In a world swimming in singer/songwriters, it's difficult to rise above the masses and create a truly unique sound that captures ears and stimulates the mind. The Pines are a band that has taken on this feat, honing their musical craft to near perfection with a sound that wavers on the edge of traditional acoustic/roots music, but embraces the nuances of today's indie-rock and blues music.

Meeting in a Mexican barrio in Arizona, fellow Iowans David Huckfelt and Benson Ramsey began playing music together, forming The Pines. Committing to a musical career, they returned to their Midwestern roots and settled in Minneapolis, a music haven that has launched the careers of such folk and rock legends as Bob Dylan, The Jayhawks and The Replacements.

In 2004 The Pines released their debut self-titled album on the Iowa-based Trailer Records, establishing themselves as an emerging force in the roots music world with their haunting blend of indie-rock, folk, and blues with intelligent lyrics. In 2007 The Pines released Sparrows in the Bell on the world renowned acoustic/roots label Red House Records. The album had critics buzzing and was named one of the top roots releases of 2007 by Q Magazine. With the release of Tremolo, , their second release on Red House, The Pines continue to show their growth as artists as well as an unparalleled wisdom in their songwriting and musicianship.

The son of Greg Brown's producer and sideman Bo Ramsey, Benson was surrounded by folk and blues music and continues to let those influences shine, even on louder electric songs. David also has a deep love for traditional music, and together the two of them craft music that evokes the ancient while incorporating newer rock and pop grooves. Both strong writers and musicians, David and Benson have distinct voices that complement each other, causing audiences and critics alike to tout them as a powerful young force in American roots music. Steadily touring around the country, The Pines have shared the stage with some of the biggest names in music including Bon Iver, The Holmes Brothers, Jolie Holland, The Arcade Fire, and Spider John Koerner.

www.thepinesmusic.com

SAT JAN 30  8:30  $8  

BILL CAMPLIN & THE GLOOM CHASERS

check out the Bill Camplin Band on Facebook

FRI  FEB 5  8:30  OPEN STAGE

SAT FEB 6  8:30  $10  JOSH HARTY w/SIMS DELANEY-POTHOFF of Harmonious Wail

The third generation of musicians out of the Dakotas, Josh Harty is never far from his roots but always inventing new ways to honor the old. His latest solo project, “A Long List of Lies (Magnolia Recording Co.) shows it and has garnered a fast following. The eleven tracks are as authentic as American music gets. Maybe that’s why “A Long List of Lies” debuted at number eight on the European Americana chart. Growing up the son of a North Dakota Police Chief and preacher, Harty figured he was either to jail or going to jail. He was wrong on both fronts and his gentle nature reveals this to all who know him. He’s got gratitude written all over him, including thankfulness for the music his father gave him. By the age of ten Harty had sung gospel and country with his father at “just about every Lutheran Church, Eagles Club and Senior Center in North Dakota.” By age 12 Harty had made two records with his dad, the second one selling 10,000 copies. These days the 31-year-old Madison-based artist writes and performs mostly solo but has a knack for surrounding himself with some of the best musicians in the Midwest for his recordings. Still, these are Harty’s songs all the way. “A Long List of Lies” was produced, recorded and mastered in Madison’s Smart Studios. The project captures Harty’s clean guitar attack, a finger style that glistens with a razor’s edge. Every track is filled with the honesty of an artist who’s in it for the long haul, who’s writing music that channels his past while re-setting the present for what’s affectionately called alt-country in the U.S.A.

This night Josh teams up with   Sims Delaney-Pothoff, a founder of the popular and long-lived  Madison gypsy swing outfit Harmonious Wail. Over the years, he's used his formidable talent as a
mandolin, guitar and ukulele player to shape the sound of one of Madison's most enduringly creative bands.

