Robin Goes to Morocco! - May 30, 2008
Robin has been invited to do be an Artist in Residence in Fez, Morocco!!!
More news to come...
More news to come...
Royal Pine: News
Reviews/Writings by Robin - July 9, 2006
Sorry, this isn't news. But I can't find a place on this host site to put random musings. These are things I've written for either Rolling Stone, RollingStone.com or American Songwriter.
Thanks for listening.
click here for a recent feature interview I did with Jolie Holland
http://media.anti.com/jolie_holland/springtimcankillyou/press/american_songwriter_feature.jpg
Be Good Tanyas
Chinatown
Those thirsty for real backwoods hooch to chase the mass-market Zima of recent "roots-influenced" chart toppers should take a swig of the Be Good Tanyas. On their second release, Chinatown, the British Columbia trio offer up invigorating versions of traditional tunes, like "Reuben", as well as sweet-and-dirty originals such as the lush "Ship Out on the Sea." BGT are strongest on the darker songs, like Townes Van Zandt's haunting "Waiting Around to Die" ("Well one time friends I had a ma/I even had a pa/He beat her with a belt once cause she cried"). These knotty-pine girls sound like no one else -- and no one else would sing two songs about a dead dog.
RollingStone.com
ROBIN AIGNER
(March 11, 2003)
The Sadies
Favourite Colours (Yep Roc)
If something smells Phishy on the new Sadies album, it's probably the tight and melodic jams that open and pepper it. There is of course other finery in this booty of loosely labeled alt-country: the late-Sixties-style hippie rock of "Translucent Sparrow" that the band flawlessly transforms into Tex-Mex with the help of a catchy, lazy trumpet; Kinks-ish tunes laced with acoustic guitars ("Why Be So Curious") and even cowboy theme music, which leaves the saloon door swinging on its hinges with lyrics like "The angels killed the devils/Hung them in the streets/And reveled in the blood lust and the fires of revenge" ("1000 Cities Falling"). Robyn Hitchcock guests and adds to the spooky romance with vocals and lyrics -- "Why would anybody live here?/Only you and your eyes" -- on the final track. Combining American groove rock with spicy Western flavor, the Sadies have created yet another eerie and epic piece of work.
August 31, 2004
RollingStone.com
(ROBIN AIGNER)
"Different for Girls turns Joe Jackson's best tunes on their head with gender-bending takes that manage to bring out the sweet (in the title track), the rawk ('Look Sharp!'), the glitter ('Steppin' Out'), and the agony ('Breaking Us in Two') that made Jackson one of the eighties' best, and most memorable, songwriters."
— Robin Aigner
David Berkeley
“Berkeley’s a sixties-esque troubadour with songs to swoon by and a voice sweeter than incense and peppermints. … He’s a double fantasy of Nick Drake and Donovan.” --Robin Aigner
RollingStone.com
Neil Young-YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
Back in the day, the youth of this country could be counted on to be the rabble-rousers, the insurgents, fearless challengers of the status quo--licensed by carefree naiveté and insulated by an army of like-minded freak-flag flyers. Seems the hippies have passed that torch not to the MTV masses, but back to one of their own: aging rocker Neil Young, who's off and running with it on his new, politically charged album, Living With War. The ten provocative songs, including the much-ballyhooed "Impeach the President" and "Shock and Awe," are making waves beyond the amber grain of the U.S., shaking things up in the Ethernet with anti-war and anti-Bush sentiments. Young reportedly wrote and recorded (backed by a 100-member choir) the work in just two weeks. Prior to the album's release, while rumors of its political nature spread, bloggers were invited to preview the caustic tracks; tunes were then made officially available over the Internet--sans cost--turning up the flame on the already roiling waters. But despite this recent ruckus, Canadian-born Young, 60, has often been criticized for his stands, which have fluctuated bewilderingly. While the 1970s saw Young singing out about the Kent State murders by National Guardsmen in the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young classic "Ohio," the ostensibly left-leaning performer confounded fans in the 1980s with his support of Republican Ronald Reagan, and again in 2001 when, in the wake of 9/11, he spoke in favor of Bush's Patriot Act, which has been heavily blasted as a threat to civil liberties. Fortunately, the songwriter launches the Freedom of Speech Tour with CSN this summer, which will serve not only as a forum for his latest work, but a banner that supports his right to have seemingly inconsistent opinions. The hoi polloi will be able to grab a piece of lawn or upper tier at a modest $30-$35; and lest you think Young has gone all proletarian, fret not: The good seats are expected to be topping out at a baby-boomer-friendly $250.
--by Robin Aigner
American Songwriter
July 2006
Amy Correia
Lakeville
"Since her acclaimed debut, "Carnival Love," Amy Correia has been playing geographic hopscotch. So it's no surprise that on her follow-up, locations vie for attention. "Lakeville," named after her Massachusetts hometown begins in New York (a drunken train ride to "Coney Island, USA") then heads west via the Nina Simone-ish "California." Correia's waifish voice is both vulnerable and fierce, and it lends credibilitiy to the emotinal contradictions she sings about. On the fabulous roots-rocker "Dollar Lake," she describes a wayward beau––"A little long in the teeth/he was short on cash"––whom she still has the hots for. Likewise, on the moody "Beautiful/Ugly" (where the spirit of Jeff Buckley can be felt) she sings, "She's beautiful when she's crying/and swearing like a sailor." Recorded in roughly a week by producer Mark Howard (Lucinda Williams), "Lakeville" seduces with a bedroom intimacy––where torch songs, blues, roots and pop are bedmates, enjoying the bacchanal."
