UMFM is proud to support the upcoming show featuring Kathleen Edwards (with Jim Bryson!) and Jenn Grant, September 29 at The Garrick. Good hearted folks have their tickets already, or will surely want to buy them now. But good-hearted folks sometimes wait for times like these:
We’ve got TWO pairs of tickets to give away to this can’t-miss show. Here’s what you need to do to get your hands on a pair:
1) Come see Jeremy Messersmith at Sunset Saloon on September 19. All of the details are on this here site. One lucky person will leave the show with a pair of tickets to the Kathleen Edwards show, just for coming to an amazing house concert. Easy enough.
2) UMFM’s Pledge-O-Rama funding drive is coming up Oct. 19-26. Pre-pledges are being accepted now. We need your support and appreciate you committing to the cause early. So much that for every $10 pledged between now and Sept. 23, we’ll give you one entry in a draw for a pair of tickets to the Kathleen Edwards show.
So, if you were to come to the house concert AND make a pledge, you could win TWO pairs of tickets to see Kathleen Edwards. That’s sure to make you some friends.
Jeremy Messersmith‘s Supper Club Tour
Live @ Sunset Saloon (house concert, West Winnipeg, contact us for address and info)
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
7:30 doors, 8:00 show, over by 10:00 Tickets $15 in advance:
Please bring a pot-luck style dish to share (if you are able) and adult beverages of your choice (if you wish)
All are welcome, family friendly
A few notes about Jeremy, in case you’re not familiar:
Based out of Minneapolis, Jeremy is widely known as the premier songwriter of the bustling Minneapolis music scene. He has been named so several times by each of the major print publications around town
National Public Radio (NPR) named Jeremy’s last album, The Reluctant Graveyard, as one of the Top 10 albums of 2010
Jeremy’s video for Tatooine was a viral sensation, landing in online publications like Wired, USA Today, BoingBoing, Yahoo! (Front Page), etc
Jeremy opened up for President Obama in Minneapolis! Democrat or Republic anytime you can whip the crowd into a frenzy before POTUS its a remarkable thing! 🙂
I often get credit for the great music on the show, but the reality is, a lot of the best tips come from listeners. Such is the case with Jeremy Messersmith, who was introduced to me by listener Tonya, when she lived near Minneapolis. Messersmith is based in the area, and is a darling of the great radio station The Current. Once I heard this guy’s music, I was hooked, and I know that you will be also.
He’s got a knack for irresistable pop hooks and some wonderful production on his albums, but at the core, he’s a singer/songwriter with a keen eye, a delicate heart, and a way with words – just the way we like ’em. His albums just keep getting better, and his star just keeps rising. In the Minneapolis area, he can fill huge rooms (like First Avenue) and take part in huge bills (such as the show at the Minnesota State Fair, where he’s co-billed along with The Jayhawks and a rare and eagerly anticipated reunion of Semisonic), but he’s about to embark on an intimate tour of house concerts/pot luck dinners, called The Supper Club Tour.
We always encourage folks to bring food and make a meal of it, but this time, Jeremy is upping the pressure. He’s asking folks to bring their favourite family dish to share. Sure, we understand if you can’t/won’t, and we won’t kick you out if you don’t bring the Corning Ware, but we really hope you’ll take us up on the idea this time.
New for this show is the online advance ticket sales. All tickets are supposed to be purchased online, in advance. If that isn’t possible for you, please drop us a line below and we’ll negotiate, but it would make things much easier (and less stressful) if you’d do your part and buy a ticket online. It’s cheap, easy, and much appreciated:
I’ve been a Shannon Lyon fan since I first heard his album Wandered almost a decade ago. Since then, he’s written some of my favourite songs in the world. They’re gritty, dark, often sad, sometimes beautiful and celebratory, always amazing. So it was with great excitement that I put together plans to bring him to Winnipeg for a couple of shows.
