Simone Felice signs with Ramseur Records

(pic by Felicity Wormwood)
via Twitter, via Sean Russell.

thanks Sean !

Ramseur Records is the label of, most notably, The Avett Brothers.

http://www.ramseurrecords.net/

Felice Brothers Concert on Radio Again in Knoxville

Tomorrow at 3:00 pm EST


FELICE BROTHERS to Perform Live at Next "Funhouse Live" Concert at Barley's This Friday, May 1st!
The amazing FELICE BROTHERS will be the featured act for the next "Funhouse Live" at Barley's Tapprom and Pizzeria in the Old City, this Friday, May 1st at 10:30p.m. Touring to support their excellent new disc 'Yonder Is the Clock,' which features the song "Run, Chicken Run" as heard on The Rock, many compare The Felice Brothers to The Band. Show up and find out why!

www.myspace.com/thefelicebrother


The link to the internet feed for the station

Update
Acoustic performance in studio. Interviewer didn't ask any question interesting.
Songs:

Memphis Flu (edited by Ian and called Swine Flu)
Cooperstown
Lonesome Valley

The biggest story or goof was that they said they had Dave Dondero (fellow Team Love artist) with them. Of course they might have been goofing.

try this www.wutkradio.com

James Felice Knoxville Metro Pulse

By Matthew Everett (Contact)
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The Felice Brothers


James Felice isn’t usually the voice of the Felice Brothers. When the accordion player has just woken up in the middle of the afternoon in the back of the band’s RV somewhere in the middle of Kentucky, he’s even less suited to interviews. In the middle of a phone conversation, he’s likely to set down the phone and take a good long, steady leak.

“Could you hear that, man? Sorry,” he says.

Felice’s discombobulation is understandable, though, considering what the last few months have been like for his band. The five-piece group—the three real Felice brothers, James, singer/guitarist/songwriter Ian, and drummer Simone, along with a pair of their childhood friends known only as Christmas and Farley—seems to be on the verge of national exposure with the release of its new album, Yonder Is the Clock. They’re tangentially based in New York, where they got their start playing together at subway stations near Greenwich Village, but their home now is essentially the Winnebago.

“It’s been renovated inside with a bunch of bunk beds,” Felice says. “We used to just tour in a bus, so this is a lot better.”

The group’s new CD has gotten positive, sometimes glowing reviews from Entertainment Weekly, Spin, and The New York Times. Critics have been nearly unanimous in comparing the disc to The Basement Tapes, the eccentric 1967 collaboration between Bob Dylan and the Band that was released in 1975. Part of that comparison comes from the Felice Brothers’ roots in upstate New York, similar to the location of the old farmhouse where The Basement Tapes were recorded. Part of it is that Ian Felice sings in a nasal drawl similar to the youthful Dylan. Mostly it’s that Yonder Is the Clock has the same kind of ramshackle, homespun charm of the Dylan/Band project. Like The Basement Tapes, Yonder is nostalgic but not remotely authentic; the Felice Brothers use old-fashioned instruments—fiddle, accordion, and washboard—to stitch stately folk, rambunctious barroom stomps, and old-time mountain music into something that echoes a dozen or more strains of American music from the early 20th century without replicating any of it. But their relative inexperience with their instruments—“I didn’t start playing the accordion until I was, like, 21, but when I did I wish I’d started a lot earlier—the sound it produces is just beautiful,” Felice says—frees them from the rigid formal traditions of the music they’re picking up and playing with. What they’ve conjured up is a sort of imaginary folk music, a democratic convergence of black and white and urban and rural traditions, that Dylan and the Band produced in the shadow of Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music.

“It just sort of came out that way,” Felice says. “We weren’t going for anything in particular. We love roots music, and the music we play sounds like that. ... What’s funny is I’ve never listened to The Basement Tapes.”

The mood of Ian Felice’s lyrics is often morose—the narrator of “Penn Station” seems to sing his tale from beyond the grave, and the underworld characters in the Cajun-flavored “Run Chicken Run” are very clearly headed for bad ends—but those songs are two of the rollicking highlights of Yonder Is the Clock. The band injects them with a desperate, shambling energy that threatens to careen out of control, and the wry point of view saves them from standard-issue sepia-toned romanticism.

“I guess it’s a downer album,” he adds. “But it has some beautiful moments. That’s my brother Ian—he writes most of the songs, and he definitely has a good sense of humor.”

James Felice interview Birmingham Box Set

Carla Jean Whitley

I spend a lot of time seeking out new music for our monthly music recommendations in Currents. A lot of times that means requesting the upcoming album by someone I’ve already heard a lot about, or keeping an eye out for something new from my favorite bands. But there’s no rush like the excitement I feel when I pop in a CD from a band I’ve never heard of and hear something worth falling in love with.

That’s what happened in early 2008, when the self-titled album from The Felice Brothers turned up in my mail. In our March 2008 issue, I wrote: “‘Greatest Show on Earth,’ the second track on The Felice Brothers(Team Love Records), is a cinematic composition—like something you’d hear on the soundtrack of a movie set in a saloon. The stateside debut from this rural New York band is at turns raucous (cue ‘Frankie’s Gun!’) and introspective (‘Wonderful Life’).”

You’ll have to excuse the self-referential quoting, but it’s still how I feel about this band. I’ve been trying to catch them live ever since, but I have a knack for going out of town when they come to Birmingham or Tuscaloosa. That will change—finally!—on April 28, when they play Bottletree in support of Yonder is the Clock, which dropped earlier this month. James Felice offered Birmingham Box Set insight into the new album and a preview of what to expect at Bottletree.

Birmingham Box Set: So much of your music sounds like a party—“Penn Station,” for example, on the new album. Is it as much fun to play with these guys as it sounds like?

James Felice: It actually is. It’s really fun. When we play live, we try to make it like a really fun environment for everybody. We just want everybody to have fun and feel good. People that are spending—I don’t know how much people tickets are, $15—but I want people to have a good time. If I go to a show I want to get drunk and rowdy to dance around.

