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Event
ADAM LEVY'S JUNCTION: A MEETING OF ARTISTS & STYLES W/SPECIAL GUEST JOHN ELLER
$5 IN ADVANCE / $8 AT THE DOOR
6:30PM DOORS / 7PM SHOWTIME
ALL AGES
A new Icehouse residency, put together by and featuring Adam Levy, with backing band Tony Zaccardi (bass), deVon (keys), Josh Kaplan (drums). Featuring a different special guest artist each week.
ADAM LEVY
Adam Levy is regarded by many to be one of the great American songwriters of his era. His newest solo endeavor might be his best and most original work to date. Levy is probably best known for his nearly 20 years of work as lead singer-songwriter for The Honeydogs. Levy's songwriting has always been musically expansive, exploring styles as diverse as American roots music, psychedelia, soul, world, jazz, and classical music. His lyrics have always been thoughtful, literary and provocative, and have garnered him international critical accolades and fans. Adam's wry wit and incisive lyrics are wrapped inside layers of deceptively beautiful melodies and hooks that have come to life with his signature great guitar work. Paste Magazine once said Levy's songwriting captured "the zeitgeist of our time."
His lyrics reflect his years in social work, commitment to social justice issues and lifelong interest in history, culture and political matters. This has distinguished Adam among his peers as a singer-songwriter, blending the great traditions of pop and American folk music into something unique and timeless. Levy has also embarked on a slew of side-projects in the last 5 years: electronic experimental music with Liminal Phase, orchestral chamber pop with And The Professors, children's music with Bunny Clogs, '60s and '70s soul and funk with Hookers $ Blow, and early-mid 20th century jazz with Rose Room. Adam is currently working on his first truly solo project expected out in 2015, as well as a new Honeydogs record. He likes to think his best song is yet to come.
JOHN ELLER
If experience was gold, The Shiny Lights would be rich. One of the more promising new bands to pop out of the always crowded music scene in Minnesota aka The Land of 10000 bands in 2010, The Shiny Lights have about a centurys worth of collective experience behind them, something that is immediately evident when you hear the inspired pop/rock on their self-titled debut EP. Equally adept at up-tempo rockers and delicate pop craft and most everything in
between this is a band that clearly is serious about its business.
The core of The Shiny Lights revolves around the musical partnership of John Eller and Chris Lynch, who made two wonderful albums together as Eller Lynch: Dog Day Afternoon (1996), which won the Minnesota Music Award in 1997 for Best Indie Album, and Pathetique (2000). Before Eller Lynch, Eller fronted the popular Minneapolis band John Eller and the DTs. Ellers resume includes a wide variety of collaborations and honors over the last few decades, everything from singing in a St. Paul heavy metal band in the mid-80s (Paradox) to working with heavyweights like Golden Smog, The Jayhawks and Paul Westerberg. Along the way, Eller even won a Minnesota Music Award for male vocalist of the year. Lynchs tenure in The Picadors found him honing his considerable pop skills while releasing a couple of engaging albums that are certifiable lost classics, no mean feat when you consider the quantity and quality of great Minnesota pop albums released over the last three decades.
The rhythm section of The Shiny Lights isnt exactly short on experience or accolades either. Steve Price (bass, vocals, etc.) was in Rex Daisy, a popular mid-90s major label band from Minneapolis via Iowa. Price is also currently working with Alison Scott and Minneapolis legends, The Suburbs. Along with Eller and Lynch, Price is responsible for the superb sound on the EP a vividly clean production with surprising depth and nuance. Drummer Noah Levy is something of a musical bon vivant in the Twin Cities. Levy was a founding member of local faves The Honeydogs for many years and has since quietly become an in-demand drummer, working with the likes of Mason Jennings, Golden Smog, Martin Zellar and Brian Setzer while somehow managing regular gigs with The BoDeans and The Disbelievers. The band members paths have crossed numerous times over the years in dizzying, six-degrees-of-separation fashion: Levys first big gig was in The Picadors; Prices band mate in Rex Daisy, Jon Duncan, also played in The Picadors; Duncan and Levy played together in Trailer Trash; Eller and Price played in Retrofit, a supergroup cum covers band. The Shiny Lights intertwined family tree is typical in the close-knit Minnesota musical community and no doubt contributes to why The Shiny Lights sound grabs your attention right from the first note; they sound like theyve played together for a zillion years because, in a way, they have.
The blueprint for The Shiny Lights sound is rooted in this considerable collective experience: compelling rock and pop strains bearing hints of The Faces, Stones, Elton John, Wings, Big Star, Brian Wilson and Elliot Smith. The Shiny Lights are all experienced musicologists its a testament to their talent and personal flair that theyre able to make such fresh music out of such classic influences. The debut EP complete with amazing Hipgnosis-inspired cover art is the perfect intro to The Shiny Lights. From the ballsy crunch of the opener, Wheres the One? to the wistful, fragile closer A Thousand Tricks, The Shiny Lights successfully navigate the rock/pop dichotomy with ease and style. The EP is full of surprises, too: accomplished keyboard work throughout, some rockin accordion (?!), nice banjo work courtesy of Dave Boquist (Son Volt and a former band mate of Eller in the DTs) and a great Booker T-ish quasi-instrumental (On the Sly) that will leave you grinning from ear to ear. The first of a planned series of EP releases, The Shiny Lights is proof positive that experience counts for something in this case, great music.
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LocationIcehouse (View)
2528 Nicollet Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55404
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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