Divers

Chipocrite is the performer for tonight’s Tuesday Tune-Out at PhilaMOCA, curated by 8static.  An exuberant fan of The Big Lebowski, Chipocrite will be performing a Dude-themed set of electronic, video game-based tracks followed by a screening of the movie.  Admission for the all-ages show is a suggested $5 donation at the door.  More information can be found here.  Below, watch Chipocrite perform at MAG Fest 11.

XPN welcomes the 2013 Northern Liberties Winter Music Fest at The Fire with a Van Morrison Tribute show tonight.  The event features a cavalcade of local singer-songwriters and rootsy bands including Reverend TJ McGlinchey, John Francis and special guest Ben Arnold, all honoring the Belfast Cowboy’s discography with old favorites from Astral Weeks, Veedon Fleece and more.  Tickets and information for the 21+ can be found here.  Below, watch a video of Van the Man performing “Tupelo Honey,” which The Fire claims you will definitely hear tonight.

• By Surpriseby Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start, from and nothing is #1Download

Local singer-songwriter John Francis is presenting The City of Love Festival tonight at Underground Arts, benefiting Broad Street Ministry‘s hospitality initiative.  The evening will feature sets by Philly favorites Kuf Knotz, The Districts, The Lawsuits, Sean Hoots and more.  John Francis stopped by The Leicht Lunch recently to talk about the Festival – listen back to his interview with Helen Leicht below and download his on-air recording of “Just a Moment Ago” here.  Tickets and information for the benefit concert can be found here.

• John Francis InterviewInsert caption hereDownload

River City Extension head out to Harrisburg for a show at Fed Live tonight.  At eight members deep, the Tom’s River, NJ outfit recalls the communal folk sound of The Head & The Heart or Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros.  The band released their second album Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Your Anger last year, a record that represents a not-so shining time in front-man Joe Michelini’s life but that pushed the band’s sound forward in an impressive way.  Tickets and information for tonight’s show with Kalob Griffin Band can be found here.  Below, watch River City Extension perform “Everything West of Home/Brooklyn” live.

XPN Welcomes 13-time Grammy nominee Bruce Hornsby to the Scottish Rite Auditorium tonight.  The singer, songwriter and piano player is best known for his debut 1986 hit “The Way It Is” but is also a respected solo musician and was a touring member of The Grateful Dead from 1990 to 1992.  More recently the piano man has reached his keys into such diverse projects as a bluegrass album with Ricky Skaggs, a jazz record with Christian McBride and Jack DeJohnette and he wrote music and lyrics for the musical SCKBSTD.  Tickets and information for tonight’s show in Collingswood, NJ can be found here.  Below, watch the video for Bruce Hornsby & The Range performing “The Way It Is.”

XPN Welcomes Morrissey to the House of Blues Atlantic City tonight.  Following the break-up of The Smiths in 1987, Steven Patrick Morrissey embarked on a successful solo career that included an immediate number one album with Viva Hate.  In 2011 EMI released a retrospective of his career and he has slanted this tour in the same angle, stating that it will feature both new / unreleased songs alongside his classics.  Tickets and information for tonight’s show with Kristeen Young can be found here.  Below, watch Morrissey perform “Suedehead” on Later… with Jools Holland.

• Just A Moment Agoby John Francis, Live on the Leicht LunchDownload

• Interviewby John Francis, Live on the Leicht LunchDownload

The Broad Street Ministry

One of the many wonderful things about the Philadelphia music community is its desire to rally around causes and make a difference in the city.  As cliched as that sounds, its true – the latest example being hometown musician John Francis‘ new City of Love Festival, benefiting Broad Street Ministry and their “Breaking Bread” hospitality initiative.  Amidst debate over whether or not outdoor meal services for the homeless should be allowed in Philadelphia, the Broad Street Ministry has created its own safe haven for the city’s homeless men and women where they can receive a hot meal and a variety of services (including medical attention, art therapy and assistance for veterans) every Thursday afternoon.