BBS: And yet, y’all balance a really fun time with great lyrics, whether on the rowdy bar numbers or more contemplative songs.

JF: Thank you very much. That’s really important to us, too. The songs that have to be quality or else it’s not worth it. They have to be good. We write a lot of lot of songs. Only a few make the best quality, you know. While we have a lot of fun and rocking songs, a lot of the songs are much more somber. They have to be equally as good.

BBS: How does your songwriting process work? Does everyone contribute or one person do most of the writing?

JF: My brother Ian, he writes most of the songs. We all work on them in one way or another, [but] he’s definitely the main songwriter.

BBS: What influenced the songs on this album?

JF: Everything. You know? It’s not just one thing. …

We wanted to make an actual real album. Everything else we’ve done before was kind of piece meal and thrown together, because we didn’t have enough time and space for a real album. … For this record, it was nice to be in an environment where we could record and make a real cohesive piece of music.

We had the chicken coop that we recorded a lot of the last album in, and we put a roof on it and put walls up and that’s where we recorded Yonder.

BBS: You’ve got a variety of songs in your repertoire—when it’s time to be loud, y’all are really loud, but you also have plenty quieter, thoughtful songs. How does that contrast play out in concert?

JF: I think it works really well. We try to have an equal number of both. It depends on what we’re feeling at the time, what we feel would work best, how the crowd is feeling at the time. … I think it’s important to have moments of respite between the dancing around. We’re not a punk band you know, I think we’d all wear out if we were dancing around for an hour and a half.

BBS: Who have you been listening to lately?

JF: James Booker, actually. He’s a New Orleans piano player, amazing. And Gershwin, listening to a lot of George Gershwin. I don’t listen to that many things at once, I try to stick with one or two records.

Birmingham Box Set

The Felice Brothers to Play Austin City Limits Music Festival

October 2-4 Zilker Park


the 2009 lineup
Pearl Jam Dave Matthews Band
Beastie Boys Kings of Leon Ben Harper and Relentless7 Thievery Corporation John Legend The Dead Weather The Levon Helm Band Ghostland Observatory
Sonic Youth Mos Def Toadies Flogging Molly The B-52s Lily Allen Citizen Cope Arctic Monkeys The Decemberists Coheed and Cambria Andrew Bird Girl Talk STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9) Phoenix Bassnectar Bon Iver !!! Avett Brothers The Airborne Toxic Event Medeski, Martin & Wood Clutch Michael Franti & Spearhead Grizzly Bear Heartless Bastards Passion Pit White Lies
Dan Auerbach The Walkmen The Scabs Reckless Kelly DeVotchka Blitzen Trapper The Virgins Here We Go Magic Eek-A-Mouse K'Naan Asleep at the Wheel Dr. Dog The Raveonettes The Knux Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears State Radio Los Amigos Invisibles The Felice Brothers Federico Aubele Raul Malo Daniel Johnston Poi Dog Pondering Brett Dennen Rodriguez Henry Butler Preservation Hall Sam Roberts Band The Greencards Sara Watkins Walter "Wolfman" Washington David Garza John Vanderslice Zac Brown Band Todd Snider School of Seven Bells The Dodos Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 Alberta Cross Deer Tick Bell X1 Alela Diane The Wood Brothers The Parlor Mob Rebirth Brass Band Marva Wright Terri Hendrix L.A.X. Lisa Hannigan The Low Anthem Sons of Bill Suckers Sarah Jaffe Cotton Jones The Henry Clay People Papa Mali Jypsi Vince Mira Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights Mimicking Birds Jeffrey Steele Jonell Mosser Leatherbag Keith Gattis Damien Horne Sarah Siskind The Dexateens Nelo Danny Brooks Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band The Soul Stirrers The Durdens Palm School Elementary The Gospel Silvertones Diaconos Quinn Sullivan Ralph's World Q Brothers Milkshake Telephone Company Loose Cannons Lunch Money

Welcome Dave Turbeville

Tonight at the Bottletree in Birmingham, Alabama it's the big night for Dave (Turbeville) taking over on drums for Searcher. Dave has been on tour all spring with the band and has been playing a tune or two on the skins for the past two weeks. Dave is from Gainesville, Florida (Yea, the place i got busted for robbing a bank!) and has been part of a few bands down there of very varying styles, Most notably, the Deep and Holy Sea as well as Cassette and Cowboys became Folk Heroes. Hereis a link to Deep and Holy Sea Myspace page and here is a video from Cowboys became Folk Heroes

Wish Dave well tonight. Sweet guy.



and goodbye and thanks to old friend Searchbag

Pics from Nashville

and video

and Penn Station too courtesy of Lizzie



Pictures by Chaya

Nashville (Mercy Lounge) 4-25-09

SETLIST NASHVILLE MERCY LOUNGE 4/25/09

Intro
Big Surprise
Run Chicken Run
Take This Bread
Marlboro Man
Whiskey
White Limousine
Boy from Lawrence County
Chicken Wire
Ahab (new Christmas song)
Memphis Flu
Murder by Mistletoe
Love me Tenderly
God Damn You Jim
Marie
Greatest Show on Earth
Her Eyes Dart Round
Marie
Frankie's Gun

