Backseat Sandbar

World Premiere
Burn to Shine 4: Louisville
Followed by a Q&A with Brendan Canty & William Benton

May 22, 2010
@ The Bomhard Theater
7:00 PM
Tickets $20.00
For more information:www.louisvillefilm.org
For tickets call 502-584-7777 or visit www.kentuckycenter.org

Years in the making, Louisville’s chapter of the Burn To Shine film series, which shoots bands performing in soon-to-be-razed houses, premieres May 22 at Bomhard Theatre.

In addition to the screening, there will be a Q&A session with filmmaker Brendan Canty (Fugazi) and William Benton (Lucky Pineapple). We are short on info for this right now, but stay tuned. Proceeds from all ticket sales go to Jason Noble.

The world premiere of the 4th volume of the made-for-DVD series Burn to Shine will premiere in Louisville, KY. The focus of this episode will be Louisville’s music scene (and also some buildings which go bye-bye). The episode features performances by Shipping News, Will Oldham, Lucky Pineapple, Liberation Prophecy, Dead Child, Ultra Pulverize, Lords, Parlour, The Commonwealth and more.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Brendan Canty (Fugazi) & local coordinator William Benton (Lucky Pineapple).

This will be a benefit for local filmmaker & musician Jason Noble.

Via Peter Berkowitz

Featuring live music by
Liberation Prophecy
Rachel Grimes
Bonnie “Prince” Billy and the Cairo Gang

Monday, May 17th @ 7:30pm
The Brown Theatre
All Ages
Reserved Seating
$25

Tickets On Sale 2/27 @10am

Josh Ritter- Change of Time

Tickets can be purchased at The Kentucky Center box office,
www.kentuckycenter.org or by phone (502) 584-7777,
(800) 775-7777 or TTY (502) 562-0730

JOSH RITTER’S NEW ALBUM
SO RUNS THE WORLD AWAY OUT MAY 4

So Runs The World Away, the new album from renowned singer-songwriter Josh Ritter, will be released May 4 on Pytheas Recordings. This is the fifth full-length recording from Ritter, who has been widely heralded by critics and fans alike. Of the Idaho-native, Paste magazine declares, “Put simply, Ritter is the most gifted interpreter of Americana, as an arranger and a lyricist, working today.”

Recorded over 15 months at the Great North Sound Society in Maine, with additional recording at Brooklyn’s Saltlands Studio, So Runs The World Away continues Ritter’s longtime collaboration with producer and keyboard player Sam Kassirer. Additionally, the album features the return of Ritter’s core line-up of touring bandmates: Zack Hickman, Austin Nevins and Liam Hurley.

Of the record, Ritter says, “I think of the songs on So Runs the World Away like pictures painted in oil on large canvasses. It’s a record preoccupied with the extremes of scale, from infinitesimal particles to the nearly incomprehensible distances between the head of a pin and a nebula. Where the songs felt large to me, I wanted them to be huge, both musically and lyrically. I wanted them to feel like the steel hulls of massive ships sliding by deeply from below. Where they were small, I concentrated in on the smallest details that I could and we tried to make the music and the words work together. I love writing, and this was the most fulfilling record I’ve yet written.”

http://www.joshritter.com



Touring in support of their upcoming release Dear Companion, Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore will be performing at The Brown Theatre on Friday, February 26 at 8:30 p.m. This show was originally scheduled at The Bomhard Theater, but had to be moved due to demand for tickets. This means that even more people can come out and see a great show. I got the chance to see Ben and Daniel last year at Kentucky Center and it was one of my favourite shows of 2009, so this one is not to be missed. Tickets are on sale now for $25 and are available at The Kentucky Center box office, www.kentuckycenter.org or by phone (502) 584-7777, (800) 775-7777 or TTY (502) 562-0730. If you already had tickets for the Bomhard Theater show, the box office will call to re-seat you in The Brown Theatre. Don’t forget to check out Sollee and Moore’s new album Dear Companion, it hits shelves Feb. 16 on Sub Pop.

