The Musical Box

the deadstring brothers perform saturday at the green lantern.

The Green Lantern kicks the weekend into gear tonight with the return of the Cincinnati cowpunk brigade 500 Miles to Memphis. The band rocks heartily with guitar crunch, country commiseration and hook-happy tunes from its 2007 album Sunshine in a Shot Glass.

This is supposedly 500 Miles’ last show of the year. Of course, its website claimed a Friday the 13^th bash at the Southgate House in Newport was going to close out road work for 2009. Regardless, you won’t have 500 Miles to kick around after this weekend. The band plans to get busy this winter on a new album with eyes toward a February release.

The very fine West Virginia string band The Fox Hunt will open tonight’s show

The club follows up on Saturday with The Deadstring Brothers, a band that poses this intriguing rock ‘n’ roll query: What if the Rolling Stones, especially as they existed in their honky tonk glory of the early ‘70s, hailed from Detroit in instead of England?

Certainly there is a passing shade of Mick Jagger in the singing of Kurt Marschke - although it is mostly a reflection of Jagger during the roots rebellion days of Exile on Main St. Those accents, along with an occasional nod to Faces-style looseness, fuel such Deadstring albums as 2007’s Silver Mountain. But expect boozy country blues to also abound on tunes the Brothers are bound to play Saturday from the forthcoming Sao Paulo record, which is due out on Chicago’s famed Bloodshot label in February.

Opening on Saturday will be fellow Motor City country stylists Whitey Morgan and the 78s. Morgan’s crew, however, seem to steer closer to the traditional. Its cover of Bruce Springtsteen’s I’m on Fire sounds like pre-outlaw era Waylon Jennings in a heady Western mood.

500 Miles to Memphis performs at 10 tonight; The Deadstring Brothers perform at 10 Saturday. Both performances will be at The Green Lantern, 497 Third St. Cover charge each night is $5. Call  (859) 252-9539.

joe henry.

The cost of a road-trip to Louisville will be your only expense for what may well be one of the regional concert highlights of the fall.

Tonight at the ultra intimate 930 Art Center is a very rare concert evening with Joe Henry, Americana stylist-turned avant-pop journeymen who doubles as one of today’s most scholarly and insightful (and in-demand) record producers.

We first got a look at Henry the performer in the mid ‘90s when he visited Lexington and Louisville as an opening act for bands like Son Volt. He was already starting to shed the Jayhawks-style alt-country leanings that underscored albums like 1992’s Kindness of the World and the exceptional 1994 covers EP Fireman’s Wedding. With turn-of-the-decade albums like Fuse (1999) and Scar (2001) - both essential recordings in the Henry catalogue - the stylistic contours of his music began to warp. Henry’s last three albums - 2003’s Tiny Voices, 2007’s Civilians and the new Blood from Stars take on almost Tom Waits-like abstractions that balance carnival-like playfulness and dark, noir-style pop accents.

On Blood from Stars, which will likely be the focus of tonight’s free show in Louisville (part of the 930’s opening of an exhibition of works by Cincinnati photographer Michael Wilson titled Whatever Happened to Martha?), such stylistic corrosion is detailed by way of the wiry guitars, stark percussion, jazzy dissonance and vocal animation that enhance songs like Death to the Storm, Suit on a Frame and The Man I Keep Hid. But the deconstructed orchestration of This is My Favorite Cage may better reflect the solo acoustic setting Henry will perform in tonight.

Of course, Henry has made just as much music with other artists as he had on his own over the past eight or so years. A devotee of vintage soul, he has produced recordings for Allen Toussaint (including this year’s extraordinary The Bright Mississippi), Solomon Burke (the Grammy-winning Don’t Give Up on Me) and Bettye LaVette (her comeback recording I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise). He has also produced more pop and folk directed works for Loudon Wainwright III, Ani DiFranco, Teddy Thompson and Aimee Mann.

On his website, Henry recently divulged two 82 year old icons he is currently producing albums for: jazz-blues vocalist/pianist Mose Allison and calypso great Harry Belafonte.

No tickets are required for tonight’s Louisville performance. Seating is general admission. The Wilson exhibit begins at 7 p.m.

Joe Henry performs at 9 tonight at the 930 Art Center, 930 Mary St. in Louisville. Admission is free. Call (502) 635-2554.

tara jane o'neil

The chieftain behind the recent Boomslang festival, Saraya Brewer, passed along word about an intriguing WRFL-sponsored performance tonight at The Red Mile Round Barn, 1200 Red Mile Road, featuring former Louisville song stylist Tara Jane O’Neil.

