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Jerry
Douglas Band
The
Egg, Friday
You most likely know him as a producer, or as the dobro man
for Alison Krauss and Union Station, or for his stints performing
alongside Ray Charles, Peter Rowan, Béla Fleck, Emmylou Harris,
Phish, Dolly Parton, T Bone Burnett, Paul Simon, Ricky Skaggs,
Bill Frisell, Nanci Griffith, Tony Rice, Elvis Costello, Johnny
Mathis, or James Taylor. Tomorrow (Friday) the sideman gets
top billing, as Jerry Douglas and his band will celebrate
the seasonal spirit with songs from Jerry Christmas,
a brand new collection of dobro-flavored holiday classics.
The band will be joined by John Oates—contemporary music’s
most famous, though unintentional, sideman—and Irish singer
Maura O’Connell. (Dec. 11, 8 PM, $34.50, Empire State Plaza,
Albany, 473-1845)
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Enter
the Haggis
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Enter
the Haggis
Revolution
Hall, Friday
It seems like every commercially successful Celtic band (and
there are more than you might think) claim a plethora of non-Celtic
influences, making them more widely accessible for those who
do not hail directly from the Emerald Isle. Enter the Haggis
are no different. Along with traditional bagpipes, fiddles
and narrative lyrics, their experimental blend includes elements
of rock, pop, funk, prog-rock and even “jig-punk.” Their seventh
and latest album, Gutter Anthems, released in March,
features the Toronto act’s now-typical mix of drinking songs
and pop tunes. Watch out for the traveling “Haggis Heads”
who follow the band from show to show. (Dec. 11,
8 PM, $20, 425 River St., Troy, 274-0553)
Erin
McKeown
Dream
Away Lodge, Saturday
Hundreds
of Lions is the latest from Northampton, Mass.-based musician
Erin McKeown, and it’s in the McKeown tradition, in that it’s
just as different from her preceding studio album as that
album was to its predecessor. Though that wasn’t hard to do—2006’s
Sing You Sinners was a collection of American standards,
while Lions is a decidedly original affair. (Lions
is also McKeown’s Righteous Babe debut.) The artist, just
off a tour with Jill Sobule, will make a stop at the almost-mythical
Dream Away this weekend; it will be interesting to see if
this becomes her new home in the Berkshires following Club
Helsinki’s recent closure. (Dec. 12, 8 PM, call for price
[and directions!], 1342 County Road, Becket, Mass., 413-623-8725)
Heavenly
Echoes Gospel Singers
Sanctuary
for Independent Media, Saturday
This is one of those things that you just know is going to
feel really good. The Sanctuary for Independent Media continues
its “Live From Lock One” concert series with the Heavenly
Echoes Gospel Singers, one of the Capital Region’s longest-running
gospel groups. They’ll be joined by the men’s chorus of Oak
Grove Missionary Baptist Church of Lansingburgh and the men’s
chorus of Schenectady’s Duryee AME Zion Church for what should
be a mighty night of righteous harmony. The performance will
be hosted by music writer Don Wilcock, and recorded for later
release. Go and make your voices heard. (Dec. 12, 8 PM,
$10 suggested donation, $5 students or low income, 3361 6th
Ave., Troy, 272-2390)
Perfect
Thyroid vs. The Big Shoe
Bearsville
Theater, Saturday
It ain’t gonna be pretty. Some bands go through periods of
redefining themselves, and most deal with internal ego trips,
but this one qualifies as a full-blown existential crisis.
Perfect Thyroid, those Hudson Valley purveyors of “skunk music”
(think mid-’90s ska-funk) have thrown down the gauntlet for
a good-old-fashioned battle of the bands. Problem is: The
band who picked that gauntlet up was the Big Shoe, Perfect
Thyroid’s comedy-funk cover-band alter-ego. As the contender,
the Big Shoe gets first crack, and they’ll have to make those
Peter Gabriel tunes count, because Perfect Thyroid were chosen
by Alternative Press as among the top ska-influenced
groups of all time. It seems all that skanking can make
you go schizo. (Dec. 12, 9 PM, $10, 291 Tinker St., Woodstock,
845-679-4406)
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Noted |
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Derek
Trucks Band
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The
Linda hosts another CRUMBS Night Out tonight (Thursday);
this month’s event features live music from Capital
Region folk act Three Quarter North (8
PM, free, 465-5233 ext. 4). . . . Tonight at Valentine’s,
the reliably outrageous Aficionado share
a bill with Six Gallery, Forman,
and the Nightlife (8 PM, 432-6572). . .
. Mirk and the New Familiars head up a
crowded roster at Red Square tomorrow (Friday)
to raise funds for the Langan School of the Albany
Center for the Disabled; other acts include
Atomic Tom and Eric Margan and the Red
Lions (7:30 PM, $10, 465-0444). . . . At Putnam
Den in Saratoga the same night, Positive Mental
Trip will host the first of two Jam for Tots
fundraisers to help buy toys for needy local children;
Dr. Jah and the Love Prophets are among
the numerous scheduled acts (7 PM, $7, 584-8066).
. . . The Figgs’ annual holiday throwdown
doubles as a vinyl-release party for their new
single; they’re at Valentine’s Friday with Kitty
Little and Scientific Maps (9 PM, 432-6572).
. . . The Wholesale Klezmer Band’s annual
Hannukah throwdown is at Caffe Lena on Saturday
(8 PM, $17, 583-0022). . . . The Egg’s 2009 music
schedule more or less closes (not counting a family
show next weekend) with the Joey Thomas Big
Band presenting a Sinatra Christmas on Saturday
(3 PM, $25-$30, 473-1845), followed by Sunday’s
show from the Derek Trucks Band (7:30 PM,
$34.50-$49.50, 473-1845).
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