On Stage: A local taste of New Orleans’ music

Local performance calendar loaded with great shows

By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times

Mardi Gras may have ended at 11:59 on February 9 but the Mardi Gras spirit is still going strong in this area with shows by New Orleans bands that are out on the road.

One of those touring acts from the Crescent City is Big Sam’s Funky Nation — a band that will bring its rollicking sound to the area on February 18 for a show at the Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, 610-649-8389, www.ardmoremusic.com).

Big Sam’s Funky Nation plays its own brand of music that has been labeled Noladelic PowerFunk — high-energy music that mixes funk, rock and roll, hip-hop, and jazz into the same New Orleans musical gumbo and then seasons it with rousing brass lines and heavy grooves.

The band’s live performances are legendary — filled with blasts of brass, bursts of electric guitar, and the charisma of Big Sam, a front man who sings, plays, dances, and involves the audience in everything he does. A native of New Orleans, Big Sam first rose to fame as a member of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

“I was in Dirty Dozen for four years,” said Big Sam, during a phone interview last week from his home in New Orleans. “I started Funky Nation a year after joining Dirty Dozen. After awhile, I left the band to pursue Funky Nation full-time. But, I also play with Allen Toussaint’s band. Dirty Dozen does 300 dates a year — Allen Toussaint not that much. In 2007, I really began working Funky Nation a lot. I pursued it full-time.

“I’m the only original left. Our trumpet player — Drew ‘Da Phessah’ Baham — is an honorary original. We went to high school together and have known each other more than half our lives.”

When Big Sam wanted to front his own group, he reached out to some of his favorite players from around New Orleans including Joshua Connelly, Chocolate Milk, Jerry “J Blakk” Henderson and Baham.

“Originally, the Funky Nation was a nine-piece band,” said Big Sam, who had a reoccurring role on HBO’s ‘Treme” between 2010 and 2013. “Eventually, we cut it down to a five-piece — trombone, trumpet, guitar, bass and drums.

“It took two years before I put out a CD. I ended up getting a regular gig every Sunday night at the Funky Butt and fans kept asking for CDs. So, I released ‘Birth of a Nation’ in 2003. I’ve released a single every year since then. My latest album is ‘Evolution.’ We cut it in 2013 and it came out in 2014.

“I call this music Noladelic. I play jazz, funk, Birdland, James Brown — but I like to rock out too. In everything, it’s more and more rock. The next album will lean more to the 80s like Came and The Gap Band. Hopefully, I’ll be going into the studio later this year.”

Video link for Big Sam’s Funky Nation — https://youtu.be/3sHgnf5Wteg.

The show in Ardmore, which has Funky Dawgz Brass Band as the opener, will start at 8 p.m. with tickets priced at $

The Ardmore Music Hall will also host one of the most intriguing shows of the new year on February 21 when Kaki King hits the stage with her innovative performance piece.

Ever since she released her first album “Everybody Loves You” in 2003, King has impressed fans and critics with her intelligent and expressive guitar work. Her latest album “The Neck is the Bridge to the Body” and the accompanying live show has elevated King to a whole new plateau.

King shows herself to be a real visionary on “The Neck Is A Bridge To The Body” as she deconstructs and redefines the role of solo instrumental artist though a tasty combination of virtuoso technique and unlimited imagination. King’s groundbreaking new multi-media performance uses projection mapping to present the guitar as a living work of art as well as a musical instrument.

“I started working on the concept about three years ago,” said King, during a phone interview Wednesday morning from her home in Brooklyn.

“I started looking for lighting design because I thought it would be nice. I found out what projection mapping was. I saw it on the sides of buildings. I thought — can I do this to my guitar. That was the thought that started it all.

“I hooked up with Glowing Pictures and they began the process. I put the guitar on a stand and projections on the guitar and it looked great. There are two different video feeds — in the rear of the stage and on the guitar.”

Luminous visions of genesis and death, textures and skins, are cast onto King’s signature Ovation Adamas 1581-KK 6-String Acoustic guitar customized specifically for this production.

