Glimmer Twins

The Rolling Stones have long been hailed as The Greatest Rock-n-Roll Band in the World. But before they became the corporate machine that they are sometimes referred to as today, they earned this title by wowing audiences worldwide with some of the most electrifying performances in the history of rock-n-roll. Beginning with the recording of the classic album ‘Beggar’s Banquet’ in the late 60’s, the Rolling Stones would enter into what is widely considered to be their most creative period that would continue right up through the release of the album ‘Exile On Main St.’ You will be amazed at the way The Glimmer Twins are able to recreate the look and feel of The Rolling Stones during this period and beyond.

The Rolling Stones single handedly changed the way rock concerts were presented to large audiences when they kicked off their ’69 U.S. Tour which is thoroughly documented in the movie ‘Gimme Shelter’. By combining the raw energy of the band with the more sophisticated amplification systems for the times, The Stones were able to connect with their mass audiences in sold-out arenas on a whole new level. The Glimmer Twins will give you a close-up view and feeling of what it was like to be in the audience at one of these historical performances.

By 1972 their live performances were creating such frenzy, that many venues needed to utilize a lottery system in order to fairly distribute tickets because of the overwhelming demand. In subsequent years, the audiences kept increasing in size to the point where The Stones were selling out stadiums across the world. Everyone wanted to experience the sensation of seeing The Rolling Stones perform. What makes The Glimmer Twins such a special attraction is their ability to capture the raw energy of the most electrifying performances throughout The Rolling Stones career, and present it in such a way that audiences are able to experience the same sensation of what it was like to be at a Stones concert in their heyday. Because of the uncanny resemblances to Mick Jagger & Keith Richards in their prime coupled with the special attention given to the minutest details both musically and visually, The Glimmer Twins are a cut above all other tribute bands on the circuit today.

http://www.theglimmertwins.net

The Contribution

Tim Carbone, Phil Ferlino, Jeff Miller, Keith Moseley, Sheryl Renee and Matt Butler.

It was at Hornings Hideout in 2005 that Jeff Miller, Phil Ferlino and I came upon the “brilliant” idea of making a record together some time in our future. It was a magical night and as the stars came out in our minds we took the first steps on the path that led to the creation of “Which Way World”. We were many days lost in creativity beneath the mighty redwoods and emerged into the California sunshine with ten songs sown together with the threads spun from our common love of the music and spirit of our friendship. In a twist of poetic irony we were able to secure the incredible talents of our good friends Keith Moseley and Jason Hann to be our rhythm section, the String Cheese Incident being the reason we were all at Hornings in the first place those four years ago! And here we are and soon you’ll know what we’ve found. – Tim

AztecTwo-Step & Pete Fornatale

AZTEC TWO-STEP: Their Original Music plus The Simon & Garfunkel Songbook
with Special Guest Legendary FM DJ/ Music Historian Pete Fornatale

Venerable folk-rock duo Aztec Two-Step will perform a very special evening of music: their exceptional renditions of The Simon & Garfunkel Songbook with special guest host Pete Fornatale interspersing commentary and personal anecdotes from interviews with Paul & Artie, plus many selections from their own 40-year canon of Aztec Two-Step originals.

About The Simon & Garfunkel Songbook:
When Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman, the critically acclaimed duo Aztec Two-Step, burst on the scene in 1972 with their Elektra Records debut, they were reviewed as having the “intellectual lyricism” and “ethereal harmonies” of their legendary predecessors, Simon & Garfunkel.

Renowned for bringing the folk/rock music of the 1960s into the ’70s and beyond, Aztec Two Step continues to be one of acoustic music’s most respected and enduring acts. While the duo possess a rich musical legacy of their own, it only makes sense that they would choose to interpret and perform the timeless songs and harmonies of Simon & Garfunkel.

Performing the Songbook on their own since 2005, Aztec Two-Step joined forces with legendary broadcaster Pete Fornatale in an expanded version of the show after the 2007 publication of Pete’s book “Simon and Garfunkel’s Bookends.”

In 2008, the duo released Time It Was- The Simon & Garfunkel Songbook (Red Engine Records) a live album of the Songbook show featuring Mr. Fornatale, who provides commentary and insights based on his interviews with Simon & Garfunkel.

About Aztec Two-Step:
Aztec Two-Step’s name comes from a Lawrence Ferlinghetti poem, and since 1971 Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman have been writing and performing songs that helped make their generation’s musical memories. The recording from their self-titled debut album (Elektra Records), The Persecution and Restoration of Dean Moriarty was the first song written about Jack Kerouac’s iconic American novel, “On The Road.”

In 1987 Living in America received the New York Music Award for Best Folk Album and was named in Billboard’s year-end critic’s poll. Praised in major media outlets such as Rolling Stone, and having appeared on numerous TV and radio shows such as David Letterman, King Biscuit Flour Hour, and World Café Live, in 1999 Aztec Two-Step was the subject of a documentary that aired on PBS.

