The Western Swing/Country band, Washboard Rodeo, has a release party tonight at 10 p.m. at Maison on Frenchmen St. for their new self-titled debut album. Washboard Rodeo is one of several projects led by Washboard Chaz, best known for his Washboard Chaz Blues Trio and his role in the Tin Men, along with Alex McMurray and Matt Perrine.
Washboard Rodeo plays the songs of classic Western Swing artists such as Bob Wills and Spade Cooley, and includes Neti Vaan and Matt Rhody on fiddles, Matt Johnson on guitar, James Walsh on acoustic bass, and of course Chaz on washboard and occasionally a snare drum.
For more information visit Washboard Chaz’ website or preview the songs here.
After a successful initial outing in the fall, the WTUL Record Fair returns this Saturday, March 20 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Tulane University’s “Pocket Park” (on Broadway at Oak St).
WTUL Record Fair Fall 2009
Over twenty vendors are booked this time, selling LPs, 45s, turntables, tapes and even (gasp) CDs. Confirmed vendors include Euclid Records of St. Louis, who recently announced a soon-to-be branch in New Orleans, Skully’z Recordz, Louisiana Music Factory, Jim Russell Records, Domino Sound Record Shack, and at least nine private sellers.
If you would like to be a vendor, WTUL is willing to expand the fair as much as possible with cheap table space to sell. To vendor, contact Hunter King at hunterking@inbox.com. The record fair has free admission and is open to the public. For more information go to WTUL’s Facebook event page.
The proliferation of free music education programs is one of the healthiest post-Katrina developments. One, the New Jazz School, starts its fourth year June 7 at Isidore Newman School. Donald Harrison, Jr. is the director, and Christian Scott, Jesse McBride, Detroit Brooks and David Pulphus are on the educational staff.
Donald Harrison
The program teaches vocals, brass, woodwind, rhythm, bass, guitar, percussion and piano to students in grades 7-12, and auditions are this Saturday, March 20, from noon-2 p.m. at Newman. Interested students should know the major scales and be able to play three songs. Owning an instrument is preferred.
Students interested in auditioning for New Jazz School must submit an application by Thursday to:
New Jazz School
1903 Jefferson Avenue
New Orleans LA 70115
or online here. Call 896-6328 or write khebert@newmanschool.org for more information.
Louis Prima is being celebrated at French Quarter Fest with the Louis-Louis Stage, and at Jazz Fest, where he’s on the poster painted by Tony Bennett. Here he is with Keely Smith in action.
“Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” displays Mayer Hawthorne’s crate digger soul in all its retro glory.
Mayer Hawthorne was working as a DJ (nom de plume: DJ Haircut) in his hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan when he decided to record a few of his own tracks on a whim. Hawthorne’s whim was taken to a new level when Stones Throw Records head Peanut Butter Wolf signed him after hearing only two of his songs. After signing with Stones Throw, he moved to Los Angeles to fully pursue his musical career. Hawthorne has an uplifting retro-soul sound and style that is far beyond his age. Since releasing his debut album A Strange Arrangement in September of 2009, Hawthorne has been constantly on the go. “It’s non-stop right now,” he says.
“The last time I was in New Orleans it was my first time, and it definitely changed my life. It’s a magical city,” Hawthorne told me in a brief interview last week. Tonight, Hawthorne returns to The Parish at House of Blues for his second appearance in the Crescent City.
What is your earliest musical memory?
My father teaching me how to play bass guitar when I was six years old.
You played all the all the instruments and produced all the songs on A Strange Arrangement. Can you talk about your early development as a musician?
When I was really young, my parents were always buying me records and introducing me to all different kinds of music, not just soul music. I listened to the Beatles, the Byrds, the Hollies, the Cars, Blondie, Michael Jackson, the Police, everything. My father taught me to play bass guitar and my mom encouraged me to take piano lessons. I was blessed with a very musical family. My dad still plays in a band in Detroit today.
What’s the name of your father’s band?
The Breakers. They just do classic rock covers now. I’m having him play on a track for the next project.
What are the main influences behind the sound of A Strange Arrangement?
Obviously Smokey Robinson, Curtis Mayfield, Barry White. On the album, there’s also The Beach Boys and even the Smashing Pumpkins, one of my favorite bands. You hear all that.
What has it been like going from being a DJ to the lead singer of a band?
It’s very eye-opening. It’s a completely different world going from being the DJ, always kind of in the background, to being the lead singer. The spotlight is always in your face. It’s taken some serious adjusting, but it’s been a lot of fun too. I wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t really fun. I listen to all kinds of music, and I want to make all kinds of music. I just don’t get too comfortable.
Your music has a whimsical element to it. How serious are you?
I take the music aspect of it extremely serious. I’m a dedicated musician. I’m a studio rat. I’m a perfectionist in the studio. But, as far as myself as a person, I don’t take myself so seriously that I can’t go have a lot of fun with it. You can’t take yourself too seriously. Music I take extremely seriously. It’s a shitload of fun, that’s the magic word. The Pee Wee’s Playhouse magic word of the day is fun.
Your song “The Ills” directly references New Orleans and Katrina. Can you talk about writing this song?
I wrote that song right after Katrina had hit and I was finishing up recording my debut album. I was listening to the album, what I had, and a lot of the songs dealt with love and heartbreak and relationship issues. It was sort of melancholy, and I really felt like I needed some positivity and upliftment to balance out the album. “The Ills” was actually the last song that I wrote for the album. It was that injection of positivity and upliftment that I needed to really balance it out. The song deals with sad issues, but it’s all about overcoming those issues. It’s a very positive song. It’s a feel good song, it’s about feeling good in life, and not dwelling on the things that can get you down.