Francis founded the secular City of Love Festival to help Broad Street Ministry pastor Bill Golderer reach his goal of increasing servings to nine hot meals a week in 2013.  The festival will be a bi-annual event, with the first concert happening on Friday, January 12th at Underground Arts.  The bill for the evening includes sets from The Districts, Levee Drivers, The Lawsuits, Caleb Hawley, Sean Hoots (of Hoots & Hellmouth), Kuf Knotz, Ross Bellenoit Band, Ryan Tennis, Blayer Pointdujour & The Rockers Galore, Zach Djanikian and John Francis & The Midnight Choir, plus special surprise guests.

The City of Love Festival is presented by the Philadelphia Folksong Society and is free for PFS members, with a suggested donation to aid in the Broad Street Ministry’s efforts, and $12 for non-members.  The event is 21+; more information can be found here.  Below, watch John Francis perform “Who” in Nashville.

• People On The Edge Of The Worldby John Francis from The Key Studio Sessions ArchivesDownload

• The Way The Empire Fellby John Francis from The Key Studio Sessions ArchivesDownload

R5 Productions summer concert series at Morgan’s Pier continues tonight with a performance from Jukebox the Ghost. This show is totally free but apologies young’uns, you must be 21 to enter. The show kicks off at 6 p.m. Jukebox also played our free at noon in June, you can listen to it here (via the XPN media player). Special guests tonight also include Norwegian Arms, who you can read more about here (and listen to in the player below).

Ian Bavitz, who goes by the moniker Aesop Rock, practices hip hop while jumping the fence to a new wave underground sound. He’s an indie rapper, a hip hop producer, a San Franciscan. And you can catch him tonight at Union Transfer along with Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz. Tickets to this all ages show are $15-17; doors open at 8 p.m. Below watch a video for “Zero Dark Thirty” off his latest album Skelethon.

Tonight at the Tin Angel, WXPN welcomes John Francis. He wrote his first album, Strong Wine & Spirits while living in Philadelphia in 2005, and then followed with his sophomore album The Better Angels after relocating to Nashville. Francis takes inspiration from Johnny Cash and other blues rock influences. He performs tonight at 7:30 p.m., this show is 21+ and tickets are $10, grab yours here.

A big addition to the festival’s main stage in the Piazza is Philly hip-hop impressionist Lushlife (listen to his Key Studio Session here). The Poplar stage now opens with a set from soulful songwriter John Francis (hear his Key Studio Session here), feisty Philly rockers Purples (their Key Session can be downloaded here) and ubiquitous MC Kuf Knotz (he did a Key Session too, and it’s here). Also on Poplar are mind-blowing Baltimore psych heads Secret Mountains, as well as DJ DNA of Johnny Brenda’s popular gospel brunch and twangy rockers Brooke Shive and the 45s.

Last, there’s the Fairmount Stage, which is pretty much entirely new additions. Two Philly dance troupes will perform – Philareyto, which specializes in Puerto Rican dance, as well as Fuego Nuevo, a group preserving Aztec dance and culture. Opening that stage will be The Webbs and a jam session with John Fuhr, as well as a set in the middle of the afternoon from the Philly School of Rock.

The 2nd Street Festival runs from noon to 10 p.m. along 2nd street in Northern Liberties; the day also includes craft and food vendors, is free and open to the public. More information at 2nd Street Fest’s Facebook page.

The shows will take place at 7:30pm and 9:30pm at Fergie’s Pub, located at 1214 Sansom Street. Tickets cost just $10 and are available here. All contributions are tax deductible, and will go directly to Broad Street Ministry. There will also be a special $50 VIP event taking place before the first show, which includes cocktails, hor d’oeuvres, and a meet-and-greet with John Carter Cash.

Photo by Jesse Lundy

Philadelphia’s prodigal son John Francis moved to Nashville to make a record, but it sounds like he took the roundabout way, circling the country and absorbing sounds. When Francis and his band, hot off a sold-out record release at the Tin Angel, rolled into The Key Studio Sessions last weekend to play an assortment of new songs, his live audience was treated to a musical map. We heard the lap steel of long, dusty midwestern roads and the gospel vocal cries of the south. Stax-style organ, swinging bass, bouncy juke-joint rhythm guitar and my favorite bit: drummer Chris Giraldi’s chain-gang beat on “People On The Edge of the World.” I had to peek through the control-room glass to see how this was achieved. (Near as I can figure, it was a tambourine and shakers, resting against the snare drum, combined with a lot of fortuitous happenstance; whatever the case, it sounds huge.)

