Band Now Called Atoms For Peace; Pre-Coachella Dates Confirmed In New York, Boston, Chicago, Oakland, Santa Barbara.

By Blurt Staff

Thom Yorke announced yesterday at the Radiohead website that his band Atoms For Peace (previously billed as ????) will play a series of eight U.S. shows leading up to its April 18 appearance at the Coachella festival in Indio CA.

The Atoms For Peace lineup remains the same as when the band performed three shows in Los Angeles last October: Yorke, Flea, Mauro Refosco, Joey Waronker and Nigel Godrich. See below for full itinerary and check http://www.waste.uk.com/ for on sale details.

Thom Yorke/Atoms For Peace
(Flying Lotus Supports New York Through Oakland)

April 5 & 6 New York Roseland Ballroom
April 8 Boston Citi Wang Theatre
April 10 & 11 Chicago  Aragon Ballroom
April 14 & 15 Oakland Fox Theatre
April 17 Santa Barbara Bowl
April 18 Coachella

Soul queen shows those damn Brits how it's s'posed to be done!

By Blurt Staff

BETTYE LAVETTE brings the British Invasion home to its American R&B roots on her latest CD, INTERPRETATIONS: THE BRITISH ROCK SONGBOOK, due May 25 on Anti-. While BETTYE's Grammy-nominated 2007 disc The Scene Of The Crime went to the source to find triumph over her own anguish, INTERPRETATIONS looks to the past this time for inspiration and uncovers common ancestry in seemingly divergent musical paths.

Produced by BETTYE, Rob Mathes and Michael Stevens, the album is a 13-song journey through compositions by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd among others, before concluding right where the very idea for INTERPRETATIONS started: BETTYE's visceral show-stopping rendition of The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me" from the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors, which appears here as a bonus track.

That performance - which first brought BETTYE together with Stevens (the event's producer) and Mathes (its musical director) - served notice that BETTYE is no mere singer. As an extraordinary interpreter of song, she doesn't merely mold a piece of music to suit her tastes; she is a conjurer of deep, emotional truths:

"Bettye LaVette punched a hole right through her version of Pete Townshend's ‘Love Reign O'er Me,' letting all the song's emotion pour out in a way that its creators never conceived," observed the New York Daily News. Townshend himself came up to Bettye after her performance, took her hands into his and said, "You made me weep."

Throughout INTERPRETATIONS, her performances are a revelation not just of raw emotion, but of the inexorable ties between British rock ‘n' roll and the American blues and R&B, which when combined, catalyzed popular music. That Lennon, McCartney, and so many others who crossed the Atlantic in their wake, were deeply influenced by American music is no great secret. What BETTYE demonstrates here so convincingly is the degree to which rock ‘n' roll and American soul remain bound by bloodlines.

The Beatles' pre-psychedelic Rubber Soul classic "The Word" takes on an almost religious fervor, while Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" is transformed from a majestic pop song into a stark, almost desperate expression of devotion. Profound alienation becomes intense longing on Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," and the wistful naiveté of The Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin" matures into a deep and unshakeable lament. BETTYE inhabits these songs, revitalizes them and exposes the humanity that makes these 13 tracks not just pop songs, but enduring works of art.

Such mastery hardly comes as a surprise to at least one legend featured here. Elton John (whose "Talking Old Soldiers" appeared on The Scene Of The Crime) offers this endorsement of BETTYE's impassioned take on "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me":

"Bettye LaVette has always been a wonderful singer - I have been a huge fan for many years. To my delight and surprise she recorded an amazing version of ‘Talking Old Soldiers' - a song that nobody else has covered - and made it her own.

"Now she has recorded ‘Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me' and has done exactly the same - but this time with a much more familiar song. I am truly touched by her picking these songs and can only hope that this album brings more attention to this incredible artist."

Tracklisting:

1.    The Word (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)

2.    No Time To Live (James Capaldi/Stephen Winwood)

3.    Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (Bennie Benjamin/Gloria Caldwell/Sol Marcus)

4.    All My Love (John Baldwin/Robert Plant)

5.    Isn't It A Pity (George Harrison)

6.    Wish You Were Here (David Gilmour/Roger Waters)

7.    It Don't Come Easy (Richard Starkey)

8.    Maybe I'm Amazed (Paul McCartney)

9.    Salt Of The Earth (Michael Jagger/Keith Richards)

10.  Nights In White Satin (David Hayward)

11.  Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad (Eric Clapton/Bobby Whitlock)

12.  Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (Elton John/Bernard Taupin)

13.  Love Reign O'er Me (Peter Townshend) [BONUS TRACK]

For Wednesday, Feb. 25, we find ourselves drained but happy, checking out everyone from Robert Earl Keen to Lyle Lovett.

