2010 Music In Review: My Top CD’s & Concerts of the year

revised. again.

maybe the best song of the year? could be…

-top ten (approx order) cd’s/albums/records-

black dub – black dub
shelby lynne – tears, lies and alibis
isobel campbell and mark lanegan – hawk
mavis staples – you are not alone
david rawlings machine – a friend of a friend
john mellencamp – no better than this
johnny cash – american VI: ain’t no grave
ben sollee and daniel martin moore – dear companion
tift merritt – see you on the moon
cheyenne marie mize – before lately
carrie rodriguez – love and consequence

-next ten (alpha order)-
black keys – brothers
joan shelley – by dawnlight
john prine – in person and on stage
josh ritter – so runs the world away
kim taylor – little miracle
lissie – catching a tiger
patty griffin – downtown church
ray lamontage and the pariah – god willin’ and the creek don’t rise
richard thompson – dream attic
audra mae – the happiest lamb

-worth noting (alpha order)-
anaïs mitchell – hadestown
bettye lavette – interpretations
ellery – this isn’t over yet
john prine tribute – broken hearts and dirty windows
lucy wainwright roache – lucy
mary gauthier – the foundling
robert plant – band of joy
ryan adams and the cardinals – III/IV
the sadies – darker circles
sarah jaffee – surburban nature
the secret sisters
she and him – volume two
sahara smith – myth of the heart
tom jones – praise & blame

-disappointments-
kt tunstall – tiger suit
grace potter and the nocturnals
cowboy junkies – renmin park

-keeping in mind that the following are “2011” official releases-
over the rhine – the long surrender
cowboy junkies – demons

-mia-
where the hell is cat power/chan marshall? she’s been too quiet, too long.

-best “new discovery” of the year-
lisa hannigan

———-

CONCERTS:

Musically speaking, topping my calendar from the first of November until the week before Christmas would be hard beat.

Starting in early November, a flight to LA to join Karin and Linford and a slew of “Like minded souls” on an adventure. Some you knew, some you felt like you did. That trip closed out after 5 incomparable days riding the rails throught the great american southwest. As this whole surreal experience ended with me sitting i na bar listening to Louden Wainwright III and daughter Lucy run through the beautiful and haunting, “You Can’t Fail Me Know”, really “unplugged,” just their voices and guitars in a quiet corner of an empty bar. No words to describe, again…, maybe surreal.backstage at the legendary “Troubadour”, hanging out and casually chatting with “Lu” (that would be Lucinda Williams).

She ended our conversation with a big hug, kiss on the cheek and the comment;
Lucinda: “I feel like I know you…”
Me: “Lucinda, I can assure you that we have never met, because, trust me…if we had, I would remember it.”
Lucinda: (with that wonderful drawl) “Aww honey, you don’t have to have met someone to know ’em.” And she gave me a hug.

OK, definately surreal.

50 total shows, kind of a soft year, especially if it hadn’t been for the in-store concerts @ ear x-tacy.

Top Ten (Non-OtR)
-Levon Helm: Ramble @ The Ryman/Nashville (04.21.2010)
-Esme Kenney Benefit (OtR, Kim Taylor, the Hiders, Jay Bolotin)@ Northside
Tavern/Cincinnati (01.30.2010)
-Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore @ The Brown Theatre/Louisville (02.26.2010)
-Arnett Hollow (w/The Floorwalkers) @ Glassworks Rooftop/Louisville (10.02.2010)
-Cheyenne Marie Mize and Joan Shelley @ Glassworks/Louisville (06.04.2010)
-Alejandro Escovedo @ Headliner’s/Louisville (01.23.2010)
-Josh Ritter (w/Tift Merritt) @ 20th Century/Cincinnati (08.04.2010)
-Grace Potter @ Headliners (10.14.2010)
-Maiden Radio (w/The Obscure Handsome Brothers @ Christ Evangelical United Church (09.26.2010)
-Will Hoge @ Kentucky Derby Festival (04.28.2010)