Well, things don’t always go as planned. One show got cancelled, and the other got moved at the last minute. There was some scrambling to rearrange the show date, and unfortunately that meant that some folks couldn’t make the show. We also knew that some other friends wouldn’t be able to make the show, because they’re a little too far away.
And so, in an attempt to make all those who missed out feel like they were there, and to have a permanent record of what turned out to be an amazing night for all in attendance, I wanted to record a bunch of the show.
With that in mind, I present the following video and audio of the show. None of the recordings are particularly spectacular. I thought I had all bases covered by using two audio recorders, but both ended up with some problems – one was too distorted and the other (which you’ll find here) has some noise (I think Carter was kicking the table that the recorder was sitting on). Oh well, it’s not meant to be a proper live album or a totally accurate reflection of Shannon’s amazing talent.
For those, I highly encourage you to look up his official sites: http://shannonlyonmusic.com/ http://shannonlyon.bandcamp.com/ – at this site, you can download a lot of Shannon’s work over the years. Most people download it for free. Good people make a donation in return. Be a good person, eh.
Shannon Lyon
July 18, 2012
@ Sunset Saloon
You Showed Me HOw
Get Over You
Someday Mourning
Olde Freightliner
Pleasing You Pleases Me
Naive
Oh Why
Backyard Song
Carry Me Down
Lake Huron
Barcelona
I Believe In You
Sad Nights
Since I’m Loving You
Three Days of You
Apparently, there were a couple of great songs left over for an encore, but our crowd was a little too polite, and I was a little too quick to jump up and signal that the show was over. For that, I am eternally regretful. Oh well, we’ll do better next time.
Due to some scheduling difficulties, the Shannon Lyon show originally scheduled for this weekend has been moved up to June 18, that’s TONIGHT!
Tell the Band to Go Home and The Sunset Saloon are very excited to present:
Shannon Lyon
Outdoor potluck dinner & entertainment spectacular
July 18, 2012
6:00 dinner, 7:00 show
Suggested donation $15-20 (price flexible, all proceeds to a talented musician making his way across this vast country)
Bring a lawn chair if the weather is nice (perhaps bug spray…)
All are welcome (bring the kids, friends, family, people off the street, whatever)
Questions? RSVP? Fill out the contact form below!
We’re rolling out all the stops this time for a super show at Sunset Saloon, featuring Shannon Lyon. We’re going to try doing the show in the back yard, if the weather and the bugs don’t ruin the party. With that in mind, we want to get things rolling and over somewhat early, so we’re adding in a dinner component. If you want to come a bit early, bring a dish for a good old fashioned pot-luck. In reality, you don’t have to bring a thing, because we’ve always got you covered. But some kind and generous folks usually bring stuff anyway (we love ’em for it), and really, who doesn’t love a good pot-luck? You can opt in or out of the dinner festivities without guilt. We’ll be here. If you show up to eat, we’ll feed you. If not, we hope to see you at the show. It promises to be amazing.
The first time I heard Shannon Lyon was around the time of the release of his 2003 breakthrough album, “Wandered.” He was the first Canadian artist signed to Richard Branson’s V2 label, and as such, his album got sent out to media dorks like me. I hope that most of them had the same reaction as I did, “WOW!” That album remains one of my all-time favourite releases. It’s gritty and worn, but tender and melodic. It’s powerful and intense, but it contains some really beautiful lyrics. I got to see Shannon live once, when he opened for Luther Wright & The Wrongs at The West End Cultural Centre on their big “Rebuild the Wall” tour. I was blown away. I gave him my business card and told him to keep in touch.
Well, that took a while. I can’t blame the guy, I was a dork and he was on a whirlwind promotional tour. He also lived in Holland. Although from southern Ontario, he moved to Europe and spent most of his time making music and touring overseas. He continued to release terrific albums, most of which were distributed in Canada by the wonderful folks at Busted Flat Records, which has been Shannon’s Canadian base of operations throughout most of his singer/songwriter career (he did record a few early albums as “The Shannon Lyon Pop Explosion.” They’re pretty neat too. I’ll play ’em for you when you come over.) He recorded a bunch of neat stuff in Europe, including a DVD and a rockin’ album of Townes Van Zandt covers. He also put out a really strong album called “This Love This Love,” and eventually, he dropped me a line telling me about it.