-American Songwriter (Robin Aigner)
Review of What's the Only Thing Worse Than the End of Time?
There's a theory that certain musical frequencies affect people emotionally. Katell Keineg has found them. It's damn near impossible to listen to her earthy and ethereal voice without feeling the spirit move you. The Franco-Welsh (she sings in English, but old-world Europe oozes from her throaty croon and gracefully gangly limbs) singer/songwriter's latest effort, the EP What's the Only Thing Worse Than the End of Time?, is a brief testament to her power to permeate. The standouts are a chilling live version of Nick Drake's "River Man" (Keineg is especially powerful onstage) and the celebratory "Beautiful Day," which sounds like a chance meeting between a Sixties-pop melody line and a white girl on a Caribbean island. What's the Only Thing seems to embody both of those worlds, suggesting that Keineg's travels over the past five years, during which she was AWOL from the studio, helped her find a balance between her poetic roots and pop sensibility. If What's the Only Thing is any indication of what is to come from Keineg, prepare to be seriously hooked by her frequencies.
- Robin Aigner
Rolling Stone 11.09.02
Jolie Holland
Catalpa
When Jolie Holland recorded the songs now found on her debut, Catalpa, she didn't exactly set out to make an album. Thanks to an underground buzz, though, her crafty basement tape/campfire recording is one happy accident of refreshingly underproduced, heady Americana that was never intended to reach an audience wider than the back porch. Taking cues from vocal jazz, backwoods blues and moaning Appalachia, Holland, a co-founder of the equally impressive Be Good Tanyas, has created an unconventional collection of compelling arrangements. Her log-cabin vocals are rife with graceful trills and float ghostlike through crooked melodies on songs that are more mesmerizing than they are individually memorable. Her guitar is augmented by musical saw, bells, harmonica, banjo, human coughs and creaking chairs. Holland seems endearingly haunted by the likes the Carters and bluesmen of yore. She even pays homage to her forebears -- "Nobody sings like Mary Sue Bowen/Nobody prays like Willie McTell/Nobody walks a mile in my stolen shoes" -- while announcing her own arrival into that pantheon.
RollingStone.com
ROBIN AIGNER
(November 10, 2003)
Eastmountainsouth Eastmountainsouth (Dreamworks)
You can't believe everything you read. And if you've read the hype that Eastmountainsouth play rootsy, "raw-veined Americana," you'll find the duo's debut a letdown. There's not a whole lot of rawness here, rather overcooked, slick production. What Kat Masclich and Peter Adams do offer is something less gritty, more pretty. Their stunning vocal unity -- rivaling that of the Indigo Girls -- coasts gracefully over intelligent, sparkling songs that draw from historical events ("Show Me the River"), literature ("Still Running") and personal experiences. But the individuality of both songwriters drowns under waves of flawless, and characterless, studio swells and intricate ethereal arrangements, recalling more Enya than the Carter Family. EMS trade the intimate earthiness of high-lonesome for the anonymity of pop, leaving one wondering what these two obvious talents would sound like in a more pristine state. Hopefully next time they'll keep it a little dirty and give us roots that are deep, but not quite so buried. RollingStone.com
(ROBIN AIGNER)
Asylum Street Spankers
My Favorite Record
Asylum Street Spankers' My Favorite Record is like a variety pack of cereal: It's got all flavors, and some are sweeter than others. This band of musical overachievers strings together entertaining tongue-in-cheek tunes, from Dixieland to alt-country to waltz. The zanier 20s-/30s-era songs work best, like "Monkey Rag," bursting with jug-band bravado, and with the speakeasy spookarama "Insane Asylum," all jangly blues and Tom Waits-ish vocal strolls. ASS boldly cross musical boundaries, with mixed results. The songs tend to feel unrelated to each other and uneven. The agenda sometimes seems indecisive: at odds between parodying genre and showcasing musical prowess, not always committing to either ("My Favorite Record" starts as a jazzy rag, only to lose itself in experimentation). However, crossing boundaries does make for beautiful surprises -- "The Minor Waltz," a complex oompah serenade, is a glorious instrumental standout -- and it breeds lines like "I was born in New York City and beat up down in San Anton'," an apt metaphor for this collection and for an era in which city-slick Gen Y's are getting jiggy with Ralph Stanley.
ROBIN AIGNER
(RollingStone.com, SEPTEMBER 25, 2002)
Devendra Banhart, Niño Rojo
This strikingly beautiful work...
