It isn’t often I think about reality while on Jam Cruise, but I couldn’t help but smile on Wednesday afternoon when I thought about what I’d be doing on any other work week Wednesday. Instead of working at the office I was sitting on a magical boat in the middle of the Caribbean about to take in another full day of exciting musical adventures. Wednesday was our first day at a port and it was nice to have a short break from the relentless onslaught of unbelievable music.

The first port Jam Cruise 11 visited was Grand Turk in Turks and Caicos. Those smart enough to schedule excursions in advance were able to participate in such adventures as snorkeling, rides in glass bottom boats, scuba diving and a trip through Cloud 9′s Positive Legacy arm in which cruisers brought much-needed school supplies and other materials to a school on the small island. In return, these cruisers feasted on a local meal consisting of conch and were entertained by a local band. The members of Hot Buttered Rum accompanied those on the Positive Legacy trip and jammed on some reggae tunes with the local musicians. For most though, the trip to Grand Turk gave us a chance to sit on a beach and drink cocktails while dipping our toes in the aqua blue ocean.

Once back on the ship Dumpstaphunk provided the first set of the day. Ivan Neville’s funk troupe has such a dirty and hard-hitting sound thanks in part to the soupy heaviness provided by the ensembles two bassists – Tony Hall and Nick Daniels. Dumpstaphunk has undergone a transformation since they last played Jam Cruise as drummer Nikki Glaspie has taken over for Raymond Weber. In addition to being a beast behind the kit, Glaspie also threw in a freestyle or two for the large crowd assembled for the Pool Deck performance. One of the many highlights from Dumpstaphunk’s set was a spot-on cover of Fame by David Bowie that went into the double-entendre heavy Put It In The Dumpsta. Guest wise, Ivan Neville and his band welcomed a horn section that included TAB’s James Casey and Jennifer Hartswick (making her first appearance of the cruise) as well as Skerik and Roosevelt Collier on an original called Meanwhile that tore the roof off in a way that was only topped when living legend Bernie Worrell came out to lend a hand on a song he helped make famous: P Funk’s One Nation Under A Groove. Despite his age, Bernie still has it as he added fiery synth riffs throughout the cover.

When walking around the boat I had the pleasure of meeting a member of the ship’s “decor team.” That’s right, Jam Cruise hires people to dress up every part of the Poesia to make sure you know this is not your typical cruise. Not to mention, many cruisers deck out their cabin doors with all sorts of decorations. A bunch take it to the extreme and come up with themes for their doors. A few of my favorites were those that turned their door and the area in front of their door into a giant game of Twister, a crew that turned part of a hallway into a jungle-like environment and a particularly arty door featuring used Five-Hour Energy Drink bottles. It’s this attention to detail that helps make Jam Cruise so special.

I also wanted to put in a mention of Jam Cruise TV. The TVs in each cabin contain four channels programed by the event’s organizers that cycle through photos, interviews and performances from the last few days. I was actually able to catch parts of a few sets I had missed on Monday and Tuesday while waiting to pull away from Grant Turks.

One of my favorite Jam Cruise activities each year is “Rock Star Karoake” in which random cruisers have the opportunity to take the stage to sing a song backed by members of Tea Leaf Green, ALO and Hot Buttered Rum. My pal JRapp delivered a formidable The Gambler with Use Me, Like A Rolling Stone and Superstition among the other notable performances.

Greensky Bluegrass’s second set of the trip took place in the theater. After finishing an incredible take on How Mountain Girls Can Love, GB’s Anders Beck mentioned that it was the “fastest song yet on Jam Cruise” and he wasn’t kidding. Beck and his band mates sure can pick and add just enough of a rock edge to satisfy those looking for something harder than just a string band. The Michigan-based band is known for their inventive ’80s covers. On this night we were treated to a plucky upbeat take on Money For Nothing by Dire Straits.

Up on the Pool Deck Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe was holding court. Last year KDTU offered one of the best sets of the trip with their wall-to-wall cover of Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones. This year we got a taste of their Beastie Boys sets with Sure Shot and an outstanding, true-to-form version of Sympathy To The Devil as well as an evil-tinged Seven Nation Army. Saxophonist Jeff Coffin (Flecktones, Dave Matthews) added an edge of craziness to one of Karl’s new originals that sounded like the theme song to a ’70s cop show. Ivan Neville, Collier and keyboardist Robert Walter were a few of the other guests who sat in with Karl D.

Now it was time for moe. who are making their first appearance on Jam Cruise this year following two moe. cruises of their own. moe.’s initial Jam Cruise set took place in the theater and I have never seen the place so packed. Usually you can find your own row, but by the time moe. took the stage it was tough to find a seat (though easy to find a place to stand). moe. took their time working through the first three songs of the set and jammed each part of each tune as The Pit, Water and Recreational Chemistry went on for close to an hour. Cruise director Annabel “Julie McCoy” Stelling came out after the impressive, jam-filled opening segment and brought a birthday cake to moe. guitarist Al Schnier. Schnier seemed genuinely touched by the love and said he’d fulfill a birthday wish by welcoming out percussionist Mike Dillon.

Mike D. sat in on prog-funk instrumental McBain and took part in a mindblowing call-and-response vibes session with moe.’s Jim Loughlin. Both mens’ arms moved so fast as they shared each measure, I couldn’t believe how crafty they were in formulating rapid-fire licks on the fly. Later, Schnier offered his Fleetwood Mac meets Pink Floyd original Silver Sun, while guitarist Chuck Garvey treated us to Where Does The Time Go? Despite Jam Cruise favorites Lettuce performing at the same time on the Pool Deck, moe. kept their large crowd enthralled and in place throughout their entire two hour performance. For their encore, moe. dipped into their repertoire for a romp through Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult that drove the crowd wild. I tend to jump around from set to set on Jam Cruise, but moe. kept me in place for two hours straight.

Because I was focused on moe. I missed nearly all of Hot Buttered Rum’s first set of the cruise. Thankfully, as I passed through I caught their sizzling version of Life During Wartime by Talking Heads featuring String Cheese Incident’s Kyle Hollingsworth on keys. Next up it was back to the Pool Deck for the end of Lettuce’s set. In catching two sets by the funk torchbearers of the 21st century I was impressed that they didn’t always rely on the “rage” aka hard-hitting, James Brown-esque funk. Eric Krasno and Co. went off on many excursions that hit upon tasty, Bitches Brew-style fusion. For their encore, Lettuce welcomed DJ Williams (Karl Denson) and Coffin for an outstanding cover of War’s Slippin’ Into Darkness.

Back in the theater, Marchforth Marching Band was a spectacle to behold. This group of freaks filled the stage with between 16 and 22 members depending on the song and included a few performers walking on stilts. This was the troupe’s first appearance on Jam Cruise and you could feel their excitement to be part of this adventure. Marchforth has a sound that’s all over the map but I’ll go with Gogol Bordello meets Fela Kuti with a dash of Talking Heads.

Now that the clock had moved beyond 2AM it was time to take a stroll to “The Spot.” As you may remember for yesterday’s report, The Spot (an area of the boat that Nathan Moore has made his own personal stage and acts as an oasis for those seeking a respite from the funk) wasn’t secret anymore. On Tuesday night there were a hundred people surrounding the musicians in an area not made to handle so many cruisers. Wednesday was a different story, at first. Moore gathered with musical compatriots Bryan Elijah Smith and Jay Cobb Anderson in front of a crowd that only consisted of myself, Jambands.com’s Mike Greenhaus and Jeff Waful. The trio treated us to three originals they had just written. These songs were so fresh they were less than two days old, but they didn’t sound like it. However once “The Spot” started, cruisers flocked to the area and our private concert didn’t last long.

