Indie darling Annie Clark and her St. Vincent are at Bogart's tonight promoting their new album, Strange Mercy. Check out Jason Gargano's recent feature story on Clark from last week's CityBeat here. Opening the show is Austin-based Shearwater, Jonathan Meiburg's orchestral Indie project that is on tour in support of the new Animal Joy album on Sub Pop Records. (Read more here.) Showtime is 9 p.m. and tickets are $20.
Here's a recent live clip of Clark and Co. performing "Surgeon."
• Local Boogie Woogie piano master Ricky Nye has been taking his pals in the Paris Blues Band around the region for several performance dates. If you missed his show last week at the small room at Baker Hunt Arts & Cultural Center, you can catch the whole crew at Covington's Chez Nora tonight at 7:30 p.m. for free. Read Brian Baker's 2010 feature on the band ("The French Connection") here. And here's a clip for Ricky and his Paris bros from last year's visit.
• Former local singer with Uncle Six (and in other local projects) Noah Hunt returns to Greater Cincy tonight with the man who took him away from us, Blues/Rock guitar whiz Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Hunt has been singing with Shepherd's band since 1997. On Noah's website it says, "Noah and Kenny are like brothers, and continue to record and tour the world together." Local crew Grooveshire opens up tonight's show at Covington's Madison Theater at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25. Here's a clip from the KWS Band's "Never Lookin' Back" from the most recent album, How I Go.
• Indie trio The Spring Standards consists of three longtime friends who knock out harmonies as if they were related and have been singing together since birth. James Cleare, Heather Robb and James Smith formed the band in the Delaware Valley during their teens, but moved to Brooklyn to launch their career. The Standards’ 2008 debut, the EP No One Will Know, was produced by Rhett Miller of The Old 97’s; their debut full-length, Would Things be Different, was self-released in 2010. The band recently issued a superb “double EP,” Yellow/Gold, which features 12 engrossing tracks’ worth of the trio’s crafty Pop, which occasionally conjures the warm, fuzzy feelings of “AM Gold” Soft Rock from the ’70s, but also pumps things up to a more rocking level, such as on the Carsian tune "Here We Go" (check the clip below). The threesome performs tonight at MOTR Pub. Local Folk Pop act Shiny and the Spoon opens the free, 10 p.m. show.
• Freekbot, the local Electronic/Funk/Dance duo featuring local funkateer Chris Sherman (aka Freekbass) and award-winning turntablist/producer Tobe Donohue (Tobotius), has not played a ton of local shows, spending a lot of time on the road as a touring unit instead. But that changes starting tonight when the duo begins a Wednesday residency at MVP Bar & Grill in Silverton (formerly Play By Play). Each week, the musicians will be joined by a different artist to “give things a different flavor,” says Sherman. For tonight's inaugural event — dubbed “Full Spectrum Wednesdays” — Yusef Quotah from You, You’re Awesome and Brian Olive’s band sits in on keys. On May 23, longtime Jazz saxophonist Randy Villars (currently touring with Bootsy Collins) is the special guest. In June, Sherman says they’ll have a different DJ or band open the shows, as well.
Here's the twosome at work.
