Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, there was a blogger named Reese.  She was at Newport Folk Festival one super-gross and hot Sunday, and on her way from the Quad stage to the Fort stage to grab something from her backpack (which was on her blanket), she passed the Harbor stage.  And on the Harbor stage was a band.  And that band sounded super cool, so this blogger consulted her schedule to see who this fantastically awesome band was…and they were called the Head and the Heart.  Unfortunately, all Blogger Reese could do was dance awkwardly as she walked by, because she was in the process of saving seats at the Quad stage for M. Ward and needed to get back there ASAP.  However, she noted that this band was rad, and decided to google them on iPhone Dan’s iPhone. And she found out they were playing a show in September in Boston!

The End. Kind of.

So two Fridays ago (9/30) I finally saw the Head and the Heart at Royale.  They are seriously fantastic, high-energy, and fun, and Royale seemed almost too serious a venue.  They are perfect for a Harbor Stage or a Paradise or even a Middle East, but Royale, as a club, kind of takes itself too seriously (with its faux-Baroque decor and giant gilded lions…no joke. I was sitting next to one).

Anyways, THATH is comprised of six highly collaborative, multi-talented individuals, who you can read more about here.  It’s indicative, I think, of their band vibe that vocal-/guitar-/percussionist Jonathan Russell wore no shoes, just gray and blue striped socks.  Charity Rose Thielen was superb on violin, and adorably fidgety (but still fantastic) when she was just singing, sans strings. The whole band totally fed off the audience, and during “Down In the Valley” the whole crowd spontaneously broke into the chorus and refrain. One of the best aspects of the show was that since they only have one album out (self-titled), everyone pretty much knew all of their songs.  Overall, fantastic show, and they may be one of my new favorite bands.

Some choice selections (all in a row off their album):

“Couer D’Alene” 

“Ghosts” 

“Down in the Valley” 

“Rivers and Roads” 

(Also, “Rivers and Roads” is reportedly about City Year, obviously very near and dear to my heart…so, yeah, there’s that.)

That’s all for this week! See you next Tuesday!

Reese

Summer Recap

Hey there!

I hope you’re settling into your fall routines nicely! I know I definitely love the fact that I have an organized schedule come every September;  however, I’m sure that you, like me, miss the indefiniteness of the summer a whole lot once the school year starts.  Since finals last May, I pretty much crammed my days full of as many live shows as possible…so today, to pay homage to the lovely (and sadly gone) days of summer, I’m just going to post some samplings of who I heard and saw over the past four months.

NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL

This just needs to be here.  It’s not like I sat in the audience with my jaw hanging open not breathing or anything. No, but really. These kids are not even in high school. What. (PS22 Chorus performs Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”)

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Middle Brother (composed of the frontmen of Deer Tick, Dawes, and Delta Spirit) performed quite the set at NFF…basically, their entire repertoire. iPhone Dan thinks I should post different songs, but I like this one.  Really, they were all great, and they have an awesome range of mellow to upbeat, so if you’re interested, check out their page. (Middle Brother, “Million Dollar Bill”)

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VIKESH KAPOOR FEAT. MR. SISTER (LILYPAD LOUNGE)

Vikesh Kapoor, a BU grad (COM ’09), is pretty popular in the Boston area.  He’s been written up in BU Today and the Phoenix, and in 2010 he was nominated as one of Boston’s Best Folk Artists.  ”Willy Robbins” is one of those great story-telling songs, where you’re listening as much to the music as you are to the lyrics.

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You’ve heard me gush about Mr. Sister (Amelia Emmet) before, and I was lucky enough to see her again in August.  This is my favorite song of hers, from her album O, Sinister Force: “Hard Love”. So. Good.

That’s all for now, I think.  Next week: …we’ll see.  I had a plan, and then I realized my next show isn’t until next Thursday.  It’ll be a surprise.  Happy Tuesday!

Reese

A Festivus for the Rest-of-us!

As you may have gathered from previous posts, I am heavily into folk music. What can I say? I like my banjo and accordion. Anyways, the fact that the footage from the Low Anthem is still being processed happily coincides with the release of the lineup for this year’s Newport Folk Festival! Included:

The Decemberists (about whom you have heard entirely too much–sincerest apologies?)

Gillian Welch (who is featured on the Decemberists’ The King Is Dead album and also in “Lua” on Conor Oberst’s Dark Was The Night, which is below for your listening pleasure)

Tegan and Sara (acoustic) (below is “Alligator”, which is not so much folk-y but come ON check out that awesome music video.)

The PS22 Chorus (They played at the Oscars.  Love. Them.)

Emmylou Harris (Legend.)

Amos Lee (below is “Windows Are Rolled Down”–super soulful.)

M. Ward (“Rave On” featuring Zooey Deschanel (!))

Elvis Costello (Acoustic.  WHAAAAT.)

Brown Bird (who performed at the Low Anthem show at the Pasta Sauce Factory. Definitely more of them eventually.)

To name a few. Basically, it’s going to be amazing. That’s all for this Wednesday! If iPhone Dan gets his act together, I may just have a Low Anthem post soon!

Happy Wednesday Night,

Reese