Then, a while ago, things really started moving. The long-rumoured Townes CD surfaced online, along with another new CD, “XMas in Korea” as well as a career-spanning retrospective collection, simply called “Songs.” And what songs they are. The amazing thing about all of these albums is that Shannon put them online to download, FREE (although, good-hearted folk are encouraged to pay anyway. Once you hear these songs, you’ll know that they’re worth some money.) He moved back to Canada, ending up in BC, and he started making plans to head across the country this summer, camping and singing along the way. He was looking for places to stop. You can’t get to one end of the country to the other without passing through Winnipeg – it simmply can’t be done – so, probably thanks to Allison Green, he dropped me a line asking if I knew of a place he could play. Uh, YEAH!
He also put up a brand new recording, “Broken Things,” which is definitely one of his best. We made plans to get him to Winnipeg and it’s all happening Wednesday, July 18.
Another amazing opportunity has come our way, and it was too good to pass up. So, making for our most ambitious show and most ambitious week ever, we proudly present:
Joy Kills Sorrow
Live @ Sunset Saloon (house concert, West Winnipeg)
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
7:30 pm
Suggested donation: $20-25 (all proceeds to the artists, and this time, there are 5 of them!)
All are welcome (family friendly, and feel free to bring a friend or forward this info along)
Bring a drink for yourself and/or a snack to share, if you wish.
If the Shannon Lyon show on July 21 goes well, we may consider doing this outdoors as well.
Here’s what that might be like:
We’re branching out a bit with something bigger and a bit different than what we usually present, but this was too great an opportunity to pass up. This super-talented young 5 piece band has wowed audiences at councerts and festivals across North America, including a successful appearance at The Winnipeg Folk Festival last year. You might compare them a bit to Folk Fest favourites Crooked Still or local heroes The Duhks, but this band is definitely unique, and definitely amazing.
The band is based in Boston, but fronted by a Canadian gal from Vancouver Island, named Emma Beaton. If that name sounds familiar, it may be from reading the liner notes to Del Barber’s latest CD, Headwaters. You know, she’s that stunning voice that is featured at the beginning and end of the album, on “Love and Wine.” That alone was enough to get me interested (but I’m a bit Del Barber obsessed…), but one listen to their music, especially tracks from the newest release, “This Unknown Silence,” and I knew this was something worth looking forward to. They’re headed to The Calgary Folk Fest (where Mr. Barber will also appear) and need a place to stop on the way. What better place than The Sunset Saloon?
“Subtle and snazzy, this new jack acoustic outfit merges bluegrass with jazz like it was the most natural combination in the world. Meanwhile, singers and songwriters Emma Beaton and Bridget Kearney bring wry existential intelligence and a haunting, Celtic/Canadian interpretive quality to their delicate yet determined tales of contemporary dislocation and off-kilter love. Kind of like a more accessible, less pleased with themselves Nickel Creek, these are virtuoso art folkies who understand the value of being just folks, too.”
I’m sorry, Canada, but I had to leave you on your birthday. I know that’s a real douchebag thing to do, but it had to be done. I was looking for something important, something that, honestly, you’ve been missing for a while now. I don’t mean to hurt you, baby, but it’s true. Sometimes things just kind of slip a little bit, and you lose sight of them. Sometimes you have to be reminded of what it was that helped you to fall in love in the first place, so you can build up your relationship again. I’m not saying that things have to be the way they were, and you certainly don’t have to try to be like someone else; that ain’t what I’m sayin’. It’s just that I’ve been reminded of something that we once had, and I’m hoping that the spark still lives, and that we can work on strengthening what we have, because I know it’s wonderful.