The Rest (chronological order)
-Ben Sollee/Daniel Martin Moore @ ear x-tacy/Louisville (02.16.2010)
-A Lion Named Roar @ ear x-tacy (02.27.2010)
-Company of Thieves @ ear x-tacy (03.13.2010)
-Will Hoge @ ear x-tacy (03.19.2010)
-Thomas A. Minor and the Picket Line @ ear x-tacy (04.17.2010)
-Arnett Hollow @ Vernon Club (04.30.2010)
-Josh Ritter @ ear x-tacy/Louisville (05.17.2010)
-Josh Ritter @ The Brown Theatre/Louisville (05.17.2010)
-Mary Gauthier @ ear x-tacy/Louisville (05.18.2010)
-Cheyenne Mize @ ear x-tacy/Louisville (06.04.2010)
-Grace Potter @ 20th Century/Cincinnati (06.17.2010)
-Bettye Lavette @ The Waterfront/Louisville, KY (07.04.2010)
-Michael Franti @ The Waterfront/Louisville, KY (07.04.2010)
-Tift Merritt @ Waterfront Wednesday/Louisville (07.28.2010)
-Wax Fang @ ear x-tacy/Louisville (08.02.2010)
-Cheyenne Mize @ Skull Alley/Louisville (08.14.2010)
-The Spinning Leaves @ ear x-tacy/Louisville (08.14.2010)
-The Fervor @ ear x-tacy/Louisville (08.19.2010)
-Dark Dark Dark @ ear x-tacy/Louisville (10.05.2010)
-Cheyenne Marie Mize @ ear x-tacy (10.12.2010)
-Joan Shelley @ ear x-tacy (10.16.2010)

OtR Top Ten
-Over the Rhine (w/Lucy Wainwright Roache) @ The Troubadour/Los Angeles (11.12.2010) *w/Guests: Loudon Wainwright III, Joe Henry & Lucinda Williams
-Over the Rhine:”The Long Surrender” @ The Aronoff Center (12.17.2010)
-Over the Rhine: “Good Dog Bad Dog” @ The Monastery/Cincinnati (06.26.2010)
-Over the Rhine @ Eddie’s Attic/Atlanta (03.08.2009)
-Over the Rhine (w/Kim Taylor) @ The Ark/Ann Arbor (12.05.2010)
-Over the Rhine @ Moonlite Gardens/Cincinnati (09.11.2010)
-Over the Rhine (w/Joe Henry) @ The Taft Theatre (12.18.2010)
-Over the Rhine (w/Kim Taylor) @ Kent Stage/Kent, OH (12.04.2010)
-Over the Rhine (w/Sarah Siskind) @ The Bomhard/Louisville (12.10.2010)
-Over the Rhine (w/Swan dive & Lucy Wainwright Roache) @ Santa Fe Brewing Co/Santa Fe (11.06.2010)

OtR: The Rest (chronological order)

-Over the Rhine @ Canal street Tavern/Dayton, OH 04.10.2010)
-Over the Rhine (w/Ellery) @ Buster’s/Lexington, KY (04.24.2010)
-Over the Rhine (w/Swan dive & Lucy Wainwright Roache) @ The La Posada/Winslow (11.07.2010)
-Over the Rhine (w/Swan dive & Lucy Wainwright Roache) @ The La Posada/Winslow (11.08.2010)
-Over the Rhine (w/Lucy Wainwright Roache) @ The Troubadour/Los Angeles (11.12.2010)
-Over the Rhine @ The Palace Theatre/Marion, OH (12.02.2011)
-Over the Rhine @ The Lincoln Theatre/Columbus, OH (12.07.2010)
-Over the Rhine @ The Old Town School of Folk Music/Chicago (12.11.2010/7PM)
-Over the Rhine @ The Old Town School of Folk Music/Chicago (12.11.2010/10PM)
-Over the Rhine: Sunday Soiree @ St. Elizabeth’s (12.19.2010)

Over the Rhine: Sunday Soiree @ St. Elizabeth’s (12.19.2010)

December 18th, 2005 marked the start of a great new tradition (even though I’ve been told that there is no such thing as a “new tradition,” I’m sticking with it for descriptive purposes), the “Sunday Soiree” @ St. Elizabeth’s in Norwood.

