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Via fox5sandiego.com
Spirituality has always been part of Ed Kowalczyk’s lyrics. On “Alive,” the solo album he put out independently last year after leaving hugely popular alt-rock band Live, that quality is definitely more prevalent.
Ed Kowalczyk earned four platinum records with alt-rock band Live.
“I took a page out of the U2 book,” said the singer/guitarist, in a phone interview from his home in Ojai. “They’ve always had a universal approach. Nobody doubts they’re Christian, but there’s an open door for everybody in any faith to consume the music at any level. I wanted to make sure that was the case with this record.”
Kowalczyk spent nearly 20 years in York, Pa., outfit Live, which racked up several big rock radio hits (“I Alone,” “Lightning Crashes,” “All Over You,” “Lakini’s Juice,” “The Dolphin’s Cry,” “Turn My Head”) and saw all four 1990s CDs go platinum or beyond.
Following the band’s 2006 effort, “Songs From Black Mountain,” and his subsequent exit, the vocalist drifted into a creative malaise.
“I had to stare into the void of inspiration I was having and unpack it. I was bored and tired doing things the same way. As a songwriter and performer, the routine of it all was sitting on the process,” he said. “Shaking that up was absolutely what the doctor ordered.”
So Kowalczyk started doing acoustic gigs for the first time three years ago.
“I decided to give it a whirl and fell in love with it,” he said.
Not only did the change serve as a “reconnection” with his craft, but the “bare-bones nature of the shows led to an intimacy I was able to create with the fans in that environment. The connection to the (old Live) lyrics was reinvigorating for them and me.”
Although recent tours to support “Alive” have been in stripped-down solo and full electric band modes, the current jaunt will find Kowalczyk using a “power acoustic trio” with bass, guitar and drums.
“Actually, it’s going to rock a little bit more than I had anticipated, which I’m sure none of my fans will have any problem with. … I’m excited, because one of the fun things about this new chapter in my life is being a lot more spontaneous,” he said.
The recording process for “Alive” was also done in an off-the-cuff manner. Kowalczyk traveled to Austin, Texas, where producer C.J. Eiriksson (Live, Incubus, Jack’s Mannequin) owned a studio and recruited local musicians.
“I went down there on a wing and a prayer,” admitted the singer, “and didn’t really know anyone. If I had any reservations, within 48 hours, they were completely gone. Drummer Ramy Antoun totally rocked my songs and made me think about ‘em in different ways.”
While the album’s sound isn’t far removed from the soft/loud dynamic of Live, Kowalczyk pointed out distinct differences.
“It was like night and day,” he said. “They weren’t coming in with any conditions or approaches. Everything was completely fresh. That lent itself to a real open experience in the studio with everybody trying things. There was a real spark.”
Read the rest here
Ed Kowalczyk
When: 7:30 p.m. March 22
Where: Anthology, 1337 India St., San Diego
Tickets: $19-$33
Info: 619-595-0300
Web: edkowalczyk.com
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Via nctimes.com
by Morgan M. Hurley, SDGLN Copy Editor
SAN DIEGO — Jennifer Knapp, the Christian folk-rock singer who recently stunned her fans by coming out, has touched down in San Diego.
Her one-night gig at Anthology tonight is the first West Coast stop on her first tour since 2003. She has hit the road to promote her first studio album in 9 years, aptly named, Letting Go.
Knapp was a Gospel Music Association (GMA) “Best New Artist” Dove Award winner in 1999, and two of her first three studio recordings were nominated for Grammys. She sold over a million records and played to sell-out crowds on back-to-back tours. Then she disappeared.
It was a planned disappearance.
Midway through her The Way I Am tour, Knapp said she knew she was burnt out and had to stop the roller coaster. Unfortunately, it was almost 18 months from that moment of revelation until she was able to finish her commitments on the road. The roller coaster was steadily barreling upward, but she put on the brakes and let it slide back down and settle for a while.
Seven years, in fact. Rumors swirled. Her label kept her fans’ interest alive by releasing three consecutive compilations, but she was completely out of the picture for those seven years.
Knapp, now 36, had taken a leave of absence from her celebrity and more importantly, from her music – the touring, the playing and the writing – and got back to the basics – in the outback of Australia.
According to her website, “she was happy to let go of all the success she had, to live a very different kind of life traveling to the most remote corners of Australia, looking to reclaim a part of herself she felt she lost in all the excitement of her accomplishments.”
A self-imposed exile, of sorts. She became a normal person – one without music – and in doing so, found herself and her music, once again.
When she left, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever come back, but come back she did.
Slowly but surely she began picking up her guitar. Those around her liked what they heard; Knapp liked what she felt.
Then this past September, she returned to the U.S. and officially returned to music. In December, it was announced that she was part of the new Lillith Fair lineup, and in January, a few new songs became available for download on her website.