What? I am getting to the point, baby. I’m sorry. I know you don’t like the long pre-amble, it sounds like I’m making excuses. It’s not that, I just like to be understood, although it happens so rarely. I’m just explaining my motivation. No, I’m not trying to change the subject.
Huh? Oh, yeah, what I was looking for.
Rock and fucking roll.
**********************************
Sometimes you gotta take a road trip. There are good shows at home, sure, but somehow, when you work really hard to be at a show, spend lots of money and do stupid things, like driving home through the night, you get a better experience out of it. Such was the case with the show by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit in Fargo, ND, on July 1. I knew it was going to be good, why else would I go, but I guess I had no idea just how amazing it could be.
The venue was dark. Small. Not the kind of place where you really want to touch anything, if you can help it. It was also a Sunday night, and in Fargo, so nobody was there. Well, more showed up when the headliners took the stage, but during the opening band, there must have been about 30 people. I’ve had more people in my living room. That band was decent. Jaine liked ’em. Me, not so much. I’ve got nothing against them, and if they’re reading this, I hope they’re not offended, but nothing really stood out other than the cellist as a major player, which was interesting. The piano was too loud; kind of annoying, actually. Stopping to talk about the setlist as they went – not really that cool. Yeah, it could make the show more creative, but it just made you look unprepared.
Isbell didn’t need no damn setlist. I have no idea how the 4 guys on stage communicated what was next. Some kind of telepathy I guess, that can only come from having played night after night after sweaty night in dark, smelly bars like that. Isbell’s seen and done it all, I’m sure, when he rose up from the Dirty South with The Drive-By Truckers. He learned about gritty rock and roll in that band, I’m sure, and built a name for himself. I’m sure there was some fear for the future when he and his wife split, and he had to leave that band and go it alone. Nothing to worry about, because he’s got the goods.
A four piece band, Isbell, backed by 3 of the strongest players & singers I’ve seen, tore through a set of songs spanning his career, and musical upbringing. In addition to the stellar songs off of his solo records (including much of the fantastic latest album, “Here We Rest.” My favourites are Alabama Pines and Codeine. Dude did ’em both!), he played a whole bunch of his Drive-By Truckers songs. He didn’t do “Easy on Yourself,” sure, but that probably would have set the crowd into overdrive, and some of them were nearing that point already. He did do Decoration Day and Outfit. God I love those. I thought I’d die when the drums started that slow, pounding intro to Danko/Manuel.
It was the covers that really set me flying: Stone Free was cool, I’ve heard lots of bands do Like a Hurricane, but that was by far my favourite (sorry, Neil); ending off with American Girl? Wow. Even Frank Turner’s version at The Folk Fest Store on Record Store Day can’t touch it.
Back to that crowd. There were some pretty rowdy and annoying loogans there. OK, maybe just that one – waving his arms and screaming at the top of his lungs right at the front of the stage. His pants always dangerously close to falling right down, somehow defying the laws of gravity and keeping from dropping to his ankles. I guess the most annoying part was the regular high-fives he dished out to everybody around, including to me. Later on, he resorted to hugs; luckily, I missed out on that. The folks that we stood the closest to and chatted with most (and bummed a Sharpie from) turned out to be from Winnipeg. Wish I’d known that there. The things you learn later on from Facebook.
It was a hell of a long drive home. Smarter people might have stayed the night, but smarter people ain’t so broke. I forgot my camera. Didn’t bring my own Sharpie (T-Bar would be so disappointed.) I don’t really know all of Isbell’s songs well enough to keep a proper set list. I’ll listen more, closely, after the post-show listening moratorium has passed, and I’ll hope that someone posts a proper set list online. But I do know that it was worth it.
I found the spirit of Rock N’ Roll.
In Fargo.
On Canada Day.
Eh.
