{"id":4586,"date":"2015-06-04T09:56:30","date_gmt":"2015-06-04T13:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=4586"},"modified":"2015-06-04T09:56:45","modified_gmt":"2015-06-04T13:56:45","slug":"on-stage-olivia-chaney-michael-franti-in-solo-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=4586","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: Olivia Chaney, Michael Franti in solo spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Start of June means multitude of live music choices<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong><\/span>,\u00a0Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"olivia-chaney\"<\/a>

Olivia Chaney headlines at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia Friday night, kicking off a very busy busy music weekend in the area.<\/p><\/div>\n

If your music listening tendencies lean in the direction of solo artists — guitarists, singers, keyboard players, songwriters — then you have a lot of potential destinations in the area where you can enjoy live performances this weekend.<\/p>\n

On June 5, the Tin Angel (20 South Second Street, Philadelphia, 215-928-0770, http:\/\/www.tinangel.com<\/a>) will host Olivia Chaney while Michael Franti will headline a show the same night at the Electric Factory (421 North Seventh Street, Philadelphia, 215-627-1332, www.electricfactory.info<\/a>),<\/p>\n

Chaney, who has been gaining popularity over the last few years in her native England, released her debut album \u201cThe Longest River\u201d last month on Nonesuch Records. This week, the talented singer arrived in the states for a month-long North American tour in support of her new disc.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to simplify things when I was making the album,\u201d said Chaney, during a phone interview Thursday afternoon from her hotel room in Newark, New Jersey \u201cI want it to feel simple — but it\u2019s not really that simple. It\u2019s nuanced and metaphoric. Communication is the most important thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chaney\u2019s start as a musician was a grand event.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was young, my parents inherited an ancient German piano,\u201d said Chaney, who was born in Florence, Italy. \u201cI was an ornate upright grand piano with politically-incorrect ivory keys. It was a beast. I began playing it and my parents realized that I might be musical. Having a piano around is great for kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlus, my dad used to play lovely songs to my sister and me. He\u2019s a painter and a professor not a musician. He would do renditions of peaceful music such as Joan Baez, Fairport Convention, Burt Jansch, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan — a mixture of English and American folk music. We also listened to classic opera. I also was listening to a lot of 80s and 90s pop along with musicians like Tracy Chapman and Prince.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad is half-Dutch and half-English and my mom is Australian. We definitely are a multi-cultural family. Experimenting and improvising has always been a part of our family. All of that influenced my tastes a lot. I hope it comes across.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chaney, who has been referred to as \u201cone of the greatest voices in English folk music,\u201d won a scholarship as a piano and voice student at Manchester\u2019s prestigious Chetham\u2019s School of Music. \u00a0Then, she attended the Royal Academy of Music in London.<\/p>\n

After leaving college, Chaney taught herself guitar and harmonium. She also participated in many multi-media, cross- genre collaborations and began attracting a following at her one-woman shows in London.<\/p>\n

The directors of Shakespeare\u2019s Globe Theatre spotted her and invited her to join two seasons as both actress and musician in \u201cTimon of Athens\u201d and \u201cTroilus and Cressida.\u201d Chaney was then approached by dance-music duo Zero Seven to front their touring band, which she did for awhile before returning to solo performances.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy crazy musical journey is so broad,\u201d said Chaney. \u201cIt seems like I\u2019ve come full circle — getting older, gigging a lot, struggling to make a living in London. I had to figure out if I really wanted to do it and figure out what I wanted to say.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy music is quite introverted — but I\u2019m not an introvert. With my music, I want to move people and touch them. But, I don\u2019t want be viewed just as someone playing just one style of music. I hope I\u2019m doing something new — not just playing in a certain tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Olivia Chaney — https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VipgQCfu824<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tickets for the show, which will start at 8 p.m. with the opening act Hezekiah Jones, are $12.<\/p>\n

\"michael<\/a>

Michael Franti<\/p><\/div>\n

Franti\u2019s \u201cAcoustic One Heart, One Soul Tour\u201d was scheduled to stop at the Queen on February 17 but the show had to be cancelled.<\/p>\n