Of their 2005 release, Days of Horses, the Boston Globe said “fans of the duo’s harmony-driven tunes and easygoing acoustic guitar riffs will recognize their James Taylor-meets-Simon & Garfunkel sound. What’s new is the mood. This album sits back on its haunches as Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman look back wistfully at American pop culture and their own ride through it.”

2007 saw several hallmark events for the duo. In June, Aztec Two-Step performed “The Persecution and Restoration of Dean Moriarty (On The Road)” at a very special Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Festival as the author’s hometown marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of On The Road. Also In June 2007, Real Simple, a popular national lifestyle magazine, named Aztec Two-Step one of the top five classic folk albums joining work by Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Tom Rush and Phil Ochs. Rhino Records released Forever Changing-The Golden Age of Elektra Records 1963-1973, a five-CD box set that tells the story of this landmark record label and the music that defined an era. The collection includes Aztec Two-Step’s “The Persecution and Restoration of Dean Moriarty (On The Road).”

In early 2012, the duo anticipates the official release of Cause & Effect, a new studio CD to commemorate their 40th Anniversary. It is a collection of 16 songs of social significance produced by Paul Guzzone and featuring long-time bassist Fred Holman. The album is a combination of re-worked previously recorded songs, as well as newly mined material.

After 40 years, Aztec Two-Step continues to impress audiences with intelligent songwriting, dazzling acoustic lead guitar, and inspiring harmonies, and remains one of acoustic music’s most popular and enduring acts.

About Pete Fornatale:
One of the architects of progressive FM radio in the 60’s, Pete Fornatale he has one of the most recognizable voices in rock radio. He has been a fixture on the New York dial for four decades, starting his career at WFUV in 1963 and then moving on to WNEW-FM in 1969 and K-Rock in 1989. Currently back at WFUV,  his celebrated long-running program, “Mixed Bag,” airs on Saturdays in New York, and nationally on XM satellite radio.

http://www.aztectwostep.com/

Alfred Hitchcock's VERTIGO

Join us for Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo

1 showing only!

Bill Frisell and The Beautiful Dreamers

Jazz guitar legend Bill Frisell and The Beautiful Dreamers in an exclusive area engagement at the HBT

Featuring Eyvind Kang (viola) & Rudy Royston(drums).

“It’s hard to find a more fruitful meditation on American music than in the compositions of guitarist Bill Frisell. Mixing rock and country with jazz and blues, he’s found what connects them: improvisation and a sense of play. Unlike other pastichists, who tend to duck passion, Mr. Frisell plays up the pleasure in the music and also takes on another often-avoided subject, tenderness.” – _The New York Times_

“Frisell is a revered figure among musicians – like Miles Davis and few others, his signature is built from pure sound and inflection; an anti-technique that is instantly identifiable.” – _The Philadelphia Inquirer_

Joan Osborne

Originally from Anchorage, Kentucky,  Joan Osborne moved to New York City in the late 1980s to study at NYU’s film school, where she formed her own record label, Womanly Hips.  She signed with Mercury Records, and released her first full length album, Soul Show: Live at Delta 88, in 1991.  Her second album was Relish (1995), which became a hit on the strength of the single “One of Us”.  Apart from this song, the rest of the album was steeped in country, blues and folk music.  “Right Hand Man” and “St. Teresa” became radio and fan favorites following the success of “One of Us”.   Joan was nominated for six Grammy Awards including Best New Artist.

Joan studied briefly with late Qawwali master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and performed alongside such notables as Stevie Wonder, Melissa Etheridge, Taj Mahal, Luciano Pavarotti, Spearhead, Bob Dylan and the Chieftains.  She was featured in the 2002 documentary film, “Standing in the Shadows of Motown”, and toured with Motown sidemen, The Funk Brothers.  Joan and her band accompanied the Dixie Chicks for a national tour in the summer of 2003, during which time she also joined veteran San Francisco jam-rockers The Dead as a vocalist, and released her fourth album, titled How Sweet It Is, a collection of classic rock and soul covers.

Joan covered Dolly Parton’s “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind” on the 2003 tribute album Just Because I’m a Woman: Songs of Dolly Parton.

During 2005 and 2006, Osborne performed on numerous occasions with Phil Lesh and Friends.   It was around this time in 2006 that Osborne released her first full-length album for Vanguard, a country-tinged effort called Pretty Little Stranger.  In February 2007, she appeared on the Grand Ole Opry.

In May 2007, she issued Breakfast in Bed, a return to the soul music that she had covered on How Sweet It Is.  Breakfast in Bed also featured the two songs (“Heatwave” and “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted”) that she had covered for the film “Standing in the Shadows of Motown”.

Osborne’s latest album, Little Wild One, was released in September 2008.

Recently her song “One of Us” was performed by the cast of Glee in the episode “Grilled Cheesus”.

http://joanosborne.com

Henry Wolfe

In era of dwindling attention spans, it is something of a shock to discover a musician who doesn’t want to shock, who doesn’t want to drive a dagger into the heart of modern music for fifteen megabytes of fame, who simply wants to write beautiful, timeless songs. Inspired by the past, and informed by the present, Wolfe’s music has a swing, a swagger and, most of all, a soul.