"Not everyone can relate to what you and I appreciate," intones whinnying singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart on "Nino Rojo." That line speaks volumes
about Banhart, who, caustic, weird, absurd and poetic, challenges traditional musical notions. On this strikingly beautiful work, where he sounds like Donovan on LSD (well, on more LSD), Banhart weaves dreamy apparitions with his catchy
folk guitar -- sometimes even dabbling in Spanish-style picking -- adding strange rhymes here and there. He can go from cryptic, minimalist lyricist to astute
wordsmith ("My love is a so-long song gone forever more") in no time. And even if you get the feeling that DB's seemingly unselfconscious naturalist
sounds (coughs, giggles, mutterings) are in fact calculated, it doesn't matter. They impart a humanness to the album, something rarely heard on today's polished recordings, and you find yourself straining to hear more of them.
RollingStone.com (Oct. 1, 2004)
Thanks for listening.
click here for a recent feature interview I did with Jolie Holland
http://media.anti.com/jolie_holland/springtimcankillyou/press/american_songwriter_feature.jpg
Be Good Tanyas
Chinatown
Those thirsty for real backwoods hooch to chase the mass-market Zima of recent "roots-influenced" chart toppers should take a swig of the Be Good Tanyas. On their second release, Chinatown, the British Columbia trio offer up invigorating versions of traditional tunes, like "Reuben", as well as sweet-and-dirty originals such as the lush "Ship Out on the Sea." BGT are strongest on the darker songs, like Townes Van Zandt's haunting "Waiting Around to Die" ("Well one time friends I had a ma/I even had a pa/He beat her with a belt once cause she cried"). These knotty-pine girls sound like no one else -- and no one else would sing two songs about a dead dog.
RollingStone.com
ROBIN AIGNER
(March 11, 2003)
The Sadies
Favourite Colours (Yep Roc)
If something smells Phishy on the new Sadies album, it's probably the tight and melodic jams that open and pepper it. There is of course other finery in this booty of loosely labeled alt-country: the late-Sixties-style hippie rock of "Translucent Sparrow" that the band flawlessly transforms into Tex-Mex with the help of a catchy, lazy trumpet; Kinks-ish tunes laced with acoustic guitars ("Why Be So Curious") and even cowboy theme music, which leaves the saloon door swinging on its hinges with lyrics like "The angels killed the devils/Hung them in the streets/And reveled in the blood lust and the fires of revenge" ("1000 Cities Falling"). Robyn Hitchcock guests and adds to the spooky romance with vocals and lyrics -- "Why would anybody live here?/Only you and your eyes" -- on the final track. Combining American groove rock with spicy Western flavor, the Sadies have created yet another eerie and epic piece of work.
August 31, 2004
RollingStone.com
(ROBIN AIGNER)
"Different for Girls turns Joe Jackson's best tunes on their head with gender-bending takes that manage to bring out the sweet (in the title track), the rawk ('Look Sharp!'), the glitter ('Steppin' Out'), and the agony ('Breaking Us in Two') that made Jackson one of the eighties' best, and most memorable, songwriters."
— Robin Aigner
David Berkeley
“Berkeley’s a sixties-esque troubadour with songs to swoon by and a voice sweeter than incense and peppermints. … He’s a double fantasy of Nick Drake and Donovan.” --Robin Aigner
RollingStone.com
Neil Young-YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
Back in the day, the youth of this country could be counted on to be the rabble-rousers, the insurgents, fearless challengers of the status quo--licensed by carefree naiveté and insulated by an army of like-minded freak-flag flyers. Seems the hippies have passed that torch not to the MTV masses, but back to one of their own: aging rocker Neil Young, who's off and running with it on his new, politically charged album, Living With War. The ten provocative songs, including the much-ballyhooed "Impeach the President" and "Shock and Awe," are making waves beyond the amber grain of the U.S., shaking things up in the Ethernet with anti-war and anti-Bush sentiments. Young reportedly wrote and recorded (backed by a 100-member choir) the work in just two weeks. Prior to the album's release, while rumors of its political nature spread, bloggers were invited to preview the caustic tracks; tunes were then made officially available over the Internet--sans cost--turning up the flame on the already roiling waters. But despite this recent ruckus, Canadian-born Young, 60, has often been criticized for his stands, which have fluctuated bewilderingly. While the 1970s saw Young singing out about the Kent State murders by National Guardsmen in the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young classic "Ohio," the ostensibly left-leaning performer confounded fans in the 1980s with his support of Republican Ronald Reagan, and again in 2001 when, in the wake of 9/11, he spoke in favor of Bush's Patriot Act, which has been heavily blasted as a threat to civil liberties. Fortunately, the songwriter launches the Freedom of Speech Tour with CSN this summer, which will serve not only as a forum for his latest work, but a banner that supports his right to have seemingly inconsistent opinions. The hoi polloi will be able to grab a piece of lawn or upper tier at a modest $30-$35; and lest you think Young has gone all proletarian, fret not: The good seats are expected to be topping out at a baby-boomer-friendly $250.
--by Robin Aigner
American Songwriter
July 2006
Amy Correia
Lakeville
"Since her acclaimed debut, "Carnival Love," Amy Correia has been playing geographic hopscotch. So it's no surprise that on her follow-up, locations vie for attention. "Lakeville," named after her Massachusetts hometown begins in New York (a drunken train ride to "Coney Island, USA") then heads west via the Nina Simone-ish "California." Correia's waifish voice is both vulnerable and fierce, and it lends credibilitiy to the emotinal contradictions she sings about. On the fabulous roots-rocker "Dollar Lake," she describes a wayward beau––"A little long in the teeth/he was short on cash"––whom she still has the hots for. Likewise, on the moody "Beautiful/Ugly" (where the spirit of Jeff Buckley can be felt) she sings, "She's beautiful when she's crying/and swearing like a sailor." Recorded in roughly a week by producer Mark Howard (Lucinda Williams), "Lakeville" seduces with a bedroom intimacy––where torch songs, blues, roots and pop are bedmates, enjoying the bacchanal."
