Hey – it’s the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day so please be safe out there, drive defensively and expect DWI blanket patrols.

3/12/10: Today’s Tips: Friday

Celtic Cavalcade: The Irish Music Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Be Here Now: Sisters in Soul @ Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, 3/14/10

Musical Maverick Malcolm Cecil & SuperStringz @ Sand Lake Center for the Arts, 3/13/10

ArtBeat: What To See

Be Here Now: Capathia Jenkins & Louis Rosen @ the Eighth Step at Proctors, 3/12/10

Celebrating Caffe Lena With Mary McCaslin

Thanks to everyone who stopped by, commented or wrote to us. You make Nippertown a better place to be. See you next week!

Okay, somebody give Andrzej a valium. We barely kept up with him this week:

LIVE: John Ellis & Double-Wide @ Red Square, 3/4/10
LIVE: David Calarco’s Jazz Conclave feat. Ron Petrides @ Justin’s, 3/5/10
LIVE: The Holmes Brothers @ The Egg, 3/5/10
LIVE: The Blasters @ Valentine’s Music Hall, 3/5/10
LIVE: Chip Taylor @ The Linda, 3/5/10
LIVE: Poetry Out Loud @ The Linda, 3/6/10
LIVE: Richie Havens @ the Eighth Step at Proctors, 3/6/10
LIVE: Dave Mason & Leon Russell @ The Egg, 3/6/10
LIVE: Michael Eck @ Caffe Lena, 3/7/10

Driving Rain Music unleashed a brilliant Nippertown-centric video on the world: Theme To Nippertown

Andy Maroney let us know that Bandaoke is Back!

It’s the Battle of the Battle of the Bands

Media Watch: Chronogram Does Greenberger

DVD Review: “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Live” Nine-DVD Box Set
CD Review: Alkaline Trio’s “This Addiction”

Mark O’Connor, What Was the First Album You Ever Bought?
Bettye LaVette, What Was the First Record You Ever Bought?
Keller Williams, What Was the First Album You Ever Bought?
George Millar, What Was the First Album You Ever Bought?
Five Firsts: Mary McCaslin
Five Firsts: Voley Martin of Bulletproof Messenger

Mark Linkous, you will be missed.

Don’t forget to mark your calendar: New Concerts @ The Egg and Comin’ Soon…

These are just highlights of the week. Click here to see every single we posted.

Congratulations to Steven N. who won a pair of tickets to see Sisters in Soul featuring Marcia Ball, Bettye LaVette and Maria Muldaur on Sunday at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

Be sure to stop back next week for more exciting giveaways!

“Well, my mom really started buying me albums before I really knew to buy albums, so that’s kind of a gray area for me.

I remember that my first albums were classical. But when I was eight or nine years old, I discovered Doug Kershaw and Johnny Cash, and my mom started buying their albums for me.

We both liked those two artists quite a lot.”

Genre-smashing violinist Mark O’Connor teams up with classical guitarist Sharon Isbin in concert at The Egg in Albany at 3pm Sunday.

If you happen to find yourself at home on Sunday, you might want to check out a couple of marvelous music shows that are slated to be broadcast by WMHT-TV:

5pm Sunday: “Independent Lens: Young@Heart”
A delightful 2007 documentary about the Young@Heart Chorus, an inspiring vocal group of Western Massachusetts senior citizens, whose repertoire consists of such songs as James Brown’s “I Feel Good,” the Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” and Sonic Youth’s “Schizophrenia.”

9pm Sunday: “Great Performances: Pete Seeger’s 90th Birthday Celebration From Madison Square Garden”
A gala celebration and all-star concert honoring legendary folk singer Pete Seeger on his 90th birthday – May 3, 2009 – featuring Bruce Springsteen, Peggy Seeger, John Mellencamp, Roger McGuinn, Dave Matthews, Taj Mahal, Kris Kristofferson, Ani DiFranco, Emmylou Harris, more. (The broadcast will be co-hosted by Nippertown’s own Michael Eck.)

NOTE: As a public service, we here at Nippertown.com would also like to warn you that in between those two fabulous shows, WMHT-TV will be broadcasting “Michael Bolton at Royal Albert Hall” at 7:30pm, providing you with the perfect opportunity to take some time off for a quiet Sunday dinner.

Hey, look…we’ve got a new format for this category!

New Calls:

Upstate Artists Guild seeks entries for The Yellow Show (Deadline: April 16, 2010)

The Tang is seeking entries for For You, works by artists who have passed away but whose work and memory continue to impact individuals in the greater Capital Region. (Deadline: May 14)

EMPAC is seeking proposals for its 2010-2011 Dance Movies Commission. Selected artists receive awards ranging up to $30,000. The commission has funded thirteen projects in the last four years, including a finger puppet musical, a poetic autobiography shot entirely in Mozambique, a film were three street kids in the streets of Rio seem to juggle air, and a video installation created through 3D laser scanning.

In addition to the funding, artists can also apply to create their works in conjunction with the Artist-in-Residence program at EMPAC. Works commissioned may take advantage of EMPAC’s spaces and technology, using infrastructure such as computer-controlled rigging or large-scale immersive studio environments. (Deadline: April 15, 2010)

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Previously:

(Via Berkshire ArtStart) DownStreet Art is seeking guest curators for the third year of their highly successful public art initiative, which aims to revitalize downtown North Adams. Running from the end of June through mid-October, it begins with a kick-off celebration on June 24th; holds three “DownStreet Art Thursdays” (with all galleries hosting opening receptions and downtown performances); and it all culminates in North Adams Open Studios weekend on October 17th. (Deadline: March 15)

Fulton Street Gallery is accepting submissions for the 32nd Photo Regional, open to artists within a 150 mile radius of the Capital Region. The show runs from March 26-May 22. Submit up to 5 works. (Deadline: March 21)

Farm Film Fest III, originally scheduled for March 7, was been postponed due to the recent death of Crandall Theatre owner Tony Quirino. A new date will be announced later this year. However, they’re still seeking short films about farms, farming and/or the role farming plays in the local economy and food system. DVD entries should be 5 – 20 minutes long. For more info, contact mgbiebel@chathamkeepfarming.org. The entry deadline has been extended to March 15, 2010.

Hudson’s Limner Gallery is seeking etnries for Direct Art Magazine 2010: Competition for $26,000 in publication awards, including front and back covers, feature articles and display pages in the Fall 2010 edition of Direct Art Magazine, distributed to Barnes and Noble, Borders and specialty book stores. (Deadline March 31)

The Arts Center in Saratoga is currently accepting submissions for consideration for exhibitions for 2011. To be added to the mailing list to receive the call for submissions, call them at (518) 584-4132, email edubben@saratoga-arts.org OR download a prospectus. (Deadline: March 31, 2010)

The Saugerties Chamber of Commerce is accepting proposals for a public art project, “Hors’n Around Saugerties 2010.” Artists will decorate fiberglass horses which will be displayed throughout the village in July and auctioned off for charity in September. (Deadline April 1.)

Albany Center Gallery is seeking donated art for Knock It Off (PDF), a benefit party on April 23 from 6-9pm. Artworks should reinterpret well-known artworks or anything that inspires you. Whether an old master painting, classic modern, pop or postmodern, nature, bubble gum rapper, all styles and forms of expression are encouraged. Works will be auctioned off to benefit the ACG’s exhibitions and programs. (Deadline: April 5)

WMHT is soliciting original, independently-made short films for the second season of TvFILM, a weekly series spotlighting local independent filmmaking. Here’s the application form. (Deadline: April 16)

The Arts Center at Old Forge is accepting entries for a show entitled Art, Poetry and Tall Tales, slated to run from May 9 – June 6. $30 entry fee ($20 members). (Deadline for shipped work is April 23, for digital writing submissions is April 26 and for hand delivery is May 1.)

The Jay Street Gallery in Schenectrady has announced their show schedule for the year. Contact them to have your work considered for an upcoming show.

• April 16-May 18: Go Green
• May 21-June 15: Self-Portrait
• June 18-July 13: Media Madness
• July 16-August 17: Member Show
• Aug 20-Sept 14: Sculpture (3D)
• Oct 17-Oct 12: Sex, Religion and Politics
• Oct 15-Sept 14: Fear Unmasked

Greene County Council on the Arts has announced their 2010 Calls For Entries. There are no entry fees but membership in the GCCA is required to participate in any show.

• For the exhibit “Outside the Lines 2010 + Pieces of Peace Youth Exhibit,” GCCA is seeking submissions from schools, art instructors, homeschoolers and community groups for a youth art show. Submissions should be 6″x6″ square children’s illustrations in response to the questions, “What does peace look like to me?” Info packet here (PDF). Exhibit runs from April 17-June 12, 2010. (Deadline for registration is March 30, 2010)
• 2000-2010 Define the Decade: a juried group exhibition inviting creative responses to a tumultous decade. Exhibit dates: June 19-August 14, 2010. (Application deadline: May 1)
• Wish You Were Here: A juried landscape exhibition based on experiences in the Catskill Park. Exhibit dates: October 16-Nov. 13, 2010. (Application deadline: September 1)
• Salon 2010: The Push Pin Show. The GCCA’s annual unjuried holiday exhibition and sale, open to all members. Exhibit dates: November 20, 2010-January 15, 2011. (Application deadline: November 1, 2010)
• Addiitonally, GCCA is accepting applications for review for solo and curated group shows. (Deadlines: May 1 and December 1.)

MORE:
Opportunities at Art Times
Opportunities at Berkshire Creative
Opportunities at Berkshire ArtStart
Opportunities at Saratoga Arts Center
Opportunities at NYFA

Last Friday night one of the area’s premier jazz clubs was converted into a makeshift recording studio – complete with a Grammy-winning sound engineer behind the huge mixing board that straddled at least two tables at Justin’s Savoy Room.

Bandleader David Calarco sat patiently behind the drum kit, holding his sticks and eager to launch into the first number. Recording engineer Malcolm Cecil and the two video camera operators were exchanging last minute words with session-leader Ron Petrides, his electric hollow-body guitar hanging around his neck. The third member of the ensemble John Menegon stood nearby holding his upright acoustic bass and listening intently.

Within minutes, the trio exploded with fluid guitar runs, swinging beats and running bass lines. No originals were played all night, but the mix of modern jazz standards – including a up-tempo version of Monk’s “Rhythm-a-ning” – showed everyone there that the group really knew their stuff.

Calarco and Menegon are no strangers to the Nippertown jazz scene or Justin’s, for that matter. Both have played in the region with some top jazz names throughout the years. (Calarco recently collaborated with trumpet legend Randy Brecker for two sold-out shows at the Van Dyck.) But Petrides was new to the club and the area. His fingers effortlessly owned the fret-board with every note he played. His style evoked the memory of jazz guitar greats Jim Hall, Joe Pass and Herb Ellis.

Smiles kept shooting between the three band members as the evening closed with a rousing version of Eddie Harris’ “Freedom Jazz Dance.”