By Lee Zimmerman / Photos by Will Byington

Ed. note: This week BLURT contributor Lee Zimmerman is on the annual Cayamo Cruise, which as you'll read below boasts a who's-who of roots and Americana artists playing for (and mingling with) fans traveling on a five-day cruise through the Caribbean. Fittingly enough, the event's called Caribbean on Cayamo 2010: A Journey Through Song. Internet connection willing, Zimmerman will be filing a report each day, so keep checking back to find out who was twanging the loudest, who was singing the sweetest - and who Zimmerman was rubbing shoulders with the hardest. Go here to read his report from Day 1,  here for Day 2 and here for Day 3. Incidentally, you can also read his report from last year's Cruise elsewhere at the BLURT site.

The music goes on forever and the party never ends...

This morning we wake up in Costa Maya Mexico, which, I will later learn, is Spanish for "Land of the Tourist Souvenir and all Things Claimed to be Made in Mexico but really Manufactured In China." That's my theory anyway. Actually Costa Maya is quite pleasant, especially due to the fact that there are no pushy taxi cab drivers, mainly because it's an easy walk from the boat to the public beach and attendant shops. Consequently, it gives the impression that once the Mayans laid their claim to this small strip of land on the Gulf Coast, they immediately established a settlement consisting of overstocked stalls selling ceramic ashtrays and tiny sombreros to arriving cruise ship passengers.

It ought to be noted that the most important thing to know before attempting to barter with the natives is the value of the American dollar versus the Mexican peso. Or more specifically, how many dollars it takes to have your picture taken with a tiny monkey. Seriously. Tiny monkeys seem to be among the most productive citizens of Costa Maya because practically everywhere you turn, there's someone offering to take your picture with a tiny monkey. Why one would want their photo taken with a tiny monkey seems to be a matter of conjecture, but I suppose that is in fact one of the mysteries of Mexico.

By the way, having been to the Mexican pavilion at Epcot several times, I've learned that the correct pronunciation of Mexico is "Meh-hee-co." Therefore I knew exactly what was meant when one local entrepreneur approached me and asked if I wanted to have "Seh-hee-co" with his sister.

Of course the coolest thing about Cayamo takes place on the boat, specifically those close encounters with the performers. Generally, these take place in the buffet line - proving the old adage that musicians like to eat, just like us regular folks. This morning, we happened to spy Emmylou Harris alone at breakfast, hair pulled back and looking inconspicuous in her jumpsuit. I didn't get an opportunity to catch what was on her plate but that's probably a good thing. I would have been mighty disappointed if she was helping herself to an omelet and the scrambled eggs and the eggs benedict and the French toast and the waffles and a half dozen of the other food varieties the breakfast line has to offer. Better to pig out myself and not find any evidence that one of my favorite singers is a glutton on the same scale as us mere mortals.

Likewise, it was a fairly commonplace occurrence to catch Steve Earle at an early morning workout in the gym, a reassuring notion considering his previously indulgent and addictive lifestyle, which by the way, he's quite candid about. "If I didn't workout, I'd probably die," he conceded at a point later on.

Of course, the most common star sightings take place during guest appearances during other artists' sets, the exception being Robert Earl Keen's solo show in the Spinnaker. That was just fine too, because Keen is a legendary performer whose humorous anecdotes and stories detailing the writing of his narrative material provides all the entertainment necessary.  Prior to launching into a selection of songs from his latest CD, Rose Hotel -- "10,000 Chinese Walk into a Bar" and the title track among them - he shared a story about an early attempt to get his record company to release a certain song as a single. After writing three or four letters and receiving no answers, he decided to go on a hunger strike.  However, three days into his effort, he was invited to an all you can eat fish fry that boasted an unlimited cache of beer. "That, my friends, is why you never heard that song on the radio." Keen's concluding song, "The Highway Goes on Forever and the Party Never End,s" may well serve as the unofficial anthem of Cayamo.

Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, who were up next, provided what proved to be one of the show-stopping performances of the entire cruise. Reflecting a populist approach that was part Springsteen, part Petty and wholly effusive and appealing, the young band of best friends demonstrated both heart and conviction.  Songs about family provide a major theme in their music, with the song "My Old Man" serving as an emotional highlight.  Family also gives Kellogg and crew much to chat about, especially when it comes to Kellogg's brother Sean's who somehow inspires a different story every set.  Tonight's tale had to do with their mother finding a pair of dildos in Sean's dresser drawer after he left for college.  Needless to say, the conjecture as to what purpose they served and why they would be left behind drove the audience into hysterics.

Our headliner show of the evening, Lyle Lovett and his Large Band, didn't disappoint either. Lovett is the consummate showman and his natural charm never fails to come through. Soft-spoken and Texas-gracious, his material alternated between Western swing and wistful reflection.  Special guests Shawn Colvin, Robert Earl Keen and Emmylou Harris added additional star power but Lovett's ten piece band more than held their own, especially considering the fact that legendary drummer Russ Kunkel anchors the backbeat and back-up singer Arnold McCuller has graced more sessions than one could possibly ever tally.  Just like last year, Lovett's set provided Cayamo with another of its uncontested highlights.

We finished the evening back at the Spinnaker with a set by Scythian, a feisty Celtic that all but insists its audience dance to their delight.  I felt compelled to clap along, but by this point I was resigned to the fact that bedtime was nigh.  Trudging off to my cabin, the rough seas ensured that this ship would be rocking well into the night - physically as well as figuratively.There was one more day of Cayamo remaining and though we were still on a high, the ship itself seemed intent on taking its passengers up... and down.  Dramamine time had finally arrived.

Who says we can't just slap an intriguing looking image up on the site?

By Blurt Staff

It's not that we're 10 months late with this news item, since it's really not about the British film In The Loop at all (the political comedy, about the US President and UK Prime Minister hatching a war, came out last April). We just came across the image when we were looking up some information on singer-songwriter Adem, who guests on the new album by Emma Pollock (ex-Delgados), which is released next week and we have a review planned for it.

Follow the links or not; like we said, we just think the image kicks ass. Thank you, and have a good weekend.

Acoustic and electric Neil from the 2007 tour.

By Blurt Staff

Depending on where you live - probably NYC, L.A., maybe Chicago and a few other cities - mark your calendars for March 19: that's when the concert film Neil Young Trunk Show will open in select theaters. It was directed by Jonathan Demme, who of course was behind another Young concert film, 2006's Heart of Gold. Watch for a DVD release to follow.

Footage was shot on Young's Chrome Dreams II tour at Philly's Tower Theater in 2007 and it captures him both in acoustic and electric mode. You can view the trailer at the film's official website or via the YouTube clip, below.

[Photo Credit: Larry Cragg]

Debut from erstwhile Aereogramme members coming next month.

By Blurt Staff

The Unwinding Hours is the new musical project from Craig B and Iain Cook, former members of Glasgow's critically acclaimed and much-loved Aereogramme. Their debut self-titled album, due March 16 on Chemikal Underground, matches the literate flair of the song-writing effortlessly matched to the duo's musical ambition. Avid cineastes, The Unwinding Hours acknowledge the influence of film on their work by taking their name from a reference buried deep within Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.

Aereogramme, of course, had formed in 1998 and released four albums, concluding with 2007's My Heart Has a Wish That You Would Not Go. An eight vinyl deluxe box set of their Chemikal Underground material was released early this year.

The Unwinding Hours started out as a means for Craig to record some of his songs with the help of Iain after the demise of Aereogramme, but with no plans for a commercial release or to play them live. As Iain grew more excited about the material, The Unwinding Hours became a collaborative project, with a very different character to the material they recorded as part of Aereogramme. The album was written and recorded throughout 2008 and 2009, in Iain's own Alucard Studios on the south side of Glasgow (only the drums were recorded elsewhere, by Paul Savage in Chemikal Underground's Chem19). The recording of the album was a leisurely process as Iain was busy with other projects throughout the year so, out of necessity, they only worked on the songs for a few hours a week or fortnight. As Iain says, "There were no expectations or deadlines, so it felt like a really enjoyable and relaxed way of trying out new ideas and seeing if they stuck."

