Jennifer Kelly wrote a very kind review of The Parlor Is Pleasant On Sunday Night for Dusted Magazine:
“giddily communicative, celebratory, and wildly, rhythmically physical.”
We’re also selling the album for very cheap (digital: $2, CD: $7) on bandcamp right now. Pick up a copy!
We don’t mean to be pushy, but please stream/purchase/share and enjoy, our glorious new album. Happy New Year, one and all. See you in 2013!
These photos are from our 2nd stretch of the November tour. A couple videos surfaced as well from the Mole Hill show:
This tour has been our best yet. Lea Chiara hosted the Friday show in her studio, and charmed us all with her spiderweb songs. Evan led the group in a bizarro dancefreakout with commands like “Be a bird without wings!” and so on. It was a real treat to hear both Lea and Evan perform, as each of their sets were truly inspired and bold.
The Mole Hill Theatre (our Sat. night venue) is part machine, part man, 100% charming-as-heck. Many thanks to Dennis for booking us and running such a great spot. Buck 55, Brian Canning, and Evan Levine joined us on stage, and things got far out. One outstanding couple did some dirty dancing during Evan’s set (imagine brutalized jazz standards wafting across the skin of two beer-soaked lovers in a room full of scrap metal). It was a sublime moment.
*The stage of the Mole Hill. Alstead, NH.
Sunday brought a visit to Hudson, NY. We performed at the Spotty Dog, our favorite venue, and at the local music shop- Musica. The Spotty Dog turned raucous after sets by Pat, Andrea, and Evan, with most of the bar patrons stomping, shouting, and dancing hard. Sam broke strings and bled on his guitar, as usual, and I lost my voice during a medley of Ida Red, Wild Bill Jones, Cluck Old Hen, Hook n Line and Cattletsburg. It was a marathon effort.
*Live romp @ Musica in Hudson, NY.
Monday and Tuesday were spent teaching, jamming, and performing at Skidmore and Bennington College. John Kirk, Trish Miller, and Kitty Brazelton were our hosts and John joined us for our entire set at Bennington. It was an honor and pleasure to play so much music with him this week. Also, students roasted smores in the fireplace behind us while we played. Too cute.
This-coming Friday and Saturday are our last band performances until early summer 2013. Please join us in Collinsville, CT where we’ll be opening for the Steel Wheels.
Thank you for supporting live music.
-Jackson-
(The Howling Kettles)
These pics illustrate part 1 of our November tour. Get ready for round two. Click for captions/descriptions!
Hello Folks,
We’ve finished the first leg of our tour. Many thanks to Carl, Jim, and Sean at Union Music for hosting us in Worcester, and to Michael, Kelly and Ed for showing us a good time at the Blue Plate Lounge in Holden, MA. Below is a video of us playing “Shady Grove” for the good people of Union Music (primo instrument shop, and rare distributor of our new album!**also available at Turn It Up in Brattleboro).
Bates College was incredible. We performed at their cafe “The Ronj” and Jackson met his long-lost cousin! Ursula and Amanda were gracious hosts, and Eric and Margaret started the show off right with their own set of acoustic/quebecois-themed music. It was positively charming. A high point of the show included a dueling-jug solo between 2 Bates students in the audience, while Sam conducted (measure for measure) from behind his thunderous guitar… It was a moment worth bottling.
Our appearance at the Cantab Lounge (thanks, Geoff!) in Cambridge, MA was enveloped on all sides by a memorable stay at “The Pen,” home to Amy, John and Lukas. Us Kettles slept on the floor of their cozy living room, and we all jammed late into the night. We also had the pleasure of interviewing a few of our hosts about their musical life, which will be published via podcast in the coming weeks/months.
Click image for more pics from our visit to Mass.
Photos by Tim Reeder.
This weekend we’re be teaming up with a surprise guest and honorary Howling Kettle: Evan Cory Levine, for 3 shows. Evan can sing the grease off a pig, and these shows will be very special (our last appearances as a band for several months). We’d be delighted if you’d join us.
