Justin Townes Earle 2010-12-17

Justin Townes Earle 2010-12-17
Royale
Boston, Mass.
(Stream and Download)

I should have gone to this show. What was I doing? I don't remember, but it probably wasn't as important as seeing Justin Townes Earle. Justin released his third album Harlem River Blues last year, and it's been in my playlist ever since. The quality of the recording is excellent. To friends who are automatically turned off by country, watch the video bellow. It's a live performance from Letterman. I'm loath to promote Letterman's show, but Paul Schaffer sits in and kills it. It will also determine in 3 minutes and 41 seconds if you like Justin Townes Earle.

Grateful Dead 1970-08-19

The Grateful Dead 1970-08-19

Fillmore West

San Francisco, CA

(Download and Stream)

I am a deadhead. Jerry Garcia may have died before I was old enough to see them, but the spirit of the band always resonated with me. I am a long time subscriber to the weekly Grateful Dead podcast, the Deadpod. My roots with the band go back as far as middle school.  I remember trading Grateful Dead cassettes with my friends.  Finding a new one at a yard sale made you a hero. Maybe I ran with an odd crew, but we passed Dead tapes around in the same way our peers passed around adult magazines. They were a glimpse into another world, one meant to be surreptitiously enjoyed.

The Dead have their own section on archive.org.  Many of the shows are either stream only (in the case of soundboard recordings) or are listed, but are no longer available (put out on a commercially available release). It is a reminder that for all their taper friendly policies, the Grateful Dead are still a multi-million dollar business. This show is available for download (only mp3!) or streaming directly from the site.

This show is divided into two sets; the first acoustic and the second electric. For me, the acoustic set stole the show.  A version of "The Monkey and the Engineer" recently appeared on the David Rawlings solo CD, and I have never heard someone else cover it.  The song "Dark Hollow" is a bluegrass standard. It's inclusion foretells much of what Jerry would go on to do with his solo projects. Fans of Old Crow Medicine Show will recognize "Cocaine." This traditional tune appeared on OCMS' self tittled album as "Tell it to Me."  The electric set contains the staples of this period of the Dead. I especially liked the version of "I Know You Rider" and "Not Fade Away."

The audio quality on this recording is poor. It is an audience recording done with an old Sony TC-124. There are tape squeals and the frequency response is compressed.  To be honest, I am totally fine with that. Sounds like a good Dead tape should.

The Radiators 1999-06-18

The Radiators
The Call - Providence, RI
June 18, 1999
(download)

The Radiators have much to choose from on archive.org. There are shows stretching back as far as 1979, and ones from just the other day (a show I wished I'd gone to). They are a great band, who's work will make frequent appearances on this blog as time goes by. The Radiators carry with them the sound and feel of their home down in New Orleans. In rhythm: the bass guitar chugs along like a tuba, the drum set sounds like individual instruments, the piano frills along in that Professor Longhair style.

To get what I am talking about, listen to "Come on in my Kitchen." I have heard dozens of bands cover this song in several different styles. It's a common Robert Johnson blues standard that even has its own wikipedia page. The Radiators just slide into the song with a little piano riff. They are in no rush to get things started. The tightest the song gets is during the unison lick on the turnaround, but besides that the song celebrates laid back funk. A rare thing in most of the covers of this song.

With all that said, this Radiators show is a bit different. This acoustic performance from 1999 offers up the funkiness of the Radiators mixed with intensity of an acoustic performance. It is not the only time the band has done this-and I did pick this show a bit randomly-but I wanted to continue on my acoustic music kick. I settled on this particular show, because of the cover of "Soul of a Man" they ended their second set with.

Set l-
You Aint Goin' Nowhere, Back To Loveland, Don't It Make You Wanna Go Home -> Highway 61 -> Honky Tonkin', Girl With The Golden Eyes, Black Dog, Diamond Joe -> Salty Jane, If I Were A Carpenter, My Sweet Nightbird, Soul Of a Man

Set 2-
Come On In My Kitchen, He's Misstra Know-It-All, Rosie, King Of The Road, My Home Is On The Border, Nadine, I Don't Worry About A Thing, Viva Las Vegas, You're Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond, Parchman Farm

Encore-
Life Ain't Nothing But A Party, For What It's Worth

The run time of this show is 2 hours and 35 minutes. Thanks to whoever uploaded this one. And no, I have no idea what Heatgen is.