-American Songwriter (Robin Aigner)
Review of What's the Only Thing Worse Than the End of Time?
There's a theory that certain musical frequencies affect people emotionally. Katell Keineg has found them. It's damn near impossible to listen to her earthy and ethereal voice without feeling the spirit move you. The Franco-Welsh (she sings in English, but old-world Europe oozes from her throaty croon and gracefully gangly limbs) singer/songwriter's latest effort, the EP What's the Only Thing Worse Than the End of Time?, is a brief testament to her power to permeate. The standouts are a chilling live version of Nick Drake's "River Man" (Keineg is especially powerful onstage) and the celebratory "Beautiful Day," which sounds like a chance meeting between a Sixties-pop melody line and a white girl on a Caribbean island. What's the Only Thing seems to embody both of those worlds, suggesting that Keineg's travels over the past five years, during which she was AWOL from the studio, helped her find a balance between her poetic roots and pop sensibility. If What's the Only Thing is any indication of what is to come from Keineg, prepare to be seriously hooked by her frequencies.
- Robin Aigner
Rolling Stone 11.09.02
Jolie Holland
Catalpa
When Jolie Holland recorded the songs now found on her debut, Catalpa, she didn't exactly set out to make an album. Thanks to an underground buzz, though, her crafty basement tape/campfire recording is one happy accident of refreshingly underproduced, heady Americana that was never intended to reach an audience wider than the back porch. Taking cues from vocal jazz, backwoods blues and moaning Appalachia, Holland, a co-founder of the equally impressive Be Good Tanyas, has created an unconventional collection of compelling arrangements. Her log-cabin vocals are rife with graceful trills and float ghostlike through crooked melodies on songs that are more mesmerizing than they are individually memorable. Her guitar is augmented by musical saw, bells, harmonica, banjo, human coughs and creaking chairs. Holland seems endearingly haunted by the likes the Carters and bluesmen of yore. She even pays homage to her forebears -- "Nobody sings like Mary Sue Bowen/Nobody prays like Willie McTell/Nobody walks a mile in my stolen shoes" -- while announcing her own arrival into that pantheon.
RollingStone.com
ROBIN AIGNER
(November 10, 2003)
Eastmountainsouth Eastmountainsouth (Dreamworks)
You can't believe everything you read. And if you've read the hype that Eastmountainsouth play rootsy, "raw-veined Americana," you'll find the duo's debut a letdown. There's not a whole lot of rawness here, rather overcooked, slick production. What Kat Masclich and Peter Adams do offer is something less gritty, more pretty. Their stunning vocal unity -- rivaling that of the Indigo Girls -- coasts gracefully over intelligent, sparkling songs that draw from historical events ("Show Me the River"), literature ("Still Running") and personal experiences. But the individuality of both songwriters drowns under waves of flawless, and characterless, studio swells and intricate ethereal arrangements, recalling more Enya than the Carter Family. EMS trade the intimate earthiness of high-lonesome for the anonymity of pop, leaving one wondering what these two obvious talents would sound like in a more pristine state. Hopefully next time they'll keep it a little dirty and give us roots that are deep, but not quite so buried. RollingStone.com
(ROBIN AIGNER)
Asylum Street Spankers
My Favorite Record
Asylum Street Spankers' My Favorite Record is like a variety pack of cereal: It's got all flavors, and some are sweeter than others. This band of musical overachievers strings together entertaining tongue-in-cheek tunes, from Dixieland to alt-country to waltz. The zanier 20s-/30s-era songs work best, like "Monkey Rag," bursting with jug-band bravado, and with the speakeasy spookarama "Insane Asylum," all jangly blues and Tom Waits-ish vocal strolls. ASS boldly cross musical boundaries, with mixed results. The songs tend to feel unrelated to each other and uneven. The agenda sometimes seems indecisive: at odds between parodying genre and showcasing musical prowess, not always committing to either ("My Favorite Record" starts as a jazzy rag, only to lose itself in experimentation). However, crossing boundaries does make for beautiful surprises -- "The Minor Waltz," a complex oompah serenade, is a glorious instrumental standout -- and it breeds lines like "I was born in New York City and beat up down in San Anton'," an apt metaphor for this collection and for an era in which city-slick Gen Y's are getting jiggy with Ralph Stanley.
ROBIN AIGNER
(RollingStone.com, SEPTEMBER 25, 2002)
Devendra Banhart, Niño Rojo
This strikingly beautiful work...
