Music (458)
Joel Thetford Band releases killer live album to benefit Maine musicians
Written by Mike Dow
Since the release of “Here I Go,” the 2015 debut album by Joel Thetford, the Portland-based Texas native has become a leading voice in New England’s alt-country/Americana scene with his songs that are deeply personal yet widely relatable.
Thetford was in the midst of recording a fourth record with his band last fall when they were called upon to open a show for Sarah Shook and the Disarmers at one of Thetford’s favorite venues. The set they performed that night is now available in its entirety on “Joel Thetford Band: Live at Port City Music Hall,” and its release will benefit local musicians currently unable to perform due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Half of the proceeds from the sale of Thetford’s live album will go to Creative Portland’s Artists Relief Fund, a charity organized by the city’s official nonprofit art agency. The fund will make available $500 stipends for local artists to help them make ends meet until they are able to perform again.
“It’s scary for a lot of people right now,” Thetford said during an interview with The Maine Edge. “Many of them are waking up today to no money and no food.”
Recorded on November 17, 2019, “Joel Thetford Band: Live at Port City Music Hall” documents the band’s complete set with new versions of songs from Thetford’s previous albums, plus an opening cover of “If You Don’t Mind,” a song by Alec Gross that Thetford says he has long wanted to perform with his band.
Jeff Beam has given us ‘an album for the times we’re living through’
Written by Mike Dow
Jeff Beam had big plans for the month of April. The Portland-based musician, referred to by Rolling Stone magazine as a “psychedelic trailblazer,” had an important new record ready to drop mid-month, (his first on vinyl) accompanied by a tour of the U.S. and Canada and an extensive PR campaign to help spread the word. For obvious reasons the tour has been scuttled, but Beam’s record arrived on schedule last week, and it landed in a much different world than its creator envisioned.
Jeff Beam was interviewed for this story on March 11, shortly before life changed for all of us. Since that day, Beam says he’s left his house only two or three times. In a press release accompanying his new record, Beam says “It is unquestionably the best batch of songs I’ve ever released…It’s about transmuting negativity in positivity, being on the outside looking in, death, despair and desperation, but also truly seeing the light through the fear and chaos. I really believe it’s an album for the times we’re living through.”
The Outlaws’ Henry Paul on new LP and keeping southern rock alive
Written by Mike Dow
Southern rock legends The Outlaws have just released “Dixie Highway,” the band’s first album of new material since 2012, and the good news for fans is that it’s a corker.
Led by co-founding members Henry Paul on guitar and vocals and Monte Yoho on drums, the band has conjured 11 new tracks that Paul says were crafted the way they’ve always done it: together as a band of brothers.
“Dixie Highway” was released through SPV/Steamhammer on CD, double-LP, digital download, and digital stream.
For nearly five decades, The Outlaws have been one of southern rock’s few standard bearers. Their triple-guitar attack, combined with intricately arranged three part vocal harmonies, and an ability to write and record enduring songs that have spanned generations, has secured the band’s position in the pantheon of greats that includes peers The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Marshall Tucker Band and the Charlie Daniels Band.
The Ghost of Paul Revere announce “Ghostland” festival lineup
Written by Wire ReportsPORTLAND - Holler folk trio The Ghost of Paul Revere have announced the lineup for the 2020 edition of their annual Ghostland festival, scheduled to take place on Labor Day weekend, September 4 and 5, in two Portland venues.
Ghostland was founded in 2014 as a way for The Ghost of Paul Revere to share and celebrate the natural beauty of Maine and the spirit of Portland with fans from around the country.
The weekend is scheduled to open with a unique concert at Port City Music Hall on Friday, September 4, where the band will play one traditional set of songs pulled from their own catalog, along with a second set of carefully selected cover songs.
Tickets for the Port City Music Hall show are only available with the purchase of a two-day GA or VIP pass to Ghostland, and are available from the band’s website.
Saturday will see the band share the stage at Thompson’s Point with four other bands
The Ghost of Paul Revere – Griffin Sherry (guitar), Max Davis (banjo) and Sean McCarthy (bass) will be joined by alternative folk rockers Deer Tick, hailing from Providence, Rhode Island, Maine’s indie Americana-rockers The Mallett Brothers Band, Mipso, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Portland-based Bell Systems, featuring Spencer Albee and Geneviève Beaudoin. The duo describes their music as “thoughtfully irreverent pop music.”
