Sondre Lerche's new CD Heartbeat Radio is out on Rounder on 9/8. Sondre plays the Iron Horse on September 12th @ 7PM. Tix on sale now!

Sondre Lerche's album Heartbeat Radio is out on Rounder Records on September 8th. Sondre plays the Iron Horse on September 12th at 7PM. Yee ha! All shows will feature opener JBM.

Check out the first single “Ambitious”on Stereogum now: http://tinyurl.com/stereogum-Sondrelerche

For Heartbeat Radio, Lerche embraces new influences and recording methods while bringing together everything he has learned over a decade of making music. The songs mix acoustic guitars and grand orchestral pop (with string arrangements courtesy of the High Llamas’ Sean O’Hagan) with elements of ’50s Jazz, ’60s and ’70s Brazilian psych-folk, and state-of-the-art ’80s pop masters such as Prefab Sprout, Scritti Politti, and Fleetwood Mac.

Though only 26, Lerche is already a musical veteran who released his first album at the age 19 and has toured with Elvis Costello and Beth Orton. He was commissioned by director Peter Hedges to compose music for Dan in Real Life, becoming the exclusive songwriter and musical voice of the film.

I'm a gonna buy me some tickets with a simple click-it.

South Africa’s hugely popular Freshlyground make their Northampton debut at the Iron Horse on Monday, July 20th at 7PM

In South Africa, audiences of every race cram in to see them. Old people get up and dance. Hip black teenagers sing to their lyrics. White kids emulate their moves. The very presence of this band in South Africa is the promise of a harmonious future. But they don't sit still for the picture. Freshlyground adds violin and flute to the familiar band instrumentation of bass, drums, keys and guitar, and sometimes throws in the mbira, a traditional African 'thumb piano' and sax. So typical of African groups, their dance routines are loosely choreographed to allow space for spontaneity, which comes with live-wire energy. "Forget about your destiny, get off your feet and live!" the lead singer Zolani sings, and she knows exactly how to make an audience go wild. Freshlyground draws crowds as they go, making surprisingly good impressions, remarkably large impacts. That's what they've done all along. Bridged historical divides, defied musical stereotypes. And it's about time an Afro-pop band took some of Africa's magical music to the world. It's about time.

Our friend and AIDS activist Steven Kallaugher runs the Young Heroes Foundation. He tipped us to the band. “I learned that Freshlyground, the best and probably biggest band in South Africa, was making their American debut with a few shows -- including the Nelson Mandela concert at Madison Square Garden. Figuring that nothing ventured, etc., I suggested to the promoters at the Iron Horse that they should book them. Lo and behold: Freshlyground right here in Northampton, MA on Monday, July 20 at 7PM! The last time I saw them, they were headlining the Bush Fire Festival for Young Heroes. The time before that, the audience wouldn't let them off the stage until they'd done six encores.” (GET TICKETS HERE)

Another Chaplin Takes Center Stage

When I was 23 years old, I embarked on a grass-roots arts career by renting a 16mm print of Charlie Chaplin’s film, “Limelight,” and renting a vacant grange hall in northern Vermont where I showed the bittersweet comedy to an enthusiastic full house. Buoyed by my success, I not only started a regular film series but I expanded it to include five small north country towns where I built mailing lists and traveled each week, projecting Bogart, Fellini—and Chaplin onto movie screens and cotton sheets stuck on the walls of library basements and school auditoriums.

I showed a different Chaplin film each season—“City Lights,” “Modern Times,” “The Great Dictator,” “Monsieur Verdoux,” and “The Kid” and even collections of the best Chaplin shorts like “The Pilgrim,” “Pay Day,” and “Shoulder Arms.” I loved the films for their feel of startling wit, graceful movement, and comic improvisation.. I also loved Chaplin’s populist spirit, expressed through his irrepressible underdog, the Little Tramp, constantly skirting disaster but always landing on his feet. When I had my own kids, I resisted exposing them to television for as long as possible. Instead, I showed them the Chaplin films. Indeed, my younger boy thought that the black and white films were the only thing you could ever see on the tube. At the age of five, he was still jabbering to his friends about what he’d seen on his “Chaplin TV.”

