Glorytellers
Boulder Coffee- Alexander Street
December 4th 8pm
$8

We are glad to have Glorytellers come to Rochester and share some of their sweet and beautiful music with us.

Geoff Farina has been making records and touring consistently since the early 90s, and he has carved out small enclaves of dedicated fans across the US, Europe, and Japan. His band Karate made 9 genre-bending records and toured extensively for 12 years, and the songs he penned with The Secret Stars have reached cult status, covered by the likes of Death Cab for Cutie and Ida. Since 2006, Farina’s Glorytellers have combined Karate’s indie-rock urgency with the Secret Stars’ soft-spoken intimacy to evoke the best qualities of both bands. Atone, Glorytellers’ second release, is a collection of 9 unclassifiable gems that gently unfold with ease and dignity.

Here are a few reviews:

Farina’s brilliant guitar technique can, as it did in Karate, still threaten to make these folk songs sound mannered. But luckily, he’s learned to let his sweet, rolling vocals shoulder the emotional load on these tracks. It is quite a feat to see a guy, particularly one who left his last band at the height of its powers, try something completely different, and totally succeed.
–Pop Matters

In many circles, Geoff Farina is seen as a pioneer. As leader of the esteemed Karate, Farina used jazz as a template to create one of the most influential indie rock bands of the last 20 years. With Glorytellers…Farina moves into a quieter realm of innovative jazz invoking strong rustic American imagery. With influences as diverse as Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, Jelly Roll Morton, Minutemen and Pere Ubu, the songs on Glorytellers’ debut may be difficult for the average listener to grasp on the first few listens. However, it is with each repeated listen that the songs’ strengths begin to shine, making this one of the best albums to come out of 2008 so far.–Artvoice

+ Felice Brothers
++ Wily Mason

Wednesday, September 2nd
The German House
7pm

$12 presale, $14 at the door

Presale tickets can be bought at The German House / The Keg, Abeline and Metro Retro.

We’ve had some fantastic shows recently, and this next one is not to be missed. The Felice Brothers are coming back to Rochester for a night of Folk-Rock, Cajun and Carnivalia. Just two years old, the band has received quite a bit of notice on everything from NPR to Pitchfork to the best of the musical festivals. The five piece of three brothers and two friends hail from the Catskill Mountains of New York, and were discovered while busking in NYC subway stations. Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) quickly scooped them up to Team Love Records, where they released a 15 track, self titled album with songs like “Frankie’s Gun” and “Whiskey In My Whiskey” (my two favorites). They have toured extensively, and landed an album of the year nomination for the Uncut Music Awards. Their most recent album “Yonder is the Clock” is truly a little bit of Americana.

With accordions, harmonicas, washboards, and beat-up acoustic guitars, you might think you’re hearing an incantation from a certain classic album recorded in a basement in rural New York State with a certain gifted rambler from Minnesota and his scruffy backup band. Self described as true American Music; The Felice Brothers bring something familiar, yet totally original and modern to their songs. It’s the kind of new music that deserves to be played on an old record player… while friends sit on the front porch, drinking whiskey from a rubber boot.

Check out NPR’s five track recording of The Felice Brothers at the Philadelphia Folk Festival here.

Emma