Kinky Friedman's Judgement Day salute

Jennifer Castle CD Release @ Horseshoe tonight!

Poor As Him by Jennifer Castle



LINKS
label http://www.flemisheye.com/jennifer-castle

Ernest Ranglin heats up Jay Day in May

A dazzlingly charismatic performer with deep roots in the Toronto scene, Jay Douglas – who fronted The Cougars in the inaugural Caribana parade of 1967 and played a key role in bringing the critically acclaimed Jamaica To Toronto reissue project to life – is being feted in fine style at the Royal Theatre (608 College West) on Sunday (May 15). It's shaping up to be a major community event.

Topping the list of esteemed performers toasting Douglas at the Celebrating Jay concert is legendary Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin (a foundational figure in the development of ska, rock steady and reggae) along with Joe Sealy, Bob & Wisdom, Archie Alleyne, George Oliver, Shawn Jackson, Grant Smith, Robbie Lane, Jackie Richardson, Eddie Bullen, Taborah Johnson among many others.

Advance tickets for this monumental Jay Douglas celebration  are $45 and $90 (for VIP reception with the artists) and on sale at A Different Booklist (746 Bathurst), Wire's Variety (753 Dovercourt), The Jamaican National Money Transfer Office (1672 Eglinton West) and the Royal Theatre box office on Sunday after 1 pm.

Blasters reconvene for Dave Alvin's Eleven Eleven

There are some interesting new details about Dave Alvin's forthcoming Eleven Eleven album coming from the Yep Roc label who have announced a June 21 release date. It's very good news for Blasters fans.

Dave Alvin (whose birthday falls on November 11) is joined on his 11th solo outing by his old Blasters' bandmates, namely ace piano pounder Gene Taylor – who hasn't recorded with Dave since 1995's Hard Line album – along with Phil Alvin who has reunited with his younger sibling for a rare one-off duet on the bluesy What's Up With Your Brother?  Although the Alvins have worked together on-and-off for years, Phil always sang lead in the Blasters accompanied by Dave on guitar so this marks the first time they've actually sung together face-to-face on a studio album.
 
"While we were growing up there was a firm line between Phil and me," explains Dave, referring to Blasters' division of duties: Phil sang, Dave wrote the songs and played lead guitar. "The main reason I decided to have him sing with me was that we¹re not going to be here forever; we might as well have fun. Life is too short."
No doubt the sad passing of Alvin's best friend and longtime musical compadre Chris Gaffney had some influence on his decision to put aside any issues between him and brother Phil to get together for Eleven Eleven. Gaffney also appears on the song Two Lucky Bums which would be their final recording together.
"The songs on Eleven Eleven," says Dave "are all about life, love, death, loss, money, justice, labor, faith, doubt, family and friendship. The usual stuff.
"Mortality has been an issue on my mind ever since Ashgrove. Since finishing that album, I lost some great friends -- Gaffney, Amy Farris and Buddy Blue of the Beat Farmers. That weighed on me."

Harlan County Line by Dave Alvin

Nihilist Spasm Band set to wreak havoc in Toronto

London, Ontario's venerable improvisational music collective The Nihilist Spasm Band – making a rare Toronto appearance with CxFx, PHOLD, Toddler Body and Boner Jerusalem at the Tranzac Club (292 Brunswick) on Wednesday (May 11) – may be considered little more than cult curio by mainstream media at home but outside of Canada they're revered for their wildly creative innovations in sound manipulation. Yamantaka Eye of Boredoms infamy has acknowledged The Nihilist Spasm Band as an important foundational influence on his own sonic assaults.
Check out the clip below from Tamori's World Of Music taped during the NSB's first tour of Japan in 1996 with original members Hugh McIntyre, John Boyle, Art Pratten, Bill Exley and John Clement who originally came together in 1965. Yep, 46 years and still skronking strong.

Happy Birthday Terry Allen!

Lubbock singer/songwriter and multi-media artist Terry Allen who turns 68 on Saturday previews his forthcoming album The Bottom Of The World with a song about his dog Little Queenie (co-written with Guy Clark) during his Storytellers at The Kessler performance at The Kessler Theatre in Dallas on November 6, 2010.

Little Queenie by Terry Allen


Link
site http://www.terryallenartmusic.com/

Joe Pernice @ The Dakota Tavern Friday