"Not everyone can relate to what you and I appreciate," intones whinnying singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart on "Nino Rojo." That line speaks volumes
about Banhart, who, caustic, weird, absurd and poetic, challenges traditional musical notions. On this strikingly beautiful work, where he sounds like Donovan on LSD (well, on more LSD), Banhart weaves dreamy apparitions with his catchy
folk guitar -- sometimes even dabbling in Spanish-style picking -- adding strange rhymes here and there. He can go from cryptic, minimalist lyricist to astute
wordsmith ("My love is a so-long song gone forever more") in no time. And even if you get the feeling that DB's seemingly unselfconscious naturalist
sounds (coughs, giggles, mutterings) are in fact calculated, it doesn't matter. They impart a humanness to the album, something rarely heard on today's polished recordings, and you find yourself straining to hear more of them.
RollingStone.com (Oct. 1, 2004)
Our Last Shows - June 8, 2006
Brook is taking an indefinite hiatus from city life, so Royal Pine will play their last shows in June.
Please come out and say hello/goodbye. And feel free to share your thoughts on our Guestbook page.
And read a super review of us on our Press page.
Thurs. June 15 8pm
with Pinataland (7pm)
The Living Room
154 Stanton, NYC
Fri. June 30, 9pm
Freddy's Backroom
with Kamikaze Hearts
6th Ave/Dean
Park Slope, BKlyn
(we may still be playing at the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Festival in Sept. in TN)
Please come out and say hello/goodbye. And feel free to share your thoughts on our Guestbook page.
And read a super review of us on our Press page.
Thurs. June 15 8pm
with Pinataland (7pm)
The Living Room
154 Stanton, NYC
Fri. June 30, 9pm
Freddy's Backroom
with Kamikaze Hearts
6th Ave/Dean
Park Slope, BKlyn
(we may still be playing at the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Festival in Sept. in TN)
Catch these summer shows! - May 24, 2006
Please come out and see us on May 31 and June 15--before Royal Pine's summer hiatus.
Wed. May 31
Freddy's Backroom
with Rob Jost and Rob Di Pietro
6th Ave/Dean St.
Park Slope, BKlyn
Thurs. June 15
The Living Room
with Pinataland!!!
Ludlow St.
NYC
Wed. May 31
Freddy's Backroom
with Rob Jost and Rob Di Pietro
6th Ave/Dean St.
Park Slope, BKlyn
Thurs. June 15
The Living Room
with Pinataland!!!
Ludlow St.
NYC
RP has a new song - April 12, 2006
It has yet to be performed or recorded, but you can see the lyrics to the "Last Great White Wonder Boy" on our music page.
Great photos from our Kentucky show! - March 19, 2006
Check out our Photos page for brand-new pics from our tour!
We had a great TN tour! - March 13, 2006
We rolled in last night at about
2am, after 6 hours' driving in pea-soup fog, with 16-wheelers--but, wait, let me start from the beginning.
Saturday, March 4
Brooklyn to Johnson City
We packed up Brook's tiny Echo and left Bklyn about 3 hours later than planned (it's a girl thing...). But we did finally get on the road, with our brand-new tenor ukulele and melodica in tow.
We arrived in JC feeling spent and like we were both coming down with something, so we opted to blow our not-yet-earned wad on a hotel. It was the Best Western and it was heaven: 2 queen-sized beds, free shampoo and a buffet breakfast the size of Texas (with make-your-own waffles!)
Sunday, March 4
After a satisfying slumber, we lumbered down to Nashville for the first show of our tour: the famed Bluebird Cafe. After standing at the front door for 15 minutes, we were finally told to enter through the back alley, where our soundman could be found "napping" in his car.
We played a great set to a roomful of stoic Nashvillians (who did not appreciate our Catskills humor) and a handful of transplants and transients (the only people to actually compliment our music that night). But we met some friendly folk and felt really good about the show (also got a taste for that Nashville "sound")
We spent the next day and a half bumming around Nashville, chatting it up with our host, Bryan, at the Writer's Room--a kind of boarding house for songwriters (read his blog about Royal Pine here: http://www.bryancumming.com/b-031306.htm
We do have one question, though: Where is Woody Guthrie in the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum???
Paid a visit to the lovely offices of American Songwriter, for whom Robin does some music writing. A great music mag and sweet staff. Doug Waterman runs a tight, albeit, minimally staffed ship!
We later found out that for the 2 days we were bumming around Nashville with nothing to do but try to find a Starbucks and free parking, Gillian Welch played 4 (not one, folks, but four) shows in Nashville that weekend, which were recorded for a black & white film and included appearance by Elvis Costello and Emmylou Harris. Yes, we kicked ourselves Royal-y hard for not knowing about that!
Tues, March 7
We rolled back up to Johnson City, where we played a cool set at the Acoustic Coffeehouse. Best Reuben sandwich I ever had!
Wed. March 8
Played a mellow set at the Down Home--apparently folks no longer go to the Down Home's Open Hoot b/c the Acoustic Coffeehouse offers $2 beer night on the same eve. We think that's kind of sucky.
However, Acoustic Coffeehouse is building a rad new venue (which we got a sneek preview of); it's right next door and is snazzy--and bigger, and has a real stage.
Thurs. March 9
We high-tailed it down to Knoxville first thing in the morning for our appearance on WDVX's Blue Plate Special. This is a really cool radio show with a live studio audience. The show is simultaneously broadcast internationally over the internet. The lovely Tony Lawson hooked us up with the show, which is hosted by hottie Red Hickey (you can listen to the broadcast on our Music page).
