On Stage: Robust calendar of live music this weekend

From punk to jazz, there’s something for everyone

By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times

Area music fans who want to enjoy a live concert (or two…or three) are in for a treat this weekend. The calendar of live shows around the area features music in a large range of styles and genres by bands from very diverse locations.

Start with the list of some of the bands set to play the area on March 4. There will be shows by a punk-influenced grunge band from Oakland, California (SWMRS), a psych-pop band from New York (Zuli), an indie-pop sister duo from Indianapolis (Lily and Madeleine) and a hard rock band from Australia (Wolfmother).

Some of the acts set for March 5 are a jazz group from New York (Ben Williams) and an internationally-acclaimed bass player from Australia (Tal Wilkenfeld) while the schedule for March 6 includes a pop band from New York (Sunflower Bean), a singer-songwriter from Philadelphia (Lizanne Knott) and a reggae-influenced band from Orange County, California (Common Kings).

Wolfmother, which will headline a show at the Trocadero (10^th and Arch streets, Philadelphia, 215-922-6888, www.thetroc.com), is a band that is a combination of a band and a solo project by Andrew Stockdale.

The group currently includes vocalist and guitarist Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Ian Peres, and touring drummer Alex Carapetis.  Stockdale’s band had a different line-up when it released its self-titled debut album in 2005.

The “Wolfmother” album has since sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide and won the band a number of industry awards. It was certified Gold in the States, UK and Canada and 5x-Platinum in Australia. Lead single “Woman” hit Top 10 and won a Grammy for “Best Hard Rock Performance.”

Over the years, Wolfmother’s songs have appeared in films (“Shrek,” “Jackass,” “Due Date,” and the trilogy of “Hangover” movies), video games (“Need For Speed,” “MLB: The Show” and “Saints Row”) and television commercials (Apple, Mitsubishi).

Wolfmother is now touring in support of its new album “Victorious,” which released February 19, 2016 through Universal Music Enterprises.

The album was written by Stockdale at his studio in Byron Bay and recorded at legendary Henson Studios in Los Angeles with two-time Grammy winning producer Brendan O’Brien. Stockdale handled vocal, guitar and bass-playing duties on the album with drums split between Josh Freese and Joey Waronker.

“I started working on the album in January 2015,” said Stockdale, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon from a tour stop in Washington, D.C. “I started making demos of all the songs on bass, drum kit and guitar — just banging out ideas and working on them. The mindset was to just have fun — keep it fresh and get some good energy into it — good riffs and strong drumming.

“I spent 13 days in the studio in Australia and then sent the music files to Brendan in Los Angeles. My management hooked me up with Brendan. I just left it in their hands. Brendan got back to me in June and said I had to leave immediately to come there because that was when he was free to work with me.

“I flew to Los Angeles the next day. I didn’t even take my guitar. He said he had 200 guitars at his studio so I didn’t have the need to carry around a guitar.”

Once in L.A., Stockdale and O’Brien got down to business.

“I did the guitar and bass,” said Stockdale. “I was really keen on having Joey Waronker on drums because I like his style. It took a month-and-a-half to finish the album. We did a song every three days. At the end, we worked two weeks straight from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. every day.

“I sent the demos to my band. Ian came over one month into the recording and laid down the keyboard parts. We stayed in L.A. for a few weeks. My daughter wanted to go to Disney World. Then, we came back to Australia.”

Stockdale hails from a part of Australia know for its surfing.

“Some of the finest waves in Australia are in Byron Bay — 200-meter rides,” said Stockdale. “I’ve spent many days catching waves there — being out in the water with dolphins and turtles.”

Stockdale formed the band in 2000 in his hometown of Byron Bay, which is located along the ocean in New South Wales, Australia.

Video link for Wolfmother — https://youtu.be/PZDg_MLmp7M.

The show at the Trocadero, which has Deap Valley as the opening act, will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $28.

