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 Topic  |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
 Posted - 08/09/2006 : 11:33:09
|
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002951530
Frank Black Drafts New Band For Fall Tour
August 07, 2006, 4:00 PM ET
Katie Hasty, N.Y.
Frank Black will take a new backing band on the
road with him during his headlining tour this fall.
Beginning Oct. 1 at the Marquee Theatre in
Tempe, Ariz., Black will be flanked by guitarist
Duane Jarvis, bassist Eric Drew Feldman and
drummer Billy Block and has tapped Reid Paley as
his opener.
The group is expected to perform material from the Pixies, the Catholics and Black's two
recent studio albums for Back Porch/EMI. Jarvis and Block, alongside other guests like Steve
Cropper, the Heartbreakers' Steve Ferrone and Buddy Miller -- were also present on the
double-disc "Fast Man Raider Man," which was released in June.
As previously reported, Black will first play a number of solo dates that bookend his
supporting stint with the Foo Fighters. As previously reported, he will also open a pair of
dates for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers in late September.
Here are Frank Black's fall tour dates:
Oct. 1: Tempe, Ariz. (Marquee Theatre)
Oct. 4: Nashville (Mercy Lounge)
Oct. 7: Memphis, Tenn. (New Daisy
Theatre)
Oct. 9: Dallas (Gypsy Tea Ballroom)
Oct. 10: Austin, Texas (La Zona Rosa)
Oct. 11: Houston (Meridian)
Oct. 13: Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (House
of Blues)
Oct. 14: St. Petersburg, Fla. (State
Theatre)
Oct. 15: Savannah, Ga. (Savannah
Smiles)
Oct. 16: Atlanta (Roxy Theatre)
Oct. 17: Asheville, N.C. (Orange Peel)
Oct. 18: Baltimore (Sonar)
Oct. 19: Philadelphia (World Cafe Live)
Oct. 20: Brooklyn, N.Y. (Warsaw)
Oct. 22: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
Oct. 23: New York (Irving Plaza)
Oct. 24: Boston (Avalon Ballroom)
Oct. 25: Montreal (Le National)
Oct. 26: Toronto (Opera House)
Oct. 27: Pittsburgh (Mr. Smalls Theatre)
Oct. 28: Louisville, Ky. (Headliners)
Oct. 30: Cleveland (House of Blues)
Oct. 31: Newport, Ky. (Southgate House)
Nov. 1: Chicago (Metro)
Nov. 2: Madison, Wis. (High Noon Saloon)
Nov. 3: Minneapolis (First Avenue)
Nov. 5: Winnipeg, Manitoba (Pantages Theatre)
Nov. 6: Regina, Saskatchewan (Conexus Hall)
Nov. 7: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (The Odeon)
Nov. 9: Edmonton, Alberta (Reds)
Nov. 10: Calgary (MacEwan Ballroom)
Nov. 12: Vancouver (Commodore Ballroom)
Nov. 13: Seattle (Showbox)
Nov. 14: Portland, Ore. (Wonder Ballroom)
Nov. 15: San Francisco (Fillmore)
Nov. 17: West Hollywood, Calif. (House of Blues)
Nov. 18: San Diego (House of Blues)
Nov. 19: Anaheim, Calif. (House of Blues)
Monsters And Critics, Glide Magazine and AZ Central reprint the Billboard article verbatim:
http://music.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1188371.php/Frank_Black_plans_for_the_road_with_new_backing_band
http://www.glidemagazine.com/news3294.html
http://www.azcentral.com/ent/music/articles/0808black.html
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/breaking_news/15219791.htm
Posted on Mon, Aug. 07, 2006
Frank Black concert tickets go on sale
Tuesday
WADE TATANGELO
Herald Staff Writer
It was announced today that Pixies co-founder Frank Black will bring his new band to
The State Theatre in St. Petersburg on Oct. 14.
Tickets are $20 and go on sale Tuesday.
Billboard.com also reported today that Black's new group is "expected to play material
from the Pixies, the Catholics and Black's two recent studio albums ...".
Black, one of the most venerable figures in the world of indie rock, is currently opening
for the Foo Fighters.
Singer-songwriter Reid Paley is scheduled to open Black's show in St. Petersburg.
For more information, call (727) 895-3045 or go to www.statemedia.com.
------
Visit Wade's pop music blog at http://blogs.bradenton.com
www.livedaily.com/news/Frank_Black_to_launch_fall_tour_with_new_band-10509.html?t=98" target="_blank">www.livedaily.com/news/Frank_Black_to_launch_fall_tour_with_new_band-10509.html?t=98" target="_blank">http://www.livedaily.com/news/Frank_Black_to_launch_fall_tour_with_new_band-10509.html?t=98
Frank Black to launch fall tour with new band
August 08, 2006 11:31 AM
by Tjames Madison
LiveDaily Contributor
Pixies frontman Frank
Black (tickets | music) will
head down yet another
musical avenue this fall,
launching a major tour with
a newly minted band in support of his recently released "Fast Man
Raider Man" double-disc set.
The tireless Black will also mount a solo-acoustic trek in August,
a mix of support dates for Foo Fighters (tickets | music) and his
own headlining dates, kicking off Aug. 9 in Salt Lake City.
After his acoustic outing, Black will join up with his new
bandmates--guitarist Duane Jarvis, bassist Eric Drew Feldman
and drummer Billy Block--and open two shows for Tom Petty
(tickets | music) & The Heartbreakers in late September, followed
by a full-fledged headlining tour starting Oct. 1 in Tempe, AZ.
The 38-date headlining tour will stretch into late November, with
shows spread across the US and Canada.
The August solo dates are the singer/guitarist's first since 1995.
Over the last decade he has toured extensively with several
backing units, the longest lasting of these being The Catholics,
with whom he recorded five albums in the late '90s and early
years of this decade, the last of which was the 2002 combo of
"Black Letter Days" and "Devil's Workshop."
Black, of course, was also front and center during the celebrated
Pixies reunion over the last couple of years.
"Fast Man Raider Man," Black's 11th solo album since the original
breakup of the Pixies in 1992, was recorded over a two-year
period at studios in Nashville and Los Angeles, and features a
long list of accomplished guest musicians, including The Band's
Levon Helm, legendary keyboardist Al Kooper, and bassist Tom
Petersson from Cheap Trick. The album hit stores in late June.
[Note: The following tour itinerary has been provided by artist and/or tour
sources, who verify its accuracy as of the publication time of this story.
Changes may occur before tickets go on sale. Check with official artist
websites, ticketing sources and venues for late updates.]
August 2006
9 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
11 - St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill
12 - Lexington, KY - The Dame
13 - Indianapolis, IN - Birdy's
14 - Lancaster, PA - Chameleon
15 - Washington, DC - Constitution Hall (w/ Foo Fighters)
16 - Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theatre (w/ Foo Fighters)
18 - Wellfleet, MA - Wellfleet Beachcomber
19 - Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw (2 shows)
21 - New York, NY - Beacon Theatre (w/ Foo Fighters)
22 - Boston, MA - Wang Center (w/ Foo Fighters)
23 - Toronto, Ontario - Hummingbird (w/ Foo Fighters)
24 - London, Ontario - Call the Office
25 - Chicago, IL - Auditorium Theatre (w/ Foo Fighters)
26 - Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground
29 - Los Angeles, CA - Pantages Theatre (w/ Foo Fighters)
30 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Catalyst
31 - Sacramento, CA - Harlow's Night Club
September 2006
29, 30 - Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre (w/ Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
October 2006
1 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
4 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
7 - Memphis, TN - New Daisy Theatre
9 - Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Ballroom
10 - Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
11 - Houston, TX - Meridian
13 - Lake Buena Vista, FL - House of Blues
14 - St. Petersburg, FL - State Theatre
15 - Savannah, GA - Savannah Smiles
16 - Atlanta, GA - Roxy Theatre
17 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
18 - Baltimore, MD - Sonar
19 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
20 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
22 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
23 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
24 - Boston, MA - Avalon Ballroom
25 - Montreal, Quebec - Le National
26 - Toronto, Ontario - Opera House
27 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls Theatre
28 - Louisville, KY - Headliners
30 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
31 - Newport, KY - Southgate House
November 2006
1 - Chicago, IL - Metro
2 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon
3 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
5 - Winnipeg, Manitoba - Pantages Theatre
6 - Regina, Saskatchewan - Conexus Hall
7 - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - The Odeon
9 - Edmonton, Alberta - Reds
10 - Calgary, Alberta - MacEwan Ballroom
12 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
13 - Seattle, WA - Showbox
14 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
15 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
17 - West Hollywood, CA - House of Blues
18 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues
19 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
|
Edited by - Carl on 09/12/2006 09:17:47 |
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Frog in the Sand
-+ Le premiere frog +-
France
2715 Posts |
Posted - 08/09/2006 : 12:20:19
|
Thanks señor Carlos.
quote:
Originally posted by Carl
The group is expected to perform material from the Pixies
-----
 blackolero le only Frank Black / Pixies site 100% in français |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 08/09/2006 : 12:38:07
|
http://www.pollstar.com/news/viewnews.pl?NewsID=7152
Frank Black's Back
Updated 11:31 PDT Mon, Aug 07 2006
Frank Black will kick off his fall tour in support of
his double-disc release, Fast Man Raider Man
(Back Porch/EMI), with two dates opening for
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers in late
September, followed by headlining North America
shows with his new band.
Black begins the headlining portion of his tour
at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe, Ariz., on
October 1, and the trek across the U.S. and
Canada runs through November 19.
Meanwhile, Black is about to do a run of solo
acoustic shows opening for Foo Fighters, mixed
with a handful of his own headlining club dates
For the fall dates, Black will be joined by his
new band - guitarist Duane Jarvis, bassist Eric
Drew Feldman, and drummer Billy Block.
In addition to the material from the new
album, the band will traverse Black's catalog of
solo work, Pixies tunes and tracks from his
collaborations with the Catholics.
http://winnipegsun.com/Entertainment/OtherEntertainment/2006/08/09/1725716-sun.html
BACK & BLACK
Frank Black likes us. He
really likes us. How else
to explain the former
Pixies frontman's
decision to return to
Winnipeg yet again,
following a show here in
2003 and a Pixies
"warmup" gig a year
later? Black (who's even
got a song called
Manitoba) is booked into
Pantages Playhouse
Theatre Nov. 5, according
to Pollstar. His website confirms it, and notes Black will be touring with longtime
collaborator Eric Drew Feldman, as well as Nashville players Billy Block and
Duane Jarvis. Tickets will likely be available through Ticketmaster in the near
future.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/37823/Frank_Black_Plays_With_Foo_Fighters_Petty_Himsel
Frank Black Plays With Foo Fighters, Petty, Himself
No, not like THAT
Dave Grohl will repay his various musical debts to
the Pixies this summer, as he has enlisted the
former Black Francis, Frank Black, to open for the
Foo Fighters on a string of August shows. These will
be solo acoustic affairs for Black, who will
intersperse his arena dalliances with a few
headlining dates.
In late September, Black will pay it forward by opening for one of his (possible) musical
inspirations, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Then in October, Black will hit the road again, this time with a new backing band, featuring
guitarist Duane Jarvis, bassist Eric Drew Feldman, and drummer Billy Block.
All of this touring is in support of Black's latest opus, Fast Man Raider Man, a double-disc
set released earlier this year. The shows will focus on songs from Fast Man, as well as last
year's Honeycomb, with a few older solo tracks and choice Pixies cuts thrown in for good
measure.
