there is nothing you have done that has been wasted

I am pretty excited about the Pacific Northwest Invasion (take 2) that is happening this weekend, with the show I am presenting Friday night at Moe’s in Denver (win tickets below!), and then the super-rad intimate Fuel/Friends House Show on Saturday night. All the bands playing are amazing. But I am holding a special reserve of anticipation and trembling for the power that I know comes with Kelli Schaefer.

Kelli opened my very first house show I held, back in November. I have not seen anyone like her. The way she can transfix a room with her somber, strong songs is astounding and when she lets her rock howl loose, hairs stand up on end. Back in November, I recognized the vibe in that room when she played to Jeff Buckley and the Grace album – the bluesy guitar sang and wept while Kelli punctured each song through with startlingly dramatic imagery and beautifully conflicted lyrics. I think we all felt something special crackling in that voice.

She is coming back through here on her tour down to SXSW in support of her masterpiece new album The Ghost of The Beast. I had a really difficult time picking which track to feature from the album, because it is so varied that no single song is representative of Kelli. But this is the song I immediately listened to the most, a benediction of the steadfastness of love and the quiet joy found in holding up others even when our arms are shaking. Listen to that scritchy-scratch opening loop; this song also showcases the intricate ambient noises that Kelli works throughout her music, like you are digging them out from the sounds of the day.

And when she sings here that there is nothing we have done that has been wasted, I believe her.

Gone In Love – Kelli Schaefer

Similar to the organic growth of Drew Grow (who produced the record), Kelli’s full-length comes from collecting a series of singles that she has released in Portland over the last year through the Amigo/Amiga label.

It’s a scavenger approach which yields a surprisingly cohesive album here, but one that defies classification nonetheless. There are times the record feels like waking from a dense sleep (on songs like “Trinkets,” layering through ambient noise), as if Kelli is somewhere singing through dark cotton and vintage microphones. Other songs layer her vocals into an enchanting siren choir (“Home”), or let loose with riffs that would make Led Zeppelin turn an ear. Kelli sings honestly about something called “The Fury,” which one could imagine is an artistic inferno, or the struggles we have within — or something else entirely. In one of my favorite lyrics on the album, she sings:

God would you send me somebody
who understand the fury
who understands the fury well?

He’s gonna have to be a fighter
gonna have to know the story
strong enough to tell it to me when I’ve lost my head
when I’ve lost my head

The way she sings it (that last line, especially) gives me chills every time. This is a woman who seems to see inside of me in a way that not many female artists do.

My other favorite is found in the gothic sonic layers of the title track, “The Ghost of The Beast.” Listen below; it’s sharper and shows some of Kelli’s punkier chops. I’ve spent repeated listens trying to figure out what that sound that starts the song is, and I finally just learned it is Drew Grow scraping a shovel across the ground, and looping the noise. It is disconcerting and perfect.

I contributed to her successful Kickstarter campaign, and earlier this week the album arrived on vinyl. The cover art features a ribcage cut delicately out of paper – protective but delicate, able to be torn. If you come and see her this weekend in Colorado, or buy the album and listen with headphones, I guarantee you will be transfixed.

TICKET GIVEAWAY
I have two pairs of tickets to give away to see Kelli Schaefer tomorrow night (Friday) at Moe’s in Denver, next door to the Gothic. She is opening for The Head and The Heart & The Moondoggies (all of whom will be playing my house show Saturday night!). It is going to be a tremendous show. Please email me if you would like to be entered for a pair. Come early – Kelli is on first Friday, around 8pm, and you do not want to miss her.

[top image credit Charity Burggraaf]

Josh Ritter + The Hold Steady in Colorado this week (win tickets!)

Coloradans! Josh Ritter is returning to our fair state for the first time since his jaw-droppingly rich Telluride set this summer, way off beyond them hills.

This time he is coming closer to the more populated regions, playing Wednesday night (11/10) in Fort Collins for an eTown taping with The Hold Steady (what? really? I know, right?!).

Thursday night Josh is headlining the Ogden with his full Royal City Band, with support from a Denver musician who goes by the name of Thieving Irons.

WIN TICKETS, YOU SAY?!
Surely. Fuel/Friends has one pair of tickets for the eTown taping in Fort Collins to give away, and two pairs for the Denver show on Thursday night. To win, you must email me your favorite Josh Ritter lyric, and why you love it, and tell me which show you are entering for. I’ll be at both shows, looking forward to it.

