Deer Tick Cover John Prine

Photo by Nina Westervelt

I'm embarrassed to say that I only truly discovered the music of John Prine this year. I knew who he was, and I had heard his music before, but it just never quite clicked for me until earlier in 2021. It was through covers of his brilliant songs that finally made me give him another shot, and I was wrong before because the man is just a true treasure. As part of their "12 Days of Tickmas," Deer Tick have released a cover of "Christmas in Prison." If you're familiar at all with John Prine and Deer Tick, you're going to know what this sounds like. And you'd be correct. It's a classic country/folk ballad from Deer Tick with just enough rock guitar to make it sound like Deer Tick. It's a fantastic cover dripping with adoration of the original. You need to check this one out.

You can watch Deer Tick cover "Christmas in Prison" below. For more on Deer Tick, check out the band's website. Current tour dates are below the video.

Dec 31 - Holyoke, MA - Gateway City Arts   
Jan 1 - Holyoke, MA - Gateway City Arts    
Jan 13 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall*
Jan 14 - Austin, TX - Stubb's*
Jan 15 - Dallas, TX - The Bomb Factory*

* Supporting Trampled By Turtles

Green River Festival Reveals Mindblowing 2021 Line-Up!

The Green River Festival is always a highlight of any year. They've just released the line-up for the 2021 edition, and somehow this is just the initial line up. It's safe to say that this is by far their most exciting line-up ever! As always it skews heavily towards folk/Americana, but they've truly outdone themselves this year. Headliners for the three days are Jon Bastiste, Shakey Graves, and Ani Difraco, which would be thrilling enough. The other announced bands include long time If It's Too Loud... favorites like Drive-By Truckers, Deer Tick, and JD McPherson, alongside more newly discovered favorites like Sierra Ferrell, Twisted Pine, Rachel Baiman, and Bella White (who I just discovered over the weekend and haven't even had a chance to post about yet!) Plus, there are other artists we're big on like Valerie June, Mandolin Orange, Bonny Light Horseman, Charlie Parr, and Rebirth Brass Band that are all playing. 

Green River Festival will run August 27-29 at Franklin County Fairgrounds in Greenfield, MA. You can find more information and tickets here.

Deer Tick & Friends - "Muirsheen Durkin"

I'm a fan of bands like The Pogues, Flogging Molly, and Dropkick Murphys, but I always avoid Irish music in the month of March. I dislike the whole St. Patrick's Day thing, I'm just a grump like that. But yesterday Deer Tick released a cover of the Irish folk song "Muirsheen Durkin" and brought together an all-star crew of guest stars for it. The "Friends" are Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), James Felice (The Felice Brothers), Spider Stacy (The Pogues), MorganEve Swain (The Huntress & Holder of Hands, Brown Bird, The Devil Makes Three), and Spencer Swain (Flogging Molly, The Devil Makes Three). Deer Tick and these guests doing a traditional Irish folk song sounds exactly like what you'd expect, and truly demand. It's an upbeat, fast paced ode to being sick of working and just wanting to court ladies and head out to California to make it rich. It's pure fun and joy in musical form, and it's enough to have made me lift my snobby self-imposed moratorium on Irish music this year.

You can watch the video for Deer Tick & Friends version of "Muirsheen Durkin" below. For more on Deer Tick, check out the band's website.

Deer Tick Cover The Pogues

Photo via Facebook

We've been on board with virtually everything Deer Tick have put out, and, since our love of covers is quite documented here at If It's Too Loud..., we were thrilled to hear that Deer Tick's upcoming album was going to feature a handful of cover songs. The latest is a version of The Pogues's "White City." "White City" is one of those songs by The Pogues that I wasn't too familiar with, so I checked it out. It's one of their more straightforward rock songs with just the slightest hints of the Celtic sound that makes them so beloved. Deer Tick's version is mostly faithful to the original, except that it's a teensy bit faster and they substitute their Americana laced rock for The Pogues's Celtic laced rock. In other words, it's basically everything we would want it to be.

You can listen to Deer Tick's version of "White City" below. Mayonnaise, the new album from Deer Tick, will be out on February 1. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Deer Tick, be sure to check out their website.

Deer Tick Covers George Harrison

Deer Tick have a new album coming out early next year, and they're calling it an extension of Deer Tick Vol. 1 and Deer Tick Vol. 2. This new album will feature new songs, alternate versions, and covers, including a cover of George Harrison's "Run of the Mill." Providence's Deer Tick are a long time favorite of ours here at If It's Too Loud..., plus I'm a huge George Harrison fan, so this cover is kind of a dream for me. I also love that they chose "Run of the Mill," since while it's a well known song, it's not one of the most obvious ones. They do a mostly straightforward true to the original version of the classic, but it fits perfectly into Deer Tick's style that way, so it's basically perfect.