As much as I enjoyed “The Spot” I made sure to take laps every once in a while to check out music on other parts of the boat. On one of these trips I caught Brock Butler sitting in with jamtronica act Zoogma on a cover of the theme to Ghostbusters. Butler and Zoogma broke the song open; a jammed out Ghostbusters? That’s Jam Cruise for ya.

I didn’t spend much time in the Jam Room on the first few nights, but I made up for lost time on Wednesday night/Thursday morning and I was sure glad I did. At one point I caught Vinnie Amico of moe. teaming up with George Porter Jr., Mike D., Robert Walter, Nigel Hall and Neal Evans for a cover of Mysteroso by Thelonius Monk. Then, GPJ led the ensemble, which now featured Glaspie on drums through an exceptionally funky High-Heeled Sneakers > It’s All Over Now segment. Yet the highlight for me was when Eric Krasno took over on bass and teamed up with the Lettuce horn section, Natalie Cressman and Glaspie for a few ’70s soul covers. Those on the Jam Room stage had clearly plotted a take over of the room as Nigel Hall gave a signal and the music turned on a dime to a well-rehearsed George Benson cover. Somehow this segued into “Fuck The Police” – only on Jam Cruise folks.

When I went back to “The Spot” I was surprised to find Brock Butler there. This was a meeting of the two late night performers and Butler took his shot by leading the assembled musicians – which now included members of Tea Leaf Green and Hot Buttered Rum – through covers by Alabama Shakes and Phospherescent. In keeping with the unexpected covers theme, the musicians at The Spot covered Billie Jean which really drew a crowd, especially since there wasn’t many other musical options at 4:30AM.

I heard Butler mention he hoped to play an impromptu set of his own but I was running on fumes. It was 5AM and I was ready for bed. Thankfully, when I tried to close my eyes nothing was happening so I decided to see if I could find Brock. It didn’t take long and like magic I found a spot on the Pool Deck where Butler had his guitar out for about six people. Once Brock started strumming a crowd of about 20 cruisers assembled and I was impressed by how quiet and attentive they were as Butler treated us to covers and originals until the sun came up. Some of my favorite tunes were Skinny Love (Bon Iver), Weather and the Wait (Brock Butler), I Can’t Make You Love Me (Bonnie Raitt), Million Dollar Bill (Dawes), Ho Hey (Lumineers) and Castles Made of Sand (Jimi Hendrix). I knew I’d pay for it in the morning but I was so glad I decided to make one last run for music at 5AM. Two hours later I had a more successful trip to sleepland.

There’s another full day of music in front of me as the boat is “at sea” on the way to The Bahamas, so while there’s plenty more to tell I want to get back at it. Check back tomorrow for more from Jam Cruise 11.

Bruno Mars will visit Jimmy Kimmel on Friday to wrap up Kimmel’s first week at his new 11:35PM time slot. Saturday Night Live will re-run an epsiode featuring Passion Pit (and the awesome Christina Applegate) so if you missed it the first time, this week is your chance.

Friday, January 11 (all times ET)

• Death Cab for Cutie: Live [AXS 8PM]
• Jon Spencer Blues Explosion on David Letterman [CBS 11:35PM]
• Rodriguez on Jay Leno [NBC 11:35PM]
• Bruno Mars on Jimmy Kimmel [ABC 11:35PM]
• Eli Young Band on Jimmy Fallon [NBC 12:35AM]

Saturday, January 12

• Tedeschi Trucks Band: Everybody’s Talking Live from Red Rocks [AXS 3PM]
• The Doors: Live at the Bowl [VH1 Classic 7PM]
• The Rolling Stones: Some Girls Live in Texas [Palladia 7:30PM]
• Yellowcard: Live at the Paramount [AXS 9:30PM]
• Passion Pit on Saturday Night Live (R) [NBC 11:30PM]

Sunday, January 13

• Film: Rock Star [VH1 Classic Noon]
• Neil Young: MusiCares Tribute [Palladia 2:30PM]
• Cheap Trick: The Latest Live at SXSW [AXS 1:10PM]
• Dropkick Murphys: Live from Fenway [Palladia 5PM]

Tom Waits and Keith Richards recording together to contribute a track to an album of pirate ballads, sea songs and chanteys just seems to make sense on so many levels. The duo are no strangers to working together, with Richards contributing guitar and backing vocals to Waits’ 1985 critically acclaimed album Rain Dogs, and more recently on the singer-songwriter’s 2011 studio effort Bad As Me. The world-worn pair’s latest collaboration, Shenandoah, will be featured on the compilation album Son of Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys, which hits stores on February 19, via Anti-Records.

The sprawling 36-track double-disc, which was put together by none other than Captain Jack Sparrow himself Johnny Depp, also features contributions from the likes of Shan McGowan (The Pogues), Iggy Pop, Frank Zappa, Dr. John, Broken Social Scene, Patti Smith and more. Let’s give a listen to the Waits and Richards’ saltwater-soaked, barnacle-crusted, scurvy-inducing track…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tom Waits & Keith Richards – Shenandoah

[Originally Published: August 31, 2012]

Happy Friday everybody. Congrats on making it through a tough work week, but now it’s time to relax, kick your feet up and enjoy a long holiday weekend. For this week’s Full Show Friday selection we’ve got one of the most highly-regarded Jerry Garcia Band shows of all-time. When the JGB played the Hampton Coliseum on November 9, 1991 they were joined by none other than Bruce Hornsby.

Jer always seemed to get a huge kick out of jamming with Hornsby as Bruce always challenged and pushed Garcia. That was true on this night as the JGB and Hornsby tear through a setlist that featured some of the best songs in the band’s repertoire including Run For The Roses, Don’t Let Go, Midnight Moonlight and The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. YouTuber LoloYodel has combined two separate fan-shot camera angles with a soundboard soundtrack making for a superb set of videos.

Jerry Garcia Band: 11/09/1991 @ Hampton Coliseum

Set One: How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You), He Ain’t Give You None, You Never Can Tell, Run For The Roses, Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, I Second That Emotion, My Sisters And Brothers, Ain’t No Bread In The Breadbox

Set Two: Bright Side Of The Road, Shining Star, Waiting For A Miracle, Think, I Shall Be Released, Don’t Let Go, Midnight Moonlight

Encore: What A Wonderful World

For each night of Jam Cruise there’s a theme that dictates how many cruisers will dress. Past theme nights included Super Hero Night, Green Night and Disco Party. Thursday’s theme was “Cirque Du Funk” and I’d say about 80% of those on board dressed in costume. In the four years I’ve done Jam Cruise, I’ve never seen as many people dress up as they did on Thursday which made the experience of walking around the boat even more surreal than usual.

The schedule for this year’s cruise is a little different than in years past. Previously the final full day on the boat was spent at sea after two visits to ports. For Jam Cruise 11 we visit The Bahamas on the final full day making Thursday our second full day at sea of the trip. The music started at noon and ran past sunrise.

Options for those getting up at noon included a screening of a documentary about Col. Bruce Hampton, a set from California’s Brokedown In Bakersfield and yoga lessons on the Sports Deck. I hit the ground running for the second set of the day which featured Steve Kimock teaming up Bernie Worrell, Wally Ingram, John Morgan Kimock and Andy Hess. Hampton made his first appearance of the trip during this set when he came out for a Space Is The Place rap. Other highlights of Kimock’s set were a jam on Get Up, Stand Up, a nasty take on Come Together (The Beatles) that put a sheen of ’60s R&B on the familair tune and a gorgeous version of Tangled Hangers. Earlier on the cruise at Steve’s first set Bernie Worrell “sang” Naive Melody by the Talking Heads which just sounded weird because Worrell more talks the lyrics than sings them. This was the case again on Thursday when the legendary keyboardist handled vocals for Burning Down The House. Let’s just say, perhaps those tunes should’ve been performed as instrumentals.