Then, with her new record in the bag and her tour dates firming up, she began making her pre-tour press rounds. It quickly became clear to those interviewing her that she had found out something else while in exile – she was gay. Knapp spoke openly and honestly about the fact that she was in a relationship with a woman and not about to hide it, even to the Christian press. She had, in effect, let go.
In an extensive interview published this month by Christianity Today, she mused, “The Bible has literally saved my life. I find myself between a rock and a hard place — between the conservative evangelical who uses what most people refer to as the ‘clobber verses’ to refer to this loving relationship as an abomination, while they’re eating shellfish and wearing clothes of five different fabrics, and various other Scriptures we could argue about.”
Knapp doesn’t mince any words on her April 16th blog entry, either. “I share my life with a woman. I have approached this relationship with gratitude, joy and humility. I am honored to have the support of my loving family, a caring partner, friends and people of faith who have accepted me as I come, while encouraged me to be who I am meant to be.”
One can’t help but notice the potential irony embedded in the names of her last two studio albums – The Way That I Am and Letting Go – and their similarity to Melissa Etheridge’s Yes I Am and the timing of her coming out. Pure coincidence, we’re sure, but ironic, just the same.
Half of Letting Go was written down under and her intention was to open herself up to new fans while still holding true to her beliefs. When it was time to hit the recording studio – it was with all new musicians – offering the freshness she needed to accomplish her new goals.
Again, from her website, “I am so happy to throw off any cloak that has been put upon me that would make any music lover hesitate to listen to my music. I am so excited to bring all different types of people to my party. I’ve written [the new album] for them.”
San Diegans should be happy she is taking her cloak off here. She is evidently enjoying San Diego ahead of her gig, as she sent the following tweet on Tuesday, “Getting new ink www.propogandatatoo.com in SD, Ca. Super Cool! Thad did the work. Thanks, mate! 1st guy!”
Anthology is the perfect place for her to start her tour. It has just the right amount of acoustics and intimacy needed for her to get back in touch with her old fans and to woo her new audience.
Maybe she’ll even show off her new ink.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the Pawnshop Kings start at 7:30. Tickets range from $7 to $30 with varying levels of comfort, seating options and viewing angles.
There is a $15 food and beverage minimum for most seats. If you get there late and happen to get stuck with a General Admission or 3/4 view, all is not lost; you can still listen live and watch her image on one of Anthology’s many big screen TVs situated throughout the venue.
Anthology is located at 1337 India St, San Diego, CA 92101. For more information, call (619) 595-0300.
Morgan M. Hurley is the Copy Editor for SDGLN. She can be reached at (877) 727-5446, x710 or via e-mail at morgan@sdgln.com.
“Fountains of Wayne seems like a weird choice for an all-acoustic set at Anthology. The band’s songwriters, Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger, are best known for writing irresistible, catchy power pop with jokey, name-checking lyrics like “It’s Thursday night, she should be out on the scene/ But she’s sitting at home watching The King of Queens.” This is not the kind of earnest, confessional songwriting that we associate with acoustic concerts.”
Click here to read the rest of the article in San Diego Reader.
Matt Nathanson performed live at Anthology on December 14, 2008
Fiction Family is Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek and Jon Foreman of Switchfoot. From their MySpace page:
“The wait is nearly over. Fiction Family’s debut record is eponymous and upon us….. relatively, being that we’ve been threatening to release it for the last couple years.
Fiction Family is myself (Sean Watkins) and Jon Foreman (Switchfoot) and we’ve been working on a record together for the last three years. Unofficially we met maybe 12 years ago, in the parking lot of Off Shore Surf Shop in Carlsbad, CA. We both had just gotten out of the water and were introduced by a mutual friend who wanted us to meet cause we were musicians….we shook hands and gave each other a smile that said…”sure you’re in a band, aren’t we all?” But officially, we met backstage at a music festival in downtown San Diego called Street Scene. Nickel Creek and Switchfoot were playing one after another.”
Fiction Family will play at Anthology on February 6, 2009
“A superb, powerhouse R&B singer who delivers blues and soul with show-stopping authority.” -Los Angeles Daily News
Award-winning blues and soul vocalist Janiva Magness celebrates the release of her Alligator debut CD, WHAT LOVE WILL DO, with a live performance in San Diego on January 3, 2009. Magness, winner of both the 2006 and 2007 Blues Music Award for Best Contemporary Female Artist Of The Year, possesses a rich, soulful voice and has absolute command over her material. She is an incredibly gifted performer who can lead her audience through a range of emotions, from the deepest sorrow to overwhelming joy. In April 2008, she traveled to Iraq and Kuwait co-headlining Bluzapalooza, the first-ever blues concert tour to perform for American troops. Concert information is as follows:
Saturday, January 3rd
Anthology
1337 India St.
San Diego, CA
619.595.0300
www.anthologysd.com
10:00 p.m.