ENCORE
St Stephen's End
Farley's Song
Two Hands
Penn Station

The boys were in fine form tonight in Music City USA. The Mercy Lounge is an intimate venue which was a nice change from last week at the soon to be infamous Trocadero show. James' cold seems to be mostly gone; he did a beautiful rendition of God Damn You Jim. Ian was in an exceptionally awesome state of mind cracking jokes throughout the night and randomly sticking his tongue out at the other band members. In the middle of Marie he announced "ambiguous instrumental solo" to which the band started to crack up. Christmas did his new song, Ahab, again. I hadn't heard it before and I really enjoyed it. Memphis Flu was a crowd favorite being that we were in Tennessee. There were some special guests on stage tonight. The lead singer and the guitarist from Old Crow Medicine Show were at the show and came up to play with the boys for a few numbers including Frankie's Gun which sounded better than I have heard it in a while. It was Searcher's last show of the tour and he got to play guitar on one number which was fun. Ian played bass during Christmas' song which was incredible. He enjoyed playing the bass so much making all sorts of interesting sounds and facial expressions. The crowd was really into the show, singing along and dancing up a storm. Farley used his usual hip-hop crowd riling tactics to get the audience involved. I must say I have become a bit spoiled seeing them play so many 2-3 hr sets that the hour and a half show tonight felt a bit short, but it was absolutely amazing all the same. They fit right into the style of Nashville and everyone had a ball. Well, it's 3am and I have a flight back to Philly in 4 hrs so it's time to catch some shut eye. That's it for me for a while...unfortunately.

chaya

Louisville: 4-24-09 Headliners (LUKE)

The Big Suprize
Run Chicken Run
Take this Bread
Marlboro Man
Whiskey in my Whiskey: Dave on Drums, Searcher on Second Guitar, James just singing, no instrument.
New Christmas Song: playing guitar and singing, Ian on Bass,
Chicken Wire
Boys from Lawrence County
Loves Me Tenderly
Captain's Wife
Frankie's Gun
Goddamn You Jim
White Limo
The Greatest Show on Earth
Ballad of Lou The Welterweight
Memphis Flu, Dave on Drums, Searcher on the Tambourine



Encore:
St. Stephens End
Farley Song (Lay You Down)
Helen Fry
Penn Station

Little bits from the show, crowd broke out into applause and cheering after James false started Frankie's Gun. James only played three notes yet everyone knew what was coming, the band was very impressed by the audience reaction. The band broke down into laughter at the end of the second verse of Ballad of Lou, no clue what the laughter was about but the only instrument going was the drum, pretty funny incident, the came back strong though on "Powder your nose", great recovery. Last little tid bit which seems to be a show standard but worth mentioning. Farley dived into the drum kit at the end of Penn Station, though this is the first time I've seen Searcher catch him in mid-air before completely destroying the drum kit. I guess one more tid bit, at one point during the show Christmas was on the bass drum playing a little bit, and Ian decided to join him at the same time. I've come to learn that those bass drums are pretty sturdy considering all the jumping up and down on that thing those boys do. Thats my report, I think my report was a little better than the last one, can't wait for the Nashville show. Laters.

Luke

Interview with James Felice in todays Louisville Courier

Q&A with the Felice Brothers

By Joseph Lord • The Courier-Journal • April 24, 2009



The Felice Brothers' solemn Americana pays homage to mountain music, replete with fiddles, drawling vocals and sad, sad topics. And, indeed, they hail from the mountains, just not the ones you'd expect. The band — Ian and James Felice, plus friends Greg Farley and Christmas Clapton — grew up in upstate New York's Catskills.
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The brothers began playing family barbecues and street corners throughout the Catskills, and eventually they moved to New York City and performed on subway platforms — details that lend to the common perception of the band as a scrappy passion project instead of city boys playing mountain tunes.

The Felice Brothers play Friday, April 24, at Headliners. Accordionist James Felice took a moment to chat about the band, his instrument — and his trademark porkpie hat.

Why did you start playing music?

We were poor and destitute and had no direction in our lives, so we just started playing. We decided to do this for the rest of our lives. We never had that much money, but we had a great family. We had shoes on our feet, clothes on our backs, but it was all pretty simple.

What did you all listen to growing up?

Anything we could get our hands on. Lots of Stevie Wonder and Neil Young.

What led you to playing folksy Americana music?

We all started playing together and this sounded right. This is what it sounded like; we just played what we know. ... You play music you want to hear. You dress the part, with the porkpie hat and all. The ladies love the hat.

How'd you pick up the accordion?

I didn't play accordion until a few years ago, when we started the band. In early America, there was an accordion in like every household. ... It was like the most popular instrument because it was pretty cheap, until the acoustic guitar came around. Then it fell out of favor and people started playing polka on it.

interesting battle Hanson vs Felice Brothers Taken from South Carolina Paper

Anderson Mail News (South Carolina) this is an excerpt


This week it’s new age folk act The Felice Brothers versus brand-new pop act Tinted Windows, a band comprising former members of boy-band Hanson (yes, the “Mmmbop” Hanson), the Smashing Pumpkins, Fountains of Wayne and Cheap Trick. Who said these matchups had to make sense? This may very well be the first time an accordion went face-to-face against an electric guitar. May the best man (or former member of Hanson) win.

Tinted Windows – “Tinted Windows”

Pros

This odd combination of band members is too much to resist, at least for novelty’s sake.

This is power pop at its finest with deceptively great musicianship.

If you listen closely, you can actually hear women’s undergarments hitting the studio floor.

“Cha Cha” is one of the catchiest songs I’ve ever heard. I hate that I love it.

Cons

I couldn’t help but think the Hanson stigma might be too much to overcome.

Cringe-inducing choruses like “without love, come on, come on, come on.”

Most of these songs are too short to be considered songs.

The Felice Brothers – “Yonder is the Clock”

Pros

Ian Felice sounds the way Bob Dylan sounded before he became unintelligible.

Probably the least pretentious band around. It’s obvious these guys just love performing music.

Three singer/songwriters ensure that nothing gets stale.

They’re prolific. If this wasn’t good they’d hit you with another album in a matter of months.

Not over-produced. Instead of being polished this is refreshingly covered in mud.

Cons

“Sailor Song” gets a little too close to sleep-inducing, Leonard Cohen territory.

Some songs sound like they were written on the back of napkins and slapped together.

Much less upbeat than the self-titled album that preceded it.

And the winner is…The Felice Brother’s “Yonder is the Clock.”

