SFM's Go To Tuesdays

If you’re in NYC, looking for some great live music, and want to say hi
–this is where you'll find us.

Thursday, April 29
Viva
Deconcini- Rock & Roll Burlesque / Slipper Room

Saturday, May 1
Kicking Daisies- Bamboozle 2010 Festival/ Meadowlands

Monday, May 3
Lay Low- Union Hall

Tuesday, May 4
Nikki Yanofsky- Dizzy's Club Coca Cola
Paul
Thorn- City Winery
Lay Low- Mercury Lounge

Johnny Thunders - RIP, April 23 1991

I was devastated 19 years ago when I heard than Johnny Thunders had died, though I guess I wasn't surprised.

The first time I ever say Johnny Thunders was at a movie taping at the Mudd Club, for a film to be called Gringo (about a notorious lower east side junkie). It was one of the first times I'd ever even been in a rock club - it might have been the first - and the first time I realized rock and roll could really be dangerous. I remember it like yesterday, particularly the moment, captured on film, when Gringo taunted Johnny and slapped him. Johnny responded by swinging his guitar smack at Gringo. Fun times:

Myron Walden Countryfied brings the soul, plays Monday

Some great video of Myron Walden Countryfied bringing the instrumental soul on "If It Wasn't For My Pride." The band plays Monday at Coco 66 (66 Greenpoint Ave, Brooklyn, NY). Check it out:

Happy Birthday Nick! OR Why I'm Still Happy I Bought a 3G

Nick Baily’s birthday was a riot this year. After we realized the batteries for Shore Fire’s official birthday memory camera were dead, we all scrambled to figure out how best to make sure Nick’s big day was captured on film for posterity. We agreed my iphone would do the trick. Excuse the grittiness of the photos, but as you can see, Nick was pleased with the whole arrangement (including his delicious birthday cheesecake from Junior’s which is nearby our offices in Brooklyn!)



And....back from maternity leave, our official knife wielding birthday cake cutter, the fabulous Rebecca Shapiro, looking gorgeous as ever.

SFM’s Go To Tuesdays

We're starting a new blog series today to make sure that if you’re in NYC, looking for some great live music, and want to say hi - you'll know where to find us.

So come visit us at the following NYC shows this week!



Wednesday, April 21
Kings Go Forth - Mercury Lounge (NY, NY)

Thursday, April 22
Marcus Roberts- Jazz at Lincoln Center (NY, NY)

Friday, April 23
Elvis Costello w/ the Sugarcanes- United Palace (NY, NY)
Marcus Roberts - Jazz at Lincoln Center (NY, NY)

Saturday, April 24
Kings Go Forth- Southpaw (NY, NY)
Marcus Roberts- Jazz at Lincoln Center (NY, NY)

Monday, April 26
Myron Walden Countryfied - Coco66 (NY, NY)

You Tube Friday, The Hold Steady edition

In celebration of The Hold Steady's monster new album Heaven is Whenever on its way, and the rockers' NY gigs this weekend (can't wait!), here's a smile for youtube Friday fun:

The Best Video Ever

I challenge you to find a better one. I'm so happy that this was caught on tape.

Here's a brief recap: James Brown show from 1983. Michael Jackson is there. He comes up on stage, does his song and dance, and then whispers something to James Brown. Apparently...Prince is in the audience too. Price does his song and dance, though it's a little more bizarre than Jackson's. Then Prince falls off the stage.

Record Store Day

It has arrived! RSD has become one of my favorite days of the year...a great way to make beefing up your record collection even more fun than it already is.

Go here to see all of the participating stores, and here to see some limited edition releases timed to the big day.

I have my eye on this foil-stamped black moth super rainbow 2xLP and this, in particular. What about you?

Songprequels: The Latest Meme Dredged Up On The Interwebs

The concept of internet memes is most certainly not new. In fact it's literally become the basis for real businesses by now. Go figure.

But the latest twitter meme sweeping the world about now is to near to our hearts as a conglomeration of music geeks to ignore. Concept is simple, a songprequel (or #songprequel) is just what you'd think it is. A prequel.

So:

"99 Problems" >> "100 Problems"
"Oops I did it again" >> "Oops I did it"
"Let's Spend the Night Together" >> "Let's Spend The Afternoon Together"

...and so on. Brilliant.

