Cafe Eleven

   Peter Mulvey began as a self-described “city kid” from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He played, wrote, and sang in bands while studying theatre at Marquette University. After graduating, he traveled to Ireland, where he learned the trade of busker on the streets of Dublin. Returning to the U.S. a few years later, he settled in Boston, building an audience through street and subway performing, while also immersing himself in the thriving musical community. Since his 2000 release The Trouble with Poets, Mulvey has found a home with the venerable indie label Signature Sounds Recordings. His most recent albums for the Massachusetts label were the 2006 release The Knuckleball Suite, the 2004 release Kitchen Radio, the 2003 collaborative Redbird album (with label-mates Kris Delmhorst and Jeffrey Foucault), and his 2001 CD, Ten Thousand Mornings, an album of cover songs recorded entirely in the subways of Boston. MOJO described the album as “simultaneously Mulvey’s homage to his one-time training ground and a beautifully atmospheric record of gifted interpretations.”

THE WASHINGTON POST: “The subtle power of his voice, a husky, hushed baritone… understated, at once sophisticated and intimate… as cover-worthy as Randy Newman, Elvis Costello and Dar Williams.”

THE IRISH TIMES: “Peter Mulvey is consistently the most original and dynamic of the US singer-songwriters to tour these shores… A phenomenal performer with huge energy, a quick fire, quirky take on life, and an extraordinary guitar style… a joy to see.”

ROLLING STONE.com: “A voice lush and hushed that occasionally sinks into a whisper… imagery made all the more haunting by guitarist/co-writer David Goodrich, whose sundry string bending ranges from loose ramblings around the neck… to freeform explorations that recall John Scofield… surrealistic beauty.”

   Tapes ‘n Tapes’ signature sound is distinctly their own concoction; the shaky vocals, the bursts of low-fi guitars and the haunting keyboard refrains. Whether it is on the opening track, “Le Ruse,” where the first thing you hear is one guitar, crackling like the amp might short-circuit or the last, on the swaggering, “The Dirty Dirty,” with its driving guitar and unrelenting rhythm, the band continue to hone their own brand of jittery rock that has found the sweet spot where experimental song structure meets melodic accessibility.

   It’s Charlie’s mix of wild country abandon seasoned by years of playing urban electric blues in Chicago that spurs the likes of Ben Harper, Tom Waits and Gov’t Mule to welcome Musselwhite onto their stages and records. That same brash, blues/rock rebel vibe was Dan Aykroyd’s inspiration for his Elwood Blues persona, and it’s what has won Musselwhite a pile of blues awards and earned the admiration and respect of his own heroes: Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters. John Lee was even the best man at Charlie’s wedding.

   Over the years, Musselwhite has released dozens of albums and has contributed to countless others including guesting on Bonnie Raitt’s Grammy® award-winning Longing In Their Hearts, The Blind Boys of Alabama’s Grammy-winning SPIRIT OF THE CENTURY, Tom Waits’ MULE VARIATIONS and even playing the driving harmonica on INXS’ SUICIDE BLONDE. He was the longtime compadre and musical partner to his friend John Lee Hooker. His recent tour and recording sessions with Ben Harper have led to live and studio tracks featuring Charlie on the limited edition bonus disc of Ben’s soon-to-be released BOTH SIDES OF THE GUN. Musical institutions have honored Musselwhite, too. With 18 W.C. Handy awards to his credit and 6 Grammy nominations, he is firmly entrenched in musical history. Musselwhite has also been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Monterey Blues Festival and the San Javier Jazz Festival in Spain and the Mississippi Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.

   Dark and minimal while noisy and earnest, the point of this duo was to be as sparse and repetitive as possible with the help of little more than vocals, guitars, and a drum machine. Disenchanted vocals thinly resonate while cloaked in a frenzied undertone of fear and uncertainty, all punctuated by bare drum machine beats. Their debut is a record of melancholic tendency and heartfelt desire; a stripped down symphony relegated between city and country, and made for ears of either side.

   At a time when screaming boys with loud guitars are considered the main purveyors of emotional music, it’s nice to have Matt Pond PA remind us that there are other ways to do it. Matt Pond — the frontman and main songwriter for this Philadelphia indie quintet - is a quiet emoter who, like Elliott Smith or Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie, constructs baroque pop songs with an undercurrent of sadness. Pond can make a tear-jerker out of a slight tremble in his voice or the wail of pedal steel on ramble-shamble rockers such as “Closest (Look Out).” His lyrics veer just near enough to pathos on “New Hampshire,” where he sings, “What you had in your hand/Is much more than the gold that I let go to grab.” In spite of all this, Emblems’ persistent bounce and countrified rhythms keep things almost sunny; the effect can be strangely, gorgeously disorienting.