There aren’t enough bands out there doing what these guys are doing. They have a firm focus on musicianship and songwriting; I’m happy that I’ll probably never see a Felice Brothers music video. The Tinted Windows album is a pleasant diversion when you want to turn your mind off, but “Yonder is the Clock” is one of those sonic gifts that keep on giving. The song “Run Chicken Run” is worth the price of admission all by itself.

Running setlist Live at Lunch WFPK Louisville 91.9

the stream is still available i think fully here


Doing it right here!

1. The Big Surprise

sounds like there is about ten people there

2. Whiskey in my Whiskey: James sounds still a bit congested, struggling to hit notes with the power he usually does. nice guitar picking by Ian. Farley "Give it up for James Felice, he is all sick"

3. Marlboro Man
4. Chicken Wire: love this tune, they make it sound like a kinda like Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys, just rollicking hilarity.
5. Frankie's Gun: very good version, Ian has a chuckle in the middle, particularly good yodel at the end.
interview from the host to the band.
6. Which record is this?
JF- Between 2 and 5. James introduced the band.
Is your family musical?
JF- no
Ian- My mom hates music
interviewer: You got guys got discovered in the Subway in New York, right?
Christmas-"a doctor discovered me at Vassar Hospital 21 years ago, it was crazy"...this stuns the interviewer and effectively ends the interview. The Band laughs
7. Farley Song (lay you down)
8. Farley introduction for crowd participation for Penn Station. right into....
9. Penn Station
10. Farley "Christmas is going to sing a very seductive song"
11. Christmas new AHAB Song
12. Marie.
13. Memphis Flu
14. Ruby Mae
15. Run Chicken Run
16. Rise and Shine (debut): Love this song. Thought this song could be about not just a dying friend, but perhaps about a blood brother, or real brother, in a time of turmoil. love the detail. For me its an epitaph, a beautiful one, on this era of the Felice Brothers (with Simone).

Tommorrow: Live at Lunch Radio Show

91.9 WFPK Louisville (they will have Internet stream on their website)

I believe they archive the shows.

Should be fun.

Carly's Photos from Philly

Webster Hall April 17-2009

Show Review: The Felice Brothers


Having seen The Felice Brothers two times before, I had an idea for what I was in for. The band that hails from the Catskills played a headlining show at Webster Hall in New York City on Friday, April 17th 2009. They are currently touring to support their new album Yonder is the Clock, the second on the Team Love record label and fourth album overall. It’s always a treat to see the energy and soul that the brothers bring to the stage when playing a live show.

Felice Brothers - Live at Webster Hall

As a friend and I arrived early, I was happy to see James Felice mingling with the crowd members. Just about every time I’ve seen the band, I’ve also seen James among the audience members before or after the show. That’s one reason to see this band live - their connection with the audience. Not only do they captivate with their lyrics and intensity, but they entertain with their comments and chemistry.

After getting a poster signed by James and purchasing the new album (on CD only….no vinyl release yet), we went to get a beer and secure a spot close to the stage. Webster Hall was a decent sized venue, with a lot of good bands that have swung through there. Apparently there are other floors and sections of the bar/club but we didn’t get to see them. We were planted in the main concert hall watching Willie Mason play a short acoustic set before The Felice Brothers took the stage.

The opener had some fine tunes, but it was clear that the growing audience was awaiting for the headliners. The band members began to slowly take the stage, one by one each playing a slow jam. Christmas, on bass came out and was joined by a different drummer than I was used to. Simone Felice, one of the brothers, usually filled that role but news of a solo project that he was going to focus a little more time and energy on created the opportunity for Jeremy Backofen to take over behind the drum kit. Jeremy, also known as “The Searcher”, produced the Felice Brothers albums and has worked with Simone on drums so he was more than a suitable replacement.

The Felice Brothers - Live at Webster Hall

Christmas and the Searcher were then joined by James and Ian Felice, each tuning up and beginning to form the opening song. The crowd cheered when Simone then emerged from the back, banging on a big bass drum and theatrically walking around the stage. While he wouldn’t be on drums the whole night, he was here to support his brothers and everyone was more than glad for it.

They launched into “The Big Surprise”, the opening song from the new album. The video is included below:

The show that followed just kept getting better and better. They mixed in new tunes like “Cooperstown”, “Run Chicken Run”, and “Chicken Wire” and also played some of their older ballads like “Ballad of Lou the Welterweight” and “Goddamn you Jim”. The floor felt like it was going to fall out from under us because of the foot-stomping that was going on. The band played what felt like an endless encore set….mainly because after every song they would announce “We’ve got one more song to play” that drove the audience wild each time. The show ended with violin/washboard player Farley launching himself into the drumset and joining the band for a final bow.

If you haven’t seen the Felice Brothers live…do yourself a favor and buy a ticket to the closest show near you. They won’t disappoint.

Taken from our friend Sean Walsh at his live music blog

Setlist of Pittsburgh Show 4-22-09: Jimmy is Sick!

Marlboro Man
Take This Bread
Run Chicken Run
Goddamn you Jim
Love Me Tenderly
Katie Dear
Chickenwire
Cooperstown
Marie
Greatest show on Earth
sounded like you and me kid we should stick together?
Frankies Gun
Ballad of Lou the Welterweight
sounded like Momma put your foot on the gas repeated?
Memphis Flu Townes van Zandt's: Two Hands
Farley Song
LetMe Come Home
Penn Station
Show was pretty good, Christmas sang two songs this time. Farley managed to knock a crash symbol off its stand by way of pounding it with his washboard. James was pretty sick and unfortunately it showed occasionally when he would start coughing up his lungs while singing. Considering how sick he appeared, he put on a damn good show anyways. Though I worry with the way those boys pass the whiskey bottle around, that the Louisville show will feature all of them in a rather sick state. Great show overall. Feel free to use any of that or none of it for the blog, doesn't bother either way, I know it isn't much anyway. But real quick, from looking over the blog, am I to understand that the gent playing the drums for them is not Simone? Thats all I got, laters