Now part of a thriving music community in Portland, Oregon - home to, among others, The Decemberists and The Minus 5’s Scott McCaughey - O’Neil conjures wonderfully lo-fi but immensely atmospheric story-songs. Rounding out the five-buck-bill (that is, if you’re a student; for everyone else, it’s a mere $7) are two other indie voices from the great Northwest: co-headliner Mount Eerie from Anacortes, Washington (a buzzsaw folk project featuring The Microphones’ Phil Elverum) and Vancouver’s No Kids.

We will bow to Brewer’s recommendation on these acts. She offers an insightful preview of the performance over at her fine Blueline blog.

Showtime tonight is 8:30 p.m.

jolie holland. photo by scott irvine.

Here’s a show we didn’t see coming. Well, actually we did, but we had given it up for lost.

In the lingering days of summer, Texas songstress Jolie Holland, who has long been a Lexington favorite, was booked for an Oct. 16 performance at The Dame. Come August, of course, The Dame called it a day. So those of us who have been championing the stark, poetic nature of Holland’s songs, as well as the fascinating encyclopedia of folk, jazz and pop voices she uses to display them, sat with sunken hearts.

But fear not, friends. Holland’s concert is still on, but at a new venue. She will perform tonight at the new Cosmic Charlie’s at the sight of the old Lynagh’s Music Club on Woodland Ave.

This will be Holland’s first local outing since a set at WRFL’s FreeKY Fest last year. Since then, she has sent us another stunner of an album - a collection of sweetly sung stories of heartbreak, addiction and isolation titled The Living and the Dead. Holland co-produced it with the great Shahzad Ismaily, who performed as guitarist and percussionist (at times, simultaneously) during an in-store show last year at CD Central with the experimental bi-coastal pop trio 2 Foot Yard.

Eastern Kentucky-born New Yorker Matt Bauer will open tonight’s performance.

Jolie Holland and Matt Bauser perform at 7 tonight at Cosmic Charlie’s, 388 Woodland Ave. Tickets are $10. Call (859) 309-9499.

the del mccoury band. from left: jason carter, rob mccoury, ronnie mccoury, del mccoury, alan bartram. photo by brenda mcclearan.

The first official weekend of the fall is here along with the return of the Terrapin Hill Harvest Festival, the annual outdoor celebration of groove and grass music in Harrodsburg.

As usual, the festival schedule mixes in several noted national acts (Greensky Bluegrass from Kalamazoo, Mi. and Cornmeal from Chicago) with a predominantly local and regional lineup of bands (Born Cross Eyed, Green Genes, The Other Brothers and more) that will perform on three stages.

Friday’s headliner will be the great Del McCoury Band. As stated in the title of a new five-disc anthology, Celebrating 50 Years, McCoury’s career as one of bluegrass music’s most progressively minded traditionalists has now passed the half-century mark. While he clocked time with Bill Monroe in 1963, McCoury’s current popularity centers around the band he has led over the past two decades with his sons (mandolinist Ronnie and banjoist Rob). While the band bears his name, it is the unmistakable high mountain tenor vocals that serves as McCoury’s foremost artistic trademark along with a repertoire that has regularly boasted string music reworkings of tunes by such non-bluegrass greats as Tom Petty, Richard Thompson and Robert Cray.

This is a big birthday year for McCoury. His career turned 50, the singer himself turned 70 and last May McCoury performed at Madison Square Garden as part of an all-star concert honoring folk icon Pete Seeger’s 90^th birthday.

But next month, the next chapter begins. A new McCoury Band album titled Family Circle is due out on Oct. 27.

Saturday’s headliner at Terrapin Hill will be a very different all-star team. The band, called Super Heroes, brings together bassist George Porter, Jr. and guitarist Leo Nocentelli of the acclaimed New Orleans funk brigade The Meters, keyboardist Bernie Worrell (whose extensive career includes work with Parliament/Funkadelic in the ‘70s and Talking Heads in the ‘80s) and former John Scofield Band drummer Adam Deitch. For a complete performance schedule along with other camping and festival information, go to www.terrapinhillfarm.com/festival.

The Terrapin Hill Harvest Festival runs Thursday through Sunday at Terrapin Hill Farm, 3696 Mackville Rd.in Harrodsburg. Tickets are $45 and $85 (adult); $20 and $35 (children ages 8 to15). Call (859) 734-7207.

chris thile

The October concert roster will now be coming to us with a few extra strings attached. Just added to the mammoth Alltech Fortnight Festival is a performance by the Punch Brothers on Oct. 5. But here’s the kicker: the venue will be the ultra intimate Natasha’s Bistro (9:30 p.m.; $25). Jump on this one fast, folks. Tickets will not last long.