It’s true that most of the tracks on A Strange Arrangement deal with past relationships and heartbreak. Have you been burned by love?
Yeah, definitely. I don’t think you’ve really lived until you’ve had your heart broke. I feel bad for people that haven’t had that experience. I’m not saying I wanna go through it again, but I feel like everybody kind of needs that at least once in their life. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been through the numerous relationships that I’ve been through, the many experiences that I have to reflect on and grow from.
With your thick-rimmed glasses and retro suits, you have a unique signature look. Can you talk about the inspiration behind your style?
There are no real rules. It’s whatever feels good. I’m not big into brand names, I’m not a label whore. I wear designer shit sometimes, but a lot of my glasses I get at Venice Beach for five bucks, ten bucks. It’s whatever you feel comfortable wearing, because it’s all about confidence. Everything is 100 percent confidence. Whatever you can wear and feel confident in. I wear a lot of suits and sneakers, I’m a big sneaker head. My motto is always “Flashy but classy.”
Mayer Hawthorne and his band The County play The Parish at House of Blues tonight with Nikki Jean opening. Doors are at 7 p.m. and it gets soulful at 8.
Drummer Martin Atkins is best known for his work with Public Image, Ltd., Ministry and Killing Joke, but he also teaches “The Business of Touring” at Columbia College in Chicago, and he has written the book Tour: Smart on how bands can tour effectively. Tonight at 5 p.m. at Loyola University, he’ll deliver a talk titled “Free is the New Black – Packaging for the Future.” To confirm a seat and get the room number, RSVP here.
“The President of Soul,” Rockie Charles, passed away Friday morning after battling cancer. The blues guitarist – whose real name was Alfred Charles Merrick – was scheduled to play Jazz Fest this year and last year recorded a new album in Denmark, I Want First Class. His “Before I Find the Right Girl for Me” is included on Putumayo Records’ recent compilation, Rhythm & Blues. We’ll pass along funeral arrangements when we know them.
Photo by Dan Phillips
Check the Ponderosa Stomp bio of Rockie Charles here, and Home of the Groove’s notes on Charles’ “Riccasha” here.
On Saturday night, the Revivalists will play a CD-release party for their new album, Vital Signs, at the Blue Nile as part of Foburg. Here they are at One Eyed Jacks playing “Concrete (Fish Out of Water).”
New Orleans hasn’t always been thought of as a good rock town. Foburg aims to address that. This weekend, the New Orleans Indie Rock Collective (NOIR) will launch the 3-day music festival spotlighting over 100 area indie bands and touring artists (some as far as Seattle) on the road to South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, which starts the following week.
Peelander Z
The full schedule for the festival is up now, and Friday’s highlights include shows by Lafayette’s Givers, the psychedelic King Rey, the chansons of Wazozo, and a bounce DJ set by Lefty Parker at the R Bar.
Saturday, the White Bitch hosts a Noizefest preview at the Dragon’s Den while MyNameIsJohnMichael, Rotary Downs, the Latin soul of Los Po-Boy-Citos and Hurray for the Riff Raff play elsewhere on Frenchmen Street.
Sunday night includes performances by bands as different as Silent Cinema, all-girl and one-guy ska band Local Skank, indie-prog rockers Big Rock Candy Mountain, improv jazz band WATIV and Japanese wrestling punk band Peelander-Z.
The festival will be held on Frenchmen because, as Mark Heck, co-founder of NOIR notes, “Frenchmen is one of the music meccas of New Orleans.” The venues will be in the first couple blocks of Frechmen and include Blue Nile, Checkpoint Charlie, d.b.a., Dragon’s Den, The Maison and R Bar. The entire festival is being presented by LetsBeTotallyClear.org and every show will be smoke-free.
Weekend passes cost $30 at the Information Tent located at the corner of Frenchmen and Chartres or can be purchased online in advance. Individual shows have their own cover charges.
For more on the Foburg Music Festival, see Abby Lunetta’s article in our March issue.
This Saturday, the monthly Soundclash beat battle is putting on a special party at the Howlin Wolf. Legendary hip-hop producer and DJ Pete Rock will be on hand for a full day of hip-hop and sneaker culture starting at 3 p.m. with Kicks and Snares presented by Soundclash along with KevinNottingham.com, BlackSmith Music, and The Source Magazine.
Producer/DJ Pete Rock
As one half of the seminal duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth and then later during his solo career, Rock gained critical acclaim and worldwide recognition, partly for merging jazz with hip-hop, and he has worked with everyone from Wu-Tang Clan and Ghostface Killah to Public Enemy and Run-DMC.
Along with a DJ set from Pete Rock, Kicks and Snares also includes a beefed-up schedule of local rappers and DJs, including Dee-1, Lyrikill, Truth Universal, DJ Tony Skratchere, DJ EF Cuttin, Skipp Coon and Mister Nick, Aqua Force, and many more.
In addition to the 25 artists and 5 DJs, the event is also featuring live graffiti displays, break-dancing, cash prizes and giveaways, and a huge sneaker section where an attendee or vendor can buy, sell, or trade shoes. The event is encouraging artists and producers to network, giving everyone a chance to get feedback and make professional connections.
Starting at 9 p.m., Pete Rock will be a featured guest judge in the March Soundclash, with various artists vying for the title of this month’s best beat production. The show will include performances from several MCs as well.
Pre-sale tickets are available for $10 for just the Kicks and Snares party or $20 for both the party and the beat battle at http://kicksandsnares.eventbrite.com.
Here are some clips from January’s Soundclash:
