Tag Archives: rumba cafe

Photos: Moon High @ Rumba Cafe

With Donewaiting coming to a close I am trying to shove as many photo posts in as I can. Hope you don’t get sick of me. (Or if you do I’m still going to shove pictures at your computer!)
Moon High
Rumba Cafe
February 7, 2013

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Tonight in Columbus: Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown at Rumba Cafe

In the 2009 documentary “Rock Prophecies”, photographer Robert M. Knight talks about his neverending quest to find the next Stevie Ray Vaughn. Knight was a close friend of Vaughn’s and after the guitar god’s tragic death, believed that while Vaughn’s physical presence might be gone, his spirit would live on in others. That led Knight to Honey Grove, Texas where he discovered the teenage prodigy Tyler Bryant.

Though maybe not a well-known name in the global rock world, Bryant’s definitely somebody to keep an eye on. Now 21, the guitarist has been traveling the world and sharing his talent with both his own audiences as well as showcasing in front of Jeff Beck, Aerosmith, Joe Bonamassa, B.B. King, Pat Benatar, and Heart fans (all of whom he’s opened for).

If you’ve been in Columbus long enough, you probably know somebody who caught John Mayer or The Black Keys at Little Brothers, something that seems somewhat unimaginable considering how popular those two are now. I’m not necessarily saying that Bryant’s going to blow up the way Mayer or The Black Keys did, but I suspect his show tonight at Rumba is going to make anybody in attendance a true believer.

Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown (featuring guitarist Graham Whitford, son of Aerosmith’s Brad) play at the Rumba Cafe tonight with the Chris Duggan Band. Doors are at 8pm and cover is $10.

Saturday @ Rumba: T.K. Webb’s Sundown returns

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When T.K. Webb came to town, he didn’t waste time forming a band. Sundown initially consisted of Webb, Moons’ Dusty White, Moon High’s Blake Pfister and TV Eye’s Grant Driskell. Then the rhythm section was switched out for Chris Pierce (Main Street Gospel, the Urns) and Vug Arakas (TV Eye, MSG, etc.)

Once Webb and White parted musical ways, Sundown appeared to be over. For all intents and purposes, it was. But after some time off, Webb teamed back up with Pierce and Urns bassist Mike Leach (also of Struck by Lightning). After practicing for more than a month at Pierce’s house in rural Orient, Ohio, Sundown is back with a more stripped-down sound they’ll debut Saturday at Rumba Cafe as a trio; it’s Webb’s first show with a band since May. Expect songs from the Spoonful Records 12-inch Mansion Burning — including “Life’s Too Long,” currently in rotation on CD102.5 — and some new stuff, too.

Red Feathers and Psychic Wheels open.

Wednesday: Belle Histoire @ Rumba Cafe

Imagine if the Phantods had grown up on the Warped Tour instead of Faith No More and you might get Belle Histoire. The Cincinnati band released their debut full length, Dreamers, in July, the same month they performed at the Bunbury Festival.

Belle Histoire and Tallhart perform at the Rumba Cafe on Wednesday. Doors open at 8pm. Tickets are $10.

MP3: Ezra Furman “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”

MP3:   Ezra Furman – Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

If the face looks familiar, it’s because Ezra Furman has made a few stops through town over the last couple of years with his former backing band The Harpoons. One of these trips gave birth to the really great DonewaitingTV session, were Ezra & company did talking and playing with Wes Flexner and the Electraplay boys. It’s worth your click, promise. This time around EF is hitting Rumba Cafe in Columbus tonight (8/11) Harpoon-less, instead supporting a new solo record The Year of No Returning. The first half of that record is available as a free download, if the MP3 linked above doesn’t sate your appetite.

Ezra’s solo work doesn’t seem a vast departure from previous offerings- a jangly intersection of pop and folk, delivered by a voice that will likely forever be compared to a modern, pissed off Bob Dylan.   The comparison probably does EF a bit of a disservice, as he can whip from a plaintive croon to a frenetic howl in practically the same phrase.  I believe a more contemporary comparison would be to Dan Bejar (New Pornographers, Destroyer), as the two share more as they tend towards pop-punk than Dylan’s mumble-folk.