[top image credit Brian Stowell, Ritter merch guy extraordinaire. Second image mine from one of the best SXSW shows ever.]

Pacific Northwest invasion coming

It may be Rocktober here in Denver, what with all sorts of marvelous shows rolling through here this month. But in a few weeks, forget Rocktober because Fuel/Friends is presenting three absolutely fantastic shows coming through Colorado in the first week of November, with bands from the fertile loamy shores of the Pacific Northwest.

We’ll call it Rockvember, which really doesn’t have nearly the same snappy effect as Rocktober, but it will have to do.

Seattle’s The Head and The Heart and Portland’s Drew Grow and The Pastors’ Wives — both bands are becoming addictions of the most socially acceptable kind, meaning that I pretty much just rotate between their two albums in recent weeks but maintain my hygiene and there’s no lying or drug-seeking behavior.

First off, Drew Grow and The Pastors’ Wives are playing the Larimer Lounge on Wednesday, November 3rd (with Kelli Schaefer, the girl joining in for a show-stopping duet on the last lines of the song in the video below). The next night, Thursday the 4th, they are playing a Fuel/Friends house show down in Colorado Springs and I think you should come. It’s $5 and you can BYOB and rock out in my ‘hood.

Every last thing that you need to know about why you should come see Drew Grow & The Pastors’ Wives for one of those two shows can be gleaned from this post here, and from this video here. Wait until three minutes in, when the best kind of musical cataclysm starts to occur:

Their album is one of my favorites of the year, easy. Recently at the Doe Bay Festival in Washington, the Seattle Weekly reviewer wrote, “Two weekends ago, I had one of those rare, game-changing live music experiences, the kind when you’re watching a band and your chest swells up big and red and raw like a great frigatebird during mating season and there’s a lump in your throat and an ACME anvil could fall on the person next to you and you probably wouldn’t even notice the blood spatter because HOLY FUCKING SHIT this band is amazing.”

So, yeah — there’s that.

Bootstraps – Drew Grow and the Pastors Wives

Then on Friday, November 5th –if we survive the two nights with Drew Grow, maybe rehydrate our electrolytes– Seattle supernovas The Head And The Heart are playing their first show in Colorado at Moe’s (next door to the Gothic), co-headlining with local favorite Ian Cooke, with support by The Lumineers.

Sounds Like Hallelujah – The Head and The Heart

Guys, I can’t even tell you how blindingly quick things are exploding for this likeable, insanely catchy band right now, and deservedly so. They just toured through my home state of California, and I had friends at each stop along the way either texting me effusive praise from stageside, or stuck outside in the rain (like in LA, where apparently many folks couldn’t get in, despite the band adding a late show the same night). I have never seen them perform live yet, just pretty much watched the bejesus out of youtube videos.

This is a new song, “Gone,” they have been performing, with a bridge that I just can’t get out of my head. I’m trying here…

BIG OLE’ TICKET GIVEAWAY!
I have five pairs of tickets to give away to both of these Fuel/Friends presented shows (11/3 with Drew Grow and 11/5 with The Head And The Heart) to folks who email me. You can go to both, I’d absolutely love to share these bands with you.

Threadless + Havaianas contest!

I was clicking around on Threadless a few weeks ago and noticed their cool new “Living in Harmony” dual guitar design (acoustic? electric? how about both). I tend to be lamely paralyzed by indecision when buying clothing online and didn’t get it then, but serendipitously now the folks at Threadless have contacted me with a sweet little promo contest for you guys!

Fuel/Friends has a prize pack to give away containing the tshirt design by artist Josh Perkins, and matching Havaianas flip flops as well. You may or may not wear them together, depending on how completely dedicated to the idea of musical fashion you wish to appear.

TO WIN! I know this might cause you to groan, but you need to find a great joke to leave in the comments for me — one that makes you laugh out loud. The other night on a bicycle pubcrawl, I was talking about jokes and how hard it is to remember them when needed, and I realized I need some new fodder. Here’s my latest favorite: How do you get 100 Canadians to get out of a swimming pool? You say, “Please get out of the swimming pool.”

And because I like this song, both the original electric and this acoustic re-interpretation:

Reptilia (acoustic Strokes cover) – Howie Beck

Give me all your loving, and I’ll give you all of mine

Based on a recommendation from a friend who saw The Mynabirds last night at San Francisco’s Rickshaw Stop, I’ve googled and clicked and fallen in love with the toe-tapping sultriness and all these indie-rock goddess vocals.