You can listen to Deer Tick's cover of "Run of the Mill" below. Mayonnaise, the new album from Deer Tick, is due out on February 1. You can pre-order it here. If you head over to their Bandcamp, you can also check out an original song called "Hey! Ya!" which is fantastic. (But you know us and covers...) For more on Deer Tick, check out their website.

Green River Festival 2018 is Pretty Ridiculous

The Green River Festival has slowly shed it's identity as being one of New England's best kept secret and is now a truly great festival. Gone are the years when the hot air balloons were the main focus and the music was just a bonus. 2018 might boast its greatest line up yet, and given the history of the festival, that's saying a lot. Michael Franti & Spearhead, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Josh Ritter had been announced last month, but today Green River announced most of their 2018 line up, and... just... wow.

They've added Dr. Dog, folk supergroup I'm With Her, Deer Tick, Robert Earl Keen, Femi Kuti and the Positive Force, Lucy Dacus (!!!!), Chuck Prophet and the Mission Express, Birds of Chicago, The Ballroom Thieves, Bella's Bartok, and more! 

The 2018 Green River Festival will run July 13-15 on the campus of the Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, MA. For more on the festival including tickets, head on over to their website.

Live Shows: Deer Tick, Met Cafe, Pawtucket, RI 11/25/17

Considering how much I love seeing bands in their hometown and how long I've been going to see Deer Tick, it's odd that I've never made it down to RI to see Deer Tick (festivals excluded.) Last Saturday, I headed down to Pawtucket to see night two of Deer Tick's three night two venue stand. 

Breaking from this tour's format of An Evening with Deer Tick and playing two sets, one acoustic and one electric, this was an all electric evening. Deer Tick played in front of a thrilled hometown audience, and the energy between the performers and audience built all night. This was definitely a crowd that has been following the band for a while, and older songs like "Ashamed" and "Christ Jesus" garnered the biggest reaction. As the band continues to go on, frontman John McCauley relinquishes that role more and more, with guitarist Ian O'Neil and drummer Dennis Ryan taking over lead vocals for more of the sets. O'Neil did a fantastic, energetic cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" mid set that really upped the enthusiasm of everyone involved. The band closed out the night with another cover: The McCauley sung "You Are So Beautiful," originally done by Joe Cocker.

Once again, "Let's All Go to the Bar" brought out the biggest reaction of the show, including a little baby mosh pit. I guess hearing the word "bar" in a song is exciting when you've just started going to bars legally? The only reference I have to this kind of overly enthusiastic reaction to an ok song is back in the 90's when giant mosh pits would break out at Fun Lovin' Criminals shows. Not to the giant megahit of "Scooby Snacks," but the much mellower pot anthem "Smoke 'Em." The ability of Deer Tick to appeal to hipster music snobs and the bar song moshing crowd is just one indicator of how great they've truly become. For a band that has gone from local dive bars to the kind of band that wears in ear monitors, they have retained what has always made them a unique group.

I was a bit disappointed to find out Deer Tick was breaking tour format with these hometown shows and having bands open up and not comedians. Luckily, RI's Nova One was a delight. All four members took the stage in matching wigs and all black outfits (large t-shirt wore sorta as a dress, black leggings) and played this ultra lo-fi version of 60's girl group music. The highlight of their set was an excruciatingly slow and reimagined version of Nirvana's "Come As You Are." Expect to hear more of them on this site in the hopefully near future. 

If It's Too Loud... Halloween 2017 Playlist

Halloween is my favorite time of the year. It's the only time of the year when visiting old cemeteries isn't "weird." It's "festive." That also means it's time for our annual Halloween playlist. Every year we try to avoid the usual "Monster Mash" and "Thriller," and instead bring you a playlist reflective of the kind of music we listen to all year round. We have classic alternative (Beat Happening, Dinosaur Jr, Tori Amos), neo-folk/country (Jason Isbell, David Wax Museum, Marlon Williams), classic rock (Bob Dylan, The Jam), some hip hop (Ghostface Killah, Swet Shop Boys), old school punk (The Cramps, Dead Milkmen, Ramones), and even some metal with Dead Cross. At just over two hours, it's perfect for Halloween parties, to put on during trick or treating, or to play during work to drown out your co-workers playing "Wereworlf of London." Happy Halloween!

First Listen, Part One: New Releases for September 15

Another busy week of releases, so this'll be a two-parter.