Review and photographs by Andrzej Pilarczyk

NOTE: Guitarist Ron Petrides will be performing as a member of the trio SuperStringz at the Sand Lake Center for the Arts in Averill Park at 8pm Saturday, while drummer David Calarco and bassist John Menegon will join saxman Brian Patneaude at Justin’s in Albany at 9pm on Sunday.

First, the College of Saint Rose and The Times Union teamed up to sponsor a battle of the bands that they’ve dubbed “Garage to Glory.”

Now the Saratoga Performing Arts Center has teamed up with WEQX-FM for its own battle of the bands, which they’ve dubbed “SPAC Battle of the Bands.”

Like the “Garage to Glory” competition, band submissions for the SPAC battle must be made through YouTube. One of the ten finalists will be selected by online voting; the others will be chosen by the panel of judges: Ten Year Vamp’s Debbie Gabrione, restauranteur-blogger Matt Baumgartner and WEQX’s Jason Irwin. Deadline for entries is Wednesday, April 14.

The ten finalists will each perform a 15-minute set on Friday, May 21. (No, your band won’t get the chance to play on the big SPAC stage. The competition is being held in the 500-seat Spa Little Theater.)

The grand prize winner will receive a professionally recorded 5-song EP from The Recording Company, airplay on WEQX-FM, custom t-shirts, stickers and web presence on SPAC’s website through the end of the year.

NOTE: Although there’s no fee to enter the SPAC battle of the bands, all applicants must agree to purchase 25 tickets at $15 each (a total of $375, for you non-math majors) if selected as one of the 10 finalists. Hmmmm…

Meanwhile, regarding the “Garage to Glory” battle, the finalists have been announced: 3MinutePop!, the Ill Funk Ensemble, the Providers, Try Sarah Topps and Saving Atlantis. Two bands – Lunic and Eric Margan & the Red Lions – dropped out of the competition because they were unable to perform at the final battle, which is being held at the College of St. Rose at 7pm on Friday, March 19.

Oh boy!

Maria Muldaur, Marcia Ball and Bettye LaVette – all in one concert at 7pm on Sunday and the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

We here at Nippertown.com are very excited about this concert, and we’re giving away a pair of tix for the show. Just go here for details. We’ll be picking a winner later today, so enter now.

And we were going to write this big, long story about what an incredible soul singer Ms. LaVette is. We were going to rave about previous performances of her’s that we’ve seen at the Iron Horse Music Hall and the Freihofer’s Jazz Festival. But then we realized that we didn’t have to. All we really need to do is give you the opportunity to hear her sing. So here you go, Bettye LaVette singing the Who’s “Love Reign O’er Me” at the Kennedy Center Honors:

We’ll see you at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on Sunday!

Today marks the beginning of St. Patrick’s Day. (If you still think that St. Patrick’s Day is just a one-day celebration, well, then you probably haven’t lived here in O’Nippertown very long, have you?)

NOTE: Please be careful out there. And, oh yeah, stay away from the green beer and stick with the Guinness, will ya?

So, here’s a little round-up of where to go to hear some great Celtic music between now and Wednesday. If anyone has any other suggestions, please bring ‘em on:

TONIGHT
Emerald Dawn @ the Irish Mist, Troy (6pm)
Grada, Sarah the Fiddler @ the Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, Mass. (7pm)
Altan @ the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy (8pm)
The Band of the Irish Guard @ Proctors, Schenectady (8pm)
St. James Gate @ the Bread & Jam Cafe, Cohoes 8pm)
Who’s Your Paddy @ McIntyre’s, Watervliet (8pm)
Hair of the Dog @ Christ Our Light Church, Colonie
Searson @ the Parting Glass, Saratoga Springs (9pm)
The Fighting 86’s @ the Irish Times, Saratoga Springs (9:30pm)

SATURDAY, PARADE DAY
Nelson Rock & Forthlin Road @ Jillian’s, Albany (11am)
The Fighting 86’s @ the Irish Times, Saratoga Springs
Who’s Your Paddy @ Albany Hibernians Hall, Albany (12:30pm)
Frank Jaklitsch @ Albany Hibernians Hall, Albany (2pm)
Flynn 529 @ Beff’s, Albany (4pm)
Hair of the Dog @ the Parting Glass, Saratoga Springs (two shows: 7/9:30pm)
Sean Quinn @ Schenectady Hibernian Hall, Schenectady (7pm)
Big Bad Bullocks @ the Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, Mass. (7pm)
Frank Jaklitsch @ St. Henry’s Church, Averill Park (7:30pm)
The Broken String Band @ Jose Malone’s, Troy (8pm)

SUNDAY
Jeff Strange @ the Parting Glass, Saratoga Springs (noon)
The Fighting 86’s @ McGeary’s, Albany (2pm)
Frankie Gavin & De Dannan @ the Parting Glass, Saratoga Springs (5pm)
Frank Jaklitsch @ the Irish Mist, Troy (5pm)
Dublin’s Irish Cabaret @ the Palace Theatre, Albany (5pm)

MONDAY
The Battlefield Band @ the Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, Mass. (7pm)

TUESDAY
Lawson @ the Irish Mist, Troy (6pm)
Celtic Crossroads @ The Egg, Albany
Frankie Gavin & De Dannan @ the Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, Mass. (7pm)

WEDNESDAY, THE REAL ST. PATRICK’S DAY
Frank Jaklitsch @ the Irish Mist, Troy (8am)
The Fighting 86’s @ McGeary’s, Albany (11:30am)
Jeff Strange, Adirondack Highlanders Pipe & Drum Band, Ballston Spa Marching Band, Nelson Rock & Forthlin Road @ the Parting Glass, Saratoga Springs (12noon)
The Broken String Band, George Ward & the San Patricios, Lawson @ Jose Malone’s, Troy (12noon)
Emerald Dawn @ the Irish Times, Saratoga Springs (12noon)
Sean & Tom Quinn @ Schenectady Hibernian Hall, Schenectady (12noon)
Flynn 529 @ Bentley’s, Malta (12:30pm)
St. James Gate @ the Rusty Nail, Clifton Park (3pm)
Frank Jaklitsch @ McIntyre’s, Watervliet (3pm)
The Fighting 86’s @ the Irish Times, Saratoga Springs (6pm)
Flynn 529 @ Beff’s, Albany (6pm)
St. James Gate @ Bentley’s, Malta (6pm)
Triskele @ the Irish Mist, Troy (6:30pm)
Who’s Your Paddy @ Schenectady Hibernian Hall, Schenectady (7pm)
The Fiddle Group @ Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs (7pm)
Zoe Darrow & the Fiddleheads @ the Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, Mass. (7pm)
Hair of the Dog @ Revolution Hall, Troy (8pm)

If you were at Justin’s in Albany last Friday night, you probably noticed the white-haired gentleman crouched over the over-sized mixing board. While jazz guitar master Ron Petrides was firing up his six-string alongside dynamic Castleton drummer David Calarco and bassist extraordinaire John Menegon, engineer Malcolm Cecil was busy recording and filming the evening’s musical magic for an upcoming live DVD release.

This Saturday night, Cecil will take off his headphones, pick up his bass and step into the spotlight to join Petrides and cellist Garfield Moore as they kick off the 2010 concert season at the Sand Lake Center for the Arts in Averill Park. The trio calls themselves SuperStringz.

But that’s only the latest chapter in the long and revolutionary musical career of London-born Malcolm Cecil.

What you might not know about Cecil is that he and his equally madcap musical partner Robert Margouleff ushered in a whole new era of sonic exploration as the pioneering electronic music duo Tonto’s Expanding Head Band.

In fact, Cecil designed and built TONTO – The Original New Timbral Orchestra – which was the world’s first and still the largest multi-timbral, polyphonic analog audio synthesizer.

As Tonto’s Expanding Head Band, Cecil and Margouleff coaxed and cajoled a stunning array of sounds from TONTO to create the mind-blowing 1971 super-synth album, “Zero Time,” which became a staple of late-night DJs on the underground FM radio stations of the day.

In The All Music Guide, Steven McDonald hails the album as “a revolutionary piece of work that set out to explore the capabilities of the synthesizer with no regard for conceptions of pop success. ‘Zero Time’ is still considered to be a turning point in the use of synthesizers in contemporary music.”

Also in the Guide, Jim Brenholts bluntly declares, “‘Zero Time’ is one of the first – and perhaps best – of all electronic albums.”

As Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo says, “Once upon a time, Tonto represented the cutting edge of artificial intelligence in the world of music – Robert and Malcolm are the mad chefs of aural cuisine with beefy tones and cheesy timbres, making brain chili for those brave enough and hungry enough. Consequently, back in the cultural wasteland of the Midwest, the release of Tonto’s Expanding Head Band was an inspirational indicator for starving Spudboys who had grown tired of the soup du jour. It was official – noise was now Muzak, and Muzak was now noise. The masses are asses who need Tonto’s glasses.”

Continuing to work with TONTO, Cecil’s post-Expanding Head Band days found him crawling out of the underground and into the Top Ten. He engineered and co-produced a string of Stevie Wonder’s finest albums – “Music of My Mind”, “Talking Book” “Fulfillingness’ First Finale” and “Innervisions” – which earned him a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording (‘73), as well as awards for engineering the Album of the Year two years running (‘73 & ‘74).

Want to hear more credits? Cecil’s got lots of them. He also produced, engineered, played bass and/or created unique electronic musical soundscapes on groundbreaking albums by such diverse artists as T-Rex, Minnie Ripperton, Rogue Wave, Stan Getz, Joan Baez, Ginger Baker, the Isley Brothers, Steve Hillage, James Taylor, Weather Report, Little Feat, Richie Havens, Stephen Stills, Gil Scott-Heron, Van Dyke Parks, Quincy Jones, Randy Newman and many more.

SuperStringz – featuring Malcolm Cecil, Ron Petrides and Garfield Moore – will perform at the Sand Lake Center for the Arts in Averill Park at 8pm on Saturday. Tix are $16.

MUSIC: Altan @ the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy. Celebrating their 25th anniversary, fiddler-vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh leads the fabulous acoustic Celtic ensemble into the most acoustically perfect theater in all of Nippertown. 8pm. $20, $25, $29.

MUSIC: Sam Bush @ The Egg, Albany. Simply a genius of the mandolin. 8pm. $28.

MUSIC: Mary McCaslin and Garnet Rogers @ Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs. Two great singer-songwriter-storytellers return to town in celebration of Caffe Lena. 8pm. $25.

MUSIC: Carpathia Jenkins & Louis Rosen @ the Eighth Step at Proctors, Schenectady. She sings, and he writes the music and plays guitar. Together the duo presents “One Ounce of Truth,” a collection of songs based on the poetry of Nikki Giovanni. 7:30pm. $26.

MUSIC: Carrie Underwood @ the Times Union Center, Albany. With Craig Morgan, Sons of Sylvia. She’s racked up 5 Grammys, 5 American Music awards, 5 Country Music Association awards, 8 Academy of Country Music awards and 14 Billboard Music awards. Not bad for a gal who sang “MacArthur Park” on “American Idol.”