Ghostland festival-goers may purchase a Saturday single-day ticket for $41 in advance, or $46 the day of show, or a two-day GA pass for $86 or a VIP pass for $121, which will include a meet and greet with the members of The Ghost of Paul Revere, and access to an exclusive viewing area at Thompson’s Point, with access to a private bar. VIP pass-holders will also receive a signed poster and other items.
One dollar from the sale of every ticket will be donated to the sTAY Strong Foundation, founded last year in memory of Taylor Steeves, a close friend to the members of The Ghost of Paul Revere. The foundation provides assistance to those affected by genetic forms of lung cancer. More information about the foundation can be found at www.staystrongfoundation.org .
The Ghost of Paul Revere formed in 2011 and made their national television debut in 2018 on Conan O’Brien’s TBS show. Last year, the band’s song “Ballad of the 20th Maine” became Maine’s official state ballad. The band’s latest release is “Field Notes, Vol. 2,” released last August, and they say they are preparing to release new music this year.
For Ghostland tickets and more information about the event, visit www.TheGhostofPaulRevere.com.
Emilia Dahlin Sextet capture magic on live CD ‘…Green Things to Grow’
Written by Mike Dow
The purity of singer Emilia Dahlin’s voice, combined with the poetry of her lyricism, draws you in to fully appreciate everything happening around them on her sextet’s new CD, titled “…Green Things to Grow,” the Portland-based musician’s first release in more than a decade. The ambitious project was recorded live during a one-night only community event held on Portland’s Fore River in October 2018.
Dahlin and her sextet plan to celebrate the release of the album with two live performances on Saturday, January 18, at Portland’s Space Gallery.
Triumph’s Mike Levine on surprise band reunion: ‘They went out of their minds’
Written by Mike Dow
Iconic Canadian hard rock power trio Triumph shocked hundreds of the band’s biggest fans a few weeks ago when they took the stage for a surprise three-song set during an invitation-only fan event in Toronto which was filmed for a band documentary due later this year. It was the group’s first live performance in more than a decade.
Known for virtuosic musicianship which produced a unique hybrid of progressive rock, hard rock, pop and classical music, Triumph formed in Toronto in 1975 and first saw success at home before breaking through in America in the late ‘70s.
The band’s hits – including “Hold On,” “Somebody’s Out There,” “Lay It On The Line” and “Magic Power” – and their albums, including “Just a Game,” “Allied Forces” and “Never Surrender,” have collectively earned 19 gold and platinum record awards in the U.S. and Canada for Triumph.
What's new (and coming soon) in music early in 2020
Written by Mike Dow
The beginning of the year is traditionally a quiet period for new music but 2020’s first quarter release list features some eagerly awaited titles in pop, rock, blues and country.
Blues legend James Montgomery is set for a return to one of his favorite venues, when the James Montgomery Blues Band performs at One Longfellow Square in Portland on Friday, January 10.
“It’s a great listening room,” Montgomery told The Maine Edge during an interview. “They do a lot of dancing there too, but you won’t find a better venue for listening than One Longfellow Square.”
The LeeVees score Spotify hat trick with ‘Hanukkah Rocks’
Written by Mike Dow
It’s Hanukkah time, and with it comes the lighting of the candles, the abundant food, the fun gatherings and the celebratory music.
Funny thing about those Hanukkah songs: Christmas has had a corner on the holiday music market for decades. Where are the fun, rocking Hanukkah songs? The members of The LeeVees asked that question a few years back and decided to do something about it.
Joel Thetford Band’s ‘The Truth’ sums up a three-year family nightmare
Written by Mike Dow
Maine-based singer and songwriter Joel Thetford has released three albums of original material since 2015, but says his muse took a hiatus for nearly a year when his family became embroiled in a shocking legal case that made headlines around the world.
The case itself is currently in the delicate appellate stage but it’s one that Thetford says he’s positive his family will win.
A television network that is available in 70 million homes in the U.S. and Canada has spent the last two years working on a documentary about this case that Thetford believes will finally reveal the truth about what his family has endured during this prolonged nightmare.
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