Cafe Eleven

“Music for me is a language like no other; it is my channel of authenticity. I know I’d only be telling half the truth without it..”
- Tracy Grammer

Born in Homestead, Florida and raised in southern California, Grammer comes from a musical family. Cousin Leo Fortin played double trumpets in Lawrence Welk’s band, while her grandmothers and mother played keyboards and accordion. But it was her guitar-playing father who was her first true inspiration.

“When Dad used to get out his lap steel and electric guitars, we’d invite the neighborhood kids over and sing country songs. I’d sit across from my dad and read the music upside-down so I could turn the pages for him. I developed an ear for harmony early on and hardly ever sang the melody,” she muses, “and it drove my little brother crazy.”

Grammer is currently touring in support of FLOWER OF AVALON (Signature Sounds 2005), her much anticipated solo debut. In January 2006, that album showed up on “Best of” lists and listener polls around the country, and was the
#1 most-played album on folk radio across the United States for 2005. We call this a triumph — a testament to the enduring appeal of Carter’s songwriting, and a sign of good things to come for Grammer as she continues on her solo career.

The Lee Boys are one of America’s finest African-American sacred steel ensembles. This family group consists of three brothers, Alvin Lee (guitar), Derrick Lee and Keith Lee (vocals) along with their three nephews, Roosevelt Collier (pedal steel guitar), Alvin Cordy Jr. (7-string bass) and Earl Walker (drums). Each member began making music at the ages of 7 and 8 in the House of God church they attended in Perrine, FL. Here they underwent a rigorous course of training in a variety of musical instruments, including lap and pedal steel guitars. Born and raised in Miami, each of The Lee Boys grew up in the church where their father and grandfather, Rev. Robert E. Lee, was the pastor and a steel player himself.

’Sacred steel’ is a type of music described as an inspired, unique form of Gospel music with a hard-driving, blues-based beat. The musical genre is rooted in Gospel, but infused with rhythm and blues, jazz, rock, funk, hip-hop, country and ideas from other nations. Influenced by the Hawaiian steel guitar fad of the 1930’s, brothers Willie and Troman Eason brought the electric lap steel guitar into the worship services of the House of God church in Jacksonville, FL. The Pentecostal congregation embraced the soulful sound, and over time this unique sound became the hallmark of the church. The pedal steel guitar was added to the mix and soon became the central instrument. The Lee Boys are part of the fourth generation of musicians in this faith.

   Originally the drummer for the punk band The Mekons, formed at the University of Leeds in 1977, Langford later took up the guitar as other band members left. Since the mid-1980s he has been one of the leaders in incorporating folk and country music into punk rock. Over the years, he has released a number of solo recordings as well as recordings with other bands outside of The Mekons, most notably the Waco Brothers, which he co-founded after moving to Chicago in the early ’90s. He is strongly involved with the Chicago-based independent record label Bloodshot.

   Langford is also a prolific and respected visual artist best known for his striking portraits of country music icons like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley. His paintings appear on bottles and other items for the Dogfish Head Brewery. His multimedia music/spoken-word/video performance, “The Executioner’s Last Songs,” premiered at Alverno College in 2005, and has been performed in several other cities. He also illustrated the comic strip Great Pop Things under the pseudonym Chuck Death. Since 2005 he has been one of the hosts of a weekly radio program, “The Eclectic Company,” broadcast on WXRT 93.1 FM in Chicago. He’s also a regular contributor to This American Life.

   Among Langford’s musical side projects have been the Three Johns (with John Hyatt and John (Phillip) Brennan), who released several albums of drum-machine-fueled punk in the 1980s; the country-punk Waco Brothers (with Dean Schlabowske, Tracey Dear, Alan Doughty, Mark Durante, and Mekons drummer Steve Goulding), who have been recording since 1995; the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, a revolving assortment of Chicago musicians that have backed both Langford and other musicians such as Kelly Hogan; and Ship and Pilot. He soon became a father figure to the local music scene, encouraging many of his labelmates on Bloodshot Records and championing anyone who he thought worthy of scrutiny, often lending his services as a musician or visual artist or inviting local musicians to guest on his releases.

   After 3 albums and ten years of touring and recording, The Helio Sequence (Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel) have recorded their most dynamic, extraordinary work to date. Keep Your Eyes Ahead marries the Portland duo’s signature layered keyboards and impossibly big guitars with crisp songwriting and a newfound appreciation for minimalism. The finger picking on “Shed Your Love” is backed by exquisite strings and ambient noise, but Brandon’s serene, self-assured delivery remains front and center. While songs from the band’s early releases spanned up to 7 minutes, even the longest, lushest, catchiest track on Keep Your Eyes Ahead (fiery anthem “Hallelujah”) clocks in at 4 and a half minutes, evidence of just how refined their craft has become. Vocals were recorded spontaneously in bedroom closets and living rooms, which may explain the haunting urgency you hear in Brandon’s voice, especially on driving tracks like “Keep Your Eyes Ahead.” The band also took its time on the album.

