It’s been a while since we’ve mentioned the name Give Us The Money Lebowski around these parts as the band’s guitarist (and HT contributor) Nick Setteducato currently resides in New Zealand, but we’re excited to see GUTML will make their triumphant return, complete with “special guests,” on January 4th at Mexicali Live in Teaneck, New Jersey.
The gig is a fundraiser for the Rocking Out Cancer foundation, an organization founded by GUTML guitarist and cancer survivor Chris Cartelli which aims to raise funds which support clinical trials in cancer research through live music events. GUTML always peppers their set with plenty of covers and in the past they’ve torn through Godzilla, First Tube, Psycho Killer, Carini and Helicopters among other rock staples. Tickets are available here.
Here’s a look at six other stories of note this Monday…
You can always count on Keller Williams to make contest winner announcements interesting. Such was the case for the one-man-band’s contest to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Nashville to watch K-Dub perform with The Travelin’ McCoury’s. Watch as Keller, aka The Lone Ranger, picks the winner…
Longtime HT faves Give Us The Money Lebowski return to the stage tomorrow night at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, NJ after a long layoff. GUTML always peppers their set with plenty of covers and in the past they’ve torn through Godzilla, First Tube, Psycho Killer, Carini and Helicopters among other rock staples. The Mike Callahan Band opens the show at 9 and Lebowski will take the stage for 2 sets at 10:30. Admission is only $10.
Guitarist Nick Setteducato has been in New Zealand for the last few years, so GUTML gigs are few & far between. Be sure to take advantage & check ‘em out. If you can’t make it to The Wonder Bar the group hopes to provide a UStream webcast of the show. “Like” their Facebook Page for more details.
Here’s a quick look at what else is happening this hump day…
Finally, we’ve had our eyes on director/producer Amir Bar-Lev’s planned Jerry Garcia biopic for a while now and the latest piece of info about the project is unfortunate but expected. The Grateful Dead put out a statement distancing themselves from the film and go on to say, “furthermore, we will not be licensing any recordings from Grateful Dead or Jerry Garcia’s music library for this production nor will we provide the producer/director with access to any Garcia family members.” That’s gotta hurt.
How do you tell Jerry’s story without his music? That’s the tough question the Bar-Lev will have to deal with. We’re not surprised considering the movie is based on Robert Greenfield’s Dark Star – a book that didn’t exactly please the members of the Dead and Garcia’s family.
Welcome to the 2010 edition of Cover Wars – March Madness. We are taking our efforts from last year and doubling them: this year we’ve got 32 covers in the running for the Championship. Over the past year, we’ve had six different artists win Cover Wars more than once. For these winners, we have paired them up against each other in the first round. For example, if you were going to vote for Trey Anastasio because of your loyalty to him – now you have to decide if he plays a better O-o-h Child or Sultans Of Swing. We have also paired up original artists whenever possible – Did Joan Baez or The Grateful Dead do better justice to their Bob Dylan cover?
All of the winners’ audio/video has been embedded for you and we have linked back to the corresponding Cover Wars that led to each artist’s victory. We have enjoyed running this piece for you every week (or maybe, three times per month?) and hope you enjoy Cover Wars March Madness. My personal highlight would have to be us running The Ballad Of Curtis Loew edition in early May and seeing Phish pull the cover from deep off the shelf three weeks later at Fenway Park. Let’s look at the first eight matchups…
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READ ON to place your vote in this matchup and to check out and vote on the other seven March Madness bouts in this part one of our Round of 32…
I started posting God Street Wednesday columns back in January with the hopes of rekindling some interest in one of my favorite bands of all-time. Since that time I’ve had the pleasure of meeting with or talking to a few of the band members, some of their crew and plenty of other Winos.
[Photo of Nick Setteducato and Lo Faber by Jeremy Gordon]
These are exciting times for the GSW community as a mini-run of Wine-related shows kicked off last Saturday in Morrisville, PA at the Awesometown Festival where the Lo Faber Band performed.
On May 23, GSW guitar heroes Lo Faber and Aaron Maxwell will team up for the first time in years to play a few tunes both by themselves and with Echofission at Mexicali Live in Teaneck, NJ.
But it all started Last Saturday as I headed across New Jersey – God’s Country – on I-195 to make my way to the little festival that could called Awesometown. From the minute I arrived on site until the minute I left I had as good a time as one could have legally in this country. Not only was the Lo Faber Band set off-the-hook but the other bands, vibe and surroundings were all amazing. I can’t speak highly enough of the job the promoters of this event did, but I’ll certainly try.
READ ON for more about my experience at Awesometown…
I’m going to start this week’s edition off by quoting a little bit of a 2004 Chuck Klosterman article from Spin Magazine where he makes a list of ten bands that are “accurately rated”. You can also find this in his book Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas.