First up on the smaller outdoor stage this year known as the Magic Hat Wind Stage was Al Schnier. The moe. guitarist decided to make full use of his band mates and after only one solo song the set turned into a full-on moe. acoustic set. What an amazing surprise to see the headliners offer cruisers an extra set under the bright sun of the early afternoon. It was amazing to watch the members of moe. embrace Jam Cruise as they each mention how special the trip was. For me, there’s nothing like lying in a lounge chair and watching moe. work their way through Nebraska, Harder They Come, Shoot First, Moth and Haze as I tried to screw my brain back on after three full days of magical music.

While nearly all the bands on Jam Cruise focused on western style music, Femi Kuti and Positive Force offered something completely different. Kuti, the son of afrobeat legend Fela, exuded so much energy as he happily delivered each multi-layered, dance-friendly song. Positive Force is a large band with a full horn section and two hype dancers dressed in full African garb. Femi’s contageous smile as he bopped around stage is an image I won’t soon forget.

Nathan Moore closed out a short day of activity at the Magic Hat Wind Stage, where he performed a selection of his well-crafted original tunes including Hollow, Plain As Day, Do You Believe In Ghosts and Under Stand Under. It was weird seeing Moore during daylight hours as I’m used to hearing his music in the middle of the night at “The Spot.”

Eddie Roberts of The New Mastersounds led this year’s “Super Jam” and he recruited a vast array of talent for the set including the Lettuce Horns, drummer Stanton Moore, Art Neville, Jans Ingber and Joey Porter of The Motet, Nikki Glaspie and Mike Dillon to run through a set of funk and soul classics. He even turned over the show to Tim and Nikki Blumn for a few tunes.

A few years back I missed Zach Gill of ALO’s solo atrium piano set and I regretted it. Everyone I ran into who was in attendance raved about Gill’s performance. This year I didn’t make the same mistake. Unlike past solo atrium sets, a full PA was set up so we could hear Gill’s voice. There was a large contigent of ALO fans aboard and they voiced their requests at every turn. The keyboardist mixed rare ALO material with plenty of covers over the course of 90 minutes. Nothing will touch his version of Scenes From An Italian Restaurant though the Sweet Child Of Mine singalong came close. Zach brought out Umphrey’s keyboardist Joel Cummins for the Gill original I’m Your Handyman and a cover of Purple Rain that brought the house down.

On Wednesday I was blown away by the inventive sound and spectacle that is MarchForth Marching Band and I liked their Pool Deck set on Thursday even better. Jam Cruise organizers made MarchForth’s performance a centerpiece of Cirque Du Funk night as the band fit the theme perfectly. There’s something so different about MarchForth than any other band on the boat and it has more to do with their style and sound than the fact that they boast 20 members. With an instrumentation similar to that of a high school marching band, M4 mashes cajun music with ragtime, funk, soul, a hearty dash of gypsy music and plenty of rock. The group was so excited to be on the boat and their appreciation came through in their music. Many of the sets aboard Jam Cruise were great, but this one was extraordinary.

moe.’s Pool Deck set was scheduled for three hours, so there was question as to whether the performance would include a set break. Instead, moe. handled it in their own signature way by having Galactic take over the stage for three songs in the middle of the jam titan’s set. The Upstate New Yorkers stuck with classic material for the most part over the three hours of powerhouse rock. Cummins came out towards the middle of the set for an outrageous Happy Hour Hero and a cover of Cissy Strut that led into the full band segue shenanigans with Galactic. Cissy Strut was a weird choice considering The Funky Meters were performing on another part of the boat and like clockwork, twenty minutes after moe., The Funky Meters did deliver a Cissy Strut (with Jeff Coffin, Bernie Worrell and Mike Dillon) and I bet you can guess which one was better.

I took a quick lap around the boat during moe.’s Pool Deck set and had the pleasure of catching Kyle Hollingsworth of String Cheese Incident sit in with Nikki Bluhm and the Gramblers at the Zebra Bar while in the theater The Funky Meters were jamming with Mike Dillon, Roosevelt Collier, Nigel Hall, Ian Neville, Ivan Neville and Bernie Worrell. I made it back to the Pool Deck just in time to hear moe. finish with the ridiculous combo of Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’ with Karl Denson on sax followed by Spine Of A Dog > Buster and Rebubula. As if that wasn’t enough, moe. returned for an encore with Hollingsworth in tow for an outstanding rendition of Up On Cripple Creek by The Band.

As I’ve tried to explain music takes place in any and all the nooks and crannies of the boat. For example, my pal JRapp opened an elevator to find Greensky Bluegrass in it. He entered and yelled “Freebird.” Greensky was only happy to oblige and played through the whole tune as the elevator went up and down. This is another example of just not knowing what’s around the next corner musically.

As late night turned into morning, I alternated trips to “The Spot” where Nathan Moore was leading acoustic performances and the Jam Room where host Karl Denson was holding it down. One amazing song I caught was Denson teaming up with Nigel Hall, Kyle Hollingsworth, KDTU’s bassist, a full horn section, Stanton Moore and singer Kim Dawson of The Motet for an outrageous cover of Lovely Day by Bill Withers.

Back at “The Spot,” the crowd was mellow for the first few hours but as each venue let out the crowd around the musicians grew by leaps and bounds until at 5AM over a hundred cruisers surrounded the artists. Nathan Moore, Bryan Elijah Smith and Jay Cobb Anderson led the tunage for a while until Tea Leaf Green’s Trevor Garrod stopped by. Garrod played a melodica for a bit and was happy to oblige when Anderson asked if he’d like to take over on guitar for a few tunes. Things changed when Garrod strapped on the acoustic guitar and we were treated to bit of a private Tea Leaf Green concert. Highlights included Earth and Sky, What A Wonderful World and Sitting On The Dock Of The Day.

It’s now Friday morning, the beginning of the last full day on the boat, and we’re docked at Coco Cay in The Bahamas. Your faithful reporter is off to catch a beach concert, but I wanted to thank you for following along my adventures. I’ll have much more from Jam Cruise in the coming days and weeks.

At last fall’s installment of the annual CMJ Music Marathon, one of the band’s that seemingly played every venue around town, and generated a healthy dose of buzz was the Los Angeles-band act Foxygen. The band brought a vintage brand of Nuggets-era influenced garage rock to their 2012 debut album, Take the Kids Off Broadway, sounding like an acid-drenched Rolling Stones record. Next Tuesday, Foxygen will release their highly anticipated sophomore studio effort We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic via Jagjaguwar and have dropped the music video for the album’s lead single San Francisco.

Judging from the Wes Anderson-inspired clip, the band has shifted direction a bit embracing the psychedelic sounds of early Pink Floyd and The Kinks, as well as the California sunshine pop of the early 1960′s. Let’s check it out…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Foxygen – San Francisco

While the latest installment of the Grateful Dead’s Dave’s Picks live archival series – Volume 5 – isn’t expected to ship until February 1st, the band has just announced details of Volume 6, due to ship on May 1st. Dave’s Picks Volume 6 will consist of two complete shows featuring material that had been missing from the band’s “vault” for more than 40 years: 2/2/70 Fox Theater, St. Louis, MO and 12/20/69 Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA with a bonus disc for Dave’s Picks subscribers containing 75 minutes of music from the Dead’s 12/21/69 performance at the Fillmore Auditorium.

Recently, a batch of reels containing long lost live recordings were given back to the Dead marking the first major return of material to the vault since 2005′s Houseboat Tapes. The return of these reels has allowed GD “legacy manager” David Lemieux to put out two complete shows as Dave’s Picks Volume 6. Though only six weeks separate the two performances, a lineup change happened in between. Keyboardist Tom Constanten is on hand for the 12/20/69 show while the 2/2/70 gig was the Dead’s first without Constanten. Tom does provide a first-hand perspective on 12/20/69 for the volume’s liner notes. Bear recorded both shows which both feature plenty of Pigpen material including a 35+ minute Turn On Your Lovelight from 12/20/69.