Back in the winter of 2007, Wolfe (born Henry Wolfe Gummer) packed his possessions into an old station wagon and drove from New York to Los Angeles. As a going-away present, a friend gave him two records—Paul McCartney’s Ram and Harry Nilsson’s Nilsson Sings Newman—that would become guiding lights in his new journey as a songwriter. In L.A., he settled into a hillside bungalow in Laurel Canyon, down the street from where John Lennon spent the lost weekend. There, surrounded by jasmine and eucalyptus and howling coyotes, Wolfe began writing songs like “Someone Else,” a gentle rocker about life changes, and the pleading, slow-trotting break-up song “Stop the Train,” an early demo of which was featured in the 2009 film Julie & Julia. At once playful and earnest, Wolfe’s music is an intoxicating brew: direct, unadorned language chased with sweet melodies that are sophisticated yet hummable. “If you’re listening on the go, I would suggest a sunset drive in the Santa Monica Mountains,” says Henry. “If you’re listening at home, I would pair this music with a tumbler of single-malt Scotch and an easy chair.”

A perennially laid-back person, it’s no wonder Wolfe was so inspired by the chilled-out L.A. music scene. He’d done most of his growing up on the East Coast, and though his grandfather spent his free time writing hundreds of songs, he is the only musician in his immediate family. Not that they’re lacking for talent. His mother, Meryl Streep, has a beautiful singing voice, and his father, Don Gummer, is a sculptor and a painter. Two of his three sisters, Mamie and Grace Gummer are also actors. A self-taught musician, Wolfe began writing songs compulsively after receiving a guitar for his 14th birthday. High school and college were filled with rock band gigs, and after settling in New York City, Wolfe started and fronted the New York-based indie rock group Bravo Silva. In 2005 the band self-released an eponymous LP, which they’d recorded in the basement of a windowless first floor apartment in Brooklyn. Despite favorable reviews popping up everywhere from taste-making music blogs to The New York Times, Bravo Silva disbanded within a year of the album’s release. “I found myself with the unique opportunity to expand my horizons as a songwriter,” Wolfe recalls. “I no longer had to write songs that fit into a mold. I was free to move, literally and artistically.”

Out West, Wolfe got to work developing his chops as a solo act, mostly by teaching himself jazz standards, which he still does, obsessively. He began playing regularly at a Japanese-run piano lounge downtown, inviting friends to join for boozy late-night jam sessions that ended when the proprietor commandeered the microphone to serenade the crowd. The musical sophistication and lyrical simplicity of those old songs began to affect Wolfe’s own songwriting. “I wanted to write songs that had more in common with the music my grandfather listened to when he was my age. There is something almost quotidian about the language of those songs. They have clear messages that are uncomplicated, easy to understand, and yet really profound. Many of the old standards were written for musicals. They were meant to be sung by other people. It’s about putting yourself in the mind of a character, telling a story.” he says. “At the same time, if the lyrics of the old songs are general on purpose, the melodies and chord progressions are often incredibly specific and elegant. I want to combine that tradition of songwriting with the immediate, visceral energy of rock & roll. Kind of like Sir Paul does.” In this regard, Wolfe’s artistic DNA is handed down from his parents in equal measure. Following in his mother’s footsteps, he writes in character, exploring the comedy and heartbreak of human relationships through song. Like his father he is a builder, sculpting graceful, lyrical structures to withstand the test of time.

Henry Wolfe and his NYC base quartet headline at the Historic Blairstown Theatre on Saturday, January 4, 2012. Regional favorites Indian Princess open the show at 8:30PM. All seats are $8.00 in advance / $12.00 at the door.

http://www.henrywolfe.com/

Friday the 13th - The Original Movie

Join us on Friday, January 13th for a screening of the classic “Friday the 13th” movie, filmed in and around Blairstown, NJ. Settle in with some popcorn, refreshments and all your friends and neighbors.

The Historic Blairstown Theatre (aka Roy’s Hall) is part of movie history and appears in “Friday The 13th” scenes of Blairstown’s Main Street as it appeared in 1980.

]]> http://thehbt.com/events/friday-the-13th-the-original-movie-2/feed/ 0 http://thehbt.com/events/salad-city-winter-medley/ http://thehbt.com/events/salad-city-winter-medley/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 01:33:24 +0000 bcurtis http://thehbt.com/?p=1418

Salad City Winter Medley

THREE SHOWS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE
Great for the whole family

Selected Shakespeare Scenes
scenes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, and Julius Caesar.

Little Red Herring: A Fishy Tale
Once upon a time on the Coral Reef, a wicked girl named Little Red Herring spins so many lies that a legend is created. Red scares her grandmother, refuses to deliver the basket of food, and poor innocent Shark does her good deed for the day by delivering the basket of food. Grandmother is so frightened she keels over, Hunter the tabloid reporter spins the story to make himself look great, and in misunderstanding after misunderstanding, the story grows out of control into the legend we know today as Little Red Riding Hood.