MUSIC: The M Shanghai String Band @ the Piggy Bank, Beacon. The best neo-old-timey band in the land. 8pm. Free.

The members of opening act Scrapomatic settled into their chairs onstage at The Egg. Vocalist Mike Mattison thanked the headliners not only for the opportunity to share a stage with them, but also for their dedication to keeping the American music tradition alive.

“Here’s a song that we wrote,” Mattison added. “It’s called ‘Louisiana Anna.’ 1,2…”

Suddenly, his introduction was interrupted by the intrusive ring tone of a cell phone. While members of the crowd began casting accusatory glances at their fellow audience members, Mattison sheepishly reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out his cell phone, turned it off and put it away.

Not exactly an auspicious beginning…

But wait, there’s more…

When the Holmes Brothers walked onstage for their headline show, Wendell Holmes sat down at the grand piano, brother Sherman Holmes strapped on his bass and Popsy Dixon stepped behind the drums – and began searching for a pair of drumsticks, which were nowhere to be found.

After dispatching a crew member to track down the missing sticks, Popsy walked up to the front ‘n’ center mic and sang a heavenly rendition of the gospel classic, “Precious Lord.” Whether that was the song they intended to start the show with, or whether it simply out of necessity, it was glorious.

Gospel has long been an integral element in any Holmes Brothers show, and on Friday night, once Dixon’s wayward drumsticks were finally in hand, the trio balanced their sacred music with roadhouse blues, much of it culled from their brand new album, “Feed My Soul.”

Then they spiced it all up with a pinch of country (a marvelous version of Jim Reeves’ oldie, “He’ll Have to Go”), Jimmy Reed’s rockin’ “Big Boss Man,” a bit of jazz guitar from Wendell and a pair of Beatles’ songs, too.

While the gruff baritones of Wendell and Sherman anchored such gems as “Dark Cloud,” “The Edge of the Ledge” and “Jesus on the Mainline,” it was Dixon’s keening falsetto that brought a real edge to the deeply heartfelt music.

Scrapomatic, too, recovered nicely from their opening embarrassment. When Mattison was at The Egg in December, he was singing in front of a sold-out crowd in the big theater, fronting the Derek Trucks Band. On Friday, in front of a small crowd that barely filled one third of the small theater, Mattison sang just as marvelously.

Scrapomatic’s brand of the blues is considerably more intimate than Trucks’, but the relaxed, sit-down performance by Mattison and guitarists Paul Olsen and David Yoke was no less moving or intense.

With songs like “The Long Way Home,” the soul-strolling “Hook, Line & Sinker” and the Rev. Gary Davis’ classic “I Belong to the Band,” the trio hit the bullseye, and Mattison’s mesmerizing vocal stylings offered plenty of variety from the jazz scatting of “Lotus” to the whistling solo on “Killing Yourself on Purpose” to his soaring falsetto on “Crime Fighter.”

If only Mattison and Popsy Dixon had teamed up for a falsetto duet…

Photographs by Andrzej Pilarczyk

Read my review in The Times Union

SECOND OPINION:
In The Daily Gazette, Michael Hochanadel wrote, “Scrapomatic sang new songs that sounded salvaged from some ancient jukebox, but the Holmes Brothers — soulful graybeards a generation older — played ancient songs in often startling ways. We knew they’d sing blues and gospel, but they still surprised.”

We’re giving away a pair of tickets to see Altan @ The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on Friday and we’re choosing the winner this afternoon!

Congratulations to Lorre S, who won a pair of free tickets to see Altan tomorrow (Friday) at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

We still have a contest running to see Sisters in Soul, featuring Marcia Ball, Bettye LaVette and Maria Muldaur at the Music Hall on Sunday. And we’ll have more contests next week, so be sure to stop back.

The forecast is not looking good for Art Omi’s free stargazing party on Saturday night, but there’s plenty else to see and do.

Tristan Lowe: Mocha Dick @ Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown. Loew has constructed a 52-foot-long sculpture of the fabled whale from industrial wool felt. Free. (Through August 8). Opening Saturday, March 13.

Landscapes of the Mind @ Williams College Museum of Art. A symposium that brings together artists and neuroscientists for an afternoon of talks and discussions about creativity, visualizing the brain, and finding connections where art and science meet. Saturday, March 13. 1-5pm. Free.

Mediterranean Light: The Artistic Imagination of Italy @ The Clark, Williamstown. To accompany the Giovanni Boldini in Impressionist Paris exhibition, Judith Meighan, associate professor in the history of art at Syracuse University, presents a lecture focusing on art in Italy in the late nineteenth century in her lecture. Sunday, March 14, at 3 pm. The Boldini show continues through April 25. The lecture and museum admission are both free.

Ida Weygandt: Walking Home @ Carrie Haddad Photographs, Hudson. Large format color photographs. Also featured is work by Elliot Kaufman and Kelly Shimoda. (Through April 18) Free. Opening reception Saturday, March 13 6-8pm.

Inside/Outside: Paintings by Dana Clancy and Ben Schwab @ Lake George Arts Project, Courthouse Gallery, Lake George. Two painters examine our spatial relationships with the built world, interior and exterior architecture (Through April 16) Free. Opening reception Saturday March 13 4-6pm.

PQ:100 @ The Center For Photography, Woodstock. Works that have been featured on the first 100 covers of CPW’s journal, PQ (Photography Quarterly). Artists include: Anonymous, Shelby Lee Adams, Thomas Allen,Lili Almog, Eugene Atget, Christine Back, Lillian Bassman, Dawoud Bey, Martin Brading, Tim Bradley, Debbie Fleming Caffery,Keith Carter, Linda Connor, Joseph Cornell, Tony Culver, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Judy Dater, Bruce Davidson, Jen Davis, Mike Disfarmer, Will Faller, James Fee, Michael Feinberg, Donna Ferrato, Ann Fessler, Michael Fredericks, Ralph Gibson, Jaimie Lyle Gordon, Ruzzie Green, Kathy Grove, Betty Hahn, Judith Harold-Steinhauser, Richard Hill, Dana Hoey, Horst P. Horst, Kevin Hyde, Graciela Iturbide, Derek Johnston, Larry Jordan, Colleen Kenyon, Kathleen Kenyon,Birgit Kleber, John Kleinhans,Eric Krieger, Barbara Kruger, Nina Kuo, Andrea Land, Gay Leonhardt, Eric Lindbloom, Carlos Loret de Mola, Mary Mattingly,Tim Maul, Dan McCormack, Sheila Metzner, Mark Mignogna, Brad Moore,Stacy Renee Morrison, Sarah Morthland, Patrick Nagatani & Andree Tracey, Luciana Napchan, Bea Nettles, Gary Nickard, Elaine Tin Nyo, Yong Soon Min, Timothy O’Sullivan, Jose Picayo, Tim Portlock, Linda Post, Michael Prince, Vicki Ragan, Lilo Raymond, Martha Rosler, Elliott Schwartz, Jay Seeley, Cindy Sherman, Bernard Silberstein, Aaron Siskind, Mickey Smith, Andrea Barrist Stern, Kunié Sugiura, Robert Toedter, Neil Trager, Hanneke Van Velzen, Robert J. Vizzini, Brian Weil, Edward Weston, Susan Wides, Joel Peter Witkin, and James Wojcik. (Through May 31) Free. Opening reception Saturday, March 13, 5-7pm.

2010 Season Opener @ Riverfront Studios, Schuylerville. Featuring works by Leah McCloskey in the West Gallery and works by Shira Toren in the East Gallery. Also featuring sculptures by Cheryl Horning, Robin Starke, and Linda Van Alstyne. Free. (Through April 23) Opening Reception Saturday, March 13th 5-7pm

Rock, Paper Scissors @ Windham Fine Arts, Windham. Works in stone, works on paper, and works in metal. Artists include Peter Diepenbrock, Lisbeth Firmin, Antonio Perez, Kevin VanHentenryck and Kristine Corso. Free. Opening reception Saturday, March 13 6-9pm. Free.

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle: “Juggernaut” @ William College Museum of Art, Williamstown. In this new video, the pristine, gleaming white salt flats of the El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve are disturbed by the menacing and thundering sounds of human intervention. (Through March 14).

Lives of the Hudson @ The Tang Museum, Skidmore College, Saratoga. (Through March 14).

Oddly Alive @ The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy. Group show featuring the work of Rachel Abrams, Graham Caldwell, Marianne Fourie, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Mayumi Ishino, Sky Kim, and Ven Voisey. (Through March 19).

Robert Roane Beard, Stephen Courbois, Jeanette Fintz and Enrique Kico Govantes: : View Four @ Nicole Fiacco Gallery, Hudson. (Through March 20).

Blane De St. Croix and Danny Goodwin @ The Teaching Gallery, HVCC, Troy. Drawings and photographs representing exploring concepts of representation and the United States’ so-called national security system. Artist Talk with Danny Goodwin on Thursday, March 11, 3-4pm (Through March 20).

The Amazing Acoustaphotophonogrammitron @ MCLA Gallery 51, North Adams. A synesthetic exhibition lavishly brimming with resonant frequencies of sound and light featuring work by makers who find themselves somewhere between visual artist and musician: Joshua Churchill, Paul de Jong, Lesley Flanigan, Christy Georg, Mark Mulherrin, Ed Osborn, Tristan Perich, Ven Voisey and Nick Zammuto. (Through March 21).

Best of 2009 group show @ Troy Photography Center, Troy. (Through March 21).

Michael Joyce: Photographs @ Ultraviolet Cafe, Albany. (Through March 20)

James Juron: Formation-Deforemation @ Fulton Street Gallery, Troy. (Through March 20)

ALSO, Black/White/Shades of Gray @ Fulton Street Gallery, Troy. Art by Linda Bacon, Jude Griffin, Philip Hamm, Emily Kriss, Don Moyer, Debra Salat, Beth Scher, Nanette Shapiro, Doreen Tiernan, Jackie Watsky (Through March 20)

Larry Poons: Recent Paintings @ Esther Massry Gallery, The College of Saint Rose. Large. Colorful. Abstracts. From a giant in the field. Here’s David Brickman’s review from Get Visual. (Through March 21)

Just Desserts @ NAACO Gallery, North Adams. A juried show featuring representations of non-edible artistic delights and objects associated with serving dessert; not all of the art has a literal interpretation of being something sweet, however, as “just desserts” can suggest something entirely different. (Through March 22)

Color and Energy: Wren Panzella & Chris Murray @ Clement Art Gallery, Troy. (Through March 25)

World Unity Corporation Gallery Art Show featuring paintings by Brian Fleming, GG Roberts and KK Herubin and scultpures by Joseph Hyson @ MSK Building, 184 Central Avenue, Albany. (Through March 25)

Brian Cirmo: Land @ Davey Jones Gallery, Albany. (Through 3/26)

An Exhibition in Black and White @ Columbia County Council on the Arts, Hudson. Artists include Aleman/Moore, Keith Batten, Tom Chesnut, Kate Frank Cohen, Sara Conklin, John Cooley, Howard Crouch, Sabina Curti, Chris DeMarco, Peter Donahoe, Timothy Ebneth, Susan Elias, Jerry Freedner, Jane Gennaro, Gail Giles, Peter Gray, Phil Hamm, Alicia Herrmann, Karen Hummel, Maria Kolodziej, Victor Meyers, Jack Millard, Cynthia Mulvaney, Holly Northrop, Martin Rich, Richard Trachtman, Chad Weckler and Sylvie Kantorovitz. (Through March 26)

Slick @ Upstate Artists Guild, Albany. Work in oils and watercolors. (Through March 26)

Margo Mensing: It’s Not Unusual @ Saratoga Arts Center, Saratoga Springs. Multimedia works inspired by American poet Elizabeth Bishop. Here’s Anaba’s review of the show. (Through March 27).

