Thursdays - Sundays, August 9 - 26, 2012

Festival Director, Jonny Goodman

Prices: $15 in advance,
$18 at the door, $15 students / seniors

Festival Pass: $50

DOORS OPEN AT 6PM,
Shows begin at 8pm THURSDAYS - SATURDAYS
Shows begin at 7pm on SUNDAYS

First 25 people to check in get a free PBR!

Critics' Pick in this week's Time Out New York!
Get the inside scoop on the festival in The LoDown and The Villager interviews with director, Jonny B. Goodman

FINAL WEEK!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Indie Rock Thursday, August 23rd 8:00 - The Area Men
9:00 - Danny Chait
10:00 - Yoni Gordon Doors open at 6pm Get Tickets The Area Men formed as in Maryland in 2007 to flesh out the solo acoustic writing of front man Jonny B. Goodman. With five original members coming at the project from wildly different backgrounds including punk, jazz, blues, ska, classic rock, adult contemporary, metal, and soul, the band arranged and performed a diverse collection of rock n' roll that resulted in their 2008 debut LP "The Weathercaster." Since then, along with core members Joe Del Balzo and Dan Papson (http://danpapson.bandcamp.com/), Jonny has written and developed a catalog of songs that jump from folk to latin to shoegaze and back in a few minutes without ever losing their common thread. The music is literary and lyric-driven, tied together by narrative, extended metaphor, diverse musicianship and variations on common themes. The band's performance at the LES Music Festival will debut new instrumentation and brand new material from their second album "Relative Motion," to be released in 2013. theareamen.com/ Danny Chait is New York's latest bold stab at restoring rock and roll from its faded glory. With heavy focus on meticulous songwriting, concise structure, memorable hooks, and his quizzical introspective musings, Chait's music possesses the timelessness that transcends genre. A true audiophile, Chait blends classical vocal training against an avant-rock backdrop with a natural ease. Chait's songs draw from sources as diverse as the rock brilliance of Billy Corgan in his hayday to the compositional genius of late romantic composers; from the grimy but powerful statements of New York's underground rock to the cultural subconscious behind the constantly evolving pop music world, and much more. Track after track, Chait's fully developed aesthetic has come to meld seamlessly in constantly refreshing and novel musical statements. His recently released EP "The Back Room" was given a featured album premiere by American Songwriter in July 2012. dannychait.com Somewhere between the sweaty, swagger of soul music and the heart and humor of a folk troubadour is Yoni Gordon. When the Violent Femmes asked "do you like American music?" they were probably talking about this guy. Yoni Gordon is a practitioner of the long-forgotten art of showmanship. If he needs to get down on bended knee and preach, HE WILL; if he needs to play his guitar behind his head (and play it better than most kids can play in front of their heads), HE WILL; if he needs to take requests from the crowd, covering everything from Usher to Weird Al and back, HE WILL. Whether he is playing in a bar or a basement or an ice cream parlor, he is the best show in town. And he is here, now, playing in your city. yonigordon.com

Theatrical Rock Friday, August 24th 8:00 - The Debutante Hour
9:00 - Natti Vogel
10:00 - Corn Mo Doors open at 6pm Get Tickets The Debutante Hour is Susan Hwang (drums/accordion), Mia Pixley (cello), and Maria Sonevytsky (accordion/ukelele). MTV Iggy has written, "The Debutante Hour is a New York delight. The city that invented hipsters somehow also spawned three women who will make any uptight A-hole laugh, cry (but mostly laugh), marvel at their acoustics, and kneel before the glory of their harmonies." The unconventional power trio harmonizes about planning, worldviews and works of literature, with the occasional swerve into a Carpathian mountain stomp. They released their first album, The Birth and Death of Meaning, in 2010 and an EP of cover songs (Follow Me) in 2011. Their second full-length album, An Awkward Time, was released in March 2012. thedebutantehour.com Natti Vogel started performing his original compositions in a bohemian flophouse in the West Village at the age of seventeen. After beating a wicked funk band and a kickass punk band to win the New School University's Battle of the Bands, Natti recorded his first album, "the Hello EP," whose video single "the Anorexia Song" quickly became an international cult hit. He has played shows with other theatrical eccentrics such as the Dresden Dolls, Le Tigre, Ute Lemper, Sxip Shirey and Alan Cumming, among others, at stages everywhere from MA to VA to Scotland where his show was rated "1 Must-See Show at Fringe 2008" by the Edinburgh Evening News. Natti is called an "indie rock fusion virtuoso" by the New York Press and "playfully menacing cabaret (meets) romantic yearning" by the Onion. Natti suggests, however, that you "let your ears do the chewing for once." nattivogel.com Corn Mo began composing for a juggling troupe in Denton, TX in the early 90's, playing and recording with various bands. He moved to NYC in 2001 to compose for and tour with The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus. After that, he wrote music for Circus Boreal in Alaska, performing the songs as the ringmaster. He wrote the rock opera Alice Wakeman: A Rock Opera, performed by himself and his band, .357 Lover, at the Ars Nova Theater in NYC. He has toured America and Europe supporting the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, Wheatus, The Pontani Sisters, Ben Folds, They Might Be Giants and the Polyphonic Spree. He became a member of the Spree, touring as support for David Bowie. His band, .357 Lover, backed Andrew WK and John Cameron Mitchell. In the studio, he shared vocals with Ben Folds on Folds' cover of "Get Your Hands Off My Woman" for the Supersunnyspeedygraphic EP, joined the choir for the Polyphonic Spree's Together We're Heavy and played accordion on TMBG's "Particle Mo" (a variation of "Particle Man"). He has written 7 albums including 3 with .357 Lover, one of which is coming out this winter, titled The Purchase of the North Pole. cornmo.com

