In these politically correct times, it would be a disservice to characterize Patty Larkin’s music as “folk” music. Think of it instead as electric guitar-challenged music.
Larkin is on the road with kindred spirits John Gorka, Cheryl Wheeler and Cliff Eberhardt in a show billed as “On a Winter’s Night,” which stops Friday at Park West and is presented by the Old Town School of Folk Music.
The four are among the most critically acclaimed artists in the acoustic music genre, and will be onstage together swapping songs in round-robin fashion based on such themes as “Newest Song” and “Most Requested Song,” and will back each other up vocally and instrumentally. In the second half of the show, audience members will suggest categories of songs for them to perform.
“It’s unfortunate, but the word `folk’ has kind of a negative connotation these days,” said Larkin, whose recent “Angels Running” album showcases her talents as a first-rate singer and songwriter and an uncommonly good guitarist. “Folk got a bad rap for being a bunch of maudlin, sensitive singer-songwriters complaining a lot and being boring. But things have changed a lot over the last 10 years, and there are a lot of creative people now playing acoustic music.”
This is the second year that Larkin, Gorka, Wheeler and Eberhardt, who all normally perform solo, have toured together, and they also appear in different combinations on each other’s current albums.
“We’ve known each other for years, and so far we’re having a blast,” said Larkin. “It’s constant laughter when we’re together, and there’s a lot of humor in the show. Basically, the show never stops, because whatever we’re talking about offstage or in the van we travel in comes onstage with us when the show starts.”
– Through five years, numerous personnel changes and moves from Hawaii to Austin, Texas, and (currently) Chicago, Poi Dog Pondering have always left critics, well, pondering ways to describe their eclectic sound. The band will mix rock with folk, world beat, ethnic and acid jazz elements at shows Thursday and Feb. 18 and 19 at the Vic. The Thursday and Feb. 18 shows are already sold out.
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The group, which released three albums on Columbia Records between 1989 and 1992, is led by lone original member Frank Orrall, and includes Poi Dog veterans Susan Voelz and Dave Crawford along with a host of top Chicago musicians. Orrall says a string quartet and several additional musicians will augment the 10-member group at the concerts.
“These shows are how I’ve always imagined Poi Dog to be, which is not just a band getting up and bashing through these songs in a rock club, but a group that uses lots of other elements,” said Orrall. “We’ve always toured with film and slide collages behind us, but now we’re also incorporating theatrical lighting and staging to draw out the subtleties of the songs. Our managers always told me that it was too expensive to do a show this way, but now that I’m managing the band I know damn well we can do it.”
Concert short takes
Tommy Keene Friday at the Cubby Bear: In the liner notes to his new 23-song compilation, “The Real Underground,” Tommy Keene is described as “the thinking man’s Replacements.” It’s a reasonably apt comparison, given Keene’s gritty, Brit-rock inspired vocals and tuneful hooks. Despite years of critical acclaim, especially for his 1986 album “Songs From the Film,” Keene has never really broken through to the mainstream. That’s a shame, as he deserves more than mere cult status.
Teenage Fanclub and Yo La Tengo Friday at Metro: With their third album, the perversely titled “Thirteen,” Scotland’s Teenage Fanclub have turned towards a more wistful sound, though their stylistic debt to Alex Chilton’s Big Star (a de rigueur reference for young U.K. acts) remains. The trio Yo La Tengo opens with a style that is alternately ethereal and edgy.
Rocket From the Crypt Friday at Lounge Ax: Grunge music from sunny San Diego? Well, why not? Actually, Rocket From the Crypt are one of the major players in the city’s burgeoning alternative rock scene. Led by vocalist Speedo (the other members sport such names as ND, Petey X, Atom and Apollo 9), RFTC blend elements of hardcore and surf-punk with a surprising commercial sense. Think of them as Nirvana in a slightly sunnier mood.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones Friday at the Vic: Boston’s Mighty Mighty Bosstones are fueled by “singer” Dicky Barrett’s belligerent croak of a voice and have a unique style best described as Black Flag meets Black Uhuru. They mix hardcore-style guitars with ska, reggae and funk rhythms, all sweetened by the band’s three-man horn section. The band’s shows are legendary for their slam-dancing/stage-diving quotient, so be forewarned.
“Global Music Festival” with Dhamba 8, Malukosamba and Las Toallitas Saturday at Metro: Call this one world music from our own back yard, as all three groups are local. Dhamba 8 mix Afro-Caribbean rhythms with funky horns to create what they call the “Big International Soul Sound.” Malukosamba is a large Afro-Brazilian band led by Brazilian expatriate Venicio de Toledo and incorporates instruments ranging from traditional Brazilian folk instruments to synths. Las Toallitas describes their music as “maddening gypsy circus music,” which incorporates everything from Latin grooves to Middle Eastern modes. Oh yes, their name translates roughly as the “Little Towels.”
Juliana Hatfield Three, Dig and Veruca Salt Monday at the Riviera Theatre: Former Blake Babies bassist Hatfield has demonstrated a coltish charm on her two solo albums. A good example is “My Sister,” the “modern rock” radio hit from her current “Become What You Are” album, which matches an infectious melody and fashionably grungy guitars with love/hate lyrics that show the duality of sibling relationships. Opening will be the on-the-rise Chicago group Veruca Salt and southern California’s Dig, the latter a sort of unholy cross between Jane’s Addiction and Smashing Pumpkins.
The Wonder Stuff and Chapterhouse Wednesday at the Vic: Britain’s estimable hype machinery has revved into overtime on behalf of alternative rockers the Wonder Stuff, whose current album, “Construction For the Modern Idiot,” has some (presumably unintentional) hilarious lyrics courtesy of frontman Miles Hunt. Doesn’t anyone proofread his stuff? Openers Chapterhouse are yet another British group combining post-House music hypnotic grooves with atmospheric-if not particularly original-melodic washes.
Nick Heyward Thursday at Park West: Remember Haircut 100? They were famous for about five minutes in the early ’80s for such relentlessly upbeat hits as “Favorite Shirts” and “Love Plus One.” Frontman Nick Heyward has since gone on to a successful solo career in his native U.K. but hasn’t been much of a factor on the charts here. Something of a guilty pleasure, his first new album in five years, “From Monday to Sunday,” is making noise on the U.S. modern rock charts via the single, “Kite.”
Eleanor McEvoy Thursday at the Elbo Room: On her impressive self-titled Geffen Records debut album, Eleanor McEvoy, recently voted Ireland’s top new musical artist, alternates between torchy Edith Piaf-style material, classical-inspired ballads and acoustic-oriented rockers, all distinguished by her warm and passionate vocals.