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Here’s what I have running in the new Creative Loafing:
Boy band mogul Lou Pearlman fleeces investors for millions. Sentenced to 25 years in jail.
Judge still pissed about having to take his daughter to Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync concerts.
Photo by Michael O’Brien.
The enigmatic Tom Waits, who rarely grants interviews, has conducted a conversation with himself. It arrived this afternoon in my inbox via his publicist. The lone Florida date of Waits’ “Glitter and Doom Tour” is July 1, Times Union Center, Jacksonville. For more info click here.
TOM WAITS’
TRUE CONFESSIONS(A conversation with himself)
I must admit, before meeting Tom, I had heard so many rumors and so much gossip that I was afraid. Frankly, his gambling debts, his animal magnetism, coupled with his disregard for the feelings of others… His elaborate gun collection, his mad shopping sprees, the face lifts, the ski trips, the drug busts and the hundreds of rooms in his home. The tax shelters, the public urination…I was nervous to meet the real man himself. Baggage and all. But I found him to be gentle, intelligent, open, bright, helpful, humorous, brave, audacious, loquacious, clean, and reverent. A Boy Scout, really (and a giant of a man). Join me now for a rare glimpse into the heart of Tom Waits. Remove your shoes and no smoking, please.
Q: What’s the most curious record in your collection?
A: In the seventies a record company in LA issued a record called “The best of Marcel Marceau.” It had forty minutes of silence followed by applause and it sold really well. I like to put it on for company. It really bothers me, though, when people talk through it.
Click here for The Hold Steady’s new single, “Sequestered in Memphis.” The band’s upcoming album, Stay Positive, drops July 15 … unless it gets bumped up. Photo of The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn by Gabe Loewenberg, from the band’s Jan. 19 date at Czar in Ybor City, which I reviewed. Here’s the press release I received from Vagrant May 15:
The Hold Steady Announce Summer Tour; Single Out May 20th
Brooklyn-based rockers The Hold Steady have confirmed a string of tour
dates this summer, starting June 8th and going through August 13th.
Pre-sale will begin on May 16th at 10 AM local time, ending May 19th at
10 PM local time. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Tuesday,
May 20th. Their new album, ‘Stay Positive,’ will be released on Vagrant
Records on July 15th.The first single from that album, “Sequestered in Memphis,” will be
available on iTunes on May 20th.
Slide guitar master Sonny Landreth causing jaws to drop at Tropical Heatwave Saturday on the El Pasaje Plaza/Louisiana Stage. Creative Loafing cover girl Amanda Shaw performed on the same stage earlier in the day. For my review/photos of her set click here.
Landreth performed numbers like the spectacular backwoods space jam “The Milk Way Home” from his excellent, new album From the Reach.
“Tampa, can you get your mojo workin’?” a confidently smiling Amanda Shaw asked before launching into a fiery, fiddle-laced cover of the Muddy Waters classic “Got My Mojo Workin,”‘ which sent the all-ages audience into dance mode. The singer/songwriter/violinist/actor made a memorable Tampa Bay debut Saturday at WMNF’s 28th Annual Tropical Heatwave. The community radio station’s signature fundraiser, it featured six stages in and around the Cuban Club in Ybor City. About 30 mostly national and local bands, ranging from polka to post-rock acts, entertained the thousands of attendees.
Shaw, the 17-year-old wunderkind who appeared on the cover of this week’s Creative Loafing, co-headlined the El Pasaje Plaza, which was rechristened the Louisiana Stage this year. All six artists playing on it hail from the Bayou State, with five of them, Shaw included, fresh off performances at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The Louisiana Stage is where I remained — taking notes, pictures and thoroughly enjoying myself — for almost the entire evening, a decision I did not regret. (In fact, I’d like to see the Louisiana Stage, which featured killer sets by Shaw, slide-guitar master Sonny Landreth and hip-hop brass band Soul Rebels, become a permanent attraction at Heatwave.)
Shaw’s poise, charisma, and chops belie her age. Then again, she’s been performing in public for a decade, and it showed Saturday. Backed by her superb, ironically dubbed “Cute Guys” band — guitarist Brint Anderson, bassist Ronnie Falgout and drummer Mike Barras are all middle-aged and didn’t appear too concerned about their looks — Shaw elated the crowd with her singular brand of Cajun-flavored roots rock.
UPDATED 5/18: Digby is not the DIY phenom she’s portrayed as in the press release posted below, according to the Wall Street Journal. The venerable daily newspaper revealed in a story published in September (yeah, I slept on this one, thanks for the link, Mr. Benidt), that Digby’s not been honest with her multitudes of online fans. Digby inked a deal with Walt Disney Co.’s Hollywood Records before the YouTube clips were posted, WSJ reported, but never disclosed the info on her MySpace site. So, basically, Digby’s a prefab pop star just like Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera. I consider Aguilera a major talent. Spears? A hack. I’ll have to hear Digby’s first album before I decide into what category she falls.
I’d never heard of Marie Digby until this morning, when a press release about her June 9 appearance at Orpheum in Ybor City, popped up my inbox. Anyone out there familiar with her? Apparently, I’m not spending enough time perusing YouTube for budding stars. Here’s the publicity info on this “YouTube-created creature” (a term used by my chief editor David Warner, which I plan to pass off as my own in the future):
Digby broke onto the national stage in 2007 using YouTube, where she posted homemade videos of herself covering major pop hits including Rihanna’s “Umbrella.” To date, she has become the 7th most subscribed artist on YouTube with more than 26 million views. Marié’s debut album “Unfold” came out last month and debuted at #29 on The Billboard Top 200 and has already sold nearly 30,000 copies in three weeks. Her first single off the album, “Say It Again” is in heavy rotation throughout the country on Hot AC radio. Her music has been featured on MTV’s “The Hills,” and the CW’s “One Tree Hill” and “Smallville”. She was also featured in GAP’s spring ad campaign “The Sound of Color.”
