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Where'd you grow up? What are your hometown memories? If you close your eyes, can you travel back there, riding your bike through your neighborhood near dusk and trying to get home before the streetlights come on, playing kick the can with the neighbor kids, hearing from a distance your mom yell your name from your front door? Mundane stuff, right? But burned indelibly into your very being. X Ambassadors' new album, Townie, revels in just this kind of nostalgia.
Created in 2009, the multi-platinum trio first formed with brothers Sam Nelson Harris (vocals, guitar, saxophone, bass) and Casey Harris (piano, keys) while they were still in high school in Ithaca, New York, later adding Adam Levin (drums) and moving to Brooklyn.
They've enjoyed a ton of success, including writing for film. "Deep End" was written for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, "Torches" was featured in Transformers, "Great Unknown" in The Call of the Wild, and "Sucker for Pain" in Suicide Squad. Townie, on the other hand, seems much more personal.
"Townie is a home-coming album," Sam explained in press materials. "Ithaca is home to three universities: an Ivy Leaguer, a liberal arts conservatory, and a state community college. The students make up more than 50 percent of the population, and the town largely exists for and because of them. They'd call us 'townies'—the people on the periphery who existed mostly as just background actors in the movies of their college experiences.
"I am a Townie," he continued. "I will always be a Townie. To deny that is to deny everything that I am. And yes, my town was small, but the people I grew up with never let me think that the world wasn't big and exciting and out there for the taking. In my town I was loved, I was encouraged, I was accepted, I was challenged, I was knocked down and picked back up again a million times. It might not have been the cultural Mecca I dreamed about, but we had a pretty sick independent movie theater and more than one good coffee shop. The Red Hot Chili Peppers never came to play our State Theater, but that meant less competition for the all-ages shows we'd put on at the Wownet Internet Cafe. The guys at the music store knew my mom, so they let me spend hours in there 'testing out' guitars and pedals and recording equipment like I was actually ever going to have the money to buy anything. No one ever made me feel like an idiot for having dreams, or that those dreams couldn't come true—just that they'd still be there for me, that MY TOWN would be there for me, in case they didn't.
"I'm so lucky to have grown up where and how I did. Full stop. From the moment I gleefully left town at 18, I think that idea took root in me somewhere; and so, it feels very appropriate that, 18 years later, we'd be putting out an album that's a love letter to Ithaca and to Upstate New York. This is Townie. For the Townies in all of us."
These are great fucking songs—raw and real and melancholic and joyful, filled with poignant lyrics that will trigger your own memories. My favorite album of the year thus far. See X Ambassadors on their Townie North American Tour on Tuesday, May 7 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $35 at prekindle.com), in the Fremont Theater.
Also this week at the Fremont, see stand-up comic Trey Kennedy on his Grow Up Comedy Tour on Sunday, May 5 (8 p.m.; all ages; $39 to $125 at prekindle.com). The Oklahoman found fame on the mobile app Vine, amassing more than 2.5 million followers.
Finally, LA-based rapper OhGeesy returns on his Off the Xtras Tour featuring 310babii on Wednesday, May 8 (8 p.m.; all ages; $38 to $139 at prekindle.com).
Vina Robles Amphitheatre
"Why Can't We Be Friends," "All Day Music," "The World is a Ghetto," The Cisco Kid," "Summer," "Spill the Wine," "Low Rider"—the hits don't stop when WAR takes the stage, as they will this Saturday, May 4, on their The World is a Ghetto 50th Anniversary Tour (8 p.m.; all ages; $45 to $69.50 at vinaroblesamphitheatre.com), with El Chicano opening.
Founded in 1969 in Long Beach, their breakout occurred with the release of The World is a Ghetto in 1972, which for three months slowly climbed the charts to reach No. 1. It spent a total of 68 weeks on the charts. This 50-date tour celebrates one of the best albums of all time.
Numbskull and Good Medicine
Numbskull and Good Medicine are swinging for the fences this week with six shows at four venues starting with LA's finest Latin salsa, urban hip-hop, jazz-funk, R&B, and rock ensemble Ozomatli on Friday, May 3, in Santa Maria's Presqu'ile Winery (6 p.m.; all ages; $35 at goodmedicinepresents.com). These guys are a party.
Indie blues rock, pop, soul singer-songwriter, and guitar wiz Zach Person on his Let's Get Loud 2024 North American Tour plays Club Car Bar on Friday, May 3 (7:30 p.m.; all ages: $17 at goodmedicinepresents.com), with local prog-rock star Travis Larson. Person is touring in support of his sophomore album, Let's Get Loud, and according to his bio, he "plays loud, raw, and connects with his music fans on a primal level sonically."
Saturday, May 4, is going to be an all-day party at BarrelHouse Brewing when Diggin Dirt with Dante Marsh & The Vibe Setters and Boot Juice play the BarrelHouse Jam (2 p.m.; all ages; $30 at goodmedicinepresents.com). Diggin Dirt is an awesome funk band—tight, with deep grooves and danceable beats. The Vibe Setters are also a super soulful multi-New Times Music Awards winner. Boot Juice delivers the jazz funk with doses of soul and blues thrown in.
Kelsey Lynn and Stormie Leigh join forces on their Real Recognize Real Tour on Saturday, May 4, at Club Car Bar (6 p.m.; all ages; $18 at goodmedicinepresents.com). These two badass ladies will get in your faces with country rap. Funny, witty, sassy ... this is going to get "real."