The album opens with the gorgeous slow-burn of Knut: the longest track on the album at just under six minutes, it's an elegant exercise in layered sounds and propulsive dynamics. Iain explains that "It was only during the final stages of the mix that we decided to try out vocals on the track and that's when it totally came to life for me and also tied the song in effectively with the rest of the album. I love this one now and I think it's a nice way to start the record." There Are Worse Things Than Being Alone juxtaposes sweet sounding elements like the acoustic guitar and strings with some very unsettling noise elements. The opening suggestion that "something's wrong..." develops gradually until, by the end of the song and the "Let me out of here, my love..." line, the sweetness is completely engulfed by wave after wave of noise, the creeping claustrophobia of a failing relationship.

Craig elaborates on the album's subject matter, saying, "The main themes throughout the record are of relationships: some ending, some starting, some going well, some going very, very badly. Traces attempts to capture that powerful, almost drunken, sensation you feel when a relationship is in its infancy; Child deals with the bitter end of another." There is an argument that wreckage (emotional or otherwise) recurs heavily throughout the course of the album: Annie Jane is named after a real shipwreck while the closing track, The Final Hour, emerged from its own period of prolonged upheaval. Initially recorded in a friend's Boston studio during Aereogramme's last tour of the US, The Final Hour demo was conceived with the rain hammering down on a dispiriting, traumatic tour and, as Iain points out, "The original demo definitely reflected that. So much so that I don't think Craig even wanted to listen to the song again let alone put it on the album, but I kept insisting it was a belter and that we should work on it. The refrain that Craig sings in the latter half of the song "I saw you..." is one of my favorite things he has written and I wanted the music to be devastatingly loud and slow."

Craig and Iain are already talking about starting work on songs for a second album although there's no prospect of altering the leisurely process of evolution that's been so successful for them on their debut.

The band has already announced a March-April tour of the UK and Europe. Dates plus song samples at their MySpace page: www.myspace.com/theunwindinghours

[Photo Credit: John Speirs]

On American Gong, Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, abetted by Joanna Bolme, channel their inner Who. The payoff, though, is all pop - with power.

By Jennifer Kelly

Quasi isn't exactly settling gracefully into an elder statesman slot. The band - a partnership between Sam Coomes and Sleater-Kinney/Jicks drummer Janet Weiss - has been going, intermittently, for 17 years now, with eight studio albums and a clutch of singles to show for it. Conflict was always part of the band's DNA, on a personal level, one guesses, since the two principles are divorced former partners, but also on a musical one. There's a deep divide between Quasi's witheringly caustic lyrics and its buoyant sing-along melodies, between its Beatles-pop rocksichord hooks and the surging maelstrom of its guitar freak-outs, and this chasm has only grown deeper of late.

The addition of Joanna Bolme (also from the Jicks) at bass has enabled a volume-blistered, thunderous rock sound, underlining the M80-in-the-parking-lot explosiveness of Weiss' drumming and bringing out Coomes' inner guitar hero. It's no accident that new album American Gong (Kill Rock Stars) ends with a cover of the Who's "Heaven and Hell". There's a Live at Leeds-level rock intensity to much of this album, married, as the Who's songs often were, to transcendent, melodic hooks.  Consider "Repulsion," which kicks off in a squeak of feedback, and half obliterates its melodies under distorted thicknesses of guitar distortion. Its lyrical imagery is harsh with whores and piss and angry bed-wars. Yet when the clangor breaks for the chorus, the single word title dragged out over a series of shifting, tightly harmonized intervals, the payoff is all pop.  

American Gong is an unusually guitar-centric Quasi album. Coomes' keyboards take a leading role in only a couple of these songs, in the Beatles psychedelic "Everything and Nothing at All" and the burned and busted piano ballad "Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez." There's some acoustic strumming in bittersweet "The Jig Is Up" and a blues-rocking vamp in "Black Dog and Bubbles," but for the most part, the six-string is electrified, fuzzed and turned way, way up.

