Some Thoughts on Music Is Art 2012

Val and I were able to spend a few hours away from our new dog at home, Harold, and get over to Delaware Park for the 10th annual Music Is Art Festival Saturday, September 15. Here is a rundown of what I heard and saw.

The setup was changed a bit from last year, with more space being used away from the Rose Garden and areas closer to Lincoln Parkway, which was closed off on the block right at the festival, and it appeared to be a good idea. The main stage, actually three joint stages, were set up on the main concourse cross from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, a smart move, and as you walked down the main concourse away from the stages, the main exhibit area, which includes several other stages and performance areas, was on one side, and about 15 food truck and other mobile food stations were located on the other side.

In particular, the Lloyd Taco truck line was extremely long, because of the high quality of the food they make and sell as well as the popularity of it. While it took me about 20-30 minutes from getting in line to actually getting our food, I could hear the main stage bands nicely and didn't mind the wait, talking to several people I just met and answered a few questions about Lloyd and whether or not the food was worth the wait (it is).

Musically: Flatbed played a real good set, maybe nothing spectacular to some but this is one band that does not get the credit it deserves; the Pillagers seemed to vying for the designation of Buffalo's new guitar army, and played some new material; Free Henry! sounded very sharp and impressed me more than then last time I heard them. The Ruby Spirit played some painful Pat Benatar meets goth rock songs; if we hadn't had Harold neutered Thursday, we could have used the singer's voice to have done so and saved some money. Advice to the Canary Girls: if you are going to ply the synthesizer/voice sound in an early 1980s mode, and you do not sound anywhere near as good as Depeche Mode, early OMD, Kraftwerk, early New Order, Cabaret Voltaire or Gary Numan (or hell, even Human League), take my advice and stop. Just stop. I was in the Lloyd Taco truck line for part of their set, and I missed out on a dissing session Val and a few other people had on the Canary Girls; I still feel the loss.

Also, the Good kicked some serious ass and blew away a lot of pretension; I don't care how old or experienced these guys are or may seem to some, they have the proper rock and roll attitude, turn it up and rip it up, and secret weapon/front man he who shall remain nameless shames all of us with his energy and demeanor. While I thought the gaggle of dancers, bystanders and so on up on stage with Whiskey Reverb was somewhat douchy, their music, kind of driving Americana with some sensitive pseudo hippydom tossed in, worked for me. The Grace Stumberg Band again sounded quite good, and I was particularly impressed by Stumberg's vocals, which had an added touch of sensuality and sultriness without losing any of their edge. We enjoyed Brother Andre (formerly DJ Andre) DJing, and it was unfortunate the technical difficulties interrupted his set; I also got to enjoy some of DJ Xotec's work while searching for Val, and sadly just missed DJ Soma.

As always, Robbie Takac and his merry band of workers and volunteers deserve a lot of credit for pulling off another successful Music Is Art Festival; the attendance was seriously large, the music was quite varied and both good and bad, and the art, photography, dancing, painting, spoken word and zombies made it a great event, with something for everyone, including all ages. Finally, I do not know of a Buffalo/Western New York festival that breaks down and cleans up as well or as fast as Music Is Art.

Linda McRae Band - The Sportsmen's Tavern

      Linda McRae returned to Buffalo for a June 15 show at the Sportsmen's Tavern, performing for the first time in a while in Buffalo with a band, and delivered an excellent rootsy show.

     The former Spirit of the West bassist/vocalist has taken an even more traditional turn since going solo, performing in small-group and solo settings and taking up not just acoustic guitar, but banjo, and McRae has become quite an accomplished player. She has frequently played with multi-instrumentalist Jim Whitford in Buffalo and elsewhere in New York and Ontario; I must say we are lucky that she stays at Whitford's house when visiting WNY with her husband and true partner, James Whitmire, because we get to not only visit with her but hear some fine rehearsals.

