Bay Area Band SorryEverAfter Arrives on the Scene

The always fecund San Francisco music scene has been burgeoning for the last few years with bands like Kelley Stoltz, The Oh Sees, Sonny and the Sunsets, Ty Segall and Girls breaking out nationally and opening the doors for hooky bands who appreciate distortion. When Bay Area band vets Lynda Mandolyn, Erica Liss, Christa DiBiase and Mike Cloward started SorryEverAfter, they discovered that years on the road had earned them dividends that are impossible to fake: confidence and dynamic chemistry. The quartet plays spare, fuzzy power pop with girlish harmonies, feedback-laden guitars and a locomotive backbeat. Hypnotic, blissed-out songs share brutally honest lyrics and a wry sensibility that reflects the complexities experienced by friends who unflinchingly look life in the face.

The band has been in hyperdrive since forming. Their first show was in August, SorryEverAfter released a free 6 song cassette in September with custom art on its face in a limited edition that fans snapped up in record time, while they were beginning to track songs for releases in early 2012 and filming their first video, “Honey Girl”. Following that, they’ll spend December recording with Tim Green (The F**ing Champs) at his Louder Studios for a full length and a Flexidisc.  They are firming up touring for the middle of January when their 6 song EP “Meet Us When The Lights Go Low” is released.  January 24th to be exact!

The band came together thanks to drummer Cloward’s urge to start something new and a chance meeting with Christa, who brought singer/guitarist/lyricist Lynda into the fold along with Erica. Cloward spent years playing with seminal west coast band 28th Day (with a young Barbara Manning), Richard Buckner, the Sunbirds and Ambulance as well as founding the great DIW Magazine and Devil in the Woods Records. Lynda hails from Detroit Rock City, where she was inducted into the Detroit Metro Times Hall of Fame at the age of 23. She was a member of Fat Wreck Chords-signed Fabulous Disaster (winner of SF Weekly’s Best Punk Band in 2001 and the first all girl band to tour Eastern Europe after the wall came down. Fellow guitarist Christa (Girl Band, Sassy!!!)has a playing history with both Lynda and bassist Erica, who, as a member of MDC,  played all over the world. The entire band has a ferocious baseball obsession, fueled by their beloved Giants, so during the season, if they aren’t playing, they are easy to locate.

For more information and video check out www.sorryeverafter.com

Indie Rock Orchestra The Poison Oaks Play Residency at Aviary Gallery to Celebrate New 7″ Pine out November 9th

  “Ambition often follows talent, and Laura Cortese has an embarrassment of both.” John Wenzel, Denver Post

 The Poison Oaks began as a studio experiment for fiddler and side-woman Laura Cortese. Originally an excuse to focus on experimentation, the group evolved into a full-fledged collective including as few as five and as many as fifteen members. After two years of studio sessions The Poison Oaks have emerged: with songbird vocals, triple tracked banjo and shredding guitars, they are an indie rock folkestra with fiddle that roars and subsides. Studio sessions were fruitful, yielding a vinyl 7” (with 3 bonus tracks available as downloads) called Pine to be released November 9th. The Poison Oaks will playing a residency at Aviary Gallery in Jamaica Plain on November 9^th, 16^th  23^rd and 30^th.

Stylistically in line with artists like St. Vincent and My Brightest Diamond, the Poison Oaks collaborations have resulted in a beautifully composed set of chamber pop songs. Compelling imagery and a fine wit, Cortese draws parallels between the devil and one of the seven Deadly Sins, then pirouettes to turn out a plaintive road song about yearning for love while on tour. While her previous work embraced classical and folk styles, the Oaks tunes are layered and embellished with choral background singers, multi-tracked banjo and chiming, distorted guitars. Founder Laura Cortese on the impetus for Pine: “When we began in 2009 we called them arranging sessions and we were almost dogmatic about thinking of the process as a project not a future record. Our focus was to get as arty and creative as possible, no limitations, no boundaries.”

Although The Poison Oaks are a fairly new project, Laura Cortese has been making music for the better part of her life. Welding the propulsive grace of folk styles to disarmingly open-hearted original pop songs, Laura Cortese is among the most intriguing and versatile, musicians in the bountiful New England post-folk scene. At home in any number of styles, her highly-visible work as a supporting musician (on fiddle, vocals, and bass) includes appearances with Band of Horses, Uncle Earl and – as part of Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden – Patterson Hood and Michael Franti. She comes from a family of musicians, received formal training at Berklee before launching her career; she has received coverage in publications like Strings, Songwriter’s Monthly and Blogcritics.

