Many of you have heard of The Slip and have followed Surprise Me Mr. Davis via this here blog, but one part of that musical creativity that we haven’t covered much is the new-ish solo-ish project by The Barr Brothers. They’re releasing an album soon with Sarah Page, “a classically trained harpist from Montreal with a propensity for the experimental” and their friend and multi-instrumentalist Andres Vial…and with that, they’ve announced a stretch of shows back at home and (somewhat) state-side to promote the new release. The eponymous debut is due out September 27th.
I’ve got @phortin on lock to cover the gig at El Rey Theatre but the band is playing at Mercury Lounge in NYC the week before that. Then a quick stop in Toronto, then out to LA before returning up to our “hat” for a bunch of dates across Canada. Read on for the dates and check out their single, “Beggar in the Morning,” for a taste of their folky sound. It’s cool. For sure. >>>
I can’t wait for High Sierra time to roll around so I can see The Slip, Marco Benevento and Nathan Moore all cobble themselves together in a band that you’ve already heard of known as Surprise Me Mr. Davis. They’re focusing on the West Coast ahead of and behind the festival, so I’ll have a chance to see them more than a few times that week.
June 24 | Tractor Tavern | Seattle, WA (w/ Marco Benevento Trio)
June 25 | Doug Fir Lounge | Portland, OR (w/ Marco Benevento Trio)
June 26 | Axe & Fiddle | Cottage Grove, OR (w/ Marco Benevento Trio)
July 1 | High Sierra | Quincy, CA
July 3 | High Sierra | Quincy, CA
July 6 | Cafe Du Nord | San Francisco, CA
July 7 | Moe’s Alley | Santa Cruz, CA
August 19 | Fox Theater | Boulder, CO
August 20 | Three 20 South | Breckenridge, CO
August 21 | Newhoma Music Festival | Florissant, CO
Marco Benevento just announced a large set of tour dates that support the release of his new album entitled, Between The Needles & Nightfall. I’ve personally been a huge fan of everything Marco Benevento over the past few years and his solo work continues to impress me beyond my impressed baseline that formed when I first saw him sitting opposite Joe Russo. He’s truly a musician’s musician, with his approach, his touring schedule, his pitch-bending toys and his prolific release schedule all being continually inspiring for me and many of my friends. We just can’t say enough good things about this weirdo.
I know these aren’t the only dates we’ll see from this crew in the near future, because they all need to find themselves a way to High Sierra Music Festival just like they do every year. I’ve already heard they’ll be there and the Surprise Me Mr. Davis dates support that by showing some time in San Francisco right after the festival. I imagine Marco will be hanging along with them the whole time.
The High Sierra Music Festival has announced its initial 2010 lineup, including the likes of the Avett Brothers, Ozomatli, Femi Kuti, Bela Fleck, and Dr. Dog among many others. The Northern Cali fest is now in its 20th year and will once again take place over the 4th of July Holiday weekend. The High Sierra folks decided to roll out this year’s lineup in an interesting way, releasing this video below, a spoof of Apple’s famous product presentations for the iPod and all their other gadgets:
It’s a bit hokey, but I guess they felt like they had to do something bigger to compete among the hype and din of the busy festival lineup announcement season. Personally, I think they should just to stick to what they do best: consistently putting on a great mid-size music festival in the hills of Northern Cali. No matter what you think of the video, their 2010 lineup is definitely an interesting mix with a lot variety and is just about right for High Sierra’s traditional niche.
I’m booked for my first year at High Sierra and I’m super excited that I’ll be getting a chance to see both The Slip as well as Surprise Me Mr. Davis (The Slip with Nathan Moore) at the festival. The band is hanging out in California for a while surrounding the festival and playing a few dates with Marco Benevento, so I’ll be making the trek to the shows that I can. I’m pretty sure I’ll be in Santa Cruz for their show at Moe’s.