For those unfamiliar, St. E’s is a beautifully worn, old church, abandoned and sold years ago by the Catholic church. It is nestled in the middle of the Norwood neighborhood, just a couple of blocks from “the Grey Ghost” home that Karin & Linford lived in prior to movng to the farm. the area is full of longtime friends of K&L and has a very cool, hippie-ish, communal, artistic vibe to it.

These shows are very casual and have grown from a small group of serious fans in 2005 to capacity (sold out w/standing room only) crowds the last two years. There is wine, appetizers, coffees & latte and some of the finest freshly grilled belgian waffles that you will ever taste.

These shows are like no other, as i said, casual but beautifully presented, lit only by the ambiant light from the huge, beautiful and original stained glass windows and candles and 36 dozen roses scattered around for a little added ambiance.

There is more interaction between the audience with than usual with Linford often pausing to ask “anybody got any questions?”

The line-up for the show was scaled back to K&L + Nick & Jason, which fit the set and church well.

Afterwards, K&L are always around and available to chat, pose for pictures and sign pretty much anything that people put in front of them.

It is the perfect way to wind down this weekend, the show starts at 3:00 and wraps up about 5:00ish. But, one of the (coolest) things that I always notice about these shows is that so many just don’t want to go, people just hang, chat, and hug. It’s kind of funny but there were some that I know that I said “good-bye” to probably 3 or 4 times, yet they never seemed to leave. It’s like, “if I don’t leave, it won’t end! I don’t have to go back to the real world.”

And in reality, it doesn’t end, it’s always there, in our heads and in our hearts, once you been a part of it, it’s engrained in you, a part of you, you just have to take a 363 day break before we continue on…

coming soon…

Over the Rhine @ The Taft Theatre/Cincinnati, OH (12.18.2010)

As I noted in an earlier post, 12 years, 13 wonderful shows (2 in 2008)… “I need thousands more, at least.”

These shows for so many reasons are so special. It’s hard to express the whole feeling, the sentiment, the vibe unless you have experienced it in person. This time of the year, the word “magical” is seriously overused. This show (and now weekend) is, indeed, a magical experience. Saturday night, as usual was no exception.

The bar was set unbelievably high on Friday night. Saturday night, opening set, the incredible Joe Henry…did i mention high expectations?

Well, let’s start with the incomparable band: Karin, Linford, Nick Radina from Cincinnati (on cuatro, guitar and percussion), Jason Goforth of Nashville (pedal induced harmonica, pedal steel, lap steel), Brooklyn native Andy Borger (drums & percussion, has played with Tom Waits, Norah Jones, Ani Difranco), David Piltch from LA (upright bass and session man extraordinaire). They were also joined on two songs by Joe Henry and several more by Joe’s son, the amazing 19 year old tenor sax man, Levon Henry.

Next the setlist, someone described it as “ballsy,” featuring all 13 songs from the yet (widely) unreleased (and unfamiliar to many) “The Long Surrender,” I would concur. To take your most important show of the year and preview largely unfamilar songs to a huge audience, rather than go the traditional, safe “greatest hits” route that most artists would take is yes, “ballsy.” But, man…did it ever work, big risk, HUGE reward. So set the bar by a preview show and a brilliant opening act, not a problem. Just jump right over it with room to spare.

“Taft,” as it’s known to regulars is, and always will be more than just a “show.” It is a meaningful and soulful experience. It truly brings people together from all over the world (literally, people travel from all over the world, to Cincinnati, specifically for this single night of music) and all over the country. There are dinners, sightseeing, drinks afterwards, late night conversations and more laughter and hugs than you can imagine.

Yes…12 years in a row, I pray it’s only a beginning. I honestly can not imagine my life, much less a Christmas season without it and the music and people that make it what it has become. And yes, still “I need thousands more, at least.”