“An Enduring Legacy: American Impressionist Landscapes” @ The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls. On view are 64 landscape paintings by 47 artists who were students and/or sketching partners of such seminal figures in the development of Impressionism in America such as William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, Willard L. Metcalf, John Henry Twachtman, and Robert Henri. Here’s David Brickman’s review. (Through Sunday, March 28)

14th Annual Juried Art Show Exhibition @ Columbia County Council on the Arts, Hudson. Large group show of painters, sculptors, photographers and paper/mixed media artists, including Susan B. Anthony, Fern Apfel, , Keith Batten, Alan Coon, Laura Cannamela, Tom Chesnut, Carole Clark, Anna Cinquemani, Sabina Curti, Chris DeMarco, Jim Flosdorf, Jerry Freedner, Linda Gordetsky, Jane Gennaro, Mimi Czajka Graminski, Katherine Gray, Peter Gray, Juliet Harrison, Patrick Harbron, Katarina Holbrook, Scott Keidong, Maria Kolodziej, Holly Northrop, Mark Olshansky, Daniel Region, Martin Rich, Denise Saint-Onge. Leon Smith, Jean-Marc Superville Slovak, Franklin Tartaglione, Rosalind Tobias, and Win Zibeon. (Through March 28)

Synthesis @ Ten Broeck Mansion, Albany. Featuring work by Chip Lehman, Erin Madsen, Jacob Whitt and Derek Walker with music by The Albany Noise Collective and Lauren Eson. The first of three art shows that will be occurring again in April and May, in order to give art students the opportunity to show their work and network in the local art community. (Through March 28)

Works by John Eric Byers and Pat Horner @ Posie Kviat Gallery, Hudson. (Through March 29)

Carroll Dunham Prints: A Survey @ University Art Museum, UAlbany. Widely known for his comic, hallucinatory paintings, this survey features over 100 prints including lithographs, etchings, drypoints, linocuts, wood engravings, screen prints, digital prints and monoprints all made since 1984. UPDATE: David Brickman reviews the show here. (Through April 3).

What Are You Doing Now? @ Martinez Gallery, Troy. Eighteen artists respond to that question by providing an example of their most current work, from paintings and prints to sculpture, as well commenting on the issues they explore. Includes works by Dan Burkholder, Armando Soto, George Hofmann, Caren Canier, Willie Marlowe, Arlene Baker, Leigh Wen, Tim Cahill, Gay Malin, Dorothy Englander, George Simmons , Sylvie Kantarowitz, Jim Flosdorf, and Anthony Montes, Colin Boyd, Brynna Carpenter and Sean Calhoun. (Through April 11)

Lumina @ Greene County Council on the Arts, Catskill. A juried photography exhibition exploring light as theme, concept and process. (through April 10)

“Material Witnesses: Photographs of Things” @ Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown. This focused exhibition considers how documentary images stand not only as material witnesses to times and places past, but as aesthetic objects that are at once accessible and uncanny. (Through April 11)

The Thread That Binds: Jennifer Hunold + Sierra Furtwangler @ Albany Center Gallery, Albany. Works that merge traditional and historical references with popular culture using fiber as a dominant medium. Closing reception 4/2, 6-8 PM. (Through April 17)

Randy Garber: Reverberations @ Opalka Gallery, Sage College, Albany. (Through April 18)

Giovanni Boldini in Impressionist Paris @ The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown. (Through April 25)

Upstate: Paintings and Constructed Paintings by Russell DeYoung @ Albany Art Room. Work inspired by and evoking post-industrial upstate New York. (Through April 30)

Fe-Mail: Mail Art by Karen Arp-Sandel and Suzi Banks Baum @ Berkshire Art Kitchen, Great Barrington. In conjunction with Women’s History Month and aimed to celebrate women artists, the events focus on the daily-ness of art and the challenges of juggling mothering and creativity. Gallery talk on March 31, 7pm. (Through April 30)

Seeing Ourselves: Masterpieces of American Photography from the George Eastman House Collection @ The State Museum, Empire State Plaza, Albany. Photographs of historic and contemporary moments in American history by Ansel Adams, Mathew B. Brady, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Dorothea Lange, Eli Reed, Alfred Stieglitz and many others. (Through May 9)

“To Rockwell, With Love: Fan Mail and The Saturday Evening Post” @ Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge. Fan correspondence received by Norman Rockwell, archival photographs and the original Saturday Evening Post tearsheets that inspired such lively public response will be on view. (Through May 16).

Living Under The Same Roof @ Hessel Museum of Art and CCS Galleries, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson. An exhibition that examines the idea of the museum’s collection as a system with variable entrances. The public is invited to select works from storage to be seen in a viewing room, with the work displayed in a rotating system according to weekly requests. (Through May 23).

Armed & Dangerous: Art of the Arsenal @ Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield. A showcase, suitable for the entire family, of a large swath of history illustrated by arms and armament. (Through June 6).

The Eternal Light of Egypt: The Photography of Sarite Sanders @ Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany. Egyptian ruins, photographed with infrared film, capture the mysterious radiance and residual spirituality of the land. (Through June 13).

Material Witness @ Albany International Airport Gallery. Drawings, photographs, study models and site specific installations by Rensselaer students imagining new spatial and structural possibilities in found, discard or recycled materials. (Through June 20).

Also, Constable and After: Sir Edwin Manton and the British Landscape @ Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown. An exhibition of art patron Manton’s landscape collection, including John Constable, a pioneer in landscape art and precursor to the Impressionists. (Through June 23).

“‘Rockin’ Robin.’ I thought that was the best-sounding song I’d ever heard in my entire life. I guess I was 11.

It’s interesting that you say ‘bought,’ because we had a jukebox in our house, so for many years I didn’t have to buy any records. All the popular records were on the jukebox. It was so pretty. My family didn’t know that everything old was going to be new again, so it just went by the way.”

The sublime veteran soul singer Bettye LaVette will team up with Maria Muldaur and Marcia Ball for the “Sisters in Soul” concert at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy at 7pm on Sunday.

NOTE: We here at Nippertown.com are very excited about this concert, and we’re giving away a pair of tix for the show. Just go here for details…

Personally, we think the idea of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is ridiculous. Rock and roll ain’t baseball, boys and girls. You can’t boil it down to statistics. It ain’t all about the hits.

Or at least, it shouldn’t be. I mean, really, if there were even a smidge of justice in the world, NRBQ would have been inducted years ago, right? Lenny Kaye? Don’t get me started…

But with this year’s induction ceremony looming on Monday night, we decided to take a look back at the Hall of Fame’s 25-year history, as encapsulated on the 9-DVD box set, “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live,” from Time Life Entertainment. There’s also a more general-consumer-friendly 3-DVD version, as well as an obsessive-only 14-DVD-and-book set (which still doesn’t include any of the omitted performances that are noted later in this story). We decided to take the middle ground.

Yeah, at nine DVDs, it’s pretty massive – 125 performances, as well as induction speeches, acceptance speeches and never-before-seen backstage and rehearsal footage. More than nine hours of bonus material. And none of it has ever been officially available before in any home video form.

But if you think this behemoth box set lays out the entire history of rock and roll (or even the Rock Hall), you are sadly mistaken. In fact, the set is so far from complete that it might make you weep. And what you do get is pretty much a Beetlejuice/Linda Blair kind of whiplash-inducing, head-spinning jumble:

PROBLEM: The performances, speeches and whatever else are not in chronological order. In fact, they’re not in any kind of order whatsoever – not by theme, musical style or era. In fact, watching any one of these nine discs is likely to give you a headache, making you constantly leap back and forth across the history of rock and roll timeline.

The opening disc, for example, begins with the Beatles’ induction in 1988, then the performances jump to Cream (‘93), Roy Orbison (‘87), Creedence (‘93), the Doors (‘93), Buffalo Springfield (‘97), Jefferson Airplane (‘96), Santana (‘98), CS&N (‘97), Jackson Browne (‘04), the Band (‘94), Springsteen (‘99), George Harrison (‘04), Paul McCartney (‘99). If anyone can find a thread of logic, please let us know, OK?

PROBLEM: The performances are split up and spread out through various discs, making any kind of continuity virtually impossible. Disc One, for example, features Eddie Vedder fronting the surviving Doors on “Light My Fire.” Their version of “Break on Through” doesn’t surface until Disc Five, however. And if you want to see their joint rendition of “Roadhouse Blues,” you’ll have to switch over to Disc Seven. That just makes no sense whatsoever. One of the only bands represented by three consecutive songs on the same disc is the Pretenders (“Message of Love,” “My City Was Gone,” “Precious”).

PROBLEM: For the most part, the requisite All-Star Jam is pretty much a sloppy mess, not a mind-altering revelation. This is true whether it’s a bunch of Nippertown bands playing a food bank benefit at Tess’ Lark Tavern or a bunch of multi-millionaire rock superstars at the Hall of Fame. Oh sure, we’ll admit that it’s a hoot to watch Robbie Robertson, Eric Clapton, Melissa Etheridge, John Sebastian and Bonnie Raitt backing up James Taylor on “How Sweet It Is.” And it’s great fun to see Roy Orbison and Bruce Springsteen going toe-to-toe on “Oh Pretty Woman.” But ultimately, the end results are nothing special, and each of those specific performances is pretty much a bona fide disaster.

PROBLEM: And most importantly, there are any number of glaring – and completely unacceptable – omissions, undoubtedly due to contractual hoopla. The Kinks, for example, aren’t represented anywhere except on the final disc of the set, which features performances from the 1995 Concert for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame held at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium, where Ray Davies offers a cruise-control rendition of “All Day and All of the Night.” There are no performances by Bob Dylan (though you can see him strumming along and lurking onstage during the all-star version of “I Saw Her Standing There” that also features Mick Jagger and Bruce Springsteen). No Led Zeppelin, either, although Jimmy Page pops up to play “The Train Kept A-Rollin’” with Jeff Beck, Ron Wood, Joe Perry and Metallica. No Beach Boys. No Supremes, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, David Bowie, Grateful Dead or Simon & Garfunkel. And the list of the missing goes on and on…

All of which is not to say that you can’t find some some truly transcendent, rock and roll golden moments scattered throughout the nine-disc time capsule.