Dates:
08-09 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
08-11 St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill
08-12 Lexington, KY - The Dame
08-13 Indianapolis, IN - Birdy's
08-14 Lancaster, PA - Chameleon Club
08-15 Washington, DC - Constitution Hall *
08-16 Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theatre *
08-18 Wellfleet, MA - Wellfleet Beachcomber $
08-19 Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw (early) $
08-19 Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw (late) $
08-21 New York, NY - Beacon Theatre *
08-22 Boston, MA - Wang Center *
08-23 Toronto, Ontario - Hummingbird *
08-25 Chicago, IL - Auditorium Theatre *
08-26 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground
08-29 Los Angeles, CA - Pantages Theatre *
08-30 Santa Cruz, CA - The Catalyst
08-31 Sacramento, CA - Harlow's Night Club
09-29 Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre #
09-30 Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre #
10-01 Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre $
10-04 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge $
10-07 Memphis, TN - New Daisy Theatre $
10-09 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Ballroom $
10-10 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa $
10-11 Houston, TX - Meridian $
10-13 Lake Buena Vista, FL - House of Blues $
10-14 St. Petersburg, FL - State Theatre $
10-15 Savannah, GA - Savannah Smiles $
10-16 Atlanta, GA - Roxy Theatre $
10-17 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel $
10-18 Baltimore, MD - Sonar $
10-19 Philadelphia, PA - World Café Live $
10-20 Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw $
10-22 Washington, D.C. - 9:30 Club $
10-23 New York, NY - Irving Plaza $
10-24 Boston, MA - Avalon Ballroom $
10-25 Montreal, Quebec - Le National $
10-26 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House $
10-27 Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls Theatre $
10-28 Louisville, KY - Headliners $
10-30 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues $
10-31 Newport, KY - Southgate House $
11-01 Chicago, IL - Metro $
11-02 Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon $
11-03 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue $
11-05 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Pantages Theatre $
11-06 Regina, Saskatchewan - Conexus Hall $
11-07 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - The Odeon $
11-09 Edmonton, Alberta - Reds $
11-10 Calgary, Alberta - MacEwan Ballroom $
11-12 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom $
11-13 Seattle, WA - Showbox $
11-14 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom $
11-15 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore $
11-17 West Hollywood, CA - House of Blues $
11-18 San Diego, CA - House of Blues $
11-19 Anaheim, CA - House of Blues $
* with Foo Fighters
$ with Reid Paley
% with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Posted by Zach Vowell and Amy Phillips in tour on Wed: 08-09-06: 11:41 AM CDT | Permalink
http://entertainment.signonsandiego.com/profile/247267?cslink=cs_music_3_1
Frank Black
Frank Black and his new band take on the House of Blues. Tickets are
on sale now.
Where: House of Blues
1055 Fifth Ave.
San Diego, CA
When: 8 pm Sat, Nov. 18, 2006
Price: $23 adv/ $25 day of show. Info: (619)
299-BLUE.
Event Profile
By Adam Gnade and SignOnSanDiego
staff
FOR SIGNONSANDIEGO
It is a widely recognized fact in the music
biz that Frank Black's Pixies were
considered to be the late '80s/early '90s
band that was going to break alternative
rock into the mainstream.
Of course, that honor went to Nirvana, and
the Pixies kind of just slipped by the
wayside.
Although the Pixies broke up in 1992, Black
(aka Black Francis), bassist Kim Deal (aka
Mrs. John Murphey), guitarist Joey
Santiago and drummer David Lovering have
all had relatively successful side projects
and solo ventures.
Since the breakup, Black himself has been
a pretty busy cat. After releasing three
mildly successful -- albeit inconsistent --
solo albums, he formed the Catholics and
released 1998's "Frank Black and the
Catholics," along with several other
albums, most recently 2003's "Show Me
Your Tears."
While his solo albums failed to reach a
larger audience, his work with the
Catholics succeeded in capturing the wildly
dissonant, jagged indie rock sound of his
past -- thus reconnecting Black with the
legions of Pixies fans left alienated by his
sketchy solo work.
Black's new band -- guitarist Duane Jarvis,
bassist Eric Drew Feldman and drummer
Billy Block -- joins him in support of his
latest double-disc release, "Fast Man
Raider Man."
Updated Aug. 9, 2006
Times and prices can change without
notice. Please contact venue for the most
up-to-date information.
Event Info
TYPE
Alternative Rock
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/entertainment/music/15230429.htm
Posted on Fri, Aug. 11, 2006
Black is less dark now
YAYHOOS ARE STILL SERIOUS ABOUT KEEPING 'HILLBILLY
LEVITY' IN THEIR MUSIC
By Walter Tunis
CONTRIBUTING MUSIC WRITER
The Dame's late-summer
concert express keeps
rolling this weekend and into
the week ahead. Here are
looks at two not-to-miss
shows the club has on tap
over the next five nights.
Frank Black and Joe Manning
9 p.m. Sat. at The Dame, 156 W. Main St. (859) 226-9005. $12. www.dameky.com.
Suffice to say Frank Black is more Frank than Black these days.
An explanation? Well, if you were around Lexington in the late '80s and caught his
performance with The Pixies at the University of Kentucky, you witnessed a pretty dark
pop presence at work. A masterful proto-post-punk ensemble, the Pixies were all
scowling, electric angst that night with the singer, then known as Black Francis, leading
the charge.
Fast-forward to this weekend. The Pixies are history -- sort of. Black Francis is now
Frank Black, a prolific pop stylist who has released 13 albums (including anthologies)
in as many years.
His newest, Fast Man Raider Man, is an all-star 27-song affair filled with Americana-
flavored folk, rock and honky-tonk that sounds downright congenial compared with his
Pixies music.
"Certainly I'm still hungry," Black said in a recent phone interview. "It would be nice to
achieve a level of success in my solo career that I haven't seen yet. But I can't
complain."
Curiously, the most content and open-sounding music of Black's solo career
(especially when Fast Man Raider Man is coupled with 2005's Honeycomb) coincides
with a look back at his darker days. Starting in 2004, the Pixies engaged in an extensive
reunion tour that continued last month with shows in Europe.
But don't think that means Frank Black is turning back into Black Francis.
"We're just trying to avoid becoming a county-fair band by playing our hits," Black said. "I
suppose at some point we'll have to record new material or put the band to rest until we
do the Reunion of the Reunion tour."
Coastline has posted this elsewhere, but I guess it has a place here too:
www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060912/LIFE/609120336/1001" target="_blank">www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060912/LIFE/609120336/1001" target="_blank">http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060912/LIFE/609120336/1001
Pixies pioneer Frank Black will play
in Salem
BY CHRIS HAGAN
Statesman Journal
September 12, 2006
Pixies front man and solo artist Frank Black will play two
solo acoustic shows Saturday at Guitar Castle in Salem.
Black, whose real name is Charles Thompson, has
appeared in Salem as a surprise guest for friend Larry
Norman, but this will be his first solo performance.
Black, who lives in Oregon, began his career in Boston,
where he helped form the influential alternative band the
Pixies in 1986.
The group never broke into the mainstream, but it helped
lay the groundwork for the commercial success of
alternative rock in the 1990s and served as an influence
for bands such as Nirvana and Radiohead.
Guitar Castle owner Tim Knight said Black approached
him about a show after attending a concert by John Doe
at the store in April.
"He asked me that night if he could play here," Knight
said.
Knight said Black is looking for more intimate,
coffeehouse-style shows between larger venues.
In August, he opened for the Foo Fighters for seven
shows on the band's acoustic tour and will open for Tom
Petty and the Heartbreakers starting Sept. 29.
Black has been settling down in recent years, having two
children, including a daughter in April.
The Pixies broke up in 1993, and Black continued a solo
career, starting with self-titled "Frank Black" album in
1993. His most recent album is the two-disc "Fast Man
Raider Man," released earlier this year.
The Pixies reunited in 2004 and have been touring the
U.S. and Europe. The band finished a short European
festival tour in July.
chagan@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6743
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE
Frank Black, a solo artist and singer and
guitarist for alternative rock band the
Pixies, performs July 18 on the main stage
during the first day of the Paleo Festival in
Nyon, Switzerland.
If you go
What: Pixies front man Frank Black will
play a solo show, his first in Salem.
When: 5:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Guitar Castle, 349 State St.,
Salem.
Tickets: $10, available at Guitar Castle;
capacity is limited to about 70 people.
Information: (503) 364-2757.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE
Frank Black, a solo artist and singer and guitarist for alternative rock band the Pixies, performs July 18
on the main stage during the first day of the Paleo Festival in Nyon, Switzerland.
www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060911/BLOGS10/60911013/-1/blogs10" target="_blank">www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060911/BLOGS10/60911013/-1/blogs10" target="_blank">http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060911/BLOGS10/60911013/-1/blogs10
-- Pixies front man Frank Black will play his first solo
concert in Salem on Saturday. Black is a legend in
indie-rock circles and has been cited as an
influence by artists such as Radiohead and Kurt
Cobain, among others.
www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/Arts/Our_Critics_Picks/2006/09/28/Our_Critics_Picks/index.shtml" target="_blank">www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/Arts/Our_Critics_Picks/2006/09/28/Our_Critics_Picks/index.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/Arts/Our_Critics_Picks/2006/09/28/Our_Critics_Picks/index.shtml
FRANK BLACK You could argue that Frank Black repeats himself, and that this year’s Fast Man
RaiderManstands as another two-CD set that could have been boiled down to a nifty single. And you
wouldn’t be wrong, except that Black is a fascinating, prolific artist whose post-Pixies work is rife with
hidden gems. Recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles with musicians like Carol Kaye and Reggie
Young, Fast Man and 2005’s Honeycomb might not be Americana—some of Fast Man sounds like
outtakes from an album English pub-rockers Brinsley Schwarz never made—but they have plenty of
inspired moments, from the Doug Sahm cover to his tribute to L.A. pop, “In the Time of My Ruin.” On
this leg of his tour, he’ll be joined by bassist Eric Drew Feldman, guitarist Duane Jarvis and drummer
Billy Block, who should move things along nicely. ( www.backporchrecords.com ) Mercy Lounge
—EDD HURT
www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=75468" target="_blank">www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=75468" target="_blank">http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=75468
Entertainment
Black shows sharp edges
The Sacramento Bee
September 30, 2006
Frank Black’s family is on the way out the door to run some errands and,
as their mother shoos the last kid toward the car, the former Pixies
frontman momentarily breaks off his phone conversation.
“Bye, everybody — I love you,” he
calls out in the voice made famous
by songs such as “Gigantic” and
“Wave of Mutilation.”
With four kids and wife Violet Clark
along for the ride, the tour bus is
ready to roll, and Black appears to
be the picture of domestic bliss.
At first it seems like a strange image
of the artist formerly known as Black
Francis — the notoriously prickly
man who reportedly broke up the
Pixies via a terse fax.
But settle into a few minutes of
conversation with the Oregon-based
musician, and it’s clear that Black,
though polite and friendly, still
retains a few refreshingly sharp
edges.
Black, 41, whets those edges when
the subject of his new album, “Fast
Man Raider Man,” is broached. Don’t
try too hard to figure out the
sprawling, rootsy two-disc set, Black
says.
Recorded with an all-star backup band during one Pasadena and two Nashville
sessions, some critics have labeled “Fast Man” as Black’s “Nashville-era” album.
And though Black admits he trekked to the epicenter of country music in part to
relive Bob Dylan’s celebrated “Blonde on Blonde” journey, he deems the
categorization as simplistic.
“It’s too convenient or pigeon-holey to call this my ‘Nashville’ record,” Black says.
“I’m just making records with musicians like I always do. It’s not rootsy or
bluesy. To me they’re just very Frank Black-y.”
Frank Black
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Marquee Theatre, 730 N. Mill Ave., Tempe
Cost: $20
Information: (480) 829-0607 or www.luckymanonline.com |
Edited by - Carl on 09/30/2006 12:03:08 |
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Ziggy
* Dog in the Sand *
United Kingdom
2463 Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2006 : 12:08:33
|
| I wouldn't read too much into that prediction of what they're going to play. Just sounds like speculation. |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11687 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2006 : 10:49:51
|
According to Eric Drew Feldman, their playlist is essentially a "retrospective" meaning songs from throughout his career. Last we heard, no Pixies tracks.
 "Now you're officially my woman. Kudos. I can't say I don't envy you." |
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ScottP
= Cult of Ray =
USA
618 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2006 : 20:01:36
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| Dio? |
|
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OldManInaCoffeeCan
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1467 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2006 : 06:53:19
|
Hey Carl, thanks for all you do to make fb.net so much fun
Hey, would you mind checking out
http://mercylounge.com/main.php?em781=80703_0__0_~0~1523_-1_10_2006_0_0&content=calendar
and seeing if some of that would fit here. It's voluminous but very informative. Good
chronicle of the Honeycomb and FMRM sessions.
Thanks,CanMan.
______________________________
While waiting for "Schwarma", I joined the "Cult of System of a Down", Huh... |
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formengr
- FB Fan -
39 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2006 : 17:38:46
|
quote:
Originally posted by Cult_Of_Frank
According to Eric Drew Feldman, their playlist is essentially a "retrospective" meaning songs from throughout his career. Last we heard, no Pixies tracks.
i saw them in berkeley last night opening for tom petty. no pixies tracks. great set though. older songs are definitely reworked. very cool! |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2006 : 19:33:50
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No prob, Coffee Man (and good spot, BTW)!
http://mercylounge.com/main.php?em781=80703_0__0_~0~1523_-1_10_2006_0_0&content=calendar
Frank Black with Kentucky Phophet
Nobody is as fast as Frank Black. His work with the Pixies was like a string of firecrackers:
tiny songs, most of them just over a couple of minutes long, that pop against the cold stone
surface of pop music, each one leaving its mark on the landscape.
Nobody raids the pop music trove like Frank Black. From the formative years as a punk rock
innovator through, on last year’s HONEYCOMB, Americana, he grabs every treat within his
reach, rolls it around, and hands it back, Frank Blackened to the core.
