Rock 'n' Roll Marathon: Music to go

It's a tough road for bands wanting to perform in marathon

By Chris Nixon
May 29, 2008

So you wanna be a rock 'n' roll band?

As 20,000 runners, rollers and walkers converge on San Diego this weekend, 45 local bands and artists wait to perform on 26 stages situated at every mile along the course of the 11th annual Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. But for local musicians serving as the cheer squad along the 26.2 mile course, the process starts many months before race day on Sunday.

Amber Lopez, entertainment coordinator for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, has been helping choose the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon bands for the past three years. Out of the hundreds of applicants, only 45 will perform along the course this year. But she and her colleagues at Elite Racing, the race organizers, “listen to every single one of the submissions.”

Elite Racing requires bands to submit a CD with five songs, a bio and a photo. The listening sessions go on for a couple of months before final decisions are made.

DETAILS
11th annual Rock 'n' Roll Marathon
When: Sunday, 6:30 a.m.
Where: Balboa Park to Marine Corps Recruit Depot
Tickets: Free
Phone: (858) 450-6510
Online: rnrmarathon.com

“We make our choices based primarily on the music,” Lopez said, “but also on location and the nitty-gritty details of the size of our stages, how many people can fit on those stages, what kind of music it is dependent on what kind of area the stage is in. We have a lot of neighborhoods along the course and we like to provide music that's not too crazy for them at 6:30 in the morning. So we try to accommodate everybody.”

Lopez and Elite Racing tries to keep in mind the neighborhood surrounding the course, but they don't necessarily want sedate, sleepy music either: “We try to pick uplifting music and upbeat music that will help the runners keep going.”

This year's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon kicks off at 6:30 a.m. Sunday. The race follows a course beginning at Sixth Avenue and Robinson Street in Balboa Park, including a stretch on state Route 163 before winding around the edges of San Diego Bay and through beach communities. The finish line sits at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. If traveling in the area, be aware that many of the streets will be closed along the course.

Chris Nixon is a San Diego freelance music writer.

Benatar rocks on

May 29, 2008

In the four years between 1979 and 1983, Pat Benatar was unstoppable. She had the classically trained voice offset by a gritty airtight band ripping the catchy rock tunes: “Heartbreaker,” “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” “You Better Run,” “Promises in the Dark,” “Fire and Ice,” “Precious Time,” “Shadows of the Night.”

DETAILS
Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, with Bedford Grove
When: Sunday, 6 p.m.
Where: Concerts in the Green at Qualcomm Stadium, 9449 Friars Road, Mission Valley
Tickets: $30
Phone: (858) 450-6510
Online: rnrmarathon.com

Benatar (born Patricia Mae Andrzejewski in Brooklyn, N.Y.) released a series of four great albums in just four years. Then it all started to get soft and mushy, though the hits kept coming: 1983's “Love Is a Battlefield” and 1984's “We Belong.”

In the past couple of decades, she started a family with guitarist Neil Giraldo and played shows here and there. Despite the fall from grace, Benatar's still one of the all-time rocker chicks, making her a perfect fit for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon.

Previous headliners: Ozomatli, Pinback, LIVE, Chris Isaak, Sugar Ray, SmashMouth, Chicago, Hootie & The Blowfish, Huey Lewis & The News and Seal.

– CHRIS NIXON

Bands on the run
UNION-TRIBUNE
May 29, 2008

With 45 bands covering the 26.2-mile Rock 'n' Roll Marathon route (including two artists at Concerts on the Green near Qualcomm Stadium after the race), this year's event offers many hours of live music to navigate. Here are a few favorites from this year's lineup:

Pitch Michael (Park Boulevard and Presidents Way, 6:45 a.m. at mile 3.4): This local band is focused around the songs and voice of Jonathan Pitcher, ranging from pretty pop (“You Complete Me” and “Happy Song”) to introspective bittersweetness (“Father's Eyes” and “I Need You Goodbye”). With a new album packed with solid tunes, Pitcher has the goods to go a long way.

Elite Racing's Amber Lopez on Pitch Michael: “He's performed along the race course for five or six years now. He's reminiscent of John Mayer.”

Bedford Grove (Mission Bay Park Visitors Center, 7:40 a.m. at mile 16.3): Tapping into the infectious triumvirate of sly Fender Rhodes, soulful vocals and slinky horns, San Diego's Bedford Grove adds the musical sophistication of jazz to funk and other danceable styles. Led by Marc Gould (aka Bedford Nelson) on keys and vocals, the band celebrated the release of its new album “Welcome to Our Side of Town” April 23 at the jazz club Anthology downtown.

Lopez on Bedford Grove: “The lead singer is actually the nephew of Bob Babbit, who is one of our Running Elvi. They're set to open for our headliner (Pat Benatar).”

Tricia Freeman (Pacific Highway, 8 a.m. at mile 23.5): Little bit country. Little bit rock 'n' roll. A lot of vocal power. Tricia Freeman and her band kick the blues rootsy country rock common to a lot of bar bands around Southern California. But Freeman's huge gritty pipes (think a combo of Linda Ronstadt and Janis Joplin) set this band apart.

Lopez on Tricia Freeman: “We're putting a little country in our rock 'n' rock. It should be fun for all of our runners.”

– CHRIS NIXON

Destroyer Dan Bejar, rock 'n' roll multitasker

By Chris Nixon
May 15, 2008

After launching an album full of glistening new songs, musicians commonly hit the road to spread the gospel, promoting the record through many months, sometimes years, of touring.

