Dig a little bluegrass pickin’ with your indie folk? Tonight is your night! Get down to Vaudeville Mews for Adam Faucett & Dillon Hodges. Dillon is a former flat-picking guitar champ, so whether you are a fan of quiet indie folk, or some acoustic guitar theatrics there will be something for you.
The show starts at 9:00, and tickets are only $7.
Still not convinced? Check out this video of Dillon doing ‘Take These Hands’ during a live showcase.
Don’t let a rainy Monday ruin the start of your week. Get down to Wooly’s tonight for some fast pickin’ bluegrass jams from Whitewater Ramble. Get there early to check out one of my favorite Iowa bands Tallgrass (stomping rhythm section, raspy vocals, some killer guitar licks, and a little bit of banjo thrown in for good measure).
Tickets are $10 (general admission). Doors open at 8, show starts at 9.
Tallgrass – God Damn (Live at the Englert)
by LDePhill
I love music festivals. The vibe, the sweat, the music, the people… I love it all. Just last year I discovered a festival that takes place in Iowa, but this is a deeply established festival. In fact, Camp Euforia is celebrating 10 years this July 12-13. Started by one of DSMVibe’s favorite bands, Euforquestra, Camp Euforia is held each summer on a farm in Lone Tree, Iowa, just outside of Iowa City. And I am in love!
In typical festival fashion, there is a little bit for everyone. Obviously the music is amazing, focusing quite heavily on bluegrass, folk and jam, but honestly, there can be some quirky surprises like last year such as a Steely Dan tribute band or a set of Beck music interpreted by Euforquestra. But there is also art for sale, make your own hula hoops, and activities for kids. Even better, the food vendors are from local favorites such as Gusto Pizza, and they don’t over charge like crazy.
As the festival is put on by Euforquestra, naturally they are the headliners performing both nights on the main stage. The rest of the lineup has finally been released and it is HOT! Trust me, you don’t want to miss this weekend.
Eufórquestra – two nights
Greensky Bluegrass
Dumpstaphunk featuring Ivan Neville
Pimps of Joytime
Family Groove Company
That 1 Guy
Pert Near Sandstone
Public Property
UltraViolet Hippopotamus
Mr. Baber’s Neighbors – The Solar String band
Beaker Brothers
Dead Larry
Uniphonics
Tallgrass
Chasing Shade
Fire Sale
Zeta June
The Candymakers
Coffee with the Grosso Family Band
D. Bess
Jaik Willis
Maximilian Eubank
Get your tickets early through Midwestix. And take a look at our pictures from last summer to help get you in the mood.
By T. Hays
Hoyt Sherman Place is hosting a 90th B-Day party that will actually be fun. This coming Saturday March 23rd, Des Moines native Max Wellman will be at Hoyt Sherman Place with his big band to help honor the historical venue’s 90th year.
Wellman, an incredibly gifted jazz vocalist who has headlined events like the Des Moines Arts Festival, and Des Moines Jazz in July, sold out the venue 3 years ago for the live recording of his 2nd album. This year, those in attendance can expect more jazz and pop standards performed by Max and his band, along with a few surprises like Des Moines soul/blues singer Tina Haase Findlay of Bella Soul, and many other special guests.
The big shin-dig takes place this Saturday March 23rd at 8PM. Tickets are still available, and can be purchased for $20 at the Hoyt Sherman Place Box Office, ticketmaster.com, by phone at 800-745-3000, or all Ticketmaster outlets.
Hello dear readers! After a hiatus of life getting in the way, I am back, to write once more for your beautiful faces. We’re making some changes around here at Vibe, one being the addition of a new team member! We now have a video man, Ben. WHICH MEANS! We can start doing videos now for y’all, so you don’t just have to read our words anymore, you can also start hearing our voices (iPhones just won’t always do the job). And for our first video, we sat down with one of my personal favorite local bands, the Holy White Hounds. These fellas are no stranger to the DSM scene, having played in previous bands such as the Dig Angees and La Strange, and some recent touring with one of our other favorites, Bright Giant. This most recent band, sound, and attitude of these three is my favorite of theirs yet.
Brenton is constantly found climbing on things, sitting on the drum set, or starting a wrestling match with Ambrose on stage, but these fellas are not just sheer antics, they are a quality mix of presence, talent, and heart. A real breath of fresh air around DSM, in my opinion.
They are one of those rare rock’n'roll goodies. Need convincing? Brenton starts singing Elvis in the middle of this interview. Between shots of whiskey (and an argument over ‘Homeward Bound’) , the boys stopped to talk with us about the struggle to keep a band together (and how that’s not exactly a bad thing), working with a producer for the first time, and their upcoming album.
PLEASE do yourself a favor and come see Holy White Hounds at Gas Lamp, this Friday (yes, March 1st), and let their music make sweet, sweet rock’n'roll love to your earholes. You’re welcome.
-Casey
SHOW INFO:
Holy White Hounds, and The Land of Blood and Sunshine. March 1st, @ the Gas Lamp. 8 PM, $5 cover.
Roxi Copland needs your help! Social media music platform Artist Signal (
http://artistsignal.com
) allows musicians to create a profile, and then encourage fans to vote for their favorite artist on the site. The artist that has the most votes at the end of every month gets $10,000 to help propel their music career forward. That’s where you come in. Former Iowan Roxi Copland is currently in 3rd place, but needs your help to win the big bucks.
Users can log in via their Facebook accounts, and can vote for their favorite artist multiple times, at a max rate of once per hour. To help encourage fans to vote, Roxi has even offered rewards on the site that can be claimed by fans after they’ve voted a certain # of times (song downloads, handwritten lyrics, etc). Voting ends at midnight on February 28th, so go VOTE! In the meantime, enjoy this video of Roxi explaining the contest, and then doing a snow angel in a bikini.
by LDePhill
Today is a very sad day. Someone that I have become good friends with over the past year lost his battle with cancer. Those of you that follow me on twitter have probably seen many tweets lately about my friend Bob and the fight for his life. Well, I felt that this site was the best place to express my sadness over this loss and celebrate his life, as music is what brought us together.
I have written before about the Phish twibe. People think it is crazy, but I have become so close with so many people through twitter because of our love for this band. Now that I have met so many of them, it is hard to think of a time before the twibe. If you want to read more about it, check it out here (courtesy of RunawayJim), but the quick version is that we are a group of people who share a love for Phish and tweet to each other about it. Then we meet up at Phish shows and basically become family. Bob was part of my family. I had probably been tweeting with Bob for at least a year before I finally met him this past summer at Summer Camp Music Festival. I spent the weekend with him and several others from the twibe who quickly became some of my best friends.
How do I describe Barefoot Bob? He is like no one I have ever met. He saw the good in everything and was truly a lover of life. And man, did he like to talk. But conversations with Bob were just about the best conversations ever. And he remembered everything you ever told him. The first time I met him I told him about DSMVibe and he immediately became my biggest fan. Not only did he take tons of awesome pictures for me at Summer Camp, but he would call me to talk about how I could make this website better. And whenever I said I couldn’t do something, he would talk my ear off until I was convinced otherwise. And the conversation ended with him wanting to know how he could help me get to where I wanted to be.
You could get Bob talking and tweeting for days about music or sports, but many of us also heard stories about his wife and their two kids. My heart aches with insane sadness for this family. I have never had the pleasure of meeting his wife or kids, but reading the blog that Danelle kept while Bob was sick astounded me at the grace and strength she portrayed. I hope she finds comfort knowing that Bob will be an angel in her life and the lives of their kids.
It is hard to put into words what I am feeling and thinking right now. I am angry. I am sad. I am overwhelmed. It was amazing to read the tweets today with stories about how many lives that Bob has touched, and many from those that had never had the chance to meet him in real life. There are several people that would have never even met each other if it weren’t for Bob. The power of social media is incredible. It is absolutely possible to have strong connections with people you have yet to meet.
I 100% believe that every person you meet comes into your life for a purpose. Some people you have relationships with for years and some for only a brief time, but each person enriches your life in some way. Bob was in my life for only a short time, but he brought so much with him that the power of his spirit is simply awesome. And his spirit will live on for a long, long time. He made me laugh, he gave me courage and support, he sent me files upon files of music. He never made me feel dumb for not knowing everything there is to know about The Dead or Phish. He tried very hard to get me to dig Umphrey’s McGee the way I dig Phish (they are growing on me more and more). But most of all, Robert Eckhart showed me what it means to really live life and to never give up. Just a month ago he was talking about hoping to make it to MSG for the Phish New Year’s run. He never gave up. And neither will I. So Bob, may the good Lord shine a light on you, and make every song you sing your favorite tune.