Guitar rock tends naturally towards triumph, and perhaps this is why American Gong is downbeat, but not actually depressing. Mortality, setbacks, hard times all take a turn in Coomes' lyrical scenarios, yet none are allowed the final word. Watch how "Bye Bye Blackbird" (following the nursery rhyme melody of "Baa Baa Blacksheep") gets the financial crisis down in two lines: "Bye bye blackbird/days are getting cold/snakes and lizards are sucking up the gold/chrome-plated plastic they give you in return/teach you a lesson you shouldn't have to learn." Or how "Laissez les Bon Temp Roulez" observes that one person's life is "just a piss in the ocean, a grain of sand." And yet there's a sense of persistence and modest overcoming in these songs.  "Your sadness and sickness are nothing to prize," sings Coomes in "What Now", "Leave them behind and rise." After the extremely downbeat, borderline whiny "Laissez," the band slips in a bit of self-mockery in "Howler," a 41-second recording of a dog howling, possibly at the moon.  

The best songs on American Gong are clustered toward the front. Nothing in the latter half matches "Repulsion," "Little White Horse," or "Bye Bye Blackbird." "Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez," in particular, lasts far too long and showcases far too well the shortcomings of Coomes reedy, strangled voice. Still, hang on for the Who cover, with its gleeful guitar vortex and chaos-flirting, beat-rupturing fills on drums. If the Who could turn their views on the afterlife into one of the world's great rock songs, then you can't blame Quasi for dipping pop into darkness as well.  

Tickets for the tour go on sale March 8; new album, Mojo, due in the spring. Ticket buyers will get free MP3 download of the album plus more goodies.

By Blurt Staff

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers today announced their 2010 North American tour and the upcoming release of Mojo, their first studio album in eight years, set for release on Reprise Records this spring.  The tour kicks off May 6th in Raleigh, NC, and tickets go on sale beginning Monday, March 8 at LiveNation.com.

 
Special guest artists on the tour will include a mix of appearances by My Morning Jacket, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Joe Cocker, ZZ Top, and Drive-By Truckers.

 
All 2010 Tour tickets purchased online will include an MP3 download of every track on Mojo. It will work like this: once fans purchase tickets online they will receive an email with codes entitling them to download two tracks from Mojo ("First Flash Of Freedom" and "Good Enough.") Then, on the release date of the album, currently slated for this spring, ticket buyers will be sent a download of the entire album.

Also included with every online ticket purchase, to be delivered at the end of the 2010 tour, will be a selection of live tracks recorded during the tour.

 
"Good Enough" from the new album is now available for streaming at the revamped TOMPETTY.com.  

Last year, of course, brought the massive Live Anthology boxed set - you can read about it at BLURT right here: "That Southern Accent."
 

 
Tour Dates:

May 06            Raleigh                     Time Warner Cable Pavilion at Walnut Creek (w/Joe Cocker)
May 07            Charlotte                   Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (w/Joe Cocker)
May 09            Tampa                       St. Pete Times Forum (w/Joe Cocker)               
May 15            Dallas                        Superpages.com Center (w/Joe Cocker)
May 16            Houston                    Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion (w/Joe Cocker)
May 18            Phoenix                     US Airways Arena (w/Joe Cocker)              
May 22            Los Angeles              Hollywood Bowl (w/Joe Cocker)
Jun 02             San Diego                 Cricket Wireless Pavilion (w/Joe Cocker)
Jun 03             Irvine                         Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (w/Joe Cocker)
Jun 05             Oakland                     Oracle Pavilion (w/Joe Cocker)
Jun 08             Vancouver                 GM Place (w/Joe Cocker)
Jun 11             Seattle                       The Gorge (w/Joe Cocker)
Jun 12             Seattle                       The Gorge (w/Joe Cocker)
Jun 15             Calgary                      Pengrowth Saddledome (w/Joe Cocker)
Jun 16             Edmonton                  Rexall Place (w/Joe Cocker)
Jun 19             Winnipeg                   MTS Centre (w/Joe Cocker)
Jun 22             St Paul                      Xcel Energy Center (w/Drive-By Truckers)           
Jun 23             Omaha                      Qwest Center (w/Drive-By Truckers)           
Jun 25             Milwaukee                 Summerfest (w/ZZ Top)****                       
Jul 10             Indianapolis               Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (w/Drive-By Truckers)           
Jul 13             Kansas City               Sprint Center (w/Drive-By Truckers)           
Jul 15             Cincinnati                   Riverbend Music Center (w/Drive-By Truckers)           
 Jul 17            Chicago                     United Center (w/Drive-By Truckers)           
Jul 20             Cleveland                   Blossom Music Center (w/Drive-By Truckers)           
Jul 22             Detroit                        Palace of Auburn Hills (w/Drive-By Truckers)           
Jul 24             Pittsburgh                  First Niagra Pavilion (w/Drive-By Truckers)           
Jul 28             New York                   Madison Square Garden (w/TBD)                         
Jul 31             Philadelphia               Wachovia Center (w/TBD)           
Aug 11           Atlanta                        Philips Arena (w/Crosby, Stills and Nash)
Aug 12           Nashville                    Sommet Center (w/Crosby, Stills and Nash)
Aug 14           Darien Lake, NY        Darien Lake Performing Arts Center (w/Crosby, Stills and Nash)
Aug 15           Bristow                      Jiffy Lube Live (w/Crosby, Stills and Nash)
Aug 17           Hartford                     Comcast Theater (w/Crosby, Stills and Nash)
Aug 19           Boston                       Comcast Center (w/My Morning Jacket)           
Aug 21           Boston                       Comcast Center (w/My Morning Jacket)             
Aug 24           East Rutherford         IZOD Center (w/My Morning Jacket)
Aug 25           Toronto                      Air Canada Center (w/Crosby, Stills and Nash)
Aug 27           Saratoga Springs      Saratoga Performing Arts Center (w/Crosby, Stills and Nash)