Album of the Week:

Artist: Lenore.
Album: Lenore.
Quick Description: Debut album from a new favorite duo here.
Why You Should Listen: You wish First Aid Kit was more musically adventurous.
Overall Thoughts: Easily my favorite of this week, and it doesn’t even come close. Sort of a more complex First Aid Kit, there’s gorgeous harmonies to go along with interesting songwriting and a haunted sort of feel. I was continually surprised by this throughout my listen, and I simply can’t wait until I get another opportunity to dive back in.
Recommendation: This is my favorite album of the week, and it should be yours, too.

Artist: Deer Tick
Album: Vol. 1/Vol. 2
Quick Description: Two releases from the somewhat twangy indie rockers.
Why You Should Listen: There's enough good here to give some time to it.
Overall Thoughts: Deer Tick is officially in “we’re releasing a double album” territory with an acoustic and electric set. Honestly, the acoustic is much more interesting with much better songwriting than the electric, but Deer Tick is very good at what they do and there’s enough good here in both releases to make the time investment worth it. “Card House” in particular feels like a song straight out of another era to the point where I was convinced it was a cover, and may be the best thing they’ve ever recorded.
Recommendation: Regardless, give this a shot.

Artist: The Huntress and Holder of Hands
Album: Avalon
Quick Description: Gorgeous, haunting post-Brown Bird project.
Why You Should Listen: It's Brown Bird associated, which should be enough.
Overall Thoughts: We loved Brown Bird here, just like everyone else who got a chance to listen to them, and this album from MorganEve Swain's new project is just wonderful. It is unique in and of itself, much like Brown Bird was, but doesn’t occupy the same space, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s an interesting, wonderful record that I think has a lot of layers left to uncover on future listens.
Recommendation: One of the best of the week, nearly my favorite of this week.

Artist: Open Mike Eagle
Album: Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
Quick Description: Rap music with some great backing music.
Why You Should Listen: You want something a little different in your rap music.
Overall Thoughts: The rap offering for the week, I don’t have a ton to say about this one. On one hand, his rapping is fine, with some pretty solid lines here and there but nothing that blew my mind. On the other, though, what he opts to sample throughout is some of the more interesting stuff I’ve heard in hip-hop/rap lately, and it makes it more than just a standard rap album as a result.
Recommendation: A listen that’s worth giving a shot, for sure.

Artist: The Lone Bellow
Album: Walk Into a Storm
Quick Description: Latest from the radio-friendly rootsy act.
Why You Should Listen: The Lone Bellow are probably at their best here.
Overall Thoughts: The Lone Bellow is near the top of the heap these days when it comes to pop Americana, and with good reason. The musicianship is solid, the songwriting tight, and the total package is really accessible. For us around here, it’s almost too perfectly constructed, but that’s also a weird criticism in a genre that often relies on sharp musicality. So the polish may be too much for some, but if it’s not, you’re in for a real treat on this one.
Recommendation: Definitely worth some time this week.

Artist: Prophets of Rage
Album: Prophets of Rage
Quick Description: A full-length from the Rage Against the Machine/Public Enemy crossover event.
Why You Should Listen: You're really, really angry about Trump and the only way you can express it is by listening to mediocre protest music.
Overall Thoughts: Considering how unfortunate their EP was last year and how generally terrible modern protest music is, I had extremely low standards for this. The good news is that the album cleared said standards with ease, and this is a pretty okay record. I mean, if you really liked Rage or Chuck D, there’s plenty of both that works here, but this also isn’t groundbreaking like either act was in their prime. It is what it is, and that’s fine – just temper your expectations and you should be fine.
Recommendation: Meh.

Artist: Rostam
Album: Half-Light
Quick Description: Debut solo album from a Vampire Weekend alum.
Why You Should Listen: Vampire Weekend is/was a good enough band where this should at least pique your interest.
Overall Thoughts: The proper solo debut of the former Vampire Weekend multinstrumentalist, it borrows from basically every influence he has gathered up over a lifetime and is bundled into a chaotic album that is absolutely going to speak to a number of listeners. Whether or not this is going to work for you may be a different story on a whole – as for me, this didn’t feel cohesive enough to match up with its ambition, and it’s not something I’m terribly excited about, but a lot of people are raving about it so I may be a minority here.
Recommendation: Your mileage ultimately may vary.