Once Upon a Pandora’s Box
Once upon a time in New York City, Tabitha and her brother Louis discover a box sitting in the hall of their apartment. Curious, Tabitha opens the box, allowing five imprisoned fairy tale villains to escape. Free at last, the dastardly villains begin to wreck the apartment, but when they discover that writing in Tabitha’s notebook will give them control of other fictional characters, things really get dicey. Will Tabitha harness the power of her storytelling? Or will the fairy tale villains run wild in New York?

Who We Are
Alanna Slaw Kiewe -School for theater for four years and has worked with children since she was 12 years old. She is now a Sophomore in College, majoring in education. Alanna has acted as stage manager and assistant director for school musical productions, as well as acted in stage shows. Alanna is the winner of the 2010 Freddy Emerging Young
Director Award.

Robin Slaw- Has been immersed in the study of People and Community for the last 16 years. She has worked as a teacher, youth counselor, communication skills instructor, and writer. Robin is an educator for the Center for Family Life Education, and has over 15 years of theater experience.

Salad City Productions ran a successful two week theater workshop at Ridge and Valley Charter School during the summer of 2009, as well as fall and spring workshops through the school year, since 2009. Managed by Alanna Slaw Kiewe, college sophomore at Warren County Community College and winner of the Emerging Director Award for the 2010 Freddy Awards. For more information, call 973-903-4989 or email saladcity@gmail.com.

Duke Robillard

Here’s a quick quiz:

What do Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Jay McShann, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, John Hammond, the late Jimmy Witherspoon, Dr. John, Maria Muldaur, Roomful of Blues, and the Canadian band The Rockin’ Highliners all have in common?

Answer: Duke Robillard

Guitarist. Bandleader. Songwriter. Singer. Producer. Session musician. And a one-man cheering section for the blues, in all its forms and permutations. And every one of those names has shared recording studio space or stage time with a man who is a legend in the blues community.

The Blues Music Awards (formerly W.C.Handy Awards) have named Duke Robillard “Best Blues Guitarist” four years out of five (2000,2001,2003,2004) making him the second most honored guitarist for that award! He was also nominated in that category in 2005, 2007 and again this year of 2008.

In 2007 Duke received a Grammy nomination for his “Guitar Groove-a-rama” CD and was also honored with the prestigious Rhode Island Pell Award for “excellence in the arts” along with actress Olympia Dukakis, actor Bob Colonna, and R.I. Choreographer/Festival Ballet director Mihailo “Misha” Djuric.The Pell award is named for Senator Claiborne Pell who help establish the the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities in 1965.

Other awards over the last decade include three Canadian Maple Blues Awards in 2001, 2002, and 2003 for “Best International Blues Artist,” The Blues Foundation’s “Producer of the Year” award in 2004, The French Blues Association “Album of the Year” award in 2002 (Living with the Blues) and “Guitarist of the Year” awards in 1999 and 2002.

BB King himself has called Duke “One of the great players,” The Houston Post called him “one of God’s guitarists. And the New York Times says “Robillard is a soloist of stunning force and originality.

None of that goes to Robillard’s head. He’s still on the road, still playing as many as 250 dates a year. And still proving, night after night, that his true talent is bringing people out to hear the music, appreciate the show, and dance to the blues.

Duke had his first band in high school — he was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island — and he was fascinated from the beginning by the ways in which jazz, swing, and the blues were linked. In 1967, he formed Roomful of Blues, and the band was tight enough and tough enough to accompany two of its heroes, Big Joe Turner and Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson on record and in live appearances.

Always ahead of his time, Duke’s first band pre-dated the renewed interest in jump blues by more than a decade — and almost 20 years later, in 1986, when he recorded with jazz sax master Scott Hamilton, he recorded a collection of classic big band tunes from the ’30s and ’40s, thus skillfully pre-dating the neo-Swing craze of the mid ’90s.

Roomful of Blues — which still continues, forty years later — gave Duke his first exposure to a wide public, and when he left after a dozen years, he played briefly with rockabilly king Robert Gordon, then cut two albums with the Legendary Blues Band (a sterling collection of former members of Muddy Waters’ band). He led his own band until 1990, and then replaced Jimmy Vaughan in the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

In 1993, as he was about to sign a world-wide recording deal with Virgin/Pointblank, he met Holger Petersen, head of the Canadian independent label Stony Plain, at a folk festival in Winnipeg. In conversation, he mentioned he wanted to record a complete album of blues, without the r & b and jazz influences of his work to date.

Petersen was interested; Virgin gave the go-ahead, and the resulting album, Duke’s Blues, earned rave reviews. It was so successful, in fact, that Virgin soon licensed the record from Stony Plain and released it around the world (except in Canada, where it continues in the Canadian company’s catalogue.