The live show promises to tend toward the frenzied and fun side of things, but sure to include moments of wistful bliss. Continue reading

Photos: Cursive @ Rumba Cafe

Cursive
Rumba Cafe
July 30, 2012

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Daniel Ellsworth & Great Lakes play Rumba Cafe on Saturday, July 14

How about a local connection for this band based in Nashville? Daniel Ellsworth & Great Lakes bassist Marshall Skinner is a Columbus guy so you gotta root for him, right? And after giving the band’s latest release, Civilized Man (available digitally for the low price of $5.99), a listen, that’s a pretty easy thing to do.

Ellsworth, who appeared on season 3 of NBC’s singing reality competition Sing-Off, recently premiered a pretty cool (and bloody) video for “Bleeding Tongue”. (Sounds a little Jack White-ish to me.)

Daniel Ellsworth & Great Lakes are playing Rumba Cafe (2507 Summit St.) on Saturday, July 14. Joshua P James and The Paper Planes and Joshua Black Wilkins open the show. Cover is $7.

Friday: Greg Laswell @ Rumba Cafe

There’s something about passionate British artists that American songwriters just can’t seem to capture within their songs. When you hear Snow Patrol or Coldplay, you KNOW they are British bands – they just have that overly dramatic sound. Greg Laswell is from … California (!!!) … but somehow he pulls off that soundtrack-style music. It’s touchy, it’s dramatic, it’s custom-made for network TV dramas (on which Laswell’s music gets plenty of exposure).

On his fifth release, Landline, Laswell tried something a little different – he invited female singers to accompany him on fourth of the tracks. His wife, Ingrid Michaelson, appears on the title track, Sia sings on “Dragging You Around”, Sara Bareillas swaps lines with Laswell on “Come Back Down”, and Elizabeth Ziman (Elizabeth and the Catapults) – Laswell’s tour partner on his current tour – is featured on “Back to You”.

Greg Lawell and Elizabeth Ziman share the Rumba stage on Friday night. Tickets are $15.

Friday in Columbus: Local bands

MP3: Deadwood Floats – The Colours I Earned
MP3: Sovroncourt – Butch Cassidy

Forget the Foster the People show at the LC on Friday. (And while you’re at it, forget Empire of the Sun and all the myriad knock-offs that MGMT and Passion Pit have spawned. BLAH.) If you’re dead set on catching a touring act, take a risk and check out Thrill Jockey’s Man Forever (feat. Kid Millions of Oneida) at Double Happiness.

I was going to pick a local show to preview, but they all seem worth at least a mention: Rumba has a solid triple bill with the Receiver, Way Yes and Saturday Giant; At Carabar, Nick Tolford, the Weight of Whales and Dayton’s Shut Up share a bill with Chicago’s Al Scorch; and the Tree Bar booked a folk-rock night with two relative newbies — Deadwood Floats (cover art for their “The Colours I Earned” single above) and Sovroncourt — and anchored by local chill-folk stalwarts Moon High and melodious Kafe Kerouac scenesters Audrey & Orwell. Check out the mp3s above for a taste of what the newbs have to offer. (Deadwood Floats RIYL Blind Pilot, and Sovroncourt accurately describes himself as “croak folk.”)

Use your Google and MyFace for more details on the shows. Oh, and the Columbus Arts Festival starts Friday, which also happens to be the day with the best music lineup of the fest, including Tim Easton and the Randys.

Other Friday shows you’re looking forward to? (Not sure what’s happening at Summit or Bourbon St.) Post in the comments or in the Hype section of the Friendship Farm.

Wednesday @ Rumba: Anais Mitchell

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Anais Mitchell‘s folk-rock opera Hadestown was one of my favorite records of 2010, and the spritely singer returned this year with Young Man in America. I don’t think it tops something as rich and varied as Hadestown (a quasi-modern day re-imagining of the Orpheus/Eurydice Greek tragedy), but it’s a strong record from a strong songwriter nonetheless, and I relish the chance of seeing her do her thing at the Rumba Cafe on Wednesday (9pm with Cuddle Magic, $10). Also, for public radio nerds: Mitchell sings in the way Sarah Vowell speaks, which is an acquired taste but, for me, a good thing.

Above you’ll see the video for “Coming Down,” and below you’ll see Bon Iver covering the same tune recently for Australia’s Triple J. (Justin Vernon collaborated with Mitchell on Hadestown, singing the role of Orpheus.)
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