With each Dave’s Picks release limited to 13,000 copies, the Dead warn that the only way to guarantee yourself this year’s installments is to purchase a subscription. The subscription offer ends in a little more than a week on January 22, 2013 at 11:59PM PST and those subscribing will also receive the aforementioned 12/21/69 bonus disc. We look forward to hearing these long-lost recordings

“Spot the buzz band” is a favorite pastime in our scene, and right now, you could do a lot worse that put your marker next to the Revivalists, one of the best breakout New Orleans bands since Dumpstaphunk.

Theirs is a potent sound: a seven-piece horde playing plenty of the funky R&B you’d expect from the Crescent City, but also a songwriting sensibility that veers folk and even pop, along with a healthy dose of soul. Layered within that is a greasy swamp-rock streak that benefits heavily from a pedal steel — an unusual, but downright titillating context for such a rich instrument.

Word’s quickly getting out about their live show, and the Revivalists have already logged time as openers for Rebirth Brass Band, Galactic, Dr. John, J.J. Grey and Trombone Shorty. (Galactic’s Ben Ellman produced their second album, 2012′s City of Sound).

They’ve done the CMJ circuit and Jazz Fest, too, and last year made friends with scene luminaries Warren Haynes and Stefani Scamardo, who brought the Revivalists into their orbit after being impressed with their full-length debut Vital Signs, helping them to get much more exposure during a run of dates opening for Gov’t Mule last fall.

As Shaw tells it, the band’s formation — guitarist Zack Feinberg, pedal steel guitarist Ed Williams, saxophonist Rob Ingraham, bassist George Gekas, drummer Andrew Campanelli and multi-instrumentalist Michael Girardot — was as organic as they come. Campanelli and Feinberg had known each other from the Sunday Music Workshops at Tipitina’s, and Gekas was a college friend of Campanelli’s. The seeds were planted, however, when Feinberg rode by Shaw’s Birch Street home and found him on his front porch.

Hidden Track caught up with Shaw at the beginning of January, just as the band was headed back on the road (including for a return New York engagement January 30 at the Mercury Lounge).

HIDDEN TRACK: So I understand you guys came together through a bit of happenstance. Take me through that.

DAVID SHAW: It all came about pretty organically back in 2007. Feinberg and I met on my front porch. I was outside playing songs, and he rode by on his bike and he listened for a while. We struck up a friendship. He knew Andrew and George from the Tips Sunday Workshops. As we got going, we had a few guys we knew come and play.

Rob sat in and played saxophone and after six months, it was like, why don’t you just be in the band, you’re sitting in practically every show. And that’s basically how Ed got added as well, and we started jamming more. There was no particular plan to become a seven-piece, but it was like, of course we could use sax, and of course we could use a pedal steel.

HT: I was going to say, you don’t necessarily think of a pedal steel when you think “New Orleans band.”

DS: It sounded good though! I had never really even heard anyone play a pedal steel, I just new the sound from old country songs and newer country bands. But it does appear in all kind of music and I think that’s part of what sets us apart from the norm.

HT: So it all sort of came together, just like that?

DS: Just like that, yeah. I’d been in New Orleans, like, two weeks when we met on my porch.

HT: Were you playing in bands before?

DS: I had moved down there to pursue a career in music, and had been in a bunch of bands before. I went to Ohio State — I grew up in Hamilton, Ohio, close to Cincinnati — and I’d been in bands since I was 13. After college, it was going to be New York or Nashville or L.A. I didn’t even think about New Orleans — I didn’t know much about New Orleans music, honestly.

My girlfriend at the time was much more knowledgable about it and kept saying I hear it’s a great scene, and soon enough I started listening more to Professor Longhair and the Meters and I heard all about Galactic. It just made sense. A lot of players hit New Orleans to cut their teeth.

HT: Did you go thinking you would form a band?

DS: I wasn’t really thinking like that, no, it was more, I’m just going to go down there and play my songs. I wanted a city that was going to have a lot of connections and people who wanted to play music. You can put funk and other sounds to folk songs no problem.

Our first EP was made up basically of four songs I’d written previous to meeting everybody, and then we had one song, Concrete, that Zack had written and that we’re actually going to be playing on Treme.

There was never…well, I don’t remember any decisions being made where it was like, OK, we want to sound like this. We’re all songwriters and a lot of the stuff we’ve all dealt with — dating girls, breaking up, going through addictions, conquering addictions — it all plays into it. It’s making music from the heart, and what goes on your life you’re going to channel into your music.

HT: So you’ll be on Treme, eh?

DS: We just found out about that this month! They’re in their fourth season, so whenever it airs it will be part of that.

HT: Very cool. Lots of breaks have gone your way lately, and I know you guys were very well-received when opening for Gov’t Mule last fall. How did you connect with the Mule crew?

DS: I spend a lot of time at a place here called La Boulangerie, and one day I’m eating my croissant and drinking my espresso, and I get a call from this lady. She says, Is this David? And I say, hey, yes. She says, Hey, this is Stefani Scamardo. And I said, oh, wow, hi…who are you? [Laughs]

She told me who she was and what she did and about her management company and obviously she’s Warren’s wife. She told me she got my contact through our lawyer and wanted to give me a call and that they heard our music and dig what we do and wanted to see if they could help us out. Warren liked it.

HT: Things never happen that easily, really?

DS: Absolutely, man! She got our Vital Signs CD from the lawyer and they all said they just liked it a lot.

HT: You guys looked like you were having a blast at those Mule shows.

DS: They were totally awesome, some of the most fun nights we’ve had.

HT: And Warren sat in with you guys when you were at Brooklyn Bowl in November if I remember correctly.

DS: I kind of couldn’t believe he sat in on the song he sat in on [Dr. Dre's Forgot About Dre]. Definitely a highlight.

HT: Warren’s known for turning up like that, of course, but did he just come on down to Brooklyn Bowl to see you guys?

DS: Well, we work close with Stefani and [Hard Head Management's] Adam [Kowalski]. They manage us now and they handle all of Warren’s stuff as well. He lives in New York, and we didn’t know if he’d make it but they put about an 80 percent change of him coming, and there he was.

HT: Did you have to sell him on the Dre song?

DS: [Laughs] We were backstage, and I approached him, and I said, you can shoot this down with a shotgun if you’d like, but can you sit in with us on this Dr. Dre song we cover? He was like, fuck it, yeah, let’s do it.

HT: Well, congrats on a big year. It sounds like you guys are going to be plenty busy in 2013.

DS: We’re doing some shows in Colorado and a bunch of dates and then we’ve got a lot coming up. We’re doing South by Southwest this year — we’re very happy about that. We’ll be at Wanee, we’ll be at Governor’s Ball, we’ll be at a bunch of the others. Planning a lot of movement and a lot of big things.

After Phish’s three-set New Year’s Eve extravaganza at Madison Square Garden, drummer Jon Fishman headed over to NYC jazz club The Iridium for a special late-night show with his musical comedy troupe Touchpants. Our pal Clinton was on hand and has uploaded a clip of the band’s hilarious bluegrass ditty Jesus Had A Baby… to YouTube via his Cleantones channel.

Watch as Fishman, Chris Friday, Aram Bedrosian and Colby Dix make their way through the tune and offer some funny banter relating to the evening’s Phish performance including word of a text Colby sent Fish that said, “Oh Alaska, thanks I needed a sandwich and a beer.”