In the years since his relationship with the Canadian label has been astonishingly fruitful. As a soloist , he has released eleven CDs, plus one with label mate Ronnie Earl and one with The New Guitar Summit. Duke’s next release will be in May/June of 2008

Just as remarkable have been the projects he has produced (and played on) for Stony Plain, including two albums with the late Jimmy Witherspoon, two with Kansas City piano king Jay McShann, comeback CDs for Billy Boy Arnold and Rosco Gordon, a swinging confection with the Canadian band The Rockin’ Highliners, and a superb album of guitar duets with the jazz legend Herb Ellis.

As if this growing catalogue was not enough, he has found time to share studio gigs with Bob Dylan (the Daniel Lanois-produced Time Out of Mind sessions), Ruth Brown, the late Johnny Adams, John Hammond, Pinetop Perkins, and Ronnie Earl, among many others. He now has his own 24-track studio in his home, and he has become deeply involved in graphic design and photography as well as record production.

Duke Robillard is a man in command of a full range of creative talents — unique in the blues, and rare in the music industry as a whole. He is, in fact, a complete artist at the height of his power.

Unit 1

‘Tis the season for a great night of music where Rock, Jazz and jamming come together.  Come out and see a power trio Unit 1.

Jazz/Rock Jam Band Unit1 features:

Bassist Mark Egan- His unique fretless bass sound and style is both distinctive and versatile making him one of the most in-demand electric bassists on the music scene today. He has recorded and toured with the likes of the Pat Metheny Group, Elements, Sting, Gil Evans, Roger Daltry, Carly Simon, John Maclaughlin, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Franks, Stan Getz, Bill Evans, Judy Collins, Marc Cohn, Duran Duran and Joan Osborne.

Guitarist John Hart- is a well-known commodity in the world of jazz having performed with dozens of top performers including Brian Blade’s Fellowship, The Maria Schneider Big Band, Teramasu Hino and dozens of other jazz legends.

Drummer Karl Latham is staple in the European modern jazz scene appearing regularly with Johannes Mossinger as well as with such music icons as Bernie Worrell, Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, The Shirelles, The Fantasy Band and is listed in the Drummer World Top 500 List of all time drummers.

Jefferson Township

All tickets sold from the From Good Homes Ticket Site only!!! (the link above will take you to the only place to purchase tickets)

This show is expected to SELL OUT quickly. Please be aware that orders are filled on a first come, first served basis and until you have completed your order and received an order number you are not guaranteed a ticket.

Keller Williams

The Historic Blairstown Theatre is pleased to present An Evening With  Keller Williams.

Since he first appeared on the scene in the early ’90s, Keller Williams has defined the independent artist. Most of his career has been spent performing as a one-man band—his stage shows are built around Keller singing his compositions and choice covers while accompanying himself with an acoustic guitar connected to a Gibson Echoplex delay system that allows him to simulate a full band. That approach, Williams explains, was derived from “hours of playing solo with just a guitar and a microphone, and then wanting to go down different avenues musically. I couldn’t afford humans and didn’t want to step into the cheesy world of automated sequencers where you hit a button and the whole band starts to play, then you’ve got to solo along or sing on top of it. I wanted something more organic yet with a dance groove that I could create myself.”

Williams’ solo live shows—and his ability to improvise to his determinedly quirky tunes despite the absence of an actual band—quickly became the stuff of legend, and his audience grew exponentially once word spread about this exciting, unpredictable performer. Keller’s albums, meanwhile, beginning with 1994’s Freek, were embraced by a wide community of music fans. Unlike his live gigs, Williams has nearly always invited fellow musicians to contribute to his albums, and an alliance with String Cheese Incident led not only to Williams signing with the band’s label SCI Fidelity, but a collaborative effort on 1999’s Breathe album.

That history begins in Virginia, where Keller was born 40 years ago, and where he lives today. Growing up just south of Washington, D.C., he remembers being exposed to a wide variety of music at an early age, starting with country and bluegrass and working his way up through hip-hop and go-go, a brand of funk particular to that part of the country. Once he began playing guitar, Williams’ sphere expanded to what he calls “the post-pseudo-skateboarder punk-rock rebellious type of thing, Black Flag and Sex Pistols and Ramones, Dead Kennedys, things like that. That slid into the more melodic college rock, like the Cure and the Cult, the Smiths, R.E.M.’s first five or six records.”

His introduction to the music of the Grateful Dead would become a game-changer for Keller. “I studied and learned their music and went to the shows,” he says, adding that the impact of Jerry Garcia on his attitude toward music remains incalculable. Another major influence was Michael Hedges, the late virtuoso acoustic guitarist. “He was really excelling in a whole different world from what I knew,” says Williams. “What an amazing force Michael Hedges was as a solo artist.”

After moving to Colorado for a few years, further exposure to bluegrass music and progressive acoustic artists such as Béla Fleck and the Flecktones also had a major impression on Williams. As he began to develop his own distinctive compositional and performing style, Williams incorporated all of the lessons he’d learned from the long list of artists who’d found their way into his world, then filtered their music through his own experiences until something wholly unique emerged.

http://kellerwilliams.net/

Yarn

Brooklyn-based Americana/Alt-Country band Yarn’s sound owes as much to Gram Parsons and Earl Scruggs as to Jerry Garcia and Exile On Main Street-era Rolling Stones. Following in a fine tradition that includes forward thinking roots bands like The Flying Burrito Brothers and New Riders of The Purple Sage, Yarn weaves roots music idioms into a fresh sound that turns on hipsters and fans of country music alike, with technically impressive song-crafting and universal tales from the road of life.