"Josh, Josh – where have you been? We’ve been waiting for you. We need someone with songs that help us heal. At last you’ve arrived and thank the Lord for that."
Phil Edwards - Americana UK (Apr 8, 2009)
 

-- Harty is an old soul. He was listening to Merle Haggard, George Jones, Johnny Cash and Led Zeppelin when all his friends were hooked on Pearl Jam and the Beastie Boys. His own songs are a salve for lonely hearts and regretful minds, beautiful music that sways and dips through stories and landscapes like a train on the getaway.
Katjusa Cisar - The Capitol Times (Dec 25, 2008)

www.joshharty.com  www.wail.com

THU FEB 11  7-9  $7.50 

THE NEW PIONEERS

SAT FEB 20  8:30  $7.50 

THE BUZZARDS

THU FEB 25 and FRI FEB 26  8:00  $10  a play

MARTI GOBEL acts in YELLOW MAN

Yellowman is a play written by Dael Orlandersmith. It was the 2002 Pulitzer Prize finalist for drama. 

The title of her play "Yellowman" refers to one of several derogatory childhood labels that have been hurled at lighter-skinned blacks by darker- skinned blacks such as "high yella" "school bus" "zebra" "redbone" and perhaps more benign "light" and "bright." Then there are the hurtful insults used by lighter-skinned blacks against their darker-hued brethren: "tar baby" "ink spot" "shine" and "chocolate."   The play is both a lyrical and brutal examination of the complexities of internalized prejudice and its centuries-old roots in slavery. 

Marti Gobel is a talented actress from our city who at the time of this writing is in the Milwaukee Rep's play "Yankee Tavern".

SAT FEB 27  8:30  $20 advance

CORKY SIEGEL & RANDY SABIEN

Corky Siegel has earned an international reputation as one of the world's great blues harmonica masters. He is a composer, blues pianist, singer / songwriter, and recent winner of the Lila Wallace/Reader's Digest/Meet the Composer's national award for chamber music composition and the Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Award for Music Composition.

Corky Siegel has 18 recordings and over 35 reissues on: Vanguard, RCA, Alligator (the exclusively Blues label) and Gadfly Records, and two album projects for the prestigious classical label Deutsche Grammophon (DG). The DG release of William Russo's Three Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra featuring Corky's blues band, Siegel-Schwall (for whom the work was written) with Seiji Ozawa and the San Francisco Symphony, was a block-buster in sales and had "an unprecedented inter-generational impact on the American music scene. " - Music Critic - David Sckolnik. In fact, one movement of "Three Pieces" became a successful "single" which scored very high on the Billboard Pop and Classical charts.

"... fantastic ... I've never heard anyone play harp with this much body and harmonic delicacy ... I guarantee you've never heard anything quite like it."

"There's a fine line between a genius and a madman - and Corky walks it."
- Joe Nardome's Gallery of Sound

Randy Sabien, on jazz violin, is the "real thing" according to Jazz critic Howard Reich. National Public Radio's "Jazz Profiles" dubbed Randy "The past, present, and future of jazz violin." Down Beat Magazine's annual critic's poll voted him as an "Artist Deserving Wider Recognition."

WOW

www.corkysiegel.com   www.randysabien.com

Small Potatoes is Jacquie Manning and Rich Prezioso. This Chicago-based duo has been touring on the folk circuit since 1993 and in that time they’ve become sought-after regulars at many clubs, coffeehouses across the U.S. They have made repeat appearances at major folk festivals, including the Kerrville Folk Festival, the Walnut Valley Folk Festival, and Philadelphia Folk Festival. They were one of the “most requested” acts at the 1999 Falcon Ridge New Artist Showcase. Jacquie is also a past winner of the Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Contest.

They call themselves eclecto-maniacs. They describe their music as “Celtic to Cowboy” and say in has taken them “years of careful indecision” to come up with a mix of music that ranges from country, blues, and swing to Irish, with songwriting that touches on all of those styles and more. Their four recordings, “Alive!”, “Waltz of the Wallflowers”, “Time Flies”, and “Raw” cover all these styles. They both sing, they both play guitars and an array of other instruments. They even yodel. Dirty Linen Magazine called them “one of the most polished, inventive, and entertaining shows on the circuit.” Sing Out Magazine called them “wonderfully eclectic” and said “Small Potatoes might well be leading mainstays on the folk scene for years to come.”
 

Spuderlatives abound whenever you read about this duo.