Cash'd Out brings their Johnny Cash tribute to Club Car Bar on Sunday, May 5 (7 p.m.; all ages; $20 at goodmedicinepresents.com). If you dig the man in black, these guys deliver the authentic vibe.
Finally, country singer-songwriter Wade Bowen plays The Siren on Thursday, May 9 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $23 at goodmedicinepresents.com), with Joe & Martina opening. Bowen's got two decades and 4,000 shows under his big ol' belt buckle—a Texas troubadour inspired by the likes of Guy Clark, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Robert Earl Keen.
The Siren
Also at The Siren this week, dancehall superstar King Yellowman plays on Wednesday, May 8 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $20 at tixr.com). He's credited with elevating the popularity of "toasting," the reggae equivalent of rapping, to increased popularity.
"For better or for worse, he also epitomized dancehall's penchant for 'slack' lyrics—that is, casual violence, sexism, homophobia, and general rudeness," according to his bio. "Graphic sexuality was his particular forte, reaching levels of explicitness previously unheard in Jamaica. It brought him numerous detractors, but it was also a big reason for his early popularity. There was more to it than that, though; Yellowman was one of the most verbally nimble toasters of his time, with a loose, easy flow, a talent for improvisation, and a definite wit in his wordplay."
SLO Brew Live at Rod and Hammer Rock
Cinco de Mayo means it's time for Metalachi this Sunday, May 5 (doors at 6 p.m., concert at 8 p.m.; 18-and-older; $25 at ticketweb.com). Come witness the world's only mariachi metal band! But that's not all, Rod and Hammer Rock is making a whole day of celebration.
According to Entertainment Director Ryan Orr, "We have a big full-property event going that day with specialty margaritas, tacos and birria, and $5 cervezas! We also have rad mariachi band [Mariachi Autlense] playing from 5 to 7 p.m. with festive activities across our entire property."
The Clark Center
Speaking of mariachi music, the Clark Center presents Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles on Friday, May 3 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $39 to $59 at clarkcenter.org). This all-female mariachi group paved the way for other female mariachi acts.
"Established in 1994, the group had a strong beginning thanks to the mentorship of Lola Bertran, La Reina de La Musica Ranchera," according to press materials. "In these early days, 10-time Grammy nominee Maestro Jose Hernandez (founder and director of Mariachi Sol de Mexico) saw the potential in this all-female ensemble and fostered its development."
Back by popular demand, Craig Bodinnar presents The Magical Music of Motown on Saturday, May 4 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $53 to $63 at clarkcenter.org). This super band delivers all the Motown hits by the likes of The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Martha and The Vandellas, The Four Tops, The Jackson Five, Smokey Robinson, and many more.
Parkfield Bluegrass Festival
It's time for the 24th annual Parkfield Bluegrass Festival, scheduled from Thursday, May 9, through Sunday, May 12, and this year they have 13 terrific acts lined-up (visit parkfieldbluegrass.org for a schedule and my805tix.com for tickets).
Acts include Mr. Sun, Edgar Loudermilk Band, The Clements Brothers, Never Come Down, Mountain Highway, Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band, Alum Ridge Boys, Stillhouse Junkies, SLO County Stumblers, Amber Cross, and more.
Attendees can come for the weekend with their RVs or tents. Single day tickets are also available. It's an easy drive from anywhere in SLO County, and if interested, enjoy a walking tour of the San Andreas Fault led by a Cal State Northridge geology professor. Shake, rattle, and roll! Fun for the whole family.
More music ...
Grateful Dead inspired jam band Rosebud plays Paso's Dark Star Vineyards this Saturday, May 4 (1 to 4 p.m.; all ages; free). "The band continues to perform across the state with lush vocal harmonies, adventurous jams, and a great selection of originals and covers, including tunes from my recent CD Fun Guy," bandmember Scott Cooper explained. "In other news, I recently finished up a recording of a song called 'Sheet Iron Jack' for an upcoming compilation CD. I've been hired to be music director for the project, which takes unpublished lyrics from poet Bobby Petersen and sets them to music. Petersen wrote the lyrics to four Grateful Dead songs including 'Pride of Cucamonga' and 'Unbroken Chain.' Each song on this CD will be co-written by a different artist or band, using Petersen's lyrics. 'Sheet Iron Jack' is my personal contribution to the CD."
The SLO Symphony performs Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns, Brammeier, and Podell this Saturday, May 4, in Cal Poly's Performing Arts Center (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $12 to $82 at pacslo.org). The concert also includes the world premiere of a suite inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe, composed by Cal Poly's professor of composition, Meredith Brammeier. Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No.1 showcases soloist Salome Jordania, and Saint-Saëns' majestic Organ Symphony, with the Forbes organ played by Paul Woodring.
The Seven Sisters Folklore Society presents The Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee at the Historic Octagon Barn Center this Tuesday, May 7 (old-time jam at 6, concert at 7 p.m.; all ages; $20 presale at eventbrite.com or $25 at the door).
"Mining the fertile common ground between bluegrass, early country music, and traditional mountain music, The Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee are torchbearers for dynamic, deeply grounded old-time music," their bio explained. "Their powerful harmony singing and energetic instrumentals have captivated audiences around the country and helped the band to win many awards." Δ
Contact Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey at [email protected].
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