Not Dan Bejar. The primary songwriter and lead singer of the Vancouver band Destroyer doesn't dig the grinding schedules of long strings of shows.

“We've never done that, (touring for long periods of time), and we're not going to start now,” said the 36-year-old singer from his cell phone, standing in the parking lot of a diner in Kansas City. “For the last record, 'Destroyer's Rubies,' I think we played 18 shows in total in support of that album. We're doing more like 30 this time around. There's been some talk about going to Europe in the fall. We'll see. But aside from that, I'm going to take it really easy. I'm getting old, you know?”

DETAILS
Destroyer, with Devon Williams
When: Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Where: The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Middletown
Tickets: $12
Phone: (619) 220-TIXS or (619) 232-4355
Online: casbahmusic.com

Thirty-six is not old, thank you very much Mr. Bejar. Maybe he just feels old with the amount of projects he finds himself in these days.

Along with his long-standing gig as main man with Destroyer, the bearded Canadian played roles in the Vancouver-based collaboration with Carl Newman and Neko Case (among others) called The New Pornographers. He's also engaged with members of Wolf Parade and Frog Eyes in Swan Lake, along with collaborating with his girlfriend, Sydney Vermont, in forming the group Hello, Blue Roses.

Despite all the time spent in studios recently, Bejar is finding the occasional two-week mini-tour – at least the hour or two on stage every night – to his liking.

“I like playing live music,” admitted Bejar. “I'm getting more and more into it. I find that having difficulty playing live and having difficulty being on tour are two separate things. One is kind of the lifestyle around being in rock bars every night and traveling every night and sleeping in hotels. And the other is the act of playing music in front of people.”

In terms of creative process, the studio remains the center of his musical world: “I would say hands down I would probably feel way more comfortable messing around in a studio than messing around on a stage. I like both but I'm more comfortable with the recording process.”

Despite Bejar's high-profile collaborations and the success of The New Pornographers, Destroyer is his main band. In the past 12 years, Destroyer has released 10 albums. Displaying Bejar's penchant for penning symphonic indie rock, complete with world-weary vocals and glam-rock swagger.

Destroyer's latest disc, “Trouble in Dreams” (Merge Records), finds Bejar musing in the strummy mellow “Foam Hands” and shouting in the noisy, almost punkish song “The State.” The album is a collective effort between a cohesive group of musicians: keyboardist Ted Bois, guitarist Nicolas Bragg, bassist Tim Loewen and drummer Fisher Rose, along with the production team of John Collins and Dave Carswell.

“Destroyer has become more a band on the last couple of records,” said Bejar. “Especially if you come and see the show: It's not like James Taylor with a bunch of session musicians. We're all pretty loud and going for it. It's not like a platform for me to delicately sing the songs. So, yeah, I think of it as a rock band.”

'80s splash long over, but Jackson still drips emotion

By Chris Nixon
May 9, 2008

No such thing as tomorrow, only one two three go! / Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head, chimes Joe Jackson on “Got the Time,” the parting shot on his stunning debut “Look Sharp!” The album is a classic of the New Wave era of the late '70s and early '80s.

Jackson, along with Elvis Costello and Graham Parker, was once tabbed as one of rock's angry young men. While he has been under the radar for the past decade or two, the 53-year-old singer-pianist continues to crank out albums full of the emotion of a young punk and the subtlety of a slick jazz crooner. And the romantically scarred man suspicious of authority remains the same.

“I think it's a cliché that when you're young, you're just rebellious against any kind of authority,” Jackson says on the interesting companion DVD packaged with the CD version of “Rain.” “I find that the older I get, the less credibility I think any kind of authority has.”

Born David Ian Jackson in the midsized town of Burton upon Trent in the English Midlands, Jackson studied at the Royal Academy of Music before finding punk rock. Along with his crack band, he catapulted into the spotlight with a trio of major-label releases in a two-year span: “Look Sharp!”; 1979's “I'm the Man”; and 1980's “Beat Crazy.” The records established Jackson as an angsty songwriter with a penchant for jazz-inflected chord progressions.

DETAILS
Joe Jackson, with Mutlu
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, Shelter Island
Tickets: $45
Phone: (619) 523-1010
Online: humphreysconcerts.com

Jackson further explored his jazz roots with the big-band album “Jumpin' Jive” in 1981 and his ode to New York City, “Night and Day,” which sported his biggest hit, “Steppin' Out,” and the gorgeous “Breaking Us in Two.”

Between '82 and the most recent spate of albums, Jackson experimented with classical forms, including 1999's “Symphony No. 1,” which featured jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard and metal guitarist Steve Vai. Since “Volume 4” reunited his original “Look Sharp!” band in 2003, Jackson seems more comfortable revisiting his power pop roots.

Jackson lived in New York City for the past few decades. But as his seedy and gothic New York transformed into a gentrified, gilded bastion of upper-crust society, the city lost its allure for him, prompting a move to the more bohemian Berlin. Surrounded by communist architecture in an abandoned warehouse-turned-studio in East Berlin, the musician tabbed two mates from his first album – bassist Graham Maby and drummer David Houghton – to record “Rain.”

“I wanted something elemental because that's the kind of album I wanted to make,” explained Jackson in his “Rain” DVD comments. “There is no padding on it at all; the album is stripped to the bare essentials, so I hope it has a timeless quality. The title seems to fit.”

The album might not crack any sales charts, but “Rain” is a beautiful collection of 10 tracks dripping with Jackson's exquisite piano playing and his trademark vocals.