Half of the former D.C. duo Georgie James, Laura Burhenn possesses a powerful alto voice that owns this album and every song on it. Ranging from dusty old soul to big gospel harmonies, with clattery percussion that evokes Spoon at times and smolders at others, What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood (Saddle Creek) is eclectic and thoroughly enjoyable. Burhenn’s voice channels the confidence of females like Dusty Springfield circa 1968, to Cat Power or Jenny Lewis in the modern-day lexicon. This song even has a touch of Cowboy Junkies?

Ways of Looking – The Mynabirds

I also strongly recommend that you listen to the piano-thumping fun of “Let The Record Go” and the echoey girl-group soul of “Numbers Don’t Lie,” among others.

What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood was recorded with lots of whiskey and dancing in an Oregon hillside cabin, and was produced by the uncannily flawless ear of Richard Swift (whose pop confections opened a Wilco show for me once). Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes) arranged the shiny horns, and my friend J. Tom Hnatow of These United States brings his wicked slide guitar. It is a fantastic record, been listening to it all day.

CONTEST FOR THE DENVER KIDS: Wanna come see the Mynabirds on Monday night (July 19) at the Hi-Dive? I have a pair of tickets to give away. It’s an 18+ show, with Dark Dark Dark. As usual, please email me if you can for sure for reals come. We’ll get you on the list.

For the non-Denver residents, here are your other options:

MYNABIRDS TOUR DATES
* = w/ David Bazan
& = w/ Crooked Fingers

07/15: Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
07/16: Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
07/17: Boise, ID @ Neurolux
07/18: Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
07/19: Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive
07/24: Omaha, NE @ MAHA Festival
08/01: Council Bluffs, IA @ Stir Cove (w/ Al Green)
08/07: Council Bluffs, IA @ Stir Live and Loud
08/27: Omaha, NE @ Outside at Slowdown ( w/ Built To Spill)
09/03: Austin, TX @ The Mohawk &
09/05: Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress &
09/06: San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar &
09/08: San Francisco, CA @ Café Du Nord &
09/16: Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall*
09/17: Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick*
09/18: Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Place*
09/19: Montreal, QC @ II Motore*
09/21: Burlington, VT @ Club Metronome*
09/22: Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bear’s*
09/24: Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Bowl*
09/25: Wahsington DC @ Black Cat*
09/26: Charolottesville, VA @ The Southern*
09/27: Carrboro, NC @ Cats Cradle*
09/28: Atlanta, GA @ The Earl*
09/29: Nashville, TN @ Exit/In*
10/01: Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbits*
10/02: Orlando, FL @ The Social*
10/03: Tallahassee, FL @ The Engine Room*
10/05: Birmingham, AL @ The Bottletree*
10/06: New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks*

[thanks for the tip, Jess!]

I know I’ll make it back / one of these days :: Wilco vinyl contest

On most days, my favorite Wilco album is Summerteeth (maybe on most warm days like today, or perhaps it would always be my favorite if I lived in California full time).

So today I am pleased to have a new contest to giveaway the 180-gram double disc gatefold vinyl of Summerteeth. The vinyl-loving folks over at Because Sound Matters let me pick something from their cool stock on vinyl to give away to you guys (not the Neil Young retrospective!), and with summer just around the corner, this one felt right.

TO WIN: Let’s talk about your favorite Wilco _______ (seemingly nonsensical but somehow profound song lyric, live concert moment, etc). You pick what to write about, and the responses will be enjoyable for me to read in these coming days of travel and services. I’ll pick a winner when I get home on Sunday night.

Me? Probably “Via Chicago” when I first saw it live in Denver and it wrenched at my insides when the song broke apart all dissonant. Still one of my favorite shows, and favorite things I’ve written about a show. It blew the veneer off my insides.

Via Chicago (live in Denver 9/1/07) – Wilco

“But the wind blew me back via Chicago, in the middle of the night
And not without fight at the crush of veils and starlight“

Win tickets to see Mimicking Birds

I recently got all giddy about how much I love the debut album from Portland trio Mimicking Birds, just released on Isaac Brock’s label (Modest Mouse frontman). Fortuitously, they are on tour and swing through Denver next week and I have five pairs of tickets to give away to spread the good word.