The Poison Oaks includes a myriad of acclaimed musicians, including Sam Amidon, Aoife O’Donovan, Kristin Andreassen, Neil Cleary, Matthew Douglas, Jefferson Hamer, Jennifer Kimball, Robin MacMillan, Dave Mattacks, Jacob Silver, Dietrich Stause and Pierce Woodward who perform in acts like Uncle Earl, Crooked Still, Elton John, George Harrison, Josh Ritter and myriad other bands and projects.

Amy Gore and her Valentines Release “Drivin’ Around” with a Smashing Video on November 23rd

Amy Gore and her Valentines have pure Detroit pedigrees in spades – their musical backgrounds give them the chops they need to rock, but it’s the on stage synchronicity that drives the band. After spending the summer recording, the band announces the release of their first single “Drivin’ Around” with a killer new video. They’ll screen it in Detroit on November 23rd at their Thanksgiving Eve show at Small’s, the song will be available for sale on iTunes, Amazon, eMusic and other online retailers.

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Amy Gore has been the heart and soul of bands like Gore Gore Girls and Gorevette, producing critically acclaimed albums and performing with icons like The Cramps and Blondie. In early 2011, she’d written a batch of new songs and booked a one-off show at Detroit’s Blow Out festival to perform them. Originally named Amy Gore and the Squires, Gore assembled Jackson Smith (T-Bone Burnett’s Speaking Clock Revue, Electric Six) on guitar, Leann Banks (the Von Bondies) on bass and Joe Leone (Grayling, Fletcher Pratt) hitting the skins. It became obvious on stage that the band’s chemistry was too potent to walk away from. “We had no expectations beyond that first show, but the chemistry on stage was instant and powerful. It was as if everyone in the room knew something special was happening. Afterwards, Jackson called me to say they wanted to continue as a real band, he and Joe were really impressed with my songs and the vibe on stage. I couldn’t ask for better band mates, so we decided to move forward.”

A name change followed (they dubbed it the Valentines following a particularly prolific songwriting session Gore had over that weekend in February) and the band began recording and playing high profile shows. In April of 2011, the band entered the studio with Al Sutton (Kid Rock) at Rustbelt Studios. Gore and the band have stylistically evolved from her roots in the punk/garage world, the Valentine’s sound is pure rock n’ roll with power pop touches; the songs are unbelievably infectious. Smith’s guitar work gives these songs their edge – his bluesy solo on “So Lost Now” rips through the pretty vocals and wouldn’t be out of place on a T Rex album.

Amy Gore and Her Valentines came together organically and quickly gelled into a band that sounds like they’ve spent years together. Their dramatic stage presence demands attention – great song craft and unforgettable melodies will keep audiences in thrall long after that first glance.

Taylor Hollingsworth and Kate Taylor singing together are a match made in heaven, (or maybe hell, if the devil has anything to do with this, which would not be surprising). You might know Taylor from previous solo albums or bands but most likely from Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band. He was the guitar player who also wrote and sang “Snake Hill” and “Air Mattress” on the album “Outer South”. If you’ve seen Maria Taylor play then you have most likely seen Kate in her band either playing keys, drums, or bass, and most importantly, harmonizing the soft beautiful background melodies.

Nowadays, Kate and Taylor have joined hand in hand and formed a band. Ladies and Gentlemen, “Dead Fingers”, might just be what you’ve been waiting for! In a time when guy-girl duos are becoming quite popular, this one is not just some gimmick, however perfect the timing and package may be. You would almost think Kate was married to her manager, or record label executive, who was having them act like they were romantic just to sell tickets and albums. But in fact, this Alabama duo are recently married and the two just recorded their first self titled full length with Bruce Watson (RL Burnside, Junior Kimbrough , AA Bondy), and is being released on Big Legal Mess/ Fat Possum Records early 2012.

While showing a wide range of styles, ranging from duet styled songs like those of John Prine and Iris DeMent, X, or Lee Hazelwood and Ann Margaret, to straight up great classic rock bands like the Stones, Beatles, or even Traveling Wilburys, this band should find a nice home with fans of more current duos like She and Him, Jenny and Johnny or Civil Wars.

“Ambition often follows talent, and Laura Cortese has an embarrassment of both.”  John Wenzel, Denver Post

http://www.facebook.com/thepoisonoaks

http://thepoisonoaks.tumblr.com/

Amy Gore & Her Valentines

Over the years, the Detroit music scene has produced a dizzying array of incredible bands in every genre from classic R&B and soul to the MC5 and the Stooges. The current generation has internalized an incredible amount of musical goodness as they develop as artists; musical acuity seems to be part of the gene pool. But chops and taste will only get a band so far in a crowded field of mediocrity. The standouts have that intangible magnetism that can’t be faked – Amy Gore and Her Valentines have it in spades.

