The Englert joins forces with the Iowa Women's Music Festival to kick-off this year's event with an awesome show featuring Leslie & the LY's, Bitch, and Caroline Smith & the Goodnight Sleeps!

Leslie & the LY's, led by Leslie Hall (Mother Gem), are an Ames glam/dance band. They recently returned from a highly successful US tour which saw them crisscrossing the country with their wild and energetic live show. Always a must-see event, Leslie and the LY's return to the Iowa Women's Music Festival to get the weekend started right.

Bitch's musical journey has taken her from classical-violin training in the suburbs to experimental flicks in NYC. After leaving the outskirts of Detroit for the artier charms of Chicago—Bitch's unconventional and outspoken approach to performance caught the attention of a number of indie luminaries. She took fiddling lessons with Andrew Bird, serendipitously stumbled upon future co-conspirator, Animal at acting school, moved to New York to make their own 'theater' (Bitch and Animal) and recorded and toured with Ani DiFranco (who released Bitch and Animal's records on Righteous Babe). Bitch's out-of-the-ordinary message has resonated with a generation of gender non-conformists, attracting the likes of New York theater legend John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), who tapped her star power for his Cannes Fest favorite, Shortbus. She went on to release her first solo album on the legendary Kill Rock Stars label, entitled Make This/Break This. Bitch's latest record, Blasted! (release date spring 2010), is an outgrowth of her creative spirit, a real labor of love and her strongest solo album to date.

The striking Caroline Smith and her Goodnight Sleeps have gained much momentum behind their sharp songwriting and tight dynamics. The hook is Caroline Smith's impressive voice and the anchor is the strength of her nuanced band mates. Their debut record Backyard Tent Set is an underrated indie-pop gem.

“I’m the most sophisticated hillbilly you’ll ever meet.”

When Michelle Shocked says this about herself, it’s hard not to crack up. ‘Hillbilly,’ after all, is no compliment. And frankly, it’s tough to reconcile that reflex image of a backwoods, overalls-and-a-smile hillbilly with this focused, erudite singer-songwriter. If such a creature exists, however, Shocked is its picture, sans Billy-Bob teeth. Come to think of it, she was born in or at least near the backwoods of East Texas — and get this —after being conceived, if memory serves, “in the backseat of my Uncle Huby’s Chevy at the high school prom.”

Her upbringing was more well-rounded. In her early childhood, Shocked logged thousands of miles as a military brat, living in Massachusetts, Germany and Maryland, before returning to Texas. She lived there until her early twenties, experiencing the stark contrast — and copious benefits — of being raised by a fundamentalist Mormon mother and Army lifer stepfather, and having a hippie teacher-slash-“ultimate autodidact” father. Eager to further expand her horizons, Shocked eventually decamped for San Francisco, assumed the peripatetic life of a community activist and, eventually, a touring musician.

Fittingly, there’s a phantom Texas taproot and that self-styled wanderlust in her music. Much like the work of her East Texas peers Willie Nelson, Victoria Williams and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Shocked’s songs hold fast to a definite core, but owe no stylistic allegiance — just like their itinerant, mercurial, utilitarian creators.

In a 23-year career that has seen critical acclaim at every juncture, she famously escaped major-label indentured servitude in 1996, subverting the artist-label relationship that helped lead to the current trend toward artistic self-containment. She has made good use of her independence, releasing more critically-acclaimed albums on her Mighty Sound label. Her 2009 album, Soul of My Soul, was the latest of these. In 2010, her efforts are focused on Roadworks, an ongoing, 5-year touring project which curates songs that are audience favorites while developing new, unreleased material.

For example, this year's theme, American Idle, will search for new songs that chronicle the chilling effects of a ‘jobless recovery’, inviting fellow songwriters to briefly share the spotlight as the audience helps determine material selected for a limited-edition recording available at year-end exclusively to Roadworks ticketholders, while simultaneously preparing for the launch of the 20th Anniversary edition of Arkansas Traveler, slated for late next year, by featuring young bluegrass musicians who, perhaps, grew up listening to Arkansas Traveler as part of their parent’s record collection.

http://www.michelleshocked.com

Tickets:$20 each
Reserved Seating

One of the most important voices in folk music history, Joan Baez remains a musical force of nature whose influence is incalculable - marching on the front line of the civil rights movement with Martin Luther King Jr., inspiring Vaclav Havel in his fight for a Czech Republic, singing on the first Amnesty International tour and just recently, standing alongside Nelson Mandela when the world celebrated his 90th birthday in London's Hyde Park. She brought the Free Speech Movement into the spotlight, took to the fields with Cesar Chavez, organized resistance to the war in Southeast Asia, then forty years later saluted the Dixie Chicks for their courage to protest war.