Thus, the title of his new, most ambitious record: a sprawl of music on two discs, recorded
over nearly two years with unlikely accomplices — veterans from immortal rhythm sections
(Motown, Stax, Muscle Shoals, Phil Spector’s Wrecking Crew), guys you’d never expect to
find working together (Levon Helm from the Band, Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick, Buddy
Miller, honky-tonk hero Marty Brown, songwriting enigma P. F. Sloan), plus a former
Catholic or two.
FAST MAN RAIDER MAN picks up where Black’s HONEYCOMB album left off. Paired again
with producer Jon Tiven (B. B. King, Wilson Pickett, Graham Parker), he offers 27 songs,
from the somewhat bizarre (Kiss My Ring) to reflections on the dark sides of recent history
(Raider Man) and the almost hallucinogenic (Dog Sleep) and the overlay of the lyrically
obscure and the body-punch, visceral groove (In The Time Of My Ruin).
What’s interesting is that each of these four particular songs stems from a different recording session, each one exposing a distinctive shade
of Black. The more you listen, the clearer their nuances become — and, paradoxically, the more the big picture comes together.
Here’s the breakdown.
The HONEYCOMB Session April 2004
Stranded in post-divorce in Portland, Oregon, Black decides to stir up some music with Tiven. They had collaborated previously on the
Headache EPs of 1994. Since then, Tiven had left New York for Nashville. He sets the stage, lines up an Olympian assembly of musicians,
books time at Dan Penn’s studio, and as Black tries to relax in the presence of players he had idolized since childhood — Steve Cropper,
Reggie Young, Spooner Oldham — starts rolling tape.
The results are thoughtful, reflective, and quietly soulful, except for a few cuts that slam a bit harder. “Songs like Kiss My Ring, Highway to
Lowdown, Fare Thee Well, and Where the Wind Is Going didn’t have that laid-back feeling of HONEYCOMB,” Black says. “I was sad to see
those songs go, but we decided to set them aside.”
And so four songs go into hibernation and wait for the right moment to spring back to life. That moment would come eventually, but first …
All-Nighter at Cowboy Jack’s October 2004
Maybe six months after wrapping up HONEYCOMB, Black finds one empty day on his calendar, between Pixies concerts at Nashville’s Ryman
Auditorium and in Tampa. Rather than spend the day crashed on a hotel bed, he calls Tiven again to see if he could get a few of the guys
together for another round.
Some are free, including Cropper and drummer Billy Block. Others aren’t. And Penn’s studio isn’t available. So Tiven summons a strange
combination of players to Cowboy Jack Clement’s studio. Motown’s Bob Babbitt, Cheap Trick’s Petersson, and drummer Simon Kirke from Free
show up ready to play, and Levon Helm actually drives in from New York just to make this date. Black calls in a couple of his friends too: steel
guitarist Rich Gilbert, who had played with Frank Black & the Catholics, and guitarist Lyle Workman, who goes back with Black to Teenager of
the Year and has just finished scoring a new film recently released, "The 40-Year-Old Virgin."
In the end, so many players want in that Black crams them all in a single 24-hour session, with musicians coming and going in three shifts and
only one two-hour break for some shuteye.
“I just wanted to do a session,” Black explains. “But it doesn’t take long before I start thinking like, ‘Hey, there’s going to be a bunch of guys
there. If I show up with 15 songs, we might get a record out of this.’ I wasn’t sure about it when we finished, though, because everything had
turned into a bit of a blur.”
“We gutted it out on sheer adrenaline,” Tiven remembers. “By the end things were getting surreal and we were just going with the untamed
forces of the universe. If you’re halfway between waking and sleeping, you can do things with a song that might not normally seem possible.”
Another Nashville Dance October 2005
A year passes. Black comes back to Nashville for the Americana Festival. Once again he calls Tiven, this time with a little more slack in his
schedule. By now it’s like homecoming: Cropper, Reggie Young, Buddy Miller, everybody says hi to Black as if they’d just run into him
yesterday. Black, too, is relaxed: “On HONEYCOMB I was walking on eggshells,” he admits. “They’re still legends, but now that we’d hung
around a bit, I was more at ease.”
Augmented once again by some of Black’s old friends, including Gilbert and saxophonist Jack Kidney, whom he had met through David Thomas
of Pere Ubu, this lineup cut the last of the Nashville tracks for FAST MAN RAIDER MAN. Some of them — Fitzgerald, Elijah — look back to when
Black and the Pixies were just beginning to turn rock music inside out from their home base in Boston. Others ponder more recent events — a
true, tragic story of heroism in Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of southern Mississippi on My Terrible Ways. The musicians play with an easy
familiarity; their communion, and their understanding of this material, elevate Black’s artistry.
But there’s electricity here too, especially in an unplanned final session. After three days of recording Black ambles back to Cowboy Jack’s to
hang out as Tiven adds a couple of overdubs. The producer has brought a friend, Marty Brown, to do some backup harmony. As members of
the band from the previous day’s session strip down their gear, the two singers talk. Brown, raised in Kentucky’s wild hills and known
throughout Nashville for his raw, down-home delivery, has only a vague idea of who Black is — and vice versa. Yet soon none of that
matters.
“We were playing songs back and forth, trying to get to know each other,” Black recalls. “I said something about divorce songs, and he said,
‘Yeah, I got me one of those.’ And he picks up his guitar, and I swear, as he was sitting in this chair his legs kept moving toward the floor until
he was basically on bended knee. His eyes closed, as if in prayer. And he performed this song like he was at the Grammys or on the Super
Bowl halftime show. It was like ‘Whoa! I’ve got to work with you right now!’”
Black doesn’t have any more of his own songs ready, so he suggests covering Ewan McColl’s Dirty Old Town. Brown is game, and Black asks
the band to set up and join them on one more track. When Black spells out the arrangement he’d dreamed up that morning, and Buddy
Miller
finds a rumbling low riff on guitar, and Billy Block punches it up with a swaggering drum groove, the two singers nail it, as if they’d been
singing about grimy factory life together for years.
Idyll at Tiven’s September 2005
There was just one track cut on this lazy, late summer night at the producer’s house, but Black singles it out as his favorite in this collection. It
captures him with Duane Jarvis on acoustic guitars, doing Raider Man with accompaniment from a chorus of cicadas chirping in the backyard
and Tiven’s dog Sammy, who makes himself heard right before the second verse. “That provides a nice backdrop to this tale of a Polish coal
miner who lost his legs to the coal train,” Black says. “He ends up being a security man after he gets fired by the coal company, chasing the
Raider Man away …”
West Coast Wrap January 2006
A birthday party for Black in L.A. triggers the last four tracks. Tiven shows up with a friend: P. F. Sloan, whose Eve of Destruction flared out
of radio speakers throughout the world in the mid sixties, as if to herald his arrival and departure at the same moment. The producer is just
beginning to work with Sloan on a new album; Black has already contributed some duet vocals, which he’d mailed from Japan. But it’s soon
obvious that FAST MAN RAIDER MAN requires a denouement — one more session, this time in L.A.
And so a new cast gathers a few months later, as Black comes to the coast to guest on Henry Rollins’ TV show: drummers Jim Keltner and
Steve Ferrone, bassist Carol Kaye, Dave Phillips on steel guitar, Duane Jarvis — who had played at some of the Nashville dates — on guitar,
and Sloan on piano. Black, inspired, starts getting up at five in the morning to write for this new configuration of energies and talents. There’s a
lot to do, in a ridiculously short amount of time. So when the studio date arrives, Black leaves his hotel, feeling unprepared, feeling as if there
was no way he can pull off one more time what he’d done in Nashville...feeling, to tell the truth, pretty damn good.
“There’s a high that comes from not being ready,” he says. “It’s like gambling. I knew I’d bitten off more than I could chew, but there’s something
great about saying, ‘Just do it, man!’ And of course it all worked out.”
These tracks hit with a harder rock feel than the stuff Black had laid down in Nashville. “Maybe it’s because I’m from L.A. and I felt like I was
back in my ‘hood,” he muses. “But I felt like I was pulling this music up from my past. P. F. Sloan was a big influence, especially on It’s Just Not
Your Moment. I was soaking up whatever information I could get from him about L.A. and the sixties, and a lot of that went into what we did
together.”
The Meaning of It All
Black is already moving past this milestone double CD. Feelers are out to put a band together that can support this material on the road — not
an easy assignment, but considering the caliber of the players he’s connected with over these past couple of years, hardly impossible.
“But I would never do anything as hokey as to tie the title of this album to me,” Black insists, “even though I worked on all these tracks in fast,
intense bursts, with the fastest guys and gals out there. And I’ve been able to raid all kinds of mojos in rock and country that I’d never been
able to dip into before because I didn’t have the credentials. But now I feel like I can record with anybody because I know the guy at the door
who can get us in, you know what I mean?”
Black laughs, like a kid who knows how to finagle his way backstage at a Pixies reunion when he shares with his friends how it all came
down. That’s FAST MAN RAIDER MAN too: It’s rock & roll and something deeper, it’s country and something more urgent, all at the same time.
It’s Frank Black, and that’s all that really needs to be said.
Mercy-Lounge :: 10/4/06 9:00 PM
$20 18 & up
http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section_id=12&screen=news&news_id=52395
Black shows softer, sentimental side with latest Nashville release
By Ron Wynn, rwynn@nashvillecitypaper.com
October 02, 2006
Frank Black has long been among alternative rock’s pioneering figures as a
bandleader, vocalist and songwriter. Whether it was his experimentation with
dynamics and range during his leads, penning compositions that ignored the
usual 2/4 and 4/4 rhythmic conventions and structures or heading such
groups as the Pixies and Catholics, Black has delighted in surprising and
challenging audiences with his choices and performances.
His latest release Fast Man Raider Man (Back Porch/EMI), a two-disc set,
continues his collaborations with acclaimed rock, pop and soul musicians,
writers and producers. He’ll be performing selections from it and many other
previous works Wednesday night at the Mercy Lounge, but Black says it’s
understandable he would change his approach for the sessions chronicled on
Fast Man Raider Man and its predecessor Honeycomb.
“Well when you’re in a room with people like Steve Cropper and Spooner
Oldham it doesn’t exactly make a lot sense to grab a microphone and start
screaming,” Black laughed. “Working in Nashville with the caliber of musicians
that were on these sessions was a joy because they not only could handle
anything that I wanted to do, but they challenged you with their degree of
skill. I didn’t put out a double-disc for any reason except that we made so
many great songs that I wanted people to hear them. The sound and
sensibility of what was happening in the studio is really reflected in the songs
that we did, and I’m very happy with the way things turned out.”
Fast Man Raider Man features low-key, yet vital production from Jon Tiven
and has contributions from songwriter P.F. Sloan and other notables like
Levon Helm and Al Kooper in addition to Cropper, Oldham and Anton Fig. But
what has produced the strongest responses (both pro and con) from longtime
Black followers is the restrained style and use of falsetto, as well as some of
the arrangements and backdrops to the numbers.
His cover of Ewan MacColl’s “Dirty Old Town” is wobbly yet striking, and his
vocal on “Sad Old World” is easily his most soulful ever. But he also shows on
“Down To You” or “Kiss My Ring” that he hasn’t completely deserted the
upbeat, energetic rockers that established his reputation, despite a
preponderance of pedal steel guitars and sax solos on several numbers.
Overall, Fast Man Raider Man and Honeycomb together represent Black’s
successful immersion into country and Southern soul territory.
But Black hasn’t abandoned or deserted alternative rock. He’s now working
on a new disc with Eric Drew Feldman and while the Catholics are no longer
together, a pair of CDs with b-sides and rare tracks from that period are
available on iTunes and Black hints that more may be coming down the line.
In addition, though his band for this current tour includes guitarist Duane
Jarvis, bassist Feldman and drummer Billy Block, Black says there may yet
be some more Pixies dates in the future.
“I can’t really say anything about that now, but in a few months the fans may
get some good news on that front,” he said.
What: Guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and bandleader Frank Black
When: 9 p.m. Wednesday
Where: The Mercy Lounge, One Cannery Row
Cost: $20
Info: 251-3020 |
Edited by - Carl on 10/02/2006 20:15:07 |
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kfs
= Cult of Ray =
USA
889 Posts |
Posted - 10/03/2006 : 07:51:31
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quote:
Originally posted by Carl
In addition, though his band for this current tour includes guitarist Duane Jarvis, bassist Feldman and drummer Billy Block, Black says there may yet be some more Pixies dates in the future.
“I can’t really say anything about that now, but in a few months the fans may get some good news on that front,” he said.
