The Starry Plough Pub

Julay Brooks and The Nightbirds

and

The Backyard Party Boys

Cover: 7

Every fourth Thursday will be the Starry Plough Bluegrass Session hosted by Jacob Gropman and the Mountain Boys. Each session will feature a Nationally touring Bluegrass group and there will be a structured jam session starting at 8:15. A great chance to be inspired by the pros and then hone your licks with other musicians over some old time standards and possibly sit in with one of your idols!

The Parents,

Jacques Ibula and Mike Favazza,

and Special Guests

10$ dollar suggested donation PUBLIC WELCOME!

Come and support the Oakland Childrens Hospital Residents Unioin with an afternoon of beer, food and rock and roll. Nobody will be turned away becaus of lack of funds.

The Jake Blackshear Quartet

The Bridge Crawl

Settledown

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Izabella

and

Sugar Shack

Cover: 10

The Free Peoples,

Burglars Wine,

and

Bucky Dub

Cover: 10$

Scott Amendola with the Gyan Riley Trio,

Timba Harris,

and

Edmund Wells

Cover: 8

Fred Frith, Matthias Bossi and Shahzad Ismaily,

will bend the Berkeley populus to our will with a set of improvised rock music.
The audience is invited to clap.

Indigo Street and Shazad Ismaily duo Opens

Cover: 10

February 17, 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor. Probably best-known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-garde rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew. He has collaborated with a number of prominent musicians, including Robert Wyatt, Brian Eno, Lars Hollmer, The Residents, Lol Coxhill, John Zorn, Bill Laswell, Derek Bailey, Iva Bittová and Bob Ostertag. He has also composed several long works, including Traffic Continues (1996, performed 1998 by Frith and Ensemble Modern) and Freedom in Fragments (1993, performed 1999 by Rova Saxophone Quartet). Frith is the subject of Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel's award-winning 1990 documentary film Step Across the Border. He has contributed to a number of music publications, including New Musical Express and Trouser Press, and has conducted improvising workshops across the world. Frith's career spans over three decades and he appears on over 400 albums. He still performs actively throughout the world.[1] Currently Frith is Professor of Composition in the Music Department at Mills College in Oakland, California. He lives in the United States with his wife, German photographer Heike Liss and their children, Finn Liss (b. August 22, 1991) and Lucia Liss (b. January 8, 1994). Frith was awarded the 2008 Demetrio Stratos Prize for his career achievements in experimental music. The prize was established in 2006 in honour of experimental vocalist Demetrio Stratos who died in 1979.[2] Frith is the brother of Simon Frith, a well-known music critic and sociologist, and Chris Frith, a psychologist working at University College London.

The California Honeydrops,

The Lloyd Family Players

Stymie and the Pimp Jones Luv Orchestra

Cover 10$

The California Honeydrops are the Bay Area’s newest and most authentic Roots and Blues ensemble. Influenced by artists such as Robert Johnson, Professor Longhair, and the Soul Stirrers, this group of young musicians breathes new life and inspiration into the nearly forgotten music of the American South. Combining the styles of ragtime, blues, gospel and soul all in an acoustic jug band format--one thing is certain: there is no other band like the California Honeydrops.

Born in Chico, raised up at Burning Man, and brought to urban fruition in Oakland, California, the Loyd Family Players take the pulse of traditional Brazilian samba and twist it into a loud, sweaty, sexy muss that's all their very own. The ten-to-twenty-person coed percussion troupe swipes elements from hip-hop, dancehall, punk rock, drum n'bass, summer camp...anything goes. With members hailing from such exotic locales as England, Brazil, Rome, Peru, Antarctica, and Long Island, the Loyds are a foxy, unstoppable (and unstoppably foxy) dance machine. In the last several years the Loyds have earned a reputation as a commanding and jubilant festival band for their massive, moving performances. These shows sweep people into the parade, whether the band is passing through fairgrounds or taking the floor during a set change, making for an inclusive musical experience that keeps the band with the people and the people inside the music.

Stymie & the PJLO's instrumentation and presentation recalls classic funk groups like Funkadelic and Sly and The Family Stone, yet the music is 100% original, blending all the musical influences, modern cultural craziness, and cartoon humor that affect our lives.

