More on 2009

I meant to do more blogging last week while I was on vacation in St. Petersburg, Florida, but the internet connection at the hotel was abysmal at best. So instead I did a lot more drinking. The above photo is from Dockside Dave's. Nothing like eating a half pound of fresh fried grouper, giant onion rings, and several beers on an outdoor patio on December 26. And then slipping into a food coma and napping on the beach.

Anyhoo, here are a few more albums which I feel are among the best of 2009.

Tim Easton put out a wonderful bluesy/alt country album called Porcupine. And wow, can he play guitar! Check out his web site to see some of the 500 limited edition album covers which he painted.

Broke My Heart.mp3

Buy: Porcupine

William Elliott Whitmore is young white man who sounds like an old black blues man. Great album.

There's Hope for You.mp3

Buy: Animals In The Dark

Regular readers of this blog will know that I love all things Jay Farrar. Son Volt put out a wonderful album this year, that some bloggers even compared to Trace. Well, I won't go that far, but it is a damn good album. I'm surprised that it is not on more end of the year lists.

Strength and Doubt.mp3

Buy: American Central Dust

And speaking of my main man Jay, Farrar and Ben Gibbard released an album based on Jack Keroac's 1962 novel Big Sur, and the subsequent film entitled One Fast Move and I'm Gone. I really don't like Gibbard's day gig with Death Cab for Cutie (worst band name ever), but his voice really works on this record. Farrar wrote all of the music for this film, which came out in limited release on Oct 16.

These Roads Don't Move.mp3

Buy: One Fast Move Or I'm Gone: Music From Kerouac's Big Sur

BettySoo was new to me this year. I can really relate to her music. For fans of Kathleen Edwards and/or Patty Griffin.

Never the Pretty Girl.mp3

Buy: Heat Sin Water Skin

The sophomore release from A.A. Bondy is even better than his first one. And, he's a hell of a live performer. This album made many best-of lists for 2009.

False River.mp3
Buy: When the Devil's Loose

I learned about American Aquarium from my buddy at NineBullets.net. Great stuff from this band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Be sure not to confuse them with American Aquarium Products of Oregon when you google them.

City Lights.mp3

Buy: Dances for the Lonely

Jesus Protect Me From the Swine Flu

Ack! After celebrating my friend's marriage and partying my ass off in Chicago last weekend, I picked up some cold/flu/plague/SARS/Upper Respiratory Bullshit, but not the Swine Flu. I think I ate enough bacon to be immune to the old H1N1. And I was so sick that I missed Tim Easton at the Horseshoe on Tuesday night. I was so impressed with him during NxNE, and I really wanted to see him again. I'm grumpy!

Here's an Easton song that reminds me of the current political climate.

J.P.M.F.y.F.mp3
Buy: Ammunition (2006)

My blogger buddy at A Truer Sound posted a sweet Tim Easton show a while back. I highly encourage you to check it out. Easton is a great songwriter and an amazing guitar player.

Lawyers, Guns and Money

Ever since last week when I saw Leeroy Stagger and his band do a bad-ass cover of Warren Zevon's "Lawyers, Guns, and Money," I have had that song stuck in my head. Photoblogger Steffen of TurnItUpOrTurnItOff.com posted some sweet photos of that show. Here's one of Stagger and guitarist Kevin Kane on stage at the Cadillac Lounge.


Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns and Money.mp3
Buy: Excitable Boy (1978, reissued 2007)

And here's a killer photo of Tim Easton with The King.

Stagger and Easton collaborated with Evan Phillips on the 2008 album One for the Ditch. Here is one of my favorite tracks from that album, sung by Phillips.

Easton Stagger Philips - Highway 395.mp3
Buy (CD Baby): One for the Ditch (2009)

NxNE: Tim Easton and Leeroy Stagger, The Cadillac Lounge

There are pluses and minuses to big music festivals like NxNE. Plus: awesome bands and artists come to town. Minus: You have to get to the venue hours early and endure sweaty hipsters just to see these acts. The latter is one of reasons why I decided to skip a lot of the hyped artists that I wanted to see, and headed straight for the Cadillac Lounge on Friday, June 19.

The Caddy is on West Queen West and if you blink you may miss it. Their clientele consists of mostly people in jeans, plaid, and T-shirts, and there is nearly always an old coot sitting alone drinking a pitcher of beer by himself, yelling, "You damn kids, get the hell out of my way! I can't see the band!" No popped collars or ironic mustaches in sight. And, no wait to get in.

When I strolled in, singer/songwriter Tim Easton of Joshua Tree, California, was saying "Hi" to his good friend Leeroy Stagger. Stagger is originally from rural British Columbia, and got his start in Victoria, BC, by touring with Hot Hot Heat. He currently resides in Lethbridge, Alberta. Last year Easton, Stagger, and Alaskan Evan Phillips put out an album entitled One For the Ditch, which garnered a lot of praise in the alt country music community.

Easton took the stage promptly at 10 pm, borrowing Stagger's acoustic and electric guitars, and occasionally borrowing Stagger's drummer. The first five songs of the eight song set were all performed on acoustic guitar. Wow, can Easton play guitar! He ripped though acoustic blues versions of may of his songs from his recent release entitled Porcupine, one of my favorite albums of 2009 (so far). He chatted with the audience between songs, and told stories about the how and why the songs were written. I even caught Stagger playing air drums at one point.