Artist: Black Kids
Album: Rookie
Quick Description: Second album from a band I assumed we had all completely forgotten.
Why You Should Listen: Their first album was a buzzworthy event.
Overall Thoughts: I don't know if people remember how crazy the whole thing with Black Kids was back in 2008 with "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You." They were doing Hefner covers at concerts, and then just... disappeared. And then all of the sudden songs started popping up and we have a new album. It's weird and feels a little out of sync, but if you can move outside of the context of where they came from and how they went away, this is actually a fairly solid record. I love "Obligatory Drugs," there are a lot of other fun songs here...
Recommendation: ...give this a shot. Really.

EPs of note:

* Antibalas - Where the Gods are in Peace
* Michael Nau - The Load EP

Also out this week:

* Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - The Vietnam War score
* The Texas Gentlemen - TX Jelly

Live Shows: Deer Tick, Prescott Park Arts Festival, Portsmouth, NH 7/7/17

Photo by Ken Sears

Deer Tick have always had a bar band feel to them. Maybe it's the fact that a ton of their songs are about booze. Maybe it's the fact that the first time I saw them they bought everyone in the club a beer. Maybe it's the copious amount of beer I've seen them drink onstage. Because of all that, a family friendly arts festival in a public park with a 7:00 start time was an odd venue for them, but last Friday it seemed to work.

Playing on a stage still set up for a family production of Mary Poppins, Deer Tick opened the show with one of their already released songs from their upcoming two albums. Unfortunately, the sound was a bit off so I couldn't tell which one. (The show started about 30 minutes late while they ironed out some issues due to the heavy rains that had just ended two hours before the show started.) Luckily, the issues were fixed by the second song, and the rest of the show sounded great.

Photo by Ken Sears

One great thing about a band playing without a new release out is that they're free to play whatever they wanted without worrying about their new album. Deer Tick played a few new songs, but a huge amount of their set was taken from their first two albums, War Elephant and Born on Flag Day. War Elephant was represented by perhaps my three favorite songs from their set: "Ashamed," "Dirty Dishes," and "These Old Shoes." The version of "Little White Lies" and "Song About a Man" from Born on Flag Day were more highlights. The band played a loose and laid back set while still being a rock band. At one point while they made some adjustments to the drum kit, John McCauley played the theme from Super Mario Bros. 

Photo by Ken Sears

The crowd was definitely used to the typical public park folk show, and stayed seated on blankets and lawn chairs for the vast majority of the show. A very small handful of people stood standing and dancing to the left of the stage, but most people were fine sitting just about as far from the stage as they could be. A very small group of preschoolers and toddlers used the walkway typically reserved for dancing for actually dancing. McCauley rewarded the kids participating in the show by handing out guitar picks, and then hopping off the stage to let some kids take turns playing his guitar. He might be creating the next generation of rock stars, and bless him for that.

It seemed that his act reminded the crowd that shows are much more fun if you're actively participating, and they came more alive for "Ashamed." For the final song of the main set, "Let's All Go to the Bar," renamed "Let's All Go to the Park" for the night, finally brought the crowd alive. People came running down from out of nowhere and filled up the area in front of the stage. Who knows how much fun the show could have been if everyone had that much energy for more than a single song?

Deer Tick - "Sea of Clouds" & "It's a Whale"

Photo via Facebook

In September, Rhode Island's favorite Deer Tick are going to be releasing two albums on the same day, a la Use Your Illusion I and II. Much like the famous Guns n' Roses release, Deer Tick's albums will also be a Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 release, but they'll be called Deer Tick Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Instead of just being a double album split into two separate albums like Guns n' Roses did (the band stresses that these are two separate releases and not a double album) the two sounds of Deer Tick will be split up among the two releases. While the band has moved away from the Hank Williams meets Nirvana sound that they started with into a more straightforward rock approach, Vol. 1 will be their more acoustic/folky stuff while Vol. 2 is a rock record. 

The band has made a song from each available to listen to. "Sea of Clouds" is from Vol. 1, and it's an acoustic folk epic from the band, exactly the kind of thing we've come to expect and love. From Vol. 2 comes "It's a Whale," and while it's not quite a Nirvana level out of control rocker, it's definitely some of the harder music we've heard from Deer Tick. Both releases are giving me fantasies of "An Evening with Deer Tick" style tour, with the band playing an acoustic set, and then coming back for a harder, plugged in set later in the night.

You can listen to the nautically titled "Sea of Clouds" and "It's a Whale" below. Deer Tick Vol 1. and Deer Tick Vol. 2 will be released on September 15 on Partisan Records. Right now you can pre-order the album in various bundles (including attending a Pawtucket Red Sox game with the band) via PledgeMusic. For more on Deer Tick, check out their website.