Her earliest recordings fed a host of traditional ballads into the rock vernacular, before she unselfconsciously introduced Bob Dylan to the world in 1963 and focused awareness on songwriters ranging from Woody Guthrie, Dylan, Phil Ochs, Richard Farina, and Tim Hardin, to Kris Kristofferson and Mickey Newbury, to Dar Williams, Richard Shindell, Steve Earle and many more.

If ever a new collection of songs reflects the momentous times in which Joan finds herself these days, and in her own words, "speaks to the essence of who I am in the same way as the songs that have been the enduring backbone of my repertoire for the past 50 years," Day After Tomorrow (2008) is that record, her first new studio album in five years.
 

http://www.joanbaez.com

Tier 1: $50
Orchestra rows A-P
Orchestra Center row Q
Balcony rows A-D
Balcony Center row F

Tier 2: $40
Orchestra Center rows R-U
Orchestra Sides rows Q-X
Balcony Center rows G-L
Balcony Sides rows F-M

From the uplifting opening track “Someone Somewhere” through reflective closer “The End,” singer/songwriter Jason Reeves’ forthcoming album The Magnificent Adventures of Heartache (and Other Frightening Tales) takes listeners on a contemplative journey of love, hope, heartbreak and renewal. Originally available online and at his shows only, the album’s beauty and raw honesty connected with listeners and earned a “Top Folk Album of 2007” distinction from iTunes, which also named Reeves one of the Top Indie Singer-Songwriters of that year. Now signed to Warner Bros. Records, which will widely-distribute his album for the first time, Jason’s own story continues, one that remains as pure as his outlook on life and music as it ever was.

Self-taught on the guitar, Reeves began his own musical adventure as a teenager, when he discovered the works of folk legends Bob Dylan and James Taylor.Transformed, Reeves spent the next few years honing his own writing skills before dropping out of college and moving West to California to pursue his music full time.

Now just 23, Reeves paints beautifully sophisticated portraits of some of life’s most vulnerable, yet exhilarating moments. “Reaching” for example, ponders the question of whether to abandon caution and the familiar in order to plunge headlong into the risk and potential reward of the unknown.

SUPPORTING ACT: Joe Brooks

Joe Brooks is a British singer-songwriter, born and raised in Southampton, United Kingdom. He started playing the guitar at the age of 15 and became a MySpace phenomenon over night. He is currently signed to Universal Republic/Lava records, and has his debut album "Constellation Me" due out September 7th.

http://www.jason-reeves.com

Tickets:
$12 Advanced Sales
$15 Day of Show

General Admission

Since they met in a Cambridge folk club 9 years ago, The Weepies have progressed from an indie duo playing house concerts, to ranks on the Billboard Charts. Though they now have sales in the hundreds of thousands, the Weepies have kept a surprisingly low profile; they haven't toured at all since 2006.

"Our son was born right as we finished Hideaway," (Nettwerk, 2008) says Steve Tannen. "Touring was out. It was a huge change from the 180 shows of the Say I Am You release (Nettwerk, 2006)." The band was kept in the spotlight by dozens of uses in TV shows and films, including a prominent campaign ad for Barack Obama.

"It was pretty surreal to stay at home while the music went out into the world," adds Deb Talan. "But staying at home got us back into writing that much more quickly."

Crystallizing their organic acoustic sound and pop harmonies, the California duo has come up with their deepest, most accessible record yet. Third in a trilogy for Nettwerk Records, The Weepies once again worked with drummer Frank Lenz, guitarist Meg Toohey and string player Oliver Kraus, adding bass legends Tony Levin and Larry Klein to the mix.

"This is the most fun we've had making a record," says Deb. "We took as much time as we needed at every step, and taking that pressure off made the whole thing a little lighter."

"It took a year," adds Steve. "We wrote something like 70 tunes, and were able to experiment quite a bit before these 14 songs emerged as the record."

That process has paid off artistically with this wonderful new collection. Be My Thrill is a showcase for the duo's powerhouse songwriting and unique harmonies, ranging from the Cole-Porter-Esque "They're in Love" to the Dusty Springfield-like "When You Go Away."

