Cafe Eleven

Patty Larkin

Sunday May 6th, 2007 - $18

Where Beck meets Richard Thompson. • Where Beth Orton intersects with Guy Clark. • Where Me’Shell NdegéOcello melds with Bob Dylan. • Where lost innocence mingles with hope. • Where grief and strength merge into one. • Where fear is crossed with love. • Here is the place where Patty Larkin resides.

A guitar focused singer/songwriter, Patty Larkin has immersed herself in a musical world that knows no borders. Her most recent solo release, Red=Luck, showcases a world where the ancient strains of modal folk meet brooding ambient noise. It is a world where Middle-Eastern flavored melodies collide with R&B, where joyous pop and somber reflection, playful eroticism and naked soul searching entwine. Here Larkin has created a world beyond her guitar that springs from the imagination, each song part of a tightly written song cycle cinema verite of challenging times. Red=Luck is the supremely assured work of an artist who has caught a near perfect wave: an artist whose influence becomes clearer with each passing season. While Larkin’s fine guitar work has been recognized by live audiences since her emergence on the acoustic music scene, it is her skills as a producer, soundscape artist and songwriter that have garnered accolades from fans and critics alike (Billboard, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair).

The Thermals

Sunday March 11th, 2007 - $10

The Thermals live on the beautiful, eastern side of the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, where hordes of young “artists” are nurtured by foul weather and low-rent “houses.”
In the spring of 2002, The Thermals (songs) were created by singer Hutch Harris, in his kitchen.
By the fall, The Thermals had about ten shows under their belt, and almost half of those shows were on stage. They felt at this point that they had really paid their “dues,” and knew they had amassed a ton of “street cred(ibility).” In late October they signed a three-record deal with Sub Pop “Records.” Staying true to their “d.i.y. (do-it-yourself) ethics,” Harris recorded The Thermals’ debut record on a four-track cassette recorder in his one-bedroom house, lovingly dubbed “The Moss Motel.” Chris Walla, of Death Cab for Cutie “fame,” mixed the recordings to a quarter-inch two-track at The Hall of Justice studio in Seattle, Washington.
Sub Pop now brings The Thermals to you, in all their “no-fi” glory. Distorted guitars, distorted drums, distorted bass, and distorted vocals all collide into perfect, distorted pop songs. The sound is classic Sub Pop, with a “twist.” Imagine combining the best of the “grunge” bands from the label with some of the lo-fi geniuses who’ve worked with Sub Pop: like Mark Arm recording a basement record with Lou Barlow. The Thermals’ debut is called More Parts Per Million, and we think you will find this title very fitting, as this record pays absolutely no heed to any laws or generally accepted principles of sound recording. In fact, More Parts Per Million may force the listener to decide for him or herself what makes a record “listenable,” “unlistenable,” or “very fucking listenable.”

In the future, the Thermals hope to perform many national and international touring “gigs,” and to record at least two more albums, as dictated by their “contract.” They are also looking forward to graduating from the school of “d.i.y.” to enter the new and exciting world they refer to as “s.e.d.i.f.y.” (someone else does it for you).

* “No-fi,” “s.e.d.i.f.y.” and “very fucking listenable” are all registered trademarks of The Thermals, LLC. If you would like to license (for a nominal fee) any of these terms for use in “rock journalism,” please contact The Thermals.

The Thermals “Pillar of Salt”

Chess Club! Coming Back Again Soon!!!

Band Of Horses

Saturday March 10th, 2007 - $10

Band of Horses, known early in its life as simply Horses, is an American indie rock band formed in Seattle consisting of Ben Bridwell, Mat Brooke, Creighton Barrett and Rob Hampton. In February 2006 Joe Arnone joined the band. They are currently signed to Sub Pop. Their debut album, Everything All the Time, was released March 21, 2006 to a very positive review by Pitchfork Media. The band often draws comparisons to the indie rock band My Morning Jacket largely due to the vocal similarities between Bridwell and My Morning Jacket lead singer Jim James. Bridwell’s Vocals have also been compared to Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction, early Neil Young, and Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips by All Music Guide.[1]

Band of Horses Live

John Cowan Band

Friday Jan 26th, 2007 - $18

Bluegrass. Newgrass. Rock N’ Rollgrass. True innovators defy easy categorization and John Cowan is the ultimate innovator. His ability to move easily between music styles and blend and bend genres into creative new forms has made him one of the most significant voices in acoustic music over the past thirty years.