Both Franti\u2019s and his legion of fans were looking forward to the shows along the Atlantic Seaboard but fate had different plans.<\/p>\n

In a press release, Franti said, \u201cMichael here! \u00a0While performing last weekend on Rock Boat, I tore my meniscus and require a surgery in February. I\u2019m sad to report that I need to reschedule my plans for my tour\u00a0Feb 9-20.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m so grateful to all of you who bought tickets.\u00a0\u00a0I apologize to everyone who was looking forward to the shows as much as I was, but we will see you later in the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Franti has recovered and is back on the road with a new tour called \u201cOnce A Day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was onstage and dancing gently,\u201d said Franti, during a phone interview last week. \u201cI was leaning back and forth and heard a pop. After that, I couldn\u2019t move my knee anymore. I tore up my left knee, had surgery and was on crutches for six weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did a week of shows sitting on a stool. It was brutal having to sit because I\u2019m used to jumping around on stage and running into the audience. Sitting still was a big challenge. But, I learned a few things like how to do more storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter six weeks, I was done with the crutches. I did a three-and-a-half week tour of Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. I was in the hotel gym every day. Now, I\u2019m more fit than I\u2019ve ever been for a long time. I\u2019d say I\u2019m about 85 per cent back.<\/p>\n

“Once A Day\u201d is more than a tour, it\u2019s a movement and title of his forthcoming single about the chaos and uncertainty of life. \u00a0According to Franti\u2019s recent press release — \u201cIt is my belief that we should all take the time to hug, kiss and remember and love somebody AT LEAST once a day (and preferably a lot more often!).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just finished the single and we\u2019re doing the video mostly in San Francisco and a little in L.A.,\u201d said Franti, who also owns a yoga retreat center in Bali, Indonesia.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really upbeat summer song touching deep on reggae roots. The song is about the inescapable challenges in life and how we deal with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did most of it at my home studio in San Francisco and then went to Miami to work with a Jamaican producer called Supa Dups at the Inner Circle Studio. It\u2019s inspiring to be around these artistic people. It reminds me of Ruffhouse Records in Philadelphia when we did our first record \u2018Home\u2019 in 1994 with Joe Nicolo. They had all these great acts like the Roots, the Fugees and House of Pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Franti approaches all his projects with enthusiasm and sincerity — especially his concerts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m putting together a set list for a show, I want to get together a collection of songs that represent who I am,\u201d said Franti, who has released eight studio albums over two decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very passionate about the world and everything I do. I don\u2019t care about the money, the amount of tickets purchased or the amount of records sold. I think about the goal as a feeling — how I want to walk out after the experience. I want the audience to walk out feeling inspired.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Michael Franti — https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=01FE9cPXE3M&feature=player_detailpage<\/a><\/p>\n

The show at the Electric Factory on June 5 will start at 9 p.m. Tickets are $40 at the door.<\/p>\n

\"john<\/a>

John Gorka<\/p><\/div>\n

On June 6, John Gorka, one of America\u2019s most respected folk musicians, will be the headliner at this weekend\u2019s edition of the Bryn Mawr Twilight Concerts (Downtown Gazebo, 9 South Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bryn Mawr, 610-864-4303, http:\/\/www.brynmawrtwilightconcerts.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Gorka, a New Jersey native who got his start musically at venues in the Lehigh Valley, released his first album \u201cI Know\u201d in 1987 on Red House Records. His next five LPs were on Windham Hill\/High Street Records.\u00a0 He returned to Red House in 1998 and put out six more albums. The most recent is \u201cBright Side Down,\u201d which came out last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, I\u2019m finishing up work on an old recording,\u201d said Gorka, during a phone interview last week from his home in Minnesota. \u201cI recorded an album in five days in Nashville in November 1998 and then ended up not putting it out. It was my first record and it wasn\u2019t what I wanted at the time. I wasn\u2019t sure who I was back then. It was a lot different than \u2018I Know.\u2019 I recorded it on a 24-track with producer Jim Rooney.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album never saw the light of day for almost two decades. That is about to change.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack then, I had the tapes shipped from Nashville to my home in Bethlehem,\u201d said Gorka. \u201cThen, they went to my manager\u2019s house in Michigan. A few years ago, he brought them to me here in Minnesota and they sat in my garage for a couple years.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing in a garage for three years through Minnesota winters could have ruined them. Fortunately, they were in O.K. enough shape that we could bake them. But, they were also in such a condition that had I not baked them, they would have flaked.\u201d<\/p>\n