“It always seemed to be raining when I was working on these songs,” Jackson said, “and it rained every day while we were recording them. But I like the rain, and I don't understand why for many people it has this automatic association with doom and gloom. What would we do without rain?”

Jackson sings on “Wasted Time”: Some people keep returning / To the scene of the crime / Try to rewrite the story / Tell you you never tried / Tell you you should be sorry / For wasting their time.

Time may be tick-tick-ticking away for Joe Jackson, but time spent with his music isn't wasted.

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

Kathleen Edwards: Went to a garden party ...

Kathleen Edwards took a break from the road to recharge and tend her 'Flowers'

By Chris Nixon
May 8, 2008

Musicians get caught in the same cycles as everyone else: You get up and go to work. Come home and go to bed. Wake up the next day and do it all over again.

Before you know it, years float by.

For singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards, her cycles – five years of churning out albums and touring – left the creative well dry. After a productive and critically acclaimed turn as the fresh new face in acoustic alt-country, she hit the songwriting wall.

“I think I was always in a little bit of a rush,” recalled the 29-year-old singer. “And also there was a bit of expectation on my shoulders from other people to straddle the line between a commercial sound and not being too sugary or saccharine.”

DETAILS
Kathleen Edwards, with The Last Town Chorus
When: Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Where: Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach
Tickets: $15-$17
Phone: (858) 481-8140
Online: bellyup.com

After getting off the road in support of her 2005 breakthrough album, “Back to Me,” the process of songwriting slowed to a standstill: “I couldn't seem to break the ice. It was a really humbling experience, because I usually been able to write songs without too much of a dilemma in my own life.”

So, the clear-voiced Canadian did other things: planted a garden, worked at a winery, went jogging and learned to play the piano. She did the simple things. The space gave her a new perspective on songwriting and her career, allowing her to hone her vision of the next album.

“This time around, I said to myself whatever the consequences of making the exact record I want to make, I think I can live with them,” said Edwards. “Just being home for a while made me want to go back on the road, but I wanted to go on the road with songs I love getting up and playing every night.”

First, she assembled a crack band to record the album: drummer Don Heffington (Bob Dylan, The Wallflowers), bassist Bob Glaub (Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, Leonard Cohen), keyboardist Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers), and pedal steel player Greg Leisz (Sheryl Crow, Wilco, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss). Then, she enlisted producer Jim Scott (Wilco, Whiskeytown, Tom Petty) and recorded at Plyrz Studios in Santa Clarita.

The resulting record – “Asking for Flowers,” released last month – combines Edwards' strong songwriting skills with a more textured, layered sound. The entire album has an comfortable, effortless feel, spearheaded by the sweet opening track, “Buffalo.”

Edwards gets a little cheeky on the ABC song “The Cheapest Key”: A is for all the times I bit my tongue. But in general “Asking for Flowers” hits the mark, in an acoustic contemporary country way.

Edwards' points to the six-and-a-half-minute track “Goodnight, California” – featuring the talents of bassist Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing, Marc Ribot) and keyboardist John Ginty (Robert Randolph and the Family Band) on Hammond organ – as the fullest realization of her “sonic vision.”

“I always wanted to write this sweeping, instrumental, haunting song,” said Edwards. “Sonic vision means not worrying about how long the song is and not worrying about whether it has any commercial value. It means going for something and loving what my ears are hearing.”

By stepping out of music industry cycles, with its constant pressures to crank out content and take the show on the road, Edwards achieved a deeper understanding of the permanence of making a living as a musician.

“I wish I was a prolific writer; I wish I could write on the road,” she admitted. “But I can't, so I have to accept that my pace is my pace. I don't want to rush this stuff. You record a song and it's there forever. No one may listen to it, but it's still there forever. I can only stand behind the work that I end up making.”

Recrafting country

Shucking tears-in-your-beer ballads and two-stepping cowboys in ten-gallon hats, a fresh brand of singer-songwriter is reinventing country music. Adding a touch of twang to mainstream folk and rock songs, these alt-country divas focus on country music's strength: its ability to tell a story.

Kathleen Edwards is one of them. Here's a look at a few others:

Lucinda Williams

Moniker: The road-tested originator

Must listen: “Unsuffer Me,” a chilling, atmospheric track from 2007's “West.”

The skinny: The 55-year-old Louisiana native dared to bust out of the country singer mold before Kathleen Edwards was out of diapers. Her career stems from the late 1970s, but she really hit her stride with 1998's “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.” With the ability to oscillate between tough and tender, Williams crafts songs with an eye for imagery and knack for storytelling.

Shelby Lynne

Moniker: The Nashville refugee

Must listen: “Just a Little Lovin',” the title song from her wonderfully stripped-down tribute to Dusty Springfield.

The skinny: Once a promising young bright-eyed beauty with mainstream country music star written all over her Southern belle body, Shelby Lynne gets better the further she gets from the cookie-cutter country albums and the Nashville music industry. Her most recent album – a Dusty Springfield tribute artfully produced by Phil Ramone – gives her subtly soulful vocals proper space to breathe.

Allison Moorer

Moniker: Shelby's younger sister

Must listen: “Some Sugar in My Bowl,” a sultry swing tune (originally by Nina Simone) from 2008's “Mockingbird.”

The skinny: Often defined first by her relations (older sister Shelby Lynne, husband Steve Earle), but Allison Moorer's powerful voice draws attention whether she's singing on family member's record or on her own. Dancing around the outskirts of traditional country territory, the 35-year-old singer musically touches on everything from rootsy rock to quiet country tinged folk.