Despite returning home with a collection of distinctly American music (his new Better Angels reportedly hit #40 on the Americana Music Association charts last week), Francis’ songs criticize as much as they celebrate. The crowd pondered lyrics about corporate greed, class stratification, Native-American disenfranchisement, and a country that, through Francis’ lens, struggles when it comes to compassion. “America, I love you,” he sings. “But you’re breaking my heart.” Help yourself to the live set below, and stay tuned—these songs and his interview with Helen Leicht will air on a Philly Local hour coming soon.

• Just A Moment Agoby John Francis from The Key Studio Sessions 12/8/10Download

• Whoby John Francis from The Key Studio Sessions 12/8/10Download

• People On The Edge Of The Worldby John Francis from The Key Studio Sessions 12/8/10Download

• Johnny Cash On The Radioby John Francis from The Key Studio Sessions 12/8/10Download

• The Way The Empire Fellby John Francis from The Key Studio Sessions 12/8/10Download

“Wild Horses” by the Rolling Stones
Its speculated among Gram Parsons loyalists and folklorists that Gram actually penned this one, then the Stones made it their own. Either way, this is one of those songs that has always existed since from time immemorial, out there in ether where songs live. I wish I’d wrote it, yes, but in a way that’s like saying I wish I’d ‘discovered’ electricity. It was always there, it just took some lunatic with a key on a kite string to capture it. “I know I dreamed you a sin and a lie, I have my freedom but I don’t have much time. Faith has been broken, tears must be cried, let’s do some livin’ after we die.” What the hell does it mean? Well, I don’t know, but you sure can feel it. What a strong and brave statement of the nature of a real love…to really love somebody…its messy, bloody, brutal, but transcendent and eternal. “Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.”

“One” by U2.
Such a tactile description of those universal feelings…”You act like you never had love, and you want me to go without,” and “Love is a temple, love the higher law”. And the melody and the chord progression…the build and the climax at the end…its just a perfect song.

“Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen.
The original version with all the verses. This song levels me. Romance, sex, spirituality, existentialism. “I tried my best, it wasn’t much. I couldn’t feel so I learned to touch. I tell the truth, haven’t come here to fool ya. And when its all been said and done, I’ll stand before the Lord of song with nothin’ on my tongue but “Hallelujah.”

John Francis’s CD Release Party is at Tin Angel, 20 S. 2nd St., 10:30 tonight. Tickets are $10

Bruce Springsteen – “Streets Of Philadelphia”
“Receive me brother with your fateless kiss, or will we leave each other alone like this on the streets of Philadelphia?” Springsteen is one of my favorite artists and this song embodies why. He’s got that “human touch,” he speaks for us, and for people who have no voice, giving shape and texture and flesh to those often times intangible places inside each of us. In my years living in Philadelphia, I lived some of the lines in this song, as many of us have.

Public Enemy - “Can’t Truss It”
I love Chuck D cause he is a teacher. A historian, a truth-teller. The record ‘Fear of a Black Planet’ came out when I was in the 9th grade. The lessons in his lyrics confirmed my horrifying suspicions about American history and racism. Public Enemy’s story-songs are also a call to awareness and action. Thanks Chuck, it’s not easy to tell the truth, I’m grateful.

Johnny Cash – “Folsom Prison Blues”
This is Johnny Cash performing “Folsom Prison Blues” at San Quentin Prison with his band. This is why I love Johnny Cash and consider myself to be his student: “I wear the black for the poor and beaten down, livin’ on the hopeless hungry side of town. I wear it for the thousands who have died, believin’ that the Lord was on their side”. (From the song ‘Man in Black). He distilled all of his rage against injustice and his empathy for society’s outcasts into a singular symbol: wearing the color black. That’s why everyone from old guard Southern Baptists to tattoo covered punks with green hair can relate to Johnny, prisoners to presidents. He transcends because he is earthed in his own humanity and in all of humanity at large.