"These folks are wonderful; fun, energetic, and great musicians.
They're two of my favorite performers."
Bill Staines, Singer/songwriter
"100% of your recommended daily allowance of infectious musicality and non-stop energy.
I love the Smalls."
Susan Werner, Singer/songwriter

“Jacquie Manning and Rich Prezioso combine cleverly witty with powerfully poignant songs, along with well chosen covers to present an unusually entertaining and involving repertoire engagingly delivered. Prezioso's song "1000 Candles, 1000 Cranes" is one of the most outstanding songs of the past 50 years."
Rich Warren
The Midnight Special - WFMT Radio, Chicago, IL

When you see Small Potatoes perform, you hear two great voices, some fine guitar playing, and a touch of tin whistle, flute, mandolin, bodhran, and other percussion toys. Together they present a truly rare blend of vocal and instrumental abilities, award-winning songwriting, and arranging talents. They have the unique ability to adapt to the style of music they happen to be playing. They seem comfortably at home whether playing an upbeat cowboy swing tune or a tender, traditional ballad--though there are no rules here either, sometimes the traditional sounds contemporary, sometimes the contemporary sounds traditional. And they also pay attention to the little things, the warmth, the humor and a rapport with the audience that makes for a memorable performance. A listen to a few tracks on “Waltz of the Wallflowers”, Jacquie’s theatrical, one-of-a kind 1998 Kerrville New Folk winning title track, Rich's powerful “1000 Candles, 1000 Cranes”, or their Celtic-flavored rendition of the Jefferson Airplane classic, “Lather” provides a more than ample illustration. Their new live CD, “Small Potatoes Alive!” also showcases their story-telling abilities and their easy manner with their audiences.

“I’m a kind of an old-fashioned folksinger...you guys are new fashioned folksingers. You share something with me, in that you sing whatever songs you feel are right for you, instead of limiting yourself to your own compositions, or to one particular genre. Good way to make magic.”
Phil Shapiro
Bound for Glory, WVBR-FM, Ithaca, NY

www.smallpotatoesmusic.com

SUN MAR 14  7:00  $10 

PIPER ROAD SPRING BAND

THE BAND:  Randal Harrison -fiddle, Bob Mason - mandolin, John Widdicombe - bass, Billy Kangaroo - washboard, Andy Trout - guitar, John Duggleby - Percussion

Piper Road Spring Band was born into the age of rock & roll with individual backgrounds diverse as classical, cowboy, folk, blues and Dixieland. Influenced by some live performances of Doc Watson and Bill Monroe and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band release of "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" in the early 1970's, they put away the electric amps and guitars and developed a unique acoustic/bluegrass style. They never completely abandoned their musical roots and have blended Irish fiddle tunes with American country, big band, novelty and space-aged Grateful Dead inspired jams.

The band continues to swing! With their strong bond of friendship, commitment to quality musicianship and continuing support of a strong fan base, Piper Road Spring Band invites you to join them as their show hits the road. The current Piper Road Spring Band roster has accumulated over 100 years of experience performing together.

www.piperroad.com

FRI MAR 26  8:30  $5

KAREN JOHNSON

Come listen to the sweet voice of local singer Karen as she performs favorites (Alison Krauss, Nanci Griffith) and some originals.

SAT MAR 27 8:30  $10

MARE EDSTROM & KENN FOX/ Bill Reuter of Revolush

Mare Edstrom and Kenn Fox are entering their seventh year of interpreting the blues as a duo. Mares vocal styling’s display an amazing range, and while she is rootsy and authentic, she is also known for stepping outside the traditional boundaries of the blues. Kenn comes to the blues with the ability to inspire the audience with both his technical abilities as a player and his encyclopedic knowledge of everything from bottleneck to Piedmont fingerpicking. You will hear blues gems from the 20s thru the 50’s as Mare and Kenn dig deep into their vast repertoire of historic blues. Mare’s new blues compilation “Mare’s Blues” was recently selected as a pick of the month by the renowned Blues Blast Magazine.  www.mareedstrom.com

