Amy LaVere | The Ardent Music Blog

SoundCheck @MinglewoodHall: Amy Lavere – “Stranger Me”

12/23/2011 By Rachel Hurley

Last night we hung out at Minglewood Hall as Lucero and Amy Lavere got ready to play the 2nd Annual Lucero Family Christmas Show. We heard that it might have been their biggest show in Memphis to date (from ticket sales, the show last year at The Levitt Shell was probably their biggest regarding audience numbers, but it was free!)

Anyway, here’s a video we made of Amy Lavere sound checking with her band, joined by John Stubblefield and Rick Steff of Lucero on the title cut to her latest album Stranger Me.

Filed Under: SoundCheck at Minglewood Hall Tagged With: Amy LaVere, Christmas, John Stubblefield, Lucero, Memphis, Memphis Tennessee, Rick Steff, Stranger Me

Song by Song Review: Amy Lavere’s Stranger Me

12/19/2011 By

I remember first seeing Amy Lavere busking on the sidewalk with The Gabe and Amy Show in downtown Memphis. I was immediately struck by such a petite and beautiful young lady slapping the shit out of the upright bass!

The next time I saw her was at a graduation party that both her band and my band were performing at for some wealthy young man. We talked over drinks during breaks about working together at some point. I was honored to work with her on her first two records on Archer Records and we developed a friendship throughout those times.

Her latest record, Stranger Me, is a high mark of her development as a recording artist and a work of sublime beauty. Produced and recorded by Craig Silvey, the mastermind behind Arcade Fire’s grammy winning album of the year, The Suburbs, the record features Amy on upright bass and vocals, Rick Steff on keyboards, David Cousar on guitars, and Paul Taylor on drums. Other contributors included Jonathan Kirkscey and Bobby Furgo (strings), Jim Spake (saxophone), John Stubblefield (bass), and Nahshon Benford (trumpet).

Stream the Indie Memphis Music Sampler 2011

11/14/2011 By

The Memphis Music Foundation has teamed up with Indie Memphis and the Memphis Shelby County Film Commission to create a Memphis music sampler for music supervisors and creative directors. Heartache in Memphis is a compilation of 20 songs available to stream live on SoundCloud.

The sampler features music from Furry Lewis, Grace Askew, Glorie, Trashed Romeos, Chris Milam, Jeffrey James and the Haul, Tiger High, Susan Marshall, The Bo-keys and Amy Lavere.

Indie Memphis Music Sampler 2011 by Memphis Music Foundation

The Warm Up with The Memphis Dawls

09/30/2011 By Rachel Hurley

The Warm Up with The Memphis Dawls [ 22:06 | 50.58 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We were super excited to have our really good friends The Memphis Dawls stop by Ardent Studios today to record an episode of The Warm Up. We’ve been following these ladies’ musical careers for the last half decade and are thrilled about this new incarnation.

You may know Holly Cole from her other project, Holly and the Heathens, Krista Wroten as the violin player in Amy Lavere‘s backing band, and Jana Misener from Giant Bear. And if you live in Memphis and don’t recognize Nahshon Benford’s horn playing, we don’t know where you’ve been the last decade since he plays on just about every Memphis album of note that has been released the last few years!

But even if you’ve never heard of any of their other projects, we urge you to take a listen to The Memphis Dawls. They’re fabulous musicians and so good looking! If you are in Memphis, you can catch them play TONIGHT at Otherlands!

Filed Under: The Warm Up Podcast Tagged With: Amy LaVere, Ardent Studios, Holly Cole, Memphis, Memphis Dawls, Otherlands, Tennessee

Locals Only: Steve Selvidge listens to The City Champs

08/10/2011 By

This band is a supergroup.

I first met Joe Restivo when he was around 16. He was scary good even then, and he’s only gone up from there. George Sluppick and Al Gamble are both absolute masters at their craft, and I feel honored and humbled whenever I get to play with them.

I’ve heard so many bands try to do this sort of thing and just get it so wrong on every level. Well, The Champs get it all right and then some. In The Safe Cracker, Bomar really made a great sounding record on these guys. Set up the mics, get the hell out of the way and let the 1″ 8 track roll. Hell, scuff up the vinyl a little bit and you’d swear you were listening to an old CTI production on your turntable. Yet, even with all of the great throwbacks, the Champs sound super fresh, and really bring a unique heart, grit, grind and beauty to the mix.