While some would like to call it the Mumford-ization of rock, there is no denying that over the last handful of years folk, roots and Americana music has crossed over into the mainstream with bands like The Avett Brothers, The Civil Wars, The Swell Season and most recently The Lumineers all achieving cross-over success. The latest band that is likely to benefit from this trend is The Lone Bellow, who will release their self-titled debut next Tuesday via Sony’s Descendant Records imprint.

The Brooklyn-based band, who has already gotten the stamp of approval from the folks at NPR Music, play an instantly likable brand of country and gospel-inflected folk, with big wonderful harmonies that fluctuate between exuberant foot-stomping numbers and sweeping, tender, heartfelt tunes.

The band, which puts on a fantastic live show, is the brainchild of lead singer Zach Williams, who began writing songs and teaching himself how to play guitar as a cathartic release back in 2005, while his wife was recovering from a life-threatening horseback riding accident. The Lone Bellow, whose album is currently streaming as part of NPR Music’s First Listen series, has released the home-spun video for the record’s lead single You Never Need Nobody. Let’s check it out…

Click here to view the embedded video.

In 2012 Phish didn’t debut any new original material, not a great sign for a band that has always thrived on evolving. Recently, both Page McConnell and Trey Anastasio had mentioned the band will soon enter the studio to record a new album and today Jambands.com has reprinted part of an interview with Anastasio that ran in the January/February issue of American Songwriter in which he talks about Phish’s return to the studio and much more.

“We’re starting a new Phish record soon, and we’re communicating pretty well for a band that’s been together for thirty years,” he says. “We’ve been talking about ways to turn lemons into lemonade, going forward with the record. We really want to try to bust open the door. We do all get along so well, and we’re used to collaborating so much that we’ll find a way. But even if you think about the Beatles later in their careers, they were ultimately better at marking solo records in the studio.”

Elsewhere, he elaborates on Phish’s studio process by saying, “When we get in there, nobody wants to step on each other’s toes. That might have something to do with why [we haven’t used the studio as an instrument much]. [Trey Anastasio Band bassist] Tony Markellis is an incredible bass player, but he did not play bass on [the Traveler track “Architect.”] Because it’s a solo album, I don’t have to ask him. If i want to pick up the the bass and do some cool thing, I just do it.”

[American Songwriter article via Jambands.com]

According to Jambands.com (the American Songwriter article hasn’t been posted online yet), the article also finds Big Red discussing his recently released solo album, his headphones, his admiration of country singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb and his work with producer Brendan O’Brien on 2005′s Shine. We’re excited to hear, once again, that the band is gearing up to enter the studio.

[Hat Tip - @mrminer]

The worst part about Jam Cruise is that it eventually ends. That’s not to say that five jam-packed five days of music isn’t enough, because it was, but the music stopped at 6AM on Saturday morning and disembarkation started just an hour later. Saying goodbye to all the amazing people I spent the week with was such sweet sorrow and returning to reality was painful. That said, I hope to take the lessons I learned, the amazing musical experiences and the positive energy with which Jam Cruise is infused with me for the rest of the year.

[Photo by Matthew Hebert]

Unlike the past few years, Jam Cruise 11 visited a port on the last full day of the trip. Instead of a “day at sea,” the MSC Poesia docked at Coco Cay in the Bahamas. Actually, “docked” isn’t accurate – we had to take small boats (tenders) to the port from the cruise ship. After writing my report on the magical music that took place on Thursday, I took a tender to the beach. Coco Cay is a private island owned by Royal Caribbean. Our cruise line, MSC, took over the island for the day which meant it was just Jam Cruisers and staff on the 140-acre site. There were paid excursions to choose from such as nature walks, jetski adventures and snorkeling. I, however, decided to relax on the beach where guitarists Scott Law and Brock Butler were performing.

I got to the stage just as singer-songwriter Scott Law was finishing a batch of tunes. Butler joined him for an amazing three-song string of covers: When I Paint My Masterpiece (Bob Dylan), Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes (Paul Simon) and Pepper (Butthole Surfers). After that, Law left Butler by his lonesome and the PGroove singer went on to perform a rousing set of 12 tunes using a looper to add color and layers to a batch of covers and originals. Highlights included Brock’s takes on Down By The Seaside (Led Zeppelin), Big Country (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones), Little Bit of Everything (Dawes), Queen Bee (Taj Mahal) and Us and Them > Any Colour You Like (Pink Floyd). Butler concluded with an epic, looped-out 13-minute version of the fitting On A Beach by Richard Ashcroft of The Verve fame.

• Jam Cruise 11 Journals: Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four

Once Brock’s set finished, I decided to head back to the boat as the weather was overcast with a bit of rain sprinkling down. Jam Cruise organizers usually book reggae bands to play as we depart the islands and this year Steel Pulse had the honors of performing as we left The Bahamas. The reggae legends seemed to love Jam Cruise as not only were they seen around the boat talking to cruisers and taking in sets by other performers, but they even played Franklin’s Tower and invited Ivan Neville and Chris Littlefield (KDTU) up for guest spots.

Later, I caught a bit of the Everyone Orchestra set which featured an unreal lineup. Matt Butler always puts together ridiculous versions of his project for Jam Cruise, but this one could be the best yet. We’re talking Al Schnier and Jim Loughlin of moe., Anders Beck and Paul Hoffman of Greensky Bluegrass, Jeff Coffin of the Dave Matthews Band, Motet vocalists Jans Ingber and Kim Dawson as well as members of their horn section, Natalie Cressman and Jennifer Hartswick of TAB, Schmeans of Lettuce, ALO’s Zach Gill, Kyle Hollingsworth of String Cheese Incident, drummers Jeremy Salken (Big Gigantic) and Eric Bolivar (Pimps of Joytime, Anders Osborne), Reed Mathis of Tea Leaf Green and Andy Hess of Steve Kimock’s band on bass plus Mike Dillon on percussion. As you can expect, this lineup rocked it out tackling such themes as “cock rock” and “metal” during their 75-minute, improv-heavy performance.

Everyone Orchestra on Jam Cruise 11

Meanwhile, moe.’s Chuck Garvey and Vinnie Amico were in the Zebra Bar judging an “Air Guitar Contest” and J.J. Grey was at the boat’s atrium piano to make up his solo set which he had missed due to illness. Grey gave us a taste of Mofro’s new album as he switched between guitar and piano. He welcomed collaborator Anthony Farrell out for a few tunes and brought out Brock Butler for a gorgeous take on Sun Is Shining Down.

JJ Grey w/ Brock Butler – Sun Is Shining Down

Ivan Neville played his scheduled piano atrium set after Grey finished, but I only caught his version of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide. Apparently I missed a good one as described by Jambands.com’s Mike Greenhaus…

Ivan Neville offered an emotional solo piano set of his own. Neville—the only person to play an atrium solo piano set two years in a row—focused mostly on sober ballads as well as covers like Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.” He talked at length about his mother, who passed away when the keyboardist was on Jam Cruise a few years ago, and debuted a new song he wrote with The Bridge’s Cris Jacobs in her memory. At one point when Neville became emotional, Bernie Worrell took the stage to hug him. He also reminded the audience that Neville was his “nephew and protégé.” Dumpstaphunk bassist Nick Daniels sat in with Neville on a few songs too, first from the audience and later on the piano’s platform. At the end of Neville’s set, Worrell returned to play piano alongside his friend on Sly Stone’s “Family Affair.” As one encore, Neville, Daniels and Warren Haynes Band/Lettuce’s Nigel Hall offered Gerald Tillman’s “Padlock.” Ivan’s uncle Art Neville watched the entire set from the audience in a wheelchair, calling out songs and telling his nephew “it sounds good” from the crowd.

