The Next Round - Episode 35: Robert Ellis

I hope you enjoyed the long weekend.  The only thing that could make this week even better is a new episode of The Next Round.  Guess what?  I've got one for you.

Just prior to his show at Rockwood Music Hall in March, Robert Ellis had a beer with me next door at Cheese Grille.  We talked about touring, TV shows, and the crazy idea to produce Jonny Fritz's new album in India without any pre-planning.

Stream below, download directly, or listen on iTunes.  (Please subscribe on iTunes.  I posted this episode last night just after midnight, and it didn't show up in the iTunes store until just now.  If you subscribe, you get it instantly, which means you could've had it for your morning commute.)

Follow Robert on Twitter.

Check out his tour dates.  He just announced a tour with Richard Thompson June 9-17!

Buy his music.

Jonny Fritz & Robert Ellis Laugh It Up at Rockwood Music Hall

Never mind the quality musicianship and songwriting; the banter alone was worth the price of admission.  Tonight's Robert Ellis and Jonny Fritz show at Rockwood Music Hall saw the pair of troubadours letting loose before they head to India to record Fritz's new album.

Robert Ellis took the stage first, accompanied by guitarist Kelly "the Tele" Doyle.  "We're from Houston," Robert informed the crowd, before correcting it to the pronunciation of the NYC street, "Houston, Texas I mean."  With minimal percussion from a tambourine by his right foot, Ellis captured the audience immediately with the admonitory "Only Lies."  At the song's end, Robert remarked, "I think I swallowed a mosquito.  Do you guys have mosquitoes in New York City?"  After downing a shot of whiskey, Ellis paused to pluck something from his tongue.  "It was a moustache hair.  You know what I'm talking about, guys.  Maybe ladies?  I don't know."  He continued with the pleading "Good Intentions."  "That one's about infidelity," he shared.  "You can ignore the line about my sister.  I have to explain myself when I come this far north.  I am not having sex with my sister."  "Anymore," quipped Jonny Fritz from a table down front.  "Anymore!" repeated Robert, rolling his head back to laugh.  Following "The Elephant in the Room," a tune about a struggling relationship, a request was shouted from the balcony for "A Good Year for the Roses."  A kindred spirit with "Elephant," this version was more George Jones than Elvis Costello.  Moving to the keyboard for new song "Maybe I'll Move to California," Robert cultivated that sexy '70s soul sound of a Rhodes electric piano.  Robert and Kelly took on Vern Gosdin's "Chiseled in Stone" next, though the drum machine's tempo seemed to hold them back from taking it where it wanted to go.  Doyle stepped offstage as Ellis invited Courtney Hartman to assist him on Richard Thompson's "1952 Vincent Black Lightning."  Robert praised the crowd for its quietness, stating, "I don't want you to change.  Never change."  Doyle returned and the duo embarked on "Sing Along," a bluegrass scorcher so hot that the tentative audience couldn't keep from clapping and stomping.

Sporting a tucked-in t-shirt covered in labrador retrievers and a trucker cap emblazoned with gold letters reading "Who's that playing?" Jonny Fritz joined Ellis on the Rockwood stage.  The two clinked glasses, Fritz announcing, "This is our last U.S. show before we die next week in India."  Following a few Fritz fan favorites like "Goodbye Summer" and the ode to a Murfreesboro truck stop worker, "Holy Water," Fritz unveiled a new number, "I Love Being Ready to Go."  Not only did it feature the opening line "All classical music is so clarinet-y / I love meatballs, but don't like spaghetti;" an expertly-timed "Dixie" horn honk from Robert on guitar was also a highlight.  Fritz performed "Stone Cold Daddy-O" stone-cold a cappella, and then he brought up Kelly Doyle for "Chevy Beretta" and "Fever Dreams."  Having spent most of Ellis' set silent, by now some people in the audience had gotten a little too comfortable with the laid-back vibe.  While Fritz introduced "My Humidifier" as a tale about Minneapolis, he was interrupted by a voice from the floor.  "Excuse me, I'm telling a story that does not matter," Jonny joked.  Crowdmembers began calling out requests.  Hell, it had worked with Ellis.  When "Night Rider" was echoed by a few people, Fritz said he would oblige.  "This'll be great," predicted a fan.  "Yeah, it might be alright," Jonny responded.  It went off without a hitch, so Fritz felt moved to play another new one, "Stadium Inn."  The ballad about a seedy Nashville hotel had the audience rolling with lines like "Brokeback Mountain playin' on the TV screen / Brokeback reenactment, room 213."  Clearly he'd written another keeper, as it fit right in with closers "Trash Day" and "Ain't It Your Birthday."  I can't wait to hear the Indian version.

