Sights and Sounds: Laurence Juber, Broods, dada

Going into the long holiday weekend, here is a roundup of some cool music news to share...

Two-time Grammy-winning guitarist-composer Laurence Juber is set to perform two special shows as part of the Lord of the Strings concert series in Orange County, CA. The original dates (March 3 and 4) have now been changed to March 10 for a performance in Dana Point and March 11 in Mission Viejo. Juber originally rose to fame as lead guitarist in Paul McCartney's band Wings, but has since gone on to release two dozen solo albums centered on his virtuoso skills as a fingerstyle guitar master.

Juber's next album LJ Can't Stop Playing The Beatles! will be released by Hologram Recordings on March 3, and it's more than likely that Juber will feature his original arrangements from that album at his Lord of the Strings concert dates.

"I started playing guitar in November of '63, coinciding with the first wave of Beatlemania," Juber said recently. "Their songs are baked into my musical DNA and having played guitar with three of the four Beatles, they form a central thread in my own life experience."

LJ Can't Stop Playing the Beatles! Tracklist:
 
1.     And Your Bird Can Sing
2.     Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 
3.     She Loves You
4.     Day Tripper
5.     Hey Jude
6.     I’ll Follow The Sun
7.     If I Needed Someone
8.     It’s Only Love
9.     Ticket To Ride
10.  And I Love Her
11.  Hey Bulldog
12.  Something

13.  Don’t Let Me Down
14.  Honey Pie 

For more information, visit the Lord of the Strings website.

Coachella-bound Broods have released an acoustic version of their new single "Heartlines" that will allow music fans to get a great introduction to the duo. The beautiful version of "Heartlines" was recorded during Broods' recent 1 Mic, 1 Take session at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, CA.

Broods will make their Coachellafest debut this year, performing on Fridays, April 14 and 21, 2017. In between the festival dates, Broods will open for Empire Of The Sun at the Comerica Theatre in Phoenix on April 18, and at Los Angeles' historic Shrine Exposition Hall on April 19. (Editor's note: Empire Of The Sun is also performing at Coachella on April 14 and April 21).

"Heartlines," which Broods co-wrote with fellow New Zealanders Lorde and Joel Little, is from the band's new album Conscious (Capitol Records), which debuted in the Top 5 of Billboard's Alternative Albums. The single was added by more than 20 stations in its first two weeks at Hot AC radio and has upwards of 14 million streams worldwide.

Watch the acoustic performance of "Hearthlines" below: 

 

For more information on Broods, visit the duo's official website at broodsmusic.com.


Just a last-minute reminder that dada is performing two much-anticipated dates in Southern California this weekend. You can catch the band tonight (Friday, Feb. 17) at The Rose in Pasadena. You can see the acclaimed rock trio at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on Saturday night, Feb. 18.

Here is the full press release on the return of dada:

LOS ANGELES BAND DADA CELEBRATE 25^TH ANNIVERSARY BY HITTING THE ROAD ON THE “DADA FOREVER TOUR”

 

 

dada features, from left, Joie Calio, Phil Leavitt and Michael Gurley.

Two decades after the Los Angeles outfit dada embarked on its original journey, singer-guitarist Michael Gurley, singer-bassist Joie Calio and drummer Phil Leavitt are celebrating the band’s 25^th anniversary and hitting the road on the “dada Forever Tour.” 

 

 

“dada is about digging into our roots, examining and celebrating it.”  Says Calio

 

Since the release of their groundbreaking 1992 debut Puzzle, the trio has created an array of songs boasting progressive rock musicianship, dazzling vocal harmonies and melodic power pop layered with a hint of psychedelic rock. Adding to the trio’s groundbreaking line of attack are the marathon-length shows that deliver on the promise that every performance is the only one of its kind.