$13 – $27
*Check website for detailed ticket information
A survivor of an impossibly rough childhood, Magness’ life experience informs her music in a way that is brutally honest, emotionally moving and, above all, spiritually healing. Part of her healing includes helping others in need. In addition to her musical accomplishments, Magness, a foster care alumni, is also a National Spokesperson for Casey Family Programs, promoting National Foster Care Month.
WHAT LOVE WILL DO, co-produced by Magness and Dave Darling (Brian Setzer, Meredith Brooks, Dan Hicks), features 13 powerful songs, each overflowing with Magness’ expressive emotional intensity. Magness reaches heights only hinted at in her previous recordings, interpreting new material written especially for her and songs from Little Milton, Tina Turner, Bill Withers, Al Green, Candi Staton, Dorothy Moore and Marvin Gaye. Her impassioned singing takes each song from deep within her being and projects it out directly into the heart and soul of her audience, making WHAT LOVE WILL DO essential listening for blues, roots rock and soul music lovers everywhere.
Born in Detroit, Magness was inspired by the blues and country she heard listening to her father’s record collection and by the vibrant music of the city’s classic Motown sound. By her teenage years, though, her life was in chaos. She lost both parents to suicide by the time she was 16. She lived on the streets, was in 12 foster homes in two years, became a teenage mother who gave her baby daughter up for adoption and bounced from city to city, feeling hopeless and desperate.
One winter’s night, Magness hitchhiked across Minneapolis to attend an Otis Rush concert, and for the first time saw a path forward. She began going to as many blues shows as possible, soaking up the sounds of her favorite blues and soul artists. While working as an intern at a recording studio, she was approached by her boss to sing some supporting vocals on a track. Finding her voice, she soon began working regularly as a background singer. By the early 1980s, Magness made her way to Phoenix and befriended Bob Tate, the musical director for the great Sam Cooke. With Tate’s mentoring, she formed her first band, Janiva Magness And The Mojomatics, and before too long the influential Phoenix New Times named her group the city’s Best Blues Band.
She moved to Los Angeles in 1986 and slowly began finding work. She married musician and songwriter Jeff Turmes, with whom she recorded It Takes One To Know One in 1997. After three more independent releases, Janiva signed with Northern Blues and recorded Bury Him At The Crossroads in 2004 and Do I Move You? in 2006. Both CDs were co-produced by Magness along with Canadian roots star Colin Linden, and both garnered Magness a massive amount of critical and popular attention. Magness and Linden won the prestigious Canadian Maple Blues Award for Producers Of The Year for Bury Him At The Crossroads in 2004. Do I Move You? debuted at #8 on the Billboard Blues Chart and was the #1 Blues CD Of The Year in 2006 on Living Blues magazine’s radio chart.
With WHAT LOVE WILL DO and a major U.S. tour planned with more dates and countries to be added, there is no doubt that even more recognition will come Magness’ way. Janiva Magness continues to wring the truth from every note she sings, amazing and delighting both old and new fans all over the world.
Gavin Rossdale performed live at Anthology on July 17 as part of the SOPHIE’S LOUNGE Private Concert series. Click here to view the full photo gallery.
The photographer, Paul Parks, writes:
You know how every now and then you here about these obscure intimate concerts that usualy go on during the day when youre at work. Usualy its a show before the night of a show type of show. And usually with a radio station putting it on
Anthology has put on a bunch of these this summer, in cojunction with FM Sophie@103.7 The best of these….oh yes and let me say Anthology has transformed themselves for these shows. They went from classy Jazz Club setting to….classy intimate lounge setting
He passionately played some BUSH and some of his new stuff.
Don’t miss the video!
Ottmar Liebert performed live at Anthology 3 nights in a row this summer – on July 3rd, 4th and 5th. Click here to view the full photo gallery.
The photographer, Paul Parks, writes:
Ottmar Liebert already has this special sound to his guitar. Besides that great musicianship…..he also wins ‘best intimate candles on the stage thing with a Persian rug’, over any artist, at his Anthology show this summer.
Friday, October 31, Anthology turns into the favorite neighborhood haunt with a rockin’ Halloween in Little Italy sponsored by Jack 100.7FM. Happy hour potions and brews start at 5:30pm. High performance rockers The Tubes [most recognized for their song: Talk to You Later] headline the 7:30pm dinner concert and the 10pm show. The late night 10pm party crowd gets in _ price if donned in a costume. Over $15,000 worth of prizes will be given away — including $1000 cash prize for best costume.
For a complete up-to-date calendar listing, artists, online ticket purchases, and private event information visit www.anthologysd.com.