The Weepies will be appearing on the 2010 Lilith Tour this summer. Be My Thrill will be released August 31, 2010.
 

http://www.theweepies.com

Ticketing:
$20 General Admission

“An artist should be someone who’s sticking it to the man,” Kate Nash explains emphatically. “It’s about rebellion. It’s about your mom being like ‘turn that down’ and you slamming the door and being like ‘whatever, I need this music to help me get through my emotions!’” The 22-year-old singer has always had strong opinions but in the months since the 2008 release of her smash debut Made of Bricks, she’s found a new kind of fierceness in expressing them. After a whirlwind rise-to-fame that involved multiple world tours and more than a million albums sold, Nash is back with her sophomore effort, My Best Friend Is You. “I went from being really young and naïve and positive, like ‘oh my god I love life, everything is so fun, to being like ‘I hate the world, everyone’s shit, I want to die,’” Nash says of her ride to the top. “My Best Friend Is You is about trying to find a happy middle.”

Born and raised in London, Nash started playing music as a kid, but her creative interests didn’t stop there. She studied theater at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology. Nash was contemplating a future as an actor when, after a freak fall down a flight of stairs, she found herself temporarily housebound with a broken leg. To ease her boredom during recovery, the singer’s mom bought her an electric guitar and songwriting became her obsession. After playing a few local gigs, Nash started uploading her music to MySpace. The response was immediate and overwhelming. By spring of 2007 the singer and songwriter had a record deal, and by the summer her debut album Made of Bricks was wreaking havoc on the UK charts. She played the entire UK festival circuit, including Reading and Leeds, and made her TV debut on Later with Jools Holland.

Not content with dominating the British marketplace, Nash then made her way stateside where Made of Bricks came out in January of 2008. Nash supported the release with a string of highly publicized shows that helped sell 175,000 copies of the album. Back home, she was being heralded as the new face of British music. She won the Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist, the NME Award for Best Solo Artist, and the Q Award for Breakthrough Artist. And after two years that took her from unknown teenage girl writing songs in her bedroom to arena-filling international pop star, Nash decided to take a long break.

“Everything was just a whirlwind,” she remembers. “I’d do things that were crazy and just be so blasé about them. Like, oh you’re going to perform for this many people and like oh you’re going to the Brit awards and I’m like, ‘ok cool, sure.’ They’re like, ‘your album went to number one’ and I’m like, ‘ok.’” After playing the summer festivals in 2008, Nash went back to London and retrenched. “It was scary because at first you’re like, ‘ok so the next album’s coming out in this month and I’m gonna get it done and I want to go here and I’m going to go there and do that. But when you actually start to relax you’re like, ‘oh god this is so much better and I actually need it! I’m going to hang out with my friends and go to the cinema and pass my driving test and watch the news and see what’s going on in the world.’”

And that she did. In addition to spending time with family and catching up on the real-life-of-a-teenager stuff she’d missed while becoming a rock star, Nash took time to pursue interest outside of music, like doing charity work. With a friend, she organized an event for the Wish Center in London, which is a group for kids that self-harm. “We did a big Halloween fundraiser for them that was really fun.” And she also took time to remember why she started making music in the first place. “I booked a rehearsal room for a couple of months so that I did have somewhere to go everyday and didn’t just watch daytime TV, which I also did plenty of,” the singer admits, laughing. “I wanted to make sure that was writing even if it wasn’t good, that I was doing something productive. And I took the break to make sure I had something interesting to write about. I’m not going to write an album about how I’ve been on tour for two years and am sick of it. I’m not going to write the you-can’t-relate-to-me-album. That would be rubbish!”

Locked in that rehearsal room with no deadline, Nash rediscovered her love for music. She played around with new instruments, learning drums, bass and improving her guitar skills, and she also started a punk band, The Receeders with Jon Jackson and Brett Alaimo the bassist and guitarist from her band. “When we were on tour they were in the back of the bus one night talking about how they were going to be in a punk band called the Receeders,” Nash remembers. “I was like, ‘can I join?’ and they’re like ‘yes, okay, if you want.’ It was kind of a joke, but then I was off the road and in my rehearsal room I just rang them up and was like, ‘come over! We’re actually going to do this!’”

Taking a few months off, learning new instruments, and writing songs for a loud rock and roll band really expanded the scope and sophistication of Nash’s songwriting. “Don’t You Want to Share the Guilt” with its confessional, narrative-rich lyrics and orchestral pop sound is a good blend of old and new Kate Nash. “I have played it live so people would know it,” Nash explains, “but it’s more ambiguous than my older songs. In lots of songs I was like ‘here’s my heart,’ but not as much now. I still like to live with my heart on my sleeve but i'm pleased that some of my songs aren't as obvious now.” “Do-Wah-Doo” is all bouncy girl-group-inspired vocals layered over a serrated guitar riff. And “Kiss that Grrrl” is a classic anti-other-woman sonic rant layered over intricately orchestrated horns, strings and drums. “I got much more involved in the music, writing parts for strings and horns this time,” Nash explains. “Before I wanted it to be as simple as possible. I think I was trying to have as much control in my life as possible. And that lo-fi sound is my background, it’s who I am but I can also enjoy writing music rather than just being a writer. It used to be all about the stories and that’s still really important but so is the music.”