 

Puzzle was released on September 8, 1992, and it didn’t take long for the band’s sonic imprint to find an audience. The album’s first single “Dizz Knee Land” found widespread airplay on alternative and mainstream rock outlets cracking the Top 5 on the Modern Rock Single's chart and pushing the album's sales to over 1,000,000 worldwide. Watch dada’s Dizz Knee Land video here: https://youtu.be/daa9pZDxfIY

 

The success of Puzzle was followed in 1994 by American Highway Flower, featuring the ambitious “Ask the Dust” and astounding “Feet to the Sun,” dada has gone on to create a magnificent discography featuring a half-dozen full-length albums and an EP. The trio has also issued a number of solo efforts and offshoot projects along the way exploring a range of styles including folk, blues, jazz and rock. Gurley and Leavitt were both members of Butterfly Jones while dada was on hiatus in the early ‘00s; Calio has released several solo discs and with X Levitation Cult.  Mike Gurley and the Nightcaps are a popular jazz group in Southern California. Additionally, Leavitt has stepped out from behind the drum set as lead singer and Calio is playing guitar in 7Horse. The duo’s new album Livin’ in a Bitch of a World features thrilling tales of grifters, gun owners and drug runners, as powerful as any in hardboiled fiction, and punctuated perfectly by doomy drumming, vicious strumming and lacerating slide-guitar playing. ”Raw and raunchy, soulful and edgy – 7Horse avoids the pitfalls of garage rockers like Black Keys and White Stripes by ensuring the melodies rise above ‘genre’ trappings. Hooks galore never obfuscate the duo’s down and dirty rootsy agenda though.” – Power of Pop. Hear the album here:http://7horsemusic.com/7hm4i/

 

See them live at:

2/16/17           Canyon Club                                 Agoura Hills, CA

2/17/17           The Rose                                       Pasadena, CA

2/18/17           Coach House                                 Orange Country, CA

2/19/17           Hotel Utah                                     San Francisco. CA with 7Horse

2/21/17           Bunkhouse Saloon                     Las Vegas, NV

2/22/17           Metro Music Hall                        Salt Lake City, UT

2/23/17           The Blue Bird                               Denver, CO

2/25/17           Riot Room                                      Kansas City. MO

2/27/17           Beachland Tavern                      Cleveland, OH

2/28/17           Sculley’s                                          Columbus, OH

3/1/17              Shank Hall                                     Milwaukee, WI

3/2/17              The Double Door                        Chicago, IL

3/3/17              The Amsterdam Bar and Hall Minneapolis/St Paul. MN

3/4/17              Firebird                                          St. Louis, MO

3/6/17              Three Links                                  Dallas, TX

3/8/17              Rogue Bar                                      Phoenix, AZ

 

         http://www.dadaforever.com

Robert Kinsler

Sights and Sounds: Off Center Festival, Lord of the Strings, Lee Rocker & Little River Band, Twisted Sister

With the death of David Bowie over the weekend, I decided not to post any of the media releases unrelated to that until today. So there is quite of news to catch up on...

Allah-Las / Photo by Robbie Simon

If you live here in Orange County, CA, make sure to catch up with what's happening with Off Center Festival 2016.

The Segerstrom Center for the Arts' fifth annual Off Center Festival kicks off on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016 and will run through Jan. 30, 2016. The festival will feature an all-new line-up of creative, contemporary and sometimes controversial artists and shows. 

There will be two free events on the Arts Plaza including West Coast garage rock by Allah-Las on Jan. 16, and a performance by "cinematic-pop" troupe Milo Greene on Jan. 23. Both of those will offer live music, dancing and food truck cuisine. For more information, visit the Off Center Festival Web site: http://www.scfta.org/offcenter

Peppino D'Agostino will perform three shows
this month as part of Lord Of The Strings.

Speaking of excellent Orange County music events, fingerstyle guitar great Peppino D'Agostino will perform as part of the Lord of the Strings concert series on Jan. 22, 23 and 24, 2016. He will perform at Dana Point Community House, 24642 San Juan Ave., Dana Point, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 22; he will perform at Mission Viejo Civic Center, 200 Civic Center Ave., Mission Viejo, at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 23; he will perform a special matinee performance in Costa Mesa at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 24. Information: LordOfTheStringsConcerts.com


Also on the concert front, I just got word today that acclaimed singer-songwriter-bassist Lee Rocker (of Stray Cats fame) and Australia-spawned hitmakers Little River Band will perform at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos, CA, at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016. Tickets, which start at $50, are available at the CCPA Ticket Office and at cerritoscenter.com, or by calling 562-467-8818.

