club cafe

After fifteen years of writing and performing with projects like Wolf Parade,Sunset Rubdown, Moonface, Swan Lake, and Frog eyes, this prolific artist has finallydecided to release and tour the music he makes under his own name - Spencer Krug.First gaining attention in the mid 2000s as co-leader of Montreal's rock’n’roll WolfParade, then soon after as the voice and mind behind the chaotic Sunset Rubdown,Krug eventually used the now defunct Moonface as an outlet for his more experimentaland sporadic solo material. And while he still writes and sings for the recentlyreactivated Wolf Parade, there remains in him a need to express something lessrock-oriented, something more quiet and strange and introverted. So, returning to hisfirst and favorite instrument, the piano, Krug has ventured back into his own fantasticworld of pseudo-classical balladeering; poetic lyricism laced with twisted pop sensibilityand jazz mimicry. Using this template, he now releases his solo work, and tours avariety of new songs as well as those from older projects, as Spencer Krug.

In the ever-changing landscape of modern pop, Nathan Angelo shines as a refreshing alternative, embracing the classic elements of popular music and celebrating the backbeat of American tradition. As the revival of music in the 60’s and 70’s brought together the heritage of the Great American songbook, the flair of jazz and heartache of the Delta blues, Angelo integrates these forms into his own music with great ease and delight. For the past decade, Angelo has captivated audiences across the country with his high-spirited live show and captured the imagination of a loyal following through prolific songwriting, independently selling over 40,000 albums along the way.

Angelo’s latest full-length album A Matter of Time (Aug 2017) reflects his journey through the life-altering experiences of becoming a father and facing his daughter’s rare, life-threatening metabolic disease. His daughter received a liver transplant in Fall 2016, and Angelo’s latest release wrestles with the aches of adversity and ultimately celebrates the beauty of life and the hope he has for his daughter. A Matter of Time embraces the soul, classic r&b and piano-pop of some of Angelo’s more prominent influences -- Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Elton John -- while fearlessly venturing into new sonic territory to compete with pop contemporaries like Bruno Mars and Justin Timberlake. Alongside his finest songwriting to date, Angelo’s voice resounds as an irrefutable force as he carries listeners to new places unfamiliar to the likes of modern pop music.


A Matter of Time debuted at #12 on the iTunes singer-songwriter charts and has already garnered more than 2 Million streams on Spotify.

After four years of silence, instrumental metal standard bearers Pelican have come thundering back, with Forever Becoming, an eight-song album destined to be considered one of the most punishingly rewarding albums of the year.

Before their hiatus, the group had laid a sizeable chunk of the groundwork for the instrumental metal scene that’s come into its own in the 13 years since they started playing together. After 2009 the band found itself slightly adrift, and found the day to day struggle of being full-time underground musicians colliding with new families and non-musical careers. Wisely, they didn’t make any rash decisions, and as suits a band known for making dense, meditative sounds they simply patiently figured out how to move past their obstacles.

This reborn Pelican is purer, more focused, and far more assured. Recorded at Electrical Audio in Chicago with engineer Chris Common, and featuring The Swan King guitarist Dallas Thomas (replacing the amicably departed Laurent Schroeder-Lebec) Forever Becoming is an immense, speaker-rattling meditation on the infinite cycle of death and life. It takes a lot of experience and a lot of confidence to attempt a head-on ascent of the biggest, most monolithic theme in art, but Forever Becoming is proof that Pelican has plenty of both, and knows how to wield them.

When Sidelong, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers’ debut album, was released in early 2017, it quickly earned kudos for its blast of fresh, fierce honesty and sly wit. It was a welcome new voice in a genre too often mired in the staid and conventional. And while that record may have come to many as a surprise, Years solidifies the point: Sarah Shook & the Disarmers have moved from getting people’s attention to commanding it. The album–with its sharpened songwriting, unique perspective, deepened sound and roll-up-your-sleeves attitude–will grab you by the collar and put a defiant finger to your chest. It is resolute, blunt, and unflinching.