Tift Merritt

Moniker: The talented newcomer

Must listen: “Keep You Happy,” a pretty, twangy track from 2008's “Another Country.”

The skinny: Full of spacey pedal steel, strummy guitars, mellow electric piano and angelic vibrato-laced vocals, Tift Merritt's latest album title suitably describes her rejection of the typical country formulas: “Another Country.”

In her own words, she describes her sound: “Maybe a little like if Creedence Clearwater Revival had a girl singer who loved Dusty Springfield and Bruce Springsteen and old French movies and played a real warm summer night right after a thunderstorm ... but really ... I'm pretty sure I just sound like me.”

– CHRIS NIXON

Adams Avenue: 'It's going to be a good little festival'

By Chris Nixon
May 1, 2008

Huddled around campfires and warm hearths, around dinner tables and family pianos, the people in this country have always created music to share, passing stories down through the generations to help create the American musical tradition.

The bustling streets and cement sidewalks of Normal Heights might seem like a different planet from the back porches and parlors that served as the birthplace of American roots music. For one weekend in April, the Adams Avenue Roots & Folk Festival brings the backporch to San Diego.

Lou Curtiss, who started the first roots festival in 1967 at SDSU and has continued to be involved with the festival to this day, champions the cause of roots music locally. Along with this festival, he runs a record store filled with old-timey music called Folk Arts Rare Records (2881 Adams Ave.) and hosts “Jazz Roots,” a weekly radio show on KSDS 88.3 FM brimming with jazz, folk and country from the early 20th century.

“It's important to know where we came from,” said Curtiss recently from his record shop. “Of course, there is roots music in the modern, too: music created in a community. We don't get an opportunity all the time to hear the real musical treasures, the real old-timers. This is probably the only opportunity San Diego has to hear that kind of performer.”

The event, run by the Adams Avenue Business Association, draws 40,000 people a year over two days to Adams Avenue. This year, Joel Henderson put together a committee of himself, Curtiss and Chris Clarke, who – along with Judy Moore, Lois Bach and Annie Ross – picked the artists and planned the event.

DETAILS
35th annual Adams Avenue Roots & Folk Festival
When: Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: Adams Avenue, Normal Heights
Tickets: Free
Phone: (619) 282-7329
Online: AdamsAveOnline.com

“This is a kind of homecoming festival,” said Curtiss. “There are a lot of musicians who were active in the folk scene when this festival started back in '67. Ray Bierl is coming down from the Bay Area. Bob Le Beau is coming down from San Jose.

“I'm happy with the lineup this year. The people who are coming are great. It's going to be a good little festival.”

The lineup

Saturday: Bob Le Beau; Curt Bouterse; Patty Hall; Shawn Rolfe; Martin Henry, Robin Henkel and Allen Singer; Hullabaloo; Cindy Lee Berryhill; Sara Petite; Martin Henry; Kathy & Carol, Mimi Wright with Kim and Jim Lansford; Fred and Cathay Zipp; Trails & Rails; Tomcat Courtney; The Gypsy Jazz Trio; Fred Heath with the Slidewinders; Coyote Problem; Mary McCaslin; Last Transit; David Grisman; High Wide and Handsome; Johnson, Bosley and Morin; Chris Clarke and Tanya Rose; Allen Singer; Buffalo Chip Kickers; Ray Bierl; Anna Troy; Plow; Martin Henry; Kathy Larisch and Carol McComb; Jalopy; Peter Bolland; Gregory Page

Sunday: Joey Harris; Patty Hall; Last Transit; Jim & Kim Lansford; Mary McCaslin; Tom Boyer; Mimi Wright; Pat Berrogains and the Hot Club Combo; The Brombies; Anna Troy; Gregory Page; Chris Clarke; Hot Pstromi with Yale Strom; Cindy Lee Berryhill; Robin Henkel; San Diego Cajun Playboys; Curt Bouterse, Patty Hall and the Gypsy Jazz Trio; Ross Altman; Kathy Larisch and Carol McComb; Plow; Jalopy; Peter Bolland and Allen Singer; Fred and Cathay Zipp; Los Alacranes; Patty Hall; New Lost Melody Boys; Ross Altman; Tanya Rose and the Buffalo Chip Kickers; Nathan James and Ben Hernandez.

Cat Power: Free bird

Cat Power is back on track, ready to take her rightful place on the 'Jukebox'

By Chris Nixon
April 10, 2008
Everybody loves a transcendent cover song: Familiar choruses and melodies co-exist with an artist's interpretation, shedding light on the tune's undiscovered nooks and crannies.

But Chan Marshall might love them more than most. The 36-year-old vocalist seems to find solace in recreating and reshaping time-tested classics. And she has seen some tough times.

A couple of years back, Marshall's life veered on an unsteady course toward a messy and destructive end. Imbibing scotch while riding high on a laundry list of pharmaceuticals, Chan (pronounced “Shawn” for the uninitiated) was heading for a train wreck with fatal implications.

She had just finished her most polished collection of work along with an all-star cast of Memphis studio musicians, 2006's “The Greatest.” Yet a lifetime of substance abuse had led her to a lonely Miami apartment, battling her personal demons with the only tools she knew: numbing anesthetics.

Marshall admitted in a recent interview: “If I had my brain split in 14 different corners and was living on Xanax, antidepressants and scotch every day like an idiot who keeps her head above water from the stress of traveling all these years nonstop, I didn't want anybody to know.”