Over the years in my Jam Cruise Journals I’ve talked about the wonderful group of cruisers from around the country dubbed the “Awesome.town” collective who took me in on my first cruise. I had a fantastic time with them once again on Jam Cruise 11 and we celebrated the end of the adventure and our friend Kim’s birthday with a fantastic sit-down dinner in the ship’s main dining room. I knew I’d miss something special with Neville’s set, but this trip is not only about the music it’s about the people and we had the best time saying goodbye in our own debaucherous way.

From there it was time to celebrate “Spinal Tap Night” as the music was only beginning. Check back tomorrow for the rest of my story from Friday night and Saturday morning.

On Wednesday night Furthur kicks off a four-night stand at the recently (kinda) reopened and intimate Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, Calif. that marks the first shows of the year for the Phil Lesh and Bob Weir-led band. Last week Weir’s TRI Studios venture announced it would webcast Friday’s performance live and free-of-charge via Yahoo! Music and today the venue announced it would webcast the rest of the run for free on the Sweetwater website.

To review, you can stream Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday’s shows through swmh.com and Friday’s gig at Yahoo! Music. All four performances sold out quickly.

As a music fan in the New York City area there are two things you can essentially count on each March. One is Allman Brothers’ Beacon Theatre run, while the other is a much newer tradition – Bowlive: Soulive’s multi-night residency at Brooklyn Bowl. For the fourth year in a row the jazz-funk trio will set up shop at the multipurpose venue for eight nights, which will run from March 7-9 and then pick up again from the 12-16. As in years past the band will be joined by an array of special guests over the course of the run, which last year  featured the likes of Derek Trucks, John Scofield, Luther Dickinson (NMAS), Billy Martin and ?uestlove. Tickets are currently on-sale for the entire run, as well as a special eight-night pass that will run you $120.

[Photo by Phrazz]

If you can’t make it out for Soulive’s annual residency, then maybe you’ll be able to hit one of these recently announced tours…

• Animal Collective w/ Dan Deacon: Spring North American Tour (3/7 – 3/24)
• Leonard Cohen: Spring North American Tour (3/2 – 4/20)
  
• Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang: West Cost Tour (3/20 – 3/24)
• Hot Tuna: U.S. Tour (2/8 – 6/21)
• Drive-By Truckers: U.S. Tour (1/17 – 3/17)
• Living Colour: 25th Anniversary World Tour (3/7 – 4/13)
• Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band: Spring Tour (2/27 – 4/2)
• Lotus: U.S. Tour (1/24 – 4/6)
• Crystal Castles: World Tour (1/15 – 5/13)
• Toubab Krewe: Rocky Mountain High Tour (3/21 – 4/6)
• Chelsea Light Moving: North American Tour (3/2 – 4/7)

In what must’ve been a heart-breaking decision and a longtime coming, the members of the Perpetual Groove organization have just announced that starting on April 6th they will be taking an indefinite hiatus. The band has posted a message explaining the decision on a blog post entitled Thank You. Three of the four members of the band – Albert Suttle, Matt McDonald and Adam Perry – will continue to tour as a new project under the moniker “Ghost Owl,” while front man Brock Butler has posted an apology on the band’s website for letting it get to this point.

Here’s the announcement of the indefinite hiatus…

The band members of Perpetual Groove as well as our whole leadership and technical team is announcing today, that we are calling a hiatus, effective April 6, 2013.  While we’re taking steps to make sure that the music and community of PGroove lives on and is still readily available to fans, the band will stop touring and recording.  While we haven’t ruled out a reunion in the future, it’s not in the forecast at this time.

Today, it’s stunning to look back on the last 10 years and 4 albums, the thousands of shows, thousands of fans, and dozens of collaborations with other artists that is, collectively, Perpetual Groove.  We are honored to have fans who love the music and who love one another, and proud to call so many of you both friends and fans.

We have to admit, not everything has gone to plan on this journey.  We have seen highs and lows, just like the rest of the country in the past few years.   And now we turn to a new chapter.  While it’s difficult to do, we support Brock Butler in his work to create a healthier, happier life and career for himself. That work needs to take place in a new and different context and we wish him luck.

For our part, Adam, Albert, & Matt will continue making music together.  We are in a “prototyping” stage of a new sound and a new stage presence which will tour under the name Ghost Owl.  We’re releasing a very rough cut – a snippet – for fans to hear today.  Check back soon for a couple full tracks.

Thank you all again for everything,
Adam, Albert, Brock, and Matt

And here’s Butler’s apology…

I imagine this letter will be a disappointing one for some to read, or that it might be a relief to those who’ve been concerned for some time. I want to apologize to the fans I’ve let down, to my friends and loved ones I’ve put through worry, and to everyone in Perpetual Groove’s organization. This apology is for the state I’ve allowed myself to be in at shows, which have compromised performances, as well as my personal life. I’m very aware and sorry to everyone I’ve let down through my actions and lack of actions.

Perpetual Groove has been my life for a long, long time. In some ways it has defined me. I’m at a point where I truly need a break. This is the hardest decision of my life but my happiness and well-being must be my first priority. Trying to find balance, break bad habits and develop good ones while continuing a life on the road is something I haven’t been able to do. Therefore, I have decided to take my leave from the band and touring. I can’t give any time frame on this break or a guarantee to return. My current plans are to take time for myself and get my own home in order. My hopes are simple: to get rested and get happier than I’ve been.

I have made great friendships that I will always cherish thanks to my time spent as a member of Perpetual Groove. It’s my hope to get to where I can be the quality friend and band mate to those who have been quality friends and band mates to me. I will cherish my memories with the band while hoping a time will come to create new memories.

I still plan to do acoustic shows and work in music where I can during this hiatus. I send my blessing and support to each member of Perpetual Groove on all their future endeavors – from the band on down to the crew. I hope all who support Perpetual Groove will do the same.

I know that the disappointment felt is probably equal to and opposite of the hopes you had that I would not let things come to this. I know personally, I’m disappointed in myself. I am sorry for my part in letting you down, leaving you underwhelmed and/or feeling that your support was taken for granted or unappreciated. I’m truly sorry.

Wishing you all a beautiful New Year. A peaceful year with patience where you need it and empathy when it’s called for. Support where you can give it or where you might need some yourselves. I hope you find balance if you feel you’re lacking it. Balance, good health and even better decisions are the things I’m taking my leave to hopefully find. With support and love, I believe I can.

Yours sincerely B

Finally, check out a snippet of the new project – Ghost Owl…

We’ll have more on this situation in the coming days, but we wanted to let the band do the talking at first.

While the organizers of Camp Barefoot, a mid-size festival that will take place at a campground in Bartow, West Virginia on Aug. 22 – 24, will announce its full initial lineup on February 12th, today they gave a taste of what attendees can expect by releasing the names of a handful of bands on the bill as well as three “Artists-At-Large” that will sit in with other acts throughout the weekend.

Tea Leaf Green, Zoogma, the Jennifer Hartswick Band, Break Science, Brothers Past, The Motet, Toubab Krewe, Consider The Source and American Babies are set to perform at Camp Barefoot along with That 1 Guy, James Justin and Co., Ras Puma with Antero Reggae Band, Mekong Express, Danger Muffin, Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, DJ Williams Projekt, The Broadcast, Cris Jacobs Band, Tiny Boxes and Friends (featuring Hartswick, Nigel Hall, members of The Motet and Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band) and many more regional and local acts. Hartswick, Hall and Ras Puma will serve as Artists-At-Large. Tickets for the seventh installment of the fest are currently available for $105.

Towards the end of a transformative Spring Tour that took Phish across the country and back in 1993, the Vermonters pulled in to the State Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey on May 3rd, 1993 for a show that wound up being the only one they’ve played at the historic venue. Phish has released the performance via LivePhish.com as a fundraiser to benefit SuperStorm Sandy relief.