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Amy Gore has been the heart and soul of bands like Gore Gore Girls and Gorevette, producing critically acclaimed albums and performing with icons like The Cramps and Blondie. In early 2011, she’d written a batch of new songs and booked a one-off show at Detroit’s Blow Out festival to perform them. Originally named Amy Gore and the Squires, Gore assembled Jackson Smith (T-Bone Burnett’s Speaking Clock Revue, Electric Six) on guitar, Leann Banks (the Von Bondies) on bass and Joe Leone (Grayling, Fletcher Pratt) hitting the skins. It became obvious on stage that the band’s chemistry was too potent to walk away from. “We had no expectations beyond that first show, but the chemistry on stage was instant and powerful. It was as if everyone in the room knew something special was happening. Afterwards, Jackson called me to say they wanted to continue as a real band, he and Joe were really impressed with my songs and the vibe on stage. I couldn’t ask for better band mates, so we decided to move forward.”

A name change followed (they dubbed it the Valentines following a particularly prolific songwriting session Gore had over that weekend in February) and the band began recording and playing high profile shows. In April of 2011, the band entered the studio with Al Sutton (Kid Rock) at Rustbelt Studios. Gore and the band have stylistically evolved from her roots in the punk/garage world, the Valentine’s sound is pure rock n’ roll with power pop touches; the songs are unbelievably infectious. Smith’s guitar work gives these songs their edge – his bluesy solo on “Drivin’ Around” rips through the pretty vocals and wouldn’t be out of place on a T Rex album.

Amy Gore started playing guitar at age 14.  Gore released three studio albums as the leader of the Gore Gore Girls; their sound was tagged as “the Ronettes meet the MC5”. On the band’s second album, 2002′s Up All Night Amy’s songwriting ventured into a 1960′s pop-soul direction while maintaining a low-fi aesthetic. The band was covered by a stack of publications from Village Voice to Women’s Wear Daily. Her next project was Gorevette (with power pop icon Nikki Corvette); they toured with Blondie and The Donnas after releasing Lustfully Yours. Gore’s talents are myriad: she is a ferocious guitarist /singer/songwriter who creates perfect pop gems and delivers them from the stage with passion.

Jackson Smith is a crack studio musician who has played on albums by Wanda Jackson, Steve Earle and Karen Elson. He has toured with Elton John, Leon Russell and T-Bone Burnett’s Speaking Clock Review.

Leann Banks was born and raised on Detroit’s east side and began playing guitar and bass as a teenager. She has played in Ghost City, the Sirens and The Von Bondies, who had a chart topping single called “C’mon C’mon” which can be heard as the theme song to Dennis Leary’s series Rescue Me.

Joe Leone has drummed in psych-pop quartet the Fletcher Platt, the Gershwins and Grayling as well as Jackson’s Smith’s trio Back in Spades.

Amy Gore and Her Valentines came together organically and quickly gelled into a band that sounds like they’ve spent years together. Their dramatic stage presence demands attention – great song craft and unforgettable melodies will keep audiences in thrall long after that first glance.

For music and more: http://valentines.thisisamygore.com/

JACK OBLIVIAN

When you come to the Jack Oblivian party, you are going to expect some pawn shops, bad intentions and low-down sleaze and on Rat City (in stores September 13^th), he delivers. From the feral existentialism of songs like “Rat City” and “Mass Confusion” to the unhinged love songs with underlying sweetness like “Girl on the Beach” to vignette-heavy songs like “Girl with the Bruises”, Jack disembowels American roots music and the resulting deconstructed songs are tied together with an undeniable groove that only a drummer could muster. Among the originals are some well-picked covers, including a buzzing psyche version of “Moses and Me” by Tommy James and the Shondells, the Howlin’ Wolf-esque  “Old Folks Boogie”, re-imagined as a Mississippi trash-blues worthy of T-Model Ford in his prime and “Lover Please!”, a hit for Clyde McPhatter that showcases the incredible guitar slinging of labelmate and collaborator John Paul Keith. Jack Oblivian produced Rat City and played a myriad of instruments on the sessions, at times playing everything.

When band vets Lynda Mandolyn, Erica Liss, Christa DiBiase and Mike Cloward started SorryEverAfter, they discovered that years on the road had earned them dividends that are impossible to fake: confidence and dynamic chemistry. The quartet plays spare, fuzzy power pop with girlish harmonies, feedback-laden guitars and a locomotive backbeat. Hypnotic, blissed-out songs share brutally honest lyrics and a wry sensibility that reflects the complexities experienced by friends who unflinchingly look life in the face.

SorryEverAfter have big plans for the coming months – their first release will be a free 6-song cassette with customize art on each face, after which they begin to track songs for their first album a blue vinyl 12” EP in November.  Following that, they’ll record with both Tim Green and Jack Endino for the release of a Valentines Day full-length.