SAT APR 3  8:30  $8 

BILL CAMPLIN & the SPRINGY BOINGERS

WED APR 14 & THU APR 15  8:00  $15 pay in advance

JEFFREY FOUCAULT/ Andy Friedman

There is a lot that could be said, and has been, about Jeffrey's keen intelligence (brilliance, genius), his gritty (sandy, smoky, leathery, sandy, husky) voice, his well-crafted lyrics (excellent, beautifully convincing, poetic, literate, spare, stark, reflective), the tail he has which doesn't show  (masterfully hidden tail, secret tail, high lonesome tail), his guitar playing (warm, fantastic), and the combination thereof (mesmerizing, haunting, deceptively complex, riveting, stunning, exquisite, superb), how he has an old soul in a young man's body,  how he reveals timeless truths and burns barns, but suffice it to say, it is worth your while to give him a listen and catch a show.

And then there is his friend magazine cartoonist turned country singer-songwriter Andy Friedman.

 "As Friedman's back story would suggest, "Weary Things" is a quirky record. He portrays his family life sweetly, yet longs for the days when he was young, broken and alone. He sings three songs about the tug of the road but suggests that someone hide his keys. Most of the album is country blues fit for a folk club, but the finale - "Friedman Holler" - is a live performance that creates a roadhouse din and devolves into a drum solo. The words are great, though.

Friedman can write a lyric, and deliver it.... His singspeak lets the words do most of the work, but he shows the crisp timing of a good comic when he comes to a great line. Here's one: "If God is the rock, who is the paper?"  -Steven Wine, AP

www.jeffreyfoucault.com www.andyfriedman.net

FRI APR 23 8:30  $12.50 

BILL MORRISSEY/ LARRY MURANTE

www.turnandspin.com    www.larrymurante.com

FRI APR 30  8:30  $10 

MALCOLM HOLCOMBE

This was so interesting I'm putting it all up.  Give him a listen.
"I chainsmoke and complain, goin' broke inside," Malcolm Holcombe growls with his signature gritty vocals while sharply picking his guitar; If chain-smoking and complaining are some of the characteristics that embody the kind of talent Malcolm reveals in his raw, heartfelt story telling, well then everyone should applaud chain-smoking complainers.

On the exterior Malcolm is a chain-smoking, coffee-loving, flannel shirt-wearing man with a five-o’clock shadow and a cutting stare, but the minute he walks on a stage, out comes the performer with his jabbered witticisms and off-beat style. He has the audience eating out of the palm of his hand.

From the foothills of Appalachia North Carolina, Malcolm found musical inspiration from a†pocket transistor radio, his mom's French harp and all the music shows on the Fada TV, which sometimes could only pick up 2 channels. Malcolm was "glued to the tube" watching shows like "Sing Along with Mitch", "The Flatt and Scruggs Show", "Where the Action Is" and "The Ed Sullivan show". He learned to play a few chords on a flat-top guitar his mother bought from Sears in the mid-sixties, and the handy Mel-Bay Chord Book. "I couldn't make it past the first page 'er two. Mother said I sang through my nose. I just tried to carry a tune some way or another, just to pass the time."

After the passing of both parents, just a few years apart, Malcolm hit the road with a band called Redwing in search of a different scene. After a stint in Florida he eventually moved on to Nashville, TN, finding a job flipping burgers at Douglas Corner Cafe. Occasionally Malcolm would take a break from the kitchen and get on stage, turning heads and opening the ears of audiences that were so used to Nashville’s formulaic country crooning. Malcolm’s was a rustic, rugged, grass-roots sound distilled from the Appalachia Mountains with a soulful blues feel.

In 1996 Malcolm signed a deal with Geffen Records and was recording his debut. He now had the attention and recognition of Nashville’s closely knit music community. Unfortunately, at the height of his career, Malcolm succumbed to the temptations of drugs and alcohol. He developed a somewhat notorious reputation around Nashville, performing disappearing acts only to return and wreak havoc. This was the start of a dark period for this talented, upcoming artist. The decline only continued as Geffen, unexpectedly, decided to pull his album release. It was a huge blow, but Malcolm carried on, returning to a life of short-lived, low paying jobs. With the failed release, and struggles with substance abuse, Malcolm sank into a deep depression.

After several other unsuccessful industry attempts, Malcolm left Nashville and eventually moved back to North Carolina, sobered up and released two independent albums.