Nash’s unwavering confidence in her new direction is based in large part on her faith in her connection to her fans. “It’s like you grow up together,” she says of the people who buy her records. “You might never meet but you have this unusual, deep communication. I love that. I don’t want the people who are going to be standing in the back of the gig talking. Go stand in the back of someone else’s gig! I want the people who are there to be nerdy. I want the people who are there to be real.”

http://www.katenash.co.uk

Ticketing:
$18 General Admission

$14 Students
Please Note:
Student tickets may only be purchased at the IMU Box Office with a student I.D. For more information on student tickets, please call 335-3041

Chase Garrett's 1st Annual Blues and Boogie Woogie Piano Stomp features four of the most demanded leaders in blues and boogie woogie piano from around the world today! Prepare to be blown away as Ricky Nye, Chase Garrett, Bob Seeley and Lluis Coloma hit the stage to bring you the best blues and boogie woogie show in Iowa City.

Utilizing two grand pianos and a rhythm section consisting of Brian Aylor on drums and Craig Dove on the upright bass, the house will sound reminiscent of the 1930's and 40's, when the likes of Albert Ammons, Meade Lux Lewis and Pete Johnson otherwise known as "the boogie woogie boys" were popularizing this style of music at rent parties, Carnegie Hall concerts and other venues such as Jazz the Philharmonic while blues pianists such as Jay McShann, Leroy Carr, Big Joe Turner and later Otis Spann were playing in barrelhouses and juke joints across the U.S.

Ricky Nye (Cincinnati, OH) is the recipient of numerous Cammy Music and CEA awards held by CityBeat Magazine including “Best Blues/R&B Artist” in 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2005. He has performed numerous times in Europe and recorded a CD in Paris in 2008 entitled, "Ville Du Bios." Ricky has also been featured on the “Arches Boogie Piano Stage” at the Cincinnati Blues Festival for the past 14 years and has held his own Blues & Boogie Summit in Newport, KY for the past 12 years.

Bob Seeley (Detroit, MI) is currently one of the most demanded boogie woogie pianists in the world. He has performed in Europe over 54 times, Carnegie Hall in New York City 3 times with Ray Bryant and is currently in the boogie woogie hall of fame. He has been featured in books, magazines, movies and television as well as made countless recordings with some of the best pianists the world has to offer. He was also personal friends with and performed alongside some of the world’s greatest jazz pianists including Art Tatum and Meade Lux Lewis.

Lluis Coloma (Barcelona, Spain) has made numerous recordings with today’s top blues and boogie woogie pianists and having performed in such places as Germany, France, Malaysia, Switzerland and Madrid is much demanded in Europe. He has received many awards including "Best Catalan Musician" in 2003 and "Artista BluesCat" in 2006. His unique approach to boogie woogie and powerful original blues performances have made him a force to be reckoned with as well as have earned him numerous invitations to perform in the U.S.

Chase Garrett (Iowa City, IA) is currently a student at Kirkwood Community College where he was awarded, "Musician of the Year" in 2009 and "Best Piano Solo" at the 2009 Elmhearst Jazz Festival in Chicago. Chase has performed in such places as Cincinnati, Michigan, California, and Chicago as well as alongside some of today’s best boogie woogie, blues and jazz pianists such as Axel Zwingenberger, Carl Sonny Leyland and Michael Kaeshammer. Chase Garrett, having been invited to perform overseas in Barcelona, Spain later this year, is quickly making a name for himself on the boogie woogie circuit.

Tickets:
$20 General Admission

Much-adored indie rock band formed in Montreal in 2003: their first show was an opening slot for Arcade Fire! From there they took off with their critically lauded debut Apologies to the Queen Mary, produced by Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock. A band marked by two distinct songwriters -- Dan Boeckner (of Handsome Furs) and Spencer Krug (of Sunset Rubdown, Swan Lake) -- Wolf Parade has always had a wild, rollicking, and passionate sound. Their second album, At Mount Zoomer, was another critical favorite featured elements of prog-rock with its longer, more intricate songs. Wolf Parade returned this year with the sharp and energetic Expo 86 and a stunning performance at the 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival. They remain one of indie-rock's most consistent and impressive groups.

http://www.wolfparade.nonstuff.com/

This event generously sponsored by:
New Pioneer Co-op

Ticketing:
$18 General Admission

This event is part of Hancher Auditorium's 2010-2011 season. All tickets are being sold through the Hancher Box Office:

1-800-HANCHER
or
www.hancher.uiowa.edu