There’s tons of highlights throughout the entire “quintessentially ’93″ show including the weird and extremely “Phishy” Colonel Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird sequence featuring a Vibration of Life, an intense Tweezer that contains a bit of Carole King’s I Feel The Earth Move jam as well as the rare Manteca which was expertly inserted in the aforementioned Tweezer.

Listen to the Tweezer > Manteca > Tweezer:

Here’s the full setlist via LivePhish.com…

Set One: Buried Alive, Rift, Weigh > Chalk Dust Torture, Esther > Split Open and Melt, Col. Forbin > Fly Famous Mockingbird > Vibration of Life > Fly Famous Mockingbird, Possum, Lawn Boy > Cavern

Set Two: AC/DC Bag > The Curtain > Tweezer > Manteca > Tweezer > Contact > It’s Ice > Mcgrupp and the Watchful Hosemaster > Runaway Jim, Ball Jam > Hold Your Head Up > Love You > Hold Your Head Up, My Sweet One, Tweezer Reprise

Encore: Memories (a capella no mics), Amazing Grace (a capella no mics), Highway to Hell

You can buy 5/3/93 in a variety of formats. Downloads of MP3s will run you $9.99 while FLACs and ALACs cost $12.95. Mastering guru Fred Kevorkian sweetened the mix of Paul Languedoc’s recording for our listening enjoyment. All proceeds benefit The American Red Cross.

Here’s more info on this show and the circumstances of its release…

In late October of last year, Hurricane Sandy bore down on the Atlantic seaboard. The result was devastating for coastal areas from the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic to New England and reached as far inland as the Appalachian Mountains and parts of the Midwest and Canada. Storm surge, high winds and power outages that lasted weeks after the storm contributed to loss of life and unprecedented property losses. The coasts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island were permanently redrawn as the Atlantic reclaimed some of America’s favorite beaches.

In response, The WaterWheel Foundation (with the help of the Mimi Fishman Foundation) quickly launched a ticket auction for Phish’s NYE run at Madison Square Garden. Eight pairs of tickets raised over $10,000, which was then donated to The Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties in NJ and The Food Bank for New York City to assist with their recovery efforts. To continue aiding in these efforts, JEMP Records is pleased to announce the release of Phish’s May 3, 1993 show from the State Theatre in New Brunswick NJ, as a download at LivePhish.com.

New Brunswick was 67th on the tour of 73 shows spanning February through May. The location was significant as Trey and Page have roots in New Jersey and this was only their second headline show in the state. Set I highlights included the Buried Alive opener with extended piano intro, a standout Weigh > Chalk Dust Torture, Colonel Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird/Vibration Of Life (during which, according to Trey’s narration, Paul administered memory-erasing gas) and remnants of Mockingbird reverberated into Possum.

Set II blasted off with a non-stop succession that began with AC/DC Bag > The Curtain followed by a must-hear combination of Tweezer > Manteca > Tweezer. During Tweezer the band gave a nod to fellow New Jerseyan Carole King by weaving I Feel The Earth Move into the jam. Runaway Jim followed by Big Ball Jam, Love You and My Sweet One put the spotlight on Fish before the classic close of Amazing Grace and Highway To Hell.

Hurricane Sandy Relief was recorded by Paul Languedoc and mastered by Fred Kevorkian. All the vendors involved in this release donated their time for the cause.

In the past, charitable downloads at LivePhish.com have raised over $130,000 for four non-profits: the Harbor House of New Jersey (The Headphones Jam), the New Orleans Musician’s Clinic, the Tipitina’s Foundation (Katrina Relief) and the American Red Cross (Haiti Relief and Japan Relief). Additionally, the Mockingbird Foundation receives funding on an on-going basis from the proceeds at LivePhish.com.

There’s tons of ways to discover new music and we’ve highlighted a bunch of them here on Technology Tuesday. These include checking out what your friends are listening to on This Is My Jam, what bands your friends are interested in on TastermakerX, what mix tapes people are listening to on Everyone’s Mixtape, new bands on Daytrotter, what’s playing on the radio with TuneInRadio or new releases from your favorite artists on MOG or Spotify. Of course there’s tons more too including social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Even with this arsenal of tools, it can still be tough for the live music lover to figure out what to go see live.

DeliRadio helps solve that problem and is made specifically for the live music and concert lover. Both a website and mobile app for Android and iOS, DeliRadio lets you find, discover and listen to music from bands playing near you. Simply fire up the app or go to website and create a streaming radio station of music coming to your town. Diddle with the parameters (radius you are willing to travel, genre and timeframe) and kick back and listen to your custom radio station. Needless to say, when you find something you are interested in, you can get details on the venue, date, bio of the band and even pictures of the performer. Several other cool features are available as well.

What is this and why do I need yet another way to discover new music? For many music lovers, it is all about the live show and concert. It is easy to keep track of your favorites and know when they are coming to town- but what about all the other great performers and bands that may not be on your radar screen? It is hard to believe that there is such a dearth of  apps and websites built around the local music experience. DeliRadio helps to fill that void by allowing you to create streaming radio stations of performers coming up soon in your area.

What criteria can I search for? From the website or one of the mobile apps, you can drill down and create a custom station based upon several criteria. First, let the app geolocate your location or simply type in your city. Then, you can dictate the proximity to the city that you want to search. You can make this anywhere from 1 mile to 2000 miles. Then, tell DeliRadio the date range of shows that you are interested in searching. This can range from as immediate as “Tonight”, to “This Week” and so forth all the way up to “All Dates”. If you’d like, you can specify or exclude particular genres. Your results can be laid out in a graphical “grid” view so you can see all the bands picture thumbnails, a simple list view, or a map view which can come in handy if you are searching a wider radius than one city.

You can also search particular venues.  So if you have a favorite local haunt, you can browse upcoming acts just there. Likewise, you can search bands that you know and see where they are performing, or even search for artists from a particular city. Similar to searching venues, “Festivals” are also represented allowing you to check out the line-up of the festival you be attending.

[Search Page. Here, I've searched 15 miles from Boston in the next two weeks]

Now what? Stream your custom station and enjoy the tunes. Create an account to save your favorites, playlists and searches. Listen to everything upcoming in the next couple of months in your home town or perhaps only the shows tonight if traveling and will only be there for one night. If you find a performer you enjoy, you can drill down and find the details of the venue, other upcoming dates, bio on the band, peruse pictures, “favorite” for later playback, or just stream songs from that performer.

Other features Obviously you can find ticketing info and links to purchase as well as directions to the venue. DeliRadio also allows you to link to your Twitter, Facebook and address book and connect with friends for sharing bands and shows. There’s even an @ button on the mobile app allowing you to Tweet directly to any of the artists with accounts.

[Local Venue Search on Mobile App]

Limitations DeliRadio does not have the most exhaustive listings of everything going on in a particular city. (However, coupled with JamBase or the JamBase App, you’ll have a pretty decent listing of upcoming dates anywhere you are.) While there are nationally known bands as well as large regional bands you are likely already familiar with, a large part of the “inventory” of bands and performers is indie and locally centered. Bands upload their own content also and some only have a handful of songs available to stream vs. others that have a dozen or more. The nice thing is that the music is all full tracks and not just clips.

Bottom Line DeliRadio, either on the Web or a mobile app, is gorgeously designed with an intuitive interface. It is great for easily listening to music from bands and performers playing in a particular location either home or when travelling. While the listings are not exhaustive and all-encompassing, most cities have a pretty good amount of shows and bands listed. I particularly enjoy DeliRadio when I am travelling as an easy way of checking to see if there are any shows I am interested in attending. A relative new comer on the music scene at about one year old, I expect the features and listings of artists to continue to grow. Check out DeliRadio, connect with your friends, search the venues, stream some good music and who knows: You just might find your next favorite band!

