THURSDAY, APRIL 11
Chasco Fiesta Presents: Southern Hospitality Easy Livin’ is the debut full-length from Southern Hospitality, the new project by three biggies of the Southern blues scene: consummate Bradenton-Tampa Bay area axeman, slide dripping lap steel player and brassy-toned singer Damon Fowler; booming resonant-voiced keys-banger Victor Wainwright, from Memphis; and South Florida’s deep and grizzly-toned singer, guitarist and two-stringed Diddley bow wailer, JP Soars. Tab Benoit oversaw the production of Easy Livin’ in his New Orleans studio, and in addition to co-writing some of the tracks, he managed to capture the organic feel of three friends enjoying a fruitful collaboration via an all-live recording process. The resulting album — which dropped on Blind Pig Records last month — is a warm mix of funky grooving, get-you-moving Delta blues, boogie woogie, Memphis soul, and easy going roots music marked by the vocal howls, croons and support harmonies of all three men. This performance is presented as part of the long-running Pasco County festival, Chasco Fiesta. (Sims Park Amphitheater, New Port Richey)
Nonstop Swing A Side Door Jazz program of swinging sounds that “salute the music of the great piano trios” as delivered by guitarist Nate Najar, bassist John Lamb and pianist Kenny Drew, Jr. (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
Forever Came Calling w/Heart To Heart/Last Call Before they join the 2013 edition of Warped Tour, driving punk-pop outfit Forever Came Calling headlines some dates on this “Road to Mixtape Tour.” Last year’s Contender delivered forceful eruptions of power chord riffage and hollered-sung choruses in that snotty youthful tone typical of mainstream emo-pop. Support by Pure Noise Records labelmates Heart to Heart, from California, and Las Vegas indie punkers Last Call. (Epic Problem @ Skatepark of Tampa)
FRIDAY, APRIL 12
Exodus w/Riptorn/Volcanic Slut/Maverick Hunter/Arbitration San Francisco thrash metal vets Exodus temporarily part from the Anthrax-headed “Metal Alliance Tour” to headline this one-off date. Though nothing new has been released since dark and epic 2010 full-length, Exhibit B: The Human Condition, bassist Jack Gibson told Peek from the Pit that a new album was in the works; the only thing holding it up is busy tour schedules and the current temporary gig of guitarist/songwriter Gary Holt, who’s been playing with Slayer while regular axeman Jeff Hanneman recovers from a flesh-eating disease. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
Harry & The Potters w/Iji/In Glove with Bach Brothers Paul and Joe DeGeorge (aka Harry & The Potters) sing cheeky-witted wizard rock over a bed of guitar and keys, and have three LPs, various EPs, holiday albums and remixes filled up with ditties all based on the Harry Potter books — “Voldemort Can’t Stop the Rock,” “In Which Draco Malfoy Cries Like a Baby,” “The Economics of the Wizarding World Don’t Make Sense,” “Diagon Alley” and the like. This is the second stop on their five-date Florida tour; they also hit The Venture Compound in St. Petersburg on Tue., April 16. (Epic Problem @ Skatepark of Tampa)
Corey Smith The cult-popular singer, songwriter and acoustic guitarist from Georgia — who regularly sells out shows and has grossed millions as an indie artist — plays a hooky mix of country, folk, blues and rock; last year saw the release of a live album, Live in Chattanooga. (Dallas Bull, Tampa)
The People's Temple w/Luxury Mane/Cassolette Two pairs of brothers make up The People’s Temple, the trippy, hazy, loose songwriting that pours from their collective consciousness full of rocking guitar riffs and watery warped solos, steady plowing beats, and an overall rock aesthetic that gets the 1960s psych-garage treatment ala Love on sophomore LP More For The Masses. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
SATURDAY, APRIL 13
Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour The touring version of the exalted Monterey Jazz Festival — which supports jazz education and performance programs in local, regional, national and international venues — stops in 40 cities (Tampa included) with its all-star band of jazz talents. The 55th Anniversary on Tour Band members are vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, bassist/musical director Christian McBride (both three-time Grammy winners), pianist Benny Green, sax player Chris Potter, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and drummer Lewis Nash. The sextet performs classic jazz tunes by the likes of Bobby Hutcherson, Dizzy Gillespie and Billie Holiday along with some of their own original compositions. (Ferguson Hall at the Straz Center for Performing Arts, Tampa)