Today Malcolm is still sober and continually touring with his particular flavor of gritty folk music. His last album expresses a variety of topics from politics in the title song "Gamblin’ House" to the love and inspiration he gets from his wife in the song "Cynthia Margaret." He is still wildly unpredictable with what he says and still resembles a crazed person while performing; however, there are subtle differences like the cup of coffee that have replaced the booze.

The critical acclaim Malcolm always deserved, has finally came with Gamblin’ House through publications like Rolling Stone, The Wallstreet Journal, and Billboard Magazine. He’s been featured in BBC and NPR interviews, countless local radio shows, newspapers, blogs and foreign press. The album was in the top 20 of the Americana Music Association chart for 9 straight weeks. His eighth release, For The Mission Baby, will be released in the Fall of 2009 by Echo Mountain Records. Once again, Malcolm went with Grammy Award winning producer, Ray Kennedy and a few other familiar faces like Tim O’Brien, Jared Tyler and Kenny Malone. As always, no lack of cryptic undertones; the album consists of upbeat vocals, twangy country western melodies and the harmonies of Mary Gauthier, Siobhan Maher. Malcolm considers it†his best work yet.

"For The Mission Baby is a brilliant adventure into stimulating stories of unvarnished life expression full of heart, soul and mystery from a master." – Ray Kennedy

"Not quite country, somewhere beyond folk, Holcombe's music is a kind of blues in motion, mapping backwoods corners of the heart." David Fricke Rolling Stone Magazine

Born and raised in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina, Malcolm Holcombe is being recognized by the contemporary U.S and European folk/americana community as a performer of national stature, and an uncommonly unique guitarist/vocalist about whom Rolling Stone Magazine says: "Haunted country, acoustic blues and rugged folk all meet [here]..."

A new 12 song Malcolm Holcombe CD, Gamblin' House, was released January 29, 2008. There is strong and positive press surrounding this CD, including feature articles in the January/February 2008 No Depression Magazine, and in The Wall Streeet Journal(2/14/08), and rave reviews from Billboard Magazine, Harp Magazine, and Paste Magazine.

Gamblin' House was in the top 20 of the Americana Music Association chart for 9 straight weeks.

A 5 song EP by singer-songwriter Malcolm Holcombe, entitled Wager, was released on October 9, 2007 as a companion piece to the 2008 CD.

Holcombe, who recently signed with new indy label Echo Mountain Records, went into Echo Mountain Studios to record his first CD release for the label with a wealth of new material. With Grammy Award winning producer RAY KENNEDY, at the helm, and highly notable musicians Kenny Malone(drums, percussion), David Roe Rorick (bass) and Ed Snodderly(dobro, fiddle, banjo) rounding out the ensemble, Wager and Gamblin' House resound with a fresh take on Holcombe's highly distinctive music and lyricism.

In addition to the 2 new CDs, Not Forgotten, Malcolm's 2006 release, was officially released in Europe on the Munich Records label on Friday September 14 supported by an extensive promotional press/radio tour of the U.K. and Europe.

Malcolm's 2006 CD release, Not Forgotten, once again lifted Holcombe's music to another dimension. With a small, tight combo of experienced players, including bassist Bill Reynolds (A Band of Horses), and dobro player Jared Tyler (David Wilcox, Emmylou Harris), this CD reveals a meeting ground where traditional and contemporary folk, rock and blues all converge. Taken together the final result is a deep drawing from the resonant well of our musical heritage, and its fusion, through Holcombe's inimitable style, should not be missed.

His 2005 CD release, I Never Heard You Knockin' was called "Holcombe at his best" by No Depression magazine and earned four stars in Performing Songwriter and American Songwriter. The Wall Street Journal's Jim Fusilli calls the CD "...a stunning aural equivalent of found art", and goes on to name it one of the best discs of 2005, as does Jim Farber in The New York Daily News.

He has toured with Shelby Lynne and opened for such notable artists as Merle Haggard, Richard Thompson, John Hammond, Leon Russell and Wilco.

In 2008, Malcolm will continue touring the U.S. and Europe in support of his latest releases.