"Sea of Change":

"It's a Whale":

Prescott Park Arts Festival's 2017 Line Up is Crazy

I've been a huge fan of Prescott Park's live music line up for a few years now. It's live music from insanely great nationally touring bands in a beautiful waterfront park for next to nothing. Seriously, since it's a public park they technically can't charge an entrance fee, so instead they charge a $8-$10 "suggested donation." Trust me, though. You're going to be more than happy paying the suggested donation since it's usually a fraction of the band's normal ticket price and you'll want them to keep putting these on. I make the extra long trip whenever I can since I enjoy the venue more than some Boston theaters, and I've seen a few artists that tend to charge more than I like paying here for $10. Usually there are a handful of If It's Too Loud... approved bands every year, with the majority of the artists being more suited to our parents. This year though... wow. Here is a small selection of bands I think our readers will be excited for:

June 18: Lake Street Dive
June 21: Kurt Vile
June 27: Yonder Mountain String Band
June 28: Iron & Wine
June 30: Aimee Mann
July 5: Langhorne Slim
July 7: Deer Tick
July 9: Pokey LaFarge
July 23: Conor Oberst (possibly with Hop Along!)
July 28: New Pornographers
August 2: Nikki Lane

Plus, there are more to be announced mid-June (I have one guess that seems to have a few openings in their schedule while in the general area...)! You're getting some insanely beloved bands for next to nothing, and supporting an arts festival at the same time. It's a great way to indoctrinate your kids into live music (besides the local marching band playing at your town gazebo) without paying huge ticket prices for them to potentially have a meltdown. Just do us all a favor and leave the booze at home. They have a small but absurdly vocal group of neighbors trying to end the festival, and they're trying to use any reason they can.

You can find out all the upcoming artists playing the Prescott Park Arts Festival at their website. It's a guaranteed great time for a bargain price.

Shovels & Rope Curate the High Water Fest

The summer music festival season keeps creeping earlier and earlier every year. Some announcements just started popping up yesterday, and one of them has us ecstatic. Shovels & Rope have put together a weekend festival in their hometown of Charleston, SC (well, NORTH Charleston, but close enough) and the line up might be one of the best of the year. Besides the obvious choice of Shovels & Rope to play their own festival, they're also bringing along some of our favorites including The Avett Brothers, The Shins, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Dawes, Lucius, Margo Price, Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, Deer Tick, JD McPherson, The Suffers, Matthew Logan Vasquez, The Deslondes, and more! If you've been a regular reader of this blog for any amount of time this is pretty much a dream line up for all of us. It's going to be a challenge for any other festival, particularly Americana and roots based ones, to come close to matching High Water this year.

Tickets for the inaugural High Water Fest go on sale Friday November 18 at 10:00 a.m., and the festival itself will take place April 22-23 at Riverfront Park in North Charleston, SC. You can find out more information, including ticket prices at the festival's website or Facebook.

TT the Bear's Memory: Those Darlins and Deer Tick, February 4, 2010

With TT the Bear's closing forever this Saturday, I wanted to share some of my favorite memories of the iconic Cambridge rock club. Some of my most cherished musical memories took place within its walls. It is going to be missed greatly.

This was by far the craziest show I attended at TT's. Those Darlins were headlining, and for a while leading up to the show it was advertised that they'd have a "special guest." An hour before the show, they finally announced the special guest was Deer Tick, who had just outgrown the small confines of TT's. Since John McCauley and Nikki Darlin were engaged at the time, and Deer Tick are based less than an hour from Boston, this was kind of a no brainer.

Deer Tick only played an 8-song, 30 minute set, but it really sticks out. First, they came on stage wearing dresses procured from Those Darlins. I believe the drummer, Dennis Ryan, was wearing a ladybug print dress. After a song or two, McCauley announced that the band had bought everyone in the club that night a beer. It took a while for anyone to believe him, but it was true: There were 300 prepaid beers at the bar waiting. That pretty much set the tone for the entire evening. A definite highlight of Deer Tick's set was a duet with Nikki Darlin.

Those Darlins came next and brought the rawk. Live they have much more power than on their albums, and they held their own following a band with a bigger fanbase on their home away from home. Towards the end, during a cover of "Shakin' All Over," Deer Tick returned to sing, crowd surf, and drink some more. McCauley in particular was wearing a flannel shirt tied to his waist, and soon revealed that was his only attire while crowdsurfing. 

To see the remaining shows on TT's calendar, check out their website. There are only five shows left.