So, here's our attempt, the results of an informal stream of consciousness poll of the office. Done with no cheating or googling by the way.

* Pregnant In The USA
* Here in Black
* Finding Parking Close to Heaven's Door
* Grandpa Was A Stone
* I Am Glad You Are Here
* November Overcast
* The Intermission Of The Innocence
* Won't Get Fooled
* Having My Religion
* London Dialing
* 95 Tears
* Romance Hotel
* 49 Ways To Leave Your Lover
* Real Empire

...and of course, the trio of U2 classics: "Zero," "New Years Eve," and "I'm Looking For Something"

What did we miss?

EDIT: This blog post was a hit on our Facebook page, here were some of the choice comments:

* I Crawl the Line
* Chicken Alive
* Thunder Driveway
* Lou Reed: "I Wanna Be Black" >> James Brown "I'm Black And I'm Proud"
* Friday Night's Alright For Quiet Contemplation
* Android forgets prescription at home
* Open minded about the devil
* Among only a couple dozen kids in new york... See More
* Frequent ferry service over troubled waters
* A brick in the wall
* We're running a strong second, my friend
* Sexual injuries
* My guitar seems like it's getting a little upset
* I Would Do Anything For Love (including that stuff you saw on the internet)
* Me & Julio Really Close to School Property
* We just got a construction permit for this city and hired a general contractor
* A Reasonable Amount of Love
* Boy's Don't Start to Get Choked Up
* London Finally Bought a Cellphone
* Breathing Nitrogen Under Pressure
* Wonder-bricks-and-mortar
* Hard Day's Day
* Find me (like you left me)
* When the levee springs a leak
* Achilles stupid idea... See More
* Babe, I'll be around for a bit at least
* The breakdown of diplomacy in Evermore
* Bring it to Work
* Communication
* Celebration's Eve
* Fool In The Breeze
* Nine years gone
* A pile of auspicious newel posts, balustrades, and treads
* Three sticks
* Acquaintances
* Calling travel agent re California
* The applying for a visa song
* Sick
* Black country adolescent
* Down on his luck Tom
* Living Maid
* Milk, sugar, egg yolks, flour, shortening, rolling pin, bowl
* Just got to the top of the hills
* In the afternoon
* The greater Tawi River region
* In my time of coming down with something
* Starter apartments for the devout
* Ramble
* The Song
* Devil looks at her closet but can't quite decide which color of dress is appropriate today
* An Easy Night's Day
* Nearby in the Universe
* Broken Up into Fragmented Groups
* And Your Bird is Taking Vocal Lessons
* Baby, You're a Poor Boy
* Recently Left the USSR
* Why?
* Placed a Classified Ad to Purchase Love
* Currently Apart
* Get Choked Up, Baby, Choked Up
* Drive Alongside of Me
* Seven Days a Week
* Some People Are Trying to Be My Baby
* Bought Hole-Fixing Equipment
* For A Few People
* Pretty Good So Far
* Female Infant
* Good Evening
* Considering the Possibility of Having You in My Life
* A Cold Gun is Upsetting
* I Think I Might Need Assistance Sometime Soon... See More
* Her Duchessness
* It's Dark Out
* A Couple of Places
* Honey Do
* I Feel Crappy
* I Know Fairly Well
* I'm Sort of Interested in You (She's gaining weight)
* I Might
* I'm Not Winning Everything
* I'm Up
* I'm Slightly Sleepy
* I'm About to Look at a Face

Kirchen Rocks New Album at Rodeo Bar

Twang God Bill Kirchen capped a sweaty set at the Rodeo Bar last night....with a second line through the audience, playing trombone of all things. The many songs Bill played from his upcoming album Word To The Wise sounded road tested and rockin.' What fun and what a great album (featuring friends like Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Maria Muldaur, Dan Hicks and others).


Regina Joskow and I got to say hello after Bill had cooled down a bit following the two hour set.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Last night, I saw a whole lot of interesting women, including Meryl Streep, Martha Stewart, Candice Bergen, Brooke Shields, Bette Midler, Nora Ephron, Marlo Thomas, Jane Alexander, Marlee Matlin, and Liz Smith. I also saw Hilary Duff and Jessica Simpson. They were all on stage at City Center to salute Good Housekeeping's 125th anniversary at a fundraiser for the National Women's History Museum.