Next, we hopped back in Echy (that's Brook's little Echo--no euphimisms, please...) in the car and sped down to Chattanooga for a 3pm radio show on WUTC with our pals The Everybodyfields.
Played a sweet show that night at the Barking Legs Theater--this is a really cool theater that seats about 100, a real listening room.
Friday
We camped out on the floor of Jill's pal Amy, and woke up bright and early (does 11 count as early?) to head back to Knoxville--speedily--to catch the Everybodyfield's WDVX show, a slot they shared with the magnificent Sarah Harmer, who we got to meet and greet.
Had a lovely day with Jill, Sam, Emma and Brad (the new Everybodyfields' lineup) and possibly the worst veggie burger ever. No matter, played a great gig at Barley's that night--this is a cavernous venue with a capacity of about 2,000. Drunk on crowd, we played a really rockin', rousin' set of our more uptempo numbers and got a great response.
Brook's snazzy red ladies' shirt that we'd picked up in a Nashville Salvation Army was a brokeback hit with the women and men alike.
I must add here that we ordered a brand-new melodica and a brand-new tenor uke, which arrived the MORNING we left NY (luckily) and we were really enjoying the new sounds on the tour.
Perhaps our biggest stroke of luck on this tour was meeting WDVX's departing soundman, TJ. This incredibly generous guy, entrusted his entire house to us, so we would have a place to sleep, while he spent the night at his lady's house, then took off at 6am for some balmy, beachy vacation. The house was sweet--we all (all 5 of us) got a bed--except Sam Quinn, who elected, as he is known to do, to sleep on the floor--the kitchen floor, that is.
Saturday, March 11
We had a swell (and steamy--it was in the 80s!) morning walking around the backroads of suburban Knoxville (of course, the Deliverance theme song playing in our heads lent an eeriness to the already unfamiliar terrain...)
After the cheapest breakfast I've ever eaten (50 cent hamburgers!!!) with our friends, we kissed Sam, Jill and Emma goodbye, and, sadly, got back in Echy for our last show--5 hours away in Morehead Kentucky.
We rolled into Morehead and had barely parked the car when we were met by "Are you guys Royal Pine?" It was Brett, owner of Grounds and Sounds, the cozy venue we were to play that night.
We were reuniting with our friend Old-Time Dave Talmage from New Hampshire, who was to share the bill with us that night. We really enjoyed our set at G&S; we filled out the intimate room, the sound was fantastic and we felt truly welcomed and taken care of by Brett.
Little did we know, our hosts, Jill Andrews parents, were town royalty! The lovely Andrews came to our show, which means a whole lot to us, then put us up for the night in what they call "public housing" (we called it The President's House--Mr. Andrews is the president of Morehead U. and that house--despite the ghosts--was like nothing either of us had ever seen).
Brook and Dave were assigned the attic room. A room that Brook referred to as "the dead twins room" for it's two little identical beds and it's low ceilings and I called the Brokeback love nest for its identical beds and low ceilings and manly lodgers that night)
I stayed in "the green room" and almost slept with the light on b/c Dave told me there were ghosts in the house. It was ok, by the time I climb up onto my bed, which may have been roughly 10 feet from the ground (never even felt the pea I was sleeping on), I was so exhausted I slept like a baby.
Sunday:
buh-by.
Lamented that we had too little time getting to know the Andrews as we all stood in the kitchen eating breakfast and gabbing.
Set out in the pouring rain for our slot on Morehead's NPR station, where we were treated most warmly and played a short set, followed by OTDT's sweet songs.
We set out in the rain for our 10-hour ride, which took 12 hours thanks to insane fog. K
I can highly recommend Eddie Izzard and the Ricky Gervais Show for good times in the car--lots of laughs, love the brits.
Home.
till next time, TN...xo.
2am, after 6 hours' driving in pea-soup fog, with 16-wheelers--but, wait, let me start from the beginning.
Saturday, March 4
Brooklyn to Johnson City
We packed up Brook's tiny Echo and left Bklyn about 3 hours later than planned (it's a girl thing...). But we did finally get on the road, with our brand-new tenor ukulele and melodica in tow.
We arrived in JC feeling spent and like we were both coming down with something, so we opted to blow our not-yet-earned wad on a hotel. It was the Best Western and it was heaven: 2 queen-sized beds, free shampoo and a buffet breakfast the size of Texas (with make-your-own waffles!)
Sunday, March 4
After a satisfying slumber, we lumbered down to Nashville for the first show of our tour: the famed Bluebird Cafe. After standing at the front door for 15 minutes, we were finally told to enter through the back alley, where our soundman could be found "napping" in his car.
We played a great set to a roomful of stoic Nashvillians (who did not appreciate our Catskills humor) and a handful of transplants and transients (the only people to actually compliment our music that night). But we met some friendly folk and felt really good about the show (also got a taste for that Nashville "sound")
We spent the next day and a half bumming around Nashville, chatting it up with our host, Bryan, at the Writer's Room--a kind of boarding house for songwriters (read his blog about Royal Pine here: http://www.bryancumming.com/b-031306.htm
We do have one question, though: Where is Woody Guthrie in the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum???