Pick Three with Steve Selvidge of The Hold Steady

07/27/2011 By

Steve Selvidge grew up in the Memphis music scene, hearing the folk blues of his father, Sid Selvidge, who performed as Mud Boy and the Neutrons along with Lee Baker, Jimmy Crosthwait, and Jim Dickinson . That pretty much sealed the deal.

He’s been playing guitar, writing and recording music now longer than he can remember and has gone to many places with many bands and people. Highlights of this include Big Ass Truck, The Bloodthirsty Lovers, Secret Service, Amy LaVere and currently; Brooklyn, NY based band The Hold Steady. He lives in Midtown Memphis with his wife and daughter.

Visit Steve’s Myspace Page to hear his music and learn more.

1. Whispering Pines by The Band.

I’ve been obsessed with this track as of late. Great melody, lyrics, and some SERIOUS Garth Hudson action on this one. RIP Richard Manuel.

Miwa Gemini Drops by Ardent Studios to Record The Warm Up Podcast

06/08/2011 By Rachel Hurley

The Warm Up with Miwa Gemini [ 20:48 | 47.61 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Miwa Gemini is one of our favorite finds of the last few weeks. She just released a her beautiful new album Fantastic Lies of Grizzly Rose. And so, of course, we were delighted when we found out that she’d be playing at The Buccaneer Lounge in Memphis with another local chanteuse Amy Lavere TONIGHT!

We became even more excited when Miwa Gemini agreed to stop by Ardent Studios to share a few songs with us. She’ll be touring all summer long so be sure to take a listen to this very intimate acoustic set recorded exclusively for TVD.

Check out our podcast to hear some outstanding live tunes from this outstanding folk songstress! Then download the The Warm Up at Ardent Studios with Miwa Gemini podcast! It’s a free Memphis music download from us to you!

Miwa Gemini met Grizzly Rose while traveling alone in the desert among the Joshua Trees. Grizzly Rose is intimidating, she is a mystery, some even suspect she’s a murderer; but to Miwa Gemini, it’s her combination of fearlessness, flourish and breezy glamour that make Grizzly Rose a worthy focus for her latest album, The Fantastic Lies of Grizzly Rose (Rock Park Records).

Miwa Gemini, who combines a classical music education as a child in Japan with a creative aesthetic she developed studying art and living in New York City, embodies all of Grizzly Rose’s qualities. Her repertoire combines folk-infused lullabies with balmy nocturnes and the melancholy of a dust-bowl carnival.

It was not Miwa’s intention to make her third album to be a “concept” album at all, much less about stories of Grizzly Rose. But as the recording process progressed, it has become clearer (or louder) to Miwa that Grizzly Rose indeed has lots to share.

The Warm Up is music podcast recorded at Ardent Studios. We are thrilled to offer this podcast recorded live in Memphis, Tn as a free music download. You can also subscribe to this podcast via Itunes. We keep the music downloads for this podcast free by generous support from our sponsors. Please visit their sites and purchase their products in order to keep this podcast ad-free.

Filed Under: The Warm Up Podcast Tagged With: Amy LaVere, Ardent Studios, Big Star, Miwa Gemini, Podcast

Locals Only: Krista Wroten Listens to Snowglobe

04/04/2011 By

When I was asked to talk about a favorite local band my brain instantly went into overdrive. Just one?! Really? It was torment. The amount of talent that saturates our little city is superlative to any place I’ve lived, and beats most places I’ve been. So instead I want to talk about my first real Memphis music experience.

A little over 3 years ago, I moved back to Memphis to get my life into some kind of order. I reconnected with some high school friends, Holly Cole being one, and was just dipping my toes into the local scene when SXSW came around. Holly invited me along and of course, I was all about it. Brad Postlethwaite had given her a demo of a few songs off Snowglobe’s upcoming album, A Little More Lived In. After the first listen, we couldn’t get enough. I know, I know. I’m a little late boarding the Snowglobe train, but I made up for lost time. After hearing “Nothing I Can Do” five times in a row, I was in love. It was spring! The weather was glorious, the windows were down, the music was blasting, and we were on our way to be a part of something truly amazing. Memphis had an undeniable presense in Austin that year, and it made me wonder what I had stumbled upon.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Locals Only Tagged With: Amy LaVere, Holly Cole, Jana Misener, Memphis, Recommendation

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