GET TO KNOW THE IRON MEN OF ROCK AND ROLL…

WE ARE TWISTED F***ING SISTER!

~A FILM BY ANDREW HORN~

IN SELECTED THEATERS NATIONWIDE

PRESENTED BY MUSIC BOX FILMS BEGINNING FEBRUARY 19, 2016

DVD / BLU-RAY / VOD / DIGITAL RELEASE FEBRUARY 23, 2016

The setting is mid-1970s New York City: five rockers decked in platform boots and dramatic make-up embarked on a heavy metal journey. Little did they know the impact they would make, and that, forty years later, they would still be renowned for their songs, one-of-a-kind live shows, and take-no-prisoners attitude.

We Are Twisted F***ing Sister! – a new 134-minute documentary film by Andrew Horn capturing that expedition from bar band to international stardom – will be presented in theaters via Music Box Films in February 2016. The first ever documentary of the band that defined an early MTV with their no-holds-barred music videos opens in New York and Los Angeles on February 19 with a one-night-only event at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre on February 22. On February 23, the film will be released on DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, and digital formats, with an included 2 hours of bonus material and director commentary.

Charging out of the gate with a lethal combination of grit and glitter, Twisted Sister (Jay Jay French, Dee Snider, Eddie Ojeda, Mark “The Animal” Mendoza, and the late A.J. Pero) established themselves as one of the staple acts of Glam Rock and Heavy Metal with anthems “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock.” However, “the band that killed disco” was no overnight success.

Director Andrew Horn, who is known for his films East Side Story (named one of the 10 best films of the year by Time Magazine), The Nomi Song, Doomed Love, and The Big Blue, said of the film:

“I realized as I was working on the film, that it was really very much a story of how a band becomes a band. They are truly unique in that their overnight success actually took 10 years, so you really get to experience everything Twisted Sister went through to do it. I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced any group of musicians as ferocious...or as funny.”

We Are Twisted F***ing Sister! puts the fan in the trenches with the band from their early, hungry days in New York City onward through their legendary career. Recounted directly from the band themselves, their managers, and biggest fans, We Are Twisted F***ing Sister! is the mesmerizing, never-before-told story of the ten grueling years leading up to the band’s break out success.

Are you ready to really get to know Twisted F***ing Sister?

For more information on theatrical screenings, please visit: www.musicboxfilms.com/twistedsister (check on “Theaters”)

Official trailer: http://bit.ly/WATFSTrailer

Jack Tempchin coming to Dana Point on June 5

Jack Tempchin is one of the most successful songwriters of the last 30 years. His songwriting credits include Johnny Rivers' “Slow Dancin' (Swayin' to the Music)” and The Eagles' “Already Gone” and “Peaceful Easy Feeling.” Together with Glenn Frey, whom he met in San Diego in the late 1960s before Frey joined The Eagles, Tempchin co-wrote “Smuggler's Blues” and “You Belong to the City” (which later were sampled on records by hip-hop stars Coolio and Jay-Z, respectively).

Tempchin is coming to Dana Point on Saturday, June 5, as part of the Lord of the Strings concert series. He will perform at the Dana Point Community House at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20.

Other artists who have recorded songs by Tempchin over the years range from George Jones and Emmylou Harris to Richie Havens and such San Diego-bred artists as The Paladins and former Byrds member Chris Hillman. Songs written or co-written by Tempchin have been featured on the soundtracks of such films as “The Big Lebowski” and “Thelma and Louise.” He also co-wrote the “Seventh Heaven” TV series theme song.

A San Diego native who now splits his time between Encinitas and Los Angeles, Tempchin celebrated his 36th wedding anniversary on Aug. 5 “I always thought of myself as a performer,” Tempchin said. “I didn't think of being a writer until I wrote a bunch of songs and people said: ‘Hey, I'd like to sing that.’ After a while, I thought, ‘Maybe I can be a songwriter.’ ”

In 1967, Tempchin befriended Frey after the future Eagle began playing gigs in Southern California with J.D. Souther. Tempchin invited the duo to crash at his combination “hippie pad and candle factory” in North Park, and he and Frey became fast friends.

