On Stage Extra: Chris Robinson Brotherhood at TLA

Lots of great live music options this week

By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times

If you’re looking for a bit of entertainment before being buried in the Thanksgiving holidays — there more than a few good options, starting tonight.

If you want to attend a concert on November 22, you can have your choice of a folk/blues/psychedelic rock band, an indie rock band or second-generation prog-rock band with a heavy Kraut-rock influence.

The Chris Robinson Brotherhood, which describes its music as “Psychedelic filling in a Folk Blues pie,” will headline a show at the Theatre of the Living Arts (334 South Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1011, http://www.lnphilly.com).

Having just completed their most successful summer tour yet with sold out dates around the U.S., including San Francisco, San Diego, Napa, Virginia Beach, Asbury Park and Salt Lake City, the CRB — Chris Robinson  (lead vocals, guitars), Neal Casal (guitars, vocals), Adam MacDougall (keyboards, vocals), Mark Dutton (bass, vocals), Tony Leone (drums) — has slowly been unveiling new material.

The band will return to the studio in early 2016 to begin recording this latest set of songs for its next album. The CRB’s most recent album, “Betty’s Blends, Volume Two: Best From The West,” is a limited-edition release presenting live performances recorded and mixed straight from the soundboard by legendary Grateful Dead archivist Betty Cantor-Jackson.

“We’ve been out on the road on-and-off all year,” said Casal, during a phone inter last week from his home in California. “We leave Monday for our next tour. After that, it’s going to feel good to be home for awhile. But, I don’t want to be off the road too long. We’re musicians. We play live. That’s what a band has to do. A band has to do it to be vital. It’s where we get our inspiration. When you play live, your muscles are moving — your fingers are moving. And, you get out and meet people. We’re all still really enjoying being on the road.”

The CRB made an immediate impact upon their boldly unconventional debut in early 2011. They embarked on close to 50 shows over nine weeks in California before ever leaving the Golden State. It wasn’t until the following year that the band introduced itself nationally with the release of two sprawling studio albums — “Big Moon Ritual” and “The Magic Door.” The band also released “Phosphorescent Harvest” in 2014.

“We haven’t started recording the next album yet,” said Casal. “We’ll start in January. We’ve already written some songs for the album but really haven’t got many in finished form.

“Some are three-quarters done and some are still instrumentals. We road-tested three or four of them — but we’ve been holding back. We know that not everything you try will work.

“We use this really great studio here in Marin County — great equipment and great environment. There is a great view of the Pacific Ocean, which is pretty inspirational.

 And, we can live in the house while we’re recording. When we’re making records, we do all the recording live in the studio. That’s the only way we do it. It starts as a band and ends as a band.”

That is one reason why the Chris Robinson Brotherhood is such a great band in concert.

“In our live shows, we try to stay true to the music,” said Casal. “Some songs have a very rigid structure so they’ll stay that way. Other songs have completely free spaces within them. As a musician, you have to listen to what the song tells you.

“We do open up the songs a lot. We expand almost everything. This band has been built on being expansive. Much of the time, we play a show with two sets that lasts well over three hours. So, it’s obvious that we like to expand the music.”

Video link for the Chris Robinson Brotherhood — https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=sTVCJwUS6b8.

The show at the TLA will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25.

On November 22, Boot and Saddle (1131 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 215-639-4528, www.bootandsaddlephilly.com) will host Alex Bleeker and the Freaks. The band is a side project for Bleeker, who is one-third of Real Estate, an Americvan rock band from North Jersey that has been around for the last six years.

Alex Bleeker and the Freaks was founded by Bleeker to bring together like-minded musicians and friends. The band features Bleeker (guitar, vocals), Alex Steinberg (guitar), Nick Lenchner (bass), Dylan Shumaker (drums), Jacob Wolf (keys) and occasional guest vocals from Molly Sarle (Mountain Man).

To celebrate the release the band’s new album “Country Agenda,” the group has been touring extensively throughout the fall, including dates in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

“Country Agenda” is the culmination of Bleeker’s solo work outside of his efforts with the band Real Estate. It follows 2013’s “How Far Away” and the band’s 2009 self-titled debut album. While the Freaks’ lineup has organically changed over time, this release finds the band gelling into its most cohesive self with its most collaborative songwriting to date.

“We recorded the new album in California back in April,” said Bleeker, during a recent phone interview from his home in Marin County, California. “We recorded it in Stinson Beach — that’s what led me to move out here.

“All five of us were in the studio together and the songs started to take shape organically. A few of them had been written earlier so we had been able to play them live. The rest were written right before we made the album. I do like to play songs live first to test them out and get inside them. Two or three of them changed significantly. We also try to play songs in different styles than they were written — just for fun.”

His Freaks project and Real Estate both are still integral parts of Bleeker’s music career.

“Real Estate emerged around the same time as Freaks,” said Bleeker. “Real Estate is a big part of my life creatively. I do Freaks when Real Estaste is off the road. I devote the same amount of creative energy to both.”

Real Estate is more of a collaborative unit but Freaks have been moving in that direction in recent years.

“The songs still all come from me — me fiddling around on guitar,” said Bleeker. “My fingers play around and I hear something that makes me say — that’s cool. It might start with a chord progression or a melodic riff.

“The lyrics come really quickly for me. I might build a song around one line. But, I go through long period of not writing songs at all. There is a drought. Then, inspiration opens up and songs pour out.

“This was my third album with the Freaks. In our current live shows, we play songs from all three. But, the songs have changed. We try to have many versions of each song. We don’t ever play a song the same way twice.”

Video link for Alex Bleeker — https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9adIQUbi_wA.

The show at Boot and Saddle will start at 8 p.m. with opening act The Extraordinaires. Tickets are $10.

Wume will visit the area on November 22 for a show at the West Kensington Ministry (2140 North Hancock Street, Philadelphia, 252-531-6783, http://www.spazz-fest.com).

All around the East Coast, April Camlin and Al Schatz have been rehearsing, recording and performing to develop their rhythmic/hypnotic music. The six tracks on their new album “Maintain” each have a journey of their own — a movement through a sparkling aural future city.

These basement .wav files captured the duo at work on their constructions and they maintained their forward momentum. Analog layers are added like architectural motifs to the underlying sturdy, steady pulse. This is the music of Wume (pronounced “woom”).

According to the band’s press release — “Maintain” is a mixture of old songs and new. The older tracks are more deeply rooted in our wheelhouse of kosmische and funk. In recent years we’ve tried to expand on that initial idea and develop our own blend adding more distinct melodies and further expanding our rhythmic vocabulary.

The band’s original name was Wümme taken from the album title “The Wümme Years.” It was one of the early albums by Krautrock band Faust and was named after the town where Faust recorded.

“We first met in Baltimore when he played with the band Brand Names,” said Baltimore native Camlin, during a phone interview last week.

“Brand Names was a Chicago-based psychedelic pop group,” said Schatz, during the same interview. “I quit Brand Names on 2010 and, around the same time, April had moved to Chicago. She had been playing drums and I was a guitar player.

“We got interested in electronic music so we decided to form a band with synthesizer and drums. I like repetitive music. When I first heard (German electronic band) Can, that changed the way I listened to music.

“There were also some good bands in Chicago — Ga’an and cave. That was our peer group in Chicago at the time. I liked what they were doing. Both were into (progressive bands) Ashra and Neu.”

Camlin said, “There was a lot of listening going on back in 2010. Yes and King Crimson are still in our DNA. And, Krautrock flipped our musical direction.”

The band is touring in support of its most recent album “Maintain,” which was released in May 2015 on Ehse Records.

“Our new material is more popish…less droney,” said Schatz. “We were backwards-looking ofr awhile with Neu and Can. Now, we want to find what is the new version of that. Back then, the structures were so limited. Now, the structures are way more flexible.”

“’Maintain’ is our second record,” said Camlin. “We recorded it last summer. With the structures we work in, neither of us are huge improvisers. But, I do like to improvise in my fills.”

Video link for Wume — https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ie_XAP4PYl0.

The show on November 22 will start at 7 p.m. with three opening acts. Tickets are — “$6 – $10 sliding.”

This is a big week for the Max Levine Ensemble. The band released its new record “Backlash, Baby” on Lame-O Records/Rumbletowne Records on November 20 and it is heading to the area for a show on November 24 at PhilaMOCA (531 North 12th Street, Philadelphia, 267-519-9651, www.philamoca.org).

The Max Levine Ensemble is a punk band from the Washington, D.C. area. It features Spoonboy (David Combs) on guitar and vocals, Bepstein (Ben Epstein) on bass and vocals and Nick Popovici on drums.  Max Levine is a friend of the band who was an early inspiration.

Some of the band’s recordings have been “Songs That Make You Wanna Jump up, Run Outside, Grab a Donut From a Cop and Yell Chach Rules!!!,” “OK, Smartypants,” and “Them Steadily Depressing, Low Down Mind Messing, Post Modern Recession Blues.”

“We started recording ‘Backlash, Baby’ in December 2013,” said Combs, during a phone interview last week. “The songs had been building up over the years.

“The earliest songs had been written in 2008. The songs are a little bit about things happening politically that were very dark. The song ‘Police Suppression’ was about coming out and seeing a lot of friends arrested for doing protest work. Years later, it’s still happening.

“George Orwell didn’t have a clue. It happens so gradually that you don’t realize it. We have a couple songs about global warming. If it were immediately on us, we’d unite as a world. But, because it’s happening gradually…..

“We’ve been a band for 15 years and we’ve always been political — right from the start. But, they’re not songs of political rhetoric. I write about experiences and my feelings. I do think nobody likes to be hammered over the head by someone’s politics. I prefer to thoughtfully reflect on my political beliefs.”

Punk music and politics have been partners for a long time.

“Growing up, I listened to classic good rock-and-roll and pop,” said Combs. “It was the Beatles and stuff like that. Certainly, that’s still important — to write a song that’s catchy and fun to listen to. Growing up in D.C., you become more aware of the political scene. It all kind of mixes together.”

Video link for the Max Levine Ensemble — https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=56b8PBsIOEY.

The show at Philamoca will get underway at 7:30 p.m. with opening acts Radiator Hospital and Littler. Tickets are $7.

While most people get to enjoy a turkey feast at Thanksgiving time, music fans also know that the late-November holiday means that it’s time for a tuna feast. That’s tuna as in Hot Tuna, the legendary blues-rock band from San Francisco.

When Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen perform as Hot Tuna, the music veterans who were part of the original San Francisco music scene in the late 1960s bring a wealth of rock-and-roll history along with them. On November 25, Hot Tuna makes its annual holiday visit to the area for a show at the Keswick Theatre (291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, 215-572-7650, www.keswicktheatre.com).

Casady and Kaukonen were founding members of the original Jefferson Airplane and then together founded Hot Tuna. Kaukonen, a guitarist, has also released a number of solo projects and Casady, a bass player, had done a few. Both veteran musicians have done hundreds of recording sessions with other artists. As Hot Tuna, they play a mesmerizing blend of rock, folk and blues.

“Jorma and I have kept a freshness in the musical genre,” said Casady, during a phone interview last week when he was at Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch Guitar Camp in the Appalachian foothills to teach a workshop.

“We’ve had a unique take on it — acoustic guitar and bass. We’ve had all kinds of configurations — folk music, rock, blues. Words, music, poetry — that’s what we’ve always been into. The music stays alive. The communication in the music keeps it alive every night.”

Casady and Kaukonen first got together when both were high school students in the Washington, D.C. area. Their first band together was a D.C.-area garage band called The Triumphs.

“We’ve been together since 1958,” said Casady. “We started Hot Tuna in 1968 and did both bands (Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane) together until 1973. That’s when Marty (Balin) put Jefferson Starship together.

“We figured that Jefferson Airplane had its run. The core years were over. Most bands don’t stay together more than four years so seven years was a lot. We did the first Hot Tuna album in 1970. Some of the material has held up well to the test of time.”

Another thing that has stood up to the test of time has been the band’s annual visit to the Keswick Theater late in November.

“We’ve developed a tradition of playing a show at the Keswick every Thanksgiving,” said Kaukonen, more than a decade ago. “I’m not sure how many years it’s been now but I know it’s been quite a few.”

Hot Tuna also plays a few shows at the Beacon Theater when they head east at Thanksgiving time.  This year’s shows at the venue in New York City are billed as “Freakin’ At The Beacon! Hot Tuna & Friends — Jorma’s 75th Birthday Bash.” The Beacon shows feature Electric Hot Tuna while the Keswick show will present Acosutic Hot Tuna.

“At the Keswick, it’s pure Jorma and pure Jack — right there on the stage,” said Casady. “Jorma is a real master at putting together set lists for the shows. We have quite a catalogue to draw from. We play songs that we haven’t played in a long time. You’re in the moment of the night.

“The Thanksgiving shows at the Keswick are always special. There’s always a certain amount of fans who are always there — who become like family. And, there is always an influx of younger fans and that is very gratifying.”

When Casady was asked if 50 years ago he thought he would still be making music 50 years later, he replied, “I never thought of not doing it. I always thought of myself as wanting to be a good musician. You keep working at it. Jorma is a poet and a songwriter first and a musician second. That’s the key to our longevity.”

Video link for Hot Tuna — https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL365E875478A7B84C&v=g6cJR9copFw&feature=player_detailpage.

The Thanksgiving Eve show at the Keswick will start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 and $45.

 

Another show scheduled for November 25 is the King Diamond “Abigail In Concert 2015” tour featuring metal acts King Diamond and Exodus at the Fillmore Philadelphia (1100 Canal Street, Philadelphia, 215-309-0150, www.thefillmorephilly.com).

Exodus is also one of the oldest metal bands around. Formed in 1980 in Richmond, California, Exodus’ current line-up features Steve “Zetro” Souza (vocals), Gary Holt (guitars), Lee Altus (guitars), Jack Gibson (bass) and Tom Hunting (drums).

Zetro was Testament’s vocalist from 1983-1986 and was replaced by Chuck Billy, the current lead singer of Testament. He and Billy are also have their own band called Dublin Death Control, which released its most recent album “Death Sentence” in 2012.

Zetro has had three stints as vocalist for Exodus — 1986-1993, 2002-2004 and 2014-present.

“I just rejoined Exodus last June,” said Zetro, during a recent phone interview. “I returned to the band after about 10 years. They were thinking about using a new singer and I was asked to come back. Crowds have been coming in droves. We’ve done 140 shows since I’ve been back and haven’t had one clunker yet.

“The band is really tight. The band is all clean now — not messed up like we were in the 80s. Now, we’re more concerned with putting on a good show. I’m 51 not 22 and I’m a survivor. I never even drink anymore.”

Exodus’ players may be clean and sober but they still kick ass sonically.

 “Thrash has changed a little over the years but it’s always kept its edge,” said Zetro, who also has his own thrash band called Hatriot.  “It’s always been raw.”

Nine months ago, Exodus released its 10th album “Blood In, Blood Out” on Nuclear Blast Records.

“Our new record is great,” said Zetro. “I only wrote one song on ‘Blood In, Blood Out.’ They had it pretty much written already when I rejoined the band. We didn’t just go through the motions when making the album. We did the album in Oakland in a house on a goat ranch. It was kind of serene. We’ll go two-and-a-half to three years until we start working on the next one.

“You always have to be heavy. If you stay heavy, everything else will fall into place. If you’re in the audience, you get to be part of the show — 15,000 people crushing each other. When we play, I want to see people move. With our current show we hit all the bases. The first couple records were staples. That’s where the band was built.

“A lot of metal bands have two vocalists but not us. I’ve never really been a fan of clean vocals along with dirty vocals. Some are good so I won’t knock it down. It’s just a part of the revolution. But, I prefer rock like Lemmy (Kilmister, bassist and vocalist for Motörhead).

“Exodus has 30 years history and 10 records. We’re very fortunate to have survived.  We have old fans at shows and I see young kids out there. We played a show in Russia and nobody in the club was over 25. People know we were one of the innovators of thrash metal.

“With 10 records and over 100 songs, it’s hard to put together a set list. We only do two or three form the new one. We’re a classic band. We don’t try to just push the new stuff. Every day, I’m very grateful I’m still doing this. I never take anything for granted. And, I’m singing better now than I ever have.”

Video link for Exodus — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c69S3pD8qI&feature=player_detailpage.

The Thanksgiving Eve show at the Fillmore Philadelphia will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $39.50.