Inspired by artists such as the Sex Pistols, Elliott Smith and Hank Williams, Sarah sings with confidence, control, and, at times, a hint of menace. The Disarmers match her on every track, coloring the tales of resilience and empathy with as much urgency as ever as well as a broader sonic sweep. It’s easy to hear Sarah as a close cousin to artists like Hurray for the Riff Raff and Margo Price on the title track, or in the country-‘60s mod vibe on “Lesson.” “Good as Gold,” sporting a kiss-off line for the ages, “You’re as good as gold/ I’m as good as gone,” is both vulnerable and defiant, soaring with pop-inflected harmonies. And with an expansiveness evoking the wide-open West, “What it Takes” speaks to the truth of the record, to her life, and to the universe.

At its pounding heart, Years crackles with a pointedly contemporary and relevant take on the outlaw spirit. Built around the buoyant pedal steel of Phil Sullivan, and the post-punk rattle and Live at San Quentin hum of Eric Peterson’s guitar, there are echoes of Nikki Lane and Merle Haggard as much as Ty Segall. Its home is the ragged-but-real honky tonk, not the bro-country “honky tonk.” The barroom singalong “New Ways to Fail” is classic, smile-through-the-pain country. “Damned If I Do” could be the “Drivin’ Nails in My Coffin” of the 21st century, if we let it; a perfect song for rolling in the wry and sneaking in a quick two-step. The sinister “The Bottle Never Lets Me Down” will get anyone who’s ever been wronged righteously flipping the bird as they knock back the next shot. Therapy in the face of personal devastation takes many forms, after all.

As Sarah herself tells it...

This record is about finding a way. A way through exhaustion, depression, betrayal, hangover after hangover, upper after downer after upper, fight after never-ending fight. It’s about picking yourself up and dusting yourself off after years of being trampled and beaten down, jutting your chin out, head high, after they’ve done their worst, and saying, “Still here.”

This record is shouting “fk you, I do want I want” from the rooftops to the mother**g cosmos.

Jungle of Thieves is Pittsburgh's newest Alt Rock band hailing from Estella Avenue in Mount Washington. The 5 band members have been working tirelessly over the past 2 years to develop songs that we're proud to show the public and our EP will drop on most social media platforms in the near future. If you dig fun, catchy music, take a listen. We guarantee you'll come back for more.

Formed in 2016 out of the trio of Jessie Farine on bass, Elizabeth Fein on vocals, and Thomas Jenkins on drums, Take Me With You sprang into full color with the addition of keyboardists Leslie Chabala and Jonathan Aryeh Wayne in 2017. Resonant witch-diva vocals soar around shimmering synths, dance-beat drums, and lyrical bass guitar hooks, creating a sound both nostalgic and novel. Evoking the musical mythology of '80s dark alternative music, Take Me With You has had the opportunity to set the stage for those who set the stage for them, opening for acts like Men Without Hats and Jay Aston's Gene Loves Jezebel, as well as contemporary new/retrowavers like Betamaxx. Take Me With You is live-action synthpop; darkwave shot through with color and light; post-punk through a prism. What a prism does is disperse, TMWY synthesize: the reverse.

Plus special guest Karl Ojanpa: one-man independent electronics team behind retrowave act Variar and several local film soundtracks explores a sound ranging from beatbox funk to early industrial techno-pop.

Jon Worthy began in March 2015 after Jon had a bunch of songs that hadn’t been learned by his other musical project, but that he felt needed to come to life through a full band. Without having played a show, Jon put together a band and recorded his 6 song EP, “Unconventional” at The Bomb Shelter in east Nashville with bassist Nick Dibiasio and drummer Grant Bramlett. Eventually, Jon was able to put a band together and start playing some shows around Nashville with bassist Austin Mcfall and drummer Aj Wilder.