Reid Genauer 2008-4-24

Reid Genauer
Higher Ground
April 24, 2008
(download)

Whether around a roaring bonfire with friends or outside lounging on a beach blanket at a summer concert, there is a deep connection between the lazy weather of summer and acoustic music. It is why I have written about so many acoustic bands lately. I really want summer to be here. The chosen show for this week is a solo performance from April, 2008 at Higher Ground in Burlington, VT. This is also going to be a pretty short write up, because I want to get outside and enjoy some of this beautiful weather.


Reid Genauer normally plays with Assembly of Dust, but did a string of solo dates at the beginning of the year. Tracks I especially enjoyed from this show are “Love Junkie.” “Corpus Christi," as well as “Cool Water.” Genauer does an excellent job using the rhythm of his guitar to drive and push his singing. Listen to the way he does it during “Crackling.”

"It's the birth of the eventual ending
of a life that took me half of my days
I shall find a commandeering advantage

When I look to go the rest of the way."

Mandolinist Jamie Masefield joins Genauer on a number of tracks, including a great cover of Sam Bush’s “Same Old River.” In my last post, I wrote about Blueground Undergrass’ cover of “Helpless.” I was searching the archive for others that covered the song, and ran across this show. Sometimes you just cannot get enough of a particular tune.

Genauer’s main asset is definitely his voice. While technically an accomplished guitarist, I found his guitar tone a bit too thin for my taste. An acoustic guitar should sound equal parts of the resonance of its strings and body. This is especially apparent when Masefield steps into the mix. While the sun is still out, I’m going to go load this show onto my iPod and take a good long sit out on the front stoop. Enjoy!

Run time is 1:32 and sound quality is A. Thanks to Jonah S. for posting this show. I stole the photo from AssemblyofDust.com and it was taken by Greg Kessier.

Kaki King 2004-6-10

Kaki King 2004-6-10 The Iron Horse Northampton, MA (download)

Many people make great music. Some do it in a form easily classified and understood, and a few do it in a way different than anything done before. I have respect for both, but musicians who can create something unprecedented hold a special place in my heart. Great music is made, as they say, standing on the shoulders of giants, but it is those that stand on those shoulders who open the next door.

Kaki King makes music that isn't easily cornered. She's been compared to Michael Hedges and Preston Reed, but this doesn't really do her justice. For one, Kaki does her thing with a pretty normal 6 string guitar (more recently adding lap steel and some other toys).

"I played guitar in loud rock bands," she says. "But at some point I'm like a martial arts student. I learn all kinds of different stuff but I find this obscure Taiwanese art ... well not Taiwanese. But you know what I mean, something that is very obscure. I put myself to the challenge: Here are the rules. One guitar. Not a lot of instrumentation, or none preferably. No singing. Different tunings. I kind of just went with that. I didn't know it would be my career, it just was something I like to do."

This show brings Kaki to the Iron Horse in Northampton MA, which is a pretty hallowed venue around these parts due to the quality of both the acts and the sound. She opens up the set in a pretty shocking way, playing a short piece of "Georgia on My Mind" and then announcing to the crowd that Ray Charles had passed away that day. The recording captures the audience reaction, and it's obvious that some members of the audience hadn't heard yet. She then lets people absorb the news to the melancholy "All the Landslides that Birds Have Seen" before launching into the trademark "Playing With Pink Noise", which is the song previewed in the video above, and she spun a great set on from there. Highlights of this show also include "Magazine" and my favorite which neither I nor archive.org have been able to find a title for.

1. Intro/Georgia on My Mind
2. All the Landslides Birds Have Seen
3. Playing With Pink Noise
4. Neanderthal
5. Solipsist
6. Ingots
7. ???
8. Lies
9. Can the Gwot Save Us
10. My Insect Life
11. Magazine
12. Doing the Wrong Thing
13. Carmine Street

Kaki has a new album coming out on March 11th called "Dreaming of Revenge". No doubt it will be as innovative as her previous releases. Check out her site for more info.

Sound quality is A+, this is about as clean and tight as live performance gets unless you're paying $15 for a mastered CD. It was recorded by Clinton Vadnais, so thank you Clinton! Photo Credit.