Unless otherwise stated, doors are 1/2 hour in advance of the show, and all seating is General Admission
Sun 2/7 Superbowl Sunday KICK OFF (4:00)
Fri 2/19 Crooked Still
(7:30); Tickets $15 adv | $18 day of show
Crooked Still's genre-bending sound is the combination of five distinctive talents who are not content to limit themselves to any one project or style of music. It is an ensemble effort of inspired music making that moves the band's impossible to pigeonhole style in new directions while honoring their folk roots. "It's hard to pin down our music," bass player Corey DiMario says. "We play improvised old time music, bluegrass, folk and our own songs within the broad context of a string band. Like a lot of today's bands, we have modern and traditional influences that confuse the boundaries. We want to keep blurring those lines to make something all our own." The Boston-based string-band revivalists in Crooked Still recently revamped their lineup, adding fiddler Brittany Haas and cellist Tristan Clarridge. In addition, Crooked Still has made a push toward injecting new energy into its unique approach of performing and reinterpreting traditional music.The captivating and angelic voice of Aoife O'Donovan and the virtuosic solos of banjo master Greg Liszt offer a fresh perspective 'A highly skilled outfit with an ingenious flair for steering traditional music in unexpected directions...rarely have musings about death, misadventure and murder sounded so lovely' - The Boston Globe. To listen to their music, please check out their website at www.crookedstill.com. Tickets are available at the Paradise Box Office and KVNF in Paonia as well as on-line at www.paradiseofpaonia.com.
Sun 2/21 Travis Mann Band
(8:00) tix $12 adv / $15 day of
Though he was born in Lafayette, LA Travis Mann grew up right here amidst the West Elk mountains of the Western Slope of Colorado, in our little town of Paonia, working in the Somerset coal mines, going to school at Mesa State College and honing his musical craft. He was heavily influenced at a young age by the music and songwriting of Hank Williams Sr., soon learning the craft of songwriting for himself. By 2003, Mann was urged to move to Nashville and spent the first year touring with the John Cowan Band as road manager and opening act. Afterwards, Mann formed his own band and has become the house favorites and regulars at the Full Moon Saloon, one of Nashville's historic series of "Lower Broadway" honky-tonks. You can also catch the Travis Mann Band performing across the country in nightclubs, road houses and honky-tonk saloons.
Travis has just finished his second CD release and will be bringing his new band line-up (Joe Fick - upright bass and Matt Lee - lead guitar) with him to Paonia's Paradise Theatre on Sunday, February 21st. Put on your dancing shoes and come on out for a truly authentic Honky-tonk experience.
Thurs 2/25 James McMurtry and The Heartless Bastards
(8:00); Tickets $20 adv | $25 day of show
The Texas native, James McMurtry, has long been known as an astute, clear-eyed observer and concise, no-holds-barred chronicler of the human condition. These recent years have found James McMurtry’s many skills steadily coalescing into an increasingly substantial, formidable whole: the voice, the tunes, the stories and the musicianship have become elementally interwoven to create the inimitable fabric of a distinct, singular artist who’s determined to get to the heart of the matter, shake things up and do whatever it takes to make a difference. In his regular column for Entertainment Weekly, noted author (and passionate rock ’n’ roll enthusiast) Stephen King cited McMurtry as “the truest, fiercest songwriter of his generation.”
The son of acclaimed author Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment), James grew up on a steady diet of Johnny Cash and Roy Acuff records. His first album, released in 1989, was produced by John Mellencamp and marked the beginning of a series of acclaimed projects for Columbia and Sugar Hill. 2005’s Childish Things garnered some of the highest critical praise of McMurtry’s career and spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Americana Music Radio Chart in 2005 and 2006. In September 2006, Childish Things and "We Can't Make It Here" won the Americana Music Awards for album and song of the year, respectively. McMurtry received more Americana Music Award nominations for 2008’s Just Us Kids.
The Washington Post noted McMurtry’s live prowess: “Much attention is paid to James McMurtry's lyrics, and rightfully so: He creates a novel's worth of emotion and experience in four minutes of blisteringly stark couplets. What gets overlooked, however, is that he's an accomplished rock guitar player. At a sold-out Birchmere, the Austin-based artist was joined by drummer Daren Hess and bassist Ronnie Johnson in a set that demonstrated the raw power of wince-inducing imagery propelled by electric guitar. It was serious stuff, imparted by a singularly serious band.”
While he insists that “the majority of the songs are not political,” it’s clear that he’s not even close to abandoning his burgeoning role as a searing political gadfly. Recently, McMurtry has performed to audiences across Europe and has a new album Live in Europe which features fellow Texas songwriting legend Jon Dee Graham.
McMurtry’s own guitar work tends to be overlooked relative to his spectacular tunesmithing, but despite his poor-mouthing — “I can’t afford to pay to have it done, so I had to learn how to do it myself” — it’s a flinty, muscular style perfectly suited to punctuate and emphasize his cogent, acerbic revelations. The core band throughout is McMurtry on guitar, his longtime road band The Heartless Bastards (bassist Ronnie Johnson and drummer Daren Hess) and “guest Bastard” Ian McLagan (The Faces) on keys.
Don’t miss this exceptional artist at an intimate venue. Tickets are on sale at online as well as at the Paradise Box Office and KVNF in Paonia. For more information or to listen to some of his music, please visit his website at www.jamesmcmurtry.com.
Thurs 3/11 The Mother Hips
Fri 3/26 Chatham County Line presented by Pickin' Productions
Fri 4/23 or Sat 4/24 Spring | Summer Eco-Wear
Fri 4/30 Sweet Sunny South CD Release Show presented by Pickin' Productions
Sat 5/1 Craig Child's Storytelling presented by the Paonia Public Library
Fri 5/21 - Sun 5/23 Gears and Beers Festival
Fri 5/21 Ann and Pete Sibley (tbc) presented by Pickin' Productions
Fri 7/2 Cherry Days
A special guest in the audience blows the top off of the Paradise Theatre with Otis Taylor and his band, August 1st, 2009. What a night!
Thanks to ALL
photo by Jim Brett