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Death
Is Easy, Metalian
Valentine’s,
Friday
Sometimes the underground metal scene really lives up to the
“underground” part of its name. Take for example Death Is
Easy, the Albany band who are gearing up for the release of
a new split 7-inch single (with Montreal band Metalian) on
the Work N Stiff label. We have literally just told you everything
we know about this band: They are almost entirely off the
radar of our conventional research methods. (Read: Google
search.) However, we can tell you that Metalian practice
a non-ironic brand of throwback thrash that sounds like Maiden
and Priest and all the really good shit we used to smoke up
to behind the school cafeteria. Joining the bands of the hour
tomorrow (Friday) are Libyans—the band, not the guys who killed
Doc Brown at the beginning of Back to the Future—and
Albany metal vets To Hell and Back. (Jan. 9, 8 PM, $6,
17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)
Red
Clay Ramblers
Troy
Savings Bank Muisic Hall, Friday
If you’re unfamiliar with North Carolina string band Red Clay
Ramblers, it’s probably because you’re not a fan of bluegrass.
Or Broadway. Or NPR. Or . . . you get the point. These cats
have been around for 36 years, and in that time they’ve scaled
just about every artistic hill a roots-music act can climb.
The group frequently have crossed over to stage and screen:
They’ve earned a number of awards and nominations for their
contributions to theater and cinema, and they’ve appeared
all over the tube. And they’re a favorite of A Prairie
Home Companion host Garrison Keillor, which is pretty
much a gig for life in and of itself. All this in addition
to producing fine recordings and touring the globe. Hopefully
they find time to sleep before taking the stage in Troy tomorrow
(Friday), where they’ll be joined by the Capital Region’s
own Ramblin Jug Stompers. (Jan. 9, 8:15 PM, $15-28, 30
2nd St., Troy, 273-0038)
James
Intveld
The
Ale House, Sunday
Most guys would kill to have one of Johnny Depp’s dreamy attributes:
those puppy dog eyes, the sly facial hair, bouncy locks, that
half-in-the-bag Jack Sparrow swagger. Well, singer-guitarist
James Intveld doesn’t have to. In 1990, he was Depp’s voice-double
in the greaser film Cry Baby. This is, however, a relatively
minor footnote in a career that has taken Intveld from the
cowpunk cradle, through music, acting and directing gigs,
to Nashville, where the rockabilly icon produced his latest
CD, Have Faith. The dress code for Sunday’s show includes
ducktails, tight Ts, and a whole lotta denim. Kidding! There’s
no dress code—it’s the Ale House. (Jan. 11, 8 PM, call
for price, 680 River St., Troy, 272-9740)
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Melissa
Ferrick
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Melissa
Ferrick
The
Linda, Sunday
Did you know that Melissa Ferrick has released 14 records?
Neither did we! That’s some serious productivity for someone
who hit the national radar only in 1993. But we did know that
Ferrick is one of the busiest performers on the folk-rock
circuit; her schedule has her on the road for more than 150
dates a year, which explains her Neil Young-esque penchant
for dropping live albums every few years (she’s released four
to date). To be honest, we chose to preview this show only
because it’s a light music week in the Capital Region—not
because we think she’s unworthy of coverage, but because if
you’re a fan you already know about it. Opening for Ferrick
is Canadian singer-songwriter Rose Cousins, whose name we
initially misread as Rose Curtains . . . and we’ll leave it
at that. (Jan. 11, 8 PM, $23, 339 Central Ave., Albany,
465-5233 ext. 4)
Bill
Frisell
Iron
Horse Music Hall, Tuesday
It’s said that Bill Frisell is a guitarist’s guitarist. With
his tousled hair, specs and flannel shirts, he really seems
a little more like everyone’s dad than some ax-wielding shredder,
but, see, that’s just it. More than simply redefining the
instrument, Frisell has redefined what it means to be a guitarist.
Equally at home with his longtime jazz trio, his Americana
outfit the Willies, or in front of his Grammy-winning Unspeakable
orchestra, Frisell is less a guitarist than he is a musician
who just happens to play guitar. On Tuesday Frisell, shaves
it back to the quick in a performance all by his lonesome.
(Jan. 13, 7 PM, $25, 20 Center St., Northampton, Mass.,
413-584-0610)
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Noted |
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Sarah
Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion
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At
Caffe Lena tomorrow (Friday), hear the harmony-rich,
down-home tones of Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny
Irion (8 PM, $16, 583-0022). . . . Speaking
of down-home tones, acoustic-blues maestro Guy
Davis does his thing at Club Helsinki in Great
Barrington, Mass., on Friday (413-528-3394). .
. . On Saturday, Davis heads to the Capital Region
for a show at the GE Theater at Proctors, part
of the Eighth Step concert series; opening the
show will be Kim and Reggie Harris, back
to full-strength after Reggie’s emergency liver
transplant in late October (7:30 PM, $26, 434-1703).
. . . The Elvis Birthday Bash Band will
wrap up their yearly mini-tour with a set
at Daisy Baker’s on Saturday; the King would have
been 74 years young this week (10 PM, $5, 266-9200).
. . . Barons in the Attic and Beware!
The Other Head of Science will represent the
B3nson Recording Company this Saturday at Tess’
Lark Tavern (8 PM, $5, 463-9779). . . . Plumb
the darkest depths of Mordor on Saturday night
when Hammer of the Gods play the rock music
of Led Zeppelin at the Egg (8 PM, $34.50-$39.50,
473-1845). . . . And at Valentine’s on Saturday,
our friends and yours, the Erotics, will
bring the sleaze, with help from Society High
and Horror Business (9 PM, $6, 432-6572).
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