SWMRS (pronounced as “Swimmers”) is an American rock band from Oakland, California that will be in Philly on March 4 for a show at the Fire (412 West Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, 267-671-9298, thefirephilly.com).

The group features Cole Becker (lead guitar, lead vocals), Max Becker (bass, lead vocals), Joseph Armstrong (drums, backing vocals) and Sebastian Mueller (bass, backing vocals). Originally known as Drive North, the band released a number of EPs from 2008-2010 and albums in 2011 and 2013.

The rocking quartet’s third studio album — and their first under the name SWMRS — is titled  “Drive North.” It was released on February 12, 2016   on the band’s own label — Uncool Records.

“We recorded the album last summer in Oakland,” said Max Becker, during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon as the band travelled between gigs in North Carolina and Virginia Beach.

“My brother Cole and I write the songs. Once we finish the demos, we bring them to Joey and Sebastien. With the new album, we came into our own with our writing. We got rid of the pop-punk and went more with modern grunge — drums up high and guitars down.

“The reason it sounds so fresh is that the guy who mixed our record — Jeff Ellis — works with hip-hop groups. He’s used to the low end being more important than guitar.”

The foursome’s earlier albums were produced by Billie Joe Armstrong — Green Day’s guitarist/vocalist/songwriter and Joey’s dad.

“Billie Joe produced our first two albums,” said Becker. “It was kind of unsaid that he’s do it. My brother, me and Joey started the band. When we were 10 years old, he was recording our stuff on a four-track.

“For the new album, we had Zac Carper as our producer. He’s the lead vocalist for Fidlar so he understood where we were coming from. Having him do the record definitely helped season us.

“We all have pretty eclectic music tastes. We all listened to Bay Area bands and other bands like the Replacements. And, I’ve always been into bands like Credence Clearwater Revival and Tom Petty.”

“Drive North” is more than just the title of the album and the previous name of the band. It is also a message.

“It’s about having pride in where we’re from,” said Becker. “A lot of time, when people hear our music, they think we’re another band from Southern California. We don’t want to be associated with them. The whole album stems from the ideas that you have pride in your hometown. We’re from Oakland.”

“Drive North” is also a track on the new album — a song with a repeated chorus of “I hate Los Angeles.” It’s all about the guys’ love for their hometown just across the bay from San Francisco — the home of the Raiders, the A’s and SWMRS.

Video link for SWMRS — https://youtu.be/NKbNDIigdlg.

The show at the Fire, which starts at 6 p.m., features a trio of opening acts — The Frights, Spill and Skyline the City. Tickets for the all-ages show are $10.

On February 26, Lily & Madeleine’s new full-length album “Keep It Together” was released on New West Records. Now, the sisters from Indianapolis are on tour supporting the new disc — a tour that brings them to the area for a show March 4 at the World Café Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1400, philly.worldcafelive.com).

Lily & Madeleine’s goal was to release an album-a-year for three years and they’ve done it. “Fumes,” the duo’s second LP, was released October 28, 2014 — 366 days after 2013’s “Lily & Madeleine.” 

The first two albums were put out by Asthmatic Kitty Records. Just over a year after “Fumes,” the Jurkiewicz sisters released “Keep It Together.”

“We started writing the album in January 2105,” said Lily, during a phone interview Wednesday morning from a tour stop in Boston. “We finished it in July. It was a long process. We had written and arranged everything before we went into the studio. We recorded it at a studio in Bloomington, Indiana.”

From the beginning, the sisters’ calling card has been the breathtaking and intuitive union of their voices — and their sisterly, collaborative songwriting.

“We’ve been singing together always,” said Lily. “Our mom is very musical so we’ve been singing together for a really long time. In 2012, we did our first performance when we were still in high school.   We had two sold-out shows at a local venue. It was a lovely time.

“What got us noticed originally were all the cover songs we did videos for and put up on YouTube. With Asthmatic Kitty, what got them interested were our original songs on YouTube.”