After being baked for hours at a low heat, the tapes were ready to be revisited.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I went back and listened to them, I realized they were pretty good,\u201d said Gorka. \u201cNow, I have to get the art work together and do the final mixing. The working title of the album is \u2018Before Beginning,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t be playing the album in my live shows because I don\u2019t sound like that now. I think I sing a lot differently now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gorka will be performing quite a few songs from \u201cBright Side Down,\u201d his most recent album release.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started recording the new album in fall 2012 and finished it a year later,:\u201d said Gorka. \u201cIt was my first time to do it this way \u2014 working a little bit at a time \u2014 seeing how the songs stand up to time. I think I recorded 17 and 12 made it to the record. The others will come out in some form. I just have to find the right setting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many singer-songwriters get wrapped up in the stories behind the song which at times can stretch the length of the song. This was something Gorka wanted to avoid when making \u201cBright Side Down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted this album to be an album that people could listen to in one sitting,\u201d said Gorka, whose songs have been recorded by internationally-acclaimed artists such as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Nanci Griffith, Mary Black and Maura O\u2019Connell.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new album features guest vocal appearances by Red House labelmates Lucy Kaplansky, Eliza Gilkyson, Claudia Schmidt and Michael Johnson. But, the focus is clearly on Gorka\u2019s vocals and guitar work.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince people see me playing solo live, I wanted to have that on record \u2014 build around vocal and guitar performance,\u201d said Gorka. \u201cI had a similar approach on this one and my last one (\u201dSo Dark You See\u201d) \u2014 focus on guitar and vocals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith my live shows, I\u2019m open to suggestions. I don\u2019t have a set list. Instead, I have a rough idea of what I\u2019ll play and I also get requests. I\u2019m open to suggestions. I\u2019ll even revive a song that I haven\u2019t done in awhile.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for John Gorka — https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WVgysmtC1cc<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"laura<\/a>

Laura Promiscuo<\/p><\/div>\n

The show in Bryn Mawr will get underway at 7 p.m. Laura Promiscuo, a promising new singer from West Chester will open the show. Tickets are $12. Promiscuo will also be performing on June 10 at the World Caf\u00e9 Live in Philadelphia and June 11 at Spence Caf\u00e9 in West Chester.<\/p>\n

On June 7, the World Caf\u00e9 Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1400, philly.worldcafelive.com<\/a>) will present a very attractive twin-bill featuring two excellent singer-songwriters. Jenn Grant, a promising newcomer from Canada, will open for Catie Curtis, a seasoned veteran.<\/p>\n

Curtis just released her 13th<\/sup> album \u201cFlying Dream\u201d and just turned 50. Fortunately, she has exhibited no signs of triskadekaophobia (fear of the number 13) or gerascophobia (fear of getting old).<\/p>\n

\u201cI had my 50th<\/sup> birthday at a show last week,\u201d said Curtis, during a phone interview Monday from her home in Boston. \u201cI don\u2019t have any problems with being that age. I like to say it like they do in Spanish — \u2018Tengo 50 a\u00f1os\u2019 — which means \u2018I have 50 years.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way I tour is my own unique set-up that works. I fly out, do two or three shows and come back home. I have kids at home. I don\u2019t wasn\u2019t to put my life on hold while I go out on a long tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also keeps my shows fresh this way. I absolutely love to perform. And, I\u2019m happy I can make a living playing my music. I plan to do this the rest of my life. For me, performing is a primal need.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"catie<\/a>