3. Blue Öyster Cult: The BÖC song everyone pays attention to is the suicide anthem “Don’t Fear the Reaper.” However, that song is stupid and doesn’t use enough cowbell. The BÖC song almost no one pays attention to is the pro-monster plod-athon “Godzilla,” and that song is spine- crushingly great. So, in the final analysis, Blue Öyster Cult is accurately rated—by accident. This happens on occasion; look at Scottie Pippen.
Granted, that was written before the days of Guitar Hero and I do believe the song has been made much more popular, at least among the youth, due to that video game sensation. Checking in on last week’s Dupree’s Diamond Blues edition of Cover Wars, The Waybacks have emerged victorious.
The Contestants:
Give Us The Money Lebowski: Leading off this week we’ve got out our friends GUTML who will be hosting the second annual Awesometown next month on May 8th and 9th (turns out these guys do roll on Shabbas). The stage schedule was released yesterday, so start planning your course of attack now. Appropriately, this clip is from last year’s Awesometown. Be on the lookout for some Karate Kid quotes. Source: 5-10-2008
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READ ON for three more entries in this week’s Cover Wars…
We asked a number of our favorite folks from around the scene for their Phish opener picks and here’s what they came up with…
Name: Joel Cummins Occupation: Keyboardist – Umphrey’s McGee Favorite Phish Song: Reba Number of shows attended: 33 Hampton Opener Pick: You Enjoy Myself
Name: George Miller Occupation: Drummer – U-Melt Favorite Phish Song: McGrupp Number of shows attended: @ 30 Hampton Opener Pick: Destiny Unbound
Name: Marc Brownstein Occupation: Bassist – The Disco Biscuits Favorite Phish Song: Down With Disease Number of Shows Attended: “A fucking boatload” Hampton Opener Pick: “The new Phish song, ‘Couldn’t Care Less.’ I’m not going to be there & I stopped caring about what Phish played in 1999″
With Give Us The Money Lebowski guitarist and HT contributor Nick Setteducato currently living and working in New Zealand, GUTML wasn’t included in the initial lineup announcement for this year’s Awesometown Festival. But we’re happy to report that Nick will be returning to the States for a few weeks allowing GUTML to rock the fuck out during both nights of Awesometown: The Second Frame on May 8 and 9 in Morrisville, PA.
The producers of Awesometown also announced that HT favorite Tim Palmieri of The Breakfast will play a rare acoustic set outside of Connecticut at Snipes Farm. The $40 early bird tickets go on sale March 14. [Twitter]
Let’s take a look at what we’ve missed the past few days…
Finally, if you’re a musician interested in collaborating with the Derek Trucks Band, now’s your chance. The band has made source files of the four instrument parts available from their latest single Get What You Deserve off of the new disc, Already Free. “Sit-in” by replacing an existing instrument part, add an entirely new instrument part, or (if you’re so inclined) you can even remix the song. Share your creation with the Indaba Music community for a chance to win free gear and a meet and greet with the band.
From the day we started this rag back in October 2006, HT Contributor Dr. Neeko has provided us with his wit, wisdom and scorching-hot guitar playing. In a few weeks, Neeko aka Nick will be stepping down from his posts in both Give Us The Money Lebowski and Scarecrow Collection to take a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in New Zealand. If y’all ask nicely, hopefully Nick will continue to contribute around these parts and check in from time to time on life with the Kiwis.
Before Nick takes off he’ll be performing one more time with his two bands. On September 19 you can catch the final Give Us The Money Lebowski show at Daniel Street Club in Milford, CT. Meanwhile, Scarecrow Collection plays their final show with Nick this Saturday night at Mexicali Live in Teaneck, NJ. Be sure to check out these bands while you still can.
Both Some Dude and I will be chasing waterfalls this evening aboard the Half Moon where Give Us The Money Lebowski throws their second annual Rocks Off cruise. For those of you who haven’t seen GUTML in action, stop what you’re doing, punch yourself in the genitals and purchase a ticket immediately.
Give Us The Money Lebowski features Scarecrow Collection guitarist and HT contributor Nick Setteducato along with members of Roamer, Thing One and Reverse Logic tearing the shit out of a healthy dose of covers and a growing number of wacky originals. A typical set may include their original Anybody Got Papers?, as well as jammed out versions of tunes by Ween, Widespread Panic, Focus and the Disco Biscuits. Openers Green Tag Sale provide a heaping dose of jamtronica to get everyone moving before Lebowski takes the stage.
As you may have heard, Artist Olafur Eliasson has set up four waterfalls at various points along the East River. So besides getting your face owned by GUTML you get the added bonus of being able to check out the waterfalls from the boat all while enjoying cold beverages. The boat leaves from the pier at 23rd and FDR Drive at 8PM sharp. You can purchase your ticket at the boat or through Ticketweb.
Les Claypool, MMW, Keller’s WMDs and Leftover Salmon are among the bands that will rock the aptly-named MSC Orchestra on January 4-9 aboard Jam Cruise 7. And it wouldn’t be a festival or a party without Michael Franti, so he’ll be there too. For the complete lineup and more information check out Jamcruise.com.
