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Kill
Henry Sugar
The
Larkin Lounge, Friday
Erik
Della Penna, frontman and songwriter for the New York City-based
band Kill Henry Sugar, has an impressive résumé as a session
musician: Among others, he’s worked for Joan Osborne and Natalie
Merchant, but there’s more to him than that. He’s also cowritten
a song, “Disney Is the Enemy,” with Mojo Nixon, but don’t
judge him by that either. When he’s holding the reins, Della
Penna steers a course somewhere between the poles of earnest
and ironic, painting wry and intelligent tableaux in rootsy
tones. We challenge you to find another musician with a song
about a fascist dictator (“Mussolini”) that kicks off with
a banjo. (Jan. 10, 9 PM, $5, 463-5225)
Tony
Levin
The Van Dyck, Saturday
It
would be impossible to label bassist Tony Levin—who’s put
in time with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel, and been called
upon by such choosy mothers as Lou Reed and Paul Simon—predictable.
Over the course of his career, he’s progressed from tuba to
Chapman Stick, from playing with the Rochester Philharmonic
to playing with woodwind virtuoso Steve Gorn and drummer Jerry
Marotta underground in the Widow Jane mine (check out Gorn’s
album From the Caves of the Iron Mountain for the results).
Fortunately, Levin is pretty regular in his touring schedule,
and as a resident of Woodstock, he finds Schenectady an easy
commute—and judging from the frequency of his gigs there,
he finds the Van Dyck a comfy venue. (Jan. 11, 7 and 9:30
PM, $16, 381-1111)
Unearth,
Endicott, Burning Bridges, Once and For All
Valentine’s,
Saturday
Eastern
Massachusetts-bred metal-hardcore quintet Unearth will share
their songs of hope and inspiration at Valentine’s on Saturday.
The kids love these guys, and gushing reviews abound
on the Internet by folks enamored with their metalcore blend,
powerful emotive lyrics and unique melodies. A review on allmusic.com
of their 2001 release The Stings of Conscience enthuses,
“Hardcore albums never sound this perfect, nor do most death
or black metal albums for that matter. In fact, it would not
be a stretch to announce this as the holy grail of the new
breed of European metal-influenced hardcore that has sprung
up recently . . .” Endicott, Burning Bridges and Once and
for All open (Jan. 11, 8 PM, $10, 432-6572)
Sonya
Kitchell Band
Club
Helsinki, Great Barrington, Mass., Sunday
Jazz-singing
prodigy Sonya Kitchell has already recorded an album—this
year’s well-regarded If I Cried—and headlined at the
Iron Horse Music Hall. And she’s only 13 years old. If that
doesn’t make all you post- pubescent types feel washed up,
Kitchell had her first notable professional gig at 10; the
folks at the Special Olympics World Games heard her audition
tape (Kitchell singing Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight”)
and offered her a gig without realizing she was, then, only
in fourth grade. Since then, Kitchell has continued to study,
including summer seminars in Vermont with the great jazz vocalist
Sheila Jordan. Backed by a quintet of slightly older musicians
in the 17-to-19 age range, Kitchell will bring her blues-influenced
style to Club Helsinki Sunday. It’s said she sings a mean
“Mack the Knife”—one wonders, does she know what it’s about?
(Jan. 12, 7:30 PM, $12, 413-528-3394)
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DAN
BERN
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Dan
Bern
Caffe
Lena, Sunday
He’s
been tagged as yet another new Dylan, but there’s more reason
to listen to Dan Bern on his own merits. They both hail from
the great Midwest and have some similar points of reference,
and there is a familiar nasality in Bern’s voice, but the
label is misleading—just as it was for Steve Forbert and John
Prine and and and. Bern, like Dylan, is best known for his
lyrics, but where Dylan often went for the obscurely poetic,
Bern goes for pop-culture punch: “While riding down the highway
with Cowboy Joe/I met Leonardo DiCaprio/Leo, he’s tryin’ to
get away from/The unwanted advances of Eminem.” So, if you
dig a little wit with your folk revival, you’re in luck because
Bern will touch down at the Colony Café in Woodstock tomorrow
(Friday) before coming up to Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs
on Sunday. Take a drive, get a double dose. (Jan. 12, 7
PM, $15, $12 advance, 583-0022)
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noted |
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KITTIE
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Boston-based
singer- songwriter Vance Gilbert will play
Caffe Lena tomorrow (Friday), touring behind his
latest CD, One Thru Fourteen (8 PM, $12,
583-0022). . . . Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks
will provide a bit o’ “gypsy jazz,” folk, country
and swing when they open up the Egg’s Roots &
Branches music series Friday (8 PM, $22, 473-1845).
. . . MotherJudge hosts an acoustic-rock
songwriter’s showcase at the Fuze Box Friday, featuring
some of her Wednesday open-mike favorites, Chris
Wilhelm Band, Lanette Lynnette and David and
Laura Boggs ($5, 432-4472). . . . Area country
crooner Valerie DeLaCruz hosts a new songwriter’s
circle at the Parting Glass in Saratoga, and on
Saturday her guests will be funky-punk popster Bryan
Thomas and bluesy songstress Mikki Bakken
(9:30 PM, $5, 583-1916). . . . Blues-jazz singer-pianist
Mose Allison (also a prolific songwriter:
The Who, Van Morrison, the Clash, Elvis Costello,
Bonnie Raitt, John Mayall and Eric Clapton have
all covered his songs) is still going strong at
a hearty 76 years old, and he’ll stop in to Great
Barrington’s Club Helsinki for a show Saturday;
prodigious jazz pianist Miro Sprague (the
17-year-old is a member of the Sonya Kitchell Band
playing Sunday) will open (9 PM, $30, $25 advance,
413-528-6308). . . . Heavy-metal chicks Kittie
will play Northern Lights Tuesday with Biohazard,
18 Visions and Brand New Sin ($15, $13
advance, 371-0012). . . . Onetime Jefferson Airplane
and Hot Tuna member Jorma Kaukonen supplants
acid rock with country picking when he brings Blue
Country to the Iron Horse on Tuesday (7 PM,
$22.50, 800-THE-TICK). . . . St. John’s Coffeehouse
in Albany offers music the second Tuesday of each
month at St. John’s Lutheran Church; this Tuesday,
bluegrass outfit Blue Moon will play (7 PM,
free—donations accepted, 465-7545). |
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Columns
& Opinions