So, it probably comes as no surprise that when I found myself with the job of producing Vermont’s huge 400th anniversary celebration for French explorer Samuel de Champlain’s 1609 expedition into the lake that now bears his name, I wanted to represent France and seized on the opportunity to program “Aurelia’s Oratorio” – created by French circus innovator Victoria Chaplin who, with her husband Jean-Baptiste Thierree, pioneered Europe’s Cirque Nouveau that influenced the creation of the Cirque du Soleil, among others.

Victoria Chaplin’s daughter Aurelia Thierree, who stars in the show, resist broadcasting their Chaplin link for obvious reasons. The Little Tramp casts an enormous shadow as the first truly “world figure” whose image was recognized long before television, even in remote Asian and African villages. But Aurelia’s link to Chaplin’s craft is unmistakable. The show’s humor and vision are entirely fresh but its warmth and timeless quality conjures the Little Tramp’s earlier worlds of music hall comedy launched an American century of vaudeville, film, and the TV antics of “Monty Python” and “Saturday Night Live.” Chaplin gave heart to what had been a rough and mechanistic mode of slaptstick. He made us care.

Like the character her grandfather pioneered, Aurelia navigates a world that is bigger than she is. A modern day Alice in Wonderland, she encounters and even becomes an array of whimsical and surreal apparitions. Aurelia pops out of a chest of drawers. She watches puppets – performing a show for other puppets and later picks at a stray thread in her lace dress, making herself disappear. Suspended above the stage, she peers down at the kite that is flying her. Like Belle, arriving at the enchanted castle in Cocteau’s dreamlike “Beauty and the Beast,” she emerges whole through red velvet curtains framing the stage.

Aurelia’s theatrical dreamscape reminds me of Charlie Chaplin’s hallucinations in “The Kid,” “The Gold Rush,” and “Modern Times,” where the unsuspecting Tramp gets caught in factory gears. But Aurelia’s dreams come closer to the upside-down worlds we actually experience when we sleep. In an interview by American Repertory Theater director, Gideon Lester, Aurelia referred to her show as “a mad fantasy, a mixture between a spirit and a dream. In your dreams,” she said, “something absurd happens and you simply adapt to it, and it’s only when you wake up that you question the reality of what happened.”

“Aurelia’s Oratorio” is coming to Northampton because I had to ensure the troupe a week of performances and arrange the expedited shipment of two tons of stage gear, props, and costumes from their last tour date in Russia—in order to lure them back across the Atlantic Ocean. We’ll stage three shows Monday and Tuesday July 13th and 14th to conclude our Champlain festival in Burlington. Looking around New England only one other venue beckoned and seemed appropriate. True, The American Repertory Theater in Cambridge jumped on the chance to book a return engagement once they learned that I was bringing the troupe back to the U.S. But for two days and three shows next weekend “Aurelia’s Oratorio” will take the stage at The Calvin Theater —thanks to Samuel de Champlain. -Jay Craven

Aurelia’s Oratorio will be performed live at the Calvin Theater, Friday July 17th at 7:00pm and Saturday, July 18th at 2pm and 7:00pm. Tickets are available at 413-586-8686 or online at IHEG.com.

New Release Tuesday!

Two upcoming IHEG artists have new albums out today:

"American Central Dust" marks the return of Jay Farrar's midwest lament, booming voice, and overall knack for being as prolific as possible in a genre in which the old and done is embraced over innovation. Sonically, it's Son Volt at its best. While the guitar distortion was turned way down this time around, Farrar's vocals are pushed generously into the forefront of the mix spotlighting themes of blue collar lament that have made Farrar a convincing songwriter since the times when he fronted the Americana staple Uncle Tupelo. Considering the straight line progression of Farrar's songwriting, it is no surprise to find lap steel, string and keyboard dressings making "Dust" a solid representation of what Son Volt has always been good at and what they could keep going at foryears to come. -Lee Taylor

Son Volt will be performing at Pearl Street Ballroom on Saturday, September 19th @ 8:30p  for tickets, call The Northampton Box Office @ 413.586.8686 or click here

Listen to the first single off the album below to get a taste
Son Volt - Down To The Wire



The new album from Bowerbirds "Upper Air" places this Raleigh, North Carolina duo atop our list of "Duos That Are Better Than The White Stripes." One priority for execution on these new songs is harmony and the guy/girl combination does not fall short. Part of our "Left of The Dial" summer concert series, Bowerbirds is surely "indie" with their conceptual lyric themes and almost math-rock rhythms that seem to convince that a song with just four chords must be dressed with sufficient unexpected parts to call it their own. They go out of their way
to stand out on this album, but nothing sounds forced. Even the simplest, straight-forward song like "Chimes" keeps me far from nodding off. There are no holes to be filled in this release.
-Lee Taylor

The Bowerbirds will be performing with Megafaun THIS SATURDAY, July 11th @ 10pm at The Iron Horse  - for tickets, call The Northampton Box Office @ 413.586.8686 or click here

For a sneak peak, take a listen to the first single off the album
 Bowerbirds – Beneath Your Tree 

Erin McKeown has Cabin Fever...and you're invited.