“It’s the most solid album in the group’s discography, haunting with moments of near perfection.”—Alternative Press

“This confident piece of work is like mannah from the heavens for college rock fans, freshening up loose, rhythmic song structures with a charming lo-fi aesthetic.”—Billboard

   Blending Malian, American and “Dirty South” influences into a sound all its own, Toubab Krewe “has set a new standard for fusions of rock ‘n’ roll and West African music,” says Banning Eyre at Afropop Worldwide.

Since forming in early 2005, the magnetic instrumental quintet has been credited with bridging the gap between West African and American music unlike any group before them, quickly winning a diverse and devoted following at top venues such as the Bonnaroo and Vegoose festivals to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Their live shows and self-titled debut album have won international acclaim from the New York Times, Global Rhythm, fRoots, NPR and more.

The members of Toubab Krewe developed their unique sound over the course of numerous extended trips to Mali, Guinea, and Ivory Coast, where they immersed themselves in the local culture and studied and performed with luminaries such as Lamine Soumano, Vieux Kante, Madou Dembele and Koungbanan Conde. The band kicked off 2007 in Essakane, Mali, where they played the legendary Festival of the Desert, known as the most remote festival in the world.

The band is currently working on their sophomore album with Grammy winning producer Steven Heller, slated for release in early 2008.

   The Mountain Goats are one of the more unusual bands to find shelter under the ever-expanding umbrella term of indie rock. Hyper-prolific and militantly lo-fi, there are over a hundred Mountain Goats songs scattered across compilations and label samplers, most of them recorded (by choice) on a department-store boom box. Although many musicians have contributed to Mountain Goats releases, by far the person most identified with the outfit is singer/guitarist John Darnielle. (In fact, many Mountain Goats tracks feature only Darnielle’s nasal bleat and his primitive yet frenzied acoustic guitar.) Taking the name from the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins song “Big Yellow Coat,” Darnielle donned the Mountain Goats moniker in 1991 while working as a nurse in a California State hospital and began releasing cassette-only albums for the Shrimper label. Despite attracting a devoted underground following (or, possibly, because of it) the Mountain Goats continued to release songs in cassette form only for many years, using tape hiss as, virtually, an additional instrument.

Lyrics are also essential with the Mountain Goats. Highly literate and full of metaphor, many of Darnielle’s songs fit together to form a larger narrative than they would alone. The “Going to…” series, the “Songs for…” series and the “Alpha” series (which chronicles a dysfunctional couple) are some of the Mountain Goats’ more notable song cycles. But many of the Mountain Goats’ songs stand alone and present Darnielle’s skewed take on the mundane. Besides innumerable compilation tracks, the Mountain Goats have also released many 7″ singles for over a dozen labels. Their full-length albums include Nine Black Poppies and Zopilote Machine (both released in 1995), Sweden (1996), Full Force Galesburg (1997), and Nothing for Juice (1997). Protein Source of the Future…NOW! and Bitter Melon Farm (both 1999 releases) collected many early tape tracks and singles. Sweden and The Coroner’s Gambit appeared a year later.

Darnielle began the new millennium with records for Absolutely Kosher (The Coroner’s Gambit) and Shrimper (Sweden) before signing to 4AD for the release of the surprisingly polished Tallahassee in 2002. We Shall All Be Healed followed in 2004, and one year later Darnielle was back with The Sunset Tree. Remaining prolific as ever, Darnielle turned away from the intensity of The Sunset Tree for a calmer, more reflective set of songs on 2006’s Get Lonely. The accessible and assured Heretic Pride appeared in 2008. ~ Jason Nickey, All Music Guide

   Vampire Weekend came to public attention via a variety of blogs, first on the African music audioblog “Benn loxo du taccu”[3] and then six months later on Stereogum,[4]on which they claimed to “want to be like the nogs” leading many to cite them as another example of the “blog band” phenomenon. The band is influenced by both African popular music and Western classical music. They describe their genre of music as “Upper West Side Soweto”, performing such songs as “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” which references Congolese soukous music.

“Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” was #67 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[5] The band made a television appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman on February 1, 2008, and on March 8, 2008, performed on Saturday Night Live.

The members of the band met while attending Columbia University. Lead vocalist Ezra Koenig and drummer Chris Tomson first collaborated as members of the comedy-rap band “L’Homme Run”.[6]

The band takes its name from a film they made together titled Vampire Weekend. The film told the story of a boy named Walcott charged by an elder to dispatch a vampiric horde in Cape Cod and escape. The song “Walcott” from their debut album details the plot of the film.

They were declared “The Year’s Best New Band” by the March 2008 issue of Spin magazine and were the first band to ever be shot for the cover of the magazine before releasing their debut CD. [1]

The band also played on the BBC TV program Later with Jools Holland on Friday 29th February alongside Supergrass and The Kills.

On March 8, 2008, Vampire Weekend was featured on NBC’s Saturday Night Live as the musical guest with host Amy Adams. They performed “A-Punk” and “M79″.

They were also MTV’s Artist of the Week for the week of March 3, 2008, being featured during commercials and show credits.