A weekly update about upcoming concerts and notes on the local scene.
Audience participation
Folk-rockers Daniel and the Lion have built a local following in less than a year, and they will offer an opportunity for fans to put their audience skills to use at a live DVD filming. The filming will take place during the group's upcoming performance at the High Noon Saloon, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 24.
The show, titled These Wisconsin Songs, marks two major changes for Daniel and the Lion: their departure from Madison and the unveiling of an expanded lineup. Joining the band for the High Noon show will be drummer Davey Roberts and bassist Jason Krunnfusz, both Baraboo natives (as are the original DATL duo of Daniel Pingrey and Jimmie Linville). They'll be living in Chicago for the next few months while recording an album, and plan to head out for a national tour in the spring.
"Until now, Daniel and the Lion's music has merited sparse, stripped instrumentation," says Pingrey, who plays piano and marimba for the band. "Some of the new songs feel bigger, and bolder, so we decided it was time to move forward with bass and drums."
With more members, "We can add new colors to the quiet songs as well. The idea of Daniel and the Lion has always been to have a full band, not a loud band, and certainly not just a duo," says Pingrey. "This show will serve as an indication of the future of the band, and we couldn't be more excited.
Pingrey says that along with the new lineup, there will be some special staging designed especially for the DVD filming. "We'll be playing the songs the way we would back home: in the company of good friends, laughing and telling stories. It's important to capture this part of our lives, this music, and this community of friends we have here in Madison. It's truly our home."
The show is open to ages 18 and up, and advance tickets are available through the High Noon website. New band The Skin of Our Teeth will also play a set.
Help 'em out
A trio of Madison bands will unite at the Majestic Theatre on Friday, Nov. 20, to raise money for the UW Carbone Cancer Center. The Funk Out Cancer! concert is in memory Kate Gates Falaschi, who died in May after a battle with colon cancer.
Gates Falaschi's husband, Al Falaschi, says in a press release about the show, "Kate was an organizer and a leader. When she believed in a cause, she attacked it full throttle. Before her passing, she asked friends to organize a memorial concert for her if she ended up losing her battle with cancer. Funk Out Cancer! was organized to fulfill her wish."
The concert will get underway at 8 p.m. and include performances by Phat Phunktion (Al Falaschi is a founding member), Mama Digdown's Brass Band and the Mark Croft Band.
Club watch
Goodman Community Center's high school student-staffed Ironworks Cafe recently expanded into the evening hours Mondays through Fridays, and organizers are now trying out occasional concerts in the space. The Quiet Time series has featured performances by Luke Bassuener, Evergreen, Julian Lynch and riotriot, along with an informal appearance by Denison Witmer after his scheduled Cafe Montmartre show was canceled by the club's closing. This week's concert, at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19, includes a return engagement by Bassuener and a solo performance by Jentri Colello (whose band Flatbear was recently renamed Flight).
"The idea is a sort of dinner theater, where you can enjoy the culinary arts and some music at the same time," says Leif Haven, an Ironworks Cafe manager. "Who knows where it'll go from here, though. The other week Luke got everyone clapping and playing percussion."
Haven says discussion on uses for the space beyond dining -- and that also fit the GCC's mission -- has been ongoing. "When Denison played this summer it wasn't perfect, but it was nice. Very intimate. Shows are a way to get people in the shop during the slow hours of the evening. Business means more experience for the students, which is really why the cafe exists. I also think it's a great way to be a 'community center.'"
Though the cafe's doesn't require much amplification thanks to its size, a PA is available and can also be used for loops or effects. "The intention is that we don't restrict ourselves to simply your coffee shop folk song fare (while having nothing against that, of course)," says Haven. Performers interested in playing Ironworks Cafe can email leif@goodmancenter.org for information.
On the horizon
Former Clear Blue Betty singer/songwriter Beth Kille and her husband, drummer Tony Kille, departed for Houston, Texas, in summer 2008, and after a year away returned to Madison. The first recordings of her Texas-founded solo career will emerge on Thursday, Nov. 19, at the Brink Lounge, as Beth Kille will be playing a duo show with fiddler Julia McConahay. Former Lonesome Strangers member turned song-spinning troubadour Randy Weeks will open the 8 p.m. show.
Kille's new EP, This Beautiful Beast, features six self-recorded and produced songs; plans for a full-length studio album are already underway.