After making a name for himself as one of the most in-demand vocalists in the early 1970s’ music scene in Louisville, Ky., Cowan rose to fame when he became the lead singer for New Grass Revival. He and bandmates Sam Bush, Bela Fleck and Pat Flynn introduced a new generation of music fans to an explosive, experimental brand of bluegrass.

After inspiring and entertaining fans for nearly two decades, New Grass disbanded in 1990. Cowan immediately gave chase to his creative muse following it all over the musical landscape with a series of critically acclaimed albums. The Evansville, Indiana-native wrapped his expansive voice around tunes that ran the gamut from rock to soul to blues and beyond. As the 21st century began he found himself circling slowly, inexorably back to the acoustic music that he knew so well. He began to surround himself with some of the finest acoustic musicians working.

When the current line-up of his band, Jeff Autry (guitar), Wayne Benson, (mandolin) Shad Cobb (fiddle) and Noam Pikelny (banjo), came together, he knew he was on to something special. The music began to take a natural, organic turn back to Cowan’s acoustic roots.

“For me it’s coming back to something I know really well,” he says. “It’s been a coming home of sorts. We’ve had this line-up of the band for over a year now and the response from the crowds has been overwhelming.”

John Cowan Band “Mississippi Delta Blues”

Enter The Haggis

Tuesday - Jan. 16th, 2007 - $10

Since its conception in 1996, Enter the Haggis (ETH) has built an international touring and recording career based on its unique approach to Celtic-based music and high-energy performances. After the success of 2002’s ‘Enter the Haggis -Live!’, the group teamed up with JUNO nominated producer Joao Carvalho (Slainte Mhath, Pilate, Hawksley Workman) to record its fourth album, ‘Casualties of Retail’ (2004). The result is a strong album and a sound that ETH can call their own.

‘Casualties of Retail’ features the catchy bluegrass-fusion singles “Another Round” and “Gasoline” as well as driving Celtic-rock instrumentals that showcase the group’s arranging and performance talent. The music is primarily a fusion of Celtic, bluegrass and rock, however, elements of Latin, blues and funk can be heard throughout. The instrumental, “Congress”, combines a traditional Irish reel played on electric guitar with Latin percussion as well as a section in which drum sticks are played on acoustic guitar. “Whereas on our earlier records we didn’t spend a long time in the studio, we recorded ‘Casualties of Retail’ over two months” says the group’s bassist Mark Abraham, who originally got a taste of Celtic music while growing up in Cape Breton. “Taking our time gave us the opportunity to experiment, getting everything exactly the way we wanted it. We also worked with some amazing guest musicians.

Enter the HAggis Live

Donna the Buffalo

Thursday - Jan. 4th, 2007 - $25

Donna the Buffalo is an American band from Trumansburg, New York. They play several musical styles: zydeco, jamming, folk-rock, country rock, reggae and bluegrass. They play both originals (primarily written by Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins) and covers. The followers of the group are called ‘The Herd’. The band plays primarily in the Midwest and on the East Coast of the United States. Donna the Buffalo’s music is often sociopolitical in nature, calling for peace and justice. Other songs refer to timeless themes, such as love, birth and death. Donna the Buffalo is the founding and host band of the annual Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance.

Donna the Buffalo Live Recording

Rev. Billy Wirtz, Gunga Din

Saturday - Jan. 13th, 2007 - $10

Reverend Billy C. Wirtz is a comic genius, gifted pianist and American musicologist who defies easy classification. “I like to think of myself as the Victor Borge of the blues,” states the Reverend, but Billy goes way beyond Borge both in scope of subject matter (from politics to social commentary) and, of course, in taste. In fact, no theme is too extreme, taboo, or undignified for the Reverend, so long as it garners a good laugh.

Goateed and copiously tattooed, he is the antithesis of anyone’s ordinary concept of a preacher. Yet, as his name implies, Billy often employs this stage persona to set the scene in a song. Like an itinerant revivalist in a carnival tent, he’ll begin slowly and gradually build to a rapid fire torrent, as if he were whipping the congregation into a frenzy. Accentuating the lyrics with wild hand gesticulations and exaggerated facial expressions, he becomes a comedian, twisted televangelist and barrel house piano player rolled into one. Just when the crowd senses that he’s about to explode in some massive spasm, he’ll compose himself and segue into a slow blues number while asking the assembled multitude to forgive him for being “overcome by the spirit.” Naturally, his fans, the “faithful,” are accustomed to this denouement and even shout “Amen” but not before egging him on to even more histrionics before that ultimate crescendo is reached. “Testify, Billy, testify,” they cry, and the Reverend Billy, gathering strength from their exhortations like a hurricane from warm waters, is always willing to accommodate them.

Rev. Billy Wirtz Live performance