 
***Summerfest show in Milwaukee, WI onsale March 6

Additional tour/ticket details plus Highway Companions Fan Club info: www.tompetty.com

[Photo Credit: Blossom Berkofsky]

For Tuesday, Feb. 24, we hoist anchor in Belize while rocking out with the WPA, Gregory Alan Isakov, Rachel Yamagata, Steve Earle and Luke Doucet - plus a special covers-rich throwdown by Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers.

By Lee Zimmerman / Photos by Will Byington

Ed. note: This week BLURT contributor Lee Zimmerman is on the annual Cayamo Cruise, which as you'll read below boasts a who's-who of roots and Americana artists playing for (and mingling with) fans traveling on a five-day cruise through the Caribbean. Fittingly enough, the event's called Caribbean on Cayamo 2010: A Journey Through Song. Internet connection willing, Zimmerman will be filing a report each day, so keep checking back to find out who was twanging the loudest, who was singing the sweetest - and who Zimmerman was rubbing shoulders with the hardest. Go here to read his report from Day 1 and here for Day 2. Incidentally, you can also read his report from last year's Cruise elsewhere at the BLURT site.

It's gonna be another long day...

Try as I may, there's no sleeping in. For starters, there's the booming voice over the intercom that's suddenly managed to pierce the quiet sanctity of our stateroom. "Good morning, ladies and gents, and welcome to Belize." It's our cruise director, of course, who I'm convinced they've hired due to his cheery, charming English accent and not because he's aware that on these kind of cruises, people like to sleep in late and aren't especially anxious to hear a cheery, charming English accent - or any other dialect for that matter --- at eight in the morning. Okay, so going to bed at 12:30 AM the night before hardly qualifies for any semblance of rowdy, all-night partying... but as far as I'm concerned, it's close enough to qualify.

Regardless, Alisa is anxious to venture ashore, and our neighbors, the Judges, are game, so we dutifully shuffle over to the ever-accommodating buffet line, grab a bountiful breakfast and make our way to the point of disembarking in order to grab a tender to the mainland. It's a little disconcerting that the ship has opted to have a safety drill at the same time, one that simulates one might happen if suddenly the ship collides with an armada of Sudanese pirates, but we're assured that all's well and Sudanese pirates rarely, if ever, venture into this part of the world. We do make one stop on the ship prior, however -- that being the spa which Alisa scopes out as a place of refuge, just in case, said Sudanese pirates do defy the odds and attempt to take us all hostage.

That place is the ship spa (how many times have you read accounts of pirates coming aboard and demanding anyone remove the hot rocks - or is it hot coals? - from their backside in order to play hostage. Rarely happens, right? (Note: I never understood how hot rocks can cure any ills. It seems like these spas can say anything to that effect, and as weird as it may seem, still convince their patrons that it would cure their ills. I can almost imagine that if I go into a spa one day, there will be a sign advertising a grilled cheese treatment, wherein they put me, the spa-ee, between two giant pieces of seedless rye bread, pour American cheese over my naked body, and claim it's a cure for a hernia.)

In this case, the treatment that draws my attention is acupuncture, which of course is a commonly accepted medical practice, mostly among people who actually believe it can be painless to have up to four dozen needles piercing all parts of your body including certain nether regions that you're reticent to even touch yourself... in public that is. (Of course, speaking for myself, no part of my body is off-limits at this particular time of my life.) Even so, there's a flyer claims that there are innumerable symptoms that might make one a candidate for acupuncture, although one category draws my attention in particular. Should you suffer from persistent diarrhea, projectile vomiting, emitting noxious fumes and/or gasses, and a whole list of other stuff I simply couldn't bring myself to read, you then are a prime candidate for acupuncture. I mentioned to the spa hostess - all of whom seem to be oriental and speak slowly and reassuringly - that I wouldn't think that sticking needles into any person prone to explode, such as it were, might be a good idea. Yet, try as I might, I couldn't get them to see my point. "These needles are as thin as a hair and they don't hurt," one of the oriental ladies said in that slow, reassuring accent. Okay, whatever, I conceded, but if I'm getting the treatment and I hear there's also someone there who's come in demanding acupuncture to cure his or her persistent diarrhea, projective vomiting, or tendency to emit noxious fumes and/or gasses, I want to be an entire deck - or perhaps entire ship - away.

Fortunately, there would be no reason to worry about that particular dilemma. We were about to face an entirely different paradox on Belize itself. For those of you who are unaware, Belize has a number of national distinctions. For one thing, it's so crammed for space between Mexico and Central America, there's barely enough room to write the word "Belize" on a map. Seriously though, it boasts a number of national attractions - historical ruins, lush rainforests, unspoiled beaches. And it has the corner on the world's market when it comes to cheap tee-shirts that say "Welcome to Belize" in 150 different fonts, many of which have yet to be discovered by the outside world. Unfortunately, the tee-short phenomenon is the only one that we would personally witness. That leads to our second bit of educational trivia about Belize... that being the fact that the country's main industry, which happens to be pushy cab drivers hustling to convince the tourists that they offer the best fares when it comes to taking visitors to view the aforementioned treasures -- tee-shirts included.

"Hey mon, I'll take you wherever you want to go for $10!"

Hey mon, I'll take you wherever you want to go for $8!"

"Hey mon, I'll take you wherever you want to go for $5!"

"Hey mon, I'll pay you - just let me take you wherever you want to go!"

By this point, the only place I wanted to go was Detroit. In fact, I'm convinced that if the U.S. Marines really wanted to train their recruits effectively, they'd ship them all to Belize, and force them to run the gamut of pushy cab drivers. Those that made it three blocks without coming to a complete halt due to being seduced into taking a cab ride to see the ruins at Mata-Hari, or whatever it's called, would then be qualified for combat.  As for us, we simply lacked the endurance.  We fled back to the dock to seek the refuge of a local bar and proceeded to learn all we needed about the country's economy by consuming their locally brewed bear. Be assured however, that Alisa and I did get our lesson in international customs and geography all the same. We consumed said beers with our new friends, Chuck and Tracy, who happen to hail from Canada.  Having been on cruises before, I'm convinced Canada is the only place in the western hemisphere where pushy cab drivers are not deemed a national treasure.

We had to deal with choices of a different sort later. Our first concert of the evening, set to take place in the Starlight Theater, the ship's main venue, was our "twice as nice" show with Emmylou Harris. This is a special feature of the Cayamo cruise that allows guest to choose a headliner show they opt to see a second time... hence the title "twice as nice." However, other options awaited, including WPA on the pool deck and Darrell Scott, billed "With Friends," back in the Spinnaker. Noting the virtuosity of his performance on day one, we opted to make our return show with Scott and we weren't disappointed. Although two of the three "friends' turned out to be relatively unknown - Taylor Bates and Sarah Ample specifically-both offered superb songs of their own. Luke from WPA rounded out the list of guests and offered a typically virtuoso performance on fiddle to complement Scott's nimble fretwork.  Scott also provided the audience with a sage piece of advice on the art of songwriting:

"The best songs are the ones that come up and tap you on the shoulder when you least expect it. We as songwriters need only stay out of the way when the songs show up. We can't choose them because they show up in their own time."