Paid a visit to the lovely offices of American Songwriter, for whom Robin does some music writing. A great music mag and sweet staff. Doug Waterman runs a tight, albeit, minimally staffed ship!
We later found out that for the 2 days we were bumming around Nashville with nothing to do but try to find a Starbucks and free parking, Gillian Welch played 4 (not one, folks, but four) shows in Nashville that weekend, which were recorded for a black & white film and included appearance by Elvis Costello and Emmylou Harris. Yes, we kicked ourselves Royal-y hard for not knowing about that!
Tues, March 7
We rolled back up to Johnson City, where we played a cool set at the Acoustic Coffeehouse. Best Reuben sandwich I ever had!
Wed. March 8
Played a mellow set at the Down Home--apparently folks no longer go to the Down Home's Open Hoot b/c the Acoustic Coffeehouse offers $2 beer night on the same eve. We think that's kind of sucky.
However, Acoustic Coffeehouse is building a rad new venue (which we got a sneek preview of); it's right next door and is snazzy--and bigger, and has a real stage.
Thurs. March 9
We high-tailed it down to Knoxville first thing in the morning for our appearance on WDVX's Blue Plate Special. This is a really cool radio show with a live studio audience. The show is simultaneously broadcast internationally over the internet. The lovely Tony Lawson hooked us up with the show, which is hosted by hottie Red Hickey (you can listen to the broadcast on our Music page).
Next, we hopped back in Echy (that's Brook's little Echo--no euphimisms, please...) in the car and sped down to Chattanooga for a 3pm radio show on WUTC with our pals The Everybodyfields.
Played a sweet show that night at the Barking Legs Theater--this is a really cool theater that seats about 100, a real listening room.
Friday
We camped out on the floor of Jill's pal Amy, and woke up bright and early (does 11 count as early?) to head back to Knoxville--speedily--to catch the Everybodyfield's WDVX show, a slot they shared with the magnificent Sarah Harmer, who we got to meet and greet.
Had a lovely day with Jill, Sam, Emma and Brad (the new Everybodyfields' lineup) and possibly the worst veggie burger ever. No matter, played a great gig at Barley's that night--this is a cavernous venue with a capacity of about 2,000. Drunk on crowd, we played a really rockin', rousin' set of our more uptempo numbers and got a great response.
Brook's snazzy red ladies' shirt that we'd picked up in a Nashville Salvation Army was a brokeback hit with the women and men alike.
I must add here that we ordered a brand-new melodica and a brand-new tenor uke, which arrived the MORNING we left NY (luckily) and we were really enjoying the new sounds on the tour.
Perhaps our biggest stroke of luck on this tour was meeting WDVX's departing soundman, TJ. This incredibly generous guy, entrusted his entire house to us, so we would have a place to sleep, while he spent the night at his lady's house, then took off at 6am for some balmy, beachy vacation. The house was sweet--we all (all 5 of us) got a bed--except Sam Quinn, who elected, as he is known to do, to sleep on the floor--the kitchen floor, that is.
Saturday, March 11
We had a swell (and steamy--it was in the 80s!) morning walking around the backroads of suburban Knoxville (of course, the Deliverance theme song playing in our heads lent an eeriness to the already unfamiliar terrain...)
After the cheapest breakfast I've ever eaten (50 cent hamburgers!!!) with our friends, we kissed Sam, Jill and Emma goodbye, and, sadly, got back in Echy for our last show--5 hours away in Morehead Kentucky.
We rolled into Morehead and had barely parked the car when we were met by "Are you guys Royal Pine?" It was Brett, owner of Grounds and Sounds, the cozy venue we were to play that night.
We were reuniting with our friend Old-Time Dave Talmage from New Hampshire, who was to share the bill with us that night. We really enjoyed our set at G&S; we filled out the intimate room, the sound was fantastic and we felt truly welcomed and taken care of by Brett.
Little did we know, our hosts, Jill Andrews parents, were town royalty! The lovely Andrews came to our show, which means a whole lot to us, then put us up for the night in what they call "public housing" (we called it The President's House--Mr. Andrews is the president of Morehead U. and that house--despite the ghosts--was like nothing either of us had ever seen).
Brook and Dave were assigned the attic room. A room that Brook referred to as "the dead twins room" for it's two little identical beds and it's low ceilings and I called the Brokeback love nest for its identical beds and low ceilings and manly lodgers that night)
I stayed in "the green room" and almost slept with the light on b/c Dave told me there were ghosts in the house. It was ok, by the time I climb up onto my bed, which may have been roughly 10 feet from the ground (never even felt the pea I was sleeping on), I was so exhausted I slept like a baby.
Sunday:
buh-by.
Lamented that we had too little time getting to know the Andrews as we all stood in the kitchen eating breakfast and gabbing.
Set out in the pouring rain for our slot on Morehead's NPR station, where we were treated most warmly and played a short set, followed by OTDT's sweet songs.
We set out in the rain for our 10-hour ride, which took 12 hours thanks to insane fog. K
I can highly recommend Eddie Izzard and the Ricky Gervais Show for good times in the car--lots of laughs, love the brits.
Home.
till next time, TN...xo.