Among the all-star string players making up the Punch Brothers is mandolinist Chris Thile, late of Nickel Creek and the composer of a three movement mandolin concerto that he is performing with orchestras from around the country this year and next. On March 28, Thile will play the work in Maine with the Portland Symphony in a concert conducted by newly inaugurated Lexington Philharmonic maestro Scott Terrell.

mark o'connor

Now here is where the timing gets really interesting. The very same evening Thile and the Punch Brothers play Natasha’s, violinist/composer Mark O’Connor will perform across the street at the Kentucky Theatre for the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour with his Appalachian Waltz trio (7 p.m.; $10). O’Connor is largely regarded as the pre-eminent Americana composer of our day. He will visit Lexington again on Oct. 30 to perform at the Singletary Center for the Arts with the University of Kentucky Symphony and Chorale and conductors John Nardolillo and Jefferson Johnson (7:30 p.m.; $10 student, $20 public).

sara watkins

OK., then. We have two of the country’s most innovative stringmen playing, essentially, next door, to each other on Oct. 5. What more could a bluegrass-loving classicist want? Well, how about the local concert debut of Sara Watkins, Thile’s bandmate from Nickel Creek at Natasha’s one week later - Oct. 12, to be exact (8 p.m., $20). Watkins performed a brief WoodSongs set in the early summer to promote her recent self-titled solo album, but this will be her first full headlining concert since Nickel Creek disbanded in 2007. The Natasha’s date will also be her last performance before heading to Canada to open a series of concerts by John Prine.

For info on the Natasha’s shows, call (859) 259-2754. For reservations to O’Connor’s WoodSongs performance, call (859) 252-8888. For tickets to O’Connor’s concert with the UK Symphony, call (859) 257-4929.

circulatory system. clockwise from bottom left: bassist/organist peter erchick, guitarist nesey gallons, cellist heather mcintosh, drummer derek almstead, violinist/clarinetist/bassist john fernandes, guitarist/vocalist will cullen hart. photo by kelly ruberto.

Now here is a happy surprise. The last we heard from the Athens, Ga. psychedelic pop brigade Circulatory System - in recorded form, at least - was when its fine self-titled debut album was issued some eight years ago.

That record, cut by leader/founder Will Cullen Hart and remains of the then-recently demised Olivia Tremor Control, was a scrapbook of retro and indie pop inspirations tossed together and shaken vigorously. On the album-opening Yesterday’s World, you heard a dizzying sing-a-long that swam back to the late ‘60s folk of the Incredible String Band with a touch of Revolver-era John Lennon as channeled by Robyn Hitchcock. Then animated, Frank Zappa-esque reeds start bouncing about. In short, this was music that made the rounds.

So now, at long last, we have a followup called Signal Morning - a record where Hart and his pals, quite remarkably, stray little from the sort of psychedelia that sprouted from the first album. On This Morning, We Remembered Everything, a beefy T. Rex-style groove is thrown into the fun until the ensemble sound fractures into XTC-like frenzy.

Hart, for those familiar with the regenerative spirit of indie rock during the ‘90s, was also a co-founding member of Elephant 6, a pop collective that also gave rise to, among other bands, The Apples in Stereo (the band’s Lexington-based chieftain Robert Schneider is also a founder). Signal Morning is very much in keeping with the collective’s practice of formulating new music out of solid pop melodies, pronounced psychedelic accents and considerable sonic experimentation.

Though diagnosed with multiple sclerosis while making Signal Morning, Hart works steadily as a visual artist and oversees his Cloud Recordings label. He also takes on considerable roadwork. As such, Hart and Circulatory System perform at Al’s Bar this weekend to serve up the pop quilt tunes from Signal Morning on Saturday night.

Two other Circulatory System mainstays will open the show. Guitarist Nesey Gallons will likely spotlight solo acoustic works while keyboardist/bassist Peter Erchick will perform with his band, Pipes You See, Pipes You Don’t.

Circulatory System performs at 9 p.m. Saturday at Al’s Bar, 601 N. Limestone. Cover charge is $5. Call (859) 309-2901.

a 50 year old b.b. king performing in "soul power."

The trick with great art films is that they usually leave Lexington before you even know they have arrived.  That’s essentially the case with Soul Power, the extraordinary time capsule account of music that lit up Zaire in 1974. Unless the good folks at the Kentucky Theatre hold it over for another week, which is highly unlikely, you have exactly one more chance to catch a screening: tonight at 9:40 at the Kentucky.

The importance of a film like Soul Power, a documentary by director Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, isn’t all that removed from the recent anniversary hoopla surrounding the 40^th anniversary of Woodstock - or, at least the 1970 film that chronicled it.

Admittedly, there is strong continental cultural significance to the latter. Zaire ‘74, on the other hand is the little known three day festival at the heart of Soul Power. It features epic blues, R&B, funk, all kinds of world music, jazz, salsa and, of course soul. The festival is historically viewed - when it’s viewed at all - as a minor footnote to the Muhammed Ali-George Foreman heavyweight bout that was to have simultaneously taken place in Zaire (the African nation known, since 1997, as the Democratic Republic of the Congo). After Foreman injured his eye, the fight was postponed, but not the festival.