Website DeliRadio

Android (free)

iOS (free)

________________________________

Hidden Track Technology Tuesday

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Yesterday I started to recap my adventures on the final day of Jam Cruise 11, so today I’ll pick up from where we left off. For the final evening, the Pool Deck was taken over by three outstanding bands from California – Tea Leaf Green, ALO and Hot Buttered Rum – while Jam Cruise stalwarts Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe and Galactic were set to close out the action at the Teatro Carlo Felice.

[Photo by Matthew Hebert]

Friday night was “Spinal Tap Night” in keeping with the cruise’s theme of “This One Goes To 11.” On Jam Cruise costume nights most people dress up, but on this particular evening it seemed as if I was the only one who didn’t don heavy metal-esque gear. That also applied to the musicians and the big screens behind the band and at the far end of the pool deck which flashed images of hair bands and of the Spinal Tap logo.

Hot Buttered Rum was the first of the California bands on the Pool Deck. They quickly showed the close nature of the three Cali acts by welcoming members of both ALO and TLG to join them at various points. I didn’t think HBR’s covers of Where The Streets Had No Name and You Make Me Feel Like Dancing could be topped, but the set-closing rendition of Turn On Your Lovelight was a barn-burner thanks to frenetic lap steel work from Roosevelt Collier. Even TLG bassist Reed Mathis got in on the act by playing percussion during the Bobby Bland cover.

• Jam Cruise 11 Journals: Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five Pt. 1

I fell hard for the music of ALO during Jam Cruise 9, but after Jam Cruise 11 I’m a full-on ALOphile or whatever they call their hardcore fans. The band’s Zebra Bar set was ridiculously good, but I think the Pool Deck set was even better. Al Schnier of moe. teared up the fretboard when he joined ALO for a rendition of their original Try, bassist Steve Adams took a turn as front man on Falling Dominoes while Mathis held down the bass and all these days later I still can’t stop humming the earwormy original Plastic Bubble. Other guests included Collier, Gramblers guitarist Deren Ney, Steve Kimock and his son John Morgan Kimock. The high point of the set was when ALO brought out bassists Mathis and George Porter Jr. for a killer rendition of Big Bottom by Spinal Tap.

[Photo by Matthew Hebert]

I spent most of my evening on the Pool Deck watching the California bands, but I did make it down to the theater to see KDTU jam with Robert Walter, Neal Evans and Eric Bloom and then later for an amazing version of I Am The Walrus performed by Galactic who apparently brought out The Soul Rebels for a bit as an intermission of sorts. I look forward to hearing both Galactic and KDTU’s sets in their entirety when official recordings come out via CruiseTunes.

Tea Leaf Green drew a decent crowd to the final Pool Deck set of the trip, especially when you take into account that the theater was jam-packed with funk-loving cruisers, which was the majority of the boat, for Galactic. Those assembled hung on every note and were clearly very familiar with the band. What struck me most about TLG’s current sound was how important Reed Mathis has become to the band. There were many times he put a heavy dose of overdrive on his bass and became a lead melody instrument in the mix. The band welcomed a slew of guests including keyboardist Bernie Worrell for The Garden Pt. 3 and Roosevelt Collier. Every member of ALO sat in on a ridiculous version of Zoom, Zoom that benefited greatly from the extra musicians.

As much as I was enjoying Tea Leaf Green’ set, I wanted to see who Wyllys put together to round out his New York Hustler Ensemble for the final performance in the Zebra Bar. The turntablist did not disappoint as he augmented his Disco Angels (Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman) with guitarists D.J. Williams (KDTU) and Adam “Schmeans” Smirnoff and Erick “Jesus” Coomes (Lettuce), Joel Cummins (Umphrey’s McGee), Jeff Coffin (DMB) and uber-talented drummer Nikki Glaspie (Dumpstaphunk). While Wyllys dealt with some technical difficulties at the start of his set, the members of his crew flexed their improvisational muscles by turning in a disco-flavored funk jam. Once the DJ was set up, he led his band on a number of nu-disco jaunts some of which were better than others. There were moments of magic and moments of disorganization but overall it was a win.

[Photo by Matthew Hebert]

Over in Jam Room one of the most talented keyboard players on the boat, which is saying a lot, Joey Porter of The Motet, hosted the evening’s festivities. Porter was joined by a bevy of a his Motet band mates, Robert Walter, Eddie Roberts and members of Lettuce when I stopped by for a scorching rendition of Higher Ground. Later, Porter gave way to a band that wasn’t officially on the boat though all of its members were – Dr. Klaw. This funk-heavy ensemble featured Adam Deitch on drums, Nigel Hall on keys, Ian Neville on guitar, Nick Daniels on bass and Eric Krasno on guitar. Dr. Klaw took over the room for a while and extremely impressed me with their virtuosity and soul. At 4:45, singer Jans Ingber announced that the Motet-heavy ensemble with Nigel Hall that took the stage after Dr. Klaw had one song left to close out the Jam Room and launched into a tune that had the fitting chorus of “Shake Your Booty On The Dancefloor.” As the tune ran long, members of the room’s production team cut the sound giving those on stage the message that it was time to bring the action to a stop. Porter and The Motet obliged shortly after a bit of a Flashlight jam as the clock neared 5AM and the lights of Fort Lauderdale came into focus.

Outside of the Jam Room at “The Spot,” Nathan Moore, Bryan Elijah Smith and Jay Cobb Anderson, along with members of Greensky Bluegrass, ALO and Tea Leaf Green weren’t finished and continued to treat a merry band of cruisers to acoustic delights. The trio aimed to end an incredible week at “The Spot” with a rendition of Sailor’s Lament, a song they wrote on the first day of Jam Cruise, but obliged with a Dylan cover which I believe was Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right as the Poesia docked at Port Everglades but you’ll excuse me if my memory is a little hazy from what went down at that point. I headed back to my room, packed, chugged a five-hour energy drink and made it off the boat and to the nearby airport at 7:30AM.

[Photo via Sanae Harashima]

Both embarkation and debarkation were a breeze this year which made the final morning less painful. As I waited for my flight to New York and was surrounded by “straights,” the whole trip seemed so surreal. Had I really just experienced an incredible musical marathon for the past five days? I got used to walking around and passing legendary musicians and friendly faces. The return to reality was rough, but thankfully it was over 50 degrees in NYC when I got off the plane.

It’s so hard to compare one Jam Cruise to another, especially when you’re in the midst of one, but a few days later I feel confident in my assertion that Jam Cruise 11 was the best trip yet. Over the past few days I’ve read other reviews and talked to other cruisers who filled me in on a lot of the music I missed. That’s right, for the 10,000+ words I’ve written about the event, I still missed plenty of magic which just goes to show the sheer volume of amazing music that took place on the MSC Poesia from January 7th to the morning of the 12th.

Stay tuned for photo galleries, lists and more as we wrap our coverage of the unforgettable Jam Cruise 11.

Space is the place…

 Melody’s Echo Chamber: Melody’s Echo Chamber

See, that’s why album art is still an art. Has an album ever screamed “mysterious woman peering through beaded curtain in daydream purple-and-yellow swirls” like this one? Psychedelic dream pop courtesy of Parisian Melody Prochet by ways of Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker whose ear-delicious production fingerprints are all over this top notch debut. Cue it up, pop on the headphones and enjoy!

Spotify: Melody’s Echo Chamber – Melody’s Echo Chamber

MOG: https://mog.com/m#album/72274787

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00943R3V8

Rhapsody: Melody’s Echo Chamber

Astra: The Black Chord

At some point recently, this album disappeared from most the subscription streaming services (that I can tell), but if you are an old-school prog lover (and c’mon, aren’t we all?) then you should definitely seek this out. Astra pays its tariffs to Gabriel-era Genesis, first generation Yes and their ilk and then launches into their own instrumental forays with heavy compositional glee. That’s right, this is the real deal.

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B0076NAVG2