This Storm

[pete]

The new Sonya Kitchell album is absolutely fantastic. I've been listening to it nonstop for a couple of weeks now and I just keep thinking over and over "holy crap - that came out of Brad's brain!" Its in record stores today, so if you haven't heard it, get it.

If nothing else, buy Here To There on amazon. It's the closest thing on the album to a traditional Slip tune (if such a beast exists). But really, the whole album is damn near flawless. Oh, and Sonya can sing, too

[putty]

yeah, this is pretty good

http://www.myspace.com/sonyakitchell

[bear]

I'm not sure how much came out of brad's brain aside from his guitar and piano arrangements. She writes her own songs and worked with her producer closely for this album, he's the albums bassist. I think Andrew kills it on this record, they sure do know how to back a solo artist! My favorite tune on the album is "Runnin"

I reviewed this album for JamBase but I guess they didn't want to use it, it hasn't been published yet.

[GeMeNeYe]

I like this album - some of the melodies are really nice, and the arrangements and production are top notch. It's awfully pleasant sometimes, but that's OK ya know? Not everything has to be a challenging listen to be good and enjoyable (Eisenhower being a great example of this point, but that record has many more interesting things happening instrumentally). I like the song-writing here. There aren't too many moments with an instrumental focus, but nice layering of guitar parts.

On "Here to There," the repeated "whoa oh" vocal melody is extremely similar to part of the melody on Feist's "Mushaboom, but hey . . . it's pretty tough to write a song or melody these days without having it sound like something else.

Does anyone know how BAM's connection with Sonya Kitchell got started? I'm sure this has been discussed and I missed it, but hey . . . . Looking forward to seeing the live show. Brad could totally do an acoustic set as an opener, but I doubt that will happen. We'll see!

[Cactus148927]

"Brad could totally do an acoustic set as an opener, but I doubt that will happen. We'll see!"

My understanding is that this will be happening. This being Brad opening the shows on this tour. Its actully confirmed in this Jambase article: http://www.jambase.com/Articles/14937/B ... Album.Tour

Also on the Paradise's website it lists the act for September 25th as "Sonya Kitchell featuring The Slip with Brad Barr". Cracked me up until I read the jambase article and realized he was opening and someone at paradise didn't just think they could get more people to come by advertising The Slip with Brad Barr.

Glad they found a good opener (Brad). I was worried about how they would top the opener from the Shelburne Falls show they did some time back. It was a band of local kids (maybe 5th grade-ish) playing bluegrass. They were good and so much fun.

[bear]

the Noho show says "performer line-up: Sonya Kitchell, The Slip, Naia Kete"

does this mean the boys get a set of their own?

[lucasdavidsamuels]

if only they were coming to toronto, i have yet to see a single slip/smmd/brad show im loooossing it

[tyler]

Yeah I'm quite liking this album. Sonya's voice reminds me of Grace Potter, but the music is much less...derivative. Think the first track is my favorite.

[Phrazz]

I will definitely be at the 8x10, maybe Philly, def. Iota.


Sonya + The Slip - Fall Tour

Sep 24 2008 7:00P Higher Ground w/The Slip South Burlington, Vermont
Sep 25 2008 8:00P Paradise Rock Club W/The Slip Boston, Massachusetts
Sep 26 2008 9:00P The Big Easy W/The Slip Portland, Maine
Sep 27 2008 9:00P Bearsville Theater W/The Slip Woodstock, New York
Sep 30 2008 7:00P Iron Horse W/The Slip Northampton, Massachusetts
Oct 1 2008 7:30P Bowery Ballroom W/The Slip New York, New York
Oct 2 2008 6:30P 8X10 W/The Slip Baltimore, Maryland
Oct 3 2008 7:30P World Cafe Live W/The Slip Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 4 2008 10:00P IOTA Club & Cafe W/The Slip Arlington, Virginia
Oct 5 2008 8:00P Mountain Stage W/The Slip Charleston, West Virginia
Oct 7 2008 6:00P Club Cafe W/The Slip Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Oct 8 2008 8:30P The Music Mill W/The Slip Indianapolis, Indiana
Oct 9 2008 8:00P The Ark W/The Slip Ann Arbor, Michigan
Oct 10 2008 9:45P High Noon Saloon W/The Slip Madison, Wisconsin
Oct 11 2008 10:00P Schubas’ W/The Slip Chicago, Illinois
Oct 12 2008 6:00P Varsity Theater W/The Slip Minneapolis, Minnesota
Oct 15 2008 8:00P The Fox Theatre And Cafe W/The Slip Boulder, Colorado
Oct 16 2008 8:30P The Walnut Room W/The Slip Denver, Colorado
Oct 17 2008 8:00P Belly Up Aspen, Colorado
Oct 18 2008 9:00P Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, Utah
Oct 21 2008 9:00P Tractor Tavern W/The Slip Seattle, Washington
Oct 22 2008 8:00P Doug Fir Lounge W/The Slip Portland, Oregon
Oct 24 2008 8:30P The Independent W/The Slip San Francisco, California
Oct 26 2008 8:00P Roxy Theatre W/The Slip Los Angeles, California
Oct 27 2008 8:00P Belly Up Tavern W/The Slip Solana Beach, California
Oct 28 2008 8:00P Club Congress W/The Slip Tucson, Arizona
Oct 30 2008 8:00P The Parish W/The Slip Austin, Texas
Nov 1 2008 8:00P Smith’s Olde Bar W/The Slip Atlanta, Georgia
Nov 2 2008 8:00P 3rd & Lindsley W/The Slip Nashville, Tennessee


Whoever sees the first show, lay a review on us please.

I'm curious if they do any Slip songs. Would love to hear hear sing with them, but also vice versa!

[putty]

the night they play in Atlanta is unfortunately the same night the Drive By Truckers are teaming up with the Hold Steady in Atlanta.

ohhh, decisions.

[tyler]

saw the first show of the tour last night in Burlington. Brad's opening set was really great. unfortunately only about 20 people were there to see it. he played about half vocal songs, half instrumental songs from the new album. on all he was putting his loop pedals and effects to good use, adding all kinds of really interesting textures to the songs. setlist was something like this:

Beggar in the Morning
Sarah Through The Wall
Ooh Belle
instrumental
vocal song, something about turning into a cloud
one of the instrumentals on Fall Apt. whose name I forgot
vocal song, something about a deacon's son
Nowhere From Here to Go

Then Sonya and the other Slips came out for their set, by which time the room had about 60 people or so...it was still really empty though, even for the small room at Higher Ground. but the Sonya/Slip set was good as well. pretty strange to see The Slip as a backing band, but they did add some distinctly Slipesque flourishes here and there that no group of session musicians ever could've added to the show. oh, and they played Soft Machine, with Sonya and Brad doubling up on vocals, and Marc playing a keyboard (with sort of a synth Hammond organ sound) instead of bass. that was a treat. the rest of the show was good too though, although it seems like Sonya tries a bit too hard sometimes. but then again, her voice is so phenomenal, I don't really blame her. but regardless my favorites of hers are still the more subtle ones.

[lucasdavidsamuels]

sounds like a sweet show man, i wish i could catch some of the tour but alas, most musicians seem to dislike coming to canada for some reason
anyways did you happen to see any tapers or anything, cause im sure everyone who didn't make the show would love to hear it

[tyler]

Almost certain there were no tapers in attendence. if I may put my stereotyping skills to work, the crowd seemed to be a lot moreso Sonya Kitchell fans who probably heard her on The Point, than diehard taper Slip fans. strong yuppie contingent in the crowd that evening.

[Katie]

One of the instrumentals was Maria La O. I'll check my notes later to see if I had any ideas on the other one.

I enjoyed the set with Sonya as well. The sound was very guitar-driven, and it was sometimes hard to hear Marc. We found ourselves missing the big leather couch that was in the back of the old HG... it's the kind of music I'd rather chill and listen to, than stand and watch the band play. But totally worth checking out, especially for Brad's set.

The crowd was a little weird for a Slip-related show. I think a good portion of the crowd was there by the end of Brad's set, mostly in the back of the room. That happens a lot at HG with shows that start at 8pm or earlier. When I bought a CD in the middle of the Sonya/Slip set (shortly after Soft Machine), I noticed they'd sold at least 5 of Brad's CDs, but none of Sonyas yet, so there were definitely some Slip fans, even if it didn't seem like it.

Yeah, no tapers. There aren't many local tapers left around here, and none that I know are really into The Slip. Unless someone is coming from out of town, I usually assume shows in Burlington are not going to be taped.

[GeMeNeYe]

Brad Andrew Marc & Sonya put on a very impressive performance last Friday in Maine. Unfortunately, Brad did not open - one of Sonya's childhood friends, Naia Kete, did - she was good, interesting. But despite a weak turnout, due in part to the weather, the show was spirited! Several songs stood out as being much stronger live than on the record, and I especially was carried away by the melodies in "Robin in the Snow" - it was also very cool to hear Soft Machine with the doubling vocal. Brad had a few moments of absolutely epic tone from the guild, and it was fun to watch Marc occasionally throwing in some "hammond" licks while playing bass -- especially on the encore: Highway 61 Revisited. Although Sonya Kitchell's album and material are pretty straightforward at times -- i.e., not super challenging to listen to (this is NOT a bad thing, please!)-- her songcraft and vocal abilities are actually quite amazing, and BAM do a fantastic job accenting her music, putting their own spin on things, and enabling her to soar (Brad, this is what I meant!). On stage, I didn't think Sonya was over-trying at all - seemed effortless and everyone appeared to have a lot of fun on stage. I'm very glad I went to see this show.

Also, when I walked in prior to showtime, all of the performers were kicking back, watching the debate in the Sports Bar section (where the red sox and yankees were also on screen). At one point, I motioned toward the screens and said to Brad, "Scary shit." He assented. Then a few moments later, he said, "Oh, you meant the debates."

Damn. I forgot (twice) to ask Andrew if he would be with Land of Talk (supporting Broken Social) at Bowdoin next month. Oh well.