In the grand tradition of barn-raisings and house-rent parties, ERIN MCKEOWN is inviting you into her living room, onto her porch, into her river, into her yard and asking you to lend a hand. Just as farmers needed their neighbors to help raise the roof and musicians have sung for their supper, MS.MCKEOWN is holding a series of Live Internet Concerts (watch the trailer HERE) with all proceeds benefitting the recording and release of her newest album, "Hundreds of Lions". More info here.

Loudon Wainwright III and Richard Thompson at the Calvin Theatre on Tuesday, October 6th at 8PM

We're all very excited about this show. Either of these guys alone has enough songs, stories, and humor to fill a night. Together the chemistry will be delicious. They'll play together and alone. Get tickets here.

Muddy Waters Band Member Paul Oscher brings his "Alone with the Blues" Show to the Iron Horse at 7PM Thursday, July 30th

Paul Oscher, multi-instumentalist and multiple (W.C. Handy) Blues Music Award winner, is making a rare swing through the Northeast this summer on his first area tour since 1994, when he came through with fellow Muddy Waters alumni Jimmy Rogers, Pinetop Perkins, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, and Calvin “Fuzz” Jones.

Paul Oscher’s place in music history was cemented in the 1960s when he became the first white musician to join the Muddy Waters Blues Band. He has been an inspiration to a host of new generation harmonica players ranging from Eric Clapton’s Jerry Portnoy to Magic Dick of the J. Geils Band and Rick Estrin of Little Charlie and the Nightcats. Oscher toured the “chitlin’ circuit” with Muddy Waters at a time when mixed race bands were not welcome in the Deep South. He learned the nuances of the blues looking over the shoulders of the best musicians the blues had to offer, players like legendary pianist Otis Spann and guitarist Sammy Lawhorn. Paul lived in Muddy Waters’ house on the southside of Chicago and shared the basement with the great blues pianist Otis Spann.

Oscher remained with Muddy Waters until the early 1970s, and stayed active after leaving the group, recording with and accompanying Louisiana Red, Johnny Young, and numerous other blues artists. He also fronted his own group for years under the name Brooklyn Slim featuring Boston’s own David Maxwell on piano. In the late 1990s Oscher began recording again under his own name, and his unique deep blues sound began earning him multiple music awards. His increased visibility led to collaborations with Mos Def, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Levon Helm, and Hubert Sumlin, and his songs have been covered by Alligator recording artists Little Charlie & the Nightcats and Blind Pig recording artist Big Bill Morganfield. He has also been quoted extensively in two major books about Muddy Waters, Can’t Be Satisfied and Mojo Man, and an excerpt of Oscher’s own upcoming book appears in the companion book to the PBS series Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues. His latest recording “Down in the Delta” earned him two W.C. Handy Awards: “Acoustic Artist of the Year” and “Acoustic Album of the Year “

For the past several years Oscher has been touring as a solo performer, playing clubs and festivals all over the world. Paul likes this traveling arrangement, as he says "the only one I have to argue with is myself -- me and the band are getting along real good." In his unique "Alone With the Blues" show, Paul tells stories of his life in the blues and sings and plays harmonica, guitar and piano, at times simultaneously. He also carries with him a rare giant bass harmonica that invariably floors audiences. Oscher remains true to the real down-in-the-alley, gutbucket blues -- a sound that is rarely heard these days. He’s been playing those low-down blues for the last forty years and in Oscher’s hands it is as potent and current as it was back in the days of Muddy Waters.

Get tickets for Paul Oscher here.

Jurassic 5/Ozomatli's Chali 2NA at Iron Horse on Wednesday, July 15th at 8:30. Good Taste. Tastes Good.