  &nbspFerrick began her career singing and playing in coffeehouses in the East Village, New York.[1] She received a great deal of publicity in 1991 when she replaced, at the last minute, the opening act for the singer Morrissey on tour. Largely as a result of her standout performances with Morrissey, she was signed to a recording contract with Atlantic Records and released her first studio album Massive Blur in 1993.
Ferrick’s relationship with Atlantic was rocky. She was dropped when her first two albums did not meet the producers’ financial expectations. Nonetheless, Willing To Wait, her second album with Atlantic, is still highly praised by her fans.

In 2000, Ferrick founded her own record label, Right On Records, in a move reminiscent of fellow “folk rocker” Ani DiFranco’s choice to release under Righteous Babe Records. A few of Ferrick’s more recent songs refer to the sometimes constraining nature of being signed with a major label. The first studio album released on her own label was Valentine Heartache. Since her departure from Atlantic, the rise in her popularity has been driven by her fan-base, by reviews in the independent and alternative press, and by word-of-mouth.
In The Eyes of Strangers, released in October 2006, was the sixth album released on her own label. Ferrick partially financed the recording costs for In The Eyes of Strangers with digital downloads of acoustic versions of select songs which fans could purchase directly via her website. In September 2007, she released Live at Union Hall, a live album recorded in Brooklyn, New York. Following her latest live album, she announced her intention of releasing future studio material as singles to be released one at a time digitally prior to compiling into full-fledged albums.[3]
Ferrick’s lyrics are characterized by confessional and highly personal content. She mostly accompanies herself on a Collings OM3 SB acoustic guitar, which she often plays with rapid fingerpicking and complicated riffs. She has also experimented with a range of accompaniments, including, in particular, brass instruments. She is famous for her excellent guitar play, even if critics do not always approve of her songwriting skills.
Melissa Ferrick on stage is claimed to be a totally different experience to listening to her studio albums. Her rigorous touring schedule generally includes more than 150 shows per year. She plays solo gigs in small to medium-sized clubs and numerous festivals, as well as occasionally larger venues accompanied by a band. In 2007, she performed at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival and opened for Indigo Girls and Ani Difranco.

   Bill Callahan (born approximately 1968 or 1969), also known as Smog and (Smog), is an American singer-songwriter born in Silver Spring, Maryland. Callahan began working in the lo-fi genre of underground rock, with home-made tape-albums recorded on four track tape recorders. Later he began releasing albums with the label Drag City. He is currently dating indie folk songstress Joanna Newsom, to whose newest album he contributed on the song “Only Skin.”

   ”Blistering contemporary blues…piercing attack, funky, shivery guitar tones and aggressive, soulful vocals” -Blues Revue

“In a world of blues guitar pretenders, Coco Montoya is the real McCoy. Be prepared to get scorched.”-Billboard

Over the course of his 30-year career, guitarist and vocalist Coco Montoya’s explosive guitar playing and soul-driven voice have propelled him to the upper reaches of the blues-rock world. From his early days as a drummer to his current status as one of the top-drawing guitarists and vocalists on the blues-rock scene, Montoya has forged his reputation through years of hard work and constant touring. And it all started with a chance meeting in the mid-1970s with legendary bluesman Albert Collins, who offered Montoya a gig as his drummer. Albert took an immediate liking to Montoya, becoming his mentor and teaching his new protégé secrets of the Collins “icy hot” style of blues guitar. Five years later, John Mayall happened to catch Montoya at a jam session and was blown away. This led to Montoya’s touring the world for ten years with the legendary Bluesbreakers. Since stepping out as a bandleader in 1993, Montoya has released four solo albums and has performed non-stop at clubs, concert halls and major festivals all over the world. At every show, fans’ jaws dropped, and critics raved about Montoya’s mind-bending guitar licks and impassioned vocals. “The fiery blues that issue forth from Coco Montoya’s guitar are awe-inspiring and boogie requiring,” shouted The Village Voice. “Blistering, pure blues,” cheered Blues Revue. Now, with Can’t Look Back (AL 4885), Montoya turns up the intensity with another dose of his feral, soul-stirring music.

“Willy Porter’s greatest songwriting attribute lies in his quietly reverberating stories.”
— Billboard Magazine

“Milwaukee’s Willy Porter is a dazzling acoustic guitarist with a moody baritone…”
— The Washington Post

“Willy plays rhythms that make me want to crawl inside his guitar and sleep there forever.”
— Tori Amos

“…A master of the acoustic instrument.”
— CMJ New Music Report

“A genre-defying maverick.”
— Frets

“…one of today’s most dexterous acoustic axe men…”
— Relix Magazine

“An acoustic picker with the Olympian speed of Leo Kottke bolstered by rootsy vocals and twisting, offbeat lyrics that evoked John Hiatt…”
— Boston Globe

“Willy Porter’s music demonstrates admirably that the technical excellence of his guitar-playing will never overwhelm the essence of the song itself. In perfect symbiosis, the two disciplines of performance and songwriting combine together to create the unique work for which he is admired by professional peers and audiences alike. Oh - and a pretty damn fine singer too. Thank goodness he doesn’t play the flute.”
— Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull