Rock 'n' Roll Ruckus

(Needles logo from MySpace)

Saturday night at The Taphouse in Ghent, a bunch of punky, garagy bands played in honor of Nathan Berger, who celebrated his birthday with a metric crap-ton of rock. I only got to witness The Needles from Wilmington, N.C., who were truly excellent. But if this kind of sleazy, three-chord rock appeals to you ( and why wouldn't it?) sample some of the night's festivities here. I should note that Gina Dalmas also performed and was an exception to all the punk rawk rowdiness. She's doing a sort of honky-tonk swing thing that's also pretty fun.

Night Time for Nappy

(MySpace photo)
I learned that the R&B/blues singer Nappy Brown died last week. I realize I am once again stretching the geographic focus of Toggle Switch by posting about this. And I don't care. I know that Nappy -- who was based in Charlotte, N.C. -- played in Hampton Roads at least once over the last 14 years. He played Goodfellas in Hampton about 5 years ago, if my memory serves. While I always knew that Nappy was a beloved figure down in North Carolina, I had forgotten until I read his New York Times obituary that he wrote "(Night Time) Is the Right Time" -- truly an R&B classic. Ray Charles had a big hit with the tune, but I learned about it through the J. Geils Band version. But it's been covered by everybody and his brother. Even Norfolk's own Crums did a version last time I saw them.
I'm sorry that I never heard Nappy live. Anyone who can write a song like that and also maintain a live career over five decades gets my admiration.
Brown's MySpace page contains a nice tribute by friend and collaborator Bob Margolin.

Say It's Your Birthday

Saturday night at the Taphouse, Big Bobby and the Nightcaps will be laying down the sleazy garage rock in honor of local scenester Nathan Berger. The birthday celebration will feature a special appearances by Steve Baise of The Villains and Paul Johnson. I'm expecting a big mess of excess -- which should be fun to witness even if you don't join in.

What else is happening this weekend of note? The Sunrise to Sunset Acoustic Music Festival brings the spunky string band Old Crow Medicine Show to Town Point Park for a free show Sunday evening.

Sounds Like Norfolk Spirit

(MySpace art)

Norfolk's punky, garage-rock gutter princes The Villains have released a new CD. They celebrated the new disc with show at The Taphouse over the weekend. We at Toggle Switch haven't gotten a copy yet, but we're working on it. Until I can give you a full review, check out a few songs here and head over to hamptonroads.com to read an interview with band leader Steve Baise.

Here's an excerpt:

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“It’s just something I started saying because of Frank Guida, which is the original Norfolk sound. I don’t write it as good or the same, but pretty close to the same style as him, which is rooted in the ’50s with girls and cars,” said Baise, songwriter and former member of 1989’s New York City punk rockers The Devil Dogs. Baise toured in Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada and, of course, the United States while with the band. He moved from New York 10 years ago, when the Dogs broke up, “I basically grew up in Jersey, and living down here reminds me of Jersey.”

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Unplugged Punk

(poster from Myspace)
I've been trying to see Avail-turned-folk-troubadour Tim Barry for some time now. Thursday's show at the Jewish Mother sounds like it should be something unusually good. Can I make it all they way to the oceanfront on a Thursday night? We'll see about that.

Here's a press release about the tour that includes Thursday's show ...

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In a match made in folk-punk heaven, Hot Water Music’s Chuck Ragan, Avail’s Tim Barry and Lucero’s Ben Nichols will embark on The Revival Tour this fall, , a series of shows that will see all three artists playing solo sets as well as performing on each other’s material. “All the tours that I’ve done since I’ve been doing this solo stuff have in some way or the other ended up with a bunch of friends onstage by the end of the night,” Ragan explains, adding that each performer will be joined by a backing band that will change based on geography and include many of their peers and previous tourmates. “I’ve always loved seeing that and now I’m absolutely loving creating something like that with good friends who think and believe along the same lines.”
The tour will mark Ragan’s final run in support of last year’s solo debut Feast Or Famine, after which he’ll begin pre-production on his next album for SideOneDummy. Barry is touring in support of his own folk debut, Rivanna Junction. Although the two musicians met in the nineties while fronting two of the most influential DIY punk bands of the era, in recent years both songwriters have begun to explore folk and bluegrass compositions, making this tour a perfect pairing of ideologies and instrumentation.
Nichols entered the picture when him and Ragan recently toured in January, but it wasn’t until this year’s SXSW Festival in Austin , Texas , that the plan was solidified. “We were both doing our own thing and weren’t there in conjunction, but ended up sitting down for some drinks after one of the long days,” Ragan explains. “We agreed on a time, shook hands and kept on drinking.” While the tour will feature individual sets from each artist, it will be more reminiscent of the folk tradition of involving multiple artist collaborations—and each performer will have guests coming on and off stage, including the three primary songwriters who plan to hunker down in Barry’s Richmond, Virginia backyard this summer to learn each other’s respective tracks.
“The three of us have been in bands that each have their own sound, but I think we’re all coming from the same place musically concerning this tour,” Nichols explains. “When it comes down to it, we all appreciate good songs and good songwriters and that’s what this tour is all about,” he adds, “stripping everything down to its basic form and playing some good songs with some of your friends. The idea of Woody Guthrie, just a man and a guitar, is very appealing to all of us—and the chance to be a part of something like that with Chuck and Tim is something I couldn’t pass up. We all have our own types of songs, but I think it’ll be a blast basically sitting around a campfire every night playing music with some friends.”
“I don’t know what it’s going to end up sounding like from night-to-night and that’s the coolest thing about it,” explains Barry. “I don’t think anyone is going to know what it’s going to sound like until we get up there, but I can honestly say that I’m more excited about music now than I’ve been in a long time.” The routing hasn’t been confirmed yet, but The Revival Tour will tentatively take place from late September through mid-November and traverse the entire country. “There’s only a few bands that I feel that kinship with as far as personalities beyond music; there’s some people where you’re like, ‘this is my family on the road no matter what.’ Hot Water Music and Lucero are two of the few bands I feel that way about,” Barry summarizes. “It’s going to be a thrill to do this.”
Chuck Ragan has been the co-frontman for the Gainesville , Florida punk act Hot Water Music since 1993. He released his debut full-length Feast Or Famine last year on SideOneDummy.
Tim Barry has been the singer of the Richmond, Virginia-based punk band Avail since 1990. Barry released his solo debut Rivanna Junction last year on Suburban Home Records.
Ben Nichols has been the frontman of the alternative-country/punk act Lucero since 1998. The band released their latest album Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers on their own label Liberty & Lament in 2006.

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Tim Barry's new album "Manchester" will be out Nov. 4 on Suburban Home Records.

Heaven is a Place

(2006 Byrne photo by Fred von Lohmann)

It's late and I'm out of energy, so here's a quick mini-review of tonight's David Byrne show at the Ferguson Center in Newport News.
Overall, the show was very entertaining, although my enjoyment was diluted by the fact that the sound was brash, brittle and treble-heavy, lacking in clear, distinct bass.
That aside, Byrne was in a good mood and his singing was strong. His band was tight and capable and a team of three dancers were fun to watch and gave the show a nice visual boost. I could nitpick and say the choreography wasn't always as inventive as I might have hoped, but then I'd sound like a grumpy, middle-aged malcontent. I'd never want that.
The night's setlist was smart mix of new and old tunes, many of which showed the fingerprints of Brian Eno, who of course was the ghost hovering over the night's affair.
Highlights from the set -- which, as advertised, concentrated on Byrne-Eno material -- included "Heaven" from 1979's "Fear of Music" and "One Fine Day" from the new album "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today." Another peak came with the one-two punch of "Once In a Lifetime" and "Life During Wartime."
Good stuff. Not life changing, but good.

September Girl

(MySpace photo by Lynne Brubaker)
Today, I learned that Shannon Worrell -- who back in the gay '90s recorded and performed in the Charlottesville duo September 67 -- is still in Charlottesville and still making music. This is, for me, great news because I dearly loved a particular September 67 song called (I kid you not) "Stephen Malkmus is a Fucking Snob."
While the song doesn't actually contain that line, Shannon did seem to be addressing Stephen -- also someone who spent some time in C'Ville way back when. At the climax of the tune, says Shannon quotes poet Allen Ginsberg then sings "Fuck a bunch of irony, dear God, make me a hippie!"
Funny, smart, heartfelt stuff -- and sung in a voice and setting that reminds me of Tanya Donelly or Kristen Hirsh.
September 67 got some big label attention and even toured as part of Lilith Fair, but, for whatever reason, never really took off. Worrell went on to record some overly slick coffeehouse pop-folk on her 1994 solo disc "Three Wishes." Her 2000 album "The Moviegoer" was better, but must not have made much of a splash. I don't even remember hearing about it when it was released.
I had pretty much written off Shannon, so stumbling on her MySpace page was a pleasant surprise. She's set to release a new album, "The Honey Guide," on October 17. If the song "Kitchen" posted on her MySpace page is any indication, she's moved in a more folky, rustic direction. It suits her.

If you want to download "Stephen Malkmus ..." or Shannon's solo discs, they're available through www.emusic.com.

Thrift Shop Stop

(Dan Villanueva photo from MySpace)

My weekend was consumed by lots of strenuous, but worthy, activity. None of it had much to do with music, though, so I thought I'd write about a local disc I discovered at the Hope House Foundation thrift store -- the one across from Doumar's.
Astropop 3's self-titled disc from 1998 is a testament to that group's ambitions and to the talents of Astropop guitarist and singer Dan Villanueva. "You're the One" "and So Happy" drip with both sweet melody and sour melancholy. Arrangements are simple, strumming guitar and restrained bass and guitar make up the meat of the tracks. Dan sings in a bit of a monotone -- and I think that probably ultimately makes Astropop 3 a tough sell for some people. But on tunes like "China Doll" he sounds confident, clear and pretty inspired.
As of earlier this year, the band was still around, but I think they're playing much less frequently.

Auto Harping

(Autoharp photo courtesy of www.jetmedic.com)

I've got a shotgun blast of scattershot news for you tonight, so prepare for screaming pellets of concert/music information.

Pellet No. 1. First off, I urge any of you who have any interest in folky, indie rock to head over to The Boot tomorrow to hear Sarah Carter. Sarah, who sings and accompanies herself on autoharp, is promising to play a set of mostly original tunes. If they're as good as the ones I heard recently at an in-store performance at Volume in Virginia Beach, I'll be a happy man. Regardless, though, Carter is a fine live performer. Her voice -- which seems to bridge a gap between Irish Dement and Billie Holiday -- is in itself something to behold. Friday, she's playing with the duo Ellery and a singer-songwriter named Kyler England. Cover is $5, I think.

Pellet No. 2. I heard today that The Watson Twins are opening for Billy Bragg at the Attucks Theatre on October 30. OK, I really didn't need another reason to get excited about this show. But here's another reason. I've read up and down reviews of the Watson Twins' record, but several of the tunes I heard on their MySpace page were pretty terrific.

Pellet No. 3. Jeff Maisey wrote a nice story about the local SHDWPLY Records in the current issue of Port Folio. The label, which has released an LP by Norfolk's own Super Vacations and a split 7-inch with Norfolk's Little Trooper on one side, Houston's Wicked Poseur on the other. This is a record I need to get my grubby paws on. Read the full story here.

Pellet No. 4. Finally, I learned this week that one of my favorite Hampton Roads cover bands, Ampersand, is playing a local wine festival this fall -- good news for anyone who likes 1980s and 1990s rock songs reinterpreted in an acoustic format. [UPDATE!]They’re playing at the Neptune’s Fall Wine Festival, on Saturday, at the 31st Street Park at Virginia Beach. They’re supposed to be on from 2:30 to 5 p.m.

South Side Soul

(Swamp Dogg photo courtesy of The Sound of Young America blog)

Journalist and music guru Don Harrison supplied the Toggle Switch fodder for tonight. Harrison has a piece on the wonderful (but often overlooked) Virginia funk master Swamp Dogg in the current issue of Hampton Roads magazine.
Here's a sample:

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"A comeback?" the talkative and gregarious Portsmouth native laughs into his side of the phone. "First, you gotta go somewhere."

At the age of 12, the future show biz veteran was hawking homemade records to area record shops; he hosted a TV music variety show in Hampton Roads when he was barely in high school. Jerry Williams' resume has since included prominent stints as singer, songwriter, producer, label owner, song publisher and political gadfly; his creative orbit inhabited by a diverse cast of characters, including Lionel Richie, Jane Fonda, Kid Rock, Johnny Paycheck, Dr. Dre and John Prine - imagine them all in one room!

So how come you've probably never heard of this guy?

Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that, since the '70s, Williams has operated under the pseudonym of Swamp Dogg, and with a fiercely independent attitude that has often blurred any public recognition he might've gained from his musically formidable body of work. The pugnacious, profane (and often fiercely political) Dogg is a big name in South America and the Dutch West Indies; the British dig him too. At the time of this interview, Williams had just returned from a tour of Europe and was planning future concert stops in Aruba and Amsterdam.

But in America, it's been a different story, he says. "I can't pay people to come see me."

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Don was also nice enough to tip me off to what looks like a great resource on Virginia soul music from days gone by. I'll be digging deeper into the Funky Virginia blog soon. You should, too.

Fuck the Computer

(Poster from MySpace)
In the name of expanding the body of knowledge created through the Toggle Switch Institute For Advanced Virginia Music Studies, I've been asking lots of questions. When I run into someone who's deep into the original music scene, I usually ask him to tell me about two or three of his or her favorite Virginia artists.
I like to call this my "Method."
And the "Method" is what led me to Richmond's Amoeba Men.
Matt Deans, keyboard dude from Hot Lava, told me they were one of his favorite Richmond bands. In fact, he was wearing an Amoeba Men T-shirt at the Hot Lava show at The Boot.
Once I made it to the A.M. MySpace page, I heard some deliciously abrasive rock music -- made by a guitar-keyboard-drums trio. The vocals remind me of the shout-talk stuff we used to hear a lot in the 1980s. The angular, stabbing riffs are definitely post-punk. But I wouldn't say these guys are trapped in the past. There's a freshness to the Amoeba Men attack on tracks like "Fuck the Computer" and "Itchy Trigger Fingers" (the latter of which is available as a free download) that tells me that these guys are worth a closer look.
No Hampton Roads dates are listed as yet, but the Amoebas are set to play Gallery 5 in Richmond on Oct. 15.

Undercurrents

The Kung Fu Dykes are a Hampton Roads band that mixed new wave with heavy metal. At least that's my memory. It had been a long time since I'd heard much of their music, so I listened to a couple of newer songs on MySpace and that confirmed my recollection. I'm happy to report that it looks like they're becoming semi-active again. I believe at least one member attended the recent Tidewater Alternative Music Subculture reunion in Chesapeake. And tonight, I saw a bulletin saying the band is playing with Metal Blade recording artists Soilent Green in Danville, of all places. I'm glad that the Dykes are playing again. And I'm glad to see that Danville has some kind of a metal scene going. If there's any place that dark, menacing, morbid music would make sense it's Danville -- where the textile/tobacco economy has been on the skids for years.

Alive She Cried

An ambitious music and art festival centered on local artists is being planned for Oct. 12 at the Granby Theater.
Called Look Alive, it will feature several of my favorite local musicians including 1888 and Sarah Carter. The event will benefit Tidewater Arts Outreach, a worthy local charity.

Here's a description I lifted from the Look Alive Project Web site:

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"Hoping to be a resounding call to arms for area artists and musicians alike, the LOOK ALIVE Festival will not only serve to foster and celebrate the Hampton Roads creative community but will also raise the bar as to what it's capable of, effectively turning artists into artisans and offering an escape for anyone stuck in the doldrums of Saturday night monotony.
Eleven of the region's most gifted visual artists and three of its most praised musical acts will be showcased under one roof; the centerpiece of an evening designed to both raise awareness, and spark initiative among the local arts scene. Some of the area's most recognizable staples like John Hickey (muralist), Cassie Rangel (visual artist ; Norfolk Craft Mafia), and Britta Petilon (gallery artist) will be alongside up-and-coming amateurs like Howard Tarpey (photographer) and Andrew Albertson (urban artist) giving the LOOK ALIVE Festival audience a full scope into the wealth of talent Hampton Roads has to offer. Dancehall darlings JC-DC and Lord Ryan Thomas and indie-rock marvels 1888 (Portfolio Awards Best Album Nominee) will be on hand to turn their amps to eleven and keep the audience dancing all evening long. Also performing will be alt-country outfit Gifthorse (ex-Copperpot, Some Odd Sense), whose forthcoming album serves as both namesake and inspiration for the festival.
Artist participation will not only be restricted to those whose names are on the marquee. LOOK ALIVE coordinators are encouraging and engaging all local artists and musicians to contribute to what's been coined the "Take-Home Tote". Included in each of these FREE souvenir bags will be everything from local bands' demo discs, upcoming show fliers and stickers, to area artists' one-of- a-kind trinkets, photo prints and business cards. Nothing that fits reasonably within the confines of a standard tote will be refused, giving anyone who attends this event quite the memento and giving every artist that submits something a chance to spread their own gospel for just the price of admission.
In keeping with the idea of positively affecting the community at large, the LOOK ALIVE PROJECT has chosen TIDEWATER ARTS OUTREACH (TAO) as its benefactor of all monies from every ticket sold. TAO brings music and the arts to area homeless shelters, rehabilitation centers, pediatric cancer hospitals, and many other facilities and institutions in need of their efforts. These performances, programs and activities promote human interaction, happiness and healing for people who have limited access to the arts, due to health, economic or social circumstances.
Lookaliveproject.com will be launching in the coming weeks, serving as "home-base" for the project, the event itself and as an open forum for any and all interested in getting involved."


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