Chali2Na has done it all. From his days growing up on the hardscrabble streets of Chicago’s south side, to his subsequent explosion onto Los Angeles’ burgeoning hip-hop scene, to his tenure as MC for seminal hip-hop group Jurassic 5, Chali epitomizes the portrait of a 21st century artist.

To be sure, with his unmistakable, beloved baritone, Chali has firmly established himself as one of the most distinctive, charismatic personalities not just in hip-hop, but music in general. Only a select few can say they’ve rocked microphones in front of thousands at a sold-out arena in Tokyo with Jurassic 5, spit rhymes at Lollapalooza, painted professional caliber oil color paintings in their California home and lent their distinctive bass-heavy voice, to such mega-brands as Coca Cola and Sega Dreamcast.

Now, buoyed by the wide spectrum of socio-cultural and geographical influences that have shaped him—hip-hop’s renaissance man jas just dropped his first solo album Fish Outta Water. Indeed, this deeply personal body of work reveals a side of the long time Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli front man that his fans have never seen, a story from start to finish of his life, loves, triumphs and let downs, weaving in a powerful selection of beats from the likes of Scott Storch and Jake 1 and memorable appearances from Damian “Jr. Gong” and Stephen Marley, Anthony Hamilton, Beanie Man and others.

“I wanted this album to expose who I am as an artist. The majority of people know me from Jurassic 5 and Ozo, but I felt like nobody knew me as an artist,” Chali says. “I want to show you all facets of who I am. Man. Husband. Brother. Father. Son. Painter.”

Indeed, Chali’s diverse tastes—from the blues he was raised on to the political gangsta’ rap he loved to the graffiti art he sprayed as a teenager—flow from this album, like the oil colors Chali uses for his paintings. There’s the Fury-produced, “Righteous Way,” an interpolation of Curtis Mayfield’s “Nigga,” where Chali tells the story of his life through the eyes of his father, his 17 year-old son and himself. Or the Scott Storch driven “Love Is Gonna Get You,” where Chali offers up his own take on the fabled KRS-One song that inspired this 21st century version. “KRS was talking about how love was going to engulf his brother. This song talks about how love makes you do the strangest things, how it infects your heart and changes you forever,” he said.

Of course, no body of work involving Chali2na would be complete without his trademark, articulate, spitfire rhymes, the sort of fearsome battle raps which first caught the ear of so many back when he honed his skills in Los Angeles' storied underground hip-hop scene of the early nineties. On “Don’t Stop,” featuring the ever soulful Anthony Hamilton, Chali beckons everyone--from revolutionaries to thugs to dime pieces--to leave their troubles at home over a melodic, flute-infused hook.

“Getting sick of the bickering from my peers and such. Bringing lyrics to keep your ears in touch,” he rhymes, daring anyone to test his mettle while playfully requesting that you too take your body to the dance floor in the same breath.

Indeed, Chali’s debut features a seemingly endless litany of groundbreaking tracks, which touch on topics the veteran musician has never bared to his listeners before. Whether it’s the trauma he experienced from the shooting death of a childhood friend to the twists and turns of his own family lineage, to the resistance to injustice that has always been imbued in Chali’s music, Fish Outta Water, is quite simply, a life’s worth of songs in the making.

Says Chali: “I want to free people’s asses and let their minds follow. To not be preachy, but to make them aware of what I’m about. I want to enlighten, but I ain’t trying to be a bumper sticker either.”

No doubt, there’s still plenty of fire in Chali’s lyrical arsenal. His days of training at the legendary Los Angeles hotspot, the Good Life Café, have taught him well. Only now, he’s fused the bass-heavy bravado with his own life’s story, and in doing so, creates an album of work that’s not only superb, it’s important.
Tickets here.

Chali 2na – Comin’ Thru

Christine Lavin and Don White, music and comedy at the Iron Horse at 7PM on Sunday, July 26th

Fans who have been following Christine Lavin during her 25-year-long career know that the singer-songwriter can alternately bring wails of laughter or tears of heartbreak.

But when Lavin appears at The Iron Horse on Sunday, July 26th, expect the laughs to be doubled.

That's because she'll be appearing on a co-headlined bill with singer-comedian Don White.

"It's a perfect combination, because we're so different," Lavin said recently during a phone conversation from her New York City apartment. "He comes from a stand-up comedy background, into which he mixes in some guitar and singing, but my background is as a singer-songwriter who happens to write some funny songs. So we're kind of two sides of the same coin."