DETAILS
Cat Power with Appaloosa
When: Wednesday, 8 p.m.
Where: 4th & B, 345 B St., downtown
Tickets: $25
Phone: (619) 231-4343 or (619) 220-TIXS
Online: 4thandb.com

Leading up to 2006, Marshall had amassed a music career as Cat Power complete with staggering heights and gutter-crawling lows. Filled with blurry brilliance and passionate vocals, Marshall's albums consistently earned raves from fans and critics.

But her erratic live shows distracted from her beautiful songs and distinct voice, if she finished the shows at all.

Unfortunately, her live performances became more about the spectacle of watching someone completely melt down on stage, rather than her gifted voice. Will she get through one song before demanding everyone leave? Will she ramble and start talking to chipmunks between songs (as she reportedly did at one outdoor show)? Marshall has admitted to suffering from stage fright, using the bottle to get over her anxieties.

Like many caught in the clutches of substance abuse, Marshall had to reach crisis mode before retreating from the edge of the cliff: “It was horribly, excruciatingly painful to get out of the hospital and learn that your tour has been canceled, you're in debt, you failed all these people who bought tickets.”

To her credit, Marshall re-emerged from the fog. She did finally tour with the musicians on “The Greatest,” including a transcendent performance at the Coachella Arts & Music Festival in 2006. She took control of her life, and now she's reaping benefits.

Cat Power has returned with a new album of covers along with two originals, “Jukebox.” It's her second disc of reinterpretations, following the aptly titled 2000 release “The Covers Album.”

With nods to James Brown and Billie Holiday, there's a hard-won wizened blues streak running through the disc. And she surrounds herself with amazing musicians, including guitarist Judah Bauer (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion) and Jim White (Dirty Three, P.J. Harvey, Nina Nastasia).

Always at the center of her best songs, Marshall's voice sounds more confident than ever. Gone is the edgy, precarious young vocalist, leaving slightly more weathered pipes surrounded by a sound smoothed by the tides of time.

“Jukebox” is an album that rings true with survivors, those who have moved past the immortal Neil Young line It's better to burn out, than to fade away.

For Marshall, balance between music and life is the key: “This past year has taught me something I never had before, which is stability. Now, I have a dog, I come home after a tour, I have a life, I do my laundry, I read my books, I stick my finger up my nose, I go swimming at the beach, I ride my bike.”

A selected Cat Power discography

From edgy lo-fi provocateur to soul chanteuse, Chan Marshall's ability to range far and wide along diverse musical terrain sets her apart from most musicians in this day and time. Here's a look back at the many faces of Cat Power:

“Dear Sir” (1995) / “Myra Lee” (1996): Cat Power's first two albums are a snapshot of a young vocalist finding her own voice: focusing on the projection of emotion rather than technical precision. Fuzzy lo-fi indie rock provides the background to Marshall's plaintive vocals. Cat Power recorded both albums on one December day in New York City, and both have the feel of a cold, gray winter's day. “Myra Lee” was named after Marshall's mom.

Standout track: “Still in Love” from “Myra Lee,” a little bit of laid-back country and jittery city vibes in the same breath.

“What Would the Community Think” (1996): This quiet, contemplative disc – Cat Power's first for Matador – comes off sounding like the mellow muted indie rock of Pinback fronted by a deadpan Joni Mitchell (in a lower register). By far, this is the best album of her early career and it gives hints of her later fascination with the blues, soul and other forms of Americana music.

Standout track: “In This Hole” sets the introspective tone for the entire album.

“The Covers Record” (2000): By wrapping herself in the songs of Bob Dylan and Lou Reed devoid of any lush backing or extravagant production, “The Covers Record” focuses on Cat Power's sharpest musical tool – her voice.

Standout track: “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction,” completely different from the Stones' original or Devo's cover, but just as good.

“You Are Free” (2003): Cat Power nicely offers a neat, exquisitely produced compendium of her career to date, while also playfully stepping outside the boundaries with “Free” and “He War.” Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl add different colors to the palette as guests.

Standout track: “Free.” By including an infectious hand-clapping pop song, Marshall basically describes herself in the title.

“The Greatest” (2006): Chan is great by herself, but she is elegant and beautifully damaged on this album, marking a soulful rebirth. Backed by a crack band of Memphis veteran studio musicians (including Al Green guitarist Teenie Hodges), she's less self-obsessed on “The Greatest” than on previous discs.

Standout track: The title track oozes soul and sadness.

“Jukebox (2008)”: With newfound sobriety and vocal clarity, Marshall revisits cover songs with soulful confidence on her most recent release. Ably backed by the Dirty Delta Blues Band (with drummer Jim White), she filters well-known classics by such diverse icons as Frank Sinatra, Hank Williams and Janis Joplin through soulful Americana.

Standout track: Sinatra's “New York” thrives in this treatment, with a heavy backbeat and floaty electric piano.

– CHRIS NIXON

Re-tuning the Black Keys

Collaboration allows the grit-rock duo to 'mix it up a little bit'

By Chris Nixon
UNION-TRIBUNE
March 27, 2008

If you haven't heard, the Black Keys are set to invade your radios, iPods and all other forms of musical media.

But drummer Patrick Carney isn't sensing the mayhem surrounding the duo's upcoming release “Attack & Release.” He's currently chilling in his hometown, oblivious to the buzz.

“We live in Akron, Ohio,” said Carney in his best deadpan tone. “There's no real college radio. So we really have no idea what's happening.”

