Category Archives: Music

All the things you need to know about Pittonkatonk 2019

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A post shared by Pittonkatonk (@pittonkatonk) on Apr 21, 2019 at 2:26pm PDT

Saturday, May 11, 2019, is the annual Balkan brass band festival in Schenley Park. It is one big, bad, brass band potluck and it is all FREE.

While Pittonkatonk happens one day a year, there are a lot of great things that happen the other 364 days a year to lead up to the festival.

Here are a few of the articles about this year’s festival that are worth your time.

Pittonkatonk is more than a music festival // Downstream
Los Mirlos kicks off their first ever US tour at Pittonkatonk // Very Local Pittsburgh – psychedelic cumbia band from Pero kicks off their first ever US tour in Pittsburgh.
A guide to the Pittonkatonk Youth Showcase // Very Local Pittsburgh – learn more about how Pittonkatonk has helped to facilitate collaborations between bands and high-school students.
What separates Pittonkatonk from all the other Honks // Post-Gazette
Pittonkatonk takes a distinctly noncorporate festival approach // Trib

Here is a quick overview of Pittonkatonk…

Chicano Batman is bringing Los Angeles Sound to Pittsburgh on April 2

Last month, on a cold, Monday morning I was driving to work and heard a catchy tune on 90.5 WYEP. The song “Friendship (Is A Small Boat In A Storm)” by Chicano Batman has been stuck in my head and even earned a spot on my everyday Spotify playlist. WYEP featured this song as part of new music Monday, timely as Chicano Batman released a new album, Freedom isn’t Free, at the beginning of March. The Los Angeles based band is now on tour with a stop in Pittsburgh on Sunday, April 2, 2017 at James Street Gastropub.

The song “Friendship (Is A Small Boat In A Storm)” is the kind of catchy tune that you want to hear on a Monday morning or an afternoon of running errands. Both the name of the song and the word Batman stuck with me. I think I associate Batman with Pittsburgh and thanks to @WYEPplayed it was easy for me to find the name of the song later that afternoon.

The quartet have been getting a lot of press since the release of their new album:

LA Weekly – Chicano Batman Bring the Sounds of Latino L.A. to the Rest of America
LA Times – Chicano Batman takes on the 800-pound gorilla with ‘Freedom Is Free’
NPR: All Things Considered – Chicano Batman: A Sound And Vision That Could Only Come From Los Angeles

While I do love Pittsburgh, I will admit that I have quite a crush on the city of Los Angeles. I’ve had the good fortune of making a few visits there of the past decade or so and I am always eager to go back. Los Angeles has a bit of reputation from its Hollywood side, but if you look past the movie stars facade, the city has a grit and authenticity that reminds me a little bit of Pittsburgh.

Not only am I a fan of the Chicano Batman sound, I am also a huge fan of the style. Who doesn’t love a ruffled tuxedo shirt? The band commented on this fashion choice last week in Rolling Stone (Chicano Batman is on the RS list of “10 Artists You Need to Know” for March 2017):

They Say: What about those tuxes? “The Temptations, Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions, Los Freddy’s and all these bands from Venezuela and Latin America were rocking them on the covers of their records in the Sixties and Seventies, so that’s definitely an inspiration,” says frontman Bardo Martinez. “Our bassist, Eduardo [Arenas], was the one who actually suggested, ‘Hey, let’s get suited and booted!’ He threw it down. We’re all aesthetically on that boat, but he’s the one who actually stepped into the vintage shop – and it was a stroke of luck that what he bought fit everybody in the band. Off the rack, man! It’s been 10 years, brother, and we’ve gone through a few of them. We try to keep it classic, man; we try to keep it polyester.”

On April 2, for the very affordable Pittsburgh price of $15 you can listen to Chicano Batman live at the James Street Gastropub.

Chicano Batman w/ 79.5 & SadGirl
Sunday, April 2, 2017
7pm
James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy
Tickets $12-$15
Facebook Event

2016 Three Rivers Arts Festival Main Stage Schedule

It’s June! It’s raining in Pittsburgh. Which means it is time for the Three Rivers Arts Festival. Last year I was so looking forward to seeing Benjamin Booker perform and he was on stage for all of 5 minutes before a torrential downpour that lasted the rest of the evening.

Here is the line up for the main stage for the 2016 Three Rivers Arts festival (this is the big stage in Point State Park aka the Dollar Bank Main Stage).

All of these performances are FREE!