Luke


Luke thanks a lot i am sure someone will post a comment to help a few of the spots you didn't know the title to -editors note

Carly review of 4-16-09 Trocadero show

The Trocadero—Philadelphia, PA

Having talked to the guys at the Birchmere (and made them spaghetti), their tour manager put myself and two friends on the guest list for Philly; I originally hadn’t planned to go to it since I was catching them on Friday in NYC. I am SO glad that I went!! As a couple people have pointed out, this show might be considered one of the brothers’ best, and I tend to agree. An EPIC two-hour set (the list has been posted before) along with a rowdy, enthusiastic crowd made for a fantastic time (although I did get kicked by one of two crowd surfers. Yeah. Crowd surfers). This was the first time I saw them do Big Surprise as the first song (at the Birchmere they opened with Run Chicken Run), which I thought was cool but I felt it was a little polished for them...a little too thought-out. They all seemed to have a great time, which to me is one of the most important factors of a good concert. Once again Simone was missed but as someone else pointed out, Farley has somewhat picked up the crowd-pumping reigns since Ian seems too shy to go that way.

The crowning part of this show was the encore. Although I don’t have an exact setlist (I thought Chaya grabbed it?) what I can remember is a sustained, crazy excitement as they played one of the longest encores I’ve ever heard, transitioning from barnburner to barnburner after opening up with two slower songs. We had Two Hands, Let Me Come Home (a new favorite of mine along with Marie, which they also played but left off the list in NYC the next night), Where’d You Get The Liquor (I think) and Glory Glory, during which a few kids from the audience clambered onstage and sang with the boys!! One of my biggest regrets from my three-day marathon of Felice shows was not jumping up there with them. Next time, though!

On to NYC!!

will upload pics when i get home

Glide Magazine review South Burlington VT Higher Ground 4-18

Higher Ground, South Burlington, VT 4/11/09
By Doug Collette
April 22, 2009



On the Felice Brothers' most recent appearance at Higher Ground, these siblings from New York’s Catskill Mountains picked up right where they left off from last September at Higher Ground.

Well, almost. No doubt they kept the crowd aroused with uproarious drinking songs like "Whisky in My Whiskey" (though a cross section of the audience left during more subdued tunes like "Helen Fry"). And the quintet was savvy enough to finish their set with two of the more upbeat tunes ("Penn Station" and "Run Chicken Run”) from the splendid new recording Yonder Is the Clock, just prior to which that had tendered two tunes rife with biblical images that, appropriate for the eve of Easter Sunday, nevertheless was not what the 125 or so attendees had been doting on.

But this reciprocal love affair waxed more than waned under a full moon outside. The Felices’ engendered a rabid response because their music radiates such an earthy authenticity: the quintet utilizes washboard, fiddle and accordion combined with icy organ tones to maintain sparse textures of folk, country and blues. And there’s a deceptive simplicity to their songs that mirrors the Brothers’ eccentric attitude: the opening tune, "The Big Surprise," may have caught the audience off-guard, but the cinematic quality of the lyrics, finding voice in front-man Ian's singing and guarded demeanor, was inescapable.

As it was much of the night when the band’s chief vocalist stepped atop the drums to sing, flailed at his antique electric guitar in a paroxysm of emotion or deferred to his burly good-natured brother James for comic relief as the latter led a sing-along on "Where'd You get Your Liquor From?”

Whether or not it gives you pause to consider why so many of this young band's songs contain recurring references to death (“St Stephen's End”), guns (“Hey Hey Revolver”) and alcohol (the two aforementioned), the fact of the matter is the quintet--even without brother Simone who's on a temporary leave from touring -perform in such a disarming fashion, Felice Brothers can charm you wholly and completely into their world.

updated tour dates!

Wednesday 22 | Mr. Smalls Funhouse, Pittsburgh, PA - more info
Friday 24 | Headliners Music Hall, Louisville, KY - more info
Friday 24 | WFPK - Live Lunch, Louisville, KY - more info
Saturday 25 | Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN - more info
Tuesday 28 | Bottletree, Birmingham, AL - more info
Wednesday 29 | Smith's Olde Bar, Atlanta, GA - more info
Thursday 30 | Rhythm and Brews, Chattanooga, TN - more info


May 2009
Friday 1 | Barley's Tap Room, Knoxville, TN - more info
Saturday 2 | Berkeley Cafe, Raleigh, NC - more info
Friday 22 | Buffalo Creek Music Festival, Lexington, VA - more info
Saturday 23 | The National, Richmond, VA - more info
Sunday 24 | The Garage, Winson-Salem, NC - more info
Tuesday 26 | Down Home, Johnson City, TN - more info
Wednesday 27 | Southgate House, Newport, KY - more info
Thursday 28 | Rumba Cafe, Columbus, OH - more info
Friday 29 | Bottom Lounge, Chicago, IL - more info
Saturday 30 | Terrace @ University of WI, Madison, WI - more info
Sunday 31 | 400 Bar, Minneapolis, MN - more info


June 2009
Thursday 4 | Tractor Tavern, Seattle, WA - more info
Saturday 6 | Dante's, Portland, OR - more info
Tuesday 9 | The Independent, San Francisco, CA - more info
Wednesday 10 | The Independent, San Francisco, CA - more info
Saturday 13 | Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA - more info


July 2009
Saturday 18 | Master Musicians Festival, Somerset, KY - more info
Saturday 25 | Floydfest, Floyd, VA - more info