Catie Curtis<\/p><\/div>\n

Curtis also breaks from the norm in the way she treats album releases and touring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t tour in support of an album,\u201d said Curtis. \u201cI don\u2019t promote a new album. In my shows right now, I\u2019m not really focusing on \u2018Flying Dream.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m thinking about what to play in a show, usually in my mind there is the theme for the day — something personal that focuses the show. In Philadelphia, I might put together a set list based on things that happened that day. I can decide on the moment. It keeps the live shows very spontaneous and fresh.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take liberties like this because I can. I\u2019m a songwriter. I identify with that first. I prefer songs that connect with lives — my life and hopefully other people\u2019s lives. I\u2019m always looking at my newest songs. I already have 10 songs that I like that are ready for my next album and I want a handful more. I\u2019ve actually started recording already. I can taste it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Catie Curtis —\u00a0 https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tC77LvT5bxw<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Grant, a singer-songwriter who had lived in Canada\u2019s Maritime Provinces all her life, has already carved out a solid niche north of the border. She has had numerous Juno Award (Canada\u2019s version if the Grammys) nominations and CBC Radio recently called her \u201cone of the best singers in the world right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"jenn-grant\"<\/a>

Jenn Grant<\/p><\/div>\n

Her most recent album \u201cCompostella\u201d was just released in the states last month. The album, which had its Canadian release last year,\u00a0 made Grant a two-time 2015 Juno Award nominee in the categories of Adult Alternative Album of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. It was included in the CBC\u2019s \u201c30 Best Canadian albums of 2014\u201d and the lead single, \u201cNo One\u2019s Gonna Love You (Quite Like I Do),\u201d\u00a0spent six weeks on the CBC 2 Top 20 chart.<\/p>\n

For the album, Grant wrote every day for a month in a camper trailer near Lake Echo, Nova Scotia. Inspired by some of her mother\u2019s last words\u2014\u201cI will meet you in Spain\u201d\u2014Grant titled the album \u201cCompostela,\u201d which translates to \u201cfield of stars\u201d and comes from the legend that the dust of the pilgrims who walk the El Camino make up the stars that form the Milky Way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to call it something that reminds me of being in Spain — and reminds me of my mother,\u201d said Grant, during a phone interview Tuesday morning. \u201cI started writing the songs for it in the spring and summer of 2013. Then, I recorded it in the fall. Every season was part of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband Daniel Ledwell is a producer and he has his studio on our property on Echo Lake in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He\u2019d be working with other artists so I wasn\u2019t able to go in the studio whenever I felt like it. It forced me to slow down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to focus on storytelling — some personal and some made up. I also knew I wanted to make a warm, sunny record like Father John Misty or Rodriguez.<\/p>\n

\u2018I lost my mother to cancer the year before that, I went to Spain to reflect on grieving and the healing process after losing a parent. There definitely is a Spanish influence on the album — things like the warm tones and people playing classical guitar outside churches. That inspired me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grant has been keying on the verbal aspect of songwriting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this album, I tried to write better lyrics,\u201d said Grant, who was born on Prince Edward Island and moved with her family to Nova Scotia when she was 10. \u201cI push myself and like to take musical risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI locked myself in a trailer for one month and wrote buckets of songs — mostly on guitar. I really focused on my lyrics. I think this is a healing record and I took a longer time to write and record it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Jenn Grant — https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dCLDIxBxxVk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tickets for the show, which is slated to start at 8 p.m., are $20.<\/p>\n

\"wire\"<\/a>

Wire<\/p><\/div>\n

This weekend, Union Transfer 1026 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, 215-232-2100, www.utphilly.com<\/a>) will present a pair of high-energy shows featuring two veteran — and very different acts. On June 5, the British band Wire will perform and the show on June 6 will showcase Calexico, a band from America\u2019s southwest.<\/p>\n

Wire was formed in London, England in 1976 and has been going strong ever since except for a few years off in the early 1980s and a hiatus in the 1990s. Showing no signs of triskadekaophobia, the band — Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Robert Grey and Matthew Simms — released its 1th studio album \u201cWire\u201d in April.<\/p>\n

The album was not only self-titled but also self-released. \u201cWire\u201d came out on pinkflag, the band\u2019s own label which was named after the group\u2019s debut album \u201cPink Flag.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision to make a new album was mine,\u201d said Newman, during a recent phone interview from his home in Brighton, England. \u201cI\u2019m the record company and I tend to think about what kind of cycles we\u2019re operating on — when and how to release records. This is our 40th<\/sup> anniversary.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere had been a four-year gap between each of our last four albums. It was either was wait for four years or release a new one out of the cycle. We can tour the U.S. and U.K. whenever we want so there was no need to take four years off. So, we knew the release date before we even started working on the record.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter our last album \u2018Change Becomes Us,\u2019 I knew we couldn\u2019t wait another four years. I own the record label. There was no external source of finances so we had to make it work for us. People want to see a tour with an album. The cycle works for us. I think people would be envious of how well it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newman and his band mates have it down to a science.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started recording the album in May 2014 at Rockfield Studios in Wales,\u201d said Newman. \u201cWe spent three months finishing and releasing it. In the period between finishing an album and releasing it, time gets very compressed. You have to plan it all beforehand. The touring period has to be planned well ahead. We talked about it a year ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had two types of material — songs that we had already put together and had been playing and songs that we wrote right before the album. Some were even written during the recording sessions. I don\u2019t touch the guitar when I\u2019m not using it. I don\u2019t sit around writing songs. When it\u2019s time to make a record, we know it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a band that first saw the light of day 49 years ago, Wire still makes music that is vital, refreshing, modern and relevant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do see ourselves as a contemporary band,\u201d said Newman. ;\u2019It\u2019s very important to us. This is what we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Wire — https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ytXTtXSgpPc&feature=player_detailpage&list=RDytXTtXSgpPc<\/a><\/p>\n

The Wire show on June 5 will begin at 8 p.m. with opener Julian Lynch. Tickets are $23.<\/p>\n

\"calexico\"<\/a>

Calexico<\/p><\/div>\n

Calexico, the band, is named after the U.S. city of the same name that sits on the northern side of the U.S.-Mexican border in Califiornia. On the other side of the border is Mexicali, a city that hosted two world title boxing matches featuring Coatesville\u2019s former world champion Calvin Grove and Mexicali\u2019s Jorge Paez.Not surprisingly, Calexico plays Tex-Mex music — but only as part of its expansive repertoire. The band, which will be in the area on June 6 for a show at Union Transfer (, also plays songs in other genres, including indie rock and Americana.<\/p>\n

Calexico\u2019s founders and two main members are Joey Burns and John Convertino.<\/p>\n

The band\u2019s latest album \u201cEdge of the Sun,\u201d which was released in April in Anti Records, was recorded in Mexico City. The Mexican influence can be heard on several tracks, including \u201cCumbia de Donde,\u201d \u201cBeneath the City of Dreams \u201cand \u201cCoyoacan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur keyboard player lives in Coyoacan just south of Mexico City,\u201d said Convertino, during a recent phone interview from his home in El Paso, Texas. \u201cHe has a house with a small studio. It was a perfect spot for us to live and work on new songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoey and I realized that we needed to have blocks of time without family around. So, we went there April last year. We did most of the recording there and then finished it in Tucson, where most of the band still live.\u201d<\/p>\n

The time spent in the outlying area of Mexico\u2019s capital was very productive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually ended up using some of the demos right from the early sessions in Mexico,\u201d said Covertino. \u201cOne of them was the album\u2019s opening track \u2018Falling from the Sky.\u2019 We just couldn\u2019t get the right vibe for the song in Tucson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a lot of material to choose from for the new record. That\u2019s why the original releases had eight bonus songs. We put the main record together and then the bonus record. In Europe, we released special editions on blue vinyl and green vinyl — just something special for our fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the recoding in Mexico was dome digitally. Then, everything we did in Tucson was analog. We used Craig Schumaker for the final mixing. He\u2019d usually mix one song a day. He mixed it differently. Instead of going his usual way, he would consult us and ask what we wanted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not surprised at the Latin influence. \u2018Cumbia de Donde\u2019 and \u2018Coyoacan\u2019 — those two songs were nice. They had a different flow. Every record we try to do something different — if only for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Calexico — https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=e6Ag1kD1zLA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at Union Transfer on June 6 will start at 8 p.m. with Gaby Moreno as the opening act. Tickets are $22.<\/p>\n

\"sd_MuscleShoals\"<\/a>The Steeldrivers, who will visit the area for a show on June 4 at the Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, 610-649-8389,\u00a0www.ardmoremusic.com<\/a>), are a bluegrass with a difference. The group\u2019s bluegrass roots combine with country and soul influences to create a refreshing, decidedly contemporary sound.<\/p>\n

The Nashville-based quintet — Richard Bailey, Mike Fleming, Gary Nichols, Tammy Rogers and Brent Truitt — just recorded its fourth studio album \u201cThe Muscle Shoals Recordings.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album, which will be released on June 16, is like bluegrass on steroids. It was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama — a city whose recording studios have hosted most of the top \u201cSouthern Rock\u201d bands, R&B artists such as Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin and a long list of rock musicians including the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided to do something really different this time,\u201d said Rogers, during a phone interview last week. \u201cWe did our first three albums in Nashville. For me, it\u2019s really important to have a musical journey — to have a different plan. It was natural to go to Muscle Shoals — a perfect next step. We went down three days in October and four days in December and recorded at the NuttHouse Recording Studio in Sheffield.\u201d<\/p>\n

The difference was obvious.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all acoustic music using traditional instruments,\u201d said Rogers. \u201cBut, it\u2019s not necessarily traditional bluegrass music. We kept the Steeldrivers approach but went more rootsy and groove-oriented. We picked it up. It was great to bring some outside players in, Jason Isbell came down and produced two tracks and played on two tracks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Steeldrivers still relied on original material.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe songwriting is done mostly by Gary and me,\u201d said Rogers. \u201cOn this album, I had four songs and he had five. Three of my songs were written fairly close to when we recorded them and the other was from 2005.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew we were going to Muscle Shoals. Definitely, I had something on my mind groove-wise that I thought we\u2019d get to. With this music, we don\u2019t have to worry about having a hit. The fans are in it for the long haul.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets are $27 for the show which starts at 8 p.m. with Rootology as the opening act. Other upcoming shows at the Ardmore Music Hall are Indigenous and Selwyn Birchwood on June 5 and Planet of the ABTS and Cornmeal on June 10.<\/p>\n

The Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295,\u00a0http:\/\/www.kennettflash.org<\/a>) will host Pure Jerry on June 5 and the Harry Walther Band on June 6.<\/p>\n

The Steel City Coffee House (203 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, 610-933-4043, www.steelcitycoffeehouse.com<\/a>) will have the Holts and Tom Guest & Mark Furman on June 5 and Death of Saul, Sanger Luna and Farmer on June 6.<\/p>\n

Chaplin\u2019s (66 North Main Street, Spring City, 610-792-4110,\u00a0http:\/\/chaplinslive.com<\/a>) will present Trent Vernon, Varani, Hostile Rodger and Beezy on June 5.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Start of June means multitude of live music choices By Denny Dyroff,\u00a0Staff Writer, The Times If your music listening tendencies lean in the direction of solo artists — guitarists, singers, keyboard players, songwriters — then you have a lot of potential destinations in the area where you can enjoy live performances this weekend. On June […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[3066,3063,3064,3062,2398,2651,3061,3065],"class_list":["post-4586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-featured","tag-calexico","tag-catie-curtis","tag-jenn-grant","tag-john-gorka","tag-laura-promiscuo","tag-michael-franti","tag-olivia-chaney","tag-wire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4586"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4587,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4586\/revisions\/4587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}