The snow and ice wreaked havoc with everyone’s lives, but probably none more so than Bob Graham’s, who had set up the Alejandro Escovedo benefit at the Double Door Inn on January 25th — the day the storm hit. The show was canceled, meaning Graham will have to put the whole thing back together again for the dozen-plus bands scheduled to play; tentative plans are for the show to take place on Sunday, Feb. 29 (also at the Double Door Inn). Several bands have already signed back on. Graham’s not much of a weatherman, but he knows how to put together a benefit (Graham and Missi Ivie host the local Spread Your Wings benefits) …Baleen’s appearance at the Visulite Saturday went down as expected, but the advertised CD release party will have to wait as the band’s new disc was delayed for more mixing; no date yet for the official release … “Swept Away,” the new single from the Avett Brothers, is featured on their upcoming disc, Mignonette, and should be available at your local music retail outlets some time in mid-February. The single includes two live cuts taken from the band’s sell-out show in November at the Neighborhood Theatre. The full-length is expected to be available at the band’s April 16th gig (also at the NT) …congratulations to local roots-rock fixture Michael Reno Harrell, whose new release, Closer Home!, has been in the Top 40 of the Americana Music Association’s chart for the past 10 weeks …and speaking of Ramseur Records clients, the new record from David Childers and the Modern Don Juans, Room #23, has been #1 on the Euro-Americana chart for the past two months. Childers took advantage of his new-found Euro fame to hit the UK last weekend, playing a festival with Brit country/folkster/guitarist Martin Stephenson; Childers hopes to bring the rest of the Modern Don Juans with him when he returns to the Continent later in 2004 …Tonic is offering up a slew of big names from the electronica world in February, beginning with Max Graham Friday and continuing with Nick Warren on Feb. 11, Dave Seaman on Feb. 20, and Lee Burridge on Feb. 27. These tickets will move quickly, so if you’ve any interest, don’t dally too long…
This article appears in Feb 4-10, 2004.