And Karin & Linford, Thank you! And you know why.

Setlist:
The Laugh of Recognition
Rave On
Soon
Sharpest Blade (w/Joe)
Trouble
Bluebird (w/Levon)
All I Ever get For Christmas
Northpole Man
Undamned
Oh Yeah By The Way
I’m On A Roll
The King Knows How
Only God Can Save Us Now
Snow Angels
Days Like This
All My Favorite People
Unspoken
-E-
You Can’t Fail Me Now (everybody)
Infamous Love Song
No Kill Shelter

Joe Henry @ The Taft Theatre/Cincinnati, OH (12.18.2010)

OK, in any resonable universe, Joe Henry is no opener, no supporting act. The man, in his own right is an immense talent and prolific artist, singer/songwriter, producer and headliner that has worked with many of the greatest artists in the business.

During the recording of Over the Rhine’s “The Long Surrender” at his home studio “the Garfield House” in South Pasedena this year, Karin & Linford developed a wonderful partnership, relationship and friendship with Joe (and his family) that led to the opportunity for this incredible show on Saturday night.

For those unfamiliar with Joe or his music, don’t be any longer. Go buy “Blood From Stars,” and “Civilians” immediately (and while you are there, pick up Allen Toussaint’s “The Bright Mississippi” that he produced also). A friend described him, after hearing him for the first time Saturday night…take Randy Newman and Tom Waits, put them in a shaker and shake well, pour them out and you have Joe! That’s actually pretty damn close. I might add, include a dash of Louden Wainwright III as a garnish, for seasoning.

He is a very intense and animated performer and his writing is very intelligent and literate, yet laced with off kilter humor and real life observations…in short, brilliant in every way.

His set was mostly culled from his most recent two releases, “Blood From Stars” & “Civilians.”

bellweather
Channel
Progress of love
Sold
All blues hail mary
truce
the man i keep hid (w/k&l)
Flag
Our song
Civilians

Over the Rhine: “The Long Surrender” @ The Aronoff Center/Cincinnati, OH (12.17.2010)

The Taft Extravaganza: Night One

12 years ago on December 9th, 1999, Over the Rhine moved their annual Christmas “Homecoming” show from the Emery Theatre to the Taft Theatre, I was there that night, and have been at every one since. And in all honesty, I can not imagine missing one of these shows. Ever.

With this years recording of “The Long Surrender,” Karin & Linford took the opportunity to expand the usual two day weekend of shows into three with a live debut of the record for those contributors that helped fund the project.

Tonight’s show was @ the beautiful and intimate “Jarson-Kaplan Theatre” in the Aronoff Center for the Arts in downtown Cincinnati, it was a perfect venue for the band and the music. The band consisted of Karin, Linford, Nick Radina (cuatro, percussion, guitar), Andy Borger (drum kit, percussion), and they were joined by David Piltch on upright bass, Levon Henry on tenor sax and Joe Henry on vocals and guitar.

I was in for soundcheck and could tell a nice groove and vibe had formed among them and they were definitely ready “rock on, rave on.”

They hit the ground running with a nice little comment from Linford when he hit the stage “We made a record…” and never looked back the rest of the show.

Karin was dead on vocally and the band was in such a tight, yet improvisational groove, that it was incredible.

Night one set the bar high for the weekend, writing this after the fact, I’ll clue you in…they kept it high, with nary a let down.

The setlist kind of goes without saying, it was “the Long Surrender” with “Drunkard’s Prayer and Joe’s “The Man i Kept Hid” as encores.

Over the Rhine @ The Old Town School of Folk Music/Chicago (12.11.2010)

“Comparison Is The Thief Of Joy,” it’s on Karin’s arm, on a t-shirt and in the liner notes of “The Long Surrender” (and is a quote borrowed from Teddy Roosevelt), I bring it up because continuing to compare shows on this run is virtually impossible. Each one has had a beauty, charm and shining light of it’s own.

