WELCOME TO THE PONY

Tal Wilkenfeld at The Stone Pony on Sunday, June 9th, 2019

Tickets: $22 in advance (plus applicable surcharges), $25 at the door

Love Remains, Tal Wilkenfeld’s debut solo album for BMG, is a testament to the celebrated bassist’s unconventional journey.While a dedicated fan base may already know Tal for her work with Jeff Beck, Prince, The Allman Bros., Herbie Hancock and Mick Jagger, Love Remains reveals a new side of Tal as a songwriter and singer with skills on par with her legend-in-the making musicianship. This new album’s 10 song collection displays the Australian-born, LA-based musician as a talented vocalist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. The album was co-produced by Tal and Paul Stacey (Oasis, The Black Crowes) and features guitarist Blake Mills, keyboardists Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) & Zac Rae (Death Cab For Cutie) and drummer Jeremy Stacey.

Tal’s range of talents is on full display, and she achieves a stunning balance between instrumental prowess and exquisite song craft. Jackson Browne, who offered creative guidance throughout the process of making the album, was executive producer.With few models of an instrumentalist turned singer-songwriter, Tal has broken extraordinary new ground. As Jackson Browne acknowledged,“I can’t think of another instrumentalist that has ventured into the area that Tal now has, when it comes to writing and singing songs from her own experience.”“I began singing and writing songs with words when I first picked up a guitar at 14,” said Tal. “When I arrived in the States a couple of years later, I quickly became fixated on guitar and then the bass and I stepped away from lyric writing. My bass became both my weapon and my shield, but that ran its course. That’s when I began writing song with lyrics again and creating this album.”After relocating stateside from her native Sydney, Australia at just 16-years-old, Tal made believers of rock royalty and fans with her uncommon combination of melodic sensibilities and technical prowess.

Following the release of her instrumental debut, Transformation, Bass Player magazine’s readers’ choice poll in 2008 named her “The Year’s Most Exciting New Player,” and iconic bassist and producer Don Was presented her the publication’s 2013 “Young Gun Award.”Determined to transition into the singer-songwriter role, Tal began writing what would become ‘Love Remains.’ She also lined up club gigs with her own band, debuting as lead vocalist on her own songs. Later, in her first week opening for The Who, Tal introduced the record by way of the first single “Corner Painter,” a powerful mix of intertwined baritone guitars and impassioned vocals matched by undeniable rock energy, which was also featured on Judd Apatow’s Netflix series, Love.“Haunted Love” showcases a soul-bearing vocal performance in which Tal accompaniesherself via beguiling, arpeggiated chords on a capoed 5-string bass with an orchestra to heighten the reflective lyrics: “No, you didn’t know about the ghosts left inside of me. Feeling so alone in the midst of this uncertainty.”

As Pete Townshend remarks,“Haunted Love is truly a great song, touching, moving, and employs her two skills-her voice and bass. It’s stupidly great. She’s created a masterpiece.”Love Remains suggests, as Tal has said, “the abiding presence of love…or the remnants should it fail.” She’s written a confronting album that alludes to a complex and tragic romance. “The way to diminish darkness is by shining a light on it. That’s what’s so beautiful and rewarding about music.”

Ones to Watch Presents:
lovelytheband – the finding it hard to smile tour
with New Dialogue and latewaves

Tickets: $20 in advance (plus applicable surcharges)

Music gives a voice to those who need it when they need it the most. Our favorite artists say the difficult things out loud, so we don’t have to — but can learn how to.

By the same token, lovelytheband translate emotions, anxieties, and feelings into lush, layered, and lively indie pop anthems. When the band was founded by lead singer Mitchy Collins, guitarist Jordan Greenwald and drummer Sam Price in 2017, the trio maintain a lasting connection to listeners by holding nothing back.

“I really believe the importance of songwriting is saying something when someone else doesn’t know how to,” affirms Mitchy. “In the songs, I’m talking about life, trials, tribulations, depression, anxiety, and shit I deal with as well as the headaches that come along with the good and bad days. My problems don’t define me, but we should embrace every side of who we are. The message is, ‘Everything will be fine.'”