I had a beer with Robert before the show for The Next Round, so be on the lookout for that.

ROBERT ELLIS - 03.08.15 - ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL (54 minutes)

SET -
Only Lies / Good Intentions / Steady as the Rising Sun / The Elephant in the Room / A Good Year for the Roses / Maybe I'll Move to California / Chiseled in Stone / 1952 Vincent Black Lightning (feat. Courtney Hartman) / Sing Along

JONNY FRITZ - 03.08.15 - ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL (51 minutes)

SET -

Goodbye Summer / Holy Water / Forever, Whatever / I Love Being Ready to Go* / 15 Passenger Van / Social Climbers / Stone Cold Daddy-O / Chevy Beretta (feat. Kelly Doyle) / Fever Dreams (feat. Kelly Doyle) / Have You Ever Wanted to Die? / My Humidifier / Night Rider / Stadium Inn / Trash Day / Ain't It Your Birthday

Robert Ellis & Ian O'Neil Unload a Heap of New Music at Mercury Lounge

"I haven't even played anything and we're having technical difficulties," Ian O'Neil said sheepishly, as he realized the mic pointed at his guitar's sound hole wasn't on.  Creedence's "Green River" seeped out over the PA, and O'Neil's Deer Tick comrade Dennis Ryan started shuffling.  Ian mimed playing the song for a laugh.  With the mic reinstated, it was time to begin.  The duo managed to get through one verse of "Bury Deep" before some atrocious feedback forced them to stop.  O'Neil borrowed headliner Robert Ellis' electric, and started over from the top.  The two followed that with "Walkin Out the Door," one of Ian's Deer Tick numbers.  Ryan moved aside for "I Got Nothing Left to Give to the Toilet," which O'Neil revealed to be a tune by Happiness, the duo's new side project.  Curiously, Dennis was silent for both songs identified as Happiness tracks.  "Oh Lord, Your Fire is with Me" was a slower one, but Ian's gentle "ooh"s had a melody fit for an anthemic pop song.  After covering Neil Young's "Don't Cry No Tears," he played "On the Beach," a Happiness original not to be confused with another song by Young.  Dennis returned to the mic again for "She's Not Spanish" and "The Dream's in the Ditch," a song so catchy that Robert Ellis was onstage singing along by verse two.  Before finishing his set with "Maybellene," O'Neil thanked the crowd for showing up for his first NYC solo gig.  I guess he doesn't count Brooklyn Bowl, where I saw him open for Deer Tick three times.

Robert Ellis kicked things off with "Westbound Train," which grew steadily into a full-on country romp, accented by the wonderful pedal steel of Will Van Horn.  It was the night's only offering from 2011's Photographs, as a week ago, Robert dropped his third album, The Lights from the Chemical Plant.  Refusing to be pigeonholed as just a country artist, Ellis used the new tunes to exemplify his stylistic diversity.  "Pride" wrapped up with a section that verged on prog, and "Steady as the Rising Sun" had a smooth R&B flavor.  "I always tell people they might want to get a pregnancy test after that guitar solo," Robert laughed, commending the talents of Kelly Doyle.  While "Rising Sun" may be the only love song on the record, that distinction only extends to animate objects, with Ellis' affair with television cleverly expressed in "TV Song."  "Not to be confused with the 'TV Song' by Ministry.  We have a lot of crossover fans," he joked.  The band dropped out for the song's Walt Disney verse, allowing Robert to captivate the room solely with his sweet, southern voice.  Ellis went it alone for the somber "Tour Song," and then invited the band back for the propulsive jazz-rock of the brand new "Elephant."  Ellis offered up some time for a Doyle instrumental, and then he put his guitar down.  Grabbing the mic from its stand, Robert dove into "Still Crazy After All These Years," which he covers on Chemical Plant.  It's clearly one of his favorite songs, evident in his enthusiasm whilst singing, but his excitement got the best of him, and it sort of felt like karaoke.  He fared better when he grabbed a Telecaster for a countrified spin on Richard Thompson's "Tear-Stained Letter," assisted on vocals by Dennis Ryan back at the drumkit.  "They have a curfew here, so this is the encore," Ellis remarked as the band embarked on a jam that contained all the creaks and shrieks of a haunted house before it melted into the burning bluegrass of "Sing Along."  Robert has claimed that he wants to avoid gigs at honky-tonk bars because they may not be as receptive to his genre-jumping.  It was obvious that the hip NYC crowd at Mercury Lounge loved it all, especially the country stompers.