     The show opened with "Doin' Life Without Parole," a song of love and commitment from McRae's new "Rough Edges and Ragged Hearts" CD, highlighted by a cool Doug Yeomans guitar solo and some accordion from Mark Panfil. The next tune was also off the new (really good) CD, "Hope It Lasts Through Supper," a Whitmire poem put to music on whether or not a romance has a chance to last at all; McRae's banjo and Whitford's bass were particularly good on this simple twanger. "Deck of '52," a McRae/Whitmire co-write, was a sparse, stately, beautifully sad song particularly colored by accordion and guitar; McRae followed this with a really nice cover of Townes Van Zandt's classic "Pancho and Lefty."

     After this came another achingly lovely new song, "Higher Ground," in which a homeless vet seeks a little spiritual rest or redemption as alcohol begins to take him on his final fatal journey; Panfil's accordion was McRae's only accompaniment for half the song before the band joined in. Whitford stepped to the forefront for a moment to sing his own song, "Crash All Night," and smiled over Panfil's harmonica before joking, "I didn't know it was such a country song." McRae ended her first set with two songs from her older CDs, "Hoot and Holler," with solos by Yeoman's (guitar) and Panfil (Dobro) actually outdone by some dreamy vocals from McRae, and a cover of "The L&N Don't Stop Here Any More," detailing the death of a former train stop town.

     The second set started with "Carve It to the Heart," the title song from her 2008 CD which blends blues, country and folk; McRae's banjo stood out well. "Three Midnights," a song of addiction, loneliness and recovery, featured some fine guitar from Yeomans and the line "darker than three midnights in a jar," which my wife Val Dunne correctly points out as a gem. "Rough Edges and Ragged Hearts" notes that we don't have to be perfect to be right for our lovers/spouses. McRae has become a rather good interpreter of Hank Williams Sr. songs, and at this show nailed "Long Gone Lonesome Blues," assisted by Panfil's accordion. The band tossed in another cover, a fun run through of the Rolling Stones "Far Away Eyes," then added a couple more McRae originals, including "Flying Jenny," and ending with the gospel flavored "Be Your Own Light."

Covering the Covers

             Sometimes, a little shopping can get the mind working.

           

            While shopping at the Lexington Co-Op Sunday, I noticed that the music they were playing appeared to be a recording of cover songs by a female with a relatively high-pitched voice. The first song I heard was a version of Junior Murvin’s “Police and Thieves,” and the second song was a cover of “Clean Up Woman,” a major hit for Betty Wright in 1972. Sadly, the main reason I took such note of these songs was how poor the cover versions were; Junior Murvin may have a relatively high-pitched male voice, but there was virtually no feeling or passion in either of these versions.

            I have not been able to discover who performed these covers (whether the same person or different singers), but besides sounding like weak versions to me, they both have the problem of covering songs that to my ears have already received classic cover interpretations. Many music fans are familiar with the Clash’s classic/iconic cover of “Police and Thieves” on the band’s legendary self-titled album (Murvin reportedly hated their version), and the Pine Dogs covered “Clean Up Woman” live with a great deal of soul and fun.

            Of course, these judgments are opinions, but I have never hesitated to think mine correct, as us fine, public serving music critics always do. But while there may be no rules for cover songs, besides there being way too many to start with (and the same for movies), I would say that being yourself and not trying to sound like someone/something else is a good start. Junior Murvin may not like the Clash cover, but if the band had tried to sound like Robbie and Sly or even Pablo Moses, it would have been a mistake; sounding like an English punk band that enjoyed (and in bassist Paul Simonon’s case, was fanatical about) reggae and dub music is really all the Clash could do. The Pine Dogs did not try to sound like a Motown band or overdo the funk, but added their country/roots rock feel to a funky song like “Clean Up Woman.”