Ithaca Setlist 4-21-09

Ithaca set list
1. Big Surprise
2. Love Me Tenderly
3. Marlboro Man
4. Take This Bread
5. Murder By Mistletoe
6. Run Chicken Run
7. Whiskey in my Whiskey
8. New Song From Christmas (not buried in Ice)
9. Chicken Wire
10. Marie
11. Greatest Show on Earth
12. Goddamn you, Jim
13. Ballad of Lou the Welterweight
14. Frankie's Gun
15.Desert of galileah (new song, it was called this song from an earlier set list)
16. White Limo
17. New song from Christmas (referred to it as a Jazz number, "foot on gas" was a part of the chorus)
18. Memphis Flu
ENCORE
19. St. Stephen's End
20. Cypress Grove
21. Farley's Solo song
22. Let Me Come Home
23. Two Hands
24. Penn Station

Jared Riviere

Major update! Tommorrow at 800pm

You may want to alert your readers that WAMC, Northeast Public Radio, will be broadcasting a recording of the 9/11/08 Felice Brothers and AA Bondy show from the Linda Norris Auditorium on "Live at the Linda," at 8:00 pm Eastern on Wednesday evening (tomorrow), April 22. You can listen live at www.wamc.org.

thanks to the Midhudson Juggling Club for the tip

i am not going to be home.

someone tape it for me!

digger

The Onion review

Yonder Is The Clock

A
by Steven Hyden April 7, 2009
Yonder Is The Clock




It says a lot about these desperate times that a band that quotes Mark Twain and makes records in converted chicken coops feels very much of the moment. Such is the case with upstate New York folkies The Felice Brothers, who survey a nation trapped between poverty and prosperity (in both the past and the present) on the terrific Yonder Is The Clock. “Sometimes the things you do, they come back at you,” sighs turpentine-swilling singer Ian Felice on the war-torn ballad “All When We Were Young”—and isn’t that something we’ve all learned the hard way lately? The burden of survival is living to regret everything you’ve had to do in order to endure, and it weighs heavily on the people who populate Yonder Is The Clock, whether it’s the “Boy From Lawrence County” selling out his friend for a job, or the lovelorn loser singing to a woman he can’t provide for in “Katie Dear.” These are all-American songs of devastation and alienation; they’re also loads of fun and damn hilarious much of the time. Maybe reliving the Great Depression won’t be so bad after all.

Carly's Review: The Birchmere April 15

And so begins my epic three-nights-in-a-row-of-Felice Adventure!!

Night 1: April 15 @ The Birchmere, Alexandria VA

The Felice Brothers’ 4/15 show at the Birchmere was not as high-voltage as other times I’ve seen them live, but it was a good, solid show. The super-intimate setup of the Birchmere (stage is only about 2/2.5 ft tall, low ceilings) drew the standing crowd close into the Brothers’ rambling, rambunctious sound and even people sitting at tables along the periphery were bouncing in their seats. I had been aching to see them play since I’d last had the pleasure (November 08) and had brought along some friends who had never been to a Felice Brothers concert—the set they played was a great mixture of fast/slow and new/old songs from their repertoire and they sounded GREAT (aside from Searcher’s mic being off for the first third of the show).

I was skeptical going into this show because I knew that Simone—my favorite Felice—was not going to be there, and as most Felice Brothers fans know he is one of the most charismatic performers around. As far as playing is concerned, Searchbag can more than hold his own (some people with drum knowledge say he’s even better than Simone) but he lacked Simone’s magnetism—and that wasn’t a bad thing. It was a treat to actually be able to pay attention to the other brothers; I hadn’t noticed before Ian’s quirky hopping dance and James’s expressions while he rocks out on the accordion (and while playing Marie, one of their absolute best new songs).

Highlights of this show: Marie, Two Hands + Let Me Come Home (great pics to round out the encore), and my #1 favorite song of theirs: Her Eyes Dart Round.
Not sure how I feel about: the song Farley sings (“Lay Me Down”) and the lack of Simone.

ON TO PHILLY!

Billy Brock's Setlist and Review Ringwood Public Library

(the audience is dominated not by fans, but by town folk who are out on a Sunday afternoon to support their library.)

(Boyz are sick, with ian losing his voice and james completely unable to sing except for the background parts on run, chicken, run.)

(boys are introduced and enter stage right each holding books in their hands and reading like little schoolboys! Farley, ian and jeromy all read to the audience and a good laugh is had by all!)

The setting in Ringwood library was not a favorite of the boyz, as seats are placed throughout the entire setting, with only sporadic ability to dance near the stage…. the boyz clearly did not like this and lovingly mentioned it a number of times during the set as the audience was clearly acting like they were in a library! This muteness translated up to the stage where the boyz needed all the energy they could get to keep them going but weren’t going to get it this day.
The performance had its moments and for me, it was a joy to be anywhere near these guys and their music…but coming off a trocadero show in philly a few nights before that was off the charts incredible, this one felt “tired”…as they would admit to, during, and after the show.
Although a subdued performance, it was quite interesting to watch how they coped with the lack of vocals, and lack of energy. The adjustments they had to make were worthy of the admission price. Not everyday is sunshine, but there is something special about cloudy days as well. Christmas sang his captain Ahab in the tradition of buried in ice and played ian’s guitar while doing it…gotta love this cat’s vocals! Keep em coming, Christmas! Stunningly enough, farley head dove into the drums to effectively end the show! I would’ve bet against that act, in this “formal” setting!

(Stage entrance with book readings)
Big Surprise
Love me tenderly
Take this bread
Memphis flu (james stops singing during this song)
Desert of galileah? Ian tune? Or cover?
Ruby mae
Boy from Lawrence county
Helen fry
(Commentary about playing in the library)
Run chicken run
Frankies gun
Captain Ahab (Christmas vocal with yodeling)
2 hands
Farley’s song for grandpa
St stephen’s end
Penn station /farley rap/penn station
(farley drum rush to end show)



Thanks Billy...