Try as you might to use other adjectives, when you write about Malcolm Holcombe and his work, you always come back to rugged and rustic. His visage appears to be carved of granite, and his voice is a sculpture crafted of tree bark and discarded railroad iron. His words and images cling to you for hours, even days, like wood smoke.

All of those things certainly apply to his new Gamblin’ House, produced by Ray Kennedy (Steve Earle, Ray Davies), a gentleman that Malcolm has wanted to work with for a long while. "We were second-story men. We put our ears to the safe and cracked it," offers Malcolm rather cryptically. (A conversation with Malcolm Holcombe is a fascinating festival of crypticisms, old sayings, and anecdotes punctuated with pronouncements.) "We learned the songs downstairs, then went upstairs and played them." Joining Malcolm and Ray in that pursuit was a rhythm section of Kenny Malone and David Roe, along with longtime cohort Ed Snodderly on several stringed instruments including what Malcolm calls "old-time fiddle." As always, there are echoes of John Prine and Guy Clark and the lesser-known kindred spirit Bill Morrissey, but the total package is all Malcolm Holcombe. His is a sound that combines harmonica-blessed folk, acoustic blues, stringband country, and smalltown-bred soul.

The small town in question is Weaverville, North Carolina, a burgh of a couple thousand just 10 miles north of Asheville. That's Malcolm's Mom and Dad and two older brothers on the cover of his 2005 release I Never Heard You Knockin', standing in front of the Weaverville homestead. His uncle played guitar, as did his neighbor. "He'd sit on the porch and play electric guitar," Malcolm recalls of that neighbor, adding, "And he had a couple of cute daughters." Perhaps with that added incentive, Malcolm started playing guitar. "I was just another kid with the Mel Bay chord book, and I only got through the first page," he says.

With those two thoughts, Malcolm opens a window on scenes from some 35 or 40 years past. But with Malcolm, talking in terms of decades is nothing. There are people who are described as having old souls. Well, the one he's carrying around sometimes feels ancient and scarred. On "Blue Flame," as atmospheric a song as Malcolm has ever recorded, he ponders a force equally ancient, and on "You Don't Come See Me Anymore," he makes loneliness palpable. He sounds troubled and searching on "I'd Rather Have a Home," singing "I chain-smoke and complain, feeling broke inside."

However, to get the full effect of that primordial soul, you need to see Malcolm onstage; his legendary performances are intense and all out. "If you're gonna do something, do it," is his explanation. "If you're gonna dig a ditch, dig a ditch. If you're gonna shine a shoe, shine a shoe." In other words, if you're gonna stand in front of a crowd of strangers with just your guitar and your songs, make it worth their time. He does it by presenting those songs with a gospel fervor (call it half howl, half hosanna) and with a penetrating stare, aimed (thank goodness) at nothing and no one, that becomes almost as deeply ingrained as his songs. It's sinewy and unfussy, the man, the music, and the delivery.

But to focus on the tortured is to miss at least half of Malcolm Holcombe—the tender. That scarred soul is also one he’s hell bent on healing., and the other part of "I'd Rather Have a Home" goes “I'm praying for a home I can believe in/I'm praying for a home I can call mine." "We all have our demons, and we all have our spirituality, whatever keeps us going," is how Malcolm puts it. "When it comes to the end of the day, it's God, family, and neighbors." And on Gamblin’ House more than any other of his record, Holcombe does seem to be looking at what’s closest to him to keep him going: his family and the idea of home. His wife Cyndi, who's celebrated in the lovely, touching pair "Baby Likes a Love Song" and "Cynthia Margaret" ("steady and strong as the stars in the sky"), was directly involved in selecting the dozen songs for Gamblin' House from the 18 that were recorded. "We sat down with a pencil," says Malcolm. "'We can do this one. Can't do that one. Already did that one.'" The results create the most balanced and hopeful portrait of Malcolm yet.

"I don't remember all the words to that 'Old Rugged Cross'"—there’s that word again—he sings on "You Don't Come See Me Anymore." That’s okay. With each recording, including this triumphant new one, Malcolm Holcombe continues to build his own world-wary but determined state of grace.

--Rick Cornell

www.malcolmholcombe.com