After spending the past seven years building their reputation as a no-frills, bluesy, grit-rock duo, Black Keys vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Carney felt like they needed a fresh perspective. So they turned to Brian Burton, better known as Danger Mouse, half of Gnarls Barkley and a recent go-to producer for Gorillaz, The Rapture, Sparklehorse and Damon Albarn's supergroup The Good, The Bad and The Queen. The resulting record – set to be released Tuesday – is the duo's fourth full-length album and its first with an outside producer.

DETAILS
The Black Keys,
with Jay Reatard
When: Saturday at 8 p.m.
Where: House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., downtown
Tickets: Sold out
Phone: (619) 299-2583
Online: hob.com

“Brian has a real ear for melody and arrangement,” said Auerbach about the collaboration with Danger Mouse. “And that was a big part of this record, his making suggestions about the arrangements.”

The first single, “Strange Times,” displays Danger Mouse's knack for subtle adjustments to The Black Keys' sound. The producer doesn't mess with the tried-and-true formula much. It's more like a slight filling out of the sound: an additional hand clap here or bubbling organs there.

“We made four records and an EP the same way, pretty much on our own,” said Carney. “On 'Magic Potion' (the band's last album), it felt like we should be making things a little bit more difficult for ourselves. So we decided to mix it up a little bit. I think right now we're onto something new. I think we're beyond whatever hang-ups we had about working with other people.”

In the past, Auerbach has struggled with a ton of Paul Rodgers comparisons. There are worse things than an association with the former Bad Company and Free singer, one of the signature voices in rock for the past four decades. But Danger Mouse seems to give a different treatment to his voice, and Auerbach's pipes are starting to sound more like his own.

“We won't record songs that we don't think are good,” stated Carney. “It doesn't necessarily mean that we have to record in the basement. The first reason we were recording in the basement was out of necessity. We continued to do it there because we had some bad experiences with engineers. We had this idea that working with an engineer is automatically (sounding) like Coldplay. That ended up not being true. We realized we just had to find the right people to work with.”

Those people turned out to be Danger Mouse, along with crack guitarist Marc Ribot (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello), singer Jessica Lea Mayfield and multi-instrumentalist Ralph Carney (Tom Waits), who also happens to be Patrick's uncle.

After the first taste of the new Black Keys sound, the collaboration with Danger Mouse seems to be fruitful, giving a more realized version of their trademark stripped-down, one-two punch of guitar and drums. But Carney still claims ignorance to the band's burgeoning popularity.

“We know that occasionally we'll get contacted by incredible people like Danger Mouse, and that's mind-blowing,” admitted Carney. “Then we'll go on tour, and we're playing to bigger and bigger places. But we spend 80 percent of our time in a town where the college radio station plays Justin Timberlake. So we don't hear about anything.”


LINEUP
Dan Auerbach (vocals and guitar) and Patrick Carney (drums)

Studio albums
“The Big Come Up” (2002) Alive Records
“Thickfreakness” (2003) Fat Possum Records
“Rubber Factory” (2004) Fat Possum Records
“Magic Potion” (2006) Nonesuch Records
“Attack & Release” (2008) Nonesuch Records

“Attack & Release” track listing
“All You Ever Wanted” – 2:55
“I Got Mine” – 3:58
“Strange Times” – 3:09
“Psychotic Girl” – 4:10
“Lies” – 3:58
“Remember When (Side A)” – 3:21
“Remember When (Side B)” – 2:10
“Same Old Thing” – 3:08
“So He Won't Break” – 4:13

Explosions in the Sky in the U-T

Explosions in the Sky extends post-rock genre

By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
March 14, 2008

The Texas-based quartet Explosions in the Sky is all about the guitar. Just guitars. No vocals. Some drums. Minimal keyboards.

“These first four records have basically been guitars and drums playing live in a room,” admitted Explosions in the Sky drummer Chris Hrasky.

Using the guitar as a centerpiece, Hrasky and guitarists Mark Smith, Munaf Rayani and Michael James (who also picks up a bass guitar occasionally) all build upon a single guitar line with layers and textures, creating five-to 10-minute post-rock mini-symphonies.

Following in the tradition of post-rock icons like Chicago's Tortoise or Scotland's Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky continues to explore musical territory outside the three-minute pop song format, bringing ambient music (traditionally a keyboard-driven genre) to a more rock-oriented instrumentation.

“When we started, it was kind of understood that we were the tail end of this post-rock instrumental stuff that grew up in the early '90s,” said Hrasky form his home in Austin, Texas. “Bands like Tortoise and Mogwai getting big in the '90s. We were considered to be the last gasp of all that. But it just seemed to take off from there.”

Along with bands like San Diego's Tristeza, Explosions in the Sky has extended the reach of post-rock instrumental music. By using songs with no vocals and a long, slow-developing arc often described as cinematic, Hrasky and company's music fits well into TV and film.

Explosions in the Sky scored the movie “Friday Night Lights” and much of its music is used for the highly acclaimed television series of the same name. The music has also been featured in such diverse settings as Cadillac commercials and the artsy 2007 film “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.”

DETAILS
Explosions in the Sky
When: 7 p.m. tomorrow
Where: SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway area
Tickets: $14
Phone: (619) 226-7662
Online: somasandiego.com

The group's fourth album is titled “All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone.”

As the music world gravitates toward Austin this week for the SXSW festival, Explosions in the Sky – one of the college town's best exports – will visit San Diego at SOMA tomorrow. Hrasky said he thinks hailing from a smaller town like Austin has actually helped it to spread the word.

“We've got huge metropolises around us, but they're not exactly known for particularly strong music or art communities,” said the EITS drummer. “Austin is an oasis in Texas. People are so supportive of music down here. A lot of bands from here go on to do pretty well. So, something's working in this town's favor.”

