One of my former student employees told me his band, Capitol Hill (you didn’t think I was talking politics, did you?), was going to be playing at The Living Room last night. I decided to check it out since I had been meaning to see them a few times. They’re a hip hop act with a live band. There are 2 vocalists/rappers (they’re the ones who used to work for me) and a 4 piece band (drum, sax, guitar, bass). I was impressed. They played a mix of originals and covers, and some of the covers were just samples from songs. They played 5 or 6 songs during their short 45 minute set, but they had the small crowd, which was mainly there to see the second band, on their feet and groovin’.
Shoeless Jeff and Scott Free, the 2 rappers, are actually making an album of educational songs for children. You can check that project out at The Smart Songs. The album should be released in July and will be sold through Highlights magazine.
Following their set at The Living Room, we headed to Tazza Caffe to check out The Press Project, a similar hip hop/soul/funk/R&B group from Boston. I was pretty impressed with them. They had Tazza movin’ and groovin’. Their songs were a little smoother and more groove oriented than Capitol Hill. Opening for them was Iveoka, who has a beautiful voice, singing soul and R&B. They’re playing next Friday at the Milky Way in Jamaica Plain.
I went to Tazza Caffe last night to check out a blues band whose members include a Nikki’s regular. Unfortunately, I can’t recall the name of the band. Anyway, Tazza has changed their beer selection quite a bit. The last time I was there, probably last summer, the best thing on their beer menu was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Sam Adams Boston Lager. They now have Dogfish Head 90 Min. IPA, Ommegang Rare Vos, Samuel Smith Taddy Porter, Smuttynose Old Brown Dog, and a couple others I can’t remember. I was quite impressed, though they obviously didn’t inform any of their staff about the beer or proper glassware or even that it shouldn’t be consumed from the bottle period. In fact, when I changed my beer from the Ommegang to the 90 Min, I was just given the bottle. So I rinsed my glass with the water that was on the table and used the same glass (a regular pint glass).
The band was really good playing a mix of some covers and some originals. They were funny at times with some banter and one of their songs was hilarious. It was a great night out. They’re playing Tazza again next Tuesday with some others. They’ll be doing an acoustic set.
I decided to give a free plug for a friend and former student employee and his band, The Ringer Soundtrack. They’re playing the Living Room in Providence on Tuesday, January 22. Show starts at 7.
What: The Ringer Soundtrack w/ The Coming Weak, Talk of the Town, and A Kidnap in Color
Where: The Living Room, 23 Rathbone St., Providence, RI
When: 7:00 pm
View Larger Map
The Wrong Reasons are a band from Providence. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a very eclectic taste in music. It generally stays around the jam band scene, but I’m also a big fan of folky music, which naturally expands to bluegrass, slamgrass, rockabilly, country rock, alt-country, and alt-folk. I like most rock music and the Wrong Reasons rock. In short, the albums moves from some twang to rockabilly to folk to rock to garage band music. It reminds me a lot of the Violent Femmes. Providence has a very punk-ish gritty vibe. This album fits that notion of Providence quite well. I don’t know how the alt-country/twang scene got so big here being in southern New England where country types of music just aren’t that big except in the more remote regions, but it’s big in Providence.
Since I just got the album today, I can’t really say much about each individual track. If you like the Femmes, if you like alt-country, if you like twangy garage rock, this album is for you. The album is available at CD Baby (apparently, it’s temporarily out of stock, that’s how popular it is). None of the proceeds go to large corporations, there’s no copy protection, no DRM, it’s just a clean CD where the money goes to the band (and probably some to CD Baby for distribution). Buy this album today. You’ll like it. I promise.
Recent Comments