Folk

Celebrate Halloween in style with Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles for company, and better yet, celebrate the release of the brand new album by these local faves!

Tickets go on sale at noon Fri Aug 27 from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), from hard-working Cedar volunteers in the front lobby during shows, from Cedar outlets (Electric Fetus, Irish on Grand, Homestead Pickin' Parlor, and Depth of Field), and online at Ticketweb.

"A few muttered words in Arabic, shrouded in echo. And then it erupts. A day-glo cloudburst of warpspeed Bontempi rhythms and snaking microtonal melodies. Psychedelic invocation to some lascivious simultaneist idol. Urgent glossolalia of electronic thunder and lightning. Amphetamine-powered merengué of dysmorphic frequencies. Notes from between the notes. Beats like the jerry-rigged machine gun fire of exurban guerrila fighters. Cosmopolitan party music from the end times. The death rattle of globalisation, echoing across the scarred plains of bomb-ravaged dreamscapes." (The Quietus)

Syrian mega-pop star and wedding singer Omar Souleyman brings his frenetic dance music to The Cedar!

Tickets go on sale at noon Fri Aug 27 from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), from hard-working Cedar volunteers in the front lobby during shows, from Cedar outlets (Electric Fetus, Irish on Grand, Homestead Pickin' Parlor, and Depth of Field), and online at Ticketweb.

Swedish guitarist José González teams up with old friends Elias Araya and Tobias Winterkorn in this longstanding collaboration that has produced 2010's EP Rope and Summit, and their first full-length, Fields (Sept 14 2010, Mute Records). Indie folk songstress Sharon Van Etten will open.

Tickets go on sale at noon Fri Aug 6 from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), from hard-working Cedar volunteers in the front lobby during shows, from Cedar outlets (Electric Fetus, Irish on Grand, Homestead Pickin' Parlor, and Depth of Field), and online at Ticketweb.

It has been a long wait for fans of folk-pop singer-songwriter couple Deb Talan and Steve Tannen, but they have been in no hurry as they worked to refine the new material that makes up their new release Be My Thrill (Nettwerk, Aug 31, 2010). Be part of the thrill as the Weepies make their first stop at The Cedar, and showcase their new songs, along with the old favorites.

Tickets are on sale now from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), from hard-working Cedar volunteers in the front lobby during shows, from Cedar outlets (Electric Fetus, Irish on Grand, Homestead Pickin' Parlor, and Depth of Field), and online at Ticketweb.

Cedar regulars will recognize a familiar face tonight: Cedar sound engineer Raymond Yates steps out from behind the board, and takes the stage as singer and acoustic guitarist for his new project The Long Straight Forever.  The Long Straight Forever uses voices, guitars, mandola, bodhran to traverse the oceanic road from the British Isles to the Americas, with echoes of the Chieftains, Warren Zevon, Richard Thompson, Stan Rogers, and Led Zeppelin in their music. Raymond is joined by Gallowglass co-founder Michael Matheny, instrumentalist extraordinaire Matthew Ogden, and bass man Matt Miller; together, they produce music that straddles the Celtic, Americana, and rock genres. Tonight, they'll be celebrating the release of their self-titled debut album, recorded at a cabin on Upper Eau Claire Lake near Barnes, WI in April this year.  For this auspicious occasion, they'll be joined by female choir powerhouse The Idisi.

Join in the celebration as singer-songwriter Ellis celebrates the release of her seventh album Right on Time. You'll be smiling right along with Ellis as you get drawn in by her warmth, and hear the real-life journeys she presents in her songs. An engaging and inspired writer, singer and performer who is full of light and spirit, Ellis brings a rare sense of joy when she shares what she loves doing best with her audience.

Tickets go on sale at noon Fri Jul 30 from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), from hard-working Cedar volunteers in the front lobby during shows, from Cedar outlets (Electric Fetus, Irish on Grand, Homestead Pickin' Parlor, and Depth of Field), and online at Ticketweb.

In the tradition of the great male/female singer/songwriter duos (Nancy and Lee, Sonny and Cher, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris), Isobel Campbell (cellist and vocalist for Scottish indie band Belle and Sebastian) teams up with gravelly-voiced Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees) to release their third album together, Hawk (Vanguard, August 24 2010). Produced by the singer herself in a series of locations around the world, the set finds Campbell continuing her investigation into the darker corners of American roots music. Lanegan lends his signature blues-folk growl to eight of the album’s 13 tracks, while the young U.S. singer Willy Mason shows up for a pair of tunes, including a stripped-down rendition of “No Place to Fall” by the late Texas songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Campbell and Lanegan duet on another Van Zandt number, “Snake Song,” and former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha appears on the track “You Won’t Let Me Down Again.”

The Cedar welcomes back legendary Iowan folksinger/songwriter Greg Brown!

Tickets go on sale at noon Fri Jul 23 from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), from hard-working Cedar volunteers in the front lobby during shows, from Cedar outlets (Electric Fetus, Irish on Grand, Homestead Pickin' Parlor, and Depth of Field), and online at Ticketweb. Center Section seating only available from The Cedar and Ticketweb.

The Cedar welcomes back pioneering folk singer-songwriter for an evening of songs and great stories. Tom Rush's impact on the American music scene has been profound. He helped shape the folk revival in the '60s and the renaissance of the '80s and '90s, his music having left its stamp on generations of artists. James Taylor told Rolling Stone, "Tom was not only one of my early heroes, but also one of my main influences." Country music star Garth Brooks has credited Rush with being one of his top five musical influences. Rush has long championed emerging artists. His early recordings introduced the world to the work of Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and James Taylor, and in more recent years his Club 47 concerts have brought artists such as Nanci Griffith and Shawn Colvin to wider audiences when they were just beginning to build their own reputations.

"Deep Blues" is the dirt beneath BB King's fingernails scratching a blackboard. It is not smooth and citified like your daddy's blues-it's raucous, rough, and rambunctious. It's punk of the ages. And many other things too.. ." (pat mAcdonald, 2009)

The Cedar welcomes the West Bank Deep Blues Festival to the patio for two nights! Tonight, the stripped down washboard, rope and guitar of The Brass Kings, and a trip to Purgatory Hill, courtesy of fomer Timbuk3-er pat mAcdonald and melanie jane. pat plays a “Lowebow,” which consists of two poles attached to a cigar box, strung with one bass string and three guitar strings.