A helluva week for music

Every once in a while, there's a week like this:

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Will Hoge
Toad's Place, New Haven
Tuesday Feb. 19, 8 pm

Hoge and Isbell are two or the best young Southern songwriters in a crowded songwriting city. Hoge, is a rocker from a city of country singers. He's been compared favorably to the young Springsteen, and he's not afraid of some old-fashioned rock and roll. Isbell presided over the quintessential modern Southern rock band when he was songwriter and singer for Drive-By Truckers. He rocks as hard with the 400 Unit. Singer-songwriter Dawn Landes opens.






Red Stick Ramblers
Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, Mass
Tuesday Feb. 19, 7 pm

As talented a bunch of boys who have ever come out of Louisiana, this combo crosses the lines from Texas swing, to Cajun to gypsy jazz, and they do it all well. What's more, they make you want to move. This is not some academic dissection of musical genres. This is fun.

Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys
Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, Mass
Thursday, Feb. 21, 7 pm

Riley and his crew are as comfortable with straight-ahead, Cajun traditional dance music as they are with re-interpreting swamp-pop, zydeco and creole music. Riley is a genius on any kind of accordion, and fiddle, and his longtime partner David Greeley is his match.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Toad's Place, New Haven
Friday, Feb. 22, 8 pm

If you haven't rocked to a Vermont band since Phish kissed the arenas goodbye, this band will give you the opportunity to feel like you're back and kicking. Favorites on the festival scene, Potter and band stick to the essentials, and have re-discovered the power of rock and roll.

Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt
Calvin Theater, Northampton Mass
Saturday, Feb. 23 8 pm

These estimable songwriters and singers have toured together before. This time Guy Clark stays at home, but all the more room for Lovett and Hiatt to stretch through their back catalogue to find the many polished gems.



Mardi Gras Ball with:
Red Stick Ramblers
Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys
Keith Frank and the Soileau Zydeco Band
Rhodes-On-The-Pawtuxet, Cranston, RI
Sat. Feb 23, 6 pm

This yearly fundraiser is a bit of a "tardi Gras" celebration, but who sticks by the rules when there's so much fun to be had. Always a fundraiser, this year teams the abovementioned Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys with The Red Stick Ramblers and zydeco giant, Keith Frank. It's always an amazing night in the splendid confines of the restored dance hall in Rhode Island.

Erin McKeown
Music for a Change
Wilde Auditorium, University of Hartford
Sat. Feb 23, 7:30 pm

We at WWUH would like to think of this as a homecoming of sorts as we were among the first to recognize the outrageous talent of this talented singer, songwriter and performer. McKeown was precocious, and now she's just outrageously talented.

Protest songs alive and well in 2007

(updates below)

They speak for themselves.

Mark Erelli - Volunteers


Jason Isbell - Dress Blues


Richard Thompson - Dad's Gonna Kill Me


Randy Newman - A Few Words In Defense of Our Country


Roy Zimmerman - Thanks for the Support


Bruce Springsteen - Long Walk Home


Cindy Lee Berryhill - When Did Jesus Become A Republican



Linda Thompson - Day After Tomorrow









Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Ah Mary




Billy Bragg as Johnny Clash - Old Clash Fan Fight Song

Concerts of the Week

Peter Case
Monday October 15, 7 pm
Buttonwood Tree, 605 Main Street, Middletown
860-344-9674

Well, okay, I'm a bit predjudiced here, since I'm producing this show, though I'm not making any money doing so. It's a benefit for Gilead Community Services which provides mental health services in Middlesex County. Though it would be a "best concert of the week" even if I weren't the promoter. Case is an interesting case. He dropped out of high school in Buffalo and ran away to San Francisco, where he was virtually homeless, and earned money by playing and singing on the streets. He had a punk band called The Nerves. And he had a taste of success with the single, "A Million Miles Away," with his band The Plimsouls. Back in the day, it got heavy rotation on MTV. When he went solo, Case drifted to the rootsier side of things, writing songs of struggle, love, tragedy and hope. He studied the blues masters, and has become one himself. He's released a near-dozen critically-acclaimed albums, and his most recent is Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John, on Yep Roc. He's one of the most accomplished live perfomers I've ever seen and heard.

The Eilen Jewell Band
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton Mass
Friday October 12, 7 and 10 pm respectively

Two young soulful, inventive singer-songwriters and their bands, in two separate shows, on a Friday night in Northampton Mass. Who could imagine a better time. Jewell is a revelation to all who see her for the first time. And Isbell is a talented refugee from the Drive-by Truckers.






Nerissa and Katryna Nields
The Iron Horse, Northampton, Mass
Saturday October 13, 7 pm

Nerissa and Katryna have a new one out, Sister Holler, on their own label, and it's a beautiful synthesis of old folk numbers, and new rootsy songs sung in their inimitable genetically-entwined harmonies. This is the CD release party, which promises surprise appearance from Pioneer Valley friends.