We're on Tour! - March 5, 2006
We've had a very long 2 days; tons of driving and laughing/debating/getting lost/sofabeds/keys not working/working/trying to watch the Oscars at a Tennessee bowling alley-cum-gameroom-cum only bar that was open (though the Oscars ended and the bar closed as soon as we got there...) playing our first set to an absolutely stoic Nashville audience who refused to even courtesy-chuckle at my Catskills humor.
but, alas, we have a day or two of "leisure," which, on tour, always gets eaten up by minutae like buying the toothbrush you forgot, getting lost, finding the cheapest place to have lunch that you both agree on and rehashing who was right about something that happened 3 days ago. don't get me wrong--I love it, and all of this is peppered by cracking each other up, so it is always wonderful in the end--and even in the middle.
but, alas, we have a day or two of "leisure," which, on tour, always gets eaten up by minutae like buying the toothbrush you forgot, getting lost, finding the cheapest place to have lunch that you both agree on and rehashing who was right about something that happened 3 days ago. don't get me wrong--I love it, and all of this is peppered by cracking each other up, so it is always wonderful in the end--and even in the middle.
Listen to Robin with Jill Andrews and Dave Talmage - February 14, 2006
Robin spent a couple of days in New Hampshire and got to play on WUNH with The Everybodyfields' Jill Andrews and Old Time Dave Talmage.
Listen here:
http://www.wunh.unh.edu/listen.php?day=6¤thour=10&hours=2
but only until Sun. Feb. 17!
Listen here:
http://www.wunh.unh.edu/listen.php?day=6¤thour=10&hours=2
but only until Sun. Feb. 17!
Listen to Strung Out String Band on WKCR - February 5, 2006
Robin's side project, The Strung Out String Band, had a live appearance on WKCR.
You can hear the show by following this link:
http://strungoutstringband.com/music/SOSB_on_WKCR.mp3
You can hear the show by following this link:
http://strungoutstringband.com/music/SOSB_on_WKCR.mp3
Robin in the radio with Strung Out String Band - February 4, 2006
On Sunday, Feb. 5, Robin's old-time/gypsy music band, The Strung Out String Band, will be on WKCR, 89.9, at 10:30am.
Spring Tour Booked! - February 1, 2006
Royal Pine takes off in March for a high-profile spring tour of Tennessee, playing renowned venues, dates with The Everybodyfields and the famed WDVX BluePlate Special. See details on our calendar page.
We got reviewed by American Songwriter! - January 23, 2006
Please check out reviews page for all the new kind words.
Thanks to everyone who came out to the CD release and Pete's. Next show: Feb. 6, Bitter End. Get your Royal Pine M&M's there!
Thanks to everyone who came out to the CD release and Pete's. Next show: Feb. 6, Bitter End. Get your Royal Pine M&M's there!
CD Release! - January 4, 2006
Royal Pine's 10-song LP "Chanty Town" will officially be released on Friday, Jan. 6 at The Living Room, 154 Ludlow St, NYC at 10pm!
The party includes thrilling acts of music by Atoosa! Serena Jost! Matt Singer!
The party includes thrilling acts of music by Atoosa! Serena Jost! Matt Singer!
Great Stone Church show! - December 12, 2005
We just got back from our CT and NH gigs. The Stone Church in Newmarket, NH is a wonderful venue. Thanks to Peter for booking us, Old-Time Dave Talmage for the great party!
**Apparently we are a novelty band...Please check out our press page for the latest mention.
**Apparently we are a novelty band...Please check out our press page for the latest mention.
Anyone Speak Polish? - November 17, 2005
Our EP, Made in Brookland, was reviewed on Polish site Folklowa
http://www.folkowa.art.pl/index.php?opcja=recenzje&&act=show&&lang=pl&&aid=1520
if anyone speaks Polish, we'd love a translation!
http://www.folkowa.art.pl/index.php?opcja=recenzje&&act=show&&lang=pl&&aid=1520
if anyone speaks Polish, we'd love a translation!
Brook has graduated... - November 10, 2005
For those of you who haven't seen us in a while, a lot has happened!
Brook got hisself a fancy table for the tabla! The "up" side is he's higher! The "down" side is he no longer looks like Robin's minion.
We've got an outstanding new song: a cover/medley of U2 on banjo and geetar, featuring Brook on lead vocals--you'll have to come the show to hear which songs it is. I'm tellin' ya, though, it's really grand! And we're very excited to perform it for ye.
Brook got hisself a fancy table for the tabla! The "up" side is he's higher! The "down" side is he no longer looks like Robin's minion.
We've got an outstanding new song: a cover/medley of U2 on banjo and geetar, featuring Brook on lead vocals--you'll have to come the show to hear which songs it is. I'm tellin' ya, though, it's really grand! And we're very excited to perform it for ye.
Robin to Sing at Joe's Pub! - November 5, 2005
Robin will join the talented fellas of PINATALAND at the famed JOE'S PUB on Nov. 5. She'll be singing some backup on the band's carnivalesque songs, plus the lead on AC/DC's Hell's Bells! She was asked to arrange a 1800s-style version of the AC/DC song and will be singing it interspersed with Doug Stone's discourse on farming and, of course, Satan. I guess you have to be there...