Umphrey’s McGee w/Break Science Chicago prog-rock sextet Umphrey’s McGee (est. 1997) makes their first return to St. Pete in more than six years, bringing their high-octane technicality, multi-voice harmonies, absurd humor, and huge repertoire of genre-hopping sounds (which jump between and mix elements of jazz, funk, reggae, metal, hip-hop, classic rock, and electronica) to Jannus. For more about UM, check out my interview with singer/guitarist Brendan Bayliss on p. 43. Warm-up by Brooklyn electro glitch-hop duo Break Science, which backs 2012 Pretty Lights Records EP, Monolith Code. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
Fundraiser Hellraiser w/Permanent Makeup/Mountain Holler/DJ RE:St Pete A group of community-oriented bike enthusiasts are behind the St. Pete Bike Co-Op, a nonprofit that promotes cycling as an alternative form of transportation while offering help with bike maintenance and advocating ride safety via education and classes. The organization has secured space in a building at the St. Pete Shuffle Club, but must raise another $1,000 for tools and startup supplies to get the Co-Cop off the ground. Hence this noon to 4 p.m. fundraiser; the $10 suggested donation includes a bike safety check, snacks, a beverage or two, and live music by jangly noise/post-punk threesome Permanent Makeup, acoustic guitar-wielding Mountain Holler and spins by DJ RE:St Pete. (St. Pete Bike Co-Op, St. Petersburg)
The Local Revolt Music Series – Round 3: Consinity w/Sunshine & Bullets/The Stereotypes/The August Name/Fight Another Day/UNRB/many more Tampa Bay heavy metal quintet Consinity headlines this 14-band bill of harder-edged local talent, with proceeds to support the I Like it HOT! Charity Corporation; $5 admission (free advance tickets at thelocalrevolt.net). (Minnreg Building, Largo)
Floor/Thrones A double bill of doom, sludge and stoner metal featuring two acts that hail from opposite corners of the U.S. — Miami staple Floor is the intermittently active outfit led by Torche guitarist/singer Steve Brooks, while Thrones is the solo project of Seattle musician Joe Preston, whose foreboding sounds are built on bass, keys and vocals. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Weird Al Yankovic He’s reached near messianic cult-hero status with his nerdy mastery of pop culture parody. As much as I love Weird Al Yanovic, however, recent releases like “Perform This Way” (Gaga) and “Party in the CIA” (Miley Cyrus) don’t come close to the comedic brilliance of “White and Nerdy” and “Eat It.” Probably not his fault; more to do with the bland source material he has to work with these days. But there’s no denying his honest-to-goodness musical talent, which he demonstrated on his last stop at Ruth Eckerd in 2011, shredding on the accordion and belting out in key while performing mano a mano with his super-tight live band of three decades. His return show should prove just as entertaining. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater) —Julie Garisto
SUNDAY, APRIL 14
The Cave Singers w/Bleeding Rainbow The next indie credible band brought to you by Aestheticized is The Cave Singers, which captivate with a Pacific Northwest stylistic mix of roots, folk and indie rock. Their sound on 2013 fourth album Naomi has been filled out by the supple lowend maneuvers of newest band member, Fleet Foxes’ Morgan Henderson, and is marked by buoyant beats, Afro and pastoral-flavored guitar melodies, and the tinny twangy tenor of frontman Pete Quirk. This is the foursome’s first national headlining tour. Also playing: Philly’s garage pop-fuzz purveyors, Bleeding Rainbow, which signed to Kanine Records last year and issued a third LP, Yeah Right. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Ol’ Dirty Sundays w/DJ Sureshot/DJ Balance The weekly party features live graffiti artists, local B-Boy crews, grill food (burgers, dogs, brats, chicken sammies), and DJ’s spinning both old and new hip-hop, funk, reggae and soul joints. Residents Casper and LeSage are joined by different guests each Sunday, sometimes returnees, but always someone who adds a unique flavor to the mix. This week at the decks following the AES show, it’s DJ Sureshot (of Orlando’s Tablehogs crew) and DJ Balance (Double Helix). (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Ben Miller Band Gospel-fused slide guitar-howling Delta blues, bouncier New Orleans-flavored bayou blues, Appalachian folk, country twangy roots, and fast-dashing bluegrass all make an appearance in the music of Ben Miller, a Missouri singer-songwriter who plays axe, harp, banjo and foot percussion; his three-piece is rounded out by Scott Leeper on one-stringed washtub bass, and Doug Dicharry Miller, who wheels between drums, percs, trumpet, trombone, mandolin, electric washboard and electric spoons. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
