Go See Hear In L.A.: Feb. 22-27 - From Rupa To Ritter

Hope you had a relaxing Presidents’ Day weekend because the workweek gets rolling with a busy Tuesday night.

John McEuen – a founding father of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – will be performing at the Coffee Gallery Backstage. Largo will be again hosting the wonderful Watkins Family Hour, with scheduled guests including Abigail Washburn and Fiona Apple.
The global, gypsy dance band Rupa and the April Fishes return to the Mint; I interviewed Rupa for City’s Best Los Angeles. The delightful duo Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion spotlight their fine new disc, Bright Examples (I have reviewed it for Americansongwriter.com) at the Hotel Café.

Veteran avant noise rockers Yo La Tengo come to the El Rey on Wednesday night. Also on the 23rd, the popular Washington D.C. band Scythian bring their eclectic roots sound to the Mint.

Thursday is another crowded night of music. The reunited Sebadoh revives their beloved slacker rock sound at the Troubadour. Best Coast and Wavves team up to deliver their version of slacker rock to the Music Box. Two up and coming indie rockers The Love Language and Telekinesis share the bill at the Echo. Anne McCue returns to L.A. (her home between Australia and Nashville) to heat up the Mint with a blast of powerful blues-rock on Thursday. The acclaimed Americana singer-songwriter Malcolm Holcombe comes to the Coffee Gallery Backstage. Gwyneth & Monko recently released an impressive debut disc recently; they’ll be at the Viper Room. Over at the Hotel Café, you can catch a set from Holly Conlan.

Friday finds a familiar face at Largo as Jon Brion plays ringmaster for an unpredictable night of music. Goldenboy will be having a CD Release show at the Hotel Café while Pepper Rabbit will hop up the crowd at the Bootleg with their moody tunes. Singer-songwriter David Gergen has a show at the TRiP Bar in Santa Monica while the legendary Country Joe McDonald pays tribute to Woody Guthrie at McCabe’s. The top show of the night, however, probably ranks as Justin Townes Earle at the Autry.

The soft, seductive folk sounds of Alexi Murdoch will fill the Bootleg on Saturday. Local faves Local Natives have a big show at Disney Hall on the 26th. I interviewed Josh Ritter for City’s Best L.A. in conjunction to his concert at the Music Box.

If you want to escape L.A.'s Oscar fever, you might want to head to the desert this weekend as the New LA Folk Fest Desert Weekend will be happening at Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace

Go See Hear In L.A.: Nov. 23-29 - The Thanksgiving Edition

Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s one of the quieter weeks around town.

The big show to recommend is the Dawes/Moondoggies/Romany Rye concert at the El Rey on 11/26. Both Dawes and Moondoggies venture out through country rock into interesting territory. Dawes is working on a follow up to their strong debut North Hills, while Moondoggies have just released the wonderfully appealing Tidelands, which was an airy Neil Young vibe

Another good show along the Americana rock lines is Lucero and Drag The River at the Troubadour on Nov. 27. The gritty 1372 Overton Park was one of my favorite discs of 2009.

and of course there are the Weezer/Best Coast shows (Gibson Amphitheatre 11/27-11/28) with the intrigue of whether the young upstarts can hold their own with Rivers Cuomo.

It's probably too late in the game to mention that Dar Williams is closing her two night stand the Hotel Cafe on Monday night, so I will say that her new album, Many Great Companions contains some really great guests (Gary Louris, Patty Larkin, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Sean & Sara Watkins.