But I was really there to see one whole lot of interesting woman: Aretha Franklin. Wearing a bridal-dress factory's worth of white chiffon and copious quantities of curls, singing to track with four backup singers, she belted out one song to close the show - of course it was "Respect" - and brought down the house.

Because that's what it was all about. And she was - there's no other way to say it - TCB.

YouTube Friday/Soul Power

Two videos for this Friday. Both are from the recently released documentary 'Soul Power.' Put it in the ole netflix queue now. It's a great story, but the music...wow. Only complaint, each band only gets about 1 or 2 songs in the film.

An amazingly funky version of "Thrill Is Gone" from BB King. ouch!



some incredible drumming from Big Black:

Peter Wolf, Shelby Lynne, Jimmy Fallon, porcupine

Nick Loss-Eaton and I had the pleasure of going to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Monday - Peter Wolf was there to perform his incredible song "Tragedy," from 'Midnight Souvenirs,' with Shelby Lynne. The performance was dynamite, watch it here!

A pic of Peter on the cover of Rolling Stone, framed and hanging in the 'Late Night' green room. Peter signed it!















Peter, Shelby and band before the taping:















A post-show pic with Peter, Shelby, and Jimmy.















Nick and I also saw a porcupine wandering around the backstage area. Neither of us volunteered to put him back in his cage. No photo of that, unfortunately.

YouTube Friday Will Never Die

It's one of the oldest traditions on this here blog, and this seemed like a good Friday to bring back another installment. Pun intended, and just terrible, by the way. Sorry.

Anyways, you could make a full time job out of posting mash-up type music related videos off of YouTube, but this one struck me as particularly inspired:



Death Metal and classic Armstrong, matching those two was just a matter of time right? I have to confess, though I did have a pretty serious taste towards the heavier side of rock as an adolescent youth with hair (first concert ever attended: Guns'n'Roses, 1987, opening for Aerosmith just after Appetite for Destruction came out, woo hoo!) I could never really get with death metal.

I kind of wanted to like it, I mean it seems so "real" in that absurd completely fake 13 year old worldview way at least. And one of my closest friends and fellow bandmates back in those days was a total fanatic for it -- but well, taste is taste and you like what you like. I can sometimes get into the playing (especially some of those insanely fast drummers) but at the end of the day, I don't own the albums.

But, it's a good segue though to another great YouTube video to round out today's installment. That aforementioned friend went on to grow up and be old like we all did, but did not compromise one bit and has continued to rocks the death metal to this day, a habit that's actually responsible for one of the most viewed videos ever posted on YouTube, this stone cold classic:



Brilliant. And actually there's an interesting story behind this video, well worth a read.

So here's to a happy YouTube Friday, and may you have fields of green and skies of blue this weekend.

Happy Birthday Vincent Van Gogh

Today is Vincent Van Gogh’s birthday and what better way to celebrate than with music inspired by his timeless paintings. Check out the NY1 segment that aired last week featuring former Dutch banker cum singer/songwriter and Van Gogh aficionado, Diederick Van Eck. Diederick talks about the first of a series of projects he is developing centered on the life, work and wonder of Vincent Van Gogh. In this interview, Diederick discusses “Van Gogh by Van Eck” a stunning 44-page deluxe art book and CD backed by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

To watch the segment, click here.

What Not To Write

I loved Flavorwire's "Music Review Cliché Bingo". Here's one of the three bingo cards:



In an era where everyone is OD'd on the volume of material coming into the inbox, we feel that it's more important than ever to write effectively and concisely.

In summation, this irresistible, haunting gem is an atmospheric return to form.

This California Girl Can't Get Enough of Amoeba Music

When people ask me, what kind of music I like, I don’t say “everything, but….” I say “everything” and I mean EVERYTHING. From klezmer, to country, to rock, pop, funk gospel, disco, shoe gaze, no wave, prog, punk, jazz, grunge, blues, folk, goth and everything in between. I want it all, baby! I realize purists may find this statement offensive. But you know what? Screw ‘em!