There’s Little Steven Van Zandt’s induction speech of the Rascals (which helped land him his role on “The Sopranos”). Springsteen and the E Street Band backing up Chuck Berry for “Johnny B. Goode.” And Prince’s torrential, absolutely mindboggling guitar work on “While Guitar Gently Weeps.” We might be going waaaaay out on a limb here, but at the moment, we’re thinking that it’s simply the greatest guitar solo we’ve ever seen.

On the other hand, do you really need a nine-DVD brick clopping up your bookshelf when you can see Prince do his magnificent thing anytime you want on YouTube?

So many shows, so little time…
March’s music calendar came in like a lion last weekend, and it’s still roaring loud and proud. Here are a few suggestions for you this weekend:

FRIDAY, MARCH 12
Altan @ the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy
Sam Bush @ The Egg, Albany
Mary McCaslin and Garnet Rogers @ Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs
Capathia Jenkins & Louis Rosen @ the Eighth Step at Proctors, Schenectady
Carrie Underwood @ the Times Union Center, Albany
The M Shanghai String Band @ the Piggy Bank, Beacon (FREE)
Drew De Four @ the Bayou Cafe, Albany
Pajamazon, Divison Theory, Of the Wild and the Tame @ Valentine’s Music Hall, Albany
Searson @ the Parting Glass, Saratoga Springs
St. James Gate @ the Bread and Jam Cafe, Cohoes

SATURDAY, MARCH 13
Keller Williams @ Northern Lights, Clifton Park
A Breath of Mercury CD release party, In the Casket, Downcast, more @ Valentine’s Music Hall, Albany
SuperStringz @ the Sand Lake Center for the Arts, Averill Park
Red Hen @ Old Songs, Voorheesville
Alta Mira @ Troy City Tavern, Troy
Professor Louie & the Crowmatix @ Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs
Hammer of the Gods @ The Egg, Albany
Probing Digit @ Putnam Den, Saratoga Springs
Danielle Gaudin, James Dowen, more @ TJ’s Flightline Pub, Glenville
Sam Bush @ the Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield, Mass.
Hair of the Dog @ the Parting Glass, Saratoga Springs
Harold Ford & the Spirit of Johnny Cash @ Buckboards Saloon, Malta

SUNDAY, MARCH 14
Sharon Isbin and Mark O’Connor @ The Egg, Albany
Isle of Klezbos @ The Linda, Albany
The Brother Kite, the Charlie Watts Riots, Matthew Carefully @ Valentine’s Music Hall, Albany
Bettye LaVette, Maria Muldaur, Marcia Ball @ the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy
Frankie Gavin & DeDannan @ the Parting Glass, Saratoga Springs
Cold, Nonpoint, Bulletproof Messenger, more @ Northern Lights, Clifton Park
Session Americana @ Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs
The Teri Roiger Quartet @ the Stockade Inn, Schenectady
Andy Statman @ the Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, Mass.
The Brian Patneaude Quartet @ Justin’s, Albany

NAME: Mary McCaslin
INSTRUMENT: Guitar, banjo

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … Marty Robbins’ “Gunfighter Ballads & Trail Songs” (Vol. 1 – followed by Vol. 2)

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … Marty Robbins

3. THE FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I EVER OWNED OR PLAYED WAS … an accordion!! (Took up guitar at age 15 – accordion taught me rudimentary music theory)

4. THE FIRST SONG THAT I EVER PERFORMED IN PUBLIC WAS … “Beautiful Brown Eyes”

5. THE FIRST BAND I WAS EVER IN WAS … solo / Mary McCaslin

Mary McCaslin returns to the stage at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs at 8pm Friday, as the coffeehouse continues its Decades Concert series in celebration of the Caffe’s 50th anniversary. McCaslin will team up with Garnet Rogers to represent the ’80s.

What do Jimi Hendrix, the Troggs, reggae star Sister Carol, comedian Sam Kinison, LA punk pioneers X, Cheap Trick, Hank Williams, Jr. and a host of other musicians over the past almost half century have in common?

All of them have performed and recorded singer-songwriter Chip Taylor’s seminal 1960’s hit, “Wild Thing.”

Laid back and possessing a warm, inviting voice, Chip Taylor fronted his trio at The Linda in Albany on Friday night before a small but devoted audience of fans. He sang, strummed his acoustic guitar, occasionally blew a harmonica and shared stories of his long and distinguished career.

At his side, magnificent electric-guitarist and former Van Morrison sideman (the “Moondance” and “Domino” period), John Platania added solid rhythm and colorful solo accents to Taylor’s tales. Bassist Tony Mercadante held down the bottom end beautifully, making the absence of a drummer a moot point.

Taylor finished his show with a set of encore songs, including – of course – a rousing version of “Wild Thing,” complete with a rousing sing-along.

Then he paused with a self-reflecting smile and admitted that he had almost forgotten something – the title song of his new album, “Yonkers, NY.” He quickly rectified the situation, launching into the country-folk flavored song, his weathered and haunting voice vividly conveying his childhood remembrances.

Review and photograph by Andrzej Pilarczyk

SECOND OPINIONS:
In The Daily Gazette, Brian McElhiney wrote, “It felt more like Chip Taylor’s living room than a concert when the legendary songwriter performed at The Linda Friday night. The country singer and guitarist, best known for writing ‘Wild Thing’ and ‘Angel of the Morning,’ held a small crowd spellbound for more than two hours with songs and stories from his latest album, ‘Yonkers NY.’ As the album’s title suggests, the songs deal with Taylor’s childhood in Yonkers, and the show served as a loose narrative of Taylor’s life, from his humble beginnings as James Wesley Voight growing up with brothers Jon and Barry, to playing in one of two country bands in New York State, to his years as a professional gambler.”

Since its humble beginnings in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church in Albany back in 1967, the Eighth Step has always liked to shake things up.

It’s where we saw Dar Williams and Tony Trischka, the late Tom Nattell’s annual marathon Readings Against the End of the World, Ani DiFranco and a guy named Pete Seeger.

And there will be be a whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on at the Eighth Step’s current home at Proctors in Schenectady at 8pm on Friday when Capathia Jenkins and Louis Rosen team up to present “One Ounce of Truth.”

Jenkins is a soulful singer-actress whose Broadway credits include “Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me,” the Tony-nominated musical “Caroline, or Change,” Frank Wildhorn’s sprawling “The Civil War” and the glorious Burt Bacharach/Hal David production “The Look of Love.” Rosen is an award-winning composer and a Guggenheim grant-winner.

Together, their sometimes soaring, sometimes heartbreaking music is a unique amalgam of jazz, folk, blues, pop and soul, paying tribute to such great poets as Langston Hughes and Nikki Giovanni, as well as such groundbreaking musicians as Billie Holiday and Nina Simone.

Step into the Eighth Step on Friday and hear “One Ounce of the Truth.” Showtime is 7:30pm, and tix are $26.

Troy Savings Bank Music Hall has a triple-powerhouse show rolling in this Sunday, with Sisters In Soul featuring Marcia Ball, Bettye LaVette and Maria Muldaur, and we’ve got a pair of tickets to give away to a lucky Nippertown reader.

To enter the drawing, simply send an email to sisters@nippertown.com. We’ll pick a name at random on Friday afternoon. Good luck!

MUSIC: Grace Potter & the Nocturnals @ MASS MoCA, North Adams, Mass. Ms. Potter’s new album isn’t slated for release til June, but in the meantime, she’s serving up this tribute to Grace Slick. Call it Grace2Grace. 8pm. $22.

MUSIC: The Lee Shaw Trio @ the College of St. Rose’s Massry Center, Albany. Hope you’re ready for some great piano playing tonight. Nippertown’s own queen of piano jazz is in concert, and hopefully she’ll treat us to “Nipper’s Dream,” one of our fave Shaw tunes. See it here. 7:30pm. $10.

MUSIC: Elton John & Billy Joel: Face2Face @ the Times Union Center, Albany. A couple of other piano players arrive in town, too. Finally. 7:30pm. $53.50, $99, $179.

BURLESQUE: Charmed & Dangerous @ Tess’ Lark Tavern, Albany. This bevy of burlesque and cabaret beauties promises that “no bone will be left un-tickled.” 8pm. (Also at 9pm on Friday.)

MUSIC: The Irish Rovers @ the Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield, Mass. “Green alligators and long-necked geese, a humpty-back camel and some chimpanzees…” 7:30pm. $35, $45.

PARTICIPATORY MUSIC: Bandaoke with the Ruddys @ Savannah’s, Albany. Yes, boys & girls, it’s karaoke with a live band, and you’re invited. Knock back a Guinness or two and grab the microphone. Oh, did I mention that you could win $100? 8pm.

MUSIC: Keith Pray @ the Stockade Inn, Schenectady. The big saxman slips into the Electric City for an evening of intimate jazz. 7pm. Free.

LECTURE: Albany 2030 & the 21st Century Restoration Economy @ Touhey Forum, Thelma P. Lalley School of Ed., College of Saint Rose. Storm Cunningham, nationally-recognized expert on revitalization will present case studies from other cities that have successfully revitalized themselves and lessons learned as to how to attract investment to a community like Albany. 7-9pm. Free.

O me! O my!

I don’t even know where to start writing about the mind-blowing music that came crashing off of the stage at Red Square in Albany on Thursday night while sax master John Ellis and his exquisite band Double-Wide were celebrating the release of their new album, “Puppet Mischief.”

The dazzling instrumental virtuosity of the musicians?

The thrill of Ellis’ complex, ambitious and fully funky compositions?

The extraordinary imagination required to assemble this unlikely combination of instruments?

It was glorious, larger-than-life music, spinning on a New Orleans/New York City axis that frequently soared off into previously uncharted realms of time, space and sound.

Leading the charge, Ellis switched back and forth between tenor sax and bass clarinet, squealing and honking one minute, blowing gorgeously melodic passages the next and then settling in with the unorthodox but oh-so-effective horn section of trombonist Alan Farber and sublime harmonicat Gregoire Maret. That’s right, a harmonica player.

Anchoring the swirling sound was the powerhouse Crescent City rhythm section of tireless sousaphonist Matt Perrine and drummer Jason Marsalis. (Yes, he’s the youngest member of the famed First Family of NOLA, and he just happened to be celebrating his 33rd birthday on Thursday.) Somehow, they kept the Jackson Square second-line strut going full-steam-ahead by playing all around the groove rather than sinking into it.

Keyboardist Brian Coogan was the crucial link between the rhythm section and the horns, but he was almost a non-player at Red Square as the power cord to his Wurlitzer was nowhere to be found. Eventually, he cob-jobbed a cord together and got the keys fired up, although it also resulted in a late start and a quite audible hum throughout the show.

Undaunted, Double-Wide delivered a challenging, yet thoroughly joyous performance. And though it’s only March, I can almost guarantee that this show is going to end up on my best-of-the-year list.

Photographs by Andrzej Pilarczyk

SECOND OPINIONS:
Read J Hunter’s review at AlbanyJazz.com

Yeah, we know that spring doesn’t arrive on the calendar for another week and a half, but apparently Mother Nature just can’t wait til then.

Here at Nippertown.com headquarters we found the first crocus of the spring in full bloom this morning. And, well, it just kind of made our day:

As we announced on Monday, The Egg in Albany has a new batch of concerts heading our way. Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Jakob Dylan brings his all-star band Three Legs (featuring Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, Paul Rigby, Jon Rauhouse, Tom Ray and Barry Mirochnick) on Saturday, April 17. Also coming are Mary Chapin Carpenter (Thursday, June 24), the double-bill of Steve Earle and Hot Tuna (Friday, July 30) and Natalie MacMaster’s Christmas show (Sunday, December 5). Tix for these four shows go on sale to the general public on Friday.

Also at The Egg, “In the Mood,” a big band theatrical swing dance revue featuring the In the Mood Singers and Dancers and the String of Pearls Big Band Orchestra, will be presented twice on Wednesday, April 14 – at 2 & 7pm. And Tim O’Brien and Bryan Sutton with Russ Barenberg arrive on Sunday, October 3. Tix for these shows are currently on sale.

Meanwhile, the show by comedian John Pinette – which was originally scheduled for The Egg on Saturday, April 17 – has been postponed to Saturday, June 26.

Jakob Dylan and Three Legs are also making a tour stop at the Calvin Theater in Northampton, Mass. on Monday, April 19, but the big news out of Northampton is that John Lydon and Public Image Limited will be bringing their U.S. tour to the Pearl Street Ballroom on Sunday, May 16. Yowza!

Down in Woodstock, the Bearsville Theater has a freshly announced batch of shows rollin’ in including Epiphany Project (on Saturday, April 10), Elvis Perkins in Dearland (Tuesday, April 27), Max Creek with the McLovins (Friday, May 14), the absolutely marvelous Jill Sobule with Nina Violet (Saturday May 15) and Dave Mason, who was just at The Egg last week (Saturday, June 5).

The concert calendar at Revolution Hall in Troy continues to fill in with some upcoming highlights that include Celtic faves Gaelic Storm (Thursday, April 15), reggae-rock combo the Easy Star All-Stars (Sunday, April 25, singer-songwriter Jason Reeves (Friday, April 30) and the return of Pete Francis (Friday, May 21).

The Van Dyck in Schenectady is pumpin’ up some action as well. New shows on the slate include the sublime Carrie Rodriguez in support of her new album “Love and Circumstance” (Thursday, April 8), a “rock & read” show by Black 47’s Larry Kirwan playing songs and reading from his new novel, “Rockin’ the Bronx” (Friday, April 23) and a solo show by blues behemoth Popa Chubby (Friday, May 7).

Live Nation hasn’t officially announced it yet, but the classic rock double-bill of Chicago and the Doobie Brothers will be rolling into the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Saturday, July 3, according to the Doobies’ website.

Idina Menzel (singer-Tony Award winning actress-member of the cast of “Glee”) and Doc Severinson (trumpeter-former “Tonight Show” bandleader) will be special guests with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass. on Friday, July 2.

And finally, Proctors in Schenectady has lined up another Golden Oldies Spectacular for Saturday, November 6. Featured performers include Lou “Lightning Strikes” Christie, Charlie Thomas’ Drifters, the Duprees, the Tokens, Jimmy Clanton and the Super Girls Group (featuring original members of the Exciters, the Cookies, the Jaynetts, the Raindrops and the Del Rons).

WARNING:

The following shows are SOLD OUT:
The Disco Biscuits @ The Egg, Thursday, March 18
David Gray @ The Egg, Monday, April 5
Joe Bonamassa @ The Egg, Tuesday, April 20
The Dave Matthews Band @ SPAC, Saturday, June 5
James Taylor & Carole King @ Tanglewood, Saturday, July 3
James Taylor & Carole King @ Tanglewood, Sunday, July 4

There are LAWN TICKETS ONLY left for the following shows:
The Dave Matthews Band @ SPAC, Friday, June 4

It’s a catchy little song and a whimsical little trip down art history lane:

We’re giving away a pair of tickets to see Altan @ The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on Friday!

Spring is in the air, as witnessed by Jajerin Jones’ splendiferous oxfords at the Poetry Out Loud recitation competition at The Linda last week, snapped by Andrzej Pilarczyk:

NAME: Voley Martin
BAND AFFILIATION: Bulletproof Messenger
INSTRUMENT: Guitar, electronics and backup vocals

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … Man, this is kind of embarrassing now, but it was Arrested Development. I was probably somewhere between 10-12 years old, and new to music in general. Genres didn’t really mean anything to me back then. Innocence was a wonderful thing.

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … Stone Temple Pilots with the Smashing Pumpkins. STP rocked. Smashing Pumpkins sounded like noise and feedback. My ears hurt for days after that one.

3. THE FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I EVER OWNED OR PLAYED WAS … The first instrument I ever played was trumpet. Did not like it at all. It gave me the chills. The first instrument I ever owned was a guitar. It was also the only instrument I actually enjoyed playing.

4. THE FIRST SONG THAT I EVER PERFORMED IN PUBLIC WAS … I think it was “Mary Had a Little Lamb” in the third grade.

5. THE FIRST BAND I WAS EVER IN WAS … Serfus. It was a band basically formed just because we were in our senior year in high school, and we got together for the sole reason of playing our “senior celebrity night” at the end of the year. We all went away to college after that and disbanded. But it was fun.

Voley Martin and his Bulletproof Messenger bandmates will be playing at Northern Lights in Clifton Park on Sunday (March 14), sharing the bill with Cold and Nonpoint.

The Egg was rockin’ on its foundation on Saturday night, as the double-bill of classic rock icons Leon Russell and Dave Mason blazed through two separate sets of songs that helped define the music of 1960s and well beyond.

Russell took the stage first, launching his 75-minute, high-energy set with “Jumping Jack Flash” and tearing through a repertoire of tunes popularized by the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and even the Temptations. From behind his keyboard, he also tipped his hat to one of his first employers with Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls Of Fire,” accompanied by rousing audience participation from the sold-out crowd.

With powerhouse bassist Jackie Wessel and drummer Brandon Holder holding a lock on the pulsating rhythm, Russell and guitarist Chris Simmons cut loose with keyboard flourishes, melodic interludes and searing guitar lines. It was a marvelous mix of honky-tonk-meets-rock ‘n’ roll by way of the blues and country music, and Russell’s rambling, raspy voice reminded the full-house that he is indeed an elder statesman of the rock pantheon.

Traffic co-founder Dave Mason’s show started in a casual manner with melodic pop songs like his late-1970’s hit single “We Just Disagree” and “Can’t Stop Worrying, Can’t Stop Loving.” But he soon turned up the heat, igniting tunes full of screaming electric-guitars and pounding beats.

The entire evening’s repertoire touched on the various shades of Mason’s illustrious, diverse musical career, which was forged through collaborations with Cass Elliott, Delaney & Bonnie, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac and, of course, his Traffic band-mate Steve Winwood.

Joining Dave Mason on stage were expressive bassist Gerald Johnson, guitarist Johnne Sambataro, keyboardist Anthony Patler and drummer Alvino Bennett.

Review and photographs by Andrzej Pilarczyk

SECOND OPINIONS:
In The Daily Gazette, David Singer wrote, “Leon Russell and Dave Mason – two legendary guys six degrees separated from pretty much any classic rock hit you can think of – sold-out the Egg’s Hart Theater Saturday night. While Russell opened the show and Mason played the stronger set, you couldn’t tell who the audience came to see, nor did it matter.”

NOTE: If you’re hoping to hear some more from Dave Mason, he’s scheduled to return to the area for a show at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock on Saturday, June 5.

MUSIC: That 1 Guy @ Red Square, Albany. 9pm. $12. I don’t even know how to begin to describe this, so just watch this video instead, and maybe you can figure it out:

MUSIC: Sgt. Dunbar & the Hobo Banned, Beware! The Other Head of Science, Rain in Spain @ Valentine’s Music Hall, Albany. It’s fond hometown send-off for Sgt. Dunbar, who are headed back to SXSW in Austin. Their tour is slated to land in 10 states and Washington, DC. And Beware! is riding high on the release of their wild, wild “Big American Godzilla Party” CD. Guaranteed fun. 8pm.

POETRY/PERFORMANCE: Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo @ Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts’ Gallery 51, North Adams, Mass. The two-time National Poetry Slam finalist brings the poems and the passion. 7:30pm. $12.

INSTALLATION: Chris Salter: Just Noticeable Difference @ EMPAC. Due to a sold-out run, this event has been extended through 6 PM on Friday March, 12. It’s an installation where visitors enter an environment of almost total darkness and silence but once inside find that the chamber emits micro-levels of visual, auditory, and tactile feedback that changes in response to their movements. And it’s free but reservations are required, so call the EMPAC box office today at 518.276.3921 to snap up a spot.

MUSIC: “Dancing On the Air” featuring Jay Unger & Molly Mason @ The Linda, Albany. Come on down to WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio and join in the fun with special guests fab fiddler Dylan Foley, concertina player David Paton, pianist-guitarist Susie Deane and the truly wonderful Nippertown faves Annie & the Hedonists. And if you can’t make it down in person, you can at least listen live on the radio.

TALK/NETWORKING: Face 2 Face @ Saratoga Arts, Saratoga Springs. Nope, not long-overdue Elton John/Billy Joel concert. That’s tomorrow. This “Face 2 Face” is a networking event merging the arts community in real life and online. Meet Saratoga Arts members, facebook fans, visual artists, arts professionals and supporters of the arts. Mingle. Network. Oh, and did I mention free pizza and beer? RSVP required – call 518.584.4132. 6pm. Free.

MUSIC: George Kilbey Jr. & the Road Dogs @ the Ale House, Troy. Blistering roots and blues from Pinetop Perkins’ longtime guitarslinger. 8:30pm.

MUSIC: Aaron Civic @ Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs. The young Galway guitar wunderkind promises a night of all-original music as part of the Caffe’s Emerging Artist Breakout series. 7pm. $5.

You know, it might seem easy to write off the Blasters as “hey, you know, that great old rockabilly band.” But if that’s what you were thinking comin’ into Valentine’s Music Hall on Friday night, Phil Alvin and the boys probably had your head spinning by the time you walked down those stairs at the end of the night.

Don’t get me wrong. The Blasters are indeed a great rockabilly band, but they’re also so much more than that. They were playing “roots rock” long before the term was coined. And the same goes for “Americana.”

On Friday night, they blitzed Valentine’s by cutting a mighty wide swath across musical genres.