And, as it turns out, both Lavin and White are authors. In fact, White's short story collection, "Memoirs of a C Student," inspired Lavin to write her own nonfiction book, "Cold Pizza for Breakfast: a Mem-Wha," which is all about her quarter century on the road singing songs like "Sensitive New Age Men."

"I've been doing this for a long time, so I have a lot of stories to tell," she said. "So it was inspiring to read Don's book and start thinking about some of the things I've seen and done during my career."

Together, Lavin and White are quite a pair. There aren't two more engaging performers working the folk circuit than these two, and to see them performing together - and they will collaborate onstage, she said - should be a real treat.

"It's perfect, because lots of my fans are women and they drag their husbands to my shows, and I think the guys end up having a pretty good time," she said. "But if they drag their husbands to this show, they'll be in heaven, because (White's) really doing it from the guy's perspective."

Click here for tickets to Christine Lavin and Don White at the Iron Horse at 7PM on Sunday, July 26th
Christine Lavin - God Bless Barak Obama

IHEG's Left of the Dial Summer Series is packed with talent, adventure, imagination, and cred.

We always wring our hands when the term indie rock comes into play. It’s the lazy, default term for the non-mainstream rock acts that intuitively fall under a similar umbrella. So we’re not going to use it to describe this batch of summer shows. Left of the Dial, referencing the Replacements song about college radio, has been the moniker we use when enough of these shows come together to constitute a “series.” Summer is upon us and the Iron Horse, Pearl Street, and our new outdoor venue, Mountain Park, have some great shows on the books. Here they are at-a-glance.