By eschewing cover songs to concentrate on crafting soulful, socially conscious originals, Stymie and his behemoth band have injected new life into the flailing San Francisco music scene and are proud to announce the release of The Secret Hits of the Black & Blue Parade.

Besides opening for funk legends Earth, Wind, and Fire at Californias Shoreline Amphitheater and Concord Pavilion, Stymie & the PJLO have paid dues at such venerable San Francisco clubs as Slims, Bimbos, the Elbo Room, the Bottom of the Hill, Tongue and Groove, and the Paradise Lounge.

The groups sound incorporates elements of rock, jazz, hip-hop, pop, reggae, Latin, and gospel, while maintaining a soulful funkiness and nastiness that throws audiences into a frenzy.

At one show, P-Funk All-stars guitarist John Payne was inspired to leap on stage and jam with the band on "Fan Club," a bouncy mixture of James Brown grooves, whimsical horn vamps, and hot swing breaks. The song was described by All Music Guides John Bush as "the most entertaining" on that album.

Billy Preston was impressed, too. When Stymie & the PJLO was hired to play a musical tribute to the funk icon, Preston was moved to join them on stage, later saying, "I dig you guys. You remind me of early Sly & the Family Stone."

Geva Alon,

Krystle Warren,

and

Steven Taylor-Ramirez

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Geva Alon is one of the most versatile and accomplished Israeli singer-songwriters of the last decade. He was born in a small Kibbutz (Then still a socialist commune-like community) close to the ruins of Caesarea. He wrote his first song at the age of 14 and took the guitar seriously, practicing countless hours as a kid. As the founder & leader of "the flying baby" – probably the most powerful rock trio Israel has ever produced – he became known as an extraordinary & inventive guitar-player, capable of both hot-fierce fret-work solos and long slow moving jams into the unknown. But Alon is more then that – a gifted songwriter, he wrote all the lyrics & music to the band's songs. As a singer he possessed a haunting & surprising vocal register - sometimes comparable to early Neil young.  

With the band Alon had recorded 3 albums (their debut is still officially unreleased). Their second album, "inner world" (2001) was hailed as "The best non-Hebrew Israeli rock album since ("the Churchills" legendary psych LP from) 1968". The Band toured extensively all over California for sixteen months & played mostly in & around the bay area. "Pain to give"- their 3rd album was released in 2004 on the "Blue Sun Music" Label to rave reviews. It contained dark memorable moments such as "Doorway To Simplicity" (with a great & gloomy Tom Verlaine's "Feel") alongside long excursions as "Bound To Go Crazy".  

In 2006 Geva Alon released his debut solo album "Days Of Hunger". This was a surprising acoustic-based effort, with country-rock & acid-folk edge that met with a tremendous success in Israel.   Alon's live performances, usually in small Tell Aviv clubs, drew more & more people in the last 3 years, and he is regarded as a great performer with a "take-no-prisoners" attitude & a tendency for long surprising guitar workouts.  "The Wall Of Sound", Geva's latest solo album was a much more rock-oriented journey. A well crafted combination between The Flying Baby's electric power, a dose of pop sensibilities and the acoustic "feel" of his debut. The album sold a couple of thousand copies 3 weeks after its release & the single "Modern Love", an emotional acoustic take on Bowie (the only cover on an all-original album) became an instant hit in Israel. Now he is back at the NY scene with 2 Guitars, 10 fingers (thank God!) and some amazing songs for a series of rare live shows far from the holy-land. Don't miss the guy! He's a good one! 

Pebble Theory,

Silver Griffin,

and

Hey Young Believers

Cover: 8

East Bay Based Gold Robot Records Proudly Presents

Lady Genius

The Parish

Sweetie 

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Gold Robot Records is an independent record label based out of the East Bay in California. Our focus is 7-inch vinyl releases that incorporate art into the whole process of making an archival object which showcases the talents of the musicians, artists, designers, and printmakers involved in the project.

The Gibson Brothers Band (2 sets!)

Supprot: TBA

Cover: 10

From the front porch of the farm house they grew up in outside the town of Ellenburg Depot, New York, Eric and Leigh Gibson could see a place called Lyon Mountain. It was famous for two things: iron ore mining and town baseball. It was from these elements, and their geographical source, that The Gibson Brothers drew the inspiration for their April 2008 Sugar Hill release, Iron & Diamonds.