11.9.12 - Florence, MA. @ Studio 310, 221 Pine St. Lea’s studio. 8pm *** w/Evan Cory Levine + Lea Chiara
11.10.12 - Alstead, NH. @ Mole Hill Theatre. 8pm *** w/Evan Cory Levine, and Buck 55
11.11.12 - Hudson, NY. @ Musica *in-store video shoot and mini-show. 2pm *** w/Evan Cory Levine
11.11.12 - Hudson, NY. @ The Spotty Dog Books & Ale. 8pm *** w/Evan Cory Levine
11.12.12 - Saratoga Springs, NY. @ Saratoga Guitar. *in-store video shoot and mini-show. Time TBD.
11.12.12 - Saratoga Springs, NY. @ Skidmore College w/John Kirk- teaching in afternoon.
11.13.12 - Bennington, VT. @ Bennington College w/John Kirk- teaching all day.
11.13.12 - Bennington, VT. @ Bennington College Down Caf. Students only.
11.15.12 - Sheffield, MA. @ Down County Social Club. (below Stagecoach). 8pm
11.16.12 - West Hartford, CT. @ Private.
11.17.12 - Collinsville, CT. @ Bridge St. Live w/The Steel Wheels. 8pm
This is physical. Advance praise for our upcoming release:
“Richly patterned revelations of familiar songs. The Kettles find new perspectives on standards and mostly forgotten old-timers. The collection captures their good nature, generosity and delight in making old-time music modern.” -Whit-
Pre-release copies of the album will be available at our shows on the upcoming album release tour. See you on the road!
Hello Folks,
On November 20th we’ll release our sophomore album: “The Parlor Is Pleasant On Sunday Night.” You can preview 2 tracks from the album below, and see gorgeous cover art by the inimitable Anneke Dunnington. Get a load of this:
Want to get the album early? I thought so! Join us on the road for our NOVEMBER TOUR in celebration of this release. We’ll have physical copies available at all of our 12 performances. In addition to the usual “live-music-at-an-established-venue,” we’ve partnered with a few small music shops to present mini in-store performances along the tour. We’ll be posting videos of these store visits on our websites, as will the shop owners. We hope this will offer us the chance to reach a new audience, and support the businesses that support us.
11.2.12 - Worcester, MA. @ Union Music Inc. *in-store video shoot and mini-show. 3pm
11.2.12 - Holden, MA. @ Blue Plate Lounge, w/M.Addis and Mr.Ed - 8:30pm
11.3.12 - Lewiston, ME. @ Bates College. Students only.
11.5.12 - Cambridge, MA. @ The Cantab Lounge. 10pm
11.9.12 - Florence, MA. @ Studio 310, 221 Pine St. Lea’s studio. 8pm
11.10.12 - Alstead, NH. @ Mole Hill Theatre. 8pm
11.11.12 - Hudson, NY. @ Musica *in-store video shoot and mini-show. 2pm
11.11.12 - Hudson, NY. @ The Spotty Dog Books & Ale. 8pm
11.12.12 - Saratoga Springs, NY. @ Saratoga Guitar. *in-store video shoot and mini-show. Time TBD.
11.12.12 - Saratoga Springs, NY. @ Skidmore College w/John Kirk- teaching in afternoon.
11.13.12 - Bennington, VT. @ Bennington College w/John Kirk- teaching all day.
11.13.12 - Bennington, VT. @ Bennington College Down Caf. Students only.
11.15.12 - Sheffield, MA. @ Down County Social Club. (below Stagecoach). 8pm
11.16.12 - West Hartford, CT. @ Private.
11.17.12 - Collinsville, CT. @ Bridge St. Live w/The Steel Wheels. 8pm
This week is our last string of shows before the deep fall. Please join us tonight in Stowe, VT, or on Friday in Bellows Falls, VT. Otherwise, we’ll see you in November during our album release tour. Thank you for listening, and keeping up with what we do.
Best,
Sam and Jackson
(The Howling Kettles)
***Photos by Denise Maccaferri, at Club Passim, Cambridge, MA.***