	Mission of Burma Friday, July 10th Pearl Street Of all the punk-inspired bands that came out of Boston in the early '80s, none were better than Mission of Burma. Arty without being too pretentious, capable of writing gripping songs and playing with ferocious intensity. They recently finished recording their fourth studio album to be released this fall. Bring your earplugs. Roger Miller always does. Jackhammer headphones actually. http://www.missionofburma.com/ Download a free MP3 'Max Ernst" courtesy of Matador Records (Right click, save target as) To buy tickets in advance online click here
	Bowerbirds, Megafaun Saturday, July 11th 10PM Iron Horse Hymns for a Dark Horse is the first album from Raleigh, N.C., trio Bowerbirds. Built on the belief that our limited earth ("In Our Talons") is as sacred as the unlimited love that we can find within it ("Human Hands"), Bowerbirds make acoustic music that feels good and aware and powerful and hopeful, offering a shelter from the apathy so rampant these days. http://www.bowerbirds.org/ On their debut Bury The Square, Raleigh-via-Eau Clair trio Megafaun neatly splice together different strands of sounds, whether it's tape manipulated hoedowns, mournful, slow-blooming banjo-and-white-noise-laced epics, or rural barbershop doo wop. Focusing on a wide palette of instrumentation, they always come back to their soaring three-part harmonies. http://www.myspace.com/megafaun To buy tickets in advance online click here
	Yeasayer, Ponytail Tuesday July 14th 8:30PM Pearl Street Clubroom Brooklyn's Yeasayer describe their music as "Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel." They've toured with MGMT, Man Man and Beck and they were THE buzz band at this Year’s Bonnaroo. The band's dystopic mini-festos come couched in big hooks and grand indie gestures with eyes and ears for Eastern ephemera, psych rock, and wide-ranging religious cues. It's a trick that makes the apocalypse sound like a gigantic celebration, and All Hour Cymbals sound like the sort of escapist dream our nightly news demands. http://www.myspace.com/yeasayer Baltimore quartet Ponytail (who delighted us co-headlining with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at the Iron Horse a few months ago) taps straight into the primal power of the human voice, sans lyrical clutter. Molly Siegel is a mind-blowing vocalist. She and her band mates have created their own vocabulary of sounds, in which her cries and glottal attacks are just as vital, cuckoo, and inventive as the intertwined guitars of Dustin Wong and Ken Seeno.Randomly put together in a class experiment, the four members of Ponytail have stumbled into a magical combination that 99.9% of bands could never fake. http://www.myspace.com/jreamteam To buy tickets in advance online click here
	Magnolia Electric Company, The Donkeys Saturday July 18th 10PM Iron Horse "Working class rock" is a phrase used frequently to describe The Magnolia Electric Co. (Jason Molina/Songs:Ohia) The band has secured their place amongst like-minded icons such as Bob Seger, CCR, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen, but it's not merely an aesthetic description. Magnolia back it up with their work ethic. The Magnolia Electric Co. cast no doubt by putting their business in the street. http://www.magnoliaelectricco.com/ The Donkeys hail from San Diego and they’ve played as the backing band for both Casiotone For The Painfully Alone and Cass McCombs. They draw a line from classics like The Velvet Underground, Curtis Mayfield and Television to The Kingsbury Manx, Of Montreal and The Radar Bros. If your definition of pop music goes all the way from Blind Willie McTell to Pavement, then the Donkeys are a sweet kick in the ass. http://donkeysongs.com/ To buy tickets in advance online click here
	Deer Tick, Dawes Wednesday July 22nd 8:30PM Iron Horse When Providence native John McCauley got his hands on Hank Williams Sr.'s "Gold" collection and locked himself in his room listening to it on repeat until he finished his bottle of brandy, it all became fairly obvious to him-- he was on his first tour just a few months later. That was 2004 and he was 18. After years of being on the road, fully developing his distinct howl of a voice, and honing his guitar skills, McCauley and his band Deer Tick has earned himself a following of devoted fans and supporters. They play super sweet blues, country, and grunge influenced music. http://www.deertickmusic.com/ The Los Angeles quartet, Dawes, achieve the minimal, warm and live sound that all bands talk about doing at one point or another and yet separate themselves from anything you've ever heard. The record North Hills could be described as Leonard Cohen or Townes Van Zandt getting a hold of that soul band we always wanted to hear them with. http://www.myspace.com/dawestheband To buy tickets in advance online click here
	Frightened Rabbit, The Antlers Saturday July 25th 10PM Iron Horse On the surface, Scottish trio Frightened Rabbit are like a lot of other bands. You could file them away with other musicians from their Glasgow scene, or other bassist-free groups, or other bands of literal brothers (frontman Scott and drummer Grant Hutchison are siblings). But somehow, despite the fact that their methods are well-worn, their product is one-of-a-kind, as their consistently great second album (in under a year, no less!) attests. http://www.myspace.com/frightenedrabbit The Brooklyn trio The Antlers sport the indie overcoat like a kid in a candy store, taking something from everywhere. Shining, falsetto harmonies and fractured yet peaceful guitars give nod to indie contemporaries Neutral Milk Hotel and My Bloody Valentine. http://www.myspace.com/theantlers To buy tickets in advance online click here
