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Son
Volt
The
Egg, Friday
There’s an alternate version of history that goes something
like, “These days, Jay Farrar spends most days alone in his
basement, throwing darts at a tattered old photograph of Jeff
Tweedy and wondering ‘Why couldn’t it have been me,
dammit?’ ” But thankfully things didn’t pan out that way
for Farrar—while former bandmate Tweedy’s Wilco have been
built up by some as the Great American Band, Farrar and his
band, Son Volt, have quietly amassed a formidable catalog,
perhaps just as worthy of such a lofty designation. American
Central Dust is the band’s latest, their first for the
Rounder label, and continues their move toward the rootsier
side of Americana. Seattle artist Sera Cahoone opens for Son
Volt when they play the Egg tomorrow (Friday) night. (Sept.
18, 8 PM, $20, Empire State Plaza, Albany, 473-1845)
Dougie
MacLean
The
Eighth Step at Proctors, Friday
For those unfamiliar with one of Scotland’s most successful
singer- songwriters, all Dougie MacLean needs to do to express
his authenticity is list his address. It goes something like
this: Butterstone, near Dunkeld, in the Tay Valley, Perthshire.
That even sounds plaid. He found a hit, “Caledonia,” in 1979,
and has been reaching an ever-wider audience since then. If
you haven’t heard his name, you’ve certainly heard “The Gael,”
which found its way into a Nike ad campaign and into the ’92
film Last of the Mohicans. His latest album is called
Muir of Gormack, but don’t ask us what that means.
(Sept. 18, 7:30 PM, $26, 432 State St., Schenectady, 434-1703)
Samara
Lubelski, Joshua Burkett
Saratoga
Arts Center, Saturday
It’s important to stop once and a while and truly appreciate
how close Albany is to Northampton, Mass. Sure, Pearl Street
and the Iron Horse are great, but Northampton also is home
to Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace label, which feeds us enough
windswept psychedelia to keep us paisley through the seasons.
Samara Lubelski hails from the folkier end of Moore’s catalog,
crafting breathy gems of Haight-era whimsy. Her latest, Future
Slip, should be filed somewhere in between Vashti Bunyan
and labelmates MV & EE. Joshua Burkett opens with fragile
picking and acoustic musings that would make the Incredible
String Band proud. (Sept. 19, 8 PM, $5, 320 Broadway, Saratoga
Springs, 584-4132)
Jill
Hughes CD Release
The
Van Dyck, Saturday
Believe it or not, jazz and blues singer Jill Hughes is just
now releasing her first solo CD, after a number of recorded
collaborations over the years. Metroland Best Of winner
Hughes was a powerful presence on the Saratoga music scene
for most of the 1990s, performing with pianist Carl Landa;
after a stint in New York City, she returned upstate. For
the First Time, recorded over the last year and produced
by keyboardist Jon Werking, finds Hughes singing six of her
own songs plus two by Werking, and including a couple of tributes
to Aretha Franklin and Etta James. Her band at the Van Dyck
will include Werking, Cliff Lyons on saxophone, Paul Adamy
on bass, and Spyro Gyra’s Jeff Rosenblatt on drums. We suspect
it will be a bluesy and swingin’ evening. (Sept. 19, 7:30
and 10 PM, $12, 237 Union St., Schenectady, 348-7999)
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| The
Minus 5 |
The
Minus 5, Steve Wynn IV, the Baseball Project
Valentine’s,
Monday
There’s a scene in the new Mike Judge film, Extract,
where a grindcore musician explains that he plays in “five
bands, but four groups of guys.” An all-star band of rockers
will take that formula a few steps beyond on Monday: When
the Minus 5, Steve Wynn IV, and the Baseball Project take
the Valentine’s stage, it’ll be three bands, one group of
guys. Three guys and a girl, actually—Steve Wynn (the Dream
Syndicate), Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows), Peter Buck
(R.E.M.) and drummer Linda Pitmon (Golden Smog) will team
up and play under the guises of three different acts, though
the night will likely take the form of one continuously rolling
mass of music rather than separate sets. If you don’t know
how cool this is, you’ll never know. (Sept. 21, 8 PM, $15,
17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)
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| Also
Noted |
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Former
Strangefolk man Reid Genauer and his band Assembly
of Dust return to Revolution Hall this evening
(Thursday) with special guest Nautilus
(8 PM, $18, 274-0553). . . . Red Haired Strangers
and the Rattling Baddies close out this
year’s Garage Bands in the Garage series at Albany
Public Library tomorrow (Friday) evening (6 PM,
free, 427-4300). . . . New Jersey Americana/jam
group Railroad Earth are at the Egg on
Friday; Elephant Revival open the show
(8 PM, $26, 473-1845). . . . Also Friday, Sam
Roberts Band and Around the World And Back
play Northern Lights (7 PM, $12, 371-0012).
. . . This singing thing seems to have stuck for
Juliette Lewis; she and her band are at
Pearl Street Nightclub in Northampton, Mass.,
Friday night (9 PM, $18, 413-586-8686). . . .
Rory Block will play a benefit concert
for the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA on
Friday at Chatham’s St. James Church (7:30 PM,
$22, 828-6044 ext. 101). . . . Revolution Hall
hosts Songs for Freedom: A Benefit for the Abolition
of Child Sex Slavery this Saturday; proceeds go
to the Love146 organization, and music will be
provided by Sean Rowe and Basement Band
(7 PM, $10, 274-0553). . . . Lake George Jazz
Weekend takes over Shepard Park this Saturday
and Sunday, with performers including the Steve
Turre Quintet and the Bill Mays Inventions
Trio; Lake George High School is the rainsite
(1 PM, free, 668-2616). . . . Milwaukee’s Peter
Mulvey is in the middle of what he’s calling
the Long Haul Tour, an 1,100-mile concert tour
by bicycle, with fellow singer-songwriter Brianna
Lane; Mulvey and Lane make their way to Caffe
Lena on Sunday (7 PM, $16, 587-3330).
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