Earlier today Mayor Bloomberg joined Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland to announce that The Police will play their final show in New York City at a date and venue to be named later. Proceeds from the show will benefit local public television stations including WNET and WLIW, as well as the MillionTreesNYC initiative.
Give Us The Money Lebowski’s Awesometown Festival kicks off on Friday afternoon at Snipes’ Farm in Morrisville, PA. Besides two nights of killer covers with GUTML, you can also check out The Brew, The Breakfast and a slew of other regional acts. Tickets are still available, and you can find more details on this weekend’s festivities at Awesometowntimes.com.
Last week’s edition is still currently too close to call. If you haven’t voted, you gotta help us declare a winner. I wish I could congratulate last weeks winner, that’s what I like to do at the beginning, but I can’t – it’s just too close!
One of the things I love about writing this column, besides the chicks, is the cool things you learn along the way of researching an edition. For example, I was not aware that the guitar solo was recorded with a Telecaster going through a Leslie Speaker. You can learn all sorts of cool shit from this song’s wikipedia page. I’m not going to copy and paste all of them but it’s got some good stuff: Recording techniques, quotes from band members about it, etc.
Though there are is no shortage of cover versions, I’m going to do a few less than the past few weeks. Here’s my six favorite versions of Good Times, Bad Times:
If Imeem is only giving you 30 second clips of the songs, you must register or login to Imeem to hear the full tracks – it’s easy and free.
Read on for the tale of the tape on this week’s competitors…
SXSW has finally wrapped up in Austin, and sadly Hidden Track didn’t have any correspondents on the scene. Luckily, almost every single blogger and their brother attended the schmoozefest, so there were plenty of reports from Texas. The Daily Swarm did the best job of rounding up the important news each day with their comprehensive You’re Not There features.
Finally, we were sad to hear that Martin Fierro passed away late last week. The fiery saxophone player is best known for his brilliant work with both Legion of Mary and Zero. Our friend Brian Bavosa wrote a beautiful eulogy for The Meester.
The fellas from Give Us The Money Lebowski have played enough festivals to know exactly what works and doesn’t work for hippiejamgatherings. And now they are using that knowledge to put together their own festival, Awesometown, on May 9th and 10th at Snipes Farm in Morrisville, Pennsylvania. For a mere $40 you get two nights of camping, tons of music from a wide range of bands, and maybe if you’re lucky, GUTML guitarist Nick Setteducato will tuck you in at night.
Give Us The Money Lebowski will headline the event each night, bringing the crowd a fun mix of covers and quirky originals. The Breakfast, Allen Aucoin’s Dr. Fameus and Scarecrow Collection are all on board to make sure the event lives up to the name, and look for more bands to be added to the lineup soon. Read on after the jump for the full lineup so far and more information on what’s sure to be such a good time that Walter Sobchak would break Shabbos to attend.
From their moniker to their setlists to their personalities everything about Give Us The Money Lebowski comes in the name of having fun. These guys just want everyone (including themselves) to have a good time at their shows. Consider the mission accomplished: GUTML jammed for three hours on a batch of amazing covers and one audacious original during a late August Rocks Off cruise around the bottom of Manhattan.
Wanting to make sure they got to play as much music as possible, Lebowski started their rendition of the Velvet Underground’s Rock N Roll as soon as the boat pulled away from the pier at East 23rd. The boys jammed the hell out of the tune for nearly 20 minutes before they worked their way into Also Sprach Zarathustra. The song commonly referred to as 2001 started with guitarist Chris Cartelli adding a unique pattern to the familiar theme. Lead guitarist Nick Setteducato and bass player Mike Sojkowski quickly picked up what Cartelli was layin’ down, and they proceeded to accentuate the phrase nicely for the next 10 minutes. Now that’s fuckin’ teamwork!
Read on after the jump for much more on the GUTML Good Times Cruise…
The next two nights offer a rare opportunity to see two of the best cover bands while cruising around New York City on a boat. Tonight, Give Us The Money Lebowski show off their jukebox-like repertoire, frenetic improvisations and sparkling wit on the 200-capacity Half Moon at 8 pm. Tomorrow night, Led Zeppelin face-melters Bustle In Your Hedgerow takes to the seas in honor of Rocks Off founder Jake Szufnarowski’s birthday at 11 pm on the 500-person Temptress. Both of these concerts should be, dare we say…epic.
The past two days have brought us a slew of interesting stories. Check ‘em out:
Bay area fans enjoyed a double dose of the Beastie Boys
The Washington Post brings us the inside story of Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein, who passed away 30 years ago this week
Sirius will launch the Grateful Dead channel at noon on September 7th with the airing of an unreleased show from 1974
SuperDee shares her thoughts on the Revenge of the Bookeaters