Yarn’s latest release, Come On In, (UFO, 2010) is a record of longing, of loss and of picking up and moving on. As with most great American music that is rooted in the blues, there is still hope and a glimpse of light at the end of the day. Come On In is Yarn’s third recording. Their self-titled debut record reached No. 14 on the AMA and R&R Radio Charts, and ranked No. 79 on the AMA’s Top 100 Albums of 2007. Yarn’s 2008 follow-up, Empty Pockets, spent months in the top 5 on the AMA chart and was honored with eight first round 2009 Grammy nominations in several categories.

In 2010, they band held their own as the #25 record on top 100 Americana chart.

Yarn is touring intensively and their impressive live shows continue to build the buzz and the fanbase fueled by their first three records.

http://www.myspace.com/brooklynyarn

Ana Egge

Saskatchewan-born, Brooklyn-based folk troubadour Ana Egge isn’t your run-of-the-mill alternative-country singer. Using unique production and rock-based chord progressions, Egge has made a name for herself as a Gillian Welch figure with a rocker attitude, which once prompted Lucinda Williams to call her “the Nina Simone of folk.”

“Her upcoming 12-song record Bad Blood, produced by ‘Treme’ star and country badass Steve Earle, gives new life to the folk genre, especially on the title track: Egge’s soft-spoken lyrics float lucidly beneath a driving bass-heavy beat, tremolo guitars and spastic and distorted slide guitar”. -Cameron Matthews, Spinner”

Bad Blood will be released August 23, 2011 via Ammal records. The 12-song set was produced by Steve Earle and recorded at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY. Bad Blood was mixed and mastered by Ray Kennedy (Earle and Kennedy’s production partnership includes the Grammy winning Lucinda Williams album Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, the Ron Sexsmith favorite Blue Boy, and many more. Steve Earle stated, “Ana Egge’s songs are low and lonesome, big square-stare noir ballads which she plays on a guitar she built with her own two hands and sings like she’s telling us her deepest, darkest secrets.”

http://www.anaegge.com

Ralph Stanley

Ralph Stanley’s voice is not of this century.  Nor of the last one, for that matter. Its stark emotional urgency is rooted in a darker time, when pain was the common coin of life and the world offered sinful humanity no hope of refuge.  Preserved in the cultural amber of remote Appalachia, this terse, forlorn sound is the bedrock of Stanley’s inimitable style.  But don’t mistake an ancient voice for ancient ways.  Stanley tours and performs with the vigor and elan of a rock star.

Now 84 years old (as of  February 25, 2011), Stanley has been performing professionally since he and his older brother, Carter, formed a band in their native southwestern Virginia in 1946.  Between that date and 1966, when Carter died, the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys became one of the most celebrated bluegrass groups in the world, rivaling in popularity such titans as Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs.

After Carter’s death, Stanley shifted the band’s musical emphasis from hard-driving bluegrass to an older, sadder, less adorned mountain style.  As a bandleader, he nourished such young and promising talents as Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Larry Sparks and Charlie Sizemore, all of whom eventually graduated to distinguished solo careers.

While he has long been revered by enthusiasts of folk, bluegrass and country music, Stanley has lately been commanding the kind of honors due a musical original.  In 2003, he shared with his friend Jim Lauderdale a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album.  The year before that, he won Grammys for Best Country Male Vocalist Performance (beating out Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Tim McGraw, Lyle Lovett and Ryan Adams) and Album of the Year (for his part in the O Brother, Where Art Thou? collection).  In 2001, he was the subject of an admiring profile in the New Yorker, written by novelist David Gates, who traveled with Stanley for months gathering material.  He is the central figure in the D. A. Pennebaker/Chris Hegedus 2000 documentary, Down From The Mountain.

In January, 2000, Stanley became the first artist of the new millennium to be inducted into the historic Grand Ole Opry.  He holds the Living Legend award from the Library of Congress and was the first recipient of the Traditional American Music award from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  One of his proudest achievements is the honorary doctorate in music Lincoln Memorial University conferred on him in 1976.  In addition to all these honors, Stanley was chosen to be the closing act for the 2002 Down From The Mountain Tour, a sold-out series of concerts inspired by the success of the O Brother album.

“Well, it’s true these awards have been coming pretty fast,” says the reticent, plainspoken Stanley, “but I enjoy every one of them.”  Of his Best Country Male Vocalist Grammy, he notes, “I was a little surprised, but that was the one I really hoped to win.  It just felt so good I can’t hardly tell you.”  He acknowledges that there are few major recognitions he still aspires to but adds, “Well, there is the Country Music Hall of Fame.  I’d like that to happen some day.”