Newport Folk Festival 2014 Photo Diary

As the Newport Folk Festival slowly starts rolling out there 2015 line up, and we sit under 4 feet of snow in the Northeast, it's a great time to look back at last summer's Newport Folk Festival. Suddenly, the absurd amounts of rain on Sunday start to seem quaint, and we start looking forward to this summer and this year's Newport Folk Festival. You can check out our Newport Folk Festival 2014 photo diary over at our Facebook page. Here's hoping to see you all at the Fort this year!

For more information on this year's Fest (Friday tickets still remain), head on over to the Newport Folk Festival website. If you can't make it, there are some great Newport Folk Festival Presents shows coming up, mostly in Boston but also in Chicago, Nashville, Napa, and New York City. Check out these here.

Newport Folk Festival, Fort Adams State Park, Saturday, 7/26/14

After missing Friday's edition of the Newport Folk Festival, I entered Fort Adams State Park on Sunday determined not to miss a single thing. Of course, with 4 official stages all going at once, such a thing is impossible, as I re-learn every year.

Starting the day off at the Quad Stage, The Haden Triplets came on bright and early at 11:05 am. Considering the last time I saw Petra and Rachel perform live, it was at the Middle East in Cambridge with That Dog, the circumstances couldn't have been more different. Instead of 90s post-grunge guitars, they performed beautiful 3 part harmonies over classic country and folk songs. Dedicating their set to their father, the recently departed Charlie Haden, they covered classics like Bill Monroe's "Voice From on High" and The Carter Family's "Single Girl, Married Girl."

After The Haden Triplets, I headed down to the Harbor Stage for John Reilly & Friends. Yes, it's that John Reilly of such films as Magnolia and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. It was curiosity that brought me down, but he proved he's not just a musical novelty act. He even addressed it by declaring that he had some nerve playing folk songs at the Newport Folk Festival. His set was very stylistically similar to The Haden Triplets, and even covered "Single Girl, Married Girl." Having Becky Stark sing backup sure doesn't hurt.

I dragged myself away from John Reilly to head over to the Fort Stage for Pokey LaFarge. He kept the old-timey vibe going with his set of roots and Americana. Hailing from St. Louis, he always puts on a fantastic live show, so I didn't regret leaving John Reilly. He brought a 6 piece band, including a horn section, and played laid back numbers like "Bowlegged Woman" and "Sweet Potato Blues," the names of which perfectly describe the band's sound. Fighting the throwback act tag, their set was exquisitely timeless. Plus, the entire band was by far the best dressed of the entire weekend.

I made my way back over to the Quad Stage for my most anticipated act of the festival, Benjamin Booker. For an act to play one of the most prestigious festivals around without an album out, and with this much hype behind him, he better be amazing. Booker destroyed my expectations and rocked the entire crowd. Declaring right from the start that this wouldn't be a folk show, Booker delivered on his promise. His 3 piece band played harder than any other act I've seen in my 8 years of attending Newport, showing what Nirvana could have sounded like if Kurt Cobain had explored his blues influences more. He had the entire Quad Stage crowd up on their feet through almost his entire set, of which the highlight was "Have You Seen My Son." It was an interesting choice to slow it down with more mellow material for his last few songs, but it might have just been to bring us all down to earth for the rest of the day. His set was definitely the highlight of my weekend, if not year.

Houndmouth was up next on the Quad Stage. Led by the three way vocals of Matt Meyers, Katie Toupin, and Zak Appleby, I don't think I've ever seen a band have as much fun and play as loosely as they did on stage. Opening with a Funkadelic cover is always an interesting choice at a folk festival, but they made it their own and pulled it off. "Penitentiary" was just a revelation live and their pure joy at playing was contagious. After missing their set last year, it was spectacular to catch them this time around. I'll be keeping an eye out for them when they come around on their own, hopefully as soon as possible. 

Unfortunately, my desire to catch everything made my head down to the Fort Stage for Deer Tick. They've been involved with the festival for 5 straight years, and this was their main stage debut. To celebrate, the band took the stage decked in white tuxedos and yacht hats with a horn section. It was a triumphant set, with the biggest singalong of the weekend during "Ashamed." I don't think any band has come as far as they have since their debut at the Harbor Stage from bar band to overtaking an entire festival. I give it 2 more years until they're headlining the whole thing.

Of course, I wasn't able to catch all of Deer Tick since I had to make it over to the Harbor Stage for Lucius. It took me a while to warm to Lucius, but they officially won me over with their set on Saturday. They brought an updated version of 60s girl group pop to the festival and delighted the crowd. Their matching outfits and makeup can seem too gimmicky at times, but they clearly have chops, playing everything from keyboards to drums during their set. Mavis Staples even joined them for a rendition of "Go Home." When you can win over Mavis, you're doing something right. It was just another set of pure fun.