“With the new album, the concept drove the music,” said King. “The music was written for the show and then changed as it went. I’d send a demo and a concept to Glowing Pictures — maybe something like ‘I want to have something that stresses the concept of higher learning and geometrics.’ They’d send images back and then I would change the music to change the visuals.”

On this tour, King is working with video ace Max Bernstein.

“Some of the guitar projections are triggered by the music,” said King. “I’ll play a note and there will be a spiral color on the screen. I have control of everything. The louder I play, the brighter the image.

 “Max has to have input from my guitar for the images to work. Some of the images are videos and photos I’ve made. There is a lot to it. From the original conception and thinking about it to the time we did the first performance was about a year.

“Now, I’m touring and re-learning the show with Max’s input. There are three main things about this show. First, I’m creating what you see. Second, the engineer and I are creating together — and the two of us are also improvising at times. Third, as a guitar player, I can follow the script to improvise. Every part has an element of surprise to it.”

Video link for Kaki King — https://youtu.be/ziPD16xCBBg.

Kaki King’s show will get underway at 7:30 p.m. with opening act Mary Lattimore. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.

Other shows this week at the Ardmore Music Hall are Meshell Ndegeocello, Christopher Tignor, and Rich Medina on February 19), and Turkuaz, and Pimps of Joytime on February 20.

Brooke Waggoner, who will headline a show on February 19 at the World Café Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1400, philly.worldcafelive.com) is a talented singer-songwriter — an artist with a great voice who is dedicated to crafting good songs.

But, on her most recent album “Sveven,” Waggoner’s voice was not the driving force on many of the tunes. The instrumental parts and the overall theme came first.

“I did a majority of the album in 2014 — from start to finish,” said Waggoner, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon from her home in Nashville. “I broke it into chunks. There were two or three songs that I had already. I thought I was going to make an instrumental records with piano and Rhodes.

“Then, I decided to go with lyrics. A lot were instrumentals that I went back and fit lyrics and phrasings around. It was a different approach for me. Things were locked in. I had the piano tracks so I had to work with what was there. It was cool to come up with vocal melodies to fit.”

Waggoner’s music education was a benefit. She was a music and composition major at Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge and recorded some of her songs there with a chamber orchestra.

“I literally put a handful of track on repeat and listened over and over again,” said Waggoner. “I was immersing myself in them day in and day out. I started writing poetry. Content-wise, my mind was already on a certain trajectory. I had topics in my mind that I wanted to write about.

“This is my fourth full-length and my first in my 30s so it’s not quite as angsty as my earlier stuff. I was more comfortable. I was prepared for a lot of it. I was thinking about my son, who is 15 months old now. It was spanning the seasons of life and looking to the future.”

Waggoner frequently performs with her band and at times does gigs as a solo artist.

“I’m out on this tour with a trio — drummer, auxiliary guitar player with bass pedals and I play keyboards and a lot of different keyboard sounds,” said Waggoner.

“We’re playing one song from my first album ‘Fresh Pair of Eyes’ and some B-sides. Everything else is new.”

Video link for Brooke Waggoner — https://youtu.be/s8ckFwQqB2A

The show, which also features Angela Shiek and The Cowards Choir, will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.

The World Café Live will also have Graham Nash (Feb 18 and 19) and Beats and Beats, Brews and BBQ  (Feb 20) on the Downstairs Stage while the Upstairs Stage will host Peter Mulvey with Ladybird  (Feb 18), Rust – Neil Young Tribute  (Feb 20), Peanut Butter and Jams welcomes SteveSongs (Feb 21, Family Concert at 11 a.m.), Monday Jazz Jam  (Feb 22), Philly Rising Open Stage Monthly Showcase  (Feb 23), and Intersect: The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia with Andrew Lipke  (Feb 24).

For many musicians, the stage was set for their careers in music when they were exposed to good music at a young age. Such was the case with Jonah Tolchin, who will headline a show on February 19 at the Tin Angel (20 South Second Street, Philadelphia, 215-928-0770, http://www.tinangel.com).

“My father was always playing music at home,” said Tolchin, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon as he was driving from his home in the Berkshires of Massachusetts to a show in New York City.

