Brave New World
– continued from previous page
Coming this month
SPLINTERED SUNLIGHT
Thursday, June 16 Doors 8pm/Show 9pm
Upstairs Live at World Cafe Live at the Queen
Billy Dobies (left) and Jimmy Dukenfield. photo by Joe del Tufo
S
plintered Sunlight boasts a play list of well over two hundred songs, spanning the 30-year career of The Grateful Dead (as well as numerous other classic rock bands) from which it skillfully crafts each show’s set list, carefully endeavoring to not repeat set lists – let alone songs – in the same or even nearby venues. Splintered Sunlight and its members have performed with Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead, as well as former Dead members Donna Jean Godcheaux and pianist Tom Constanten. They have also performed with longtime Grateful Dead collaborator Merle Saunders, and Jimmy Herring, recent guitarist for The Dead. In addition, Splintered has shared the stage with many notable Dead-related acts including Kingfish, Jorma Kaukonen and Jefferson Starship, among others. Splintered Sunlight performs monthly at Upstairs Live.
ALSO AT WORLD CAFE LIVE THIS MONTH Every Monday Night: Groove Night Every Tuesday Night: Acoustic/Electric Open Mic Every Wednesday Night: 4W5 Blues Jam 2 – Runner Runner Unplugged 3 – Transistor Rodeo w/The Cocks 4 – Kate Schutt 9 – Gary Allegretto 10 – Countdown to Ecstasy 11 – Dukes of Destiny
16 – Splintered Sunlight 17 – 40th Anniversary Celebration of Carol King’s Tapestry 23 – Jim Tisdall Band 24 – Liz Goodgame & The Poor Sports 25 – Minas
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All is forgiven, however, and not just because these sticky situations are to be expected when local bands like New Sweden (whose members have full-time jobs and families) look to launch (without the help of a record label) a career (in today’s music industry) that takes them beyond our little state (which very few bands have ever done). Something about New Sweden, both in their right-at-home playing on stage and gentle conversation o it, evokes comfort and patience. There’s no feeling of pressure, because this is the kind of music that makes time stand still. (That’s not hyperbole; try listening to the end of “Son of a Bitch,â€? with its “I don’t know what to do / I pretendâ€? refrain, and not get all reective and teary-eyed.) With the record on the back burner, New Sweden have taken to the stage, performing an intimate set at the recent Ram Jam festival and sharing a weekend—and playing one of its bestever shows—with some of the band’s heroes (Bright Eyes, Justin Townes Earle, the Head and the Heart) at Non-COMM. In between, they opened for James Murphy-produced, Pitchforkapproved, Letterman-playing Free Energy at the Arden Gild Hall. Summer is shaping up, too. This month, they’ll play the Baby Grand (June 4; a reward for winning this magazine’s Musikarmageddon competition last year), Arden’s Shady Grove Music Festival (June 11), and the aforementioned Queen gig at the end of July. There’s also Kalmar Nyckel’s Pirate Day on July 9 (rather appropriate, given the band’s name) as well as shows along the East Coast, including Philly’s North Star Bar on July 1. “It’s exciting, I have to tell you,â€? Dobies says. “I’ve been in bands around here since I was 11 years old, but my heart wasn’t in it. This is the ďŹ rst one where I’ve had a lot of input. I feel really lucky. I don’t wanna jinx it, of course. Sometimes I have to pinch myself.â€? And that, right there, is when the words begin to pour out. Dobies can’t say much about the band’s plans, but he can say plenty about the band itself. That, it seems, is worth talking about. “Things are all over the map, and that’s what’s so exciting. The hardest part is picking out which songs to put on the record, because some of our stu is hillbilly; some of it’s indie rock. Some people are calling it country-punk rock, and I don’t even know what that is. But if that’s what they think, I let the person who’s watching take charge of it. “It’s surreal. I’m really weird about anything I do. I’m very critical of myself. It’s just exciting that people care enough to want to hear more of it. They help the music evolve. The songs that you write become less about me and more about you.â€?
14 . Up Close
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5/25/2011 11:24:00 AM