Tell the Band to Go Home and The Sunset Saloon are very excited to present:
Shannon Lyon
Outdoor potluck dinner & entertainment spectacular July 21, 2012
5:00 dinner, 6:00 show
Suggested donation $15-20 (price flexible, all proceeds to a talented musician making his way across this vast country)
Bring a lawn chair if the weather is nice (perhaps bug spray…)
All are welcome (bring the kids, friends, family, people off the street, whatever)
Questions? RSVP? Fill out the contact form below!
We’re rolling out all the stops this time for a super show at Sunset Saloon, featuring Shannon Lyon. We’re going to try doing the show in the back yard, if the weather and the bugs don’t ruin the party. With that in mind, we want to get things rolling and over somewhat early, so we’re adding in a dinner component. If you want to come a bit early, bring a dish for a good old fashioned pot-luck. In reality, you don’t have to bring a thing, because we’ve always got you covered. But some kind and generous folks usually bring stuff anyway (we love ’em for it), and really, who doesn’t love a good pot-luck? You can opt in or out of the dinner festivities without guilt. We’ll be here. If you show up to eat, we’ll feed you. If not, we hope to see you at the show. It promises to be amazing.
The first time I heard Shannon Lyon was around the time of the release of his 2003 breakthrough album, “Wandered.” He was the first Canadian artist signed to Richard Branson’s V2 label, and as such, his album got sent out to media dorks like me. I hope that most of them had the same reaction as I did, “WOW!” That album remains one of my all-time favourite releases. It’s gritty and worn, but tender and melodic. It’s powerful and intense, but it contains some really beautiful lyrics. I got to see Shannon live once, when he opened for Luther Wright & The Wrongs at The West End Cultural Centre on their big “Rebuild the Wall” tour. I was blown away. I gave him my business card and told him to keep in touch.
Well, that took a while. I can’t blame the guy, I was a dork and he was on a whirlwind promotional tour. He also lived in Holland. Although from southern Ontario, he moved to Europe and spent most of his time making music and touring overseas. He continued to release terrific albums, most of which were distributed in Canada by the wonderful folks at Busted Flat Records, which has been Shannon’s Canadian base of operations throughout most of his singer/songwriter career (he did record a few early albums as “The Shannon Lyon Pop Explosion.” They’re pretty neat too. I’ll play ’em for you when you come over.) He recorded a bunch of neat stuff in Europe, including a DVD and a rockin’ album of Townes Van Zandt covers. He also put out a really strong album called “This Love This Love,” and eventually, he dropped me a line telling me about it.
Then, a while ago, things really started moving. The long-rumoured Townes CD surfaced online, along with another new CD, “XMas in Korea” as well as a career-spanning retrospective collection, simply called “Songs.” And what songs they are. The amazing thing about all of these albums is that Shannon put them online to download, FREE (although, good-hearted folk are encouraged to pay anyway. Once you hear these songs, you’ll know that they’re worth some money.) He moved back to Canada, ending up in BC, and he started making plans to head across the country this summer, camping and singing along the way. He was looking for places to stop. You can’t get to one end of the country to the other without passing through Winnipeg – it simmply can’t be done – so, probably thanks to Allison Green, he dropped me a line asking if I knew of a place he could play. Uh, YEAH!
He also put up a brand new recording, “Broken Things,” which is definitely one of his best. We made plans to get him to Winnipeg and keep him here as long as possible. He has a show booked at Pop Soda’s on July 24th. I strongly encourage you to be there; I know I will. But most excitingly for me, we’re also going to have a show at The Sunset Saloon on July 21. That’s a pretty special day in our house, and we’ll be looking to celebrate. We’d love it if you would join us for the party.
UMFM is proud to support the upcoming show featuring Kathleen Edwards (with Jim Bryson!) and Jenn Grant, September 29 at The Garrick. Good hearted folks have their tickets already, or will surely want to buy them now. But good-hearted folks sometimes wait for times like these:
