The last album from Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner dates back a couple years – 2011′s Mountaintops – so hopefully the Mates of State show at Underground Arts tonight will bring with it a helping of new material. The duo headlines, with Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah playing a solo set of CYHSY material. Tickets and information can be found here. Below, watch the music video for “Palomino” off of Mountaintops.
Denison Witmer
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Tonight’s Concert Picks: XPN Welcomes ALO to The Blockley, Denison Witmer at Johnny Brenda’s, New Sweden at Steel City Coffeehouse, The Hooters with Good Old War at The Electric Factory
XPN welcomes California band Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO) to The Blockley tonight. SIgned to Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records, ALO create a laidback, jammy brand of surf rock / pop that has bound them to other Johnson-fan favorites Donavon Frankenreiter, Matt Costa and G. Love. In 2012 ALO released their seventh studio album Sounds Like This. Tickets and information for tonight’s 18+ show with Ryan Montbleau Band can be found here. Watch an acoustic performance of “Storms & Hurricanes” from the new album below.
Denison Witmer celebrates his album release at Johnny Brenda’s tonight. The self-titled record is Witmer’s ninth and most personal effort since the start of his career fifteen years ago. Recorded at his Brooklyn studio The Honey Jar (co-run by Philly native Devin Greenwood), the Lancaster-born musician called in friends Sufjan Stevens and Greenwood for creative collaboration, though the stories told on the album’s ten tracks are purely Witmer’s. Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with Soporus can be found here. Below, stream and download “Asa,” a song named for Witmer’s young son.
New Sweden head down to Phoenixville for a show at Steel City Coffeehouse. The Wilmington five-piece enthralled a Saturday morning audience at the 2011 Noncommvention with their rootsy, robust folk rock and they’ve been climbing the proverbial ladder ever since. With two Tri-State Indie awards on the shelf and a buzzy appearance at SXSW earlier this year, the local band hasn’t slowed down one bit after the release of their debut LP The Mountain. Tickets and information for tonight’s show with The Turnips can be found here. Watch New Sweden perform “Frying Pan” below.
The Hooters and Good Old War play a hometown show at The Electric Factory tonight. An institution in the Philadelphia musical cannon, The Hooters got their start in the 80s with hits like “All You Zombies” and “And We Danced.” In recent years, members of the band have sparked their own projects, with drummer David Uosikkinen’s In the Pocket and vocalist / keyboardist Rob Hyman’s Elm Street Studios in Conshohocken. Good Old War, a trio that is becoming a local institution in their own right, returns to the stage in support of 2012′s Come Back As Rain while working on material for a new album. Tickets and information for the all-ages show can be found here. Below, watch The Hooters’ video for “And We Danced” followed by Good Old War’s “Amazing Eyes.”
Download a new Denison Witmer song, “Asa” (playing Johnny Brenda’s on 4/27)
Photo by Ethan Luck
Download “Keep Moving Brother, Keep Moving Sister” by Denison Witmer (playing Johnny Brenda’s on 4/27)
“Keep Moving Brother, Keep Moving Sister” comes from Lancaster native Denison Witmer‘s upcoming self-titled LP. It’s the singer-songwriter’s second full-length effort for Asthmatic Kitty Records and judging by the lyrics of this first sampling, it’s perhaps his most reflective on both his career thus far and his home life. From Asthmatic Kitty:
In a world obsessed with “branding” and constructed media personas, he chose to call his tenth album Denison Witmer because “I started thinking about the implications of what it’s like to work in an industry where I operate under my own name,” Denison explains. ”And my ultimate goal as a musician is to be honest with people, first and foremost.”
Denison Witmer (the album) will be released on April 30th, after Denison Witmer (the person) performs a set at Johnny Brenda’s on April 27th. Tickets and information for the 21+ show can be found here. Stream and download “Keep Moving Brother, Keep Moving Sister” below.
Denison Witmer playing a hometown show at Johnny Brenda’s on 4/27
Local singer-songwriter Denison Witmer has announced a hometown show at Johnny Brenda’s on Saturday, April 27th in support of his latest EP The Ones Who Wait – Part 2. The album showcases Witmer’s contemplative, intimate songwriting with catchy refrains (“In Your Hands”) and haunting arrangements (“Abraham”). Witmer stopped in for a Key Studio Session in May of 2011 to give us a preview of his March 2012 LP The Ones Who Wait – stream and download the full set here. Tickets and information for Denison Witmer’s 21+ show at Johnny Brenda’s on Saturday, April 27th, can be found here. Below, listen to “In Your Hands.”
The Week So Far: 10 must-read stories on The Key
Left to right: Helen Leicht, John Belushi and Ed Sciaky
Holiday Radio Past: Ed Sciaky sends holiday on WIOQ cheer circa 1984 [link]
Philly rocker Tommy Conwell performs acoustic for The Key Studio Sessions [link]
Digging the deep roots of St. James and the Apostles, who play The Fire tonight [link]
Need a soundtrack to your Thanksgiving dinner table? Try our Spotify playlist [link]
Central Pennsylvania’s music scene mourns the loss of its biggest advocate, Jersey Mike [link]
Watch rare video of Patti Smith on the Mike Douglas Show when it was based in Philly [link]
Is that Denison Witmer playing a spandex-clad workout instructor? [link]
Pissed Jeans rage on with a new track, “Bathroom Laughter” [link]
Ring in the holidays with XPN2‘s Jingle Jams, now through New Year’s! [link]
Yeasayer discovered light, and color. And took it on tour. [link]
The Week’s Best MP3 Downloads, incl. Nothing, Denison Witmer and The Roots
Space-rocking Philly shoegazers Nothing stopped by for a Key Studio Session recently. Recorded in front of a live audience and several glowing candles, the resulting four tracks will have an effect on you similar to that of a planetarium; the songs are dreamy, hypnotic and transcendental. The Bands in the Backyard crew were also on site and captured an atmospheric video of “The Rites of Love and Death”; watch the video below and head over here to download the full session. Check out Nothing’s upcoming tour dates on their Bandcamp.