Billy Brock's Setlist philly 4-16 and review

Not in order


Big surprise
Memphis flu
Frankies gun
Eyes dart round
Helen fry
Goddamn you jim
Buried in ice ( Christmas vocals, ian bass)
Farley song for his grandpa
Boy from Lawrence county
Ballad of lou
St stephen’s end
Cooperstown
Katie dear(not sure if they did this)
Cincinnati queen
Run chicken run
Chicken wire
Take this bread
Love me tenderly
Greatest show on earth
Whiskey
Whered ya get the liquor?
Murder by mistletoe
Penn station (closed regular set with this as farley crashed into the drums)

(encores) (not sure of the order and also, I think one of the above songs is in the encore part as well)
2 hands
Ruby mae
Glory, glory/will the circle be unbroken/glory, glory
I wanna come home

This was absolutely the best show I have ever seen of the felice brothers and ranks as high as a grateful dead show for me, as the energy level never dissipated the entire show! These guys were on from start to finish! They absolutely mastered their music and had a blast doing so! The audience was very responsive as well…with body surfing on the floor, fist pumping all over the place and dancing throughout the theatre!!

New Song: The Captain's Wife

The Captains Wife from The Birchmere in Alexandria VA on April 15, 2009

Village Voice review Felice Brothers at Webster Hall

Live: The Felice Brothers Do Guns, Vagrants, Wild Chickens at Webster Hall
By Michael Downes in Featured, Michael Downes, The Felice Brothers, live
Monday, Apr. 20 2009 @ 11:30AM


VIDEO OF LOVES ME TENDERLY FROM WEBSTER HALL

VIDEO FRANKIES GUN


VIDEO RADIO SONG


"This song's about baseball..." Only three tunes into their Friday set, and the Felice Brothes cut straight to "Cooperstown," the nearly seven-minute ballad about an 18 year old Ty Cobb's first ever at-bat. The band's ramshackle slow numbers probably sound better live from a meadow near their Catskill mountain home (Webster's PA was built for volume, not nuance). But de facto frontman Ian Felice certainly knows his Americana, hollering about Jesse James and Doris Day, transporting depression-era lyricism into this century with ease: "With a toothbrush and a comb/Five dollars and a dead cell phone, oh Lord/No photo ID/No past to torture me." James Felice claims to have grown up on Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt records; the rest of his band seems more into dive bar country music than delta blues, but it's clear they've listened to more than the obvious Dylan and the Band tapes. For anyone drowsy from Fleet Foxes' "How Dope is this Pine Cone" a cappellas and Bon Iver's anemic, heartbroken blathering, a Mark Twain reference like "Yonder is the Clock," is a bucket of ice water to the face.

"This song's about the influenza..." The fast tunes (usually about guns, vagrants, wild chickens, or some combination of these) were less literate but a lot more fun. The players pushed as close to the crowd as possible; everyone sang but Christmas, the gangly bassist, and all took turns balancing precariously on the bass drum. The band passed around whiskey for "Whiskey in my Whiskey," which prompted further reckless handling of the percussion-- During the encore, fiddler Farley murdered the already chipped crash cymbal with a washboard and dove headfirst into the kit.

"This song's about being generous to your neighbors..." Only three Brothers are named Felice, but as all six prepared to leave the stage, James grabbed everyone by the shirt for a final curtain call. He pledged to the audience, "You're all like family," and, all at once, they took a bow.

Webster Hall 4-17 review

I don’t often review shows, but last night was amazing! It’s been just over a year since I first saw one of my favorite bands, The Felice Brothers, at The Echo in LA. After seeing them again briefly at Outside Lands in August, I had my third FB encounter last night at New York’s Webster Hall and I must say this band has reached mind-blowing levels on stage. Maybe it was the energy from playing in their home state, but last night these guys performed like super stars. Their intro brought all the band mates on stage one by one with a very cool instrumental building into their first number. This included brother Simone parading on stage whacking a massive bass drum which rattled the venue. The whole gang was on fire last night, trading instruments and time on the mic as they brought many of their hits to life in a refreshing new way. Occasionally they passed a bottle of whiskey amongst themselves to keep up the charm. I wish I had some pictures to share, but my iPhone would not do them justice. When the encore finished my mind was at ease, my ears were tingling and my arm was sore from hoisting my beer to every song at least five times as I sang along. Good job brothers Felice! Hope to see you again down the road.

Pete (Ears of the Beholder)

pics from Northhampton

Pics/ Pearl St Northhampton 4-18-09

Show highlights:

The debut of Dave Turbiville on drums for one tune. Searcher moved over to guitar. Searcher has got to leave soon to start rehearsal for the Mice Parade tour, So Dave will be thrown into the breach soon.
The debut of a new Christmas song, not sure of the title "We been had" is a line that stuck out. Pretty good number. Crowd interplay was mediocre, lots of calls for "Radio Days" which i think meant Radio Song. Ian again did his "All you need is love, thats what John Lennon said, Do you believe that? I believe that!" during Take this Bread. very nice. The Skip James tune Cypress Grove got a good ride as did the always popular White Limo.

4/18 Northampton Ma Pearl St setlist

1-Memphis flu
2-Cypress Grove
3-Run Chicken Run
4-Murder by Mistletoe
5-New Christmas Song "we been had ?"
6-Whiskey in my Whiskey
7-take this Bread
8-greatest Show on Earth
9-Loves me Tenderly
10-The Big Surprise
11-Chicken Wire
12-white Limo
13-ruby mae
14-Marie
15-Where'd you get Liquor?
16-Penn station
17-Goddamn You Jim
18-Frankie
19-St Stephen
20-Lay me Down (Farley Song)
21-Helen Fry
22. Glory Glory

thanks weemant for the help with this

PHILLY 4-16 REVIEW

Having Band-like fun with Felice Brothers

By Jonathan Valania

For The Inquirer

Impersonating the Band hasn't been a decent-paying gig since Scorsese filmed The Last Waltz in 1976, but judging by the full-up crowd at the Trocadero Thursday night, the Felice Brothers seem to be on their way.