Lyon Mountain is part of the Adirondacks, the northernmost portion of Appalachia. Most people don’t equate upstate New York with farming, mining, Appalachia, or traditional music, but it’s all there. Though the brothers never mined iron, they did play baseball on the Lyon Mountain Miners team, and they shoveled snow and more on their family’s dairy farm just a few miles from the Canadian border. And at the age of 12 (Eric) and 11 (Leigh), they picked up a banjo and guitar and began their musical journey.

Eric says, “Our father and mother had instruments around the house. A guy was teaching banjo and guitar up at Dick’s Country Store and he gave us a tape of Sweet Temptation and Flatt & Scruggs at Carnegie Hall.”

They began singing after their minister suggested it and they also began listening to the great duo sounds from the past. Leigh remembers, “When I heard Buck Owens and Don Rich singing, it really clicked for me.” Then they discovered the Louvin Brothers, the Delmore Brothers, the Blue Sky Boys, the Everly Brothers, and the Stanley Brothers. It was a tradition waiting for them.

In the early 1990s, they formed a bluegrass band with Eric on banjo, Leigh on guitar, Junior Barber on dobro, and Junior’s son, Mike, on bass. Mike is still with them and is regarded as a third brother.

In the coming years they recorded three well-received albums and won the 1998 IBMA Emerging Artist of the Year award. In 2005, the brothers signed with Sugar Hill Records. Their first release with the label, Bona Fide, went to #1 on the Bluegrass Unlimited album chart and placed high on the Americana and Billboard charts as well. Two more releases followed -- Long Way Back Home and Red Letter Day. These albums solidified the brothers’ reputation as singers, players, and songwriters.

Now, with this new release, Iron & Diamonds, Eric and Leigh have taken their place on the American jukebox. The Gibsons have made a conscious effort to co-write most of the songs on this album. And by using their own band and a single microphone for their duet vocals, you hear exactly what you hear in a live show: a tight ensemble that plays to the song, toneful and nuanced lead and duet harmonies, and songs that can move you to tears or to the dance floor.

But they’re also aware of how a collection of songs should be selected, arranged, recorded, and ordered so that it creates a complete listening experience. They start with a Tom Petty song, “Cabin Down Below,” that jumps out of the speakers like some runaway rockabilly hit.

It’s followed by the title track, “Iron & Diamonds,” about the miners and ballplayers from Lyon Mountain. The chorus shows just how steeped in baseball the brothers are, but it also cuts to the core of the miner’s experience.

Around the horn, a can of corn,
A ground ball will get you two,
A life of iron and diamonds
Is all the miners knew.

Great duos are powerful not because the individuals sound similar to each other, but because they have something unique in each voice that complements the other. In the case of the Gibson Brothers, it’s Leigh’s warmer tones and Eric’s high-lonesome intensity that create a great double-stop fiddle sound, a blending of experience and emotion that all great brother duets have.

Their decision to record their vocals together really paid off. If you want to hear a song that could easily pass for an Everly Brothers hit, listen to “Lonely Me, Lonely You.” And the Steve Earle song “The Other Side of Town,” sounds like it was written specifically for the Gibsons. “Picker’s Blues” is one of the few bluegrass songs that actually gets to the truth about life on the road. And “One Step Closer to the Grave” echoes the great bluegrass songs of sin and salvation. The Gibsons never flinch from the truth that a song reveals, and the listener feels that too. Every word seems necessary and just right.

The Gibson Brothers’ band includes Mike Barber on bass, Clayton Campbell on Fiddle, and Rick Hayes on Mandolin. And for this recording, former Gibson Brothers’ dobroist Junior Barber makes a guest appearance, and their sister Erin sings on the concluding gospel song, a Bill Carlisle gem, “Gone Home.” All the players on this album have spent time on the road with the brothers, have learned how to play to the song and to the vocals, and it shows. The playing can be loving or fiery according to the songs’ demands.

With Iron & Diamonds, the Gibson Brothers have given us their music straight-up -- no pretence, no guile -- just great songs, a seasoned band, and brother vocals that go right to the heart.


-- Chris Stuart, Del Mar, California, December 2007

Joseph Israel

Lafa Taylor

Cover: 10