After two releases for Asthmatic Kitty, the sisters recorded “Keep It Together” for New West Records.

“We did it in a different process this time,” said Madeleine. “Instead of writing together, we wrote all the songs separately and then brought them to each other. It was interesting to see how that worked out.

 “I don’t know why we decided to do it that way. It just seemed natural. Lily was writing on her own and I was starting to write by myself. Prior to this album, our songwriting was very collaborative.”

Lily said, “You can tell which songs are Madeleine’s and which are mine. My songs are more understated.”

Madeleine said, “The songs that I wrote are more of a narrative. The songs Lily wrote were more imagery-based — stream-of-thought.

“In the studio, we messed around with the songs’ vibes so that each song had its own special feel. We weren’t thinking about what kind of songs they were. Once we had it narrowed down to 10 songs, it was easy to figure out their order on the album.

“The album is also coming out on vinyl. So, there is an ‘A’ side and a ‘B’ side. When you flip it over, you have to think about the re-start. You have to get the energy going again. We’ve wanted to do a vinyl release because vinyl is making a comeback.”

Video link for Lily & Madeleine — https://youtu.be/iStHZStfWqM.

The show at the World Café Live, which has Shannon Hayden as the opener, will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12.

Zuli, an indie/psych-rock band put together by Ryan Camenzuli, will play a show on March 4 at Everybody Hits Philadelphia (529 West Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, 215-769-7500, http://everybodyhitsphila.com).

The band called Zuli is the latest project by Camenzuli, a New York-based songwriter and musician. Zuli has a new EP — “Super Natural Voodoo,” which has yielded a well-received single and video called “Better All the Time.” Zuli’s music is a swirling blend of glam rock, psych-pop and straight-ahead rock.

“I’ve had the band together for about a year,” said Camenzuli, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon from his home in Long Island. “Prior to that, I played in a band called Wild International for a few years. They disbanded so I formed my own band.”

Zuli is now on a nationwide tour in support of the “Supernatural Voodoo” EP. The tour kicks off on in Philadelphia and will take the band from New York City to Washington DC, Nashville, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Seattle, and other stops along the way.

“I have a four-piece band on the road — keys, drums, bass and me on guitar and singing,” said Camenzuli. “When I started the band, I was writing songs and experimenting to see what would work.

“When I write, I keep all the elements in mind — spacey music and strong melodies with choruses behind them. I definitely pay a lot of attention to lead guitar. I’d say all of it comes into play. I focus on a melody and guitar work at the core and then start experimenting.”

“On the latest EP, I recorded it by myself over the course of six months. I have a studio in my house. It’s not big or elaborate but it gets the job done. I’m working on the LP now with the band.”

“We’ve been friends for awhile. It’s been more of a group effort so I brought them into the studio. I’m a couple tracks into the new album. But, I had to re-prioritize with all the touring we’ve been doing.”

Camenzuli recently graduated from Marymount Manhattan where he was a theater major.

“I wanted to round out as a performer so I went to acting school,” said Camenzuli. “But, making music has always been my primary goal — making EPs and albums.

“The album I’m working on now expands on ideas from the EP. All the songs on the EP were very personal. Now, I’m writing about people in my life and universal themes. It’s still pop — but it’s getting harsher.”

Video link for Zuli — https://youtu.be/v0udAqKfnKQ.

The show at Everybody Hits , which starts at 9 p.m., also features Static Mt, Souldiers of Soul and RR Perkins. Tickets are $10.

Stanley Clarke Jr. and Christian McBride are two jazz bassists who have achieved international fame as musicians, composers and group leaders. Now, Ben Williams is forging a similar path — a path that could lead to similar heights.

Williams, an accomplished session man in New York, has his own band called Sound Effect. On March 5, Williams and his musicians will perform two shows at Chris’ Jazz Café (1421 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, 215-568-3131, http://www.chrisjazzcafe.com).