I can’t decide if Digby’s stripped-down versions of heavily-produced pop hits ranks as genius or the most gimmicky move since Limp Bizkit nu metal-ed George Michael’s “Faith” back in 1997. Here’s Digby, looking quite adorable, performing “Umbrella” solo while accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, in what appears to be her living room. Whatcha think?
WMNF’s 27th annual Tropical Heatwave bash takes place Saturday and I’m totally stoked. Six stages in and around the Cuban Club in Ybor City featuring an eclectic lineup of under-the-radar national greats and local standouts. What has me giddiest, though, is the debut of the “Louisiana Stage” (El Pasaje Plaza), where attendees will find this week’s Creative Loafing cover girl, teenage fiddling/singing sensation Amanda Shaw and Soul Rebels, a brass band that brings the funk, hip-hop and isn’t afraid to cover George Michael.
I interviewed the eight members of Soul Rebels in person earlier this month prior to their weekly Big Easy gig at Le Bon Temps Roule, the night before the ensemble performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. In fact, four of the five acts scheduled to appear on Heatwave’s Louisiana Stage played the prestigious NOLA Jazz Fest this year: Shaw, Soul Rebels, slide-guitar master Sonny Landreth and the Cajun-Irish Zydepunks. Having all these Crescent City stars in town at one time is a special treat for a NOLA music/Jazz Fest junkie like me. Here’s what we have running in the new CL:
The Heatwave is on. And we’ve got the complete lineup of this year’s acts covered.
Talking drummer: How a master percussionist from Mali found his way to Tampa and Tropical Heatwave. By Eric Snider.
Soul Rebels want to funk up Heatwave.
BAR TAB: Down on the corner. Another SoHo bar leaves nothing but memories.
Drive-By Truckers roll into Jannus.
Nonpoint, GreyMarket, Sergio Mendes and more in Music Week.
My Creative Loafing coworker Leilani, her husband Phil and friend Alex, the three people I drove with to New Orleans two weeks ago for Jazz Fest, had a much different experience on Frenchmen Street than I did. You can read about my Saturday night revelry in the Bar Tab column “Up, up and away: Balloons, bars and bands in the Big Easy.” Leilani visited the same entertainment district on Thursday. Here’s her account, posted yesterday on CL’s Blurbex blog.
Adventures in NOLA, Episode 1: Thursday Night on Frenchmen
May 13th, 2008 by Leilani in Elsewhat, For the People A little more than a week after returning home from New Orleans, I’ve finally recovered enough to reflect on my experiences.
We meander down Frenchmen Street casually seeking a place to eat. Me, my husband Phil, and our good friend Alex are three revelers among several hundred soaking up the festive atmosphere and cheerful chaos created by a citywide celebration of good times and great music. It’s the second weekend of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, sometime around 11 at night, and the vibe is laid back in such a way that I hadn’t seen since my first Jazz Fest in ’05, the one before Katrina.
Joe Popp, acclaimed Tampa rocker/actor (American Stage’s MacBeth, Jobsite’s Maxwell), returns from his current digs in New York City for a concert Friday (May 16) at New World Brewery, Ybor City. Popp’s fronting a power trio called The Hornrims, which have just finished recording an ace new record titled Holland. The disc is a smart, gruff, catchy collection of timeless, Replacements-style rock featuring memorable numbers like “Last Mistake,” the title-track and “Billion Stars,” which all can be heard here. The Hornrims plan to have the album available for sale at New World.
Singer/guitarist Popp is joined in The Hornrims by former Tampanian Brian McCabe (bass) and NYC drummer Tylor Durand. Local music trivia: Popp and McCabe ’s old band Dogs on Ice opened Green Day’s famed Brass Mug gig in ‘91. Show info:
The Hornrims w/Nessie/Deadly Fists of Kung Fu, 9 p.m. Fri., May 16, New World Brewery, Ybor City, $6.
Note: The Hornrims play first, hitting the stage at 10 p.m.
WMNF and BAAMO have assembled another killer tribute show — this time in honor of political-punk titans The Clash — featuring an eclectic lineup of local talent. The 17-act fest will be again held at Skipper’s Smokehouse in Tampa, 5 p.m., Sat., May 31, $10 (advance), $15 (at the door). Here’s the roster for “This is Radio Clash: A Tribute to The Clash.” Set times will be posted prior to the show.
Tribal Style - Reggae/World
Beauvilles - Rock/Alternative
Blind Buddy Moody - Blues
Christie Lenee & Funk Grass Grove - Funk/Nu-Jazz/Folk-Rock
Gumbo Boogie - Cajun/ Zydeco
Hat Trick Heroes - Rock/Psychedelic/Alternative
Have Gun Will Travel - Americana
Johnny Zoom Cheerlead Squad - Reved-up Garage Rock
Katherine Kelly - Electroacoustic/Folk Rock/Indie
Male Order Brides - Rock/Blues
Next Exit - Folk
Midnight Bowlers League - Rock-a-billy
Parson Brown- Eclectic
The Pants - Ska
Bunko Squad - Folk/Rock
Scone Train - Folk Rock/Acoustic/Indie
Super Secret Best Friends - Rock/Pop
Urbane Cowboys - Americana