Puss n Boots closed out the Harbor Stage on Saturday. Norah Jones was the obvious draw for most in attendance, but they are truly a 3 person band with Sasha Dobson and Catherine Popper as equal members. I've never truly understood the Norah Jones thing, but she may have truly found her calling in an all female country band that plays Neil Young and Wilco covers. They were also joined by Mavis Staples for "Twilight." The crowd might have come for the A-list star, but they got a great performance from a band that I hope is around for a while.

Jack White closed out the Fort Stage and the night. Playing an absolutely firey set filled with more White Stripes songs than I could have expected ("Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground," "Hotel Yorba," "Ball and Biscuit"), he found new life with well known songs. It took a bit to accept that he has a top professional backing band, and some of the charm of The White Stripes is lost without Meg on drums, but you quickly got over it and just enjoyed the music. White made a comment that Newport was the first time in 12 years he could walk around a festival and just enjoy music without being bothered. And it was true. He was a regular fixture all day, walking around with John C. Reilly, and watching sets like Benjamin Booker. It's one of the truly magical things about the Newport Folk Festival. It's a huge name festival, but it's still as small and intimate as a club show. It's more of a community than an event.

Check back soon for our take on Sunday's edition of the Newport Folk Festival.

Drive-By Truckers & Deer Tick, Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, NH 6/29/14

Hampton Beach is one of the biggest tourist destinations in New England. It promises everything you could want in a busy beach, complete with boardwalks, water slides, mini golf, fried dough, and skee ball. It's a favorite destination for families, teenagers, and has enough of a night life scene to attract adults, too. It's also the town where, last October, a 71 year old man murdered his roommate with a sledgehammer. In other words, it's the perfect place in the Northeast to see the Drive-By Truckers.

The Casino Ballroom is an odd venue. It boasts of it's rich history, having had Louie Armstrong, Led Zeppelin, and Janis Joplin all play on it's stage. It even has huge banners around the stage proclaiming these past glories. For all it's past glories, the Ballroom has been more a part of the nostalgia circuit recently, hosting pretty much annual visits from Huey Lewis & the News, Brett Michaels, and Jeff Dunham. This year has seen an uptick in more current bands, including the recent Drive-By Truckers/Deer Tick double bill.

Deer Tick could have played it safe with their set, opting for more of their hard rocking, drinking songs, and seemed to be, playing songs like "Let's All Go to the Bar" at the beginning of their set. Instead, they truly made it their own show, slowing down the tempo and playing pretty much they wanted. There were definitely some hardcore Deer Tick fans in the audience, singing along loudly to old classics like "Ashamed." John McCauley even had his relatively new wife, Vanessa Carlton, come out to sing on "In Our Time." I never thought I'd see Vanessa Carlton come out to sing back up at any show I ever went to, but this is what happens now. Deer Tick even had an extra 15 minutes for their set on this night, a gift from the Truckers since it was kind of a homecoming show for them. (This is how New England is: You can be 2 states away from your hometown, and it can still be a hometown show).

Drive-By Truckers took the stage with a set almost perfectly crafted for the venue. Since the Ballroom exists as a tribute to it's own past, it was fitting that the Truckers played so many of their own tribute songs ("Carl Perkins' Cadillac," "The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town," "Ronnie and Neil," "Steve McQueen") to those who came before them. The entire set took place with the two songwriters/frontmen, Patterson Hood and Mike Colley, swapping singing duties back and forth from song to song. It was one of the best of all the times I saw them, playing loosely and just having fun. This is truly shown with new-ish bass player Matt Patton. You will never see anyone enjoying themselves on stage as much as he does. DBT is such an amazing live band that even though I've seen and heard the intro to "18 Wheels of Love" dozens of times, it still becomes one of the best tales I've ever heard live. They are one of the few bands I'll do anything I can to see anytime they come around.

To keep track of upcoming tour dates for Drive-By Truckers, check out their website. You can do the same for Deer Tick, including their main stage debut at the Newport Folk Festival.

First Listen: New Releases for September 24

This week brings at least three new releases I've been waiting on for some time.

Sarah Jarosz - Build Me Up From Bones: Sarah Jarosz keeps getting better and better. Her second album, Follow Me Down, was one of my favorite releases from 2011, and her follow-up, out today, continues being expansive and interesting. No one is doing what she's doing with bluegrass instruments and such stark, shadowy undertones. Plus, the album has its mandatory cover toward the end, with a version of Joanna Newsom's "The Book of Right-On," that meshes perfectly with everything Jarosz is doing. Early on, this is quickly becoming another candidate for best of the year.