            There are other strings of discussion from this topic, including when bands record all-cover albums or even a tribute record (I admit I have a personal favorite in Tony Bennett’s tribute to Frank Sinatra and his romantic songs, “Perfectly Frank”). These types of recordings run the gamut from great to horrible, from background music to stop what you’re doing, sit down and listen and so on. The most inconsistent type of record is the tribute recording performed by a group of singers, bands and what not; great songs do not always create great recordings, as even tributes to Peter Case, Cole Porter, Alejandro Escovedo, Irving Berlin and Neil Young prove.

            This appears to be an ongoing issue that I will no doubt address to you fine readers from time to time here; please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section.

Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts - August 25

     Among the reasons my wife Val and I chose to visit the Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts Saturday, August 25, was that we preferred the musical acts scheduled to perform that day. The performers we caught did not disappoint, even with the strikingly hot temperatures that day.

     The first band we witnessed was the Backpeddlers, led by singer/guitarist Mark Norris, appearing this day in a three-piece lineup with Norris' former girlpope colleague Tom Stanford playing bass and Jeff Pietrzak on drums. The band smartly opened with the rip snorting "Turn the Tables," the lead song from the Backpeddlers' most recent "Songs of Guilt and Revenge" (Harvest Sum Recordings) CD, containing some interesting references to past bands, songs and events and some betrayal (nice nod to girlpope's "Teenage Jesus"). The band next launched into "We Know (Who We Are)," another rocker with a slightly poppier approach, and continued the onslaught for one more song with a rugged cover of Nick Lowe's "Heart of the City."

     Norris and company slowed things down a bit for "It's All True," a raw, bluesy song with some twang describing some difficult patches and family troubles, but listeners had better have caught their breath, because next up was an amphetamined version of the Shag/the Shags' "Stop and Listen," a fantastic 1960s garage rock song from the Milwaukee band. After the song, Norris smiled and, looking at Bernie Kugel, singer/front man for The Good, said, "sorry for any flashbacks that may have occurred, Bernie." As if on cue, Norris then drew a blank as to who performed the song, to which Kugel yelled to the stage, "the Shags." The Backpeddlers then continued their power pop/punk direction for a few more songs before the sweat-drenched Norris and company were finished, including a garage/moddish "(Do the) Crying Shame" from the new CD.

     After visiting some of the art exhibits, rescue dogs and food and drink booths, we returned to the main stage to catch the Alison Pipitone Band, who, as usual, did not disappoint. Pipitone and band deliver straight up, basic, four-to-the-floor rock and roll, often with messages of romance sought, acquired and lost, and the wonder and lust accompanying it. The band opened with "Hello Is Not the Word," a punchy song on which Pipitone sings to her topic of attention, a woman (possibly uniformed) she is attracted to who either won't openly return her affection or hesitates due to one bad reason or another (religion), and has Pipitone singing for her to come clean once and for all. The band followed this with another rocker "Crocodile Tears," where Pipitone is tired of drama and lies, and even if she gets the truth, realizes that this relationship is over. The two songs open "Me and Miss Grimes," the band's excellent 2009 CD.

     The band continued through its sets combining the basic, tough rock approach with some poppy and bluesy touches, highlighted by a crunching version of "When Down Comes Tumbling Down," a story of a relationship unable to keep going, and a rollicking blues rock cover of the Rose Bond song, "Dime Store Blues," featuring some nice, tasteful lead guitar from Graham Howes. It should be mentioned that most bands would be thrilled to have a drummer as good as Pat Shaughnessy (ex-SplatCats) is with Pipitone.

     Thanks to the 95-degree heat, we left before any other bands played, and unfortunately, we missed the Canal Street String Band's set; on the other hand, we did catch several songs at the Elmwood-Auburn intersection by a man in mime makeup and a suit, but singing songs such as Queen's "You're My Best Friend," and coloring one tune with a kazoo solo. It appears that this performer is Jimyn the Singing Mime, who you can catch at the annual Artists and Models Affair Saturday, September 29.