	Ben Sollee Wednesday, July 29th 7PM Iron Horse Ben Sollee was named one of NPR’s “Top Ten Unknown Artists of the Year.” His distinctive cello technique and soulful voice have been marinating for years in his work with avant-garde bluesman Otis Taylor, The Sparrow Quartet, (featuring banjo-master Béla Fleck), and on the internationally known Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour. Like a folkier Andrew Bird, Ben’s unique performance experience and creative vision trump his 24 years and traditional classical training; he is poised to emerge as a solo artist, bridging genres and demographics with earnest and dynamic songwriting. However, the single most salient quality of his debut, Learning to Bend, is Ben’s contagiously optimistic worldview. http://www.bensollee.com/ To buy tickets in advance online click here
	Friday, July 31st We Are Scientists, Bad Girlfriend 10PM Iron Horse Brooklyn-based indie rock trio We Are Scientists formed in 2000 around the talents of guitarist/lead vocalist Keith Murray, bass player Chris Cain, and drummer Michael Tapper. After building a small but devoted following through their epic live shows and a series of three self-released EPs, the group signed with Virgin Records. Their major-label debut, With Love and Squalor, was released in early 2006. http://www.wearescientists.com/ The lone two-car garage in New York City is inhabited by Bad Girlfriend. She was kicked out of her home for partying too much and decided to start a band. The all-girl group's garage rock style reflects the ghosts of late 60s hangovers. They may really be spawn of the Warhol-Velvet Underground scene. http://www.myspace.com/badgirlfriendband To buy tickets in advance online click here
	Gang Gang Dance, Hex Message Sunday August 2nd 8:30 Pearl Street Clubroom There are those who make "noise," and then there are elegant, shadowy troupes cobbling ghost languages and fractured dub into undulating biospheres. New Yorkers Gang Gang Dance remove restrictive compositional components and turn electro-acoustic sprawl into a generative act. It's Throbbing Gristle's "Hot on the Heals of Love" reconfigured as a deck of shards. The band have also had some shocking misfortune recently, with the drummer being shot at, and the bands equipment being totally destroyed after an electrical fire in Amsterdam. http://www.myspace.com/ganggangdance While listening to Hex Message, your life may not be cursed and your existence will not be sacrificed, but your mind may lend itself to a wandering moment. The New York City group uses loops and electronic technology with drums, guitar and heavy doses of noise. Having an in house artist-guitarist explains why these guys sound so visual. To buy tickets in advance online click here
	St. Vincent Thursday, August 6th 8:30 Iron Horse Two years ago, Annie Clark's recorded debut as St. Vincent, Marry Me, gave immediate notice that a dizzying new talent had emerged from the flatlands of Texas. Critics from Pitchfork to Spin to the New York Times Magazine were entranced by the album's precocious arrangements and elegant lyrics, and the steadily growing crowds at St. Vincent's live shows were astonished by Clark's gargantuan musical chops and her magnetic stage presence. Actor, St. Vincent's beguiling, sophisticated new record, takes that debut's ambition as its starting point and never looks back. http://www.ilovestvincent.com/ To buy tickets in advance online click here
	Decemberists, Heartless Bastards Sunday August 16th 7PM Mountain Park The Decemberists' fifth album, The Hazards of Love, is their most ambitious and most accomplished project to date from the Portland-based quintet of Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query, and John Moen—a full-length song cycle rooted in ancient language and imagery, yet entirely modern and accessible. The follow-up to the group’s 2006 breakthrough, The Crane Wife (which NPR listeners voted their favorite album of the year), The Hazards of Love solidifies the Decemberists’ standing as one of the most innovative and important creative forces in music today. http://www.decemberists.com The raw quaver in Erika Wennerstrom’s untamed voice gives her as much bite as the distortion on her guitar. Factor in the garage-rock pummeling of drummer Kevin Vaughn and bassist Mike Lamping, and the Heartless Bastards a force to be reckoned with. http://www.theheartlessbastards.com/ To buy tickets in advance online click here
	Black Moth Super Rainbow, Soundpool Thursday August 27th 10PM Iron Horse Black Moth Super Rainbow, an experimental band hailing from the deep woods of Western Pennsylvania, have a distinctive sound that is characterized by analog electronic instruments and which takes elements of psychedelia, folk, electronica and pop. Their new album Eating Us, which was released this past May and is their first professional recording experience, is a warm and effervescent album. For the recording they enlisted the help of Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann, who highlights the tingly interplay between acoustic and electronic instruments and process vocals. With the melodies that are sweet like cotton candy and the expertise of an experienced producer, we have an album that is crisper and more linear than the others but that still retains the sweet feeling of clouded psychedelia that is the band's trademark. http://www.blackmothsuperrainbow.com/ To buy tickets in advance online click here