Tempchin co-wrote two songs on 2007's “Long Road Out of Eden,” The Eagles' first new studio album since 1979. With two of his earlier songs featured on “Eagles Greatest Hits 1971-1975,” which has sold nearly 30 million copies in the U.S. alone, he could have retired long ago. But his passion for making music continues unabated.

More on Jack Tempchin and his music got to: www.PeacefulEasyFeeling.com.

For reservations and ticket information, call 949-842-2227 or visit www.LordOfTheStringsConcerts.com.

Folk duo to play Dana Point show

Photo credit: DANIELLE SUPOLA

Please note; this is an extended version of my story published earlier today on the Orange County Register Web site.

Though Andrew "Dawson" Heringer and Marlana "Marie" Sheetz both attended UC Irvine, the musical pair known as Dawson & Marie rarely performs in Orange County.

That will change Friday night (April 30) when the eclectic folk duo performs in Dana Point as part of the Lord of the Strings concert series.

"We are based out of Sacramento at this point," said Heringer, a theater major who earned his bachelor's degree at UCI in 2007. He responded to a series of questions I posed via email earlier this month. "We both grew up in a small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills ... called Placerville (home of the 1849 Gold Rush), although Marie and I didn't meet there. We met through mutual friends at UC Irvine."

Dawson & Marie are on tour in support of their superb debut album, "Months Vol. 1," a collection of seven original songs, six of which feature months in the title.

"When we started writing together, we wanted to create something that stood out from each of our solo projects," Heringer said. "We knew we wanted a concept but couldn't decide on anything. One day I sent her a text message after playing music at a cold and windy wedding on Pismo Beach saying, 'It feels like December at the beach,' to which she responded, 'Wait, I've got it; our CD should be songs about the months of the year.'"

There is little secret, but plenty of magic about the sound that Dawson & Marie create together. They write great songs and their distinctive voices sound great when singing those songs. Their soundscape is a blend of traditional Americana and indie folk styles ideally suited to the intelligent and artful selections featured on “Months Vol. 1.”

"With some songs (on the album), we wanted to capture the mood of the month for the song. 'August' is a great example of this. I think 'May, It's Raining' also does a great job of capturing the vibe of an unusually wet late-spring day. Other songs (notably 'July') were more about a particular story that came up for us."

In addition to their original material, Dawson & Marie also play a few reworkings of material from the likes of Kings of Leon ("Use Somebody") and Iron & Wine ("Naked As We Came") popularized via YouTube.

But when the duo performs in Dana Point on Friday, it’s likely that it will be the duo’s original songs from “Months Vol. 1” that will be the most compelling songs of the night.

“Most of the time, people are very enthusiastic about the month of their birthday,” Heringer noted. “Before performing these songs live, neither of us had any idea people took so much pride in their birthday month.”




DAWSON & MARIE


Where:Dana Point Community House, 24642 San Juan Ave.

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 30, 2010

How much: $15

Phone: 949-842-2227

Online: www.LordOfTheStringsConcerts.com

Laurence Juber to perform in O.C. twice this weekend

This article was posted on the Orange County Register Web site on March 25, 2010. I took the photo seen here a few years ago at the NAMM show in Anaheim.

One of the world's best-known acoustic guitarists is returning to south Orange County for two performances this weekend.

Laurence Juber will appear in Dana Point on Friday, March 26 and in Mission Viejo on Saturday, March 27 as part of the Lord of the Strings Concert Series. Juber's latest album, "Wooden Horses," released in October by Seal Beach-based Solid Air Records, features the two-time Grammy-winning guitarist performing instrumental works that showcase his technical virtuosity and artful arrangements.

The 14 tracks on "Wooden Horses" allow the composer and fingerstyle guitarist to showcase acoustic guitar on the Latin-tinged "Guitar Noir" and the tender "Being Here with You" while delivering a "wow" factor with speedy fretwork on the jazz-minded "Maple Avenue Strut" and the ragtime-mining title track.

"Wooden Horses" was released a few months after another album featuring Juber's guitar work. "Poppin' Guitars: A Tuneful of Sherman" features instrumental guitar arrangements of songs by the Sherman Brothers. Juber's take on "A Spoonful of Sugar" (originally featured in the movie "Mary Poppins") is part of that 15-song collection.

Juber, a member of Paul McCartney and Wings in the late 1970s and early '80s, earned a Best Rock Instrumental Grammy for the track "Rockestra" (featured on Wings' 1979 album "Back to the Egg"). During Juber's solo career, he picked up a second Grammy for his guitar arrangement of "The Pink Panther Theme" featured on the "Henry Mancini - Pink Guitar" collection released in 2004. Juber has released more than a dozen full-length discs since hsi debut, "Solo Flight," in 1990.

Highlights of his solo discography include "LJ Plays the Beatles" (2000), "I've Got the World on Six Strings" (2006) and "PCH" (2007). Juber will perform at the Dana Point Community House, 24642 San Juan Ave., Dana Point, at 7:30 p.m. on March 26. He will also perform at Mission Viejo Civic Center, 200 Civic Center, Mission Viejo, at 7 p.m. on March 27. Tickets are $25.

For more information, call 949-842-2227 or visit www.LordOfTheStringsConcerts.com.

Guitarist Pete Huttlinger comes to Orange County

Photo credit info: Kim Sherman

There are two sides to Nashville, Tennessee-based Pete Huttlinger’s musical world.

There is his acclaimed role as a sideman, playing alongside the late John Denver, as well as recent appearances with LeAnn Rimes. In fact, Rimes selected Huttlinger to play guitar with her when she appeared on the popular BBC-TV series “Live From Abbey Road” in 2007.
There is also the talented fingerstyle guitarist’s burgeoning solo career, which has included a growing number of strong albums such as “Catch & Release” (1995), “The Santa Rita Connection” (2004) and “Things Are Looking Up” (2007). He has also released a number of instructional titles on DVD, including “The Songs of Gordon Lightfoot,” “Arrangements for Solo Acoustic Guitar” and four discs focusing on John Denver’s songbook.

In March 2009, Huttlinger released his latest full-length album, “Fingerpicking Wonder: The Music of Stevie Wonder.” Huttlinger’s instrumental versions include an up-tempo “I Wish” and “Sir Duke,” a beautiful “My Cherie Amour” and tender “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life.”
The challenge of translating Wonder’s music – usually centered on his keyboard playing and distinctive vocals – might seem at odds with instrumental guitar. Huttlinger, a 1984 graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, proves otherwise throughout his outstanding 10-song tribute to Wonder.

“Anytime you take music which is predominately keyboard oriented and translate it to guitar or some other instrument, you are immediately faced with some interesting challenges,” Huttlinger said in a recent interview conducted via email.
“But that is part of the work and the joy of playing music – how in the world am I going to make this work? Sometimes we get lucky and everything falls into place.”
In crafting the arrangements and recording the disc, Huttlinger faced a number of choices – and challenges – that made the project every bit as demanding as completing an album of all-original material.
“With this new CD, the song ‘I Wish’ is the most difficult to play,” Huttlinger explained. “But I think that ‘My Cherie Amour’ may have been a little more difficult to record because I wanted that second guitar part to hint at the style of the 70’s but I wanted to make sure I didn’t overdo it.”
Those who catch Huttlinger when he performs in Orange County on Friday and Saturday night can count on hearing the acclaimed guitarist perform selections from his tribute to Wonder, as well as his other outstanding releases.

“Yes, I will be performing some of that (Wonder) music at these concerts. It’s what we do whenever we have a new CD – we have to get out there and perform the new material,” Huttlinger said when asked about his upcoming set lists.
“I try not to repeat myself too much if I’ve been somewhere before but I also try to take into account which tunes get a great response from the audience. I also like to take requests from the audience. That way I am sure to make the most people happy that they came out.”

Here is more information about Huttlinger's performances this weekend:

Where: Dana Point Community House, 24642 San Juan Ave., Dana Point
When: 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 26

Where: Mission Viejo Civic Center, 200 Civic Center, Mission Viejo
When: 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 27

How much: $25
Call: 949-842-2227
Online: www.LordoftheStringsConcerts.com