Bob Dylan – “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)”
Shakespeare, Camus, Whitman, Twain…got nothin’ on this guy. I don’t trust anyone who dislikes Bob Dylan. Listen not just to the words, but the inflection and delivery. “He not busy being born is busy dieing.” What makes Dylan great is how he gets out of the way of the song.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - “Up Above My Head”
One of my favorite singers / guitar players. She just lifts your spirit, doesn’t she? How about her guitar playing! Can I get an ‘amen’? Feel it?

With John Francis‘ major-label debut, The Better Angels, ready to drop on November 9th, it’s safe to say that we’re looking forward to seeing the rest of the country heap the same praise on the Philly-based musician as WXPN has in recent years. It’s not just that Francis is a rural-Pennsylvania-raised local whose foot-stomping country-rock and commanding stage presence set him apart from every other would-be good-old-boy with an acoustic guitar. It’s that Francis also brings some considerable cred to the table: He’s the son of Christian ministers, and spent his youth listening to gospel and folk music while singing in the church choir; the record, meanwhile, was recorded at Cash Cabin Studio (which was originally built Johnny Cash in 1978) by John Carter Cash and will be released by the Nashville-based label Dualtone Music Group. (That kind of cred goes a long way when you’re trying to sell your dusty soundtrack to the American Dream gone wrong to the cowboy-boot-and-hat-wearing contingent.) And, with all of Francis’ obvious connections to Cash, it’s no wonder the refrain to the lead single off his upcoming album is, “Just let that country station play / that Johnny Cash on the radio.” John Francis’ record-release show for The Better Angels is at 10:30 p.m. on Friday, December 3rd, at Tin Angel Friday; tickets to the 21+ show are $10.

• Johnny Cash On The Radiofrom The Better Angels by John FrancisDownload

John Francis Preps Major Label Debut; Schedules Album Release Party At Tin Angel “Over the summer, PW’s Tara Murtha profiled rising Philly singer-songwriter John Francis and mentioned his forthcoming major label debut, Better Angels, which comes out early November…Speaking of Johnny, check out the clip above, which is Francis’ new single, ‘Johnny Cash on the Radio.’ You’ll be able to hear that and lots more new stuff if you head over to Tin Angel on Friday, December 3rd (seems a long ways away, but it’s not, really) — that’s when Francis will play a Better Angels release party.” (Make Major Moves)

U.S. Was Warned About Ex-Khyber Boss, Mumbai Attacks “Please excuse us while we take a pause from covering ‘The Khyber’s New Concept, Which Is To Be The Khyber And Not Be The Khyber Simultaneously’ for some news relating back to the Khyber in a less identity-crisis-ridden time. David Headley, who managed the Khyber (then owned by his mother) in the 1980s, has already been eyed in connection with terrorist plots in Denmark and Mumbai. Over the weekend, the Times reported that U.S. officials had been warned — by Headley’s wife, no less — about Headley’s possible involvement with the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbia that left at least 163 dead.” (Philebrity)

The Deli’s Featured Artist(s) of the Month: Nicos Gun “Recent poll winners Nicos Gun (yes, no apostrophe please) have only been together for a little over a year, but the four-piece’s silky, smooth dance tracks sound surprisingly polished. We had a chance to catch up with co-founder of the band, Barney McKenna, to get the scoop on his beef with Geno’s and Jim’s, playing with guns, plans for a Nicos Gun documentary and more.” (The Deli)

Nicki Minaj kicks off tour in Philly “Crazy, talented, fierce, or wack.. whatever you think of miss Nicki Minaj, there is no denying that she has brought a new and different flavor to the hip-hop game. Her quick climb to the top of the charts is stunning considering she hasn’t even released her first album yet. This Friday, Nicki joins Drake and Ne-Yo for Power 99′s Powerhouse 2010 concert at the Wells Fargo Center. This kicks off Nicki’s ‘Pink Friday’ tour, which is also the name of her debut album.” (Phrequency)