What: Guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and bandleader Frank Black
When: 9 p.m. Wednesday
Where: The Mercy Lounge, One Cannery Row
Cost: $20
Info: 251-3020[/font=Verdana]
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 10/04/2006 : 18:33:44
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http://www.tinyteamconcerts.info/2006/08/08/tiny-team-concerts-presents-frank-black-his-new-band/
Tiny Team presents: FRANK BLACK!
Tiny Team Concerts is extremely proud to announce our 2nd major show this year.
On Sunday night, October 15, 2006 at 8:00 pm, pioneering alternative rock icon
FRANK BLACK & HIS NEW BAND (featuring ERIC DREW FELDMAN of CAPTAIN
BEEFHEART / SNAKEFINGER / PJ HARVEY fame) play a special, intimate show at
Savannah Smiles on Williamson St. just off of Bay St. by Jere’s Antiques.
This marks the first full-band tour that Frank has undertaken since the breakup of his
former solo band The Catholics in late 2003, and the subsequent worldwide
phenomenon known as The Pixies Reunion.
Frank will debut his new group only days before this show, when they open a 2-night
stand at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.
While ostensibly on the road to promote his fantastic new 2-CD set Fastman
Raiderman, Frank and his new band will also play a few songs from throughout
his entire career, including tunes originally written and recorded by his last band
The Catholics, and possibly some brand-new and unreleased tunes from his
forthcoming duo album with Mr. Feldman.
Tiny Team Concerts (and our co-sponsor, CONNECT SAVANNAH MAGAZINE) are
committed to bringing Savannah what it deserves: Major artists in mid-size venues
with great sound at a fair price.
This is a fantastically rare opportunity to see one of the most important figures in
alternative rock music in an up close and personal setting (most of the venues Frank
is playing on this tour are at least twice this size). If you only know Frank’s work from
the Pixies, and have never had the chance to see one of his solo gigs, prepare to be
floored. The man is a consummate professional, and puts on one of the most
intense, passionate and entertaining shows that you’ll find anywhere in 2006.
Opening for Frank will be his close friend (and co-writer of several songs on
Fastman Raiderman) Reid Paley. If you’re a fan of Tom Waits, Screaming Jay
Hawkins, and/or Jonathan Richman, you’ll likely get a kick out of Mr. Paley.
Want to learn more about Frank and this tour? Check out Connect Savannah
Magazine Music Editor Jim Reed’s exclusive interview with this one-of-a-kind artist
right here. (This is a special, longer and more in-depth version of the article that can
be found in the brand-new issue of Connect on newstands all over town.
This show is open to those 21 (proper ID required), and WILL sell out in advance.
If you want to make sure you get in to Savannah’s most noteworthy rock show of the
year, tickets will be available online on this site starting Thursday, August 10, at 5
pm. They may be charged securely via PayPal, and will be held for you at Will Call
the night of the show. Simply click on the TICKETS page at the top of this screen
and you’re halfway there.
Tickets will also be available for CASH ONLY at the following Official Tiny Team
Ticket Outlets starting Tuesday, August 15th: PRIMARY ART SUPPLY, ANGEL’S BBQ
(Downtown); ANNIE’S GUITARS & DRUMS, SILLY MAD CDs, LE CHAI WINE
GALLERIE and MARIGOLD BEAUTY CONCEPTS (Southside).
Advance tickets are only $30. If any remain the day of the show (which is HIGHLY
unlikely), they will be $33 at the door.
We expect at least half of these tickets to be sold to folks from out of town who’ll be
driving in for the show. Even though the concert is two months away, don’t wait to
purchase your tickets, as you may very well find out there’s no room at the inn!
If you’d like to be kept up to date on all upcoming Tiny Team Concerts, please sign
up to be our friend at www.myspace.com/tinyteamconcerts and SUBSCRIBE TO
OUR MYSPACE BLOG, or send us an e-mail through this site.
Thanks for supporting live music in Savannah. See you at the show!
- TTC
www.nme.com/news/pixies/24620" target="_blank">www.nme.com/news/pixies/24620" target="_blank">http://www.nme.com/news/pixies/24620
Richard Hawley and Guy Garvey
join the Pixies!
Supergroup sensation in Tennessee
Richard Hawley and Guy Garvey joined Pixies
frontman Frank Black onstage in Tennessee last
night (October 8) for a version of the US indie
legends' classic 'Cactus'.
The three were all performing with a stellar backing
band as part of the annual JD Set gig at the Jack
Daniels distillery in Lynchburg, near Nashville,
and climaxed the evening with a run through the
song, which originally appeared on the Pixies' 1988
album 'Surfer Rosa'. Black and Garvey handled
vocal duties, with Hawley adding guitar.
Speaking afterwards to NME.COM, Black said "We
all got along great this week so thought we'd do
something," while Garvey said singing the song had
been "a dream come true".
All three singers performed sets backed by
legendary musicians Spooner Oldham, Billy
Block, Craig Krampf, David Hood and Duane
Jarvis. Garvey, playing without Elbow for the first
time, got things underway with a four-song set which
included his own group's 'Scattered Black &
Whites' and 'Great Expectations' and covers of
Bob Dylan's 'Lay Lady Lay' and Elvis Costello's
'Shipbuilding'.
Hawley performed his own 'Wading Through The
Water' and 'Just Like The Rain' as well as covers
of Hank Williams' 'I'm So Lonesome I Could
Cry', Elvis Presley's first single 'That's All Right
(Mama)' and Tommy Tucker's 'Hi-Heel
Sneakers'.
Black played 'I Burn Today', 'Headache', 'Johnny
Barleycorn' before clmaxing his set with two
Pixies classics, 'Hey' and 'Wave Of Mutilation'.
The crowd was made up of competition winners,
including those who had entered via NME. The
annual event at the distillery marks Jack Daniel's
birthday.
Frank Black (The Pixies) live at Benicassim 2006
Picture: Phil Wallis
9 hours ago
www.lazonarosa.com/index.cfm?Fuseaction=EventDetail&EventID=4232" target="_blank">www.lazonarosa.com/index.cfm?Fuseaction=EventDetail&EventID=4232" target="_blank">http://www.lazonarosa.com/index.cfm?Fuseaction=EventDetail&EventID=4232
FRANK BLACK
W/ KENTUCKY PROPHET|
DOORS 08:00 PM | SHOW 09:00 PM
FRANK BLACK
Contrary to popular belief, Frank Black, or rather Black Francis, did not actually exist
prior to the Pixies. However, a man often confused for him did: Charles Michael
Kittridge Thompson IV. Charles was “born alive” April 6, 1965 (despite his desire to
have been conceived a decade earlier) in Boston. Many years later, he was back
again in Boston and the world of music would never be the same.
While attending U-Mass, Charles stayed in a dorm where a computer randomly chose
his roommates. 1984: Charles’ roommate, as determined by a bunch of sand and
refined metals was none other than Joseph Alberto Santiago – or Joey. Soon, the pair
put an ad in the newspaper seeking someone with Husker Du/Peter, Paul, and Mary
influences, and Black Francis appeared from the ether.
Four albums and an EP later, the year was 1993. The clear beverage craze gave us all
a reason to live, and the domestication of the dog continued unabated. The Pixies
went their separate ways and as quickly as Black Francis appeared, he faded back to
black. Frank Black.
Frank’s solo career has been longer and provided far more diversity, musically
speaking, than his career with the Pixies to the point that they’d not even be worth
mentioning were they not so influential and inspirational to so many people… and
reunited for a world tour in spring of 2004. From Show Me Your Tears, his latest
album, all the way back down to the original self-titled “Orange” album, he’s gone
from multi-tracked new-wave mayhem to classic rock to a distinctive country twang
live to two track. Only one thing has remained consistent: the quality of the work is
without a doubt top-notch.
Austin 360 take their info from that site:
www.austin360.com/event/events2/etc/userEventDisplay.jspd?eventStatus=Approved&eventid=101660" target="_blank">www.austin360.com/event/events2/etc/userEventDisplay.jspd?eventStatus=Approved&eventid=101660" target="_blank">http://www.austin360.com/event/events2/etc/userEventDisplay.jspd?eventStatus=Approved&eventid=101660
www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=swinging-back-into-action-&method=full&objectid=17923313&siteid=66633-name_page.html" target="_blank">www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=swinging-back-into-action-&method=full&objectid=17923313&siteid=66633-name_page.html" target="_blank">http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=swinging-back-into-action-&method=full&objectid=17923313&siteid=66633-name_page.html
13 October 2006
EXCLUSIVE: SWINGING BACK INTO
ACTION
Exclusive the BIG razz interview Taking his kids to the park
inspired Richard to write title track of his hit album
By John Dingwall In Lynchburg, Tennessee
RICHARD HAWLEY produced one of the best albums of the past
year but admits writing the title track of Coles Corner was child's
play.
The Sheffield songsmith, widely
regarded to have been the
unofficial runner up to the
Arctic Monkeys at this year's
Mercury Music Awards,
revealed: "I wrote Coles Corner
as I was pushing my sons on
swings in the park. It was the
rhythm of pushing them which
gave me the song and I
stopped.
"It was as if I had been hit by a thunderbolt. I put the kids in the
double buggy - much to their disgust - and ran full tilt up the road.
"I was shattered when I got in and said to my wife, 'I've got a
song, sort them out', and I ran upstairs, worked it out then put
the kids in the buggy again and went back to the park.
"I was worried because it is like holding on to water in your
hands. You have to deal with the issue of songs there and then
or else you forget them."
I caught up with Richard - who also worked with Pulp and
Nineties band Longpigs - as he prepared to play a phenomenal
gig in the grounds of the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg,
Tennessee, with Elbow's Guy Garvey and Pixies rocker Frank
Black.
Richard said: "Frank was talking about going to a studio but I'd
need to drink a lot of coffee. It's funny with sleep deprivation,
that's often when I write best, in the middle of the night when I
wake troubled by something.
"I get tortured when I wake up with a melody in my head, it's like
a bee trying to work its way out.
"You can't shut it off at all. It is like a loop going round in your
head and the only way to shut it off is to sit at a piano or pick the
guitar up and work it out and tape it.
"Half the time you wake up the next morning and you can't
remember what you did. You either listen to it and think it's
rubbish or go, 'that's good'."
Richard, Guy and Frank took turns to perform back-to-back sets
of songs with legendary musicians including Spooner Oldham,
Billy Block, Craig Krampf, David Hood and Duane Jarvis at the JD
set.
The gig, in front of just a couple of hundred competition winners
from the UK, has been filmed by Channel 4 for broadcast in the
coming weeks.
Richard's set included Wading Through The Water and Just Like
The Rain, as well as blistering covers of Hank Williams' I'm So
Lonesome I Could Cry, Elvis Presley's That's All Right (Mama)
and Tommy Tucker's Hi-Heel Sneakers.
Guy, performing for the first time without Elbow, sang his band's
Scattered Black & Whites as well as covers of Bob Dylan's Lay
Lady Lay and Shipbuilding, which was written by Elvis Costello
about the Falklands War and was famously covered by Robert
Wyatt.
Frank Black followed them both with a mesmerising set which
included I Burn Today, Headache and Johnny Barleycorn before
finishing on a high with two Pixies favourites, Hey and Wave Of
Mutilation.
All three artists delivered a version of the Pixies' 1988 song
Cactus, from the album Surfer Rosa, as the climax.
"The band are legends and nice guys," Richard, 39, explained.
"They are all relaxed blokes and there's not an ego among them.
They are all cool.
"I couldn't cope with loads of stress and egos but they are great
guys."
Before the show, Frank said: "I know Richard from a tour a while
ago and I just met Guy here a couple of days ago.
"I asked Richard if we could write a song together so we'll see
what happens. They are both lovely people and beautiful singers.
"This is old fashioned, kind of like a review they would do in the
old days, especially in the Fifties. In those days they had things
like the Louisiana Hayride."
Richard followed in his dad's footsteps by performing with the JD
set musicians who, collectively, have worked with the likes of
Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Wilson Pickett, Cat
Stevens, Primal Scream and The Rolling Stones.
His father Dave, a former steelworker, played in a band in
Sheffield for the likes of John Lee Hooker and Eddy Cochrane.
Richard said: "My dad used to run the house band at a place
called the Empire which is now the Sheffield Leadmill.
"The musician union thought American bands took work away
from local musicians and it was a rule.
"My dad ran the house band there and my uncle ran the house
band at the Mojo club, which was owned by Peter String fellow.
"They got to back Eddie Cochrane, John Lee Hooker, Little
Walter, Memphis Slim and Sonny Boy Williamson.
"A lot of the singers were past their best, sad alcoholics. Little
Walter played My Babe in six different keys because he was so
off his head and couldn't remember his other songs.
"My dad also went to Germany with Bill Monroe (father of
bluegrass), who wrote Blue Moon Of Kentucky.