Explosions in the Sky may never land on the pop charts, but the audience for instrumental music continues to grow, he said.

“We're still pretty amazed at the size of places we're playing on this current U.S. tour,” said Hrasky. “There will be 13-year-old kids in Fall Out Boy T-shirts and emo kids and punk rock kids. But then there will be 50-year-old ladies and frat boys. So, this music seems to have crossed over to a lot of different types of people. It's something we take pride in: We can communicate to a lot of different types of people.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

St. Pat's: A new tradition

Young Dubliners headline ShamRock festival for second year in a row

By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
March 13, 2008

Immigrating to the United States for Young Dubliners lead singer Keith Roberts turned out easier for him than for the Irish folks that came before him.

Instead of surviving a long boat ride across the Atlantic, he simply hopped a jet. And rather than settling in a crowded, dirty tenement building in New York City, he found himself in the sunshine of Southern California.

DETAILS
12th annual ShamRock with Young Dubliners
When: Monday, 4 p.m. to midnight
Where: Gaslamp Quarter
Tickets: $20-$25
Online: mcfarlanepromotions.com

“America's always been the big golden egg for Irish people,” said the Young Dubliner about the relationship between Irish and the United States. “We heard about America growing up and it was always the place to visit.”

Since coming to America, Roberts has built a name for himself through the blend of traditional Irish and rock of the Young Dubs. When he first came to the West Coast, he went through a little culture shock.

“I had come out here to L.A. to visit (my sister) a couple of times on summer holiday,” added Roberts. “I was blown away by California, definitely. When you're coming from Dublin, it's definitely an eye-opener.

“She had all of her friends and it was a small, tightknit Irish community developing here (in Los Angeles). So, it was really open for what ended up happening to us: starting the band and whatnot.”

For the second year in a row, the Young Dubliners are headlining the 12th annual ShamRock festival on St. Patrick's Day in downtown San Diego. The festival features 60,000 square feet of AstroTurf, two stages, five bands, three DJs and many gallons of green beer.

Longtime San Diego favorites, the Young Dubs are supporting their 2007 release “With All Due Respect – the Irish Sessions,” a collection of traditional songs and more recent favorites by The Pogues and others.

“We ended going national pretty quickly because of the leg up we got here in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco,” remembered Roberts. “So my trip here was a lot smoother than my forefathers.”

MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Here's the lineup for the 12th annual ShamRock, kicking off at 4 p.m. Monday in the Gaslamp Quarter downtown:

MAIN STAGE PERFORMANCES

4:30-5:30 p.m.: Raggle Taggle and the Field Irish Dancers

6-7 p.m.: the Stuart Martz Band

7:30-8:30 p.m.: the Down's Family

9-10 p.m.: Top 40s from The Trip

10 p.m. to midnight: Young Dubliners

The 28th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade and Festival: The annual festival and parade takes over Balboa Park along Park Boulevard and Presidents Way from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Traditional Irish food and music on two stages highlight the festival, while the parade (starting at 11 a.m.) features enough fife, drum and bagpipes to last another year. This is a free event.

Hooleyfest: Also on Saturday, East County hosts this annual St. Paddy's institution in the parking lot of Hooleys at 955 Jamacha Road in El Cajon, (619) 670-7468. Music, food, and of course beer will be on the menu. Tickets are $25 at the door, 6 p.m. to midnight.

For more information on these and other St. Patrick's Day events, log on to www.signonsandiego.com/feature/st-patricks-day.

– CHRIS NIXON

Greg Laswell: Expansion plans

Laswell's songwriting chops are gaining notice beyond the Southland

Chris Nixon
March 6, 2008
For the Union-Tribune

Defections from the San Diego music scene are almost a cliché: an artist grows up in the local scene, reaches a plateau and then wanders to greener pastures for a larger slice of the music industry pie.

While technology has made recording and distribution easier from our town tucked in the corner of the country, sometimes musicians need to sit in record label offices or lay down tracks in a bigger studio.

For Greg Laswell, his recent move to Los Angeles is more a matter of temporary convenience than a formal emigration: “I think the stage I'm at, there isn't a limit, careerwise, to living in San Diego. It's just easier timewise and travelwise. Once a few more things are in place, I'd like to move back (to San Diego) permanently. I don't think there's a limit built-in. For me, the commute to L.A. three or four times a week takes three or four hours each time. It's just a bit much.”

Before cutting his commute to mere minutes, Laswell served a short tenure (a couple of years) as San Diego's unofficial media darling.

DETAILS
Hotel Cafe Tour with Ingrid Michaelson, Cary Brothers, Greg Laswell, Kate Havnevik, Jessie Baylin, Jim Bianco
When: 7 tonight
Where: Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach
Tickets: Sold out
Phone: (858) 481-8140
Online: bellyup.com

His first recording, “Good Movie,” won a 2004 San Diego Music Award for Best Local Recording. His excellent 2006 release, “Through Toledo,” was nominated for Album of the Year in 2007, and the single “Sing Theresa Says” won Song of the Year. Not to mention airplay on local radio stations and buzz in local publications, including Night&Day.

Local interest led to regional interest, as Laswell signed to Vanguard Records along with a publishing deal with Sony. Now, it appears regional interest is leading to national interest.

His deadpan, beautiful songwriting and textured compositions are gaining notice beyond the confines of Southern California. Laswell's upcoming EP, “How the Day Sounds” (due out Tuesday on Vanguard), will serve as a precursor to a new full-length album with a release date in July.