So respected is Stanley as a musical stylist that dozens of other major artists have recorded duets with him, among them Bob Dylan, George Jones, Vince Gill, Randy Owen, Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs, Joan Baez, Pam Tillis and Porter Wagoner.  And requests to record keep coming in.

In working with Stanley on the soundtrack of O Brother, producer T Bone Burnett was so taken by his sound that he signed him as the flagship artist of his new label, DMZ/Columbia.  In 2002, Burnett produced the critically acclaimed album Ralph Stanley, a collection of ancient and old-time songs from England and Appalachia.  The album immediately leaped into Billboard’s bestseller list and stayed there for weeks.  And in 2006, Sony/Columbia released his album A Distant Land to Roam, a tribute to the Carter family.

In November, 2009, Gotham Books released his autobiography Man of Constant Sorrow: Life and Times of a Music Legend (written by Dr. Ralph Stanley with Eddie Dean),.

Ralph Stanley still lives near the spot where he was born in a mountainous area, tucked-away in a  corner near the rugged Virginia-Tennessee border.  It remains his cherished retreat from the rigors of the road and the 150 plus shows he continues to do each year.

http://drralphstanley.com/

wizards of winter

The Wizards of Winter are an eclectic group of musicians from the Metro NY, NJ, PA region with strong Classical and Progressive Rock influences woven throughout their musical careers. One clear vision brought this group of  talented performers together. That was to faithfully reproduce the music of the Trans Siberian Orchestra and present it in a more intimate setting. After their inaugural season, the dream has grown. The Wizards will be releasing their Christmas Rock Opera album later this year. Production is currently well underway.

The band started when current musical director/keyboardist Scott Kelly casually expressed his long time dream of putting together a tribute band based around the music of TSO to bassist Steve Ratchen. Steve immediately seized upon the idea and believed that he knew of other talented players that would quickly jump on the project concept as well. Togehter with long time musical associates, Michael Clayton Moore ( vocals) and Sharon Kelly ( vocals/flute) they began to bring the idea to life.

Auditions were held for the other positions. All were filled in short order. The band then set its mind to the hard task of bringing the dream to reality.

The result of months of practice was a powerful, tight, production that brought audiences to their feet at almost every performance. Encores were requested at every show.

Carbon Leaf

The Historic Blairstown Theatre is proud to present an intimate evening with Carbon Leaf on Saturday, Nov 19th.

http://carbonleaf.com

DELTA RAE

Tim O'Brien

In Tim O’Brien’s music, things come together. The uncanny intersection of traditional and contemporary elements in his songwriting, his tireless dedication to a vast and still expanding
array of instruments, and his ongoing commitment to place himself in as many unique and challenging musical scenarios as possible has made him a key figure in today’s thriving roots music scene – and well beyond it. O’Brien’s presence – be it as a bandleader, songwriter, mentor, instrumentalist, or vocalist – has been strongly felt not only in his own rich music, but in the many recordings of his songs by such artists as the Dixie Chicks, Garth Brooks, Dierks Bentley, Nickel Creek, Kathy Mattea, the New Grass Revival, and the Seldom Scene, and in his recorded collaborations with Steve Martin, the Chieftains, and innumerable others. Most recently, O’Brien has been performing before capacity crowds in the band of Mark Knopfler, who described O’Brien as “a master of American folk music, Irish music, Scottish music – it doesn’t matter; a fine songwriter and one of my favorite singers.”

O’Brien listens to bluegrass and hears the music’s roots in modal Irish ballads and vintage swing. He insightfully re-examines and reconstructs those styles, and many others, in his own music, throwing off new sparks by reawakening the tension and interplay of the colliding components at the heart of American music. “Over the years,” he explains, “my music has become a certain thing. Each time I go into the studio to make a new album, I could make an Irish record, or a bluegrass record, or a country record…but it seems artificial to sift anything out. I feel like I’d be leaving out something
important. In the end, I just try to make it round…”

That roundness of vision and scope permeates every aspect of Chicken & Egg, O’Brien’s thirteenth solo album, available July 13 via his own Howdy Skies imprint. Mixing O’Brien originals, collaborations, and a handful of outside compositions, Chicken & Egg is an illuminating, engaging, and ultimately life-affirming meditation on the art of living. “This stuff reflects what goes on in the life of someone my age,” O’Brien reflects. “I’m 56 years old. I’m not the young kid on the scene – and I’m happy about that. I’m at a strange point in my life: my kids are growing up, while my parents and teachers are passing on. There’s a lot happening – but it’s just life, and that’s what this album is about. There’s a little love song action here and there, but mostly it’s about living life.”