The Band played around Nashville for 6 months or so and then started recording their first full length album, “May You Live Happily Ever After”. On their second album, the band was able to capture a lot of the loud to soft moments that they love so much in rock music, especially on the tracks “Like the Wind” and “I do Abide”. The Band released the album in October 2016 with an album release show at The East Room in Nashville. The album has received positive reviews including one from Andrew Westberry of the music blog “No More Division” who had this to say on the album; “Overall, May You Live Happily Ever After is a masterful album, and the stylistic and artistic choices Jon Worthy continuously makes throughout his music is evidence of his natural talent and honed skills that have converged into his spectacular project”.



The group has settled on the lineup of Jon Worthy (Vocals/Guitar), Austin Mcfall (Bassist), Mike Sanborn (Drums), and Luis Echeverria (Keys/Guitar). 2018 saw the release of Jon’s second full-length album Only A Dream. Recorded with Lincoln Parish of Cage the Elephant at his studio in Nashville, TN the album has some unique and wide ranging songs from Jon Worthy. Current political issues as well as finding your own balance in life are the main themes on this album. Skope Magazine had the following to say about the album, “Lyrics have a mellowed poetic quality to them, for his voice delves into a reassuring comforting tenor. Best of all is how these many elements come together: the infectious rhythms, the memorable memories, and the sing-along lyrics”. The Bends have released a few singles as well as music videos within the last few months. They are currently gearing up for winter and spring tour dates as well as preparing to record a brand new album in January of 2019 at Studio 4115 with Handmade Productions!



The album will be more acoustic based and quite a change up from anything Jon Worthy & the Bends have done in the past. If you like the music, do us a favor and share it with your friends and family and come out and watch us play live! We hope you find a connection to the music, and love the emotions certain songs bring out in you, as much as we do. Catch the band on the road this winter and spring at one of their many dates coming up.

With peace and grooves,

Jon

Albert Lee is one of the most respected and renowned guitarists in music history, having worked with The Everly Brothers, Eric Clapton, Emmylou Harris and The Cricketts over his long and illustrious career. The British-born country-rock artist started his career during the emerging rock 'n' roll scene of sixties London, when he swapped bands with the likes of Jimmy Page and Chris Farlowe.

After moving to the U.S. and assimilating himself into the country music scene, Albert quickly garnered a reputation as one of the fastest guitar players in the business. He recorded a number of solo albums, and won a Grammy in 2002 for his contribution on 'Foggy Mountain Breakdown'. He continues to tour today, and plays his signature Ernie Ball Music Man Guitar.

Tanya Solomon

Direct from NYC, magician Tanya Solomon pulls into town for one night of startling effects including live fish appearing from nowhere, blindfolded targeting with a knife, baffling sleight of hand, and things you never knew could be done with creamed corn.

In this one-woman magic show, the astonishing and the absurd converge in a delightfully unsettling theatrical experience. You will leave feeling like a carnival has arrived in the night and turned reality upside down.
Logic and laws of nature guaranteed violated!

Tanya Solomon has been a cast member of Bindlestiff Family Cirkus and Coney Island Sideshows by the Seashore, and produces Force Majeure Vaudeville. She has been a professional clown, a sideshow artist, and has specialized in magic for the past several years.
www.tanyasolomon.net

Phat Man Dee:

Phat Man Dee is a vocalist, bandleader, events producer, videographer, poet, retired sideshow marvel, music educator, and social justice agitatrix. She regularly appears with her jazz group “The Cultural District”, "The Lemington Gospel Chorale" directed by Pastor Deryck Tines, and "Social Justice Disco" a collaborative musical project with Liz Berlin. She performs live approximately 100 dates a year in nightclubs, theaters, educational facilities, private events and festivals. She was voted #1 Best Local Jazz Act in the 2018 Best of Pittsburgh City Paper Reader’s Poll! Mandee teaches voice at the We Rock Workshop, and the Afro American Music Institute. She just released her 5th CD “Songs to Fight Fascists By!” with "Social Justice Disco", a collaborative musical project with Liz Berlin, co founder of Rusted Root. This exciting, socially minded, justice driven musical collaboration features over 60 musicians, dancers, and spoken word artists.
For more info her websites are: PhatManDeeMusic.com and SocialJusticeDisco.com

Luxury Machine are Pittsburgh based grunge/blues/soul.