TUESDAY, APRIL 16
Steven Wilson Another artist to dive into the studio with the brilliant Alan Parsons (Dark Side of the Moon, Abbey Road) is British singer, guitarist and songwriter Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree fame, who, Parsons told me in an interview a few months back, “approached me because he wanted an engineer who had lived through the ’70s, and we did it in a very ’70s way — everybody playing together, all the instruments in the studio as opposed to being plugged into the control room.” Wilson’s supernatural-themed third LP, The Raven That Refused to Sing (and Other Stories), is a prog-rock suite of six expansive compositions marked by symphonic-lush arrangements that build to wall-of-sound climaxes, while more rocking instrumentals are driven forward by heavy lowend and multi-part guitar passages, and embellished with saxophone and flute melodies that take a gentle tone in the quieter contemplative interludes. Wilson’s solo band includes Chapman Stick-wielding bassist Nick Beggs (Kajagoogoo), lead guitarist Guthrie Govan (Asia), Theo Travis (Robert Fripp) on sax and flute, and keysman Adam Holzman (Miles Davis, Grover Washington Jr.). For this leg of the North America tour, the band is rounded out by drummer Chad Wackerman (Frank Zappa). No openers; but a visual and musical presentation precedes the show to set the evening’s tone. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
All Time Low/Pierce the Veil w/Mayday Parade/You Me At Six The “Spring Fever Tour” (sponsored by Rockstar Energy Drink) features a pair of co-headlining acts that issued strong albums in 2012 and are currently on the road in support. Baltimore area pop-punk quartet All Time Low dropped their fifth full-length, Don’t Panic, on Hopeless Records while San Diego’s post-hardcore experimenters Pierce The Veil delivered third album Collide with the Sky via Fearless Records. Both made the Billboard 200’s top 20. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
Gravy Flavored Kisses If you think their name is gross (I do), you should hear the music of Gravy Flavored Kisses — greasy, funky, New Orleans-brewed blues rock with rootsy turns, strong grinding rhythms, a blasting and wailing two-piece brass section, and the dulcet soulful calls of vocalist Tabitha Pearl, who leads, harmonizes and trades-off with the more masculine intones of guitarist Chester Castellaw. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
Dangerous Ponies w/Bambery/Macrame Owls The seven-member collective otherwise known as Dangerous Ponies hails from Philly and has been self-releasing music since 2008, their retro power pop marked by ’60s girl group charm and ’90s grunge-lite fuzz and reverb. Frontwoman Chrissy Tashjian croons and wails in an expressive alto, her lower-toned vocals joined by a chorale of bandmates in some songs, one or two in others, and soaring over finely textured instrumentals — a mix of off-kilter rhythms and straight-ahead dance beats, washes of bright tambourine, lively guitars-keys-bass interplay, and an overall lush melodic appeal. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17
BBQ Wednesday Acoustic Series: Josh Harrell Singer-guitarist Harrell, one-half of folk-roots duo Bootleggers & Baptists, plays a solo acoustic set as part of New World’s weekly nosh ’n’ tunes series. Get your $5 plate of barbeque and enjoy the music from 7 to 9 p.m. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Andy Grammer w/Parachute/Andrew Lipp “And I promise you this, you’re gonna miss me, miss me / as long as you live, you’re gonna miss me, miss me,” Andy Grammer insists in the bitter-hopeful refrain of “Miss Me.” The third and latest single off Grammer’s 2011 eponymous debut — which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers charts — is full of triumphant horns, light hand percussion and an overall acoustic pop-rock catchiness ala Maroon 5. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
CLICK HERE to see a complete rundown of shows taking place this week and in the coming weeks.
This article appears in Apr 11-17, 2013.