As an enthusiast, (and a Californian) my all-time favorite place to buy music is Amoeba. While visiting recently, I went to all three Amoeba locations (again…) and picked up a pretty eclectic mix of records (including “A Little Touch of Schmilsson In the Night” on vinyl and a Demi Lovato CD). Photos below:

San Francisco -


Berkeley -

Hollywood -

Warren Haynes, Allman Bros. Take Manhattan

I went way, way uptown last Thursday, in the shadow of the GW Bridge, to United Palace to see an epic set by the Allman Brothers with Shore Fire friends Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks. Wow! For the first set, I sat side stage with a drummers' eye view of Jaimoe's amazing drumming and sat more or less upstage from Gregg's keyboard world. The three percussionists really drive each song and let the guitarists ride about the groove. Gregg can really sing, too. The first set was loaded with blues, from the Taj Mahal-arrangement of the Blind Willie McTell song "Statesboro Blues" to a gospel-influenced take on Robert Johnson's "Come On In My Kitchen."

For the second set, I was in the audience and had a chance to witness the incredible interplay between Haynes and Trucks. These guys are two of the best guitarists alive and it's amazing that all these musicians can lock in so tight. The encore rendition of "Whipping Post" was something to witness.

Here they are on Late Night w/ Jimmy Fallon doing "Black Hearted Woman." How did they all fit on on that small Late Night stage?!



I also took Warren to visit the kind folks at Rolling Stone, who taped two incredible solo acoustic performances, "Old Friend" (which he wrote for the Allman Bros.) and "Railroad Boy," a highlight from the latest Gov't Mule album. After seeing both Mule and the Allmans in a larger space, it was incredible to see him sing with the same intensity in a small room. I can attest to the fact that Haynes is also a really nice guy and I hope I get to spend more time with him.

The Best Recipe from a Magazine EVER

At Shore Fire, I'm tasked with keeping an eye on many of the women's magazines that offer delicious recipes every month: Woman's Day, Family Circle, Woman's World, Redbook, etc. I also have the joy of working with the restaurateur-turned-GRAMMY-winning artist Zac Brown who also just released a gorgeous cookbook of his own (Southern Ground - avail at: http://bit.ly/SGCookbook1) and has revived my interest in food magazines as well.
What I'm getting at is I have my finger on the pulse of kitchens across the country - which I LOVE. In fact, when not at Shore Fire or at a show I'm cooking my heart out at home.

So, as the summer season near (and the grill is almost ready to be fired up), I wanted to share one of the best recipes I've come across in a magazine in quite some time. Thanks to the Deen Bros. and their first issue for bringing what my fiance calls "MexiFish Salad" to the table.

This photo came from The Mom Chef but mine looked very similar.

Fresh Corn Salad with Pan-Seared Mexican-Style Red Snapper and the Creamy Lime-Cumin Dressing (Deen Bros.)Makes 2 servings

1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small onion, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rings
3/4 cup fresh corn kernels
2 red snapper fillets
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3/4 cup chopped tomato
6 cups torn romaine lettuce
Creamy Lime-Cumin Dressing (recipe follows)

1 In a small bowl, combine chili powder, cumin, salt, garlic powder, and pepper; sprinkle over corn, onion, and fish.

2 In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion to skillet; cook for 1 minute. Add corn; cook for 1 minute. Remove from pan. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Add fish; cook for 3 minutes per side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Remove from pan; cut into 1-inch pieces. Divide onion, corn, fish, tomato, and lettuce between 2 plates. Serve with Creamy Lime-Cumin Dressing.

Creamy Lime-Cumin Dressing

Makes about 11⁄2 cups
**Note: I made half this amount and there was still twice more than an human could possibly need.

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon sugar

1 In a small bowl, combine sour cream, milk, lime zest, lime juice, salt, cumin, chili powder, and sugar. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.

A Wolf In The Garage

Two of our favorite people sat down on Friday to commemorate the 8th anniversary of Little Steven's Underground Garage. Steven Van Zandt and Peter Wolf had a fascinating conversation on the history and culture of rock and roll; Wolf's performance and Steven's speech at last week's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony; their first concerts and early bands; meeting their heroes; the great, pioneering rock DJs; the Boston and NJ scenes; and of course, Wolf's forthcoming album 'Midnight Souvenirs.' They were kind enough to let me eavesdrop and snap a few photos. It was riveting and I can't wait to hear the final show on April 4. Congrats to Steven on the 8th anniversary!





Here, Little Steven shows Peter a poster promoting the first ever rock & roll concert: