Blog: Songs in the Key of Touche

Taking his seat on the small, floor-level stage of the Carnegie Lecture Hall on Saturday evening, Leo Kottke seemed momentarily unsure of his purpose in being there. Setting a 12-string guitar on the floor beside him and taking his 6-string in hand, he proceeded not to play a song, but instead to tell a story. After a moment of talking and looking down at the floor, he questioned why he was staring at the 12-string: "It was there a minute ago. It's still there now." So began an evening that would hold many more stories--some with purpose, some without, but [...]

"Be good to each other, enjoy yourselves and I'll see you next year." – Anthony Kiedis, Curator, New American Music Union Festival, Saturday, August 9, 2008 Given that parting quote from Lord Kiedis, the "What band would you like to see next year" entry blank on the official AE Website , and the fact that it just wouldn't make sense to go so big, make something so promising one year and then abandon it the next, you've got to figure that we'll see the return of "AE-Fest" in 2009 right? Let's hope so. But here-to-now, [...]

Too often, the saccharine sounds of harmony-heavy bands disappoint live. As anyone who watched SNL this past weekend can testify, such was not the case when Fleet Foxes took the stage in Rockefeller Center. Robin Pecknold, at the foreground on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, led the Seattle-based quintet through a stirring performance of "Mykonos," which peaked when the band hit the a cappella halfway mark of the song. As the instruments rejoined, drummer Joshua Tillman built up the intensity, showing off great restraint on the kit and a great voice of his own to fade seamlessly [...]

• Fleet Foxes - Blue Ridge Mountains (SNL 01-17-2009)
• Fleet Foxes - Mykonos (SNL 01-27-2009)

If Leo Kottke's experimental folk isn't your thing, then brush off your car and head up to Butler this weekend for the annual January Ice Jam to enjoy free live bluegrass tonight and all day tomorrow. With over twenty bands from around the region set to perform, standout acts include Mountain Therapy and the Allegheny Drifters. It's worth the drive just to hear the Drifters croon their way through " Blue Missouri Shadows " (but if you miss them this weekend, you can catch them on the 26th at the North Country Brewery).

• The Allegheny Drifters - Blue Missouri Shadows