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Tonight: Dave Rawlings Machine

November 5, 2015

Dave Rawlings Machine takes over Babeville’s Asbury Hall tonight to support the band’s new release, Nashville Obsolete. The album is the latest entry in the impressive repertoire of Rawlings and his longtime collaborator and partner, Gillian Welch. Their seventh album in nearly 20 years of collaboration, Nashville Obsolete highlights the duo’s highly acclaimed and decorated musicianship, with contributions from other great names in Americana music, including Willie Watson and the Punch Brothers’ Paul Kowert. Tonight, expect to be floored by Rawlings’ preternatural guitar playing and Welch’s lovely vocals. This is a show not to be missed. Doors open at 7pm, show starts at 8pm. Tickets are still available for $35 at the door.

Tonight: Old Crow Medicine Show

July 24, 2015

Old Crow Medicine Show got its start in the early 2000s, busking on Southern street corners until a lucky encounter with Doc Watson’s daughter put them on the path to stardom. And stardom it is; the band busked itself all the way to the Grand Ole Opry, commercial radio, and more-than-sold-out shows. You have a chance to be a part of the ride tonight, when the band fills the Town Ballroom with its famous tunes and diehard fans. While the band used to focus on bluegrass, its taken a fratboy-country turn as of late, so expect some Tom Petty covers during the show. Doors open at 7:00pm and tickets are $38.

Tonight: Sam Moss

June 6, 2015

Tonight, Sam Moss will become the latest artist to have his musicianship echo off the walls of Buffalo’s storied grain silos. Moss, a singer/songwriter from Boston Massachusetts, has been lauded for his haunting spin on roots music. His ghostly vocals, rhythmic string playing, and intensely personal performance style are sure to make this Silo Sessions, the first to be filmed with a live audience, one you don’t want to miss. Obody and T.J. Borden add to the musical delights. Because this show is the last of a series of fundraisers that benefit the Public Picnic, you have no excuse to miss it! Show will be held in Marine A at Silo City (look for signs when parking on Silo City Row), with performances beginning at 7pm.

Tonight: The Bones of J.R. Jones

April 30, 2015

If you’re at Mohawk Place tonight, you might think you’ve time traveled back to the early 1900s. The tunes emanating from the stage will be reminiscent of the stripped-down blues that has evolved over the last century into the modern folk and Americana music styles we enjoy today. The step back in time is the work or J.R. Linaberry, D.B.A. The Bones of J.R. Jones, in a solo act show that promises electric guitar licks, banjo backbeats, and acoustic charm. Patrick Stephen Johnson and Levi Van Cleve (of Buffalo’s beloved Pine Fever) open the evening. The show starts at 8pm and tickets are $5 at the door.

Willie Watson

April 8, 2015

The first time you hear Willie Watson’s music, you’ll probably think he hails from high up in the Adirondacks or low down in the Mississippi Delta. But he’s actually from Watkins Glen, NY, just a short jaunt across the Finger Lakes from our fair city. Tonight, we get the chance to support “local” talent as he as he opens for The Wood Brothers at the Tralf Music Hall. Willie Watson began his career busking on the streets of North Carolina with Old Crow Medicine Show. In 2011, over a decade later, Watson packed up his guitar and his high, lonesome harmonies and embarked on a solo career that saw the release of his first album, Folk Singer Vol. 1, in 2014. Since then, he has performed at South by Southwest, become a staple of outdoor music festivals, and traveled the country with other folk acts. Watson names Bob Dylan and[...]

Tonight: Shakey Graves

March 31, 2015

Get your folk pants on, buffaBLOG readers, for Shakey Graves takes the stage at Town Ballroom tonight. Shakey Graves (neé Alejandro Rose-Garcia) is known for his guitar picking, and man can that boy pluck. True to the Americana form, his relatable lyrics and emotional performances remind us that while folk music has the power to carry us back to another time, its transcendent qualities are decidedly contemporary. Doors open at 7pm, and show starts at 8pm. Tickets are still available for $18 at the door.

Tonight: Horse Feathers

March 29, 2015

Portland-based folksters Horse Feathers returns to Buffalo tonight in support of its fifth album, So It Is With Us. With several accomplished multi-instrumentalists on stage at The Tralf, the band promises to deliver the ethereal blend of indie and folk for which it’s known. Doors open at 7 p.m. with the show slated to begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 at the door.

Andy Pothier – In Headlights

January 26, 2015

Delighting local music fans and folk lovers alike, Andy Pothier’s new album dropped earlier this month, highlighted by an intimate release show at Mohawk Place soon after featuring the likes of Sonny Baker, Damian, and others in support of the Pine Fever drummer. In Headlights, Pothier’s third release to date, and this week’s Album of the Week, is an heartfelt look at life’s ups and downs, covering everything from what it’s like to be twenty-one to what it’s like to be in (and out) of love. Many of the album’s eight tracks feature pretty, mellow instrumentals that lay a great foundation for Pothier’s earnest vocals. Musicians Billy Fortier and Sharon Mok (Tiny Rhymes) contribute background vocals throughout the album, creating sweet harmonies that make for an enjoyable listening experience. “Twenty-One Years” is notable in this regard. Album highlights, for me, include “The Lucky Ones” for its pretty guitar strumming and “Oh, to[...]