You want jazz? Alvin lent his demonic howl of a voice to the old Louis Armstrong chestnut, “I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead, You Rascal You,” which he introduced with the pithy and pointed, ” Is there anybody that you want dead? Well, we’ll try to help you out with this next song. Of course, if it’s me that you want dead, could you wait til I finish the song?”

You want funk and soul? It takes a pair of gigantic balls to even think about attempting to perform James Brown’s classic screamer, “Please, Please, Please.” Alvin and his crew not only did it, but they did it marvelously well. And Alvin’s trademark grimace/grin never looked more maniacal or desperate, as when he was begging ‘n’ pleading.

You want gospel? You shoulda been there for the encore of “Samson and Delilah” (also known as “If I Had My Way”). A Bible story has never rocked quite as hard as this – with drummer Bill Bateman defiantly smoking a cigarette, as he literally made the stage shake.

You want country music? How about a blazing, house-a-fire tear through that Johnny Paycheck nugget, “The Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised”? Pure musical arson…

You want surf music? Alvin turned the reins over to guitarslinger Keith Wyatt, who rumbled through the pitch-black, ominous, minor-key surf ‘n’ twang instrumental “The Boneyard,” evoking the late, great Link Wray. And the whole crowd was hangin’ ten.

You want Brill Building pop gems? The Blasters’ pumped out their show-closing rendition of Leiber and Stoller chestnut “One Bad Stud” with such abandon and ferocity that bassist John Bazz broke a bass string. When was the last time you saw that happen?

You want Hispanic music? Would you believe a scorching, late-set rendition of one of the Blasters’ trademark tunes, “Marie, Marie” … sung by Alvin in Spanish?!?

So, yes, the Blasters are a great band. Just don’t limit them to rockabilly.

And if you’re looking for another blast from the Blasters, they’ll be playing at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, Mass. at 7pm on Wednesday.

SECOND OPINIONS:
“The old bastards brought the A game, eh?” – Howe Glassman, Valentine’s head honcho

Photographs by Andrzej Pilarczyk

“I think it was Kiss’ ‘Destroyer.’ I don’t know if Kiss is a direct mainline influence on what I’m doing now, but all of the music I’ve heard has had some influence on me.

According to my parents, the first music that I was drawn to at age three was Buck Owens and Roy Clark on ‘Hee Haw.’ ”

Jam-band fave Keller Williams returns to the Capital Region at 9pm on Saturday (March 13) for a solo performance at Northern Lights in Clifton Park.

One of our favorite local music writers Peter Aaron has written a wonderful, in-depth profile of Greenwich’s David Greenberger, who just happens to be one of our very all-time favorite artist/musician/writer/conceptualist/magazine publisher-editor/album-cover-designer/Renaissance man/all-around-good-guy buddies.

If you don’t already know Mr. Greenberger, you will after reading Aaron’s feature story in this month’s issue of Chronogram.

And if you missed Nippertown.com’s review of Greenberger’s latest album, “Cherry Picking Apple Blossom Time,” from last August, you can just go here…

It’s not like singer-songwriter Michael Eck has been holed up in some deep, dark cave, hiding out. For the past several years he’s been rolling around from one area stage to another, as a member of the Lost Radio Rounders, as well as Ramblin Jug Stompers.

Or maybe you’ve seen him sittin’ in with Frank Jaklitsch. Or conducting onstage interviews with the performers for Caffe Lena’s Decades Concert Series. Or stepping up to the microphone to add his two cents at the recent Johnny Cash birthday tribute night.

But it’s been three years since he last dove head first into his old “maximum solo acoustic” mode, playing a full evening of his own music by himself.

In celebration of his brand new CD, “In My Shoes,” Eck did just that on Sunday evening at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs. He hit the stage with the spitfire opener “The Gossip Train” and proceeded to rumble through 22 songs without a hitch.

He featured all but one of the selections from “In My Shoes.” He reached way back to his 15-year-old debut, “Cowboy Black,” for the title track and the encore, “The Queen of Rain.”

And he dropped in a few choice cover tunes as well, ranging from the sublime (Tim Hardin’s “If I Was a Carpenter”) to the obscure (Jackson C. Frank’s “Blues Run the Game”), even tacking a bit of Kristofferson onto the end of his own “Bottle Rocket.” All were imbued with Eck’s impeccable sense of drama and dynamics.

It was like he’d never been away…

MICHAEL ECK SET LIST

The Gossip Train
Love’s Dark Reward
Whiskey For My Coffee
Kind-Hearted Woman
You’re a Mountain
A Month of Crows
Yellow Ribbons
Cowboy Black
One More Raindrop
Blues Run the Game (Jackson C. Frank)
Beyond the Blues (Peter Case, Bob Neuwirth, Tom Russell)
Do You Hear Me, Jesus?

Exit Wound
Dead Man’s Shirt
Bottle Rocket
Oh God
The Devil To Pay
If I Was a Carpenter (Tim Hardin)
You Silly Thing
Lillie’s Tune
In My Shoes
ENCORE
The Queen of Rain

Photographs by Andrzej Pilarczyk

Yeah, you know that you’ve always wanted to sing in a rock band. Well, this is your chance. It’s not some Guitar Hero video game. It’s not some canned karaoke night. It’s Bandaoke – you singing with a live, breathing rock band. And it’s back again for another season beginning on Thursday night at Savannah’s in Albany.

You don’t know about Bandaoke? Well, let’s get the inside scoop from Andy Maroney, who’s the drummer with the Bandaoke band, the Ruddys:

Karaoke
Pronunciation: \ker-ē-ō-kē, ka-rē- also kə-rō-kē, kä-rä-ō-kā\
Function: noun
Etymology: Japanese, from kara (empty) + ōke, short for ōkesutora (orchestra)
(Date: 1979): a device that plays instrumental accompaniments for a selection of songs to which the user sings along and that records the user’s singing with the music; also: a form of entertainment involving the use of a karaoke machine.

Bandaoke
Pronunciation: \band-ē-ō-kē\
(Same as above except way cooler and a lot more fun because it’s done with a live band.)

OK, so the etymology doesn’t exactly line up correctly, but you get the idea. For some reason, when people consume alcoholic beverages they like to sing…often loudly…and sometimes quite poorly. While there are many places in the area where one can indulge in the fantasy of channeling one’s inner diva or rock star, not many feature the spontaneous energy of a live performance.

Let’s face it, with very few exceptions most karaoke backing tracks sound, well, kinda cheesy and canned. You know what I’m talking about. Now there is another option for those of you who yearn to publicly express yourself through song.

This week marks the return of Bandaoke to Savannah’s on Thursday nights. Co-sponsored by radio station FLY 92 and hosted by FLY 92’s Marissa with music performed by house band the Ruddys, it’s one of the more entertaining ways to spend an evening out…both for the band and the contestants. According to Joe Schaefer of Savannah’s, this promises to be the biggest and baddest Bandaoke season yet, as it begins on Thursday and continues through August. Yes, you can win money. Read on…

The basic format is familiar: There are several three-ring binders spread around the bar, each one containing an alphabetized listing of all the songs available for the participants (who we jokingly refer to as “victims”) to choose from. There are literally hundreds of popular hits spanning the past 50 years, from Sinatra standards to the latest from modern groups like Kings Of Leon. The main difference with Bandaoke, of course, is the band itself.

The Ruddys are truly a family band, featuring Scott “Scooter” Ruddy on acoustic guitar, harmonica and vocals, as well as his daughter Jessica on bass, harmonica and vocals. They’ve been performing regularly as an acoustic duo around the area for the past few years. When playing larger rooms they’ll add drums. Currently that chair, known as the drum “throne” to percussionists, is being occupied by yours truly. Go ahead, make a potty joke if you want, but at last count we had around 500+ songs in “the book” and we can even play most of them fairly well. The challenging part is that we never know what’s going to be next.

Most bands have a set list of tunes to play that they’ve extensively rehearsed. Our set list is created as we go, based on the songs that are requested by the singers. This means in the space of ten minutes we could be switching from Elvis to Led Zeppelin to Lady Gaga. Challenging? Sometimes. Unpredictable? Usually. Entertaining? Almost always.

The real fun begins when Scott cranks up the volume a bit, and the band becomes a power trio to be reckoned with. He elicits sounds from a six-string Taylor that were never meant to be played on acoustic guitar. Jess is simply one of the most animated and energetic bass players I’ve worked with…period. They bring a level of joy and enthusiasm to the material that is truly contagious.

It’s a blast for participants and band members alike, due to both the “live” environment of being on a stage with lights and a full sound system AND the fact that we’re able adjust the music to the singers’ particular key or style. These are key factors in making things a lot more interesting than your average “canned” bar sing-a-long. Add to the equation Marissa from the afternoon shift at FLY92 as our emcee (and sometimes comic relief) and a big wad of prize money and you can’t go wrong. Last season, the weekly finalists each took home a Benjamin and the winner of the final round took home a Cleveland. And we’re not talking the animated cartoon character on the Fox network either.

The most surprising thing to me is just how many really good singers there are in the area. You don’t even have to be that talented to win, just bring lots of friends with you because the winners are determined by the volume of the crowd’s applause. Beware…sometimes the worst singers have the most friends who clap and cheer the loudest!

Story by Andy Maroney

Poetry has been around long before it was reduced to words on a printed page. And the national Poetry Out Loud competition aims to return poetry to its spoken word origins.

On Saturday afternoon at The Linda in Albany, a capacity crowd watched, listened and cheered as 14 high school students from all around the state participated in the final rounds of the New York State recitation contest, emceed by WAMC-FM’s Joe Donahue.

Among the finalists were several Capital Region students – Shenendehowa High School sophomore Maria Albrecht, Niskayuna High School sophomore Jason Kasman, Shaker High School junior Shauna Stack and sophomore Breanna Medina of the John Sayles School of Fine Arts at Schenectady High School.

From memory, the students recited poems by such diverse poets as William Shakespeare and Lewis Carroll, Walt Whitman and Rudyard Kipling, Langston Hughes and Emily Dickinson.

There were poems of inspiration and alienation, love and despair, beauty, determination and humor.

Each of the 14 competitors read in two preliminary rounds before the contestants were whittled down to five finalists. Eventually Taylour Dickerson, a sophomore from the Knox School in St. James, was named the winner. She will represent New York State in the nationals, slated to take place next month in Washington, DC.

Dickerson read Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan” and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “A Psalm of Life.”

The recitations were judged by a six-person panel that included poet and WAMC-FM commentator Paul Elisha, singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant, deputy commissioner for Cultural Education in the New York State Education Department Jeff Cannell, stage director and voice teacher Susan Guthrie, poet and program director for the New York State Literary website Bertha Rogers and 2009’s New York State Poetry Out Loud winner Catherine Woodard.

Photographs by Andrzej Pilarczyk. You can see more of Andrzej’s photos from this event at the Nippertown Photo Archive.