From the moment the band hit the stage in Marion until the last note was played early on Sunday morning in Chicago the joy was palpable. Any effort to compare them. would in fact steal the joy from that night’s brilliance.

This was an amazing run of shows in every sense and in every way and I feel so fortunate to have been there for each and every one. God, I didn’t want it to end…

This upcoming weekend of shows in Cincinnati, to close out the touring year for Over the Rhine, are next. And I can’t wait!

Over the Rhine @ The Bomhard Theatre/Louisville, KY (12.10.2010)

The Bomhard Theatre/Louisville 12.10.2010

On Thursday, we drove into Cincinnati from Columbus, stopped by St. E’s to reload on a few things and pick up my car so I could have it in Louisville (and so I could sleep in my own bed and play with Lilly). Afterwards, we met up with Michael Wilson @ The Anchor Inn in Covington (KY) for a late lunch. Michael had invited us all (band & crew) to a private, guided tour of his current exhibit “People We Knew/Didn’t Know” in Covington.

This is a show spanning almost 30 years of his portraiture, mostly in chronological order, and it was great to see how his style has developed over the years. His style and gift was evident from the very beginning, and the show closes withnseveral images from his recent trip to India, which my be some of his best work yet. which is saying a lot.

Afterwards, I hit the interstate south, the band headed to the “Part Source” in Bellevue, with much anticipation by Andy & Tim. Talk about “kids in a candy shop”…from what I understand, they left with “significantly more bottles than people.”

I met up with everybody later Friday afternoon, The Bomhard Theatre, in The Kentucky Center for the Arts, is one of the more beautiful, acoustically perfect theatres that I have ever been in, it is perfect in most every way.

Sarah Siskind, who’s music I love, opened the night, and this was my first time seeing her, open and she was wonderful.

OtR hit the stage and the energy was high (days off are good things), they hit it hard from the first note and stayed there the rest of the night. They were obvious in their enjoyment of the room and the enthusiastic sold out crowd. Sound engineer, Michael Larsey was also enjoying this acoustically perfect room and top notch audio system, delivering a pristine, warm and loud (but not overwhelmingly so) mix.

Karin & Linford both seemed to be in the extended story-telling mode, which I, and the audience seemed to enjoy. The set stayed close to the previous nights, with the exception of Linford calling an audible during the encore to answer a heartfelt request for “Long Lost Brother.”

On to Chicago for two sold out shows…as the Cubs great, Ernie Banks used to say…”let’s play two!”

pre-show cheer

Over the Rhine @ The Lincoln Theatre/Columbus, OH (12.07.2010)

Monday was an off, or a travel day and we moved from Ann Arbor to Columbus arrivingthere in the early afternoon. In was a nice casual drive and knowing that we could sleep-in a little on Tuesday morning, a couple of local establishments for dinner, beverages and bonding were visited during the evening (and morning).

We hit the theatre a little after 1:00PM to load in and set up. The Lincoln Theatre is a beautiful place, built in 1928 and was the center of an affluent African-American business and entertainment district, known today as the King-Lincoln District. After the construction of I-70 dissected and decimated the neighborhood, the area suffered greatly and the theatre fell into disrepair, eventually closing in the ’60’s, then sitting vacant for over a couple of decades. Having recently completed a $13.5 million renovation funded by a partnership of public and private support, the Lincoln has reopened as a multi-use, state-of-the-art performing arts and education center serving the diversity of the Columbus and central Ohio community and ten resident Columbus arts organizations.

Over the Rhine’s visit is a part of the effort to revitalize the theatre as a venue for live music, based on the sold-out, enthusiastic crowd, they served the cause very well.

Tonight was “An Evening With…” show (no supporting act) and they continued to build on the energy from the previous shows. Columbus has always been a great supportive city for the band, they generally visited at least once a year but this was the first show in Columbus in 3 years, only the second in the past 5 years, so there was a lot of pent up demand, anticipation and enthusiasm for last nights show. He crowd was “there” and the band responded in kind, delivering another great night of music.