After a brief detour to catch the tail end of a set by the all but unknown but thoroughly captivating Gregory Alan Isakov in the Atrium, it was back to the Spinnaker for Rachel Yamagata, who proved to be an absolute hoot as she delighted the crowd by poking fun at her melodramatic muse. She also offered a choice anecdote on her adjustment to life at sea. "I thought I'd be able to stick to my normal routine," she remarked. "So the first day I went straight to the gym. But when I couldn't get in, I went straight to the bar and I've been there ever since."  After what was intentioned as a sad song about a lost dog - in which Yamagata made scant attempt to keep a straight face and brought the audience to hysterics as well - she brought on a parade of special guests, chief among them Vienna Teng and the seemingly omnipresent Brandi Carlile. "Brandi used to open for me," Yamagata commented. "Now she's a big rock star and I'm singing sad songs about lost dogs."

Nevertheless, Yamagata and her trio brought the house down.  "Thank you for choosing me over Lyle Lovett," she said to the crowd before making her departure.

The biggest surprise of the evening was the Canadian husband wife-duo, Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland. Offering up a flexible combination of angular blues, sassy jazz and heart-tugging ballads, the two gave a dazzling performance magnified all the more by Luke's shredding guitar licks and ample use of the whammy bar to create some of the most impressive sonic motifs heard thus far. His licks explore unexpected realms - erratic, unpredictable, and seemingly out of sync with the melody and yet wholly appropriate at the same time.  Ending with a beautiful ballad bearing the refrain, "I adore you," it was enough to bring a drinking man to tears. Or in my case, even one who casually imbibes.

It was then time to dash downstairs to the Starlight for the solo set by Steve Earle. Unsure as to the nature of his personality or the state of his mood, the crowd held their collective breath as Earle made his way to center stage. He turned out to be quite the showman, regaling the crowd with a mix of self-effacing humor, autobiographical anecdotes and political potshots.  The music itself was mesmerizing; with Earle accompanying himself on guitar and occasional mandolin, he turned such classic tracks as "I Ain't Never Satisfied" and "Coppertown Road" into communal sing-alongs and a general sort of soul revival.  Referring to his latest album, a tribute to his famous compadre Townes Van Zandt, Earle remarked, "I first met Townes when I was seventeen and I thought it was the most amazing thing ever.  I'm 55 now and I still think it was the most amazing thing ever." He sandwiched those comments between heartfelt readings of Van Zandt's "My Old Friend the Blues" and "Pancho and Lefty," fitting choices considering the emotional context.  A remarkable performance overall, Earle's concert reminded me of why I relished Cayamo in the first place. It was this kind of special bonding between audience and performer that breaks down that invisible wall normally separating an artist from the faithful legions. The tears in my eyes were clearly tears of joy.

That sense of common purpose radiated later in the Spinnaker as Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, a band clearly infatuated with the spirit of rock ‘n' roll revival, hosted the evening's "throwdown," a set of Byrds, Band, Stones and Tom Petty covers featuring guest appearances by passengers and other artists alike.  The revelry that arose from singing along to such chestnuts as "Up On Cripple Creek," "Honky Tonk Women," "I Won't Back Down" and the evening rowdy closer," a raucous version of "Like a Rolling Stone" took Cayamo's penchant for partying full circle and brought a grand evening to its righteous conclusion. I was indeed, one happy Cayamo camper. Happy too, because there were still two days to go. Yet, I was also feeling slightly concerned. I still had an impressive list of performers I had yet to see.

Don't worry, the facial hair ain't real, folks...

By Fred Mills

Is May here yet? Mark your calendars for May 11: that's when the sibling indiepop chanteuses known as CocoRosie will issue their Sub Pop debut. Titled Grey Oceans, it wil be their fourth overall, following three acclaimed releases on Touch & Go, 2004's La Maison de Mon Rêve, 2005's Noah's Ark, and 2007's Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn.

Three years between albums is an eternity in rock years, however, so here's hoping fans haven't forgotten Sierra and Bianca's lush-yet-edgy song stylings. Tracklisting to the new one is below.

According to Sub Pop, "The nomadic duo (currently and temporarily residing in New Mexico) spent much of 2008 writing and recording in Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Berlin, New York, and  Paris, finding amazing and diverse musicians to collaborate along the way."

As usual, the sisters have something going on with the faux-facial hair thing - check the album art image above, along with the alternative version below.

Track Listing:

Trinity's Crying

Smokey Taboo

Hopscotch

Undertaker

Grey Oceans

R.I.P. Burn Face

The Moon Asked the Crow

Lemonade

Gallows

Fairy Paradise

Here I Come