"I wish I could bring him to Tennessee but he is really ill and
couldn't make it. It did his head in when he heard who I would be
playing with here.
"My dad used to fit radiators with Joe Cocker when they both
worked for the gas board. They were both Ray Charles fans and
that's why they became friends. Everyone had to start
somewhere.
"The problem with a lot of bands these days is that they pick up
a guitar as a career choice. Don't do it for that reason. Do it
because you love it. Frank and Guy are brilliant. They don't do it
for money. They do it for love and that's why I'm here."
Richard, who joined Jarvis Cocker's Pulp in 1997, has been
working again with Jarvis on the ex-Pulp frontman's forthcoming
solo album, Jarvis, due out on November 13.
And he claims their Sheffield upbringing means they can never
get big-headed about their achievements.
He said: "You never get too big headed. You'll soon find out if
people think you're a tool. I wasn't brought up like that. It was
never an issue because we were all musicians. My dad, my
uncle, my grandfather, my mother, my aunt and the hamster."
Guy, meanwhile, has promised a new Elbow album to follow last
year's brilliant Leaders Of The Free World. But the frontman, who
split from Radio 1's Edith Bowman, admits he may never get
married.
He said: "I haven't had any luck with women in terms of someone
to share my life with.
"I've not left myself much room for women. My mum said years
ago that it was a shame I'd never have kids.
"She said, 'I see that you'll have fierce love affairs but you'll never
end up full time with anyone'. I'm beginning to think she's right.
"I want kids more than I want a wife. I can see myself in a people
carrier aged 50 playing my songs to all four of them with a
massive belly.
"But I can't picture who is in the passenger seat. She would have
to be a cross between Tyne Daly and Sigourney Weaver.
"The blonde one in Cagney & Lacey was saucy with that 40-a-
day voice but Mary Beth Lacey had the big matronly bosom and
was a tough cop and a great marriage."
And Frank Black hasn't ruled out the chance of the Pixies getting
back together for another tour, although fatherhood is cramping
his songwriting style.
He said: "I don't know if there is such a thing as a perfect
balance. The upside is that when I am at home I am with the
family for along time then, when I tour, I am gone.
"I guess I feel bad for parents who work during the day and only
get to be with their kids for an hour or two at night and
Saturdays. I prefer having all day with them.
"I tend to write a lot more now in hotel rooms and on the road. At
home I don't even get time to pick up my guitar unless I am
goofing around with the kids."
'The problem with a lot of the bands these days is that they only
pick up a guitar as a career choice'
www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200661012051" target="_blank">www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200661012051" target="_blank">http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200661012051
Head Pixie finds his solo groove
by Tony Kiss, TKISS@CITIZEN-TIMES.com
published October 13, 2006 12:15 am
Five things to know about veteran rocker Frank Black, playing 9 p.m. Tuesday at
The Orange Peel, 101 Biltmore Ave. Tickets are $20 in advance, $22 at the door.
1. Lead singer of the
legendary band The
Pixies, Black spent
almost two years working
on his new double CD,
“Fast Man, Raider Man.” It “may be the longest”
project he’s done “but it doesn’t feel like a
departure for me,” he said. “You do one recording
session, or a bunch of recording sessions, and
you mix it all together and call it a record.”
2. The CD is loaded with guest artists, from Levon
Helm to Simon Kirk (Bad Company), Tom
Petterson (Cheap Trick), Steve Cropper and Al
Kooper, to name a few. They all have their styles,
“but I didn’t tell anyone to play a certain way,” Black
said. “The songs weren’t all mapped out — we
decided on a tempo, and tried to hit them.” The
road band features drummer Billy Block, guitarist
Duane Jarvis and bassist Eric Drew Feldman.
3. Black isn’t doing an entire show around the CD.
“We are performing songs from the record,” he
said. “But I don’t need to represent all 27 songs. I
just want to go out and play every night.” Don’t
expect anything by The Pixies. “I think that would be
a little awkward,” he said.
4. Black tours a lot. “It’s what I do, it is what I have
always done,” he said. “I haven’t been able to rely
on radio for anything. I have my patrons, my
customers. And this is one way to make that
connection. If I don’t make that connection, then I’m
back to shipping and receiving.’’
5. The road can take a toll, keeping Black away
from his family. “It’s very hard,” he said. “We catch
up when we can. We chat a lot on the computer; it
makes things easier.”
Contact Tony Kiss at 828-232-5855 or via e-mail at
tkiss@ashevill.gannett.com.
Frank Black, lead singer of The Pixies, stops at The
Orange Peel for a Tuesday night show.
 |
Edited by - Carl on 10/14/2006 13:15:32 |
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Tiny Team Concerts
- FB Fan -
USA
57 Posts |
Posted - 10/14/2006 : 14:14:55
|
Speaking Frankly:
An interview with Pixies frontman and mercurial rock legend Frank
Black, who brings his new band to Savannah Smiles Oct. 15
By Connect Savannah Music Editor Jim Reed
-----------------------------
Anytime any music journalist worth his or her salt gets a chance to talk with Frank Black, it’s cause for a certain type of alarm.
That’s not only because Black is a highly intelligent songwriter and legendary rock star with an imposing body of work, but also because he has a deserved reputation for not suffering fools gladly.
Not that such a reputation is an indictment of him. Quite the opposite, in fact. Truth is that ever since Black first burst onto the underground (and later, the above ground) music scene in the mid-1980s as the frontman and chief composer for the Boston-based noise-pop quartet the Pixies, he’s had to field some of the most inane questions imaginable.
One would have to look back to the golden age of Bob Dylan’s dada-esque mid-’60s press conferences to find some sort of corollary. Back then, Dylan was forced to either limit his answers to snide, terse, offhanded remarks, or go on the attack, fending off similar inanities and queries from writers less interested in getting to know what really made their subject tick than in regurgitating the same old party line.
The similarities between Dylan and Black don’t end there. Both are voracious readers who take great pride in the lyrical construct of their work. Both emerged seemingly whole, at a time when the music world seemed quite unaware that it was drastically in need of a severe thrashing. And both of them would create and release albums early in their careers that would —in many respects— haunt them for years.
Some would argue that Dylan has never lived down the amazing, mind bending imagery and disjointed, trashcan blues of his heyday, and that in fact, his neverending attempts to outrun his own legacy are what keep him writing, recording, and touring to this day.
For an entirely different generation— those weaned on punk rock and all it begat— Frank Black (who, like Dylan, works under a pseudonym) and the albums he made as Black Francis with his first serious band the Pixies, resonate with the same timeless, elusive qualities as Dylan’s mid-’60s triptych of Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde.
It’s those qualities, along with the harsh and caustic sonic characteristics of their records, their cathartic live shows, and the stark and naked first-person imagery of Black’s lyrics (comparable in their starkness and often disturbingly surreal subject matter to those of The Velvet Underground or of early Patti Smith) that spawned countless new bands and solo artists — all enraptured with the same intoxicating sense of rock freedom (or Freedom Rock).
In hindsight, the Pixies discs —which were marginalized by many critics and listeners upon initial release— are now generally considered classics of what came to be known as “alternative rock,” although in all fairness, there were scores of adventurous music fans at the time who instantly recognized them as some of the most exciting, refreshing and inexplicable pop records ever made.
And, just like Dylan’s most enduring works, those albums (Come On Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa, Doolittle, Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde) still stand up remarkably well today, almost two decades after their initial appearance.
While that band imploded only a few years into their promising career amid tension and disappointment that’s been chronicled in minute detail countless times before in untold fanzines and music mags, Black (Born Charles Michael Kitteridge Thompson IV) defiantly soldiered on, slyly reversing the order of his adopted handle, and burying himself headfirst into an idiosyncratic solo career that has found him releasing a steady stream of inventive, quirky, irrepressible albums full of brainy rock and roll that is at turns noisy, soft, brash, sweet, ugly, ethereal, spiritual, violent, morose and playful — qualities shared in large part by the Pixies’ back catalog.
First solely under his own freshly-minted assumed name, and later as the leader of a (slightly) rotating cast of ace backing musicians he christened The Catholics, Black’s career arc has in some ways mimicked that of Dylan’s or Elvis Costello’s — or of another restless, mercurial seeker of a songwriter who’s not content to rest on his laurels: Neil Young.
All four have taken (not totally) unexpected detours into the fringes of their chosen bags, exploring the more traditional formats of country, folk, blues, swing and Tin Pan Alley songwriting.
In Black’s case (and to some degree, all of theirs) along the way, there have been high points and low points, albums that sold surprisingly well, and those that seemed in many respects to be little more than curious love letters to an adoring and fiercely loyal cult fanbase. Yet, through it all, Black has retained an unassailably high standard of quality, not to mention the artistic respect of most all who’ve worked with him in a creative capacity.
When the Pixies surprisingly reunited a few years back to almost universal —if not sadly belated— acclaim (and a seemingly neverending retrospective tour of their own in major venues across the globe), it seemed to many longtime observers as though Black was nearing a turning point in his artistic journey.
Sure enough, right on the cusp of that unexpected development, Black disbanded The Catholics, with whom he had famously insisted on recording the old-fashioned way: completely live in the studio, without the benefit of overdubs, post-production, or other modern-day fixes. He then set about fulfilling a personal fantasy he’d harbored for years: cutting an album in Nashville with some of the veteran journeyman session players that helped create the classic rock, soul and country albums of the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s.
It was a notion born from Black’s fascination with Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde album, the 1966 2-LP set that found the Beat poetry-inspired rock chameleon paired with the cream of Music City’s backing musiacians. In fact, for ages, the cheeky working title of Black’s album was actually Black on Blonde.
Tracked in just four days on the eve of a lengthy string of Pixies dates, those sessions, helmed by veteran producer and songwriter Jon Tiven (who’d previously worked with everyone from Big Star’s Alex Chilton to Jim Carroll to Wilson Pickett), posited Black as one of the most versatile and unselfconscious singer/songwriters of his generation. The unabashedly soulful material still retained Black’s trademark oblique lyrical bent, but, when married to the smooth, almost scarily confident playing of folks like drummer Anton Fig (of The CBS Orchestra), Emmylou Harris guitarist Buddy Miller, Booker T & The MGs/Blues Brothers axeman Steve Cropper and keyboardist Spooner Oldham (who’s recorded and toured with both Bob Dylan and Neil Young), the combination became downright beatific.
Despite rough mixes of the sessions finding their way into unauthorized circulation before the finished LP could find a home, Honeycomb was eventually picked up by Back Porch Records, a subsidiary of EMI specializing in roots-rock and Americana, and released to no shortage of critical acclaim in 2005. It was the closest Black had come to fully embracing straight-up country-rock and R & B since starting to lean heavily in those directions around 2002 with his one-two punch of separate-but equal Catholics discs, Devil’s Workshop and Black Letter Days.
His brand-new 2-CD set Fastman Raiderman continues in that same vein, with a whopping 27 songs honed to some sort of loose perfection by an all-star cast of characters that includes The Band’s Levon Helm, Cheap Trick’s Tom Petersson, The Faces’ Ian McLagen, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ drummer Steve Ferrone, Dylan keyboardist (and Blood, Sweat & Tears founder) Al Kooper, reclusive “Eve of Destruction” songwriter P.F. Sloan, and famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section bassist David Hood, among others.
Composed of set-asides from the original Honeycomb sessions, as well as several songs tracked in a bizarrely ambitious marathon 24-hour straight session that Black squeezed in between high-dollar, throat shredding Pixies dates (and which found three different all-star lineups working around the clock in shifts to finish in time), it’s a meandering collection of woozy ditties, Van Morrison-esque rave-ups and somber ruminations on love, death, divorce and destiny that seems at times like some bizarro world redux of Black’s other Magnum Opus, 1994’s Teenager of The Year, a sprawling, 22-song collection of frenetic, post-punk sci-fi art-rock which many diehard fans still insist is his finest (and most idiosyncratic) accomplishment to date.
Now, for the first time since 2003 —and in fact, the first time since the Pixies reunited— Black is touring with a brand-new electric backing band. This stripped-down lineup of Black on rhythm guitar and vocals, Billy Block on drums, Duane Jarvis on lead guitar and Eric Drew Feldman on bass and keys is at first glance an odd grouping.
Block’s a respected Nashville ringer and songwriter who’s played and recorded with the likes of Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams and John Trudell. Jarvis has a well-received solo career of his own as a singer/songwriter, who spends much of his time in Portland, Or., where Black and his family recently moved. Feldman is a multi-instrumentalist who’s worked off and on with Black over the years (even co-producing Teenager of The Year), as well as with such other oddball rock luminaries as Captain Beefheart, PJ Harvey and the late Snakefinger.
