24 Hours Of Sam Roberts

I was lucky enough recently to get to spend a bit of time with Sam Roberts, one of Canada's handsomest men and the rock and roll brain behind the recently-released 'Love At The End Of The World' (Rounder). Sam was here in the city to play a sold-out house at The Mercury Lounge, as well as do a bit of press.


Here's Sam at Premiere Radio, where he sat down with Steve Reynolds to talk about cowboys, highway rest stops, and gambling on The Junos. That last bit isn't as much of a non-sequitur as it might appear – Sam is up for 4 awards at this year's ceremony, which is the second most nominations of any artist.

That night, Sam played a packed show at The Bowery, as you can see. A lot of our friends were there, including, for some reason, about half of the women in our office. Something about this devastatingly handsome rock start must be interesting to them! Sam absolutely tore the place down with strobe lights and rock and roll. I caught a bit of video, which you can check out below. It gets shaky for a bit, but it gets better again, I promise.



Bright and early the next morning, Sam and guitarist Dave Nugent met me at the studios of CBS radio (which have an amazing view), for an interview and a few acoustic songs. The guys sounded amazing, especially considering it had just been a few hours since they'd been on stage at the Bowery. You can hear the audio of that session right here.






Then, after a short bit of banana-buying and beer-discussing, Sam and Dave were whisked off to WFUV and parts beyond. Over the coming weeks, he'll be in Austin, LA, Chicago, and more. Don't miss out.

"Everybody Knows" Leonard Cohen Puts On a Great Show

I saw Leonard Cohen's first US show in 15 years at the Beacon Theater last night and it was amazing. Unlike most of the audience, I have not memorized his catalogue. His current sound exists as if rock & roll had never happened; all of the arrangements were very tight and clean as he and his band blended his early Spanish-influenced songs with synth-driven, R&B-inflected later works. Though I'm not as into the larger band with horn, synth, and female singers, it clearly inspired Cohen.

I was particularly amazed by the Spanish guitarist (whom Leonard introduced several times as from Barcelona) Javier Mas. I was surprised at the range and projection of Cohen's own voice, which was in excellent form. I didn't realize the true power of his voice, which by now is utterly rich, distinctive, and dominate. He has incredible gravitas on stage and it's impossible to keep your eyes off of him, even from the top regions of the upper balcony. And he was downright spry on stage, several times breaking into a brief dance and skipping to and from the stage during the extended encore. He seemed humbled by the warmth of the audience and overjoyed to be back on the stage and thanked his crew (many by name) and his AEG agent for returning him to the experience.

Unbeknownst to me, Shore Fire's Nancie S. Martin was also in attendance. She loved it too!

It's a concert that will long stick with me, especially now that I will begin diving into Cohen's oeuvre with gusto!

Stereogum has the best pictures I've seen thus far.

Here's a fresh-off-the-presses YouTube clip:



Beacon Theater setlist from Brooklyn Vegan:

Dance Me To The End of Love
The Future
Aint No Cure For Love
Bird on the Wire
Everybody Knows
In My Secret Life
Who By Fire
Chelsea Hotel
Hey That's No Way/Sisters of Mercy
Anthem

Tower Song
Suzanne
The Gypsy's Wife
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
Poem
Take This Waltz

So Long Marianne
First We Take Manhattan

Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will
Democracy

I Tried To Leave You

Whither Thou Goest

A Budding Letterman

Here's my son Leo the other night on the set of the Late Show with David Letterman. He got the VIP tour including a chance to sit at Dave's famous desk for a few moments. He had a blast as you can see from that ear to ear grin....

Knitting Factory

A new exhibition by Diva Zappa is coming up at LA's EM & Co. She is promising large-scale wallpieces that incorporate knitting with photography of knitting. Sounds delightfully "meta" and I like the idea of transposing the real texture with a representation of it.

She told me that she knitted the dress that Chloe Trujillo (wife of Metallica's Robert Trujillo) wore to the Grammys!

Email her at handmadebeauty AT zappa DOT com if you're interested in a commission!

Shore Fire Clients Win Big at Grammys

February 9, 2009

Shore Fire clients last night earned eleven GRAMMY Awards, six of them in Best Album categories. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss swept the five categories in which they were nominated, including Record of the Year and Album of the Year. Plant and Krauss also performed, while last year's Album Of The Year winner and Shore Fire client Herbie Hancock presented an award.

Shore Fire GRAMMY winners:

Record Of The Year:
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss "Please Read The Letter" - from 'Raising
Sand' (Rounder Records)

Album Of The Year:
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - 'Raising Sand' (Rounder Records)

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals:
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss "Rich Woman" - from 'Raising Sand' (Rounder
Records)

Best Rock Song:
Bruce Springsteen "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" - from 'Magic' (Columbia
Records)

Best Country Collaboration With Vocals:
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss "Killing The Blues" - from 'Raising Sand'
(Rounder Records)

Best Bluegrass Album:
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder - 'Honoring The Fathers Of Bluegrass:
Tribute To 1946 and 1947' (Skaggs Family Records)

Best Traditional Gospel Album:
The Blind Boys Of Alabama - 'Down In New Orleans' (Time Life)

Best Regional Mexican Album:
Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano - 'Amor, Dolor Y Lagrimas: Musica
Ranchera Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano' (Smithsonian Folkways Records)

Best Contemporary Blues Album:
Dr. John And The Lower 911 - 'City That Care Forgot' (429 Records)

Best Traditional Folk Album:
Pete Seeger - 'At 89' (Appleseed Recordings)

Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album:
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - 'Raising Sand' (Rounder Records)

When Shore Fire Bands Rock Brooklyn

Chris Chafin and I headed out to Tommy's Tavern on Friday night to see our own Chris Taillie and Nick Loss-Eaton play a packed show together with their bands in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Chris plays keys in Staten Island's psychedelic-surf band Captain Ahab & The Sea Crackens and Nick Loss-Eaton is the charming singer-songwriter of his blues / folk / rock band Leland Sundries.

Here's Captain Ahab & The Sea Crackens, from the shores of Staten Isle, decked out in rain gear:

Here's a shot of Nick and Leland Sundries rocking the Tavern.


Leland Sundries from left: Dan Kaplan (guitar), Adam Blake(drums), David Kross (bass), and Nick Loss-Eaton (vocals / guitar/ harmonica).


Here, Chris Taillie lugs his keyboard out while giving us an enthusiastic 'thumbs up.'


This made Chris Chafin laugh.

Unfortunately, The Suite 16 wasn't on the bill but Chris and I had a great time regardless.