The band came together thanks to drummer Cloward’s urge to start something new and a chance meeting with Christa, who brought singer/guitarist/lyricist Lynda into the fold along with Erica. Cloward spent years playing with seminal west coast band 28^th Day with Barbara Manning, Richard Buckner, the Sunbirds and Ambulance as well as founding the great DIW Magazine and Devil in the Woods Records who signed Modestos’ acclaimed Grandaddy. (is my memory accurate here Mike?). Lynda hails from Detroit Rock City, where she was inducted into the Detroit Metro Times Hall of Fame at the age of 23. She was a member of Fat Wreck Chords-signed Fabulous Disaster (winner of SF Weekly’s Best Punk Band in 2001 and the first all girl band to tour Eastern Europe after the wall came down. Fellow guitarist Christa (Girl Band, Sassy!!!)has a playing history with both Lynda and bassist Erica, who, as a member of MDC, rocked behind the Iron Curtain. The entire band has a ferocious baseball obsession, fueled by Candlestick Park and their beloved Giants, so during the season, if they aren’t playing, they are easy to locate.

www.sorryeverafter.com

Glenn DANZIG “Legacy” Performance featuring Danzig, and rare onstage reunion with Samhain Members & Doyle Von Frankenstein of The Misfits at Riot Fest 2011

Friday, October 7^th at Congress Theater

Since 2005, Riot Fest has presented some of the best bands from every genre under the umbrella of rock punk and metal, with epic reunions being a hallmark of the festival. After announcing headliners Weezer, Descendents, Social Distortion and X on June 20 for the Chicago edition, Riot Fest is beyond excited to announce its final headliner. On Friday, October 7, a very special Danzig “Legacy” performance with Glenn Danzig reuniting for Performances with Samhain Members, an onstage Reunion with Doyle from The Misfits as well as a blistering Danzig set will take place at Congress Theater during Riot Fest 2011 (Chicago).

“Everyone in music has a band or a musician that changed them.  For me, it is Glenn Danzig.  I am in music because of Danzig, Samhain and The Misfits.  I remember being a 10-year-old when my friend handed me Danzig, and it blew me away.  It was different…it was the first album for me, now looking back, where form matched content. Soon after, I found this entire wealth of music he wrote before 1988 and I became an even bigger fan. Musically, it opened my world to punk, metal and hardcore,” said Michael Petryshyn, founder of Riot Fest.  “To have Glenn perform his solo works, to go on stage with Samhain for a set and, lastly, to play Misfits songs with Doyle will always be the one show I remember.”
Thus far, Riot Fest has announced: Weezer * Social Distortion * Danzig * Samhain * Misfits set (Doyle and Danzig) *Descendents * X (play “Los Angeles”) * Youth of Today * Suicide Machines * ALL (Scott, Chad and Dave) * Helmet * D Generation * Down By Law * 7Seconds * Leftover Crack * The Business * Strike Anywhere * The Tossers * Macabre* Nachtmystium * The Flatliners * Flatfoot 56 * The Menzingers * Banner Pilot * The Pavers * Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band * Shot Baker * The Copyrights* Cheap Girls * Larry and His Flask * Chines Telephones * The Crombies * The Holy Mess * Van Buren Boys * Neutron Bombs * The Infected  AND MANY MORE WILL BE ANNOUNCED THROUGHOUT THE WEEK…

Multiple-day passes and individual tickets go on sale Friday, June 24 at 10:00 a.m. CST. Visit www.ticketfly.com to purchase tickets for Congress Theater, Bottom Lounge, Double Door, Cobra Lounge and the AAA Warehouse will hold Riot Fest shows – a shuttle bus will take fans from venue to venue and a variety of ticket options are available.

Red Bull Riot Fest Chicago October 5-9^th

Congress Theater

Bottom Lounge

Double Door

Cobra Lounge
AAA Warehouse
& more

Danzig * Samhain * Misfits set (Doyle and Danzig) * Weezer * Social Distortion * Descendents * X (play “Los Angeles”) * Youth of Today * Suicide Machines * ALL (Scott, Chad and Dave) * Helmet * D Generation * Down By Law * The Business * Strike Anywhere * The Tossers * Mabacre* Nachtmystium * The Flatliners * Flatfoot 56 * The Menzingers * Banner Pilot* The Pavers * Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band * Shot Baker * The Copyrights* Cheap Girls * Larry and His Flask * Chinese Telephones * The Crombies * The Holy Mess * Van Buren Boys * Neutron Bombs * The Infected…. AND MANY MORE WILL BE ANNOUNCED THROUGHOUT THE WEEK…

Early Bird Festival Passes – $99 (sold out)

Festival Pass – $145
(Includes access to all Riot Fest 2011 shows October 5-9, grants access to exclusive secret shows beginning in Summer 2011)
Congress Pass – $135
(Includes access into the October 6-9th Congress Theater shows)