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Chavez Rocks Bowery Ballroom

Chavez2

I dropped in to the Bowery Ballroom over the weekend to check out Chavez play a “warm-up” concert before they embark on a European tour where they’ll be playing at All Tomorrow’s Parties in London, the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, and at David Lynch’s private club in Paris. Not bad for a band that first appeared on the downtown … Continue reading

Ken’s Music Pick: Anna Haas at Mercury Lounge

Anna Haas

Anna Haas

Songwriter/Pianist Anna Haas makes it clear that she is inspired by and passionately loyal to both her hometown of Nashville and her adopted hometown of New York City. And it’s true that her compositions display the sweetness, storytelling and southern charm of Nashville, but also the spit, grit and danger of NYC.

Her debut album … Continue reading

Ken’s Music Pick: Anthony da Costa at The Living Room

Anthony da Costa

Anthony da Costa

Anthony da Costa is a kid. Or is he an old man? I just can’t tell. Age-wise, he’s pretty damn young; 21 years old, to be exact, but spirit-wise, he’s like a grandfather — sharing pearls of wisdom about life and teaching you how to fold a newspaper into a sailboat/hat.

In an astonishingly … Continue reading

Cake Shop’s Future Remains Uncertain

Cake Shop, 152 Ludlow Street.

Cake Shop, 152 Ludlow Street.

Last Friday night, Brooklyn Vegan broke the news that Ludlow Street music club Cake Shop is in trouble.  The web site published part of a desperate email appeal from co-owner Andy Bodes saying the venue would close if an investor didn’t come forward in 72 hours with $10,000.  Today Grub Street … Continue reading

Main Squeeze Brings the Russians to Bowery Poetry

Mainsqueeze Orchestra

According to neighborhood lore, ten years ago Walter Kühr, the German-born owner of the Main Squeeze Accordion shop on Essex Street, had a dream that he was conducting an all-female accordion orchestra. Not just any all-female accordion orchestra, but an orchestra of unsurpassable quality. “I dreamt I was conducting all these women playing the accordion in … Continue reading

Ken’s Pick: Balthrop Alabama & The Bandana Splits

Balthrop Alabama

Balthrop Alabama

We Have Electricity.  That’s the name of Balthrop Alabama’s latest full-length album. In fact, with a series of lovely EPs, and their debut being a double album, it could be considered their only full-length outing (technically speaking). And true to its name, it does pulse with some power.

In the mid-2000s’, brother & sister co-founders … Continue reading

Ken’s Music Pick: John Forte at the Bowery Ballroom

John Forte

John Forte

John Forte is one of those great, classic stories that appear every once in a while from within the depths of music and entertainment world.  It’s the kind of story that one can get behind.

Forte sprouted as a mild-mannered kid who managed to make it out of the hard Brooklyn neighborhood where he grew … Continue reading

Rooftop Films Announces Summer Features Lineup, Seeks Emerging Bands

Rooftop Films at Open Road Rooftop - photo by Sarah Palmer

Rooftop Films at Open Road Rooftop – photo by Sarah Palmer

Our friends at Rooftop Films have announced the feature film lineup for their upcoming 16th Annual Summer Series.  They’ve been kicking off their summer season down here at the Open Road Rooftop at New Design High School (formerly Seward Park High School) for the last … Continue reading

Ken’s Music Pick: Misty Boyce at Rockwood Music Hall

Misty Boyce

Misty Boyce

Misty Boyce has been drawing comparisons to the likes of Tori Amos and Regina Spektor ever since she arrived in NYC from her southwestern hometown of Las Cruces, New Mexico, by way of the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music.

Fortunately, the young songwriter is wise beyond her years, enough to disregard those comparisons … Continue reading

Ken’s Music Pick: Bryan Dunn at Rockwood Music Hall

Bryan Dunn

Bryan Dunn

There’s a lot that I like about songwriter Bryan Dunn’s style, and it’s not just that he’s from my hometown of Austin, TX. Although, if you discover this particular piece of trivia after hearing him play first, it does make a lot of sense. Dunn’s music does that great Texas thing — mixing pop … Continue reading