IAN O'NEIL - 02.18.14 - MERCURY LOUNGE (36 minutes)

SET -
Bury Deep (aborted) / Bury Deep / Walkin Out the Door / I Got Nothing Left to Give to the Toilet* / Oh Lord, Your Fire is with Me* / Don't Cry No Tears / On the Beach* / She's Not Spanish / The Dream's in the Ditch (feat. Robert Ellis) / Maybellene

ROBERT ELLIS - 02.18.14 - MERCURY LOUNGE (1 hour, 14 minutes)

SET -

Westbound Train / Good Intentions / Pride / Steady as the Rising Sun / TV Song / Only Lies / Houston / Tour Song / Elephant / A Robot Named Pitchy* / Still Crazy After All These Years / Tear-Stained Letter / Sing Along

Alabama Shakes Don't Live Up to Hype & March of the Penguin Prison

I did a double-header last Sunday: Alabama Shakes at Rumsey Playfield, followed by Penguin Prison at Brooklyn Bowl. I'm probably going to upset a number of you when I say Alabama Shakes are really good, but not great, live. If you want to just believe all the hype and quit reading now, I understand. You're a hipster. But if you're a real music fan, I encourage you to read on.

Doors for the 3pm show were at 1:45, and I was actually freaking out during my commute, believing that I wasn't going to get in because I was going to arrive around 2:15. Thankfully, there was no line, and I made my way to a choice spot in the center. The standing room tightened with each minute and by the time Houston-based Robert Ellis walked onstage, the venue was about 500 humans short of capacity. Those who made it early were exposed to his take on outlaw country, from barnstormers like "No Fun" to introspective ballads like "Photographs," the title track off his latest release (which I would've bought if the vinyl wasn't fucking $25. Come on.). Having played to eight people, one of which was his wife, the previous night in West Virginia, Ellis and his band lapped up the energy from the mass of people, and injected it back into the highlight of the set, a cover of the bluegrass tune, "Ruby, Are You Mad?"

After a short break, the nine to eleven members of Diamond Rugs, who I was almost more excited to see than Alabama Shakes, piled onto the stage. After about a minute of incoherent chatter, they oozed into "Hightail," the first song off their eponymous album. John McCauley of Deer Tick fame grabbed the mic for second song, "Gimme a Beer," with joyous trombone and baritone sax parts punctuating the chorus. Hardy Morris of Dead Confederate took the reigns for "Big God" and traded the microphone back to McCauley for what is sure to become one of my favorite songs this year, "Call Girl Blues." It was at this point I realized they were playing their album in order, and they kept this formula for their set. It worked well, though, because no one member sang lead vocals for more than two songs in a row. "Totally Lonely" was exponentially better live than recorded, with all the members joining producer Justin Collins on the final refrain. For the set-closing "Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant," which I had seen Deer Tick perform before, the group thinned its ranks to a duo of McCauley and Los Lobos' Steve Berlin. The fact that it was merely days after the summer solstice only amplified the beautiful sadness of the song.

The most glorified band of the year, Alabama Shakes, were up next, packing Summerstage to its limits. Thankfully they chose to forgo the rigidity of their album, quietly welcoming the crowd with "Goin' to the Party," which I had predicted would be the only placement for the song in a live setting (It kind of kills the momentum of the album, but it probably wouldn't work as an album lead-off track either.). Exploding into "Hang Loose" and "Hold On," the Shakes had the crowd eating it up, but I wasn't totally sold.