As a songwriter, O’Brien has a gift for finding the profound hiding within the mundane, and bringing it out in a way that is both casually conversational and deeply felt. The earthy wisdom of Chicken & Egg’s songs are delivered in appropriately spontaneous fashion, largely recorded live in the studio with a core group of collaborators. In following his previous album, 2008’s entirely solo Chameleon, O’Brien says, “It was time to make a more acoustic record – more along the lines of a bluegrass thing, with an ensemble and not a lot of production: something pretty down-home, featuring a more consistent band.” To do so, he spent four days in the studio with master musicians Stuart Duncan (fiddle, mandolin, cello, banjo), Bryan Sutton (acoustic and electric guitar), and bassists Dennis Crouch and Mike Bub. O’Brien contributed mandolin, guitar, bouzouki, fiddle, and banjo, while drummer John Gardner enlivens many of the tracks. The cast of harmony vocalists includes Abigail Washburn (Sparrow Quartet, Uncle Earl), Chris Stapleton (the SteelDrivers), and Sarah Jarosz.

http://timobrien.net/

Professor Louie & the Crowmatix

Grammy Nominated Professor Louie & The Crowmatix, Woodstock, NY – The group came into existence preparing songs for Aaron Professor Louie Hurwitz’ studio productions for the Rock’n'Roll Hall of Fame group The Band. They are also the backing group for solo CD’s by Rick Danko, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson.

Professor Louie & The Crowmatix started touring and recording their own music in 2001. They have seven studio CD’s and two live recordings on The Woodstock Records label. In 2010, Woodstock Records released Professor Louie & The Crowmatix CD Whispering Pines which was nominated in the first round of voting for five Grammy’s. In the Spring of 2011, Professor Louie was inducted into the South Canadian Blues Society Hall Of Fame with a special event and concert in Canada.

Professor Louie & the Crowmatix have the distinct honor of being the only artists to have a live concert recording released by The New York State Museum entitled The Spirit Of Woodstock. Their Blues CD Century Of The Blues averaged # 20 for six months on the Radio Roots charts. Their music has consistently stayed on these charts for the past ten years.
The group continues to perform in concert at premier theaters, clubs & festivals in The US, Canada and Europe, playing over 150 shows a year.

Professor Louie & The Crowmatix have been featured on syndicated radio shows, Acoustic Cafe, E-Town, Public Radio show Live At the Linda. The Mitch Albom Radio Show & Woodsongs Radio Hour.

In 2006 and 2010, they were special guests on the CBS Television Special Melodies Of Christmas performing their International Award Winning song Melody Of Peace collaborating with The Empire State Orchestra and Choir. Their musicianship has enabled them to cross over into different musical genres and perform in concert with Orchestras and Choirs around the world.

Elmore Magazine – The Crowmatix tour nationally and abroad and every concert gets better than the last.
The Village Voice – Professor Louie’s upstate ensemble is an Americana template that is timeless rock, country, blues and New Orleans influenced originals
The Record Review – This is a great band.

http://crowmatix.com

Karl Latham

“Karl Latham is an inventive powerhouse whose influences are many but whose ideas are his own.” – Jeff Tamarkin Allmusic.com

Karl Latham is a NY-based and internationally recognized drummer. He is known for his exceptional ability to dig into a variety of musical styles, playing straight-ahead jazz, avant-garde, funk, rock, Latin, and more.

John Lee, bassist and director of the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars, says, “Karl’s greatest strength is in his versatility. In this respect, he is something of a phenomenon, having mastered every style of music he has attempted to play.”

As a freelance performer, Karl has performed with a wide spectrum of notable artists such as Mark Egan; The Fantasy Band (Dave Valentine; Dave Samuels; Chuck Loeb); The Shirelles; Claudio Roditi; Clark Terry; Don Braden; the John Lee Quartet; Andy Snitzer; The Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars; Slide Hampton; Edgar Winter; Johnny Winter; and Michal Urbaniak.

Karl is a veteran of the European Jazz scene since 1993 performing in many of Wolfgang Lackerschmid’s groups along with John Lee, Cameron Brown, Belden Bullock, Georg Wadenius, Ed Cherry, Michal Urbaniak, Attila Zoller, Randy Brecker and numerous other musicians.

Renowned bassist Kermit Driscoll and Karl joined with Freiburg, Germany based composer/pianist, Johannes Mossinger in 2001. Karl currently tours regularly with Johannes Mossinger and has appeared on dozens of tours, as well as, 7 recordings with the group along with guest artists Joel Frahm, Joe Lovano, Bob Malach, Boris Kozlov, Seamus Blake and Don Braden. The most recent release is the 2010 Waterpipe Records release “Rules/No Rules” with Calvin Jones and Kermit Driscoll.

Karl performs in the NY area with Unit One with Mark Egan and John Hart; and with Big Fun(K!), along with Don Braden, Nick Rolfe and Gary Foote.

Karl has released two solo CD’s to date, “Dancing Spirits” (1999) and “Resonance” 2007 (#4 Top Added CMJ Jazz).

Karl received a B.S.S. from Ohio University and studied music performance at Rutgers University, Ohio University and Berklee College of Music. Karl is an Adjunct Professor at Passaic County Community College and County College of Morris. Karl teaches privately as well both in NJ and abroad.

Karl is a proud endorsee for Yamaha Drums, Paiste Cymbals, Evans Drumheads, Vic Firth Drumsticks, Future Sonics and Factory Metal Percussion

http://www.karllatham.com