Grace Stumberg Band at ChalkFest

    Grace Stumberg, on guitar and vocals, leads her band during the first ChalkFest on the 500 block of Main Street in Buffalo August 11. She is joined by guitarist Bob James, left, and bassist Mike Petrino; not show is drummer Josh English.                      Photo by Val Dunne/Barkloud Productions

  

            (While I/The Hosey Report am/is trying to review shows in chronological order, there will be occasions where the time continuum will be deviated from, as in this post, in which I feature a photograph taken by my loving, talented wife, Valerie Dunne. Of course, I will add some, er, color. KJH)

            The Grace Stumberg Band, featuring its namesake, Grace Lynn Stumberg, on guitar and vocals, along with guitarist Bob James on guitar, Mike Petrino on bass and Josh English on drums, contributed an excellent set to the first day of ChalkFest on the 500 block of Main Street Saturday, August 11.

            While keeping things in a basic rock and roll approach, Stumberg and band included dollops of roots rock, folk rock, blues, and power pop coloring lyrics on relationships of all kinds and levels, mostly optimistic or at least hopeful in the face of adversity, and happily were quite realistic and honest, escaping any saccharine or pappy excesses. James, who may have as good a Buffalo rock and roll pedigree as anyone performing today (Restless, Jumpers, The Rain), did what he does best, supply some fine guitar leads with taste, economy and power. Stumberg’s guitar playing, mostly rhythm and counter but occasional lead, is also tasteful and a bit bluesier at times, while the Petrino/English rhythm section was right on the mark.

            I’ve caught Stumberg several times live, in settings from solo acoustic to full band, and she is adaptable as she is talented. One memory is of her playing an immigrant Thanksgiving dinner event at a former job of mine in a band also featuring bassist and Buffalo Music Hall of Famer Jim Wynne (Gamalon). Along with a enjoyable, funky set, they invited several of the immigrants to dance and sing with the band; one, an Iranian man of about 30-35, sang in very traditional, almost muezzin-style vocals, and Stumberg and Wynne led the band in wonderful accompaniment that went on for about 10 minutes, almost perfectly getting across the idea of working and creating together. It could only have been better if someone such as David Wasik could have joined in the music.

            Stumberg, who just returned from touring with Joan Baez as her personal assistant, will soon release her second CD, and I would recommend, based on what I have heard live, that you pay attention.

The Vores to Hold CD Release Party at Babeville Aug. 17

 

            The Vores, one of Buffalo’s punk, new wave and alternative music progenitors still playing vital music today, will hold a CD release party for its new recording, “Common Scar,” Friday, August 17, at Babeville, 341 Delaware Avenue at the corner of Tupper in Buffalo. Admission will be $15, which includes a copy of the new CD (hmm, any other specials for those of us who already have the CD?).

            The Vores, led by original members guitarist/vocalist Biff Henrich and bassist/vocalist Gary Nickard, are joined in the newest version of the band by keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Cathy Carfagna, guitarist Patrick Ryan and drummer Patrick Heyden. “Common Scar” features 13 new Vores’ recordings and a cover of Bernie Kugel and the Good’s “Walk Around the World,” with Kugel singing. I was fortunate to hear the CD via mp3s before I received a hard copy of it, and it is a really good recording (which will be reviewed here soon) and shows where the Vores have been, where they are now and possibly where the band is heading. It is certainly has some angular guitars, a few more melodious songs and continues in what Henrich calls an “avant garage” vein with some moody strangeness.

            Not so incidentally, the opening bands for the show are a reconfigured The Good, still led by Kugel, and The Irving Klaws, making this sound like a rather stellar offering of Buffalo punk, new wave, alternative, rock and so on with a little bit of the disturbing and off-kilter thrown into the mix.

            For anyone interested in more on the Vores, here is an interview I conducted with Henrich, Nickard and Carfagna for Artvoice last year, as well as a review of a show of the Vores at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery that was the first entry into the newly revived The Hosey Report.

