Here are musician Ken Beasley’s top shows of the week:
JOSH MEASE – Rockwood Music Hall – Thursday, April 1
When you listen to the music of Josh Mease, a million images orbit your mind, and none of them will ever hurt you. It’s as if you’re sleepily floating towards a framed watercolor wilderness, slowly approaching, closer and closer, until you finally enter it and become one with swirling streams, grassy meadows, and frolicking bunnies.
Usually armed with little more than his guitar and some effects pedals, Mease weaves a thoroughly lush tapestry of sound that does well to help you forget a rough day at the office, or that you even have a job.
Rockwood Music Hall (196 Allen St., between Stanton & Houston) | 11pm | FREE.
MICK BARR + INFINITE BODY – New Museum – Thursday, April 1
Mick Barr is a guy who plays the guitar. He just happens to play it jaw-on-the-floor amazingly. To call his compositions experimental or progressive is to not understand the meaning of “experimental” or “progressive”. Barr (of Ocrilim and Krallice, to name but a few) pushes the boundaries of phrasing and technique like none other. As part of the New Museum’s “Get Weird” series, Barr continues his journey of exploring the supposed limitations of one fret board and six strings.
New Museum – 235 Bowery (between Prince and Spring Sts) | 7pm | $12
HAMMELL ON TRIAL – The Livingroom – Friday, April 2
Hammell On Trial made his bones years ago in Austin, TX, but in the late 90s, he returned home to New York and has continued to gain legions of devoted fans. Part of the reason is that his style fits so many different tastes. With the smart, half-rhymey delivery of his lyrics, he appeals to the artsy spoken word crowd. With the biting, informed, satirical content of those lyrics, he’s at home with the middle finger throwin’ political yappers, too. Because the instrument he plays is an acoustic guitar, he fits right in with the coffee house listeners, and because he bangs the living crap out of that acoustic guitar with a fiery rage, the punk scene is happy to call him one of their own too. Always sharp, and always entertaining, take a break from your Ludlow bar crawling on Friday night to pop in and catch his set.
The Livingroom – 154 Ludlow Street |10pm | FREE
Splitting his time between performing and producing, contributor Ken Beasley primarily plays with his own roots/rock band, Ken Beasley & Co., as well as the power punk outfit Missy Sport, while also curating the Underground at the Abrons music series on the Lower East Side.