2016 Three Rivers Arts Festival Main Stage Music

Friday, June 3

7:30-9pm // Michael Franti & Spearhead // Follow @michaelfranti

Saturday, June 4

Noon-1pm // The Armadillos // Follow @ArmadillosPitt
2-3pm // South 79
4-5pm // The Allegheny Drifters
6-7pm // Town Mountain // Follow @TownMountain
7:30-9pm // Dave Grisman Sextet // Follow @David_Grisman

Sunday, June 5

7:30-9pm // Ibeyi // Follow @IbeyiOfficial

Monday, June 6

Noon-1pm // Geña y Peña
7:30-9pm // The Mendelssohn Choir and Steve Hackman: Defying Gravity // Follow @stereohideout & @MendelssohnPgh

Tuesday, June 7

7:30-9pm // Leftover Salmon // Follow @leftoversalmon

Wednesday, June 8

7:30-9pm // Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires // Follow @Charles_Bradley

Thursday, June 9

7:30-9pm // Beth Orton // Follow @Beth_Orton

Friday, June 10

7:30-9pm // Guster // Follow @Guster

Saturday, June 11

7:30-9pm // Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra // Follow @pghsymphony

Sunday, June 12

12-1pm // Rhythm ‘n Steel
2-3pm // 4 Wheel City // @4wheelcity
6-7pm // Ruby Amanfu
7:30-9pm // Lake Street Dive // Follow @LakeStreetDive

Thomas Lauderdale & Storm Large of Pink Martini Perform in Pittsburgh

On Monday night, you have a rare opportunity to hear some of Portland’s finest perform here in Pittsburgh. Pink Martini is a little orchestra from Portland that performs around the globe with a sound that The Washington Post describes as “rich, hugely approachable music, utterly cosmopolitan yet utterly unpretentious… it seems to speak to just about everybody.”

Thomas Lauderdale & Storm Large of Pink Martini will be in Pittsburgh performing a show at Club Diesel, the proceeds of this performance will benefit John Fetterman’s campaign for US Senate.

Thomas Lauderdale & Storm Large of Pink Martini
Monday, March 7, 2016
7pm
Club Diesel, South Side
Tickets: $20 online, $25 at the door
Facebook Event

Not only does Pink Martini have rave review from critics and many of my Facebook friends, but Pink Martini also has a bit of political history.

From the Pink Martini Wikipedia page:

In 1994 in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, Thomas Lauderdale was working in politics, thinking that one day he would run for mayor. Like other eager politicians-in-training, he went to every political fundraiser under the sun… but was dismayed to find the music at these events underwhelming, lackluster, loud and un-neighborly. Drawing inspiration from music from all over the world – crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop – and hoping to appeal to conservatives and liberals alike, he founded the “little orchestra” Pink Martini in 1994 to provide more beautiful and inclusive musical soundtracks for political fundraisers for causes such as civil rights, affordable housing, the environment, libraries, public broadcasting, education and parks.

One of the great things about living in Pittsburgh is that sometimes you get an opportunity to see amazing artists perform up close. Last summer, I posted a photo of Sharon Jones performing at Hartwood Acres. Actually, I went back and looked for the post, it was 2012 and I posted this hilarious tweet:

I am changing the name of this blogs to I heart Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings and I will be wearing pink sequins

— I heart PGH (@iheartpgh) August 13, 2012

The next day, I received the following email from my father (one of the things I’ve learned is that if my parents haven’t heard from me, they check the IheartPGH twitter feed to see if I am still alive)…

A couple years ago, our neighbors Jim and Margaret invited us to go see Sharon at Club Cafe on the South Side–they had just seen her at the Monterrey Jazz Festival. Small club as you may know—anyway, somehow I ended up dancing with Sharon during one set—don’t ask–it was all a blur! My bit of Dap Kings trivia.

I am told that Pink Martini usually plays sold out shows for much larger crowds. I can’t promise you will end up dancing with Storm Large, but I am sure it will be a great performance.

Follow:

Mon 3/7 @Stormof69 & Thomas Lauderdale from @Pink Martini Band in #Pittsburgh

Click To Tweet

Beethoven + Coldplay + Pittsburgh Symphony = FUSE@PSO

Earlier this year the Pittsburgh Symphony performed the first in the series of mash-up performances called FUSE@PSO. The next FUSE@PSO performance is Beethoven + Coldplay and takes place on Tuesday, October 6. I had the opportunity to meet Steve Hackman who is the conductor of these performances last week. He is new to Pittsburgh and doing some really interesting things to get more new faces to the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Here is a video of the last FUSE@PSO performace which was a mashup of Brahms + Radiohead:

Steve is eager to meet more Pittsburghers and talk about his work. In the spirit of mashups I am working with Steve to put together a Meet the (Music) Maker event at TechShop this Sunday. Steve will talk more about his work and the FUSE@PSO performances. If you are interested in learning more about Steve, the Pittsburgh Symphony or TechShop, I hope you will stop by on Sunday evening.

Meet the (Music) Maker with Steve Hackman from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Sunday, October 4, 2015
7-9pm
Free – please register at http://bit.ly/1LmYgez

Follow: @TechShopPGH @PGHSymphony @SteroHideout & #FUSE @PSO