I caught up with the man by phone a few hours before he would lead his band through their first official debut gig — which also marked the start of their tour. In atypical fashion, instead of breaking the group in at some out of the way dive bar, they were set to open 2 nights in a row for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles — on Petty’s sold-out 30th Anniversary Tour, no less!
I mentioned at the start of this article that any music journalist worth their salt likely gets nervous when speaking with Frank Black. That’s because he’s well known for being wonderfully easy to talk with, and quite gregarious and forthcoming — up to a point.
This was the 4th time I’ve had the pleasure to pick his brain, and every time before this, I wound up constantly second-guessing myself throughout the proceedings — always on guard not to do or say something that might trigger that instant loss of interest on Black’s part that is all too familiar to those who follow such articles.
This time, I did my darnedest to just roll with it, and not get caught up so much in the minutiae of the chat. The result? Within 30 minutes after hanging up the phone I was kicking myself for not getting around to asking some of the questions I’d most wanted to field.
So, you won’t find out from this piece if Frank Black feels any more or less free as an artist now that the Pixies are back together. Or, the criteria he used in selecting which songs from his expansive catalog this new group would play on their first headlining tour. Or, what it is in particular about his old pal Reid Paley that has made him a favored opening act on Black’s solo tours for years.
You also won’t find out whether he actually composes many of his songs on the ukulele, as I suspect he does (not that 99% of you cared about that anyway). Hell, you won’t find out a lot of things that I —and possibly many of you— wanted to know.
Hopefully, though, you will discover a few pleasant surprises, and in the end, it will have been worth your time, as well as his.
Jim Reed: How are things this morning?
Frank Black: Well, I’m feeling a little rough… I stayed up too late last night.
JR: Last night was the first gig with the new band, right?
FB: We had a little impromptu show. It was real casual. Not like a formal gig, you know? We crashed a P.F. Sloan gig and played after him.
JR: How was it received?
FB: You know, the drunk guy that was dancing all night in front of me — I think he was pleased. (Laughs)
JR: Did you get to rap with him after the show?
FB: Thank God, no. He may even have been ejected before it got that far. He was very enthusiastic. He gave me a guitar before the show.
JR: To sign, or just to have?
FB: To have.
JR: Was it a nice guitar?
FB: I don’t know. I forgot it. Then he gave me his driver’s license, and when I showed it to the club owner, he said, “Oh, this guy!”
JR: So he’s a regular there.
FB: Yeah. Regular trouble, I think.
JR: Ah, to be back in the bars again.
FB: Yeah. Some people shouldn’t drink, basically. That’s how I’d sum that up. (Laughs)
(At this point, Frank takes a call on another line from his drummer and Tour Manager, Billy Block, and I can clearly hear Black’s end of the conversation.)
FB: (to Block) You might have to babsysit me on this tour. I don’t know. Anyway, I won’t be pullin’ that anymore. So, I’m fine. I’m gonna go get some soup and begin resuscitating my voice… It’s all that gabbing you know. Talking to people in a loud nightclub. Classic. Anyway, I’ll be fine by the time we’re at the gig tonight! (Laughs) Thanks for checking in on me. (To Connect) That’s my drummer and also my Tour Manager.
JR: He’s cracking the whip? (Laughs)
FB: (warily) He and I have never worked together on the road before, so I hope I’m not giving him too poor an impression. Now he’s gonna think… Well, I was kinda havin’ a couple of beers last night during the show and gettin’ a little loud. Which is a pretty rare thing for me. I don’t do that stuff too often. But, we’ve been rehearsing all week, and me and Eric Feldman kept laughing the whole time about the sort of “industrial complex” that we were rehearsing in. The big motorized barbed wire gate that opens and closes to let bands in an out of this rehearsal facility had us pretending and fantasizing that we were in some sort of minimum security prison. It felt so good of them to let us out from time to time to walk around the neighborhood and get some coffee at the local coffeeshop. (Laughs and coughs) Anyway, after three days in this place, it really was like getting released from our little prison, so last night I reunited with all my old friends I hadn’t seen for a while, and had a few drinks and wound up talkin’ up a storm.
JR: Also a P.F. Sloan gig is a pretty rare occurrence on its own, so that’s something to celebrate.
FB: Yeah, apparently he hasn’t done too many of these. His first concert tour ever.
JR: That’s really amazing.
FB: Yeah. It just goes to show that everybody’s career or experience in show business is not the same necessarily.
JR: I know you’ve been intensely rehearsing the band. Was that all done in California or did any take place in Oregon?
FB: It was all done here.
JR: Is the group getting up to speed the way you’d hoped they would?
FB: Oh yeah. They’re good players, you know. We’re a little rough on the edges, but I think that’s sort of OK. We know about 20 songs.
JR: Do you imagine you’ll be adding more songs as the tour progresses, or you’ll just stick with those 20?
FB: I don’t know yet. I imagine we’ll add some more.
JR: This group seems cherry-picked to promote your last 2 solo albums which obviously lean in a more roots-rock vein than some of your earlier stuff. Do you see this band as a one-off project with a finite lifespan, or could it have the potential to continue on for years, much like The Catholics did?
FB: Well, it may appear that way on the surface, because I’ve gotten a couple of the guys who played on the Nashville sessions, but then I add Eric Feldman in there. So I have one compadré on board… I think it’s more like I’m taking my new Nashville friends and saying, ok, so we’re going on tour! But, guess what? We’re gonna be more of like, well, a punk band. So, let’s play like that. I mean, in whatever country-style songs we might be playing, we’re approaching them with a kind of punk-rock abandon. At least that’s what it seems like. I don’t know. I feel like it’s sounding more like The Replacements or something, rather than a slick Nashville thing. I’m not sure why that is, either. I guess I don’t feel comfortable with us going out there and being real slick. I don’t mind doing that in a recording session. But going and playing that way in nightclubs is not my idea of… I mean, I think I’m much more comfortable being kinda loud, you know? So, that’s what we’re doing. And I think we’re playing to the “loud crowd” as well. If I had inherited John Hiatt’s audience, then maybe I wouldn’t be doing this. But I don’t think that I did. I believe I’m playing to the louder, more punk-rock crowd.
JR: Did you tell the bandmembers what you were after right from the start, or did you wait until rehearsals began to spring it on them?
FB: These guys have rock and roll conventions. It’s not like they’re gonna go, “What?” See, a lot of people don’t ever seem to understand that a lot of it’s the same world.
JR: It’s just like a different set of clothes.
FB: Kind of, yeah. Like, I was having a drink in a bar in Wales on a tour. I think it was with the Pixies. And, it was a little quiet village on my way to Ireland, and an American guy came over to the table and he’d heard me chatting with a bunch of English roadies. I don’t know who he was, but it seemed like he was an artist who performed some sort of popular songs, but nothing like rock and roll.
JR: Like folk music?
FB: Not even that. It was more square than that. He was probably like Jerry Vale. For an older crowd.
JR: A lounge singer.
FB: Yeah, but the kind that would play in theatres or something. He must have been a name of some sort. He was well heeled, and he was older than me. Anyway, he could tell that we were musicians and that we were on the road. As was he! And he was coming from Ireland. Like us, he had the night off for travelling, and here we all were in this little pub in the middle of Wales. He said how’s it goin’, and that he’d overheard we were on a tour playin’ in such and such a town. Well, he’d just come from there, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, it was nice to see you guys, and have a good trip. We talked for about 10 minutes about fishing or golf or something. The point is, that as far as he was concerned, we were all in the same club as him. Right? And I appreciated that. He knew damn well that we were rock and roll people. He didn’t say, “Hey, I’m a rock and roller, too.” He didn’t pretend to be something other than what he was. But basically, (adopts a carny barker’s voice) “We’re all in showbiz here.” That was his take on it. And I totally agree. That’s why I think people get too hung up on musical genres and stuff like that. At the end of the day, people that are in showbiz like to think of themselves as… Well, we’s all people in showbiz! There’s not all this division. We all step into the limelight and take the stage to do our thing. We’re all troubadours or whatever you want to call it. I like to think about it like that. And so, I get disappointed when people — especially other musicians or music fans— get too caught up with “well, they sound like that, and that’s their bag.” “See, this is our bag over here and we don’t hang with that over there.” It’s not that different, you know what I mean? People are gathering this evening at the appointed hour. Perhaps it’s a drinking room, or perhaps not. Whatever. But they’re gonna gather for the concert. Big night out! You know? We’re gonna take the stage and we’re gonna try to give ‘em their money’s worth. That’s why I really love reading books about jazz musicians in the ‘30s or Vaudeville comedians. You know, reading about the Three Stooges or whatever. I mean, I’ve played in rooms and older theatres, where I’ve realized, oh my God! Ted Healy and the Three Stooges probably played here in 1925! (Laughs) So, how different was their world from mine? Well, of course there are a lot of big differences, but what’s so interesting are the similarities. They travelled to this town from that town. They probably took the same road. They stayed in a hotel in this part of town. They had to wake up in the morning and go find coffee and breakfast. They saw the same kind of sunlight and smelled a lot of the same smells. For crying out loud, they came in contact with the same gene pool that I’m coming into contact with! You know what I mean? There’s all those kind of connections. Anyway, I find it fascinating.
JR: Thanks for being so eager to speak with me.
FB: Sure. I appreciate it. I’ve never played in Savannah.
JR: Well, we’ve been trying to get you here for a long while.
FB: I’m looking very forward to it! I guess most people first heard about Savannah because of that big murder story.
JR: Midnight In The Garden of Good & Evil.
FB: Yeah, yeah. All that stuff. You know. Of course, I’m expecting…
JR: Weirdness?
FB: Weirdness. You know. Old ladies drinking mint juleps and thinking about murder in the shadows. (Laughs)
JR: Well, if you want, we always keep mint julep ladies on standby, and we can have them trucked over from Central Casting.
FB: (Laughs)
JR: Well, I’ve seen you play in Charleston before, and Savannah’s a little like Charleston.
FB: It’s steamy down there.
JR: Yes. It’s steamy, but it’s less snooty. We’re kind of like the slightly backwards, more keep-to-ourselves version of Charleston.
FB: I like it. I like it.
JR: For those of us for whom your post-Pixies output is at least as important —if not more so— than your work with that band, it’s hard to imagine a world in which there’s no hope of you working with The Catholics again, and specifically under the regimented live-to-2-track tape method that you adhered to with that project. Do you have any interest in ever working with those folks again under similar circumstances, or is that gone forever?
FB: I don’t know. I mean, you know, those guys were great. But they also became disinterested in the process. So, if the band isn’t still feeling whatever kick you’re on, then it’s over. I mean, I still like that kind of approach to working, but I haven’t taken it up again yet. I suppose I will. I don’t know. I guess I’m just taking a break from that now.
JR: Was there ever a real possibility of getting some of the extremely famous session guys from your last 2 albums to accompany you on the road — such as Steve Cropper or Spooner Oldham? I know those guys don’t really like to travel that much.
FB: I don’t know. The possibility always remains, but I don’t tour on quite the same level as Neil Young. I don’t know that I was ever really gonna be able to attract those guys. As far as my road experience goes, I think they’ve been there and done that in their younger years. They don’t wanna go on the road for 6 weeks and stay in a lot of Best Westerns, you know?
JR: But there is a certain charm in that.
FB: Oh, yeah. It’s great!
JR: A lot of your new material prominently features pedal steel and keyboards on the albums. Was it hard to rearrange those songs to work with this road band lineup of 2 guitars, bass and drums?
FB: We’re still in the process of forging a sound for this new band. We’re trying to make it deep, you know. All of the old songs that we’re playing that are slow, we’re makin’ ‘em slower, but we’re not makin’ ‘em more mellow. We’re tryin’ to make ‘em tougher. We want ‘em to have a kind of tough, raw, Beatles or Doug Sahm kind of “oomph,” you know? Anyway, it’s still developing, but I’m pretty sure we’ll have our shit together by the time we get to Savannah.
JR: So, tonight is the official debut gig with the new band, right?
FB: Yeah, but I’m giving myself till Arizona, ‘cause these are just opening gigs that we’re doing. I’m very happy that Tom Petty has asked us to be there, obviously. I might add, he’s very generous in paying his opening bands. Much more generous than most, shall we say. So, we’re gonna be giving them a real show, but my own tour starts on Sunday, so I’m still considering this a work in progress.
JR: Are you a big Petty fan?
FB: I love Tom Petty, yeah.
JR: I know he’s done a lot of work with Rick Rubin, who you’ve worked with before. Have your paths ever crossed socially? Are you and he good friends?
FB: We’ve met a few times, but you know. He’s a big superstar. I appreciate these situations. I say hello and everything. But, whatever. He’s a very nice guy.
JR: What’s the mood of the band going into such a high profile first gig tonight? Are they nervous?