It is with a truly heavy heart that I say goodbye to a friend today. My heart is broken and aches for his family. Please consider making a donation to the trust set up for his kids. It is our turn to give back to someone that has given us so much.
https://www.wepay.com/donations/robert-eckhart-memorial
Peace and love~
by LDePhill
Happy holidays, friends! I finally started to feel full of Christmas cheer with all the fresh pow we received this week. This weekend starts the holiday festivities for most, and what better way to get into the spirit then with some killer jams and toasting with your friends in Des Moines.
Tonight at Wooly’s marks the third annual Home for the Holidays night. This event is masterminded and headlined by Colorado band (by way of Iowa), Euforquestra. Many of you have probably heard this band, or at least seen my previous posts about them, but if you have not, I promise you this night will be amazing! Even better, the band will be joined by Mr. Baber’s Neighbors and Bright Giant. Obviously a treat to have all of these amazing Iowa musicians together on one night. And you can feel good about coming to this benefit for the Food Bank of Polk County. There will be several kick ass items up for bid so you can even get some last minute Christmas shopping done. (P.S. I would like the music bundle donated from SCI Records if you want to buy me a present.)
Home for the Holidays III w/ Euforquestra – a Benefit for the Food Bank of Polk County (w/ guests Mr. Baber’s Neighbors and Bright Giant)
Tonight at Wooly’s
Doors at 7pm, Show at 8pm
Tickets are $15
Bring Canned Goods to Donate
Words by T. Hays
Photos by Kerri Photography
Wichita, KS based blues/roots rockers Moreland & Arbuckle were in town this past Saturday night for a show at The Gas Lamp, and a couple of us from DSMvibe were there to capture it.
Quickly becoming one of my favorite local venues, The Gas Lamp is the perfect place for a band like Moreland & Arbuckle. Small and intimate, yet it has a great vibe. The band seemed to agree, as they mentioned how great it was to be back in Des Moines, and how much they liked The Gas Lamp.
I thought the show was great, and the rest of the audience seemed to agree. The place was packed by show time, and there was a great buzz in the room before the show started. Moreland & Arbuckle were rocking from the first note as they blazed through their unique brand of dirty blues. Gritty guitars, wailing harmonica, and some heavy beats sum up their sound pretty well. I was particularly intrigued by the homemade cigar box guitar that was used on several songs.
Big thanks to Big Red Dog Promotions, Midwestix and The Gas Lamp for continuing to bring such great tunes to Des Moines. Check out a few of our favorite photos thanks to Kerri Photography.
by LDePhill
We are fortunate in Des Moines to have several amazing venues to catch live music. One of the oldest, and most respected venues is Vaudeville Mews. For the past ten years, Mews has been the place to go to see local, regional and national bands. With a rich tradition in Des Moines, I could easily describe Vaudeville Mews as Iowa’s version of CBGB. With bands like Of Montreal, Fall Out Boy, The Decemberists and The Heavy Pets getting their start on the stage of the Mews, there is deep history woven into each square inch of the place.
The people of Vaudeville Mews are unbelievably supportive of Iowa’s local musicians from rock to folk to hip hop to DJs spinning tunes on the patio. And their support ventures far beyond the walls of Mews to the Des Moines Music Coalition, 80/35 Festival and just about anything else related to the local music scene.
Come help us celebrate 10 ass rocking years of the Vaudeville Mews tomorrow night starting at 8pm. Sorry to our young friends, you must be 21 to enter and $7 gets you in the door. Get your groove on with local bands Love Songs for Lonely Monsters and Land of Blood and Sunshine. The main headliner is punk pop band Eternal Summers. And as an added bonus, and sign of my love for Vaudeville Mews, I will be giving out free hugs all night!
Check out the video below to get a sneak peek of Iowa band Land of Blood and Sunshine. This video was shot by DSMVibe’s new homie, Ben Cooper. Be on the look out for more videos from Ben coming soon.