With this theatre now available and in play and the support shown by the audience, I seriously doubt if it will be another 3 years before the city sees another show.

Setlist:
Laugh of Recognition
I Don’t Wanna Waste Your Time
Trouble
Bluebird
All I Ever Get For Christmas
Northpole Man
Undamned
Rave On
Oh Yeah By the Way
We’re Gonna Pull Through
I’m On a Roll
The King Knows How
Only God Can Save Us Now
Snow Angels
Unspoken
Drunkard’s Prayer
Days Like This (w/Kim)
All My Favorite People
-E-
Ohio
Infamous Love Song
No Kill Shelter

Over the Rhine @ The Ark/Ann Arbor, MI (12.05.2010)

OK, The Kent Stage & The Ark are such a killer back-to-back set of venues for a tour, both legendary Midwest venues.

The Ark, after only my second visit, has quickly become one of my favorite places to see a show, a great intimate room with really nice, warm acoustics. It is staffed by some of the nicest, most helpful people that I have ran across in my short time of doing this, what makes this so special is that outside of one or two paid staffers, everyone working the club is a volunteer. The Ark is a not for profit and the people are there simply because of their love of quality music and their desire to see it succeed in their community. Kudos to them for their hard work and effort.

Kim opened once again tonight, delivering another wonderful set. While I have always loved Kim and her performances, these past two nights she seems so much more comfortable and confident and that came across strongly in her music.

OtR came out and hit the ground running, the energy was evident from the second that they hit the stage (and still evident hours after the show ended). The Ark is a very intimate club, no seat is more than about 20-30 feet from the stage, due to the stage positioning and Linford’s grand piano (this has been a great addition to all of the shows, Linford has had a grand piano @ every show instead of his usual keyboard rig), he joked about beaing “seated in the third row,” which basically, he was.

In short, the show was perfect in every way, the set, the setlist, the venue, the crowd. I honestly, do not know of any way it could be improved on. The band really jelled, they were tight, yet with a good bit of improvisation that seemed to take it all up a notch. There were numerous little eye glances from Linford during the songs to all of the players seemingly encouraging them to “go for it,” which they did, bringing huge smiles from all involved in return.

Conventional wisdom would tell you that as thye continue to play together, it should only continue get better, but based on this show, I really wonder if it is possible. Yet, I’m betting somehow, they will.

The venue for tonight in Columbus, seems to be the best so far of the tour, it is beautiful and sound check is starting as I’m finishing writing this, the acoustics are fantastic.

This run of shows leading up to the Taft make for some stellar, back-to-back nights. Kent -> The Ark -> The Lincoln -> The Bomhard -> Old Town School is possibly the best consecutive run of venues that I can remember.

The Lincoln Theatre tonight and home to Louisville tomorrow for a couple of days.

Setlist/The Ark:
Laugh of Recognition
I Don’t Wanna Waste Your Time
Trouble
Bluebird
All I Ever Get For Christmas
Northpole Man
Undamned
Rave On
Oh Yeah By the Way
We’re Gonna Pull Through
I’m On a Roll
The King Knows How
Only God Can Save Us Now
Snow Angels
Days Like This (w/Kim)
All My Favorite People
-E-
Ohio
Infamous Love Song
No Kill Shelter

Kim Taylor (supporting OtR) @ The Kent Stage/Kent, OH (12.04.2010)

I just wanted to do a little follow-up, another of my favorite artists, Kim Taylor, opened for OtR @ The Kent Stage (and The Ark on Sunday night).

It had been too long since I’ve seen Kim play and she delivered a wonderfully stong 6-7 song set, possibly sounding the best I have ever heard her. She blew the crowd away (we sold out of her limited supply of CDs before her set even ended) and at the end of the night the owner of the venue was talking about wanting to get her up there to headline her own show, saying simply…”it’s time.”

One of the highlights of the night was her performance of “The Chipmunks” Christmas song, “Christmas time is here” where she was joined by the audience in singing most of the song, along with her joining OtR on “Days Like This” (which she wrote) from “The Long Surrender.”