In addition to being an extremely talents musician, Easton also dabbles in the visual arts. You can view some of his paintings on this website scrapbook. For the release of Porcupine he hand painted 500 copies of the vinyl album jacket, and had several for sale at the show.

Set List
from Porcupine (2009), except where noted
1. Broke My Heart
2. Burgundy Red
3. The Weight Of Changing Everything (new song)
4. Stormy
5. Northbound
6. News Blackout - Ammunition (2006)
7. The Young Girls
8. The Daily Life (new song)

News Blackout.mp3
Buy: Ammunition (2006)

Stormy.mp3
Buy: Porcupine (2009)

Stagger and his band The Wildflowers (Kevin Kane on lead electric guitar, Ian Browne on drums, and Tyson Maiko on bass) took the stage five minutes early (how organized is The Caddy?). They blasted through a ten song set that was mostly from Stagger's new album Everything is Real. The songs ranged from mournful country ("Red Bandana") to blues-based rock ("Hell of a Life") to punk ("Everything is Real"). Stagger swapped between acoustic and electric guitars, while Kane had some blistering electric guitar solos, and Maiko head-banged to the beat. Stagger even got the old coot up and dancing with a smoldering cover of Warren Zevon's "Lawyers, Guns, and Money."

Another plus about NxNE is finding the hidden gems that nobody really knows about. This was certainly true for Tim Easton and Leeroy Stagger. The minus is that these showcases were over way too soon.

Set List
from Everything is Real (2009), except where noted
1. Red Bandana
2. Petrified World
3. Hell of a Life
4. Sleep Alone
5. Just in Case - Beautiful House (2005)
6. Everything is Real
7. Brothers
8. Snowing in Nashville
9. Lawyers, Guns, and Money (Warren Zevon cover)
10. Where I Live - Depression River (2006)

Where I Live.mp3
Buy: Depression River (2006)

Everything is Real.mp3
Buy (Boompa Records, $CND): Everything is Real (2009)


Edit: CHARTattack rated both Easton's and Stagger's performances an 88, which translates to "Exceeds skill and knowledge expectations, i.e. rocked us so hard we peed our pants."

NXNE 2009

Its gonna be a crazy weekend in Toronto. Pride week kicks off tomorrow. The Much Music Video Awards buggers up Queen and John Streets and tortures local residents with sound checks all weekend, not to mention the live show on Sunday night. Edgefest takes over Downsview Park on Saturday. My buddy Dancy-Pants Ryan is coming into town from Vancouver to terrorize the GTA. And the North By North East (NXNE) music festival will be in full swing.

If I hadn't been getting my ass kicked lately, I would be all over NXNE. But, fear not, bloggers much more intrepid than I are on the case. For full coverage check out Pete Nema, Chromewaves, NXEW, Ryan O'Shaughnessy, Historyjen, and probably some others that I forgot. And, like the Iranian Elections, you can watch all of this unfold over Twitter. Although, I hate it when I am sitting around in my underwear at home and I get a tweet that says "Broken Social Scene playing new songs and sounding all kinds of kick ass."

The music festival actually started last night, and I am waiting for my blogger buddies to update their posts (I bet a few are hungover). Great tweet from Pete Nema last night: "P.S. I reek of beer and Jägermeister." That statement made me very jealous. It seems like The Courthouse was the place to be, with performances by Apostle of Hustle, Broken Social Scene, and Feist.

Here are my picks for the festival. If I get my shit together I may actually make a few of them!

Thursday, June 18
(actually, wouldn't mind parking my sorry carcass at Lee's Palace all night)
9:00 pm: Jim Cuddy, Royal Wood, Oh Susannah @ Lee’s Palace
10:00 pm: Girls, Guns, and Glory @ The Dakota Tavern
or
10:00 pm: Kevin Hearn, Jenn Grant, Jason Plumb @ Lee's Palace
11:00 pm: Luke Docet, Justin Rutledge, NQ Arbuckle @ Lee's Palace
or
11:00 pm: Poorfolk @ Mitzi's Sister
12:00 am: Skydiggers @ Lee's Palace
or
12:00 am: The King Khan & BBQ Show @ The Horseshoe
1:00 am: "Special Guests" @ Lee's Palace (way past my bedtime!)

The King Khan & BBQ Show - Love You So.mp3
Buy: King Khan & The BBQ Show (2007)


Friday, June 19
9:00 pm: $100 @ The Dakota Tavern
10:00 pm: Tim Easton @ Cadillac Lounge (I have to make this one)
11:00 pm: Leeroy Stagger @ Cadillac Lounge
12:00 am: Dan Mangan @ C'est What
1:00 am: The Saides @ El Mocambo (Duh!)

Tim Easton - Baltimore.mp3
Buy: Porcupine (2009)


Saturday, June 20
9:00 pm: Jack Marks @ Mitzi's Sister
10:00 pm: Gruf Morlix @ The Dakota Tavern
12:00 am: Dustin Bentall @ The Dakota Tavern
or
12:00 am: Jason Collette @ The Horseshoe
1:00 am: The Warped 45s @ The Dakota Tavern
or
1:00 am: Hot Panda @ The Horseshoe

Dustin Bentall - Crash Hard.mp3
Buy: Streets with No Lights (2007)


Last year one of my friends told me about going to see some band at 2:00 am, and their entire set was speed metal with the lead singer occasionally screaming "FUCK YOU!" I need to find this band.

Edit: The Toronto Star has a summary of all of the music events happening in and around Toronto this weekend.