Like the Woodstock film, however, Soul Power is an incredible musical timepiece. Yet Soul Power has discovery in its favor because the very existence of these filmed performances - outside of brief glimpses offered in the 1996 documentary of the Ali/Foreman bout When We Were Kings - has received so little notice until now.

But what a find it is. We have B.B. King, nearing 50 at the time, playing with youthful blues-soul vigor. We have the sublime South African singer Miriam Makeba in full majesty. We have a James Brown performance with an almost combustible level of intensity. The Latin, African and American summits peppered throughout are just as arresting.

Here are two New York Times pieces on Soul Power. One is a Jon Pareles feature on the history of Soul Power; the second is A.O. Scott’s review of the film. Both are great reads that should justly make you all the more Power hungry.

Soul Power will be shown again at 9:40 tonight at the Kentucky Theatre. The film is rated PG-13.

The Herald-Leader published its mighty Falls Arts Calendar today. So let’s use the occasion to roundup nine seasonal shows that will make autumn anyone’s favorite time of year.

More concerts will undoubtedly be announced as autumn progresses. But here is the pick of the fall performance harvest so far.

bettye lavette

+ Sept. 26: Bettye LaVette at the Singletary Center for the Arts:  A true soul music diva that, at age 63, can turn songs by such disparate artists as Dolly Parton, The Who and Lucinda Williams into R&B oratories as elegant as they are urgent.

mary-chapin carpenter

+ Oct. 2: Mary-Chapin Carpenter at Equus Run Vineyards: Like the performances by LaVette and The Decemberists, the first local outing by folk and Americana songstress Carpenter in ages is part of the Alltech Fortnight Festival.

mark o'connor

+ Oct. 5: Mark O’Connor at the Kentucky Theatre: A leading composer and violinist known for classical works soaked in Americana inspiration, O’Connor now brings his Appalachian Waltz Trio to the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour.

the decemberists

+ Oct. 6: The Decemberists at the Singletary Center for the Arts- Their songs can take place in the belly of a whale or the presence of a forest witch. Their music shifts from British folk to prog rock. Expect anything at the Lexington debut of The Decemberists.

os mutantes

+ Oct. 9-11: Boomslang - Billed as a “celebration of music and art,” Boomslang will take over a half dozen venues around town with performances by The Black Angels, Faust and Os Mutantes as well as “a circus themed fashion show.”

kings of leon

+ Oct. 10: Kings of Leon at Rupp Arena - Who could have predicted that Only By the Night, the fourth album by Kings of Leon would still be a Top 10 hit a year after its release? Guess that’s why it took to so long to get the Followill clan to perform in Lexington.

leo kottke

+ Oct. 29: Leo Kottke at the Kentucky Theatre - A guitarist of playful and unspoiled majesty and a storyteller full of deliciously warped spontaneity. How lucky we are to get Leo back in town every few years.

robert earl keen

+ Nov. 5: Robert Earl Keen/Todd Snider/Bruce Robison at the Opera House: Texas troubadour Keen, fresh off the release of The Rose Hotel, his first album of new songs in over four years, returns to the Opera House with misfit folkie Snider and country songsmith Robison.

jean-luc ponty

+ Nov. 14: Jean-Luc Ponty at the Singletary Center for the Arts - Another Lexington debut, which is remarkable given how this jazz violinist versed in everything from fusion to world music has been performing in the U.S. for over 40 years.

vandaveer, aka kentucky's own mark heidinger. photo by rob meyers.

Time was he was plain ol’ Mark Heidinger, mainstay member of Lexington rock faves The Apparitions. Having re-located to Washington, D.C., Heidinger now performs as the neo-psychedelic folk/pop stylist Vandaveer.

But starting today, you have four chances over four days to welcome him and the wonderfully moody tunes from his new Divide & Conquer album back to the Bluegrass. The recording is darkly ambient and atmospheric at times (as onThe Sound & The Fury), spiritual in an almost vaudevillian sense at other turns (Resurrection Mary) and colored continually by Heidinger’s sketchy, scratchy yet neatly conversational vocals. Sure it’s folk at heart. But the music’s cast in mischevious. It is as appealing as it is unsettled. 

First up on the Heidinger/Vandaveer Kentucky round-up is an appearance this afternoon at CD Central’s Labor Day cookout. His set is scheduled for around 2 p.m. with fellow local-ites Living with Hermits, J. Marinelli, Sludge Puppies and The Yesterday Trees rounding out the bill. The event is free.

After a show at the Southgate House in Newport on Tuesday (9:30 p.m., $5, $8), Vandaveer comes back to Lex-town to play The Green Lantern on Wednesday (9 p.m., $5) before heading up to Louisville for a Thursday performance at The 930 Listening Room (7:30  p.m., $5).

Now that’s what you call a homecoming.