The Bowery Presents upcoming shows
Roky Erickson With Okkervil River
Bird of Youth
- Venue:
-
- Date:
- Tue 5/25
- Notes:
- 18+
- Doors: 8:00 PM / Show: 9:00 PM
- $30.00
- Roky Erickson
- Legendary rock n roll pioneer Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson hails from Austin, Texas. He is, in the words of music writer Richie Unterberger, one of "the unknown heroes of rock and roll." As singer, songwriter, and guitar player for the legendary Austin, TX band The 13th Floor Elevators, the first rock and roll band to describe their music as "psychedelic", Roky had a profound impact on the San Francisco scene when the group traveled there in 1966. While bands such as The Grateful Dead and The Jefferson Airplane had the their roots in traditional acoustic folk music, the Elevators unique brand of heavy, hard-rocking electric blues pointed to a new direction for the music of the hippie generation. The Elevators only had one chart hit, the Roky-penned You're Gonna Miss Me, but their influence was far reaching. R.E.M., ZZ Top, Poi Dog Pondering, The Judybats, T-Bone Burnett, Julian Cope, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Cramps, The Minutemen, Television, The Cynics, The Lyres, Teisco Del Rey, The Fuzztones and Radio Birdman have all either recorded or played live versions of Roky's songs. In addition to these performers, Roky is an acknowledged influence on such diverse musicians as Robert Plant, Janis Joplin, Patti Smith, Henry Rollins, Mike Watt, Sonic Youth, The Butthole Surfers, Jon Spencer, The Damned, Red Krayola, Pere Ubu, and current indie hit-makers The White Stripes. His songs have appeared on the soundtracks to the movies High Fidelity, Drugstore Cowboy, Boys Don't Cry, Hamlet (2000), and Return of the Living Dead. While he may not be a household name, Roky has enjoyed the support of a small but fiercely loyal cult following throughout his career.
Unfortunately, Roky's struggles with drug abuse and mental illness took a serious toll. His 1969 arrest in Texas for possession of a single marijuana cigarette led to his being committed for three years to Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where he was reportedly subjected to Thorazine, electroshock therapy, and other experimental treatments. Most agree he was never the same after his release. Roky has had prolific periods of creativity in the intervening years, but unscrupulous managers and record label executives often took advantage of his condition, leaving Roky to live in poverty while others profit from his music.
Happily, today we find Roky in the process of being his own miracle and making an astounding recovery from nearly a two-decade long period of almost total tragedy. His youngest brother, singer/songwriter and former Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Principal Tubaist Sumner Erickson, was appointed Roky's legal guardian in June, 2001. Sumner has established The Roger Kynard Erickson Trust to address Roky's living expenses, medical bills, and other financial needs. From June, 2001 until July, 2002, Roky lived with his brother in Pittsburgh, where he finally began to receive the treatment and care he needs. Roky is now back in Austin, where his health continues to improve dramatically. In March, 2005, Roky made his first public performance in 10 years performing 3 songs at the Roky Erickson Psychedelic Ice Cream Social at Threadgills in Austin. He was backed by the Explosives. In September, he is scheduled to play the Austin City Limits Festival (again with the Explosives) which will mark his first full concert appearance in almost two decades! Celebrate as the miracle continues!
- Okkervil River
- official website
- myspace
- Combining folk-rock inspirations and alternative rock sways, Okkervil River creates a particular visionary sound, strongly founded on dark and profound lyrics and on chaotic visions of patterned sound compounds. Okkervil River is a mutual project of Will Robison Sheff (vocals, guitar), and Seth Warren (drums), born when both were still in high school, in Meriden, NH. After several years and multiple life experiences, at the end of the '90s the duo eventually decided to reassemble the band, by then with an extended lineup, after they both relocated to Austin, TX. Following the addition of Zachary Thomas (vocals, bass), Jonathan Meiburg (vocals, banjo), and drummer Mark Pedini, Okkervil River reappeared. In 1998, the group offered their first and self-released disc, the EP Bedroom, followed a year later by Stars Too Small to Use, the band's debut album. During the succeeding years, the band regularly played live on numerous occasions, including an appearance at the South by Southwest festival in 2000. Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See, the group's second album, showed up in 2002, followed by Down the River of Golden Dreams in 2003, reaffirming the band's cult all over the Texas music scene. The band found success outside of their home state with 2005's Black Sheep Boy and Black Sheep Boy Appendix EP, with 2007's excellent Stage Names widening the playing field even more.
--by Mario Mesquita Borges
- Bird of Youth
- myspace
- Beth Wawerna's involvement with rock music started a couple minutes after she was born, when her 14-year-old brother stubbornly insisted she be named for the eponymous 1976 KISS power ballad, "Beth." Her parents consented – thus unwittingly sealing their daughter's fate.
Young Beth spent her formative years in Atlanta, GA, sifting through her brother's abandoned record collection. She became taken with artists like Elvis Costello and The Replacements, who fit in nicely with Southern indie-rock scene she'd already been exposed to – bands like R.E.M., Pylon, and one of her favorites, the oft-overlooked titans of violently deconstructed garage rock, Cabbagetown's Rock*A*Teens.
When it was time to leave the South, Beth (like so many of her generation) got a job, moved to Brooklyn, got laid off, sat around, went to bars and stayed up late with her musician friends – drinking Budweiser and singing Gram Parsons songs. She also wrote songs of her own – songs that recalled the classic and college rock she'd grown up with, as well as crooners like Brenda Lee, the swagger of old New York girl groups and and the insight, wit and sarcasm of late 70s/early 80s gems like Squeeze and Rockpile.
But central to all of these songs was her own sensibility – both brainy and tough, thoughtful and tossed-off, vicious and vulnerable. For so long, Beth had been the consummate green-room insider and dubious creative outsider – comfortable hanging out backstage, but terrified of being on it. She wrote for years before sharing so much as a note.
The first album from her band Bird of Youth collects these songs. Produced by Will Sheff of Okkervil River and engineered by Phil Palazzolo (The New Pornographers, Neko Case, Radio 4), its cast of players also includes members of Nada Surf, the Wrens, the Mendoza Line, Okkervil River and Royal American. The result is like a Pretenders album ghostwritten by Dorothy Parker – clever songs that turn indie-rock braininess back on itself with a casual frivolity. Far from being just another girl coo-ing breathy pleasantries into the microphone, Beth and her band have made a rock record. It's big. It's ballsy. It's sweet. And it's smart.
Peter Criss would be proud.
OTHER UPCOMING SHOWS FROM THE BOWERY PRESENTS
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