Power-rock / Funk Saturday, August 25th 8:00 - The Corduroy Suit
9:00 - Supermajor
10:00 - The Nat Osborn Band Doors open at 6pm Get Tickets John Schmergel is the chief song-writer of The Corduroy Suit. He began writing songs when he was fifteen years old, and he hasn't looked back since. In the summer of 2010, he entered a Brooklyn recording studio with several talented musicians to begin work on his latest project. After three months of intensive recording, John, under the moniker, The Corduroy Suit, emerged with an LP that represents the culmination of his song-writing technique. The self-titled LP draws influences from the likes of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Elliott Smith, Creedance Clearwater Revival, The Band, and Ryan Adams, to just name a few. With a style that blends alternative country, folk, and indie rock, The Corduroy Suit produces a sound that is at once familiar and excitingly fresh. The band has earned comparisons to Bruce Springsteen and early Wilco for its propulsive, guitar-driven rock and passionate lyrics. thecorduroysuit.com New York City-based power-pop quintet Supermajor formed in late 2008 and almost immediately established themselves as one of the tallest bands around. Their first show was played to an enthusiastic audience in March of 2009, and they've been building momentum, an audience and a secret underground fortress since. Their debut, eponymous EP, is the product of a young band, but demonstrates the maturity of a fine wine, or a really big tree. supermajormusic.com The Nat Osborn Band: Nat Osborn is a restless soul. Like much of his over-stimulated generation, he requires a lot of energy, beauty and excitement. Because of this, he is in constant motion; whether it's studying tabla with a guru in India, playing folk sessions in the back corner of seaside pub in Ireland, playing hot jazz on the streets of Budapest, or playing a packed show in one of the countless clubs he's played in NYC. This energy is what draws people to his music and also what makes it hard to define. Whether it's a lush, hypnotic ballad about heartbreak, a polyrhythmic Latin-rock song about overmedicated children, a dub song about post-traumatic stress, or a drunken tango about destitute desire, his songs are as unpredictable and enthralling as they are catchy and thoughtfully composed. With a full-length record "The King and the Clown" just released, a powerhouse ensemble and a decade of experience behind him at the age of only 25, Nat Osborn is just getting started. natosborn.com

Sunday, August 26th 7:00 - Symphony Z
8:00 - Tania Stavreva
9:00 - Danielle Eva Schwob Doors open at 6pm Get Tickets Symphony Z is a New York City-based ensemble dedicated to performing the music of William Zuckerman. At the opening of the Tribeca New Music Festival, Symphony Z made its debut at Merkin Concert Hall in April of 2012 with William's epic and eclectic work Music in Pluralism. A widely anticipated show, Time Out New York hailed the group's debut as a "Critic's Pick" and Sequenza21 says that the show, "proves that William is dedicated to matching the standard of greatness he set with the first performance of Music in Pluralism." Following their debut, Symphony Z appeared on the Xlassical series at the Bowery Poetry Club and at Battery Park as a part of Make Music New York, where they were hailed as "Innovative" by DOWNTOWN Magazine NYC. Consisting of some of New York's finest young instrumentalists, from strings to electric guitar and piano to drums, the individual musicians of Symphony Z have performed at many major venues including Carnegie Hall, John Zorn's the Stone, Lincoln Center, Roulette, and Le Poisson Rouge. symphonyz.org Born in Bulgaria, Tania Stavreva started to play the piano at the age of four and gave her first solo recital at the age of five in her native country of Bulgaria. Her early teachers included Greta Anastasova, Rositsa Ivancheva and Krassimir Gatev. A member of the National Music Honor Society Pi Kappa Lambda, Tania is also a faculty of the Boston International Summer Music Festival "Youth and Muse". Described by critics as "exceptional, entrancing, fun!" (Harry Rolnick, ConcertoNet.com), "a fully formed and fearsomely talented pianist" (Steve Holtje, CultureCatch.com) and "bold, dynamic, magnificent!" (Harris Goldsmith, NY Concert Review), "Bulgarian born piano dynamo" (Steve Smith, Time Out New York) Tania Stavreva made her New York Recital Debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in April 2009, as part of the Artists International's 36 Special Presentation Winners Series. taniastavreva.com Danielle Eva Schwob is a London-born but New York-based musician whose creative work spans multiple genres. A composer, songwriter, guitarist and singer who grew up performing in bands, improvising and writing songs, she later found her way to concert music: a discovery that broadened and shaped her compositional voice significantly. Now she continues to work in both concert and popular idioms and is interested in projects that challenge her to connect these two disparate worlds. danielleevaschwob.com