Here's the deal. Frontwoman Brittany Howard is a sight to behold. Her powerful voice, accentuated by the pronounced shapes of her mouth while she's howling out her lyrics, makes her the prime candidate to lead a band. Unfortunately, the rest of the members don't live up to her. Don't get me wrong; the Shakes are all great musicians and they do sound better live than on record. But they made me realize how important stage presence is. Save for a few smiles from guitarist Heath Fogg, you couldn't

tell if the band members were actually enjoying it, or even if they knew they were playing to a crowd. Perhaps this concentration is what keeps them on top of things musically, but I like a little showmanship with my rock 'n' roll. When Brittany set aside her seafoam green Gibson and took the mic from its stand for "Be Mine," things improved. Stuck behind her stand for the previous numbers, she barely moved, aside from her aforementioned mouth and her curls billowing in the summer breeze. When she traversed the stage, you could follow her with her eyes, distracting you from the statues making the bluesy funk behind her. I hope that with more and more stage time, the young band will develop a little more sizzle in the future, or at least acknowledge that they are playing to 5000 adoring fans.

I hightailed it home so I could eat dinner and a half a brownie before heading over to Brooklyn Bowl for the next show. It started an hour later than advertised, so I made it in time to see two shitty support acts. Before Penguin Prison's set, I situated myself about three people back in the center. Chris Glover and band geared up and took us on a trip on the "Golden Train," with Glover climbing off the stage and into the crowd, pacing through us as he sang. It's not uncommon for artists to bring the show onto the floor, but I don't think I've ever seen it happen during the first song. I think it represents Chris Glover's newfound confidence by using the Penguin Prison moniker. He has always seemed a little socially awkward introducing songs, though it usually came off as funny, almost Hedbergian. Now that he has reincarnated himself as a new disco/remix artist with a ridiculous name, he seems more comfortable in that he's playing a game, not baring his soul. Hell, even when he performed as Chris Glover, he made sure to put it in quotation marks ("Chris Glover"). "Golden Train" segued nicely into "The Worse It Gets," as did "Animal Animal" into "A Funny Thing." He finished the set with "Blue Jeans," a remix/cover of a Lana Del Rey song, which you can download here. As I could give two shits about Lana Del Rey, it was a little disappointing. For the encore, he broke out "Multi-Millionaire," this time entering the crowd with his guitar. My main criticism would be the meager 47-minute set duration. Chris Glover has several unreleased songs from the period of his career directly preceding Penguin Prison that I find to be his best work. A well-placed "Hold My Soul" or "Tear Stains" would not be too much of a departure from his new sound, and would undoubtedly prove his versatility. I can't really complain. I had a great time dancing and singing along, and isn't that what it's all about?

ROBERT ELLIS – 06.24.12 – RUMSEY PLAYFIELD

SET –

Westbound Train / Comin’ Home / What’s in It for Me? / Two Cans of Paint / Flames of Hell* / Pride / No Fun / Photographs / Jam > Ruby, Are You Mad?

DIAMOND RUGS – 06.24.12 – RUMSEY PLAYFIELD (58 minutes)

SET –

Hightail / Gimme a Beer / Big God / Call Girl Blues / Out on My Own / Country Mile / Totally Lonely / I Took Note / Blue Mountains / Motherland / Tell Me Why / 100 Sheets / Hungover & Horny / Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant

ALABAMA SHAKES – 06.24.12 – RUMSEY PLAYFIELD (1 hour, 4 minutes)

SET –

Goin’ to the Party / Hang Loose / Hold On / I Found You / Rise to the Sun / Always Alright > Boys & Girls / Be Mine / I Ain’t the Same / Mama / Hurricane Strut / Makin’ Me Itch / Heavy Chevy / You Ain’t Alone

ENCORE –

Worryin’ Blues / On Your Way / Heat Lightning

PENGUIN PRISON – 06.24.12 – BROOKLYN BOWL (47 minutes)

SET –

Golden Train > The Worse It Gets / Something I’m Not / Animal Animal > A Funny Thing / Fair Warning / Don’t Fuck with My Money / Hollywood / Blue Jeans

ENCORE –

Multi-Millionaire