FB: I think they’re looking forward to it. I don’t know how nervous they are. These guys have played every kind of gig possible. In the universe. Whether it’s playing behind chicken wire in a roadhouse, or headlining some arts festival in Rotterdam, you know? This will be old hat to them in a manner of speaking. But we all love it. That’s why we do it.
JR: I was a little surprised to read that your setlist for this tour would include some Pixies material.
FB: Nah, there’s no Pixies stuff.
JR: Okay. Well, that makes sense to me, because I assumed that now that the Pixies were back together that you’d segregate those tunes to those shows alone.
FB: Exactly! That’s exactly what’s happened. They’ve been segregated.
JR: Yet you still do some of those songs when you play one-man acoustic shows. Did you choose to drop those songs on your own, or did some of the other Pixies feel it would be weird for you to do that as long as they were a functioning unit?
FB: Well, there was no discussion. It’s a free country. I wrote the damn songs, and I can sing ‘em in whatever context I want. But yeah, it seems a little awkward. And I’d add, at this particular moment in time.
JR: I’ve always appreciated the relative unpretentious and self-deprecating way you conduct yourself at your solo shows. It remind me a lot of Jonathan Richman. There’s a high comfortability factor between you, your material and your audience. I think that has a great deal to do with the great affection you fanbase has for you. Are you surprised that more artists at your level don’t react to their own output and fame with what comes across in your case as good natured bemusement?
FB: I think everyone reacts to the situation of being in the music business in a different way. I don’t want to criticize anybody for walking around like a pompous ass. (Laughs) I mean, it’s a funny situation to be in. It requires a lot of ego, and some people get very nervous and uptight about the whole thing, and that affects how they deal with fans. I guess I try not to take it too seriously.
JR: You try to be very serious about not being very serious.
FB: Exactly.
JR: I know you’ve recently become a father, and that your entire family will be travelling with you on this tour. Have you noticed a difference in the way you write songs now that you have 4 young children?
FB: Yeah. Now I write on the road, or when they’re not with me. I don’t work at home anymore. Now, I only seem to write when I get out of Oregon. I don’t mind that. It’s just a matter of making better use of my time, instead of having all this time at home.
JR: Any real difference in terms of the output?
FB: Naw. “Now I’m going to do a song about my precious little baby girl…” (Laughs) She is my precious little baby girl, but I’m not gonna get up there like that.
JR: I didn’t mean actually writing songs about your kids, but you hear folks talk eloquently about how their worldview shifts once they become a parent.
FB: Well, sure. That happens. I mean, you have all kinds of poignant shifts once you become a father, but I think my art reflects all kinds of things anyway.
JR: You often draw on historical facts and references to religious doctrines and different types of mythologies in your lyrics, and some of your songs seem like these oblique constructions that challenge the patient listener to discover the true meaning of the song. Is it safe to say there’s a certain amount of playful obfuscation on your part when writing songs for a core audience that you know can sometimes obsess over stuff like that?
FB: I believe it’s called a riddle. Yeah. (Laughs) Sure. I riddle.
JR: (Laughs) Do you find yourself coming up with a riddle and then constructing a song around it?
FB: Well, when you’re a riddler, you just riddle. It doesn’t require extra time to riddle. You know? Trying to figure out what rhymes with elephant is a whimsical challenge. The whole process of songwriting as far as I’m concerned, is riddled with… You know… Games.
JR: Have you always felt that way?
FB: Yes, yes, yes, yes. Always felt that way. Always worked that way.
JR: Who are some other artists whose work you might enjoy personally in the same manner that I have described your fans pouring over your own songs for clues and inspiration? Whose songs do you sit and wonder about?
FB: The Beatles.
JR: Any particular songs that you are especially proud of, in terms of how you constructed the riddle, and which to your knowledge, no one has ever solved?
FB: Oh, ahh…
JR: The songs of yours that I enjoy the most seem rather elliptical. They seem to have red herrings thrown in there to knock you off the track. They’re like written math questions which include erroneous or misleading information to confuse the reader. Is that a method that you find yourself applying when writing songs?
FB: Yes.
JR: (Laughs) Well, I appreciate you being patient with me while I linger on this tangent!
FB: No, no. It’s rare that someone would discuss things of this nature with me on this kind of a level. It’s usually like, (adopts a foolish voice) “So, Frank, you know. How do you write your songs?” I guess that’s kind of the same question, isn’t it? But it’s just obvious that they’re not clued in. They’re not even close to being on the same page.
JR: I don’t mean to seem like I’m trying to pry into your methods.
FB: No, it’s cool. I’m egging you on. (Laughs) It’s rare that I would just answer a question with “Yes.” But, if the question is chock full of information, and upon analyzing the question I determine that the best answer would be yes, then I have to go with that. (Laughs)
JR: I have noticed similar refracted songwriting methods in a lot of Elvis Costello’s work, and over the past few years, he’s become much more open, penning liner notes and discussing a lot of the ideas behind his songs. Can you imagine a time when you might be more forthcoming, and perhaps aid people in cracking some of these codes and solving some of these riddles?
FB: Well, the main thing is that most people don’t ask yet. You know, when someone is asking you questions from the angle of, “So Frank, your new album is called blah-bity blah blah blah. Uh, what’s the theme of this record? What’s it all about?” It’s like they don’t just want me to fill in the blanks, but they also want me to decide what the blank is.
JR: It’s like a Mad Lib interview. (Laughs)
FB: Yeah! (Laughs) Most people don’t get that specific with their questions. They wanna ask about the Pixies and that whole “Kurt Cobain said ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ was a rip-off of a Pixies song” thing. “How does that make you feel?”
JR: You should tell them that smells like they looked you up on Allmusic.com right before they called! (Laughs)
FB: Exactly. (Laughs)
Tiny Team Concerts and Connect Savannah present Frank Black and his new band with special opening act The Reid Paley Trio at Savannah Smiles (314 Williamson St. near the corner of MLK, Jr., Blvd. and Bay St.), Sunday night, October 15. Tickets for this 21+ show are $30 in advance or $33 at the door, and can be charged online at www.tinyteamconcerts.info, or purchased at the following Cash Only outlets: Primary Art Supply, Le Chai Wine Gallerie, Annie’s Guitars & Drums, Marigold Beauty Concepts, Silly Mad CDs and Angel’s BBQ.
--
Tiny Team Concerts
"Good music for nice people" |
Edited by - Tiny Team Concerts on 10/14/2006 22:32:53 |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2006 : 13:18:37
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http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/view.php?id=13210
Frank Black
Thurs., Oct. 19, 7:30pm. $25-$35. With Reid Paley. World Cafe
Live, 3025 Walnut St. 215.222.1400. www.worldcafelive.com
Black Francis—along with bassist Kim Deal— formed the heart and soul of the Pixies, one of indie
rock’s most influential bands. While Deal went on to more acclaim with the Breeders, Francis has
remained relatively under the radar in his post-Pixies career. He changed his name to Frank
Black, avoided major labels and developed a mellower, more spontaneous sound. But the great
songs, strange lyrics and rambunctious guitars remain the same. The excellent reviews of his
most recent album Fast Man Raider Man further prove the Pixies were just a first act for Black. In a
setting as intimate as World Cafe Live, this show is not to be missed. (Jack Schonewolf)
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Edited by - Carl on 10/18/2006 13:34:14 |
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fbc
-= Modulator =-
United Kingdom
4903 Posts |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2006 : 10:38:41
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You win this time, Captain S...this time!! ;)
Seriously though, thanks Soren! It's a lot of fun to post them.
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fbc
-= Modulator =-
United Kingdom
4903 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2006 : 11:05:03
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2006 : 03:48:03
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Just a small thingy....
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/story/463323p-389820c.html
Frank Black
Tonight at 8, Warsaw (261 Driggs Ave., Greenpoint/Williamsburg, 718-387-0505)
The former Pixies front man is now a soul man, complete with Memphis horns
(on his CD) and live band, the Catholics.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/19/AR2006101901551.html
Remember Those Fabulous '80s?
Friday, October 20, 2006; Page C11
They're the guys who just don't quit. Frank Black and Bret Michaels , two
familiar names from your rather fuzzy past, we're guessing, are on tour and
they're coming to town. Not together, of course.
For Black, formerly Black Francis, the nasal frontman for the Pixies, it's not a
return to touring. He's been doing that for years, since launching his solo career
in 1993, not long after the Pixies split. But his show at the 9:30 club Sunday will
be among his first with a new backing band that's not the Catholics. Labeled
merely "His Band" on the 9:30 site, it features guitarist Duane Jarvis, bassist
Eric Drew Feldman (he worked with PJ Harvey in her heyday and with Black
for many years, too) and drummer Billy Block. The group is expected to
perform material from the Pixies and the Catholics, as well as Black's solo stuff.
$25. Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. 815 V St. NW. 800-955-5566.
Michaels, once the too-pretty lead
singer of 1980s uber-hair-metal outfit
Poison (remember? "Every Rose Has
Its Thorn"?) was on tour with his old
band in support of their "The Best of
Poison: 20 Years of Rock"
compilation. But like Poison, that
lovefest is so over, and he headed out
on his own for shows that began
Wednesday. He'll be at Jaxx
tomorrow. $30. (Tickets are at the box
office only, so get there early.) 8 p.m.
Jaxx, 6355 Rolling Rd., West
Springfield. 703-569-5940.
-- Lavanya Ramanathan
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/19/AR2006101901444.html
Our Picks
Sunday, October 22, 2006; Page M06
FRANK BLACK -- Today, doors at 7:30 p.m. With the Pixies' reunion tours
behind him, Black is touring in support of his new sprawling double album,
"Fast Man Raider Man." The discs see Black reunited with the Memphis
session players that gave his last album, "Honeycomb," its warm, alt-country-
leaning sound. 9:30 club, 815 V St. NW. $25. 202-265-0930.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/39327/Pixies_Plan_New_Record
Black also unveiled plans for another Pixies "Best Of" compilation. And assuming the man's
own tour hasn't already careened into its own drunken stupor, catch Black now as he tours
North America behind this year's solo double-disc Fast Man Raider Man.
Got me movin':
10-24 Boston, MA - Avalon Ballroom *
10-25 Montreal, Quebec - Le National *
10-26 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House *
10-27 Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls Theatre *
10-28 Louisville, KY - Headliners *
10-30 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues *
10-31 Newport, KY - Southgate House *
11-01 Chicago, IL - Metro *
11-02 Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon *
11-03 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue *
11-04 Fargo, ND - The Venue at Playmakers *
11-05 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Pantages Theatre *
11-06 Regina, Saskatchewan - Conexus Hall *
11-07 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - The Odeon *
11-09 Edmonton, Alberta - Reds *
11-10 Calgary, Alberta - MacEwan Ballroom *
11-12 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom *
11-13 Seattle, WA - Showbox *
11-14 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom *
11-15 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore *
11-17 West Hollywood, CA - House of Blues *
11-18 San Diego, CA - House of Blues *
11-19 Anaheim, CA - House of Blues *
* with Reid Paley
http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2006/10/2408.cfm
Black is currently on a solo tour that includes these Canadian
shows:
October 25 Montreal, QC @ Le National Music Hall
October 26 Toronto, ON @ Opera House
November 5 Winnipeg, MB @ Pantages Playhouse Theatre
November 6 Regina, SK @ Conexus Arts Centre
November 7 Saskatoon, SK @ Odeon Event Centre
November 9 Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Events Centre
November 10 Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall
November 12 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
http://www.closkey.com/mybrilliantmistakes/archives/000544.html
Frank Black is touring now to support "Fast Man Raider Man." They'll be at Mr. Small's
in Pittsburgh this Friday.
http://www.citybeat.com/current/music.shtml
FRANK BLACK performs Tuesday at the Southgate House in Newport with Reid Paley.
http://www.hpr1.com/coverstory.htm
WHO: Frank Black
WHEN: Saturday,
November 4, 7:00 Door,
7:30 p.m. Show
WHERE: The Venue @
Playmakers
COST: $16 Advance; $20
Door (All Ages)
http://cinweekly.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061025/ENT03/610250338/104
JUST THE FACTS
WHAT: Frank Black with special guest Reid Paley
WHEN: 9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31
WHERE: Southgate House Ballroom, 24 E. Third St.,
Newport
PRICE: $20, $15 in advance
PARKING: On-street parking, pay lots
CONTACT: 859-431-2201, www.southgatehouse.com or
www.frankblack.net
www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061027/SCENE04/610270309/1046/SCENE04" target="_blank">www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061027/SCENE04/610270309/1046/SCENE04" target="_blank">http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061027/SCENE04/610270309/1046/SCENE04
Friday, October 27, 2006
Black brings diverse sounds
For many, Frank Black's music was the soundtrack of the late 1980s and early
1990s, when he led The Pixies on a wild ride that galvanized a generation of
listeners and musicians.