This message immediately resonated among audiences everywhere. A centerpiece of the everything I could never say… EP, the group’s debut single “broken” caught fire as “the longest running #1 track on Alternative Radio thus far in 2018” with six weeks at the top. In under a year, it amassed 25 million total global streams. BuzzFeed summed it up as “So. Damn. Good.” Billboard proclaimed the group among “10 Rock & Alternative Artists to Watch in 2018” as they supported Vance Joy and AWOLNATION on tour between headlining dates everywhere. Everything paved the way for the arrival of the band’s first full-length, finding it hard to smile [RED MUSIC]. Produced by “broken” collaborator Christian Medice, these 16 tracks entrance, engage, and enchant, offsetting shimmering keys, sweeping synths, and spacey guitars with cathartic, compelling, and catchy choruses.

The title speaks directly to its thematic push-and-pull.

“finding it hard to smile touches on my life,” says Mitchy. “There are days when it’s hard to even walk out of my front door or get out of bed. So, you find the will to power through, call on your friends, and rely on loved ones to pick you up when you’re down and bring magic out of you. A lot of the record is about embracing who you are as well as dealing with relationships, breakups, nostalgia, and unrequited love. It’s really introspective for me.”

They preceded the album’s release with the single “these are my friends,” which quickly cracked 2 million streams worldwide. Wound up by faint guitar and a chant, “These are my friends, these are my friends, I love them,” the track crescendos towards an ambitious arena-ready hook.

“I was walking around Los Angeles one day thinking,” he recalls. “I left a party where I had a really good time at. Right after, I wrote the main lyric in my phone. I held onto it for a little while, but it eventually turned into a song about wanting love and wanting to fit in. I brought it to the guys in the studio, and they really took it to the next level. It becomes a lovelytheband song when everyone is on it.”

Whether it’s the feedback buzz and 808 rush of “pity party” or orchestral ambiance on “alone time,” the soundscapes mirror the emotional ebb and flow encoded in the lyrics. Elsewhere, the intimate “maybe i’m afraid” unveils an infectious confession as the band admits their fears without filter.

“It’s one of my proudest moments as a songwriter,” says the frontman. “It turned into the story of relationship. You’re in it. You know things are beautiful, but you’re scared to commit to the other personal. I think a lot of people struggle with the same thing. It feels relatable.”

As they round out 2018 on a headlining tour and hitting the stages of Lollapalooza, the Billboard Hot 100 Festival, and more, lovelytheband’s voice will only get dramatically louder.

It might just make crowds feel better too…

“I hope when you listen to it, you can find some solace or reassurance,” Mitchy leaves off.

“Maybe you didn’t know how to communicate something aloud, and it helps for us to talk about it. Hearing it might inspire you to make a move. Music moved me and gave me a little hope as a kid. I hope you can take away something from this in the same way my favorite records helped me. That would be my biggest goal with lovelytheband.”

Max Weinberg’s Jukebox

Performing more than 80 shows so far throughout 2017 and 2018 Max Weinberg’s Jukebox continues to barnstorm the country, blasting out the hits!

Audiences have thoroughly embraced the idea of picking and calling out the songs the band plays—in real time and in a variety of intimate venues. From Beatles to Bruce and Stones to Steppenwolf the band infuses these classics with the respect the songs deserve. As one fan said, “It’s not a concert—it’s party! The bar was packed!”

But don’t take our word for it. Here’s what Marc Steczyk, director of the Lincoln Amphitheater, in Indiana, had to say: “Max Weinberg’s Jukebox was one of the most interactive, energetic performances that we’ve ever had at the Lincoln Amphitheater! Max, literally, leaves the stage to be amongst the crowd—his fans—and lets them pick the set list from a scrolling list of 300+ songs…and they play it…on the spot…spot on! Max is a pro’s pro, as was his entire band—tremendously professional to work with and a great asset to our entire performance series!”

The Growlers

From their first LP Are You In or Out? (2009) to their latest LP Casual Acquaintances (2018), The Growlers have forged their own twisted path on the global music scene. They’re the party band that grew into a traveling circus that spawned their own hit event, Beach Goth. Lead singer Brooks Nielsen draws a particular devotion among Growlers fans, as does chief cohort Matt Taylor, The Growlers’ music director and lead guitarist. The band’s 2016 LP, City Club, produced by Julian Casablancas, saw them expand their palette to include West African, dance and electronic influences.

plus special guests Tagua Tagua

Tickets: $35 in advance (plus applicable surcharges), $40 at the door