[jck_strw]

Inspired by Kenny's post on music of yesterday...

There's no comparison between listening to a band's album and seeing a group live. The live show wins out (almost) every time. Who are people seeing today that they would recommend? My list in no particular order:

--RailRoad Earth
--Yonder Mountain String Band
--Old Crow Medicine Show
--Barefoot Manner
--Keller Williams
--Ben Harper
--Chatham County Line

Going to see a good band in a live setting is one of life's greatest pleasures. Turning someone else on to new music is almost as good.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Kenny]

red

[jck_strw]

The best way for me to explain is to have you listen. I've posted one song from each band for you to listen to. Enjoy!

RailRoad Earth
-"New Grass" type music with a rockin' sound. From NJ.
http://www.headsallempty.org/music/tune ... Buddha.mp3

Yonder Mountain String Band
-Another "new grass" type of band. From Colorado. They occassionally sprinkle some Dead covers into their set.
http://www.headsallempty.org/music/tune ... _Other.mp3

Old Crow Medicine Show
-Sortof traditional bluegrass/string band type of music with a rockin' edge. From Tennessee.
http://www.headsallempty.org/music/tune ... _Wheel.mp3

Barefoot Manner
-Jazzy, funky, "new grass"-like with a bit of a Caribbean/reggae/calypso feel. They remind me of what String Cheese used to sound like. Based in NC.
http://www.headsallempty.org/music/tunes/Caribea.mp3

Keller Williams
-A one man show. You have to see him to really appreciate him. Fantastic guitarist. He plays a lot of other instruments "simultaneously" (through the use of a loop machine). Very cool to watch him perform. He's a huge Deadhead and does a lot Dead covers. Based in VA.
http://www.headsallempty.org/music/tune ... at_Rag.mp3

Ben Harper
-Great sound--he's done gospel, electric blues, funk, jazz (used to be in Taj Mahal). Fantastic voice--currently he's got an outstanding album of gospel tunes with the Blind Boys of Alabama. Quite a range of stuff. This tune showcases his voice and is just a fun one to listen to. Not sure where he's from.
http://www.headsallempty.org/music/tune ... e_Down.mp3

Chatham County Line
-Traditional bluegrass. They write their own material and it's excellent, authentic bluegrass music. Great sound. Based in NC.
http://www.headsallempty.org/music/tunes/WSM.mp3

All these bands tour nationally (except for Chatham County), so if they come through your area, check them out.

I can't imagine I'm going to get a lot of hits, so this will be an interesting test to see how my webserver handles it. Pre-apologies if my webserver melts from the load. ;^)

[Bean]

I'm jealous, jck_strw! I want to see Keller and Yonder so bad, all I have our bootlegs from nugs.net and archives to go by, but from what I listen to I can tell they are sick shows to see.

I'd recomend Gov't Mule, that was an awesome show.

[Cosmic C]

I'm with you on that Bean. I'd love to see both of them as well but I don't think they make to Phoenix that often.

[Bean]

I'm going to two Dark Star May 29 and 30. Has anyone seen them before? My uncle said that when he went to one of their shows it was like seeing the Dead back in the 70s. I'm real excited.. I missed out on seeing the Grateful Dead cause I was so young when Jerry died

[jck_strw]

I've seen Dark Star before (and I'll be seeing them again April 10 in Raleigh). Amazing. I've seen a couple of Dead cover bands over the years and these guys are definitely the best. The do "recreations" of shows--they'll take a date and do the show song by song. And then at the end they tell you what show they did (so it's sort of guessing game for some; you can tell by where they're standing, whether they have a Donna, setlist, etc.).

Don't miss them.

[Cosmic C]

I've seen 'em three times and every time its a very erie event. Its almost to close to the real thing but with that being said, they are very very good at what they do. Like the man from Wichita said "Don't miss them".

[Bean]

Yeah that's what my uncle said, when he went to one of their shows they played a setlist from a Dead show he had gone to, he said it was unbelievable. I can't wait to go.

[ebick]

I don't really get it though....I mean I've heard that they (Dark Star) are very good.....but doesn't it go completely against everything that the Dead and the concept of spontaneous, improvisational music is all about?

[Cosmic C]

I think for me thats kinda the weird part. They basically still have pretty spontaneous jams, I mean it doesn't seem that their palying them note for note. I think that their spontanaity is just enclosed in a tighter shell, which essentially is the particualar concert they choose to play. However I belive that within that context there still exists the improv and spotaneous actions that define the music.

Really you should just try to seem them and judge for yourself. Hell it's something to do.

Nice gag by the way.

[Bean]

I'm going to go see Addison Groove Project now! Anyone hear of them/see them before? I hear they're sick.

[LazyLightnin]

Ive seen darkstar many times here in cleveland, 3 nights inna row over the summer at a Jerryfest. darkstar is really good, with the show recreations and all. ive seen them at smaller venues and the sound was bad but outside they rocked!



-lazy

[jck_strw]

Bean

I've heard of Addison Groove, but haven't had a chance to listen to them. Let me know how they are.

[saint421]

Addison Groove is a tight band. I saw them on Halloween 2 years ago opening for Strangefolk. Nice long jazzy jams. however, i seem to recall hearing something about one of their members getting really sick or even dying...not sure if that was true or not or what became of that. none the less, a band i recommend seeing.