Tonight: Elliott Brood

January 17, 2015

The Sportsmen’s Tavern will be rocking tonight when Canadian band Elliott Brood takes the stage to wow concertgoers with the rootsy music upon which it’s built its reputation. Referred to in the past as “death country” or “frontier revival,” Elliott Brood’s music has oft-explored the pains of growing up and the universal discomforts of youth; today, fresh off the release of Work and Love, the band explores the nature of more-mature-but-just-as-painful lost loves, broken hearts, and the universal discomforts of being all grown up. Tickets were $14 in advance and $17 today at the door and are selling fast. Doors open at 7pm, with the show slated to start at 8pm.

Tonight: Class Acts w/ Tiny Rhymes, Cadaver Country, and more

December 12, 2014

Dreamland will truly be the land of dreams tonight, if you’re of the indie folk predilection. Local class acts, including Tiny Rhymes and Cadaver Country, are teaming up to offer a night of heartfelt songwriting and emotive and lyrical wisdom. Tiny Rhymes’ full ensemble is assembling for tonight’s performance, which means audience members can look forward to experiencing the band’s three-part vocal harmonies. We can only hope to also catch Cadaver Country’s notorious tambourine of certain doom. The show begins at 7:00 PM at Dreamland, 387 Franklin Street. You can show up for free if you’d like, but it would be cool to heed the event’s $5 suggested donation.

The New Basement Tapes – Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes

November 13, 2014

It seems like it’s every artist’s dream to get his or her hands on anything that came out of the mind of Bob Dylan. Whether it’s covering a beloved song or playing with the man himself, most artists name Dylan as an inspiration and graciously gush over the opportunity to be associated with him in any way. Imagine, then, the chance to interpret Bob Dylan lyrics that were written in the 60s but never realized as songs. That’s what The New Basement Tapes did, and the result is their first album, Lost On the River. The band is made up of big-name artists from big name bands: Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford, Jim James, Taylor Goldsmith, and Rihannon Giddens. This Traveling Wilburys-esque supergroup composed new music for the decades-old lyrics, and thus had total creative license with arrangements, instrumentals, phrasing, and everything else that makes a song sound good. The whole[...]

Column 14: The Heart-Pounding Intensity of The Knick

October 22, 2014

The Knick is the best show currently airing on TV. Well, after its season finale this past Friday, it’s technically on hiatus until 2015, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is a frenetically pulsating beam of television magic in an otherwise dull fall season. The show is truly a gritty, debris-covered gem mined from the depths of Steven Soderbergh’s directorial genius, making it the quintessence of the argument that television has surpassed the cinema in every way you can imagine. If one of the ways you’ve imagined happens to be the show’s music, then you’re absolutely right. Scored by Cliff Martinez (a frequent Soderbergh collaborator), the music’s electrified synthesizers and intense baselines wallop you out of the turn-of-the-century and transport you into some sort of 1980s control room where a drugged-up computer scientist is turning dials and hitting buttons with such fervor that you feel as if you’re[...]

Tonight: Emmylou Harris

September 20, 2014

There isn’t much we can say about Emmylou Harris that hasn’t already been said. In her 40-year career as a singer/songwriter, Harris has been called everything from a legend to an angel, and has earned countless well-deserved awards along the way. Tonight is your chance to catch a living legend live at Kleinhans Music Hall, where Harris takes the stage at 8 p.m. A handful of tickets are still available for sale and start at $47.00.

Column 11: Buffy Goes to the Bronze

July 30, 2014

In a very strong example of being late to the game, I’ve finally started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (thanks, Netflix).  I’m only two seasons in so far, but the Scoobie gang’s hangout, the Bronze, is already as endearing to me as it was to the millions of fans who kept current with the show while it aired. The Bronze is the ideal high school hangout spot. Its cappuccino menu and dark interior oozes cool, yet it’s also practical as a destination to do homework or date half-human, half-vampires. It’s also Sunnydale’s live music destination, featuring grungy bands as well as Seth Green on guitar. The Internet tells me that the fictional Bronze actually acted as a showcase for up-and-coming Los Angeles bands at the time, and that major music/narrative moments happen there (but in later seasons that I haven’t yet seen). While it aired, Buffy was completely in-step with[...]

Column 10: Zach Braff Swings for Another Home Run with Wish I Was Here Soundtrack

July 16, 2014

Do you remember the stir Zach Braff created last April when he launched a Kickstarter campaign to finance his next movie? People were very divided on the issue; some threw their money at their favorite former Scrubs/movie star, while others resented what the perceived to be an A-lister trying to milk laypeople of their hard-earned money. Regardless of how you felt, the Kickstarter campaign was a success and Braff’s movie, Wish I Was Here, is coming out on Friday. The soundtrack debuted yesterday, and it’s getting a fair amount of attention thanks to Braff’s soundtrack track record (cough, Garden State, cough). His 2004 efforts were everything that “lightening-in-a-bottle” phrase intends to describe, and Braff had a lot to live up to this time around. In his press rounds this month, Braff has shared some anecdotes about the soundtrack, the most intriguing being that he tapped several artists to write original[...]