Five Questions with Peter Case

Hamburg native Peter Case is returning to Buffalo to perform two shows this week. The first will be a free, full-band rock and roll show (with Case on guitar and vocals, Mark Winsick on guitar and backing vocals, Jim Whitford on bass and vocals, and Rob Lynch on drums) at 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 25, as part of the Larkin Live concert series at the Larkin Square in the, you guessed it, Larkin District in Buffalo. (Kudos to Seamus Gallivan and crew for dong a fine job on the concert series).

The second show will be a solo performance at 7 p.m. Sunday, July 29, at the Sportsmen’s Tavern, 326 Amherst Street near Grant Street in Buffalo. Admission for this Private Concert Series show will be $20.

Case is one of the greatest songwriters of our generation, if I may offer an opinion, and has been in several formats, going back to his work first with the Nerves, then gaining popularity and some fame as the singer/guitarist/frontman for the Plimsouls, including the classic “A Million Miles Away.” The multiple Grammy Award nominee has released a host of solo records, for major, middle, minor and independent labels, and was the focus of Tom Weber’s excellent “Troubadour Blues” singer/songwriter documentary film from 2011.

I caught up with Peter online and, as you can probably tell, asked him five questions.

KJH: What will people get to hear from you July 25 at Larkin Square with Jim Whitford and Mark Winsick, and solo July 29 at the Sportsmen's Tavern, and what will be the difference?

PC: I love playing with Jim and Mark (and Rob) and we go way back so its blast to play electric rock and roll and blues with them, a lot of which we've worked out over the years, and some of which is always "off the cuff," put together in the moment onstage, which we can do 'cause we've known each other so long. It’s a show I only do with them, or the Plimsouls, musicians I know really well.

My solo show is what I go around the country doing, also in Europe and the UK... it’s songs and music I can't present in that spontaneous band lineup, it’s a different type of thing. It’s mainly at this point what I'm known for, what I was doing when I was nominated for the GRAMMY s 3 times,,, its my main gig.

It was inspired by several shows I saw in Buffalo as a kid: John Hammond Jr, solo at Kleinhans, James Taylor solo at Kleinhans after his second record, and Dave Van Ronk, solo performance, outdoors (in March snow!) by Buff State ... at one point I hitched rides over to Boston and saw the great blues singer Lightnin' Hopkins perform solo there, and it was electrifying and a big inspiration.

The solo thing isn't me "unplugged." It’s the way I play everywhere, and I'd like Buffalo to hear it.

KJH: You were a big part of, and basically the focus, of Tom Weber's film "Troubadour Blues." What was it like being filmed for such a movie and how do you feel the film turned out?

PC: It was weird: he filmed the movie for ten years, so I get to watch myself aging when I see it! But it’s been great, because it give people a behind the scenes look at the solo thing we've just been talking about.

KJH: You told me in an interview and have said on stage at times, to paraphrase, that conservative/Republican presidential terms are good for folksingers and material. What are presidential election years like?

PC: I'm not up anywhere giving political speeches. But I think people know how I feel. Hey, I'm in the 99%, but so is just about everybody else!

KJH: I am a big fan of your song "Words in Red" from "Wig!" and I think of it whenever I hear, mostly, right-wing politicians and preachers using the Bible and religion to attack others. Do you get a strong response for this song?

PC: Yes, that song has been very popular. I'm not anti-religion, I have a "higher power" that I believe in... the song is about "spiritual materialism"... putting money over love.

KJH: You've been singing, playing guitar and writing songs for about 40-45 years. Has the journey taken you where you expect or want, and can you predict where it may take you in the future? Any new projects to speak of?

PC: 40 years! I just can't bring myself to say that... even tho' its true. There’s people whose grandparents weren’t born when I started playing. So lets just keep it to ourselves, ok? I'm writing a book, nearly done, on its last draft I hope. Songs for an album coming, producing other people, touring touring touring, it’s how I make it... at some point I hope to find some way and place to fall back, but right now my retirement plan is to die on stage somewhere. And the new songs might be best ones yet. That’s the way I look at it.