“I feel like, with this next record, it's his time,” said musician Cary Brothers of friend and fellow Hotel Cafe tour-mate Laswell. “He's earned it. He's already done what he's done in San Diego and he's getting a lot of great attention in Los Angeles. I feel like with this next record, he's going to make his presence known nationally. He's conquered Southern California and he's ready to roll on.”

Brothers added: “In his heart, he's still Mr. San Diego.”

In the past, the independent-minded Laswell would have hunkered down his home studio and emerged when the album was finished. While signing with a record label gives him the boon of added distribution and marketing, Laswell faces a new problem: deadlines.

A week ago, a tired and haggard-sounding Laswell contemplated his final countdown: “I have a little bronchitis flaring up on me, so I'm not in the highest of spirits. The album is due (to the record label) on March 5, so I'm in the recording and mixing and being sick and stressing out stage.”

For fans familiar with “Through Toledo” and its ethereal bittersweet pop songs, both the EP “How the Day Sounds” and the as-yet-untitled full-length disc should sound easy and intimate like previous recordings. Lyrically, the newer material shows a progression: from Laswell's condition during the writing of “Through Toledo” to his present state of ascendance both professionally and personally.

“The first album was about a painful time in my life,” admitted Laswell, who went through a tough breakup with his wife during the writing of “Through Toldedo.” “This EP and the new album are about getting through that time. This album still sounds like me. It still looks and feels and smells and sounds like a Greg Laswell record.”

Once the album gets done, Laswell sets sail on the Hotel Cafe Tour with Brothers, Ingrid Michaelson, Kate Havnevik, Jessie Baylin and Jim Bianco. The tour stops at the Belly Up tonight. Then, he embarks on many months of touring and promotion for the new disc. But eventually, Laswell wants to settle back in San Diego.

“I'm kind of a man between two cities right now. But my dog-sitter is still in San Diego.”

Cast of characters

March 6, 2008

Now in its fourth year, the Hotel Cafe Tour brings the artists most likely to wear their hearts on their collective sleeve on a tour through the nation. Along with Greg Laswell, here's a quick rundown of musicians coming to San Diego this year:

Ingrid Michaelson: After toiling in New York City for years, this 28-year-old sweet-voiced chanteuse is winning the hearts and minds of fans nationwide with spots on “Grey's Anatomy” and Old Navy commercials. Her single “The Way I Am” swings with simple instrumentation and earnest sweetness, a la Feist.

Cary Brothers: Propelled into the spotlight by the hit from the “Garden State” soundtrack “Blue Eyes,” Brothers got his start on the Hotel Cafe stage. Full of effortless mellow pop, the Nashville-based artist released his first full-length album, “Who You Are,” last year.

Kate Havnevik: This Nordic beauty wields sweeping down-tempo electonica as her main weapon of choice on her U.S. debut album “Melankton.” She comes by this honestly: She's worked closely with Guy Sigsworth, half of the electro-pop duo Frou Frou.

Jessie Baylin: This New Jersey-bred, L.A.-based vocalist strikes a more traditional singer-songwriter pose than most on the bill, with strummy, accessible folk songs with just a hint of country twang. Her 2007 debut album, “You!,” features a star-studded cast of musicians: drummer Jim Keltner, bassist Lee Sklar, keyboardist Larry Goldings and Van Dyke Parks.

Jim Bianco: Bianco sounds like an internationally inclined Tom Waits. A worldly growl that's seen many a bar fight and pickup line in smoky joints from Argentina to Tennessee. His latest single, “I Got a Thing for You,” is classic Parisian swing complete with accordion and husky vocal swank.

-- CHRIS NIXON

On stage, 'have a blast with all your friends'

Six years ago, musician Cary Brothers walked into a tiny Los Angeles music venue in Hollywood and his life changed.

Originally from the songwriting hotbed of Nashville, Tenn., Brothers had been toiling in L.A.'s tough local music scene, surrounded by thrash metal and angry hip-hop.

Once he experienced the community of songwriters gathered around this small Hollywood club, he knew he'd found his place.

“It's like a clubhouse for musicians,” said Brothers, who has been playing to hushed crowds at Hotel Cafe since that evening six years ago. “Even if you're not playing a show there, the back bar has a communal, clubhouse environment.

“I never expected to find anything like that in Los Angeles. I grew up in Nashville around these little songwriter rooms like the Bluebird Cafe, which has that communal vibe. It's just nice to have a noncompetitive, nonthreatening support system in Los Angeles.”

Hotel Cafe, smack in the middle of Hollywood on Cahuenga Boulevard between Hollywood and Sunset boulevards, helped the many careers of Los Angeles singer-songwriters, among them former San Diegan Gary Jules and Brothers, whose song “Blues Eyes” graced the “Garden State” soundtrack and lifted the singer-songwriter to national notoriety.

From this support system sprang a tour organized by Brothers, featuring artists from the informal clubhouse bringing their communal vibe around the country: “It's appealing for artists because, for six week a year, you can get on a bus and there's no real pressure. There are no real headliners. Everyone's sharing the show. There are no egos. You just get to go up on stage and have a blast with all your friends. So it's a unique experience for artists as well as the audience.”

Now in its fourth year, the tour features a house band (much like the Motown and Stax revues of the 1960s) fronted by a handful of singer-songwriters. And those singer-songwriters seem to love the experience: “The great thing about this tour: Everyone who's done it wants to come back and do it again.”

– CHRIS NIXON