My first month in Europe is about to come to an end.  It has been a wild ride fo realz!  I have covered some good ground, but the big journey is still ahead.  Access to communicative devices (internet, phone) has been rough and expensive.  Have you ever spent $6 for a half hour on the interweb? Yeesh!? I am currently in Koln Germany with an old friend.  Tomorrow I head back to Stockholm where I have intentions of getting some pics uploaded to the web to share with y’all along with the many stories of life, love and leather. Sit tight, hold on to your ear and smile.  I miss and love you all!

So in other non-music related news, as some of you may or may not know I am heading over to Europe (Sweden in particular) for a while.  I leave July 1 and should be back this fall, but who knows?  To coincide with this change in my life I will be changing the direction of BradMatthew.com to more of a journal of my adventures through Europe.  Yes, some of these adventures include music (Kings of Leon in Copenhegan, Radiohead in Prague), but most will fall in the life category. Two Thousand Nine is a year of change for everyone. As the late Jim Morrison once proclaimed, “I wanna get my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames!”

June 15 marks the debut of my new solo project Old Stable Hands. I have been working on it for the past 8 months or so and it has finally come to light.  I will be sharing the stage with my dear friends Ha Ha Tonka and Treaty of Paris.  A special thanks to the Tonka boys for putting me on their Record Release show! If you haven’t heard any of their new tunes, head over to their Myspace profile and check them out.  I have had their new album on repeat for the last few months. Amazing!

What should you expect from Old Stable Hands?  Well, I can assure you it will be an eclectic set full of surprises and guest musicians.  I have stepped away from the bass and gone back to my root instrument, guitar.  I will be heading the lead vocals as well, which is a first. It’s all very exciting and scary at the same time.

ALERT: As of last week, this show was nearly SOLD OUT, so please please please if you plan on attending, buy tickets ASAP! You can by them HERE. Also, I play a 30 minute set starting promptly at 8PM, so if you show up late, you will miss most, if not all, of my set.

JUNE 15
@ Schubas
3159 N Southport
Chicago, IL
8PM - 21+ - $10
w/ Ha Ha Tonka (Record Release!) & Treaty of Paris
BUY TIX

Old Stable Hands Web Site
Old Stable Hands Myspace

UPDATE: Looks like Wilco (The Album) was leaked last night, so in response the band has put the whole album up on their site to stream.  Listen to it HERE!

About a month ago I had the pleasure of seeing Wilco up in Milwaukee at the second of 2 sold out shows at the Pabst Theater. During the show, Jeff Tweedy made reference to a photo shoot before the show that would possibley result in being the cover of their seventh LP, Wilco (The Album), due out June 30, 2009. Well, the results are above. Ha! That is one hell of a album cover I must say. Anyone recognize the Milwaukee location this was taken at?

Wilco (The Album) Track Listing:

1. “Wilco (The Song)”
2. “Deeper Down”
3. “One Wing”
4. “Bull Black Nova”
5. “You and I”
6. “You Never Know”
7. “Country Disappeared”
8. “Solitaire”
9. “I’ll Fight”
10. “Sonny Feeling”
11. “Everlasting Everything”

Wilco debuted the opening track, “Wilco (The Song)”, on The Colbert Report in October of last year.  Pretty awesome tune!  Really looking forward to this album.

“Wilco (The Song)” on The Colbert Report

There are so many great bands that have amazing albums, but when you go to see them live they just stand there play their instruments.  A big part of being a musician is the performance aspect of it all; being an entertainer.  Why go see a band play live when it’s not more enthralling than listening to their album at home in your room?  Fortunately this is NOT the case with Missouri’s bible belt indie titans Ha Ha Tonka and it has never been more explicit than at their show Saturday night at Subterranean in Chicago.

Ha Ha Tonka is slated to release their second LP, Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South, June 16 via Bloodshot Records, so Saturday night was a bit of a showcase of the new tunes.  Luckily I got my hands on an advanced copy of the album and it has been on repeat every since.  It usually takes a band a few albums to truly define their “sound.”  Novel Sounds a bit of a departure from their debut LP Buckle in the Bible Belt; but when hearing the two albums’ songs together, live, it all makes sense.  Ha Ha Tonka has emerged as a force to be reckoned with.  The live show has reached new heights with the incorporation of the new songs and the addition of a few straight up bluegrass tunes, highlighted by a bluegrass version of Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know How It Feels.” These guys are performers, entertainers and know how to work a crowd into a frenzy of energy.  From the first song to the last, the crowd was boogying and swaying, cheering and singing and all was high (a few people were puffing hard in the front row).

The Tonka are in the midst of a Midwest tour and will continue through the summer with an east coast tour with Via Audio, who is another amazing live band.  If you get a chance to catch either bands show, bring your dancing shoes and a smile!

Walking on the Devil’s Backbone - Ha Ha Tonka

Before the show I had listened to very few of Justin Townes’ tunes and what I had listened to didn’t strike me as anything all that special. Armed with just his guitar and the eyes of murder, from the moment he took the stage, you knew he wasn’t fucking around; this guy meant business. Throughout his set, Justin Townes prowled the stage with such utter confidence and attitude it was hard not to watch.  His music is about as raw and authentic as it gets, straight from the green tops of the Appalachians, pure roots Americana.  Accompanying Earle was multi-instumentalist Cory Younts, who was not only one hell of a harp player (harmonica), but ripped between mandolin and banjo as well.

Go see Justin Townes Earle.  Take a listen to his tunes to get a taste of what he is all about, but keep in mind the live show is where his full flavor is to be consumed.

When Dr. Dog first announced it was playing Double Door, I was pretty fucking pumped. Their debut LP, We All Belong, is a great album and frequented my aural pallet in 2007. Last year they released the follow up, Fate, which was good, but never really hooked me in.  Last Friday night marked the second night of a two night stand at Double Door.  While the show was good, like Fate, it never really captivated me.  The band is damn amazing, driven by their guitar harmonies and tight ass bass grooves, but through it all, not many of their songs were distinguishable.  It was great to hear some of my favorites off of We All Belong, including “Worst Trip” and “My Old Ways.”  Those songs rip!  Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to salvage what turned out to be a run of the mill show.

After busting out to national buzz in 2007 with their super catchy song “Lazy Eye”, Siversun Pickups are back with “Panic Switch”, off their followup Swoon, out April 13 on Dangerbird.  I really dug their debut album Carnavas (featuring “Lazy Eye”) and am diggin what I have heard off of Swoon so far.  These guys (and gal) have a great style, quite reminiscent of Smashing Pumpkins before they sucked (or “he sucked”, considering Billy Corgan is the only remaining member). The video for “Panic Switch” was directed by James Frost, who also directed Radiohead’s 3D plotted “House of Cards.” Dig it!