Live Performance

HA HA TONKA played the much vaunted ACL festival in Austin TX last weekend and by all the accounts we've heard (we weren't allowed to go, our cruel overlord bosses allow no such things) they knocked it out of the proverbial park

HERE'S a link to Rolling Stone's "Best Moments" from the festival photos

HERE'S a great article/interview from the AustinPost called "The ACL Band Stuck In My Head" and it tells how HHT brought on the rain to the drought-stricken area (who knew?) as well as couple of their videos.

Overheard several times were people saying "Did you hear that HHT made it rain?"

Heed their powers...

Here's a video medley of their set (pardon the crappy audio) that gives you sense of the day..

Join us as we celebrate our 17th Anniversary, the Hideout's 15th anniversary and the release of our live album recorded at the Hideout during OUR 15th anniversary.

Too much math?  Well, just know this:

September 9th at the Hideout

Doors at 7pm, Show at 8pm.  Tickets only $10! On sale NOW!

Entertainment provided by The Waco Brothers, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, Kurt from Deadstring Brothers (solo) and Danny Black & Nora O'Connor of the Blacks.

Beer sponsorship by Goose Island

Food provided by Dangerously Delicious Pies!

The Onion AV Club is already on board.  Hope to see you there.

Justin Townes Earle stopped by the venerable Rolling Stone offices in Manhattan and performed a few songs and talked about his past, his present and his future.  High quality video can be found HERE.

The folks at The Village Voice catch up with brother-sister duo Dex and Sara Romweber to ask some goofy questions ("What's one thing you've never done?" Dex: "Gone spear fishing off the coast of Key Largo." Hey, Dex, there's still time!) and then film them doing some stripped down versions of songs of their latest album, Ruins of Berlin, in an alley behind a theatre. Check out the video here. And then check out Dex and Sara on tour now.

Andre Williams recently hit Cleveland and, by all accounts, tore the joint up.  Check out the blog Trash You Up for a review and some photos.  Read it HERE

We just love it when a music writer goes to a show with a pre-conceived notion of somebody and proceeds to have his mind blown AND he or she fesses up to it!

Check out this conversion experience of a writer in Phoenix at a recent Scott H Biram show.

Scott talks about his "special" way of playing Led Zeppelin covers.  NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!  Shield the eyes of children.  Read it HERE.

As we in Chicago continue to build our Ark and sweep the rising tide of frogs out the front door, we bid you WELCOME to the Friday digest.  Lots of fun things to look at and read about, so QUIT WORKING for a second.

• Ha Ha Tonka had a high-quality live shoot at the fabulous Off Broadway in St Louis on May 6th as part of the Born Small Town Tour kick-off party. Take a peep.

• Here's a fantastic piece on Scott H. Biram from the Austin Decider, it's got an interview and embedded links to videos and live performances.  Read about his whiskey benders and all the metal in his legs.

• Tired of rooting around the Interweb for all those CLASSIC Robbie Fulks songs? Our buddies (and fans) over at Glorious Noise put together a sampler to make life easier and boost your productivity. So, here's a BRAINLESS way to get a whole mess of Fulks tunes in one spot. Then you'll want more, and you'll want to legally support one of the best songwriters and performers to ever call Chicago home.

• Rob's Recommendation of the Week: The movie Up! Look, I hate popular culture more than any of you, so when something makes billions of dollars at the box office, i can usually safely assume it's pureed mush for the masses, but this is art. If you are not weepy and amazed at the depth of feeling and the economy of story telling in the first 10 minute segment, you have a heart of tar.  AND i haven't gut laughed that often at a movie in months. AND it's in 3D.  See it. Check your hipper-than-thou baggage at the door and soak in a great movie.

Ok, back to filling sandbags.

The Dex Romweber Duo appeared on the NBC affiliate show My NC Today.

Check them out here as they play 3 songs from their new album, talk about Lux Interior of the Cramps and it sounds great.

Back in August 2005, Jim and Jennie and the Pinetops played a show on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center. And since the Kennedy Center is smart, you can watch the performance in the Archived section. Here's a direct link, so watch away!