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Blasé
Debris
Valentine’s,
Friday
We’ve
already told you about the release of Blasé Debris’ CD Bury
the Hatchet, but the band are now releasing an extended
version of that title and they’re throwing another party.
So, it’s simple: extended CD, extended coverage. This is not
always policy, mind you, but it’s tough to get your fill of
demented-chimneysweep-fronted “vaudevillian punk/gothic metal”—as
anyone into the genre can tell you—so, when you get the chance,
you leap at it. Helping Blasé Debris celebrate will be Sleaze,
Sorrow and Society High. (Jan. 30, 8 PM, $7, 432-6572)
Brooks
Williams
Caffe Lena, Friday
Although
Brooks Williams’ output has always been steeped in roots music,
through 14 albums he also has made a career of transcending
genre to defy categorization. Friday night at Caffe Lena,
the Georgia native will offer his unique blend of styles and
demonstrate his blues-soaked fingerstyle guitar. Artists and
writers have described Brooks as an “acoustic guitar god”
and a cinematic songwriter who builds his own fusion of roots
music—a mix of blues, country and Celtic—merging it all with
Beatlesque melodies and rock & roll rhythms. Special guest
Laura Siersema will open the show with a short set of ethereal
original songs and spoken-word pieces. (Jan. 30, 8 PM,
$10-12, 583-0022)
 Emily
Zuzik, Rosanna Lee, the Lilas
The Larkin Lounge, Saturday
Brooklyn-based
Emily Zuzik will top the bill of a night of female-powered
rock and folk at the Larkin Saturday. While living in San
Francisco, the blonde rocker joined forces with songwriter
Ben Ratliff to form the band Sexfresh, whose debut album The
Fainting Room received critical acclaim. Also, Zuzik’s
solo album, The Way It’s Got to Be, was a Top DIY Pick
in Performing Songwriter Magazine in November. The
magazine describes Zuzik’s music as mixing the “urgency of
Ani DiFranco and Tori Amos with the easy cool of Kim Gordon.”
This artist doesn’t only perform; she’s heavily involved with
the women’s and indie-music communities, participating in
festivals like Est Fest, Goddessfest and more. Saturday she
hits the Larkin; opening are female-fronted the Lilas, and
Boston-based Rosanna Lee. (Jan. 31, 8 PM, $5, 463-5225)
The
Holmes Brothers
WAMC Performing Arts Studio, Saturday
The
Holmes Brothers—bassist Sherman Holmes, guitarist-keyboardist
Wendell Holmes and drummer Popsy Dixon—have been making a
unique blend of soul, blues, gospel and R&B for 25 years,
although the actual Holmes brothers have been performing
together since the early ’60s. On Simple Truths, their
latest release for the venerable blues label Alligator Records,
their original material cozies up to a handful of smartly
chosen covers, including a zydeco/jump-blues take on Collective
Soul’s “Shine,” as well as tunes by Bob Marley (“Concrete
Jungle”), Gillian Welch (“Everything is Free”) and Hank Williams
(“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”). Produced by Craig Street
(Chris Whitley, Norah Jones) and S. Husky Höskulds (Joe Henry,
Wallflowers), Simple Truths conveys the warm heart
and palpable energy that the Brothers bring to their live
performances. The Holmes Brothers have performed all over
the world—they’ve even played for President Clinton—and they’ll
bring it on home to the WAMC Performing Arts Studio this Saturday
night. (Jan. 31, 8 PM, $15, 465-5233)
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Rosanne
Raneri
The Van Dyck, Saturday
It
will be a happy homecoming for Rosanne Raneri this Saturday
at the Van Dyck. Of course, the former Capital Region-based
singer-songwriter has been back before, but the current Beantown
denizen is bringing a new batch of songs, and a new approach.
As she explains on her Web site, her new material is less
in the singer-songwriter style, and incorporates “sexier grooves
and more experimental arrangements.” All this will lead, come
spring, to a new album (tentatively called Shift).
Of course, the songs may change but the voice will remain
the same—and Raneri’s estimable vocal chops have been praised,
numerous times, by Metroland (and a host of other papers),
as well as by pros like Tom Paxton and Bruce Cockburn. (Jan.
31, 7 and 9:30 PM, $8, 381-1111)
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| Also
Noted |
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 Tomorrow
(Friday) night marks the first show in the Rockin’
the Lounge series at RPI’s Chapel + Cultural Center
Lounge (a small listening room that lets you get
up-close and personal with the musicians); the
show will feature three local favorites: Kitty
Little, Rockets and Blue Lights and the Wasted
(8 PM, free, 274-7793). . . . Folksinger-songwriter
Garnet Rogers, called “one of the major
talents of our time” by the Boston Globe,
will be joined by special guest Rachael Davis
on Friday for a night of music as part of
the Songs and Stories music series at the Clark
Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass. (8 PM, $20-18,
413-458-2303, ext. 324). . . . Also Friday, reaLation
celebrate the release of their new CD at Valentine’s;
they are joined for the downstairs show by Joey
Randazzo Band and Release (9 PM, $5,
432-6572). . . . On Saturday, Boston-based Mark
Erelli will perform at the Iron Horse Music
Hall in Northampton, Mass., with Royer’s One
Man Band, Psychedelic Breakfast and
Nero; Billboard touts Erelli as “a highly
distinctive vocalist whose taut warble and saturnine
songs weave an often-absorbing spell” (7 PM, $15,
413-584-0610). . . . Eternity 9, the fifth annual
Electronic Media and Music Festival, will take
place as an all-day event at Troy’s Revolution
Hall with a live performance by Alchemy;
go to revolutionhall.com for more information
(1 PM, $15, 273-2337). . . . Don’t forget that
you have a chance to appear in a music video when
Small Axe records their live video on Saturday
at King’s Tavern in Saratoga Springs; they need
people to show up so that the audience looks full-to-the-brim
(10 PM, 584-9643). . . . On Tuesday, Morning
40 Federation will visit Great Barrington,
Mass., to play Club Helsinki; this band (whose
sound was once described as “sleazy burlesque,”
a phrase that apparently stuck) formed when six
strangers met over nighttime debauchery in their
relocation city of choice, New Orleans (8 PM,
$8, 413-528-3394).
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