“This will be my third or fourth time to play Chris’ over the last few years,” said Williams, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon from his home in New York. “We really enjoy playing there.”

The bassist and his band are touring behind his most recent album “Coming of Age,” which features Marcus Strickland (tenor and soprano saxophones), Matthew Stevens (electric guitar), Christian Sands (piano), and John Davis (drums).

Williams, who plays upright bass and electric bass, actually got his start in music on another instrument.

“My first instrument was piano when I was about seven,” said Williams. “I grew up in a pretty musical household. My parents were into soul music from the 60s and 70s so there was always music playing in the house. My brother and I were listening to Prince and Michael Jackson.

“I started playing bass when I was 11. I grew up in D.C. and took art classes and music classes in school. They had a jazz program in middle school when I was 11 and that’s what got me started. When I first heard jazz, it was always a hands-on experience because I was learning to play it.

“My teacher gave me a cassette tape with two albums on it — Miles Davis’ ‘Kind of Blue’ and Charles Mingus’ ‘Blues & Roots.’ It’s hard to put into words the feelings I got from listening to those albums. A new world opened up for me. It awakened my curiosity.

“I thought — whatever these guys are doing, I want to do that. My mom had a couple Mingus albums that I found and played. And, I went to Tower Records to find more jazz music.”

Williams discovered jazz and he was hooked.

“UI wrote my first tune during my senior year in high school,” said Williams, who has lived in New York for the last eight-and-a-half years. “But, I didn’t really start to write until I was in college. I also put together a couple bands when I was in college.”

In 2009, Williams won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Bass Competition as judged by Ron Carter, Charlie Haden, Dave Holland, Robert Hurst, Christian McBride, and John Patitucci. The honor included a recording contract with Concord Records through which he released his debut album “State of Art” in 2011.

“It really started to take off when I formed my own band after the Monk Competition,” said Williams. “I did my first gig as a bandleader. I started writing original compositions and discovering m voice as a composer.

“For me, composer, bassist and bandleader exist in the same world and serve the same purpose. As a leader, I could explore compositions. I started to get a feel for what I really wanted to say as a musician. That informed the way I play.

“Composition — it comes from you and invokes a lot of soul-searching. Composing for a band has helped me as a bass player. I have my own band and I have them in mind when I’m composing and arranging.

“I compose on piano but a lot of my ideas come from my voice. I use voice memo on my phone a lot. My voice recorder is filled with random sounds.”

Video link for Ben Williams — https://youtu.be/I5_okFr-vDc.

The shows at Chris’ Jazz Café are scheduled for March 5 and 8 and 10 p.m. Tickets for either show are $25.

Sunflower Bean, which will play on March 6 at Kung Fu Necktie (1248 North Front Street, Philadelphia, 215-291-4919, kungfunecktie.com), has been getting noticed lately. Last month, the New York-based band was the subject of a story in Rolling Stone and a few days ago the foursome was the feature of an MTV interview.

The group, which includes drummer Jacob Faber, bassist Julia Cumming and guitarist Nick Kivlen, is now out on tour in support of its new album ‘Human Ceremony,” which was released on Fat Possum on February 5.

“We’ve been together for two-and-a-half years,” said Cumming, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon as the band was travelling through Canada on its way to a show in Detroit.  “We tried to do the album a couple different ways. We made demos of different songs.

“Once we started working with Matt (producer Matt Molnar), he was able to help us organize ourselves. We recorded the album in Brooklyn in August and did 11 tracks in seven days. We did a lot of pre-production — three months of preparing songs and formatting them.”

Faber said, “Some of the songs we had been playing live for a year. Some were new and had never been played live. A lot of it was trying to figure out how to make them work in a studio setting.

“I think lyrically the album can be interpreted many different ways. People can come up with their own meanings. The instrumental part is more universal. We have about five or six songs we’re working on for the next album. They still sound in the same vein — but we’re progressing.”