To be entered, tell me a bird story or a bird fact in the comments. I’m prepping for Jeopardy. (Please only enter if you can actually go for reals: It’s next Tuesday at the Hi-Dive)

Rivers, Veins, and Roots – Mimicking Birds

After you enter the contest, or if you are sitting dejected and despondent because you live not in Colorado, click on over to this site and gorge yourself on a bunch of heartily enjoyable, vulnerably lovely Mimicking Birds demos, like the one above.

WIN! The new White Stripes documentary

CORRECTION: Fuel/Friends gets to give away the White Stripes’ new DVD of Under Great White Northern Lights and the companion live CD. My deep apologies for the confusion between me and the PR people (but hey, it’s still a cool prize, for free).

Under Great White Northern Lights was filmed to capture moments from Jack & Meg’s summer 2007 tour across Canada, from the big city venues to the smalltown bowling alleys. This tour (in support of Icky Thump) represented their last live performances for a good two years, until they recently resurfaced on Conan.

TO WIN: Leave me a comment telling me about either your favorite White Stripes concert moment or your favorite White Stripes song, and why. I will pick one winner before I board a plane to SXSW next Wednesday.

And speaking of White Stripes and SXSW in the same breath, how awesome does this look? I’ll be there, and try to not wear my Third Man Records shirt to the store that day. Last year at SXSW, in another one of those surreal moments that thankfully seem to pepper my life lately, I had tapas with the director of this film, Emmett Malloy, and we chatted about the making of this documentary. It feels full circle that I’ll probably get to finally see a screening of it at SXSW this year. Wahoo!

put on your blue lipstick and i’ll put on my venus boots

One of my favorite songs on Langhorne Slim‘s last outing Be Set Free was the rambling, jangly romanticism of “Say Yes” — specifically where he pleads, “Put on your blue lipstick and I’ll put on my venus boots, and we’re in California but it might as well be the moon. Say yes, say yes, say yes…”

I couldn’t resist that request from him, even if I’m not exactly sure what it means. I’d say yes.

Go send the song in a fancy little Valentine’s Day card to someone you’ve taken a shine to. I’m seeing Langhorne on Wednesday night at the Hi-Dive, and I have a prize pack to give away to a lucky Denver reader:

LANGHORNE LOVES YOU: SAY YES PRIZE PACK
- One vinyl copy of Be Set Free
- One signed Langhorne Slim canvas bag
- A pair of tickets to his show Wednesday night at the Hi-Dive

Leave me an amenable, yes kind-of comment and we’ll sort things out Tuesday night.

Say Yes – Langhorne Slim (do it!)

He is touring all over to about 40 cities between now and April so seriously, you got lots of chances to agree with him, and I think you’ll find him and his music…mighty agreeable.

The haunting melancholy of AA Bondy

Today dawned steely grey and covered in snow. While it was nice to get a slow start, I feel a touch of the seasonal blues, unexpectedly.

It’s the right kind of day for the sad, slow beauty of AA Bondy.

I fell in love with Bondy’s music last year and almost named his When The Devil’s Loose (2009, Fat Possum) one of my top albums of the year. Bondy wrote of it, evocatively, “To me [the album] sounds like a radio washed ashore after a shipwreck.” The songs are subtle on the album, but it is really something to hear what they become live.

HearYa Sessions recently had Bondy and his backing band into the studio, and I was amazed by the way “Slow Parade” becomes an electric beast at the end. It starts like morphine and ends like ten-foot waves crashing.

Slow Parade – AA Bondy

Drag your shadow down the street
is it you I was to meet?
with your saints there on a chain
Waiting on another rain

And I’m going down
where the waves will surround
to the roll and the pound of the wild, wild sea
singin sweet to me…

Also, be sure to listen to the HearYa version of “Mightiest of Guns.” That minute-long slowburn introduction here puts a lump in my throat.

CONTEST FOR THE DENVER KIDS:
Come see AA Bondy tonight at the Hi-Dive! I have four tickets to give away, so please email me ASAP if you’d like to attend! Willy Mason and A(aron) Tom Collins open.

AA BONDY TOUR DATES
28 Jan – Hi-Dive, Denver, CO
29 Jan – Jackpot, Lawrence, KS
30 Jan – Maintenance Shop, Ames, IA
1 Feb – High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI
2 Feb – Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI
3 Feb – Mohawk Place, Buffalo, NY
4 Feb – Valentine’s Downstairs, Albany, NY
5 Feb – T.T. The Bear’s, Boston, MA
6 Feb – Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY