this song lasts forever NEWS - 3.3.10

HeadCount and NRDC Action Fund are giving away a “Best of Bonnaroo” download compilation to drive action on climate change.  The compilation features 17 different live performances from the festival, including Wilco, Pearl Jam, Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews Band, Death Cab For Cutie, Ani Difranco, Phish, Gov’t Mule, O.A.R., moe., Raphael Saadiq, Bob Weir & Ratdog, The Disco Biscuits, The Decemberists, My Morning Jacket, Guster and Phil Lesh & Friends.  To download, simply send an original or pre-written email to your Senator, President Obama or your local newspaper.

While All Points West’s future is not looking too bright (this year at least), there are a couple new festies on the radar for this summer.  Nateva Music & Camping Festival will be held July 2 - 4 at the beautiful 100-acre Oxford Fairgrounds, 45 minutes from Portland, Maine.  Artists include Furthur, The Flaming Lips. Lotus, Zappa Plays Zappa, Keller Williams The Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band, Moonalice and more additions coming soon.
Hangout Fest

Next up is the North Coast Music Festival to be held Labor Day weekend, September 3 - 5, in Chicago’s Union Park.  No artists have been announced yet, but the organizers say the fest will feature “the world’s greatest electronic and rock & roll artists.

Chicago-based prog rock jamband Umphrey’s McGee covered Phoenix’s “Lisztomania” at their February 25 show at Nokia Theatre in New York.  Thomas Mars’ vocal prowess is quite evident, but it was a good effort overall.

The Disco Biscuits had a little fun with the pre-order of their forthcoming album, Planet Anthem, due out on 3/16.  Fans could order signed copies of the album, along with 32 combo options that included tickets to their CD release party at Theatre of the Living Arts in Philly, guitar/bass/drum/keyboard lessons with a band member, shots of Jameson with Magner, tennis vs. Barber, writing the band’s setlist for a night, party at your house featuring the Biscuits (for a mere $25k)…and we even got an indirect shout out with one of the options - interviewing Magner on your dorm room toilet for your school newspaper ($1k).  Ha, happy we got that one for free!  Be sure to check out the album next month.

SXSW is right around the corner…stay up-to-date on your RSVP’s with the Austinist’s list of day shows, after parties and more!  Roxwel’s day parties will be announced very soon!

Outside of SXSW, there are several good shows coming up this week and next here in Austin.  Check out Dark Star Orchestra at Stubb’s on 3/6, Brothers Past at The Parish on 3/11 and Tea Leaf Green at Stubb’s (indoors) after the Citizen Cope show on 3/12.

Furthur, comprised of Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Jeff Chimenti (RatDog, The Dead), John Kadlecick (DSO), Jay Lane (RatDog) and Joe Russo (The Duo, Bustle In Your Hedgerow), have announced their summer tour dates:

•    2/26/10 Fri Mohegan Sun Casino Uncasville, CT
•    2/27/10 Sat Mark G Etess Arena Atlantic City, NJ
•    3/02/10 Tue Auditorium Theatre Chicago, IL
•    3/03/10 Wed Auditorium Theatre Chicago, IL
•    3/05/10 Fri 1st Bank Center (Formerly The Odeum) Broomfield, CO
•    3/06/10 Sat 1st Bank Center (Formerly The Odeum) Broomfield, CO
•    3/08/10 Mon Portland Memorial Coliseum Portland, OR
•    3/12/10 Fri Bill Graham Civic Auditorium San Francisco, CA
•    6/25/10 Fri Highland Bowl Rochester, NY
•    6/26/10 Sat MCU Park Brooklyn, NY
•    6/27/10 Sun MCU Park Brooklyn, NY
•    6/29/10 Tue Penn’s Peak Jim Thorpe, PA
•    6/30/10 Wed LeLacheur Park Lowell, MA
•    7/03/10 Sat Gelston Castle Estate Mohawk, NY
•    7/04/10 Sun Nateva Music & Camping Festival Oxford, ME
•    7/05/10 Mon The Green at Shelburne Museum Shelburne, VT
•    7/08/10 Thu Artpark Lewiston, NY
•    7/09/10 Fri All Good Festival @ Marvin’s Mountaintop Masontown, WV
•    7/10/10 Sat Mann Center for the Performing Arts Philadelphia, PA

hard proof afrobeat & focus group @ ghost room, ATX - 2.12.10

this song lasts forever NEWS - 1.15.09

Wakarusa announced its initial artist lineup for the fest, to be held June 3 – 6 at Mulberry Mountain in Arkansas.  Artists include STS9, The Disco Biscuits, Slightly Stoopid, John Butler Trio, Blues Traveler and Zappa Plays Zappa among others.  Early bird tickets are available for $129.

SXSW Music is continually adding to the list of bands that will be performing showcases at various venues in downtown Austin, TX during the March 17 – 21 fest.  Roxwel will be there in the thick of it all, bringing you coverage of the mass chaos!

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival has announced its lineup with Pearl Jam, Simon & Garfunkel, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Lionel Richie, Anita Baker, The Neville Brothers, Allman Brothers Band, My Morning Jacket, Darius Rucker and Widespread Panic topping the bill.  Held April 23 – 25 and April 29 – May 2, single day tickets start at $40.

Phish frontman Trey Anastasio will be hitting the road in February with Classic TAB.  The tour begins February 8 in Charlottesville, VA and ends February 28 in Knoxville, TN.  For all tour dates, check out his website.

After a killer 5-night NYE run at NYC’s Nokia Theatre, The Disco Biscuits have announced their 2010 Winter/Spring tour that includes 26 dates thus far, including dates at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Red Rocks, and Wakarusa.  For a full listing, check out their website.

Phoenix has added a few North American tour dates before they head to Japan, Australia and Europe:

01/22/10 Fri Orpheum Theatre Vancouver, BC
01/23/10 Sat Showbox SoDo Seattle, WA
01/24/10 Sun The Crystal Ballroom Portland, OR
01/26/10 Tue The Fillmore San Francisco, CA
01/27/10 Wed Knitting Factory Reno, NV
01/28/10 Thu The Joint @ Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas, NV
02/01/10 Mon Marquee Theatre Tempe, AZ
02/03/10 Wed Estudio Cavaret Guadalajara, MX
02/04/10 Thu Escenica Monterrey, MX
02/05/10 Fri Jose Cuervo Salon Mexico City, MX

Summer Camp Music Festival has also announced its initial artist lineup.  The fest will be held May 28 – 30 in Chillicothe, IL.  moe., Umphrey’s McGee and Yonder Mountain String Band are among the performers.  Tickets start at $120.

Be sure to check out Austin City Limits first ever hip-hop hour on Saturday, January 16 – K’naan and Mos Def will be performing.  Check your local listings for the time.

the disco biscuits @ stubb’s, atx - set II 9.19.09 

the disco biscuits @ stubb’s, ATX - 9.19.09 (set 1)

set 2 and interview coming out soon!

eyedea & abilities @ the highball, ATX - 11.19.09 (vid 2)

eyedea & abilities @ the highball, ATX - 11.19.09 (vid 1)

Nico Vega @ Emo’s, ATX - 10.21.09 (interview & live performance)

Los Angeles rock trio Nico Vega recently stopped in Austin for the third time – as far as I can count – in ’09.  First, they were here for SXSW, followed by two gigs at Emo’s (inside stage) in May and October.

Touring in support of their first full-length studio album, Nico Vega, Roxwel was lucky enough to score an interview, along with an acoustic rendition of “Beast,” during SXSW.  And then we caught up with them again before their October 21 show at Emo’s, where we also shot their performance of “Protest Song,” “Living Underground,” “Taxi Cab,” and “Fe Fi Fo Fum.”

If you’ve ever listened to Nico Vega, it’s undeniable that Aja Volkman (vocals) has been influenced by strong and commanding female singers.  In fact, Aja tells Roxwel that seeing the iconic Tina Turner at the Staples Center last year had a major impact on her, seeing the sort of emotion that went into Turner’s voice and performance.

“It was really inspiring to me just to see a woman be so powerful, despite what she was battling,” she said.

Aja’s explosive live performances and soulful vocals are pretty inspiring themselves, and the band’s bio on their MySpace page seems very fitting:

“For us Nico Vega is a way of life. We are 3 people who play music together. We write as a band and help each other develop our ideas. The root of the music is the relationship between us. Nico Vega is about collaboration. We are a family and we honor each other by listening and allowing each other to grow. We push each other to be better and to carry each other when we feel weak.

Nico Vega represents a modern day saint. A warrior that has led us to a more fulfilling, lighter way of being. She represents people and unity. She fights for all of us and teaches us to fight for each other. She is an idea that has evolved into a message and she fuels us in our bellies. She is the person we are all capable of being, but she holds the bar high above our head so that we must reach to be better human beings. We all have honesty inside of us, we all know how to love, we are all made of the same flesh, and we are all stuck here together. Nico Vega reminds us that we can learn to fuse these ideas together and grow more solid as a unit of man. Alone we are lost, we fail, we grieve, we search, we struggle, we feel small. Together we are solid, found, loved, and powerful. We are our own greatest natural resource. Our ego falls away when we listen to each other. It is when we stop believing that we can learn from one another that we stop learning altogether. Only then are we alone. We are no different from each other; the same flesh, the same pain, the same love, the same heart. Our greatness is no threat. The more beautiful we are individually, the more powerful we are together. It is our Ego that betrays and lies and tells us that we are threatened when we are not.

You are a part of our family and we will always make music to communicate our love and gratitude for you. If you come to our show, throw your hands up so we can feel you… you will feel us.”

This description sheds some light on Nico Vega as a whole, as well as the creation of individual songs, which is a collaborative process among the three – and a far cry from being formulaic.   It’s really all in the moment, according to the threesome.  The only recurring theme seems to be what the experience of their live shows should produce for both the band and fans: a release.

Check out the full interview and see what else Aja, Rich Koehler (guitar) and Dan Epand (drums) have to say about music that has changed their stage presence, their songwriting process, what they’re thinking before a show, and how it’s been working with MySpace records.

Also, check out their full live performance of “Protest Song,”“Living Underground,”“Taxi Cab,” and “Fe Fi Fo Fum,” or watch each song as a single (by clicking on the individual links).