Black's crazy mix of influences, which touched on landmark rock 'n' roll styles
such as punk and surf, combined melody and aggression in a way that caught
the ear of musicians such as Kurt Cobain. Black hasn't slowed down as a solo
artist, exploring everything from indie-pop to country on a long list of acclaimed
releases, the latest being "Fast Man, Raider Man."
He performs tomorrow at
Headliners Music Hall,
1386 Lexington Road,
with Reid Paley (9 p.m.,
$18 advance, $20 at the
door).
-- Jeffrey Lee Puckett,
jpuckett@courier-journal.com
www.leovia.com/?q=node/2932" target="_blank">www.leovia.com/?q=node/2932" target="_blank">http://www.leovia.com/?q=node/2932
Frank Black’s at Headliners (1386 Lexington Road, 584-8088) on Saturday, Oct. 28. Showing that he, as much as
any of us, got a charge out of that recent Pixies reunion, Black cranked out an ambitious (and delicious) double
album and is now promoting it in a new quartet. Reid Paley opens. Show’s at 9 p.m., tickets are $20.
www.cleveland.com/music/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/friday/1161950297145140.xml&coll=2&thispage=1" target="_blank">www.cleveland.com/music/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/friday/1161950297145140.xml&coll=2&thispage=1" target="_blank">http://www.cleveland.com/music/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/friday/1161950297145140.xml&coll=2&thispage=1
MUSIC PREVIEWFrank BlackWhen: 8 p.m. Monday. Where: House of Blues,
East Fourth Street and Euclid Avenue, Cleveland. Opener: Reid Paley.
Tickets: $20 advance, $22 day of show at the box office and Ticketmaster
outlets, or charge by phone, 216-241-5555 (Cleveland) or 330-945-9400
(Akron).
http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=60604385
Frank Black
Fri Nov 3, 2006 at 8:00PM
Venue:
First Avenue
701 1st Ave N
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Cross Street:
Near intersection of 1st Ave N and N 7th St
Event Information:
After the Pixies formally broke up at the beginning of 1993, frontman Charles
Thompson (aka Black Francis) switched identities, becoming Frank Black and
swiftly recording a solo album which would bear his new name. The Village
Voice describes Reid Paley as "a red-blooded Brooklyn storyteller whose gruff,
barking vocals and guitar playing will boost your foot tapping into stomping.
Songs about hard luck and bastardization never sounded so good."
Categories:
Rock & Pop, Other Music
Price:
$20 advance; $22 day of show
www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/15902713.htm" target="_blank">www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/15902713.htm" target="_blank">http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/15902713.htm
Who: Frank Black, with Reid Paley
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: First Avenue, 701 First Ave. N., Mpls.
Tickets: $20 in advance, $22 at the door
Call: 651-989-5151
http://winnipegsun.com/Entertainment/Music/2006/11/02/2208029-sun.html
Tickets to Black's show are $30 at Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.ca or 780-
3333).
Sunday @ Pantages Playhouse. With Kentucky Prophet.
http://badgerherald.com/artsetc/2006/11/02/frank_black_to_play_.php
Frank Black to play High Noon
by Jimmy Stull
Thursday, November 2, 2006
The artist formerly known as
Black Francis will be making a
stop in Madison tonight. The
behemoth of talent who once
led the astronomically
influential Pixies is back to
being Frank Black: solo artist.
With the gimmicky Pixies
reunion tour behind him, Black
can now journey cross-country
in support of his two latest
albums, 2005’s Honeycomb
and this year’s Fast Man Raider
Man.
How fitting that he should be
playing a club called the High
Noon Saloon tonight. Black’s
last two albums have all but
solidified the singer’s
transformation into Americana
country pop. If you listen
closely, you can even hear
Black putting on a bit of a
southern accent. It’s not the
Bostonian’s fault; it comes with
the genre.
However, he didn’t get by
without a little help from his friends. FMRM boasts contributions from a
slew of legendary and legendary-by-association musicians. To catalogue
the cream of the crop: The Band’s Levon Helm, Tom Petersson of Cheap
Trick, blues-rock veteran Al Kooper, drummer Steve Ferrone of the
Heartbreakers, authentic redneck rocker Marty Brown, West Coast soul
innovator P.F. Sloan, and Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke. Also
pitching in were Reggie Young, Steve Cropper, Buddy Miller, Chester
Thompson and Spooner Oldman who had previously helped out on
Honeycomb as well.
The 27-song double-disc album is, indeed, a success. It appears that Mr.
Black has about as much soul as he does body mass. The more up-beat
jams like opener “If Your Poison Gets You” have feel-good, clap-along
choruses, while the slower, more melancholy ballads like the half-title
track “Fast Man” straddle the barrier of lighter-waving music.
Black’s mastery of neo-country Americana makes his body of work with
the Pixies even more impressive. By no means do the Pixies need any
more praise than they’re already given, but Black’s conscious new
sound proves his Pixies ingenuity wasn’t just a fluke. He really did know
what he was doing after all.
But since the Pixies, Black has become a much more conservative
songwriter. With the Pixies (and even some stuff with the Catholics) you
never knew what type of song you were in store for next — a grungy,
menacing ballad or a screeching, illegible bit of art-pop. Contrarily,
almost every color FMRM has to offer is revealed by the second or third
track.
However, there is a rare Pixies throwback on disc two. In “Sad Old
World,” Black uses his speaking voice to stoically recite the line, “Hello.
No I mean you,” vis-à-vis “La La Love You” and “All Over the
World.” (I’m getting nostalgic just writing their titles.)
But make no mistake: FMRM is no White Album. There’s very little
attention paid to the art of the album, which double albums usually call
for. Rather, FMRM just sounds like a medley of a bunch of really good
songs, in no particular order (the exception being the placement of
“Fare Thee Well” as the closing track). In that vein, FMRM has no clear
agenda other than to say, “Look at how many really good songs I can
write.” But is that necessarily a bad thing? It certainly works well for the
age of single-song downloading and 99-cent songs on iTunes.
Sure, you can give FMRM the obvious double-album criticism, that if
Black were to have weeded out the average-quality songs, he could
have released a great single album as opposed to a good double album.
But really, there are no blatant skippers. The record just needs to be
taken in doses. Plus, every great band or songwriter needs to release a
double album at some point in his or her career.
Even though Black is only 41, his seminal work with the Pixies feels
ancient enough to tack years onto his reputation. In that sense, he’s
nearing the stage of veteran-rock, in which fans see you just to say
they’ve seen the legend in person, without really caring what your new
record sounds like or that you even have one. Black’s not quite there
yet, and the caliber of Fast Man Raider Man is good enough to warrant a
crowd without the honorary Pixies association.
Having seen one of the recent Pixies revival shows, I can testify that
Black’s stage antics are less than thrilling. No, there will be no jumping
off of amps or swinging guitars around backs for this mammoth rocker
— Black’s lucky he can still see his guitar over his stomach. However,
come to tonight’s show at the High Noon Saloon to feel the soul of an Al
Green sermon and the good old-fashioned sound of American music
done by one of the great songwriters of our generation.
Frank Black and special guests Reid Paley Trio will perform at the High
Noon Saloon, 701 E. Washington Ave. The show starts at 9 p.m., $25
cover.
www.ndsuspectrum.com/ae/06fall/11_3_06_ae_black.html" target="_blank">www.ndsuspectrum.com/ae/06fall/11_3_06_ae_black.html" target="_blank">http://www.ndsuspectrum.com/ae/06fall/11_3_06_ae_black.html
Frank Black plays solo in Fargo
By Chris McEwen
Spectrum Staff
The Pixies are modern legends, despite only being around since 1986 and having less
than impressive U.S. album sales.
Influential bands like Nirvana and Radiohead have cited the band as a primary
influence while Bono from U2 said the Pixies were one of the greatest bands America
ever produced.
Frank Black, one of the two lead vocalists for the Pixies, recently released a new
solo album, Fast Man Raider Man, and will be playing at the Venue tonight to
promote it.
However, fans shouldn’t expect Black to play songs by the Pixies.
“ If I thought I could get away with that … I’d be more tempted to do it,” Black said.
“But I think the audience is ... tuned into that lineup. They’d say, ‘This ain’t the
Pixies.’ And it wouldn’t be the Pixies. So I’m not really tempted to do that.”
With the Pixies, Frank Black helped produce some of the most acclaimed albums in
modern rock history such as Doolittle and Surfer Rosa.
Their music has been featured in movies like “Fight Club,” featured in the closing
music, as well as on several major television shows.
Black had a chance to work on solo material when the Pixies broke up in the early
1990s.
Black still has an active solo career even though The Pixies reunited to great acclaim
in 2004 and will be working on a new album in 2007.
Fast Man Raider Man is a departure from his work with the Pixies like his previous solo
album, Honeycomb. The album contains a sound that is more folk and blues than the
trademark rock of The Pixies.
“ Well, if the last record you heard by me was a Pixies record … then it would be, I
guess, a dramatic turn,” Black said in a recent interview.
Fast Man Raider Man features 27 songs on two discs. Black and Jon Tiven, who have
worked with such well-known artists as B.B. King and Wilson Pickett, produced the
album.
The album was recorded more than two years ago, though Black said the sessions
were short. The sessions add up to about 10 workdays.
The heart of the album was based on a series of sessions done within a single 24-
hour session that came together suddenly in October 2004.
The musicians working on the album includes a long list of special guests.
Black recorded Fast Man Raider Man with assistance from other influential artists
such as Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick, Steve Cropper, Al Kooper, Marty Brown
and P.F. Sloan. Well-respected artists and instrumentalists also collaborated on the
album.
Black said he enjoyed working with the wide variety of artists.
He recounted positive experiences with Petersson and Cropper in particular, but he
had respect for all.
“ All of these legends, every single one of them, were all perfect gentlemen and all
perfectly humble,” Black said.
Tickets for tonight’s show are $15 and doors open to the general public at 7:30 p.m.
www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainment/Music/2006/11/09/2289099-sun.html" target="_blank">www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainment/Music/2006/11/09/2289099-sun.html" target="_blank">http://www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainment/Music/2006/11/09/2289099-sun.html
Known as Black Francis with the Pixies, the cult-rock band he co-founded in 1986,
Black will be playing his solo material with a new band tonight at the Edmonton
Events Centre in West Edmonton Mall.
www.ocweekly.com/music/previews/black-novembers/26220/" target="_blank">www.ocweekly.com/music/previews/black-novembers/26220/" target="_blank">http://www.ocweekly.com/music/previews/black-novembers/26220/
PREVIEWS
BLACK NOVEMBERS
Frank Black
BY VICKIE CHANG
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2006 -3:00 PM
All right, the Pixies have been
reunited for a few years now, they’ve
gone on tour (playing numerous
dates in Southern California) and are
currently working on their first album
in 14 years—so what now? The
band’s legendary front man (sort-of
front man . . . I mean . . . primary . .
. vocalist/songwriter), Frank Black,
has embarked on his own solo
projects since the Pixies split in
1993, releasing his self-titled record
that very same year. The album
brought a lot of “Yeah . . . this is
cool—but it’s not the Pixies” sort of
reactions.
To which I say: no shit.
Unlike many, many, many narrowly
conceived, meandering solo projects
these days, Black had the
sensibility and talent to showcase
his eclectic songwriting abilities with
fantastically nonsensical tracks such as “Los Angeles” (he wants to live in Los Angeles—but not
the one in Los Angeles?), “Ten Percenter” and “Hang Onto Your Ego.” And the very next year,
Black released Teenager of the Year—also critically acclaimed and again straying from that
(undeniably wonderful) Pixies sound.
So now, one backup band (The Catholics), 11 albums and 12 years later, Black’s back with his
newest effort, Fast Man Fast Raider Man,and an amazing live show to match his lengthy
discography. Black opens the two-plus-hour show with an acoustic set showcasing tracks off his
earlier solo efforts and yes, even a few beloved Pixies tracks (“Wave of Mutilation,” “The Holiday
Song,” “Cactus”). A (new) full band then joins him onstage for other Black solo favorites and a few
covers.
And if I hear one audience member say, “Yeah . . . this is cool—but it’s not the Pixies,” so help
me god, they’ll get a broken face. Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh, uh huh, ooooh! They’ll get a broken
face.
Frank Black and Kentucky Prophets at the House of Blues Anaheim, 1530 S. Disneyland Dr.,
Anaheim, (714) 778-BLUE; www.hob.com/anaheim. Sun., 8:30 p.m. $27.50-$30. All ages.
Photo by Michael Halsband |
Edited by - Carl on 11/21/2006 08:27:20 |
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Tour news reports!