Check out their song Something, Somewhere, Sometime
Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore- Something, Somewhere, Sometime

I’ve been a huge fan of Rodrigo y Gabriela for a while now, but to truly experience this duo, you have to see them live.  I had watched youtube videos of their live stuff and it is enough to peak your interest, but you need to be there in person.  I finally got a chance to see them at Bonnaroo last summer and was blown away.  It’s hard to explain, but they sit nonchalant on stage then break into one of their songs and all you see is a blur of hand strumming, picking and banging on the side of their guitar.  They make it look so easy, but it is far from it.  Luckily, they have decided to make Louisville’s Brown Theatre a stop on their 2010 tour.  The show is on Sunday March 7th.  Tickets go on sale January 15th.  They will run $35 bucks, so start saving, but it will be worth it!

Rodrigo y Gabriela – Tamacun

From the KCA:

Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, January 15, at 10 a.m.

Description: Mexican guitarists Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero rose to prominence playing a passionate blend of acoustic music fueled by the smoldering fire of flamenco and bossa nova, plus heavy metal pyrotechnics.

Honing their live performance skills by busking their way across Europe, the duo is now a favorite at festivals worldwide, and continues to diversify their instrumental repertoire in a variety of styles.

Their most recent release 11:11 features 11 songs dedicated to 11 different musical influences – from Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix to the jazz-fusion band Shakti.

The Louisville Orchestra “Strings Attached” series brought the incredible Sondre Lerche and Brandi Carlile to town this weekend.  The Strings Attached series is a unique opportunity to bring together two types of crowds that far too infrequently take the opportunity to appreciate the art of the other.  Bringing together contemporary artists with the more classical orchestra (although that is an unfair and improper term of reference, but is how they are seen for the sole reason of being an orchestra) provides a point where everyone can meet in the middle and enjoy the performance.

Sondre Lerche took the stage after 2 pieces by the orchestra with a swagger of someone trying to exude more confidence than he actually has.  Sondre was clearly nervous, and continued to try to shake off his nerves with that sort of Elvis-like shoulder shake and kick.  Although awkward between songs, once he started strumming on his guitar he couldn’t have been more at home.  He started off the performance with a new track from a new upcoming album.  He explained the “(You Knocked Me) Off my feet” as a “ridiculously in love song” and the next song, “Minor Detail” as being the first song he’d written after coming to America.  Sondre maintained a great rapport with the audience, telling a series of jokes, including announcing an appreciation for the upgrade from Uncle Pleasant’s to KCA, but saying that although this had been a dream come true, he’d rather be sitting out in the seats with the audience listening to the orchestra than playing.   He went on to explain that “You Know So Well” was written at the age of 16 when he’d first suffered heartbreak for the first real time.  Hearing that made me truly appreciate the art form that knows no age, and that the story he’d written so long ago could still resonate.  Sondre’s performance closed with the song that most of the audience was familiar with, the key song in 2007′s “Dan in Real Life” entitled “Let My Love Open the Door”, which Steve Carroll “performed” during the film.

Following intermission, Brandi Carlile took to the stage.  Initially, I assumed that Sondre Lerche was the headliner, but that just goes to show what I know because it was clear that the crowd was there to see Brandi.  People came from out of state, girls adorned in “I <3 Brandi” t-shirts, and the rest asking me if I knew anything about this opening band…it was clear that this was Brandi’s crowd.  Ironically, during the performance she mentioned that she used to open for Sondre.  While not intending to be glib, it could be construed to be a little insulting if heard with a critical ear.  Song after song, the energy of the crowd began to grow, but it was’t until “What can I say?” that Brandi and crew had truly hit their stride.  Taking the song completely acoustic, no mics or anything and standing at the very front of the stage, Brandi and the twins sang “alone is the last place I wanted to be” to an absurd ovation.  Brandi mentioned having never gotten the chance to play Louisville before and thanked the city for letting her first time be so special by having the orchestra backing.  For the countryish “Oh Dear“, one of the twins broke out the ukulele. Next, one of the biggest surprises of the night was the two Johnny Cash covers, namely “Jackson” and “Fulsome Prison Blues“, only to be outdone two songs later by Leonard Cohen’s “Halleujah” which made for an incredible cover and an incredible closing song.  My only complaint is that I wish that Brandi would have utilized the orchestra more.  On average, the orchestra was involved in every other song, as opposed to the way that Sondre did it, which was to allow the orchestra to do their thing for 2 songs, play 3 songs solo, then to close with the final five songs with the orchestra.  Regardless, combining the orchestra with contemporary pop and rock acts make for an incredible show and I look forward to seeing many of the Strings Attached series.