Actually, impersonating sounds a little too dismissive and I like these guys, so let's go with evoking or carrying on the old, weird Americana tradition of the Band.

Besides, the brothers have the pedigree (they hail from the Hudson River valley), they've paid their dues (busking in the subways of New York, going acoustic at the Newport Folk Festival, woodshedding at Levon Helm's Barn Burner), and, more important, they are naturals, having just released Yonder Is the Clock, their fifth casually brilliant album of the aforementioned old, weird Americana.

Of the five Felice Brothers standing onstage at the Troc, only two were actual blood brothers named Felice: waifish singer/guitarist Ian Felice, who looked like Dylan '63 and sang like Dylan '68, and bearlike keyboard/accordionist James Felice, who looked like a young Hank Williams Jr. in his beard and Zorro hat. The third blood Felice Brother, drummer Simone, has elected not to tour this time out, and was replaced by Jeremy Backofen, who, in tandem with snake-fingered bass player Christmas Clapton, gave the band's two-hour set the requisite chugging heft.

Fiddler/washboard-picker Greg Farley seemed vested with the responsibility of maintaining the band's rowdy live rep as he flailed around the stage like a gorilla on roller skates and intermittently bashed the drummer's cymbals with his washboard. A large part of the charm of the Felice Brothers' live show is that you get the distinct impression they would be having this much fun even if nobody showed up. There is something about the way they all smile when they play, as if they shared some wonderful private joke that you want in on - kind of like The Basement Tapes.

Much like the albums, Thursday night's show alternated between barn-burning hoedowns in the Poguesian tradition of everyone-grab-an-instrument-and-make-a-joyous-noise (a stomping "Chicken Wire" and a howl-at-the-moon "Memphis Flu") and sweetly downer folkadelic introspection (a Wilcoesque "The Big Surprise," a stately "Cooperstown").

Especially noteworthy was a ripping spin through the subterranean homesick blues of "Penn Station" and a positively grand and otherworldly "The Greatest Show on Earth," which is one of those unforgettable songs where you know something's happening, but you don't know what it is. Do you, Mr. Jones?

CHOICE VIDEO: From the Troc 4-16

The Felice Brothers Conquer the Troc (4-16)

Editors note- I did not write this review it's taken from the Delaware Journal News


"We're just a bunch of dirt bags, you know that right?" asked Ian Felice, the sandpaper-voiced singer of The Felice Brothers Thursday night at The Trocadero in Philadelphia.

By that point in the show, it was clear the band from upstate New York that grew up in the shadow of The Band and Big Pink, did not take themselves too seriously.

With a stage littered with guitars, a fiddle, a washboard, an accordion, a keyboard and drums, The Felice Brothers threw down a boozy 2-hour performance that exceeded even lofty expectations following the brilliant one-two punch of their last pair of albums, 2008's "The Felice Brothers" and this years' "Yonder Is the Clock."

It's impossible to see this band, which got its start busking in the subways of New York, and not think of The Band. With every member of the band taking over vocals throughout the night and blending their rustic voices with an authentic down-home country sound, it felt like you were in the middle of a more sinister, darker "Basement Tapes" session.

The Felice Brothers are undoubtedly part of a rollicking triumvirate of young bands with Old Crow Medicine Show and The Avett Brothers, keeping the Americana movement alive.

Delaware music fans might remember them as the opening act for Bright Eyes at The Grand in Wilmington last year. (The band is on the independent label Team Love, founded by Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst in 2003.)

But their more acoustic-based, more subdued performance in Delaware was nothing like the band as a rabble-rousing headliner, which seemed like they just might have been under the influence of any number of the drugs and alcoholic beverages referenced in their set.

The wild combination of the burly accordion player known only as Christmas, the frantic man alternately holding the fiddle and a washboard named Greg Farley and the transcendent vocals of Ian Felice was almost too much to handle at times.

Here's the top ten moments of The Felice Brothers at The Trocadero:

10. Christmas opening his song "Whiskey in My Whiskey" by saying, "This song is about getting drunk and killing your wife," to a roar of the crowd. And then finishing the song with the verse, "I put some whiskey into my whiskey/I put some heartbreak into my heart/I put my boots on the old dance floor/I put three rounds, Lord, in my Eleanor."

9. Ian Felice's mid-song Beatles reference: "All you need is love. That's what John Lennon said. I believe it! Do you believe it?"

8. The stunned look of security when they saw crowd surfing during "Frankie's Gun" at a concert featuring a flannel-wearing band with a fiddle player.

7. "Buried in Ice," a song on "Yonder Is the Clock." Probably the only song written about Walt Disney's head. And especially the only one that can give you chills.

6. Their inspired cover of Townes Van Zandt's "Two Hands," giving a show filled with downright dark and menacing imagery a silver lining:

I got two hands
I wanna clap my hands together
I got two legs
I wanna dance to heavens door
I got one heart
I gonna fill it up with up Jesus
And I ain't gonna think about trouble anymore

5. Ian Felice leaping onto the bass amp and playing his guitar with the microphone as a slide. I've never seen Robbie Robertson do that!

4. The stone-cold brilliant performance of the song, "The Greatest Show On Earth," with the line, "There's a deer head looking at me/It's blowing my mind away."

3. The understated acoustic opening set by stand-out singer/songwriter Willy Mason. Check his 2007 release, "If the Ocean Gets Rough."

2. Two fans leaping on stage during the night's final song, "Glory Glory," the Felice's homage to The Carter Family's "Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)." The band let the grinning fans take over lead vocals. One of the fans, wearing Christmas' hat, let out an orgasmic shout of pure joy during the final jam: "It's a barn-burner!"

1. Greg Farley closing out "Penn Station" by bravely launching himself into the drum kit, Kurt Cobain-style during the encore. How many kits do they go through each tour?

News Journal Wilmington DE

More Pics from Alexandria April 15

Olivia Dean thank you

Chorelinechiquita thanks for the setlist and video links