U Ready". Recently Mayor Larry Campbell of Vancouver declared December 21st to be "D.O.A. Day" in Vancouver.The band has also been featured in punk and political books published around the world.

Come join in the power and non-compromise that is D.O.A.]]> 1378443600 Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.shankhall.com/details.php?1658
Tav Falco - The master of a raw and shambolic fusion of rockabilly, blues, and fractured noise, Tav Falco was, along with the Cramps, one of the earliest purveyors of what would come to be known as psychobilly, and he anticipated the fractured but hard-hitting blues wailing of the Gories and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion by close to a decade.

Falco put together the first version of his band the Panther Burns (named for a famous Tennessee plantation), a group whose revolving membership included Alex Chilton and James Luther Dickinson in its early incarnations. Falco then relocated to New York City, where he brought his frenetic roots music to the Big Apple's then-thriving no wave scene, which led to Falco's major-label release, Blow Your Top, a 1982 EP issued by Chris Stein's (Blondie) Animal label. Throughout the 1980s and '90s, Falco began dividing his time between Europe and the United States, and released a slow but steady stream of recordings with shifting Panther Burns lineups while holding down another career as an actor. He was featured in small roles in Great Balls of Fire, Wayne County, Downtown 81, and Highway 61. Hi lates CD Live In London At The 100 Club, was released in 2012 and he also supported the CD with a widely acclaimed US tour.]]> 1379048400 Sat, 04 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500