Mazzy Star - Seasons of Your Day: The last we heard from Mazzy Star was a European tour about 13 years ago, so the announcement of a new album was pretty exciting. I've enjoyed lead singer Hope Sandoval's music with the Warm Inventions, but there's something specific about the tone and mood of Mazzy Star that hasn't been replicated in some time. Considering it's been 20 years since "Fade Into You," it's great to hear some new stuff.

Icona Pop - This Is...Icona Pop: ALL HAIL EUROPOP. Icona Pop had a super addictive song in "I Love It," and the album is more of the same, with some really driving anthemic pop songs from start to finish. I absolutely loved this album on first listen, and while I know I'll probably get sick of the bubblegum in due time, I won't have any trouble wearing this one out in the short term.

The Watson Twins - Pioneer Lane: The Watson Twins haven't had a full-length album since the poorly-recieved 2010 Talking to You, Talking to Me, and while this is positioned as an album in some circles, Pioneer Lane is 9 tracks under two minutes each of pleasant, inoffensive folk. I loved their first album, Fire Songs, as well as their work with Jenny Lewis, so I just keep waiting for something more from them. This is nice, but it's really not doing it for me.

Au Revoir Simone - Move in Spectrums: I was first exposed to Au Revoir Simone when they opened for Peter, Bjorn, and John back whenever. They're a very synthy, dreamy-sounding group that hasn't had a new album in a while, and the new album definitely feels a little more modern without abandoning the sound that works for them. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing yet, but it's an interesting record to listen to, especially in the context of where electronic music has been going lately.

Deer Tick - Negativity: Deer Tick is another interesting band that I've kind of struggled to get into. Semi-local, both Ken and I saw Those Darlin's open for them a while back and they put on a great live show (and do great live things), the new album is actually a little grungier and alt-rock than I expected from them. It's an interesting listen given that I have them in a more folk-rock place in my brain. Will definitely be giving this one more time.

CHVRCHES - The Bones of What You Believe: After a few successful, interesting EPs, CHVRCHES finally releases a full-length. If Depeche Mode had a female lead singer and came about today, they'd probably sound a lot like this. In terms of "synthy dark pop with female vocalists," I'll probably still choose MSMR over this, but considering how long-awaited this was on a whole, it's worth a good few listens for when I'm in the right mood.




Also out this week is a new release by Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band if that's your thing.

Deer Tick Does In Utero

If It's Too Loud endorses Deer Tick as a live band, and they have apparently been doing versions of songs from Nirvana's In Utero live lately. In Brooklyn over the weekend, the band decided to do the entire album in its entirety. If the stream of "All Apologies" is any indication, they do it as a very straight version of the album, which is an interesting choice.

You can stream it below and download the whole set above from NYC Taper.

Newport Folk Festival 2013 Preview

Old Crow Medicine Show
Friday

As you’re most likely aware, Saturday and Sunday for the Newport Folk Festival have been completely sold out for months now, long before the line up was revealed. Friday tickets are still available, and I’m surprised since Friday might be the most stacked day of the entire festival with Feist, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Mountain Goats, John McCauley, Amanda Palmer, JD McPherson, Kingsley Flood, and more. Saturday and Sunday are amazing in their own right, with The Avett Brothers, Jim James, Colin Meloy, Justin Townes Earle, Jason Isbell, Shovels and Rope, Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls, The Lone Bellow, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and more on Saturday, while Sunday features Beck, The Lumineers, Andrew Bird, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Dawn McCarthy, The Felice Brothers, Beth Orton, Black Prairie, Spirit Family Reunion (last year’s break out band), and more, including the just added Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. The only disappointment I’ve had with the Sunday night headliner slot that has been generally reserved for more classic and traditional artists (Emmylou Harris, Jackson Browne, The Levon Helm Band) is taken this year by Beck, an artist I discovered in high school. Ugh.

Beck
Sunday

If It’s Too Loud… will be covering the festival. This will be my 7^th Newport Folk Festival, 3^rd year covering it. As we get closer, I’ll be featuring some of the lesser known bands you’ll want to check out as we get closer. If you’ve ever been, you know one of the best parts is watching a relatively unknown band come out of nowhere and blindside a crowd into infatuation. Hopefully I’ll be able to make sure you catch that band this year. For anyone going, I’d love to hear who you’re looking forward to seeing most.

The Avett Brothers
Saturday

To check out the full line up and buy tickets for Friday’s show, check out the Newport Folk Festival website. Also, please check out the video of Spirit Family Reunion playing the Sennheiser Stage at the Paste Ruins from last year's festival, for an idea of what to expect this year.