Monday, November 21, 2016

BONNIE RAITT ON TAJ MAHAL “A 1-MAN GLOBAL WRECKING CREW... I JUST HAVE SO MUCH ADMIRATION FOR HIM”

PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED ALBUM ‘LABOR OF LOVE’ OUT DECEMBER 16

Bonnie Raitt recently shared her thoughts on Taj Mahal with Living Blues Magazine. Taj Mahal’s 47th album ‘Labor of Love’ comes out December 16 on Acoustic Sounds and consists of an acoustic session from 1998. Raitt says:

“There are very few artists with the wide musical reach of Taj Mahal; I can’t think of anyone who’s heard him that hasn’t fallen under his spell. From the very start, his impact was really groundbreaking—it’s hard to express how much those first two albums meant to me.

As an ambassador for world music—and roots music in particular—he perfectly embodies how music can cross-pollinate across generations and cultures to bring people together. Like Paul Simon, Ry Cooder and Peter Gabriel, Taj has turned so many of us onto musicians and styles we may not have appreciated as much otherwise. Not to mention he’s one of the funkiest blues and R&B singers, harp players, and guitarists alive.

I think his greatest contribution is going [to] be the way that he combines all these musical traditions in such an authentic and rich way. He’d had an incredibly eclectic and deep musical history, which in turn has inspired all those musicians with whom he plays—they learn about all the other tributaries of the music he’s mastered. Fro examples, there’s a lot of African musicians who might never have heard about Delta, Carolina or Texas Blues if they hadn’t met Taj. There are country and bluegrass musicians who love him; folk and jazz artists and Hawaiians, Cubans, Brazilians, and Jamaicans, too. The guy is a one-man global wrecking crew.

There really isn’t just one musical award that could encompass how eclectic Taj is. I think that’s why his Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award is so fitting as it recognizes his impact on millions of people, celebrates his tremendous creative output and speaks to how Taj keeps people coming back seven decades into his career.

I just have so much admiration for him.”

Monday, November 14, 2016

Julia Anrather photo and bio






Above: 'Quentin' EP cover

Above Credit: Julia Anrather



​Julia is an actress, musician, and producer from NYC. She just played a Dandy Minion in Taylor Mac's 24 Decades of Popular Music at St Ann's Warehouse this fall, which will culminate in a 24-hour long performance. On screen she most recently played a vegan caterer in The Pioneers, a comedic web series which is an official selection of the Brooklyn Web Fest and has been featured on the homepage of Funny or Die. Other favorite roles include Liz in Stuart Ruston's short film The 9th Annual Brooklyn Pickle Bowl, Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream with director Christopher Hirsh & FoxWolf Productions, and an Angel in the Drama Desk Award winning show The Mysteries directed by Ed Iskandar at The Flea Theater. Julia writes and performs her own music and has a new EP coming out in 2017. She just finished filming her first music video and plans to release it this November. She is also the founder of the Near Thing Productions, a company based in Brooklyn and the Catskills.

WASHINGTON POST FEATURE TO SPOTLIGHT KINGSLEY FLOOD AS BAND’S MOST PERSONAL ALBUM TO DATE EARNS RAVES

The Washington Post is planning a profile on Kingsley Flood to run Friday and new album 'Another Other,' written by Palestinian-American frontman Naseem Khuri about his powerful and sometimes contradictory experiences. Rave reviews are coming in for the Newport Folk Fest alums' first full-length since 2013. Kingsley Flood will perform next at the Sinclair in Cambridge, MA November 18 and at Rock & Roll Hotel in Washington, D.C. November 19. Here’s what we’re reading:

“Acute, razor-sharp tales.”
– Cady Siregar, Stereogum, November 17, 2015

“Ripping… tangle with American identity.”
- Luke O’Neil, Bullet Media, August 16, 2016

“One of those bands that matter… it’s music with something important to say, like the Clash, all backed with a hard-charging folk-inflected rock sound.”
- Pop Matters, October 14, 2016

"A triumphant sound."
- Sjimon Gompers, Impose, October 7, 2016

“Exhilarating… Potent lyrical punch.”
- Glide Mag, September 28, 2016

“Much more than just a boisterous barroom rocker.”
- Chris Palermino, MySpace Music, October 4, 2016

“So good… Every turn comes with something special: a ’70s punk crescendo, a bit of Britpop, a dusty, Western country melody.”
- Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald, October 28, 2016

“The band’s best… rocks hard while tackling tough questions about what it means to be an American… as with all of Kingsley Flood’s work, it’s an energy with a purpose.”
- Pete Chianca, Gatehouse Media, November 4, 2016

“Can’t-miss.”
- Mark Zaretsky, New Haven Register, October 21, 2016

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Ted Drozdowski’s Scissormen’s “Stink Eye Tour” Comes to Providence, Boston, Lowell and Middletown, CT Nov. 3-6

First New England dates following the release of free “Stink Eye” EP, including song about Negro League Baseball legend Josh Gibson


Nashville, Tennessee-based psychedelic roots and blues trio Ted Drozdowski’s Scissormen are making early November stops in Providence (11/3), Lowell, MA (11/4), Boston (11/5) and Middletown, CT (11/6) in support of their Stink Eye EP, available for free download via Noisetrade.com.

After releasing the Love & Life album last summer, the band has been busy playing dates, working on new songs, and enjoy worldwide airplay—even making a live appearance on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio to support the network’s extensive airplay of the songs “Beggin’ Jesus” and “Let’s Go to Memphis.”

This summer Rocky Mountain Slides also unveiled the Ted Drozdowski signature guitar slide and Ted was the subject of a major feature in Guitar Player magazine. But all of that overshadowed the release of the six-song Stink Eye EP exclusively via Noisetrade.com, which includes Ted’s tribute to American baseball hero Josh Gibson. The legendary power hitter and catcher is an under-sung but important figure in the history of Negro League Baseball, whose skills (Babe Ruth was often called “the white man’s Josh Gibson”) would have propelled him to greater fame if not for segregation. The song originally appeared on the limited edition Batterymen EP on Nashville’s Semi-Pro Records, which also included cuts by ex-members of R.E.M. and Todd Snider.
“At a time when we seem to have forgotten the progress we’ve made as a nation, a song like ‘Josh Gibson’ is a reminder of the sacrifices that many people have made to move us forward—and a reminder that’s the direction we need to keep moving in,” says Drozdowski.

The New England shows:
• Aurora, Providence, RI, Thursday, Nov. 3 at 9:30 p.m. w/opener the Mark Cutler Trio
• The Back Page, Lowell MA, Friday, Nov. 4 at 9 p.m.
• Thunder Road, Somerville, MA, Saturday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.
dinner show w/opener Peter Parcek
• Cypress Restaurant, Middletown, CT, Sunday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. dinner show