The decades are rollin’ by up at Saratoga Springs’ venerable Caffe Lena, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. As part of the celebration, Caffe manager Sarah Craig has put together a series of Decades Concerts – each one representing one of the five decades that the famed second-floor coffeehouse has been in continuous operation.

The series started off on Friday, January 22 with Jack Landron (aka Jackie Washington) and Bill Staines playing the ’60s Decade Concert. Livingston Taylor took over for the ’70s Decade Concert on Saturday, February 27.

And longtime Lena’s regular Mary McCaslin returns for the ’80s Decade Concert on Friday, March 12.

Still upcoming are the ’90s Decade Concert featuring Bill Morrissey and Cliff Eberhardt on Friday, April 9; and the ’00s Decade Concert which pairs the Jeremy Wallace Trio with Ramblin Jug Stompers on Saturday, May 15.

All of which are leading up to the big Caffe Lena 50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend, which will be held from Friday-Sunday, May 21-23. Details have yet to be announced, so stay tuned for info.

In the meantime, Mary McCaslin graciously took a few minutes to chat with Nippertown.com about Caffe Lena and her upcoming performance:

Q: Mary, as part of Caffe Lena’s ongoing Decades Concert series, you’re going to be representing the ’80s. Is that right?

A: Well, I’ve played Lena’s since the early 1970s, but they decided to have me represent the 1980s – in spite of the fact that my most recent booking there was in 2008.

Q: Will anyone be playing with you at Caffe Lena?

A: I’m splitting the evening with the great Canadian singer-songwriter Garnet Rogers. He’s really good. He has so many incredible songs, and I’m flattered to be on the bill with him.

Q: Do you have any special surprises in store for your return to Caffe Lena?

A: Well, after the death of a wonderful singer and storyteller named Logan English in the early 1980s, I wrote a song about him called “Ghost Story,” which I’ve never recorded, but plan to sing at my March 12th Lena’s performance. I have to rehearse it some, since I haven’t sung it lately. Logan was a longtime Saratoga Springs resident (though he was from Kentucky) and a beloved member of that community. His death touched everyone who knew him. He was struck and killed crossing a street in Saratoga one night. A friend who was tending a bar that Logan frequented said he really believed he saw Logan come in the door at his usual time one evening soon after his death. I love ghost stories…

Mary McCaslin and Garnet Rogers perform at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs at 8pm on Friday. Tickets are $25.

MUSIC: Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore @ The Linda, Albany. Cellist Sollee is Abigail Washburn’s longtime accompanist and a member of her Sparrow Quartet. Meanwhile, Moore is a singer-songwriter on the legendary indie label Sub Pop Records. Together, they play songs from their newly released collaboration, “Dear Companion,” an environmentally conscious album about the Appalachian Mountains. The album was produced by My Morning Jacket’s Jim James. 8pm. $16.

MUSIC: Findlay Cockrell @ the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy. Nippertown’s most beloved classical pianist pays tribute to Chopin as the Music @ Noon concert series continues. Bring your lunch. Noon. Free.

TALK: Ira Glass @ Skidmore College’s Zankel Music Center, Saratoga Springs. The host and producer of the fascinating NPR radio show, “This American Life,” steps into the spotlight at Skidmore beautiful new performance center. 7pm. UPDATE: Sold out.

MUSIC: The Tossers @ Valentine’s Music Hall, Albany. The Chicago-based band of Celtic punks kicks off the St. Patrick’s Day season with abandon. With Outernational and Honeycreeper. 8pm. $12.

The fine folks at Driving Rain Music have just released a video to accompany John Walker Black’s catchy little “Theme To Nippertown” that we unleashed on the world last week. Directed by Driving Rain head honcho TL Stone, this wistful and dreamlike love-letter-to-a-city is chock full of Albany landmarks and stars one of our very favorite dogs. And, in case you missed it, the song itself is available as a free download.

(Heart & Skull/Epittaph, 2010):

Chicago punksters Alkaline Trio have been banging around since 1997, although the current line-up (guitarist Matt Skiba, bassist Dan Andriano and drummer Derek Grant) has only been in place since 2003’s “Good Mourning” album.

Since then they racked up some major-label success (2008’s “Agony & Irony”), but now they’ve returned to indie status with a new album that balances a bit of the old spit ‘n’ fire of their punkier early discs with their more recent polished, punk-pop sound.

The album abounds with plenty of hooks, rousing sing-along choruses and chiming guitars – just the kind of thing to appeal to Green Day fans.

There’s nothing even vaguely groundbreaking here, but all 11 songs are solid and chugging. And there are just enough surprises – would you believe a trumpet solo in the middle of “Lead Poisoning”? – to keep the listener intrigued.

Alkaline Trio charges into Northern Lights in Clifton Park tonight. The show kicks off at 7:30pm with Cursive and the Dear and Departed. Tix are $20.

“The first one I bought was by Buddy Holly, and as I recall, I bought it just shortly before he was killed, actually. I think it was ‘That’ll Be the Day’ or one of those, but back in Ireland in those days, they were big, heavy 78 RPM records.

That’s what really sparked my interest in music. I was about 11 or so when Buddy Holly came out, and right away I started playing a cheap guitar. That type of rockabilly music like Buddy Holly and Rick Nelson was what I quite liked.”

George Millar and the other members of the Irish Rovers step into the spotlight at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Mass. on Thursday (March 11).

Happy Monday! It’s time for a another ticket giveaway! Just in time to celebrate an early St. Patrick’s day, we have a pair of tickets to see Celtic legends Altan on Friday at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, and we’re giving them away to a lucky Nippertown reader. To enter the drawing, send an email to altan@nippertown.com. We’ll draw a name at random on Thursday afternoon. Good luck!

More than 40 years after his career-making performance at Woodstock, Richie Havens still walks the walk and talks the talk. On Saturday night, his performance at the Eighth Step at Proctors in Schenectady was peppered with plenty of ’60s lingo. “It’s so far out,” he said. “That’s how heavy it is.” And, “The vibe was on.”

Looking and sounding more like some spiritual guru than a pop star, Havens spoke in a hushed, intimate whisper that went way beyond “laid-back.” And he talked alot, opening the show with a ten-minute reminiscence about his early days on the Greenwich Village folk scene.

But on Saturday night, it also seemed as though perhaps Havens was lulled by his own voice. He seemed unfocused, several times forgetting the lyrics in mid-song, even during Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm,” a song that I’m sure Havens has sung hundreds – if not thousands – of times.

The near-capacity crowd didn’t seem mind. Electric lead guitarist Walter Parks helped smooth over the rough patches, and Havens still sounded great, his rich, sandpapered voice as resonant as ever. While his eccentric guitar playing didn’t have quite the fury that it had in his younger days, it was still fascinating and hard-driving, with his thumb over the top of his guitar neck fretting the open-tuned strings.

And, yes, at the end of his 85-minute performance, he launched into “Freedom,” standing up mid-song and bringing it to a rousing conclusion with a high kick.

Proudly unrepentant folkies Mustard’s Retreat – the veteran duo of guitarist-bassist Michael Hough and guitarist-mandolinist David Tamulevich – opened the show with an unadorned but captivating five-song set that encompassed the poetic (the opening “When the Moon Howls and the Wolves Are Still”), humorous tall tales (“The Michigan Mosquitos”) and the anthemic (the closing “Simple Faith”).

Read my review in The Times Union.

SECOND OPINIONS:
In his review in The Sunday Gazette, Brian McElhiney wrote, “With a lead guitar accompaniment, Havens commanded the stage from the minute he stepped out, his guitar strapped to his chest and wearing a flowing silver robe. His soft, hypnotic voice set a hushed tone as the audience sat in reverence, hanging on his every word.”

RICHIE HAVENS SET LIST
All Along the Watchtower
If I
Way Down Deep
3:10 to Yuma
One More Day
Maggie’s Farm/Won’t Get Fooled Again
You Are So Beautiful
Here Comes the Sun/The End
Handouts in the Rain
Say It Isn’t So
Freedom

MUSTARD’S RETREAT SET LIST
When the Moon Howls and the Wolves Are Still
Part of Me Remembers
The Michigan Mosquitos
The Water Is Wide
Simple Faith

The Egg in Albany has announced batch of new concerts for its 2010 schedule:

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Jakob Dylan cracks open The Egg with his band Three Legs – featuring Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, Paul Rigby, Jon Rauhouse, Tom Ray and Barry Mirochnick on Saturday, April 17.

Meanwhile, the show by comedian John Pinette – which was originally scheduled for Saturday, April 17 – has been postponed to Saturday, June 26.

Singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter steps into the spotlight on Thursday, June 24. Tix are $34.50, $39.50, $49.50.

The rather unlikely but very promising double-bill of singer-songwriter Steve Earle and roots-blues veterans Hot Tuna takes over at The Egg on Friday, July 30. Tix are $36.50.

And fab fiddler Natalie MacMaster brings holiday show, “Christmas in Cape Breton,” to town on Sunday, December 5. Tix are $34.50.

Tickets for these four shows go on sale to the general public on Friday.

And “In the Mood,” a big band theatrical swing dance revue featuring the In the Mood Singers and Dancers and the String of Pearls Big Band Orchestra, will be presented twice on Wednesday, April 14 – at 2 & 7pm. Priced at $29, $34 and $39, tix are currently on sale.

Meanwhile, here’s a little reminder to get your tickets early: Three upcoming shows on The Egg’s concert calendar are already SOLD OUT: The Disco Biscuits on Thursday, March 18; David Gray on Monday, April 5 and Joe Bonamassa on Tuesday, April 20.

Mark Linkous, best known as the leader of Sparklehorse as well as for collaborations with Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Daniel Johnston, Radiohead, David Lynch and Danger Mouse, took his own life on Saturday: New York Times / Pitchfork / Radio Clash / LA Times.

NPR is reporting that Dark Night of the Soul, his collaboration with Danger Mouse and David Lynch, (which we wrote about last year) will finally see the official light of day sometime this summer.

MUSIC: The Alkaline Trio @ Northern Lights, Clifton Park. The seminal, powerhouse, Chicago-bred punk rock trio comes roaring into Nippertown in support of their recently released seventh album, “This Addiction.” With Cursive and the Dear and Departed. 7:30pm. $20.

MUSIC: Ukulele Night @ the Moon & River Cafe, Schenectady. Uke master Ron Gordon leads his monthly workshop-jam-performance. Bring your ukulele (or borrow one from Gordon) and sit in. Or just sit back and listen. The ukulele is the happy instrument. 7pm. Free.

MUSIC: The Bill Frisell Trio @ the Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, Mass. One of the great guitar masters of our time, Frisell stands at the intersection of jazz and country, embracing both styles with grand passion. He’s recorded with McCoy Tyner and Lucinda Williams, Don Byron and Loudon Wainwright III, Paul Simon and Allen Ginsberg. And his own “Disfarmer” was one of last year’s most sadly overlooked albums. In addition to Frisell, his trio features violist Eyvind Kang and drummer Rudy Royston. 7pm. $28.