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Event
Joe Flood with special guest, Stephen Clair
Following a rousing February Depot show, Joe Flood returns to Cambridge
Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Flood has traveled a long musical road. He worked the streets of Paris with the Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band whose alumni include Madeleine Peyroux, written songs with Levon Helm of The Band, won a Gold Record for his work with Blues Traveler, and had on stage and studio encounters with such giants of American music as Pinetop Perkins, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, and John Sebastian. He has released five albums under his own name and been featured prominently on several albums produced by Eric "Roscoe" Ambel; written and recorded with stalwart roots rockers the Bottle Rockets and producer/artist Jono Manson; had his song sung on the Conan OBrien Show by country singer Laura Cantrell and had the thrill of hearing legendary jazz great Doc Cheatham soloing on a recording of another. Along the way he has played with tap dancers in New Orleans, Cuban musicians in Key West, Florida, gypsies in France and Italy, and done stints as a sideman with The Bands Rick Danko, Eric Andersen, Kelly Willis, Happy and Artie Traum, Mojo Nixon, Tom Russell, Sylvia Tyson, Greg Trooperand the list goes on.
In 2012, Joe released an album of ten translations of the great French songwriter Georges Brassens produced by Eric Ambel and featuring Garth Hudson of The Band. In 2013 he co-produced with guitarist Mark Herschler a record by his Lost Wandering mentor, Danny Fitzgerald.
His 2015 release, Songs From the Bend in the River (Jungle Curry Records) is a tribute to three 19th Century songwriters from Middletown, Connecticut where Flood grew up. The album is the product of three years of research funded by a grant from the City of Middletown and another from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, which culminated in a multimedia performance piece for 12 musicians and 8 narrators presented at Middletown High School in April of 2015.
"A Troubadour's Tour of Historic Nantucket," a collection of ten songs inspired by historic sites on Nantucket island was released by the Nantucket Historical Association on June 30, 2017 with a concert at the Nantucket Whaling Museum.
Another new release, All Roads Lead to the Blues, new original songs exploring blues forms and themes and their connections to Afro-Cuban, gospel, rock n roll, and country music, will be released within the year.
Stephen Clair tells a true story with his new album, To the Trees
Once the essence of the itinerant troubadour, writing and performing his songs from Seattle to the south of France, Stephen Clair has been everywhere, man. Clair first came to prominence when WFUV pronounced its love for Jen In Her Underwear, putting Clair not only on the map, but the road. Fast forward a thousand shows and half a dozen albums, Stephen Clair is ready with his 9th full-length record, To The Trees.
Clair is prolific, writing songs daily. There have been a few albums in a row in recent years, including, mid-pandemic, The Small Hours; and, prior, in 2019, the Malcolm Burn-produced Strange Perfume.
The latter prompted Glide to declare: Blending the kind of jaggedly cool guitar and piano that put Spoon on the map with a deadpan, almost spoken-word vocal delivery,, it quickly evolves into a righteous bar band anthem that feels as much linked to acts like the Hold Steady as it does to Wilco.
Clairs wry humor and sharp eye have been likened to folks like The Felice Brothers, John Prine, and Ray Davies. He relishes life on earth, particularly his well-travelled little slice of it. Its messy, difficult, a little funky and always changing. Clair sings of three-legged dogs leading parades and of leaving his boots in the street in hopes that someone with the right size feet might come along. Clair is a singular songwriter and performer, a man with a voice all his own.
Then theres the unmistakable sound of Stephen Clair with a guitar. (When is he without one?) He lures so many sounds from six strings. In his hands, that little black and white Martin sings. And what magic does he do to coax those sounds out of a Telecaster? Its a major topic of conversationa buzz, a hubbub, a roarafter each of his shows.
On To The Trees, Clairs trusty library again inspires, with the title track paying deference to Italo Calvinos The Baron in the Treesthis songs subject walking out on a family meal to live out her days amidst the limbs.
This is Clairs grand statement, as individual and open as a record can beembracing change, accepting the new and sending fresh shoots out on its own.
Maybe its time for all of us to head To the Trees.
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LocationArgyle Brewing Companys Cambridge Depot (View)
6 Broad Street
Cambridge, NY 12816
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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