“My father’s father worked in a factory in Greenville, Mississippi. My father worked in a record store there so he had a lot of records. When I was growing up, I was just listening to what he was playing.

“When I was around 14, I started picking music from his records to listen to — musicians like Son House, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Eric Clapton, John Prine, Dylan and Jesse Winchester.

“We were living in Princeton, New Jersey. That’s when I started playing guitar. I wasn’t writing songs. I was just playing along with records. I kept practicing and was a sideman in a band called Gentlemen of Leisure and then played in another band called Uncle Fran’s Breakfast.

“I was going to high school in New Hampshire and was looking at going to college at CalArts. But, in the back of my mind, I knew I wasn’t going to do it. I always knew that playing music as a career was what I was going to do.

“After high school, I moved to Rhode Island and was playing open mics there — living what I said I would do. Then, I got asked to play at the Newport Folk Festival in 2012. That was my dreams come true.”

His dreams soon turned into reality.

“After playing a show at the Newport Folk Festival, a lot of doors opened for me,” said Tolchin. “I moved to Washington State. Then, I met Marvin Etzioni and he said he wanted to produce my record.

“We recoded my debut album ‘Clover Lane’ in 2012 and 2013 and then I signed with Yep Roc Records. ‘Clover Lane’ got good reviews. I recorded my new album ‘Thousand Mile Night’ in 2015at Fame Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. It will come out later this year on Yep Roc.

“I’m playing a lot of songs from the new album in my live show but I’m also saving a few songs to keep them fresh. I don’t mind stuff getting out early. We play about 60/40-new/old. But, most of the time, we don’t even have a set list. For the shows right now, it’s a duo with Danny Roman on guitar and me on guitar.”

Video link for Jonah Tolchin — https://youtu.be/tpQ0g4MY_Zs.

The show at the Tin Angel, which has Elison Jackson and Lily Mae as opening acts, will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12

Ron Pope has been around the block a few times in his musical career. He has a solo career that has spanned a decade and resulted in more than 10 critically-acclaimed albums. Pope has had two songs placed on the “So You Think You Can Dance” TV show and he was featured in the season three premiere of “The Vampire Diaries.” He also guest starred in an episode of the television series “Nashville.”

But, nothing has brought the veteran musician more pleasure and satisfaction than his latest project — Ron Pope and the Nighthawks. The Nashville-based septet,whch has just released its self-title debut,  will visit the area on February 20 for a show at the Trocadero (10^th and Arch streets, Philadelphia, 215-922-6888, www.thetroc.com).

 “This band — and the new album — is head-and-shoulders above what I’ve ever done before,” said Pope, during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon from his home in Nashville. “It’s a love letter to American music.

“We started recording the album in April 2014 and finished it in May 2015. We started recording it in Georgia and then continued recording a bunch of shows. I wanted to record the whole thing on the road. But then, we went into a studio in New York and spent another couple months on it. We had over 150 sings and recorded about 40 of them.”

The recording began in Lake Blue Ridge, Georgia followed by a loft in Louisville and finished up at The Magic Shop in New York. The album was co-produced by Pope and Grammy Award winner Ted Young, who is known for his work with The Rolling Stones, Kurt Vile and Grace Potter.

The Nighthawks’ line-up features Paul Hammer (guitar, keyboards), Alex Foote (guitar), Andrew Pertes (bass), Alex Brumel (guitar, dobro, banjo, pedal steel guitar, harmonica, tenor sax), Alan Markley (keyboards, accordion, trumpet), Michael Riddleberger (drums) and Pope (guitar, keyboards).

“The biggest difference between this and the stuff I’ve done before was the collaborations we have here with this band — just having the ability to trust all these guys,” said Pope. “The idea at first was just for these guys to come out on tour and back me up. I put in my calls to my first-choice players. I called and the stars aligned because they all were able to come on tour.

“I decided to write some songs that could showcase all these guys’ singing ability. The first song was ‘White River Junction,’ which was a place to stack all this harmony. After awhile, we naturally transitioned into being a band.

