Atlanta’s Matt and Kelly Andrews, of Musical Stew Daily fame, eat, drink and breathe live music. Please welcome them to the Hidden Track posse to represent the ATL with reviews and news from the Big Peach.

In Atlanta’s Little 5 Points, the heart and soul of live music is located squarely at The Variety Playhouse. Showcasing an eclectic mix of musical talent nightly, The Variety has hosted an impressive roster of talents through the years. Phish, Widespread Panic, Lee “Scratch” Perry and others have graced the stage of The Variety in the past. On Saturday the 11th, they hosted yet another favorite of mine, Jacksonville, Florida’s JJ Grey & Mofro.

Sweet tea, blackberry cobbler, ox-tail soup, hominy grits, mosquitoes, fried catfish and hush puppies are all synonymous with Jacksonville’s culinary life and culture, the birthplace and home of Mofro. Molasses sweet and thick, Otis Redding inspired “front porch soul.” The music is gritty and tough while remaining sweet and inspired. Music with a cause, to preserve the land and life that JJ Grey so obviously holds sacred. An urgent message delivered with a steady groove and southern manners. The simplicity of yesteryear is sadly fading before his eyes as he implores us to see Florida through those same eyes– likening it to “watching someone you love die slow.”

READ ON for more of Matt and Kelly’s JJ Grey and Mofro review…

While most musicians would use an unexpected break in their schedule to take a well deserved rest, Luther Dickinson isn’t most musicians. Earlier this week, the Black Crowes announced that they were canceling the rest of their shows this month due to “an unexpected illness within the band.” Dickinson, the Current Crowes guitar player, is heading off to Colorado next weekend to join two of his North Mississippi Allstars band mates for a special show at the Ogden Theatre in Denver.

On September 27, Dickinson will sit in with both southern rockers the Hill Country Revue and JJ Grey & Mofro for their tour stop at the Ogden. Both bands are currently touring the country together behind the latter’s soul-shaking album, Orange Blossoms. Those hitting the show at the Ogden get the added bonus of a NMAS mini set. To purchase tickets for this special performance, and for a full list of shows, head over to Mofro Ticketing.

Is there anything better than dirty Southern Blues? You know, the kind where you turn the radio down so your mother won’t hear the lyrics and knock on your bedroom door…

“We fucked on the table, We fucked on the floor, We rolled down the stairs and we fucked a little more”

While you’re trying to think up the answer to that one, just remember that from where this bands hails, the Deep South is an hour flight north.

Well, JJ Grey and Mofro came out hard at the Williamsburg Music Hall on May 30 with the title track from their latest album, Country Ghetto. With the horns blazing behind him, JJ Grey took center stage first on the harmonica and then later on the electric piano, as the crowd sang along to his stories of hard living and good eating in the lands of swampy Jacksonville, Florida. READ ON for more of Jeremy’s words and photos from JJ Grey and Mofro’s show at the Williamsburg Music Hall…

At some point mid-afternoon on Friday, I received an instant message saying simply: “Power out at Echo.” I checked the webcast on iClips; it was down as well. So much for eco-friendly festivals — it appeared at that moment as if the inaugural Echo Project would be a total goatfuck of a disaster.

Then something strange happened. Intrepid reports from the festival grounds started rolling in to our headquarters, and the paying customers could not have been more ebullient, a cult-like enthusiasm emanating from Fairburn, Georgia.

The noise beaming from the Echo Project may have angered local residents, but the attendees have returned to their homes and showers with nothing but positive reviews. The clever lineup blending jambands, indie rock, electronica, reggae and hip hop, the grounds, the lacked of a packed-in crowd, the open-air narcotics trafficking…you name it, someone’s gushing about it. The music, well, apparently some melted faces remain in Georgia.

Our man on the scene is back as well, and we’re proud to host Dave Vann’s incredible photo gallery from the festival. Dave not only photographed the live action on stage, but he set up a portrait booth backstage to capture the artists in various states of coolness. Photos from Saturday and Sunday will follow over the next day or two, but read on after the jump for a gallery of Friday’s events, complete with shots of The Duo, the Flaming Lips, the Disco Biscuits’ late-night set, The Polyphonic Spree, Stephen Marley, GZA and Slick Rick and many more…

Austin, Texas may very well be the greatest city in the world. I can’t speak to the city’s infrastructure, its public transportation, its race relations, its garbage pick-up or its political competency, but when there’s unrelated piles of vomit splashed all over famed 6th Street at closing time, you get my vote. That’s a city that knows how to deliver that glorious metaphorical reacharound.

Oh, yes, the city also hosts the best-organized festival out there, bar none. Austin City Limits today kicked off three sunny days of solid performances, the musicians and the weather each hot-as-fuck in their own right. On Day One we managed to catch at least two songs if not the whole set of 16 different acts, enjoying eight straight hours of pure, unadulterated audio sodomy before heading back to the madness of 6th Street (and my buddy’s bachelor party). And the real crazy part? I still feel like I missed everything. Craisins.

Photo by Danfun

Day One may have not have been the best of the three days on paper, but I’m finding it incredibly difficult to picture a better or brighter day than the one that just kicked my exhausted ass all around Zilker Park. Del McCoury and His Talented Sperm — three-fifths of the band shares the surname — ushered in a day of shit-eating grins, and the afternoon and evening that unfolded will be tough to top.

So read on after the jump for a full recap of the day’s events, complete with an extensive photo gallery from Danfun and myself…

Two of this here rag’s favorite touring bands are headed out on the road together next month: Assembly of Dust and JJ Grey & MOFRO will join forces for eight shows throughout, yes, the Northeast in late September and early October.

Photo of AoD’s Reid Genauer by Adam Kaufman

The bands will be alternating the headlining slot along the way, but no matter the order, this promises to be an evening of incredible music built on strong songwriting and cohesive musicianship. We’d just love to see some collaboration…

AOD and MOFRO on TOUR
TU Sep 25, 2007 - Washington DC @ 9:30 Club
WE Sep 26, 2007 - Millvale, PA @ Mr Small’s Theater
TH Sep 27, 2007 - Philadelphia @ The Fillmore @ The TLA
FRI and SAT Sep 28 & 29, 2007 - New York @ Highline Ballroom
TH Oct 4, 2007 - Boston, MA @ The Roxy
FRI Oct 5, 2007 - New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place
SAT Oct 6, 2007 - Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground

• Stream: Assembly of Dust — 8/6/05 — Norwalk, CT
• Stream: JJ Grey & MOFRO — 3/9/07 — Ft. Lauderdale, FL
• Video: Assembly of Dust — Samuel Aging
• Video: JJ Grey & MOFRO — Dirt Floor Cracker

Neil Young on Friday continued a tradition he started in 1969, when he played material from his new album for about 100 people at his record label in Burbank. Young has recorded 10 songs for a new album entitled Chrome Dreams II. Word from the meeting is that two of the songs are monsters that clock in at over 10 minutes each. Look for Reprise to announce a release date for it soon…

We’ve got plenty of links from the weekend, so let’s get down to bid’ness:

• Gothamist interviews John Vanderslice about his blog tour
• Apparently Aquarium Drunkard likes The Faces as much as we do
• Producer Brendan O’Brien talks about the new Springsteen album
• Amoeba Records is releasing a Gram Parsons show from 1969
• Kermit The Blog re-envisions the top 25 college football teams as albums
• Medeski, Scofield, Martin and Wood, ALO and New Monsoon are among the artists playing Earthdance in Laytonville, CA on September 14-16
• TV Squad unearths the Beastie Boys’ infomercial from 1998
• Sam Bush’s new DVD shows off his musical schizophrenia
• The Wall Street Journal examines the origins of a few hybrid genres
• A.V. Club counts down the 15 Masters of Onstage Banter
• Pink Floyd’s Rick Wright speaks to Billboard about The Piper at the Gates of Dawn 40 years after it was originally released
• All hell broke loose at the DMB concert at SPAC after a mother served Grey Goose vodka to her underaged daughter and three of her friends
• San Francisco’s Mobile Beat blogger took in a Tea Leaf Green show
• Our good friend SuperDee advises that air guitar is here to stay
• JJ Grey & MOFRO and Los Lobos headline the Blackwater Sol Revue
  

And, as usual, after the jump we’ve got all kinds of setlists from the weekend, including the Allmans, the Crowes, Cake, Zappa Plays Zappa and many more…

String Cheese Incident is quickly becoming the Sugar Ray Leonard of the jamband world. We’re pretty sure the band announced its retirement some time between the fall of the Berlin Wall and end of the global Y2K freakout fakeout. Yet here we are, one quarter through the Year of Our Lord 2007, and dates continue to emerge from the Madison House corporate headquarters. Here’s the latest from the SCI camp:

We’ve gotta hand it to SCI for a job well done booking an undercard that’s strong to quite strong. It’ll take an awful lot to get people to converge on Salem, Missouri for the String Cheese Coventry, but we’re guessing Greyboy, JJ & MOFRO, Los Lobos, The Wailers and Yonder Mountain will help draw a sizeable crowd.