**MORE PHOTOS & SETLISTS**

Sondre Lerche – Let My Love Open the Door [audio=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/2/24/1779222/Sondre%20Lerche.mp3]
Brandi Carlile – Turpentine [audio=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/2/24/1779222/Brandi%20Carlile.mp3]
Brandi Carlile – Fulsom Prison Blues [audio= http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/2/24/1779222/Brandi%20Carlile%20-%20Fulsome%20Prison%20Blues.mp3]

Thanks to dm46100 for posting several great video clips from the night’s performance…

**MORE PHOTOS & SETLISTS**
(more…)

Louisville Improvisors present

Two nights of improv in the round at the Mex Theatre in the Kentucky Center, January 11th and 12th at 8pm.

Tickets are on sale now at the KCA Box office (584-7777) or online at KCA. ($25)

Born out of countercultural 1960s comedy troupe the Committee, Los Angeles’s Groundlings have been practicing their high-octane brand of anything-goes improvisation for three decades. Audiences know the group for their wacky sketch comedy and lightning audience participation rounds. Its alumni include a laundry list of “Saturday Night Live”-ers (Phil Hartman, Julia Sweeney, Will Ferrell, Laraine Newman), Cassandra “Elvira” Peterson and Emmy-winning “Friends” star Lisa Kudrow. www.groundlings.com

Current members scheduled to appear:

Kevin Berntson has been seen on TV in ER, MONK, and recurring role on RENO 911! He’s not an insomniac, but he plays one on TV commercials with a beaver and Abe Lincoln.

Colleen Smith is a correspondent on “The Showbiz Show with David Spade”. Her other television credits include “The Office”, “World Cup Comedy”, “The Singles Table”, “Carpoolers”, and “King of the Hill”. On Myspace.

Drew Droege‘s TV credits include RENO 911!, HALFWAY HOME, CAMPUS LADIES, and THE 70′s HOUSE.
Drew’s also the voice of Feathers on the popular online cartoon PLANET UNICORN and has done videos for Funny Or Die, Channel 101, and Super Deluxe. He’s on myspace but not facebook -don’t even think about getting him hooked into that racket.

Jordan Black has been a series regular on such shows as Punk’d, Halfway Home, MTV’s The Lyricist Lounge Show, the WB’s On the Spot and E!’s Star Dates. His voice has been heard on South Park and he’s been seen and heard on MadTV, Free Ride, Significant Others, Cedric The Entertainer Presents, The Andy Dick Show, and According to Jim, as well as the Christopher Guest film For Your Consideration. Jordan’s writing credits include Saturday Night Live, Fox’s Stacked, VH1 ILL-ustrated, VH1 Big in 2002 Awards, and the WB’s Hype.

A California native, Candace Brown debuted in her Fourth grade production of “Pandora’s Box” where she was initially cast as a goblin but was recast as “Hera” when her classmate suspiciously fell ill on performance night. Candace has no comment.
Candace has appeared on Comedy Central’s, “Sarah Silverman Program”, NBC’s Windfall, and Universal’s “The Cat In The Hat”, starring Mike Meyers. She can be seen on The Disney Channel’s “Wizard’s Of Waverly Place”, and will recur on season two Head Case on the Starz Network.
She is a Groundlings Sunday Company Alumni, and performs improv and sketch at The Improv Olympic West with her 2007 Harold champion team “Local 132″. “The Smith Brown Project”, a comedy show written by Candace and her writing partner Colleen Smith has appeared at Improv Olympic, UCB as well as numerous times at The Comedy Central Workspace. In addition the two co-created www.DateGarden.com, a comedy dating website.

and

LOUISVILLE IMPROVISORS with special guest “Jazz Guru” TODD HILDRETH

The Louisville Improvisors originated ensemble Improvisation in Louisville nearly ten years ago and continue to explore the unique art form of Theatrical Improvisation. Their concept shows walk the tightrope of unscripted theatre…combining traditional stage work with the unpredictable element of improv. The result is an adrenaline pumping night where anything goes…and usually does.

The Louisville Improvisors are: Chris Anger, Josh Lane, and Alec Volz

www.louisvilleimprov.com