NRBQ members salute ailing Steve Ferguson with three nights at the Iron Horse this weekend

Kevin O'Hare at The Republican Entertainment Desk

"Big Al" Anderson spent 22 years as the critically-revered guitarist with NRBQ, but whenever he's asked when the group's best days were, he modestly says, "before I joined the band."

That's because that was the era when the lead guitar chores were handled by the inimitable Steve Ferguson, a truly distinctive fretboard wildman from Kentucky, who manned the helm for NRBQ's 1969 debut album and the follow-up "Carl Perkins and NRBQ."

Sadly, Ferguson, who lives in Louisville, is not doing well these days. He's dealing with terminal cancer.

The 60-year-old guitarist noticed pain in his shoulder and in his back about a year ago.

"I went to the doctor and I had X-rays," Ferguson said. "He said there was an abnormality in my left lung. What had happened was I had a tumor in the lung. It had passed through the lymph nodes and gone to my bones. That's why I had the pain across my shoulders and in the middle of my back. I had bone cancer already. It's what they call small cell cancer. There's no cure for small cell. All they're doing is prolonging my life right now."

Ferguson wanted to play with many of his old mates one more time, and in conjunction with Anderson and Iron Horse owner Eric Suher, put together the framework for "A Wild Weekend," which will be held at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, Thursday through Saturday. Tickets are $100 at the door and $75 in advance at www.iheg.com

The concerts will feature Anderson, along with original NRBQ members Frankie Gadler and Joey Spampinato, as well as the group's latter day guitarist, Joey's brother Johnny Spampinato, and other guests including session drummer supreme Shawn Pelton. Originally, Ferguson was expected to make an appearance and play with his former bandmates, but his doctors have told him that he is not healthy enough to make the trip. So the shows are now being billed as "A Tribute to Steve Ferguson."

"If I could I would come and play but I don't think it would be smart to try it right now," Ferguson said. "I'd probably end up stranded in a hospital up there and there's a risk of that. So I'm not going to try it."

It still sounds like it's going to be one heck of a party in his honor.

"We'll be doing a lot from the first two albums," said Anderson, speaking by phone from an airport in California. "I'm hoping to do some songs that we laid off of for awhile like 'Boys in the City' and 'Only You.' Gadler's coming so that takes care of a lot the material from 'Scraps' too."

The first time Anderson heard NRBQ with Ferguson was in 1971 at a show in Springfield.

"I heard him play the intro to 'Flat Foot Flewzy,' which was life-changing for me because all the other guitar players at the time were trying to distort and be like Hendrix. But Steve was the real deal, the only guy playing like that - real."

Describing his guitar style, Anderson said "He never slid across the fretboard, he always plays every note. Very rarely will he pull it, pull the strings up or go over the board. I think Lonnie Mack is his idol. I learned more from Steve than anybody on guitar. He is a real rock ¤'n' roll guitar player and country too."

In the early 1970s, Anderson joined NRBQ after Ferguson's departure. However Ferguson did return in 1974 for about a year during which the two served briefly as a dream-team guitar duo in NRBQ.

"That was a very unique point in the band's history," said Ferguson. "Me and Al got pretty good at staying out of each other's way, we just had it down. I think that's the best musical period of the whole band through all of the years that they played."

Unfortunately NRBQ recorded very little during that time, but Anderson and Ferguson both point to an incredibly rare single that they recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis on SOH Records. Both sides of the 45 "Sourpuss" and "Rumors" were written by Ferguson, which are two of Anderson's favorites.

"Steve's a great songwriter," Anderson said. "He wrote things like 'Flat Foot Flewzy' and 'Ain't It All Right' and 'Fergie's Prayer.' He was real just like George Jones or Elvis. Some of those guys just can't help being real."

Ferguson, later recorded several superb albums with his own band, Steve Ferguson and the Midwest Creole Ensemble, notably the classic "Jack Salmon and Derby Sauce" in 1992. He also recorded with NRBQ keyboardist Terry Adams in recent years, including the 2006 album "Louisville Sluggers."

Despite his health, Ferguson has not ruled out recording again. He's playing a lot of mountain dulcimer in recent years and his wife recently got him a new guitar which has inspired him to consider recording some instrumental work.

As for the "Wild Weekend" shows, Ferguson asked to pass his best wishes on to longtime fans.

"Please tell them that I miss them and I regret that I can't do the thing that I set out to do but it would not be a good idea."

Nevertheless, it does promise to be one very wild weekend for everyone who gets to celebrate the legacy of Steve Ferguson and his days with NRBQ.

Tickets for each night: Thu 6/25 Fri 6/26 Sat 6/27

Louise Dunphy of WMUA remembers Koko Taylor

Queen Koko Taylor passed from this world recently. Koko’s passion and style of Blues rightfully elevated her to the throne of Queen of the Blues, a true national treasure and icon of these ages.

In the Iron Horse's early years, I saw Koko perform live in the then much smaller room, even more intimate than today. Around thirty years ago! Wow time flies. I remember sipping my Campari spritzer and feeling a rush over the gritty passionate performance of the amazing Koko.

That performance changed my life. Have you ever felt awakened to something you had no idea was missing from your life? That night with Queen Koko had that affect on me. I was a young sponge fresh out of my containment years and open to the possibilities. Koko ignited my own passion for music that night and I have never forgotten. Oh, I liked music and it was a staple in my life but that performance elevated my ‘like’ to passion.

When I hear her played on the WMUA Blues shows I instantly relive that initial buzz for something that is now my constant passion. Music! Thank you Queen Koko Taylor! Bravo! Bravo and thank you. Louise Dunphy