Along with Eevaan Tre and The Show. Saturday, December 13th, 9pm @ Schmidy’s Tavern, Palm Desert. Presented by CV Weekly and Ming Bob Productions
by Lisa Morgan
WADE CRAWFORD
Crawford has been playing music since he was a kid. With no other musicians in the family, his influences are the music his mother and father listened to. Mom listened to rock and dad loved country. “I was really close to my dad. Country music was imbedded in him. He grew up with a father who was kind of in and out of his life and he always told me that guys like Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Conway Twitty were his heroes…that if he could pick one guy to be a dad to him, it would be Waylon. That really stuck with me.”
Initially as a teenager of 15 and 16 years old, Wade played what was cool at the time; punk, rock and emo ~ music the likes of Blink 182. Not a bad choice considering that it led to him playing at the Roxie at such a young age. Older now, and with a number of other bands and genres under his belt, Wade has been back to his roots for a while now. He is playing what he wants in a genre that apparently suits him and his fans very well. Crawford was nominated for Country Band of the Year by Coachella Valley Music Awards, and for Song of the Year, by the Los Angeles Music Awards.
His last EP release, A Lion A Sheep and A Crow Walk Into a Bar, perfectly exhibits his well-chosen niche. He lists the title of each song on the album within this creative blurb: “A Lion, A Sheep and A Crow Walk into a Bar and begin to immediately flirt with the bartender.” I know WHERE YOU’LL SLEEP TONIGHT,” she responded curtly, “what’ll it be?” They ordered their drinks and began to talk like old times. “So, OLD FRIEND, how the hell have you been,” The Lion asked the Sheep. “Well I never thought it would happen but yesterday was THE DAY I CHANGED MY WAYS,” responded The Sheep. “I was down in NEW ORLEANS and ran into my ex. Brutal hell. But hey, ONCE THE DAMAGE IS DONE, who gives a shit, right?” The Crow nodded – “Man, I’ve been riding that DEVIL’S TRAIN for years. And it always leads me right back home to SUNNYMEAD.” The friends laughed and raised their glasses, having already made THE CALL.
A prolific writer, there’s no telling what songs you’re going to be treated to Saturday night, but you can count on this: It will be honest, real and raw, and if you’re not already a fan, you will be.
Follow Wade Crawford and his music at the following links:
www.facebook.com/WADECRAWFORDOFFICIAL
www.reverbnation.com/wadecrawfordandthecountrytrash
RIZ ORKESTRA
Composer-performer, Riz Orkestra brings down-home music to the Coachella Valley this weekend, the kind you would imagine you’d hear in the distance from a front porch any New Orleans Sunday morning. “Shew Fly Don’t Bother Me” or “No More Credit at the Liquor Store” are favorites that Riz Orkestra fans have come to ask for by name. But with a huge compilation of songs recently recorded in an amazing collection of music, we are in for a really special night.
Orkestra will be playing a set of tunes from his current CD, Sunnyside Session • Happy in my Life. The album features original songs on electric and acoustic slide guitar, ragtime fingerpicking guitar, and barrelhouse, blues piano. Slated for commercial release in early 2015, Orkestra co-produced the music with the legendary, two time Grammy winning producer, Bruce Bromberg. Bromberg was also the owner of Hitone Records for 27 years, working with artists like Lightning Hopkins, R.L.Burnside, Phil Alvin, and Dave Alvin. This year, Bromberg was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis.
In addition to his work in the American roots-music field, Riz Orkestra has composed and recorded 64 full-length symphonic pieces this year, each of which are currently broadcast five times a week over 64 consecutive weeks on his radio show “Symphony on the Corner”. You can tune in to “Radio Free Joshua Tree” online and find the show schedule at http://radiofreejoshuatree.org.
A limited number of pre-release Sunnyside Sessions • Happy in my Life CDs will be available at the show this Saturday. This compilation of music is fantastic listening and incredibly well crafted. From the songwriting, to the performance and the production, this may very well be one of the best CDs you can purchase this year. It is definitely a wonderful reflection of this artist who began his journey at 4 years old, feet dangling, sitting at a piano, taking instruction from a blue eyed great grandmother who channeled her music through him.
(Full story https://coachellavalleyweekly.com/?p=8096 Riz Orkestra – From Symphonies to Roots Americana and Every Note in Between)
Check out all the Riz Orkestra music at the following links:
www.youtube.com/rizorkestra
www.facebook.com/riz.orkestra
www.facebook.com/pages/Symphony-on-the-Corner