The three band members all have their roots in classic rock — from the Velvet Underground to the Beach Boys to T. Rex. They also all have their roots in New York — Cumming is from the East Village while the other two grew up in Long Island.

“Me and Jacob went to high school together,” said Kivlen. “I was playing in another band. Our drummer went off to college and Jacob joined the band. We jammed a lot together and decided to put a band together. We knew Julia from the New York music scene and asked her to join. Julia and I do all the vocals.”

Sunflower Bean spent most of February touring Europe. The trio started its stateside tour on February 25 at the Bowery Ballroom in New York and will be on the road until the tour’s final show in Pittsburgh on April 9. The band has played Philly a few times already with shows at Boot & Saddle.

“We’re excited to be playing Kung Fu Necktie,” said Cumming. “We’ve heard a lot of good things about that club.”

Video link for Sunflower Bean — https://youtu.be/8RplDJ08s8Y.

The show at Kung Fu Necktie, which has Honduras and Cold fronts as the opening acts, will start at 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.

If you’re up for a full musical meal on March 6, you could sandwich the Sunflower Bean show between a pair of shows at the World Café Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1400, philly.worldcafelive.com) — Lizanne Knott at 1 p.m. and Common Kings at 8 p.m.

Knott’s show is a “CD Release Brunch” — and a great deal for fans. Tickets for the matinee show are $15 and include a signed copy of her soon-to-be-released album “Excellent Day,” which will be out on April 8.

A longtime mainstay of the Philadelphia music scene, Knott is also the managing partner of Grammy Award-winning MorningStar Studios in East Norriton. She has performed at some of the most prestigious listening venues, theaters and concert halls throughout the United States, United Kingdom and Europe.

“Most of my audience is in the U.K.,” said Knott , during a phone interview Wednesday morning from her office at MorningStar. “I’m touring the states a lot this year but I’ll also be in Scotland in June and in the U.K. in October. “

Knott has other local shows coming soon including “Songwriters in the Round” on April 2 at Trinity Presbyterian Church (640 Berwyn Ave, Berwyn) and a show with special guest Katherine Rondeau on April 7 at the Mermaid Inn (7673 Winston Road, Chestnut Hill).

“I started writing for this album two years ago,” said Knott. “I finish one album and then start writing for the next one. I started working in the studio in fall/winter 2014/2105. Some of the vocals were cut in Nashville at Studio Z with Saul Zonana. The rest were all done at my studio with Glenn Barratt producing.”

Philadelphia music legend Jef Lee Johnson, who passed away unexpectedly three years ago, had a big influence on Knott’s new album.

“The passing of Jef affected me greatly,” said Knott. “It was a life-changer because he was my go-to person for everything. I was greatly influenced by his spirit and his music. He did a lot of touring and it nailed him. He died from complications from pneumonia.”

Knott followed her usual M.O. when it was time to make the new album.

“I usually get all my writing done and then record everything together,” said Knott. “I bring my players in for a few days. As always, I used Philly musicians. I finished it up February 2015. It took a year to come out because I’m part owner of a recording studio and that takes up a lot of my time.

“With this album, I went back to my jazz roots — Delta Blues, New Orleans soul and other roots music. I’m by no means a jazz musician but these have all been influences on my music. I’m moving back to what I originally started to do.

“I’m playing with a great band — upright bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums and trumpet. This Sunday’s brunch show with the free CD is just kind of a thank you to my fans.”

Video link for Lizanne Knott — https://youtu.be/vzveKgyJAmk.

The Common Kings are a multi-cultural pop/rock band with vocals inspired by soul music and a heavy reggae influence. The four band members have island roots but none are from Jamaica — or even the Caribbean.

All four have Polynesian roots —  guitarist Taumata Grey (Samoa), bassist Ivan Kirimaua (Fiji/Kiribati), drummer Jerome Taito (Tonga) and lead singer Sasualei “JR King” Maliga (Samoa/Hawai‘i). They all live now in Orange County, California.

“The band started a few years ago,” said Kirimaua, during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon from a tour stop in Pensacola, Florida. “We met through mutual friends. We all got together at my house in Newport Beach at a barbecue and started jamming. We’re Pacific Islanders and we all stick together.”

Taito said, “We actually started just jamming. After that, we learned a few songs. We got offered a gig at a luau at San Diego State University. From there, we started doing cover gigs.

“About four years ago, we became Common Kings. As Common Kings, we became more committed to our own music. It’s ‘feel good’ music — a true representation of who we are. Everything is all about feeling good and having a good time. We do a lot of songwriting.”

Grey said, “Obviously, our Polynesian families and friends supported us in the beginning. Then, it gradually moved to a wider audience and a wider variety of people — white, black, Asian and Hispanic. And, we’ve picked up a younger audience.”

A major factor in the addition of younger fans has to be the band’s last two tours. Common Kings just came off tour as direct support to Justin Timberlake and just completed a tour with platinum girl group 5th Harmony.

Common Kings are riding high with the independent success of over 350,000 downloads of their EP’s and singles. They will release their debut album later in 2016 via their own label Island Empire.

“We recorded the EP ‘Hits and Mrs.’ early last year,” said Maliga. “We’ve been working on our album for about a year now. The album is pretty much done. There are a couple more songs we have to cut when we get back. The problem is that we’re on the road a lot. We’re out on this tour until the end of March and we have a couple more tours coming up this year.”

Video link for Common Kings — https://youtu.be/PK3l2o5Gcj0.

The show at the World Café Live will start at 8 p.m. with Tomorrows Bad Seeds as the opener. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 day of show.

The Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org) will host Jane Lee Hooker with Vinyl Artifacts on March 3, Soften The Glare and Downingtown School Of Rock House Band on March 4, Beatlemania Again on March 5, Open Mic with guest host Butch Zito on March 6 and Corey Glover (from Living Colour) on March 8.

The Steel City Coffee House (203 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, 610-933-4043, www.steelcitycoffeehouse.com) will host Dann Pell on March 3, Barleyjuice Trio on March 4 and the Fallen Troubadours and Jonathan Monument on March 5.

Chaplin’s (66 North Main Street, Spring City, 610-792-4110, http://chaplinslive.com) will host Glass Eyed Ghost, Danny Justice and Chemical Waste Land on March 4 and Rofo Audio on March 5.

The Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, 610-649-8389, www.ardmoremusic.com) will have Splintered Sunlight with special guest Still Hand String Band on March 4, Tal Wilkenfeld on March 5, “David Stone: The Johnny Cash Experience” on March 6 and Pitchblak Brass Band on March 9.

Doc Watson’s Public House (150 North Pottstown Pike, Exton, 610-524-2424, www.docwatsonspublichouse.com) will present Brazen on March 5.

Valley Forge Casino (1160 First Avenue, King Of Prussia, 610-354-8118, www.vfcasino.com) will present The Rockets on March 5 at The Vault.

Burlap & Bean Coffeehouse (204 South Newtown Street Road, Newtown Square, 484-427-4547, www.burlapandbean.com) will present Charlie Phillips and John Childers on March 4, and Tin Bird Choir and Everything Turned to Color on March 5.

The Keswick Theater (291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, 215-572-7650, www.keswicktheatre.com) presents The Musical Box on March 4 and 5, Rachelle Ferrell and Carol Riddick on March 6 and TheatreWorks USA Presents “Miss Nelson is Missing” on March 8.

The Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com) will have Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas on March 3, Selwyn Birchwood & Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials on March 4, Jesse Cook Band on March 5, and Oak Ridge Boys on March 6.

The Grand Opera House (818 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-652-5577, www.thegrandwilmington.org) will present the Russian national Orchestra on March 4 and Pinkalicious on March 5.