Catch ‘em before they go (for real): SCI also hits Bonnaroo, three nights at the Beacon, the Greek, and somewhere in Oregon before Sam Malone sells the bar and the band hangs it up during a three-night stand at Red Rocks. That is, presumably, until they replace Billy Nershi and get back out on the road.

Read on for the full list of SCI’s Summer 2007 tour dates…

January and February are typically off months for live music. Gig news flies fast and furious, but there isn’t much in the way of actual music. March, on the other hand, has been filled to the brim with great tunes like motherfuckin’ Maxwell House.

This week’s edition of Grousing The Aisles looks at four stellar shows from the month of March, three of which took place this past weekend.

JJ Grey and MOFRO 03/23/07 DAUD (FLAC, MP3, STREAM):

At Langerado Ace and I finally had a chance to talk to J.J. Grey about his decision to change the name of the band to J.J. Grey and Mofro. After seeing their set at Langerado and listening to this show from Denver’s Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, it’s pretty clear how personal these songs are to Grey.

Songs like How Junior Got His Head Put Out, War, and Country Ghetto crackle with emotion that reaches deep within the listener. I feel bad now that I thought he just changed the name of the band to get more notoriety. Um, oops.

But seriously if you haven’t checked out J.J. Grey and Mofro in concert since they put out Country Ghetto, run to the closest show and check out their performance. The addition of a horn section makes all the difference in the world for this band.

Read on for the rest of this week’s Grousing The Aisles…

The downloads from this weekend’s kickoff to festival season are starting to emerge, and we figured we’d throw them out as soon as they come to our attention. So here’s the first batch of torrents and sendspaces for you to devour, and we’ll update this post as often as we can.

My Morning Jacket 3/10/07 (FLAC)
Widespread Panic 3/11/07 (FLAC) (second source, third source 24-bit)
Tea Leaf Green 3/9/07 (FLAC)
Tea Leaf Green late-night 3/8/07 (FLAC)
Greyboy Allstars 3/10/07 (FLAC) (second source)
Medeski, Martin & Wood 3/10/07 (FLAC)
Perpetual Groove 3/10/07 (FLAC)
Girl Talk 3/11/07 (sendspace mp3)
JJ Grey & MOFRO 3/10/07 (FLAC)
JJ Grey and MOFRO late-night 3/10/07 (FLAC)
The Slip 3/10/07 (FLAC)
Los Lobos 3/11/07 (FLAC)
Galactic 3/9/07 (FLAC)
Soulive 3/10/07 (FLAC)
Jake Shimabukuro 3/11/07 (FLAC) (second source 24-bit)
Sound Tribe Sector 9 3/9/07 (FLAC) (second source 16-bit)
STS9 DVD VIDEO 3/9/07
Matisyahu 3/11/07 (FLAC)
Explosions in the Sky 3/11/07 (sendspace mp3)
The Hold Steady 3/9/07 (FLAC)
Trey Anastasio 3/9/07 — Friday festival set (FLAC)
Trey Anastasio 3/8/07 — Thursday Revolution show (FLAC)
Lotus 3/11/07 (FLAC)
Michael Franti & Spearhead 3/10/07 (FLAC) and (sendspace mp3)
Apollo Sunshine 3/10/07 (FLAC)
New Monsoon 3/8/07 Late-night (FLAC)
The Heavy Pets (SonicBids Winner) 3/9/07 (FLAC) (second source)
Toubab Krewe 3/10/07 (24-bit)
No. Miss. All Stars late-night 3/10/07 (FLAC)
Taj Mahal 3/11/07 (FLAC)
Toots and the Maytals 3/11/07 (FLAC)
Pepper 3/11/07 (FLAC)
OFFICIAL RELEASES

Widespread Panic
moe.
Disco Biscuits
Sound Tribe Sector 9 (festival and late-night)

Stay tuned, and if you come across anything we haven’t posted yet, either hit us in the comments below or send me a note at ace@glidemagazine.com.

(And many thanks to Mike Pellen for being awesome with the updates…)