 “It’s taken a lot of time and a lot of hard work — all of us putting so much of ourselves into it. Everybody shared a great deal of themselves like on the song ‘Take Me Home.’ We all took our turns being the central focus. Every guy in this band is a monster player and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Video link for Ron Pope and the Nighthawks — https://youtu.be/59s2JwVeISQ.

The show at the Troc, which also features Truett and Jonathan Tyler, will start at 7:30 p.m. with tickets priced at $17 and $20.

The Humble is a popular band from Bangkok that had a huge hit in Thailand with a song called “ชนะเลิศโครงการสานฝันต้นกล้า.” This not the same band called The Humble that is playing on February 21 at Fillmore Philadelphia (1100 Canal Street, Philadelphia, 215-309-0150, www.thefillmorephilly.com) on its stage at The Foundry.

The Humble that will be performing in Philly is a band from the Philadelphia area. Originally known as Mo Lowda & The Humble, it features three alumni of Pennsbury High in Lower Bucks County who gelled as a band during their Temple University days. The Humble’s line-up is Jordan Caiola (vocals, guitar), Shane Woods (drums) and Nate Matulis (bass).

“We’ve been playing together for six years — serious about it for three,” said Caiola, during a phone interview last week. “We started when we were back in high school at Pennsbury and got more serious when we were in college. After we released our first album ‘Curse the Weather’ in 2013, we started touring.

“We played Philly a bunch to grow a following and also were doing shows in New York and Boston. Our first real tour was of the Northeast and Midwest and our second was of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. This tour starts in Nashville and then comes to the Northeast for release shows for our new EP.”

The Humble’s new EP “Act Accordingly” will be released on March 11 via Mile-Long Records.

“We’ve changed a decent amount since our first album,” said Caiola. “On the first album, we had a lot of songs theta were four or four-and-a-half minutes. Now, we get to the point quicker.

“The new ones have interesting song structures. We’ve tried to refine our sound. We don’t do typical verse-chorus-bridge stuff. The new songs have trap doors. They shift moods. We’ve definitely been thinking outside the box.

“We recorded the album in August and September at Headroom Studios in Philadelphia. I work as an assistant engineer there. It was a comfortable place for us to make the EP. It was half analog and half digital dubs. It’s a short release so we wanted to make five good songs.

“We’re getting ready to start on a new album but the EP will stand on its own. We have 20 or more songs ready to go right now that we’ve been working on. We’ll try to whittle it down to nine or 10 for the next album.

“On this tour, we play four or five new songs from the EP along with some other unreleased material. We’re also playing about half the songs from ‘Curse the Weather.’ We’re doing 14 shows on the tour and Philly will be the final show.”

Video link for The Humble — https://youtu.be/iezwoGMNNC4.

The show at the Foundry, which has Commonwealth Choir and the Pine Barons as openers, will start at 8 p.m. Tickets for the show are $13.

Other upcoming shows at the Foundry are PhillyBloco (Feb 19), Awesomefest (Feb 22), Kaleo (Feb 23) and Finish Ticket & Vinyl (Feb 24).

The Kickback, which will perform on February 24 at Kung Fu Necktie (1248 North Front Street, Philadelphia, 215-291-4919, www.kungfunecktie.com),  is a Midwest indie rock band put together a few years ago by Billy Yost.

Currently based in Chicago, the band has its roots in South Dakota .The present line-up features guitarist Jonny Ifergan, bassist Eamonn Donnelly, drummer Ryan Farnham and vocalist/guitarist Yost. The band’s debut LP “Sorry All Over The Place” was released on September 18, 2015 via Jullian Records.

Yost seemed destined to be a rocker from a young age.

“I have five older brothers — an Irish-Catholic family — and they all played in bands,” said Yost, during a recent phone interview. “It just seemed that paying in a band was something you do.

“Technically, The Kickback started at the University of South Dakota. I had songs so I put out flyers and got a band together. But, it really didn’t start until I got to Chicago in 2009 and out a band together there. Before that, there were various rambling incarnations. The four of us in the present line-up have been together for a little over two years.”

The album was recorded by Jim Eno, a producer who is also the drummer of the band Spoon. It was made at Eno’s studio Public Hi-Fi in Austin, Texas.

“It took a long time to get the album out,” said Yost. “We recorded it and then were in a weird transitional era — just touring and working to save up to tour some more. The songs had been ready for s long time. It took two years for it to play out the way I wanted it to.

“We chose to work with Jim (Eno) because of his work with Spoon and in the studio. Jim came to Chicago to hear us practice. Then, he decided he was down to make the record. It was a pretty surreal experience.

“The sound Spoon gets on their records stacks up against any band. The sounds are great. It’s not in vogue to care about all the little parts but I take them seriously. I think we slave over minute tiny parts of songs like Spoon does.”

Yost and his band mates are serious about their music but not about making serious music.

“At our heart, we’re really a rock band,” said Yost. “There aren’t many bands trying to make a really good rock song. Too many bands have genres with names in front of rock. I don’t care about genres. I just want to make good songs that people can dance to.”

Video link for The Kickback — https://youtu.be/dfhpop9sAEE.

The show at Kung Fu Necktie will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $6.

The Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennett-flash.org) will present Stand Up Comedy Night at The Kennett Flash with Chip Chantry, Mike Logan, Rachel Fogletto, Lou Misiano, T.J. Hurley on February 18, Kenny Thompson & Friends on February 19, Mercury Radio Theater and Mojo Stu on February 20 and Open Mic with host Greg McCarthy on February 21.

The Steel City Coffee House (203 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, 610-933-4043, www.steelcitycoffeehouse.com) will host Hemming, Up The Chain, and Howlish on February 18, Dirk Quinn and Michael Ronstadt on February 19 and John Eddie & His Bandon February 20.

Chaplin’s (66 North Main Street, Spring City, 610-792-4110, http://chaplinslive.com) will have Slave Dog, Space Caravan and Paige Bergenon February 19 and Jefferson Berry & The UAC along with Sarah and The Arrows on February 20.

Doc Watson’s Public House (150 North Pottstown Pike, Exton, 610-524-2424, docwatsonspublichouse.com) will present Flipside on February 19 and Chatterband on February 20.

Burlap & Bean Coffeehouse (204 South Newtown Street Road, Newtown Square, 484-427-4547, www.burlapandbean.com) will have The Rent-A-Cops on February 19 and Hot Club Philly on February 20.

The Block Entertainment Center at Harrah’s Philadelphia (777 Harrah’s Boulevard, Chester, 484-490-1800, /www.caesars.com/harrahs-philly) is presenting a concert on February 19 featuring Bulletboys.

The Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com) will have Ladysmith Black Mambazo on February 18, Live at the Fillmore on February 19, Eric Bazilian’s Cavalcade of Stars on February 20, and Leon Russell on February 21.

Theatre of the Living Arts (334 South Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1011, http://www.lnphilly.com) will host St. Lucia with Tigertown (Feb 19), Box of Rain: Essential Grateful Dead (Feb 20), and Jadakiss (Feb 23).

Boot and Saddle (1131 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 215-639-4528, www.bootandsaddlephilly.com) will present Hound with Friendship Commanders, Jackie Thousand (Feb 18), Ghastly City Sleep with Trophy Wife, and Meddlesome, Meddlesome Bells (Feb 19), Palmas with The Teen Age, and The Pretty Greens (Feb 20), and The Whips (Tape Release Show!) with Louie Louie, and Wild Jim Banfill Group (Feb 21).

Union Transfer (1026 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, 215-232-2100, www.utphilly.com) will host Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Lower Dens

(Feb 18), Animal Collective and Ratking (Feb 19), The Loved Ones, Cayetana, and Little Big League (Feb 20), and Josh Ritter And The Royal City Band and Elephant Revival

(Feb 21).

The Annenberg Center (3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-898-3900, AnnenbergCenter.org) will present Cyrille Aimee on February 19 and Daddy Mack Blues Band on February 20.

The American Music Theatre